Alternatives to Contexts for Mac

What Contexts does well

According to its website, Contexts gets a lot right for people who drive their Mac from the keyboard:

• Search that forgives. Press ⌃Space and type letters from anywhere in an app name or window title. Initials rank high, and once you pick a window for a query, that window comes first the next time you type it.
• Fast Search. Hold Fn (or another modifier), type one or two letters and let go to switch.
• A list, not previews. Its ⌘Tab replacement gives each window its own row, and an auto-hiding sidebar lists windows grouped by Space, one sidebar per display if you like.
• Space filters. Show windows from all Spaces, from visible and full-screen Spaces, or from visible Spaces only.

A $9.99 license covers the Macs you mainly use, and the license agreement lets you share it with up to six family members in your household.

Why people look elsewhere

The latest version on Contexts' What's New page is 3.9.0, from August 27, 2022, which added native Apple silicon support. Its site says it works on macOS Ventura, Sonoma and Sequoia, and doesn't list macOS 26 Tahoe or anything later. That doesn't mean it stops working, but if you're upgrading macOS, or want a switcher whose maker ships fixes for the version you run, it's worth knowing your options. Its site also doesn't mention browser tabs.

For a side-by-side with our app, see Flick vs Contexts.

At a glance

Each app as its maker described it on October 15, 2026. The order isn't a ranking.

Witch

Witch is highly configurable, and like Contexts it lets you run several switchers at once, each on its own shortcut. A switcher can list apps, windows and browser tabs, horizontally, vertically or in the menu bar. Press S in the panel to search, or set a switcher to open with search already on, the nearest Witch gets to a search window. Witch's help doesn't say how loosely search matches, so try it before counting on Contexts-style scattered letters. Rows are a list by default; mini previews are optional, need Screen Recording, and, as Many Tricks warns, slow the panel down. Windows on a Space you haven't visited yet need an AppleScript approval per app, as its advanced help explains. Releases are infrequent: 4.7 on December 2, 2025, after 4.6.2 in February 2024.

Price

$14, one-time, with at least a year of updates; free trial

Requires

macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later

Good for

Several switchers set up exactly your way, tabs included

Compared with Contexts

Search is a mode inside the panel rather than its own window; adds apps and browser tabs

Witch website · Flick vs Witch

rcmd

If Fast Search is the part of Contexts you'd miss, look at rcmd. With rcmd Pro, you hold the right ⌘ key, type, and let go: it fuzzy-searches apps and windows and switches on release. Double-tap and hold to search only open windows. A single letter still jumps straight to its app, as it does in the free version. Its ⌘Tab replacement, in the free version, cycles windows and can leave out minimized ones and those on other Spaces, much like Contexts' visible-Spaces filter. rcmd needs Screen Recording, which its FAQ says it uses to read window titles. It's updated often: 3.6.4 shipped on October 5, 2026.

Price

Free; rcmd Pro €15, lifetime, with a 14-day trial

Requires

macOS 13 or later

Good for

Hold, type, release, for apps and windows alike

Compared with Contexts

Fast Search's hold-and-type style on the right ⌘ key; needs Screen Recording

rcmd website · Flick vs rcmd

Raycast Switch Windows

Switch Windows behaves much like Contexts' ⌃Space search window: one list of every open window, each with its title and app, filtered as you type part of a title, and Return to switch. It's a command inside the Raycast launcher, so you open it with a hotkey or alias, pick, and press Return; the manual doesn't describe a hold-and-release switcher, a sidebar or a Space filter. Raycast's manual lists Accessibility as the permission it needs. The catch for many Contexts users: Raycast 2 needs macOS 26 Tahoe and Apple silicon, and Raycast's FAQ says that on Sequoia or earlier you need to upgrade macOS first.

Price

Free; Pro $10 a month or $96 a year

Requires

macOS 26 Tahoe and Apple silicon

Good for

A search window, if you already use Raycast

Compared with Contexts

Like its search window, without a ⌘Tab-style switcher

Raycast website · Flick vs Raycast

DockDoor

DockDoor is free, open source and updated often (1.40.7 on October 4, 2026). Hold ⌥ and press Tab for a switcher of every open window, then type to search. It's built around previews, but you can show windows as a compact list of titles instead, all the time or once an app has a set number of windows. Windows on other desktops and displays appear too, minimized and hidden ones included. It also adds window previews to the Dock. Its FAQ says it needs Accessibility and Screen Recording to find windows and show previews; its setup screen calls Screen Recording optional, and without it you get only the list of titles.

Price

Free; donations welcome

Requires

macOS 13 Ventura or later

Good for

Previews and a switcher in one free app

Compared with Contexts

Previews first, with a list of titles as an option; the list works without Screen Recording

DockDoor website · Flick vs DockDoor

AltTab

AltTab is free, open source and updated often (11.9.2 on October 13, 2026), but it's built around thumbnails, so the parts a Contexts user would look for come with AltTab Pro: search by window title or app name, and the Titles style, a compact list of titles. The free version already filters a shortcut by app, Space or screen, close to Contexts' Space filters, and Pro allows up to 9 shortcuts, each with its own keys and filters, close to Contexts' separate switchers. Pro is $9.99 once, and every Pro feature is free for 14 days after you install. Its features page doesn't describe a sidebar, or a hold-and-type mode like Fast Search. The free version shows thumbnails, which need Screen Recording.

Price

Free; AltTab Pro $9.99, or $24.99 for Pro Lifetime, one-time

Requires

macOS 12 or later

Good for

Thumbnails for free, with search and a list once you buy Pro

Compared with Contexts

Search and a list of titles with Pro; no sidebar, and thumbnails by default

AltTab website · Flick vs AltTab

Flick Our app

Flick is a list of windows, one row each with the app's icon, name and window title, and no previews. Hold ⌥, tap Tab, then type: the best match goes first, so “vsc” finds Visual Studio Code by its initials and “sfri” finds Safari by letters in order. Let go of ⌥ and you switch to the top result, which is close to how Fast Search feels. ⇧⌘Space opens search on its own, like Contexts' search window, and search also covers the file and folder names of the document a window shows. How Flick ranks results explains the order. Unlike Contexts, it doesn't learn from the windows you pick, and there's no sidebar or trackpad gesture. For Spaces, it lists every Space by default and has one filter, Show only the active Space. A license covers 1, 2 or 3 Macs, depending on the one you buy, and adds browser tabs in Chrome, Chrome Beta, Brave and Edge, and in Safari while Include private windows is on.

Price

Free version (5 most recent windows); license from $9.49, once

Requires

macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon or Intel

Good for

Search-first switching, with browser tabs

Compared with Contexts

Hold, type and release like Fast Search; no sidebar, and a simpler Space filter

What Flick does

How we chose

We looked for window switchers that a Contexts user would recognize: keyboard search, windows rather than apps, and a list or a list option. Each one had a release in the last year and could be checked on its maker's site, documentation or update feed on October 15, 2026. That left out apps whose pages don't mention search, and switchers that only show previews. The list isn't complete, and the order isn't a ranking. For apps that replace the built-in switcher, including ones with previews, see alternatives to ⌘Tab. We make Flick, so weigh its entry with that in mind.

Questions