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Raycast File Search is the closest match if you want to describe a file in everyday language and find it through a Mac launcher. For a mostly text-based library, Stella offers on-device semantic search; for precise filters, deep filesystem coverage, or keyboard-driven file actions, HoudahSpot, Find Any File, and Alfred solve different problems. None of the alternatives documented here is established as a full replacement for DigUp’s combination of photo, document, audio, and video search with page- or timestamp-level opening.
What makes an alternative a real DigUp substitute?
“Search my Mac” can mean several different things. A tool might match a filename, search text inside documents, interpret a natural-language description, inspect visual or audio content, or locate a file in a hidden folder. Those capabilities are not interchangeable. The best choice depends on what you remember about the file and what you want to do after finding it.
DigUp sets a broad baseline: it describes local folder indexing for photos, PDFs, documents, audio, and video using EmbeddingGemma 2, alongside exact-string and semantic matching. It also describes opening a result at a relevant page, timestamp, or line rather than only opening the file. The product and repository descriptions establish those intended capabilities; they do not provide comparative accuracy or speed figures.
| What you need | Best fit among the alternatives | Why it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Ask for files in natural language from a launcher | Raycast File Search | Its AI Extensions can be used from AI Chat or Quick AI, with routes to its File Search index or macOS Finder. |
| Semantic search across text documents kept on-device | Stella | Its product page describes natural-language semantic search for PDFs, notes, documents, and spreadsheets, indexed on-device. |
| Combine explicit file properties and save repeatable searches | HoudahSpot | Its guide documents searches by attributes including name, text, kind, date, tags, pixel count, and author. |
| Look in hidden, other-user, or archive locations | Find Any File | Its documentation covers root mode, hidden files, other users’ home folders, and content inside ZIP files. |
| Find files quickly and act on them from the keyboard | Alfred | Its site describes hotkeys, keywords, file finding, browsing, previews, and keyboard actions. |
These are functional matches, not a claim that the tools have equivalent indexing, privacy, media support, or result navigation. The distinctions below matter if the thing you remember is what a file contains rather than its name.
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Raycast File Search: closest to conversational search
Choose Raycast first if you want to type a description rather than build a search from fields. Its official manual says File Search AI Extensions can be called from AI Chat or Quick AI. The examples include asking for a PDF downloaded last week from Apple and finding the most recent screenshot from that morning. That makes it the closest documented alternative here to a conversational launcher workflow.
Two ways to ask
Raycast documents two distinct routes: “Ask File Search (@file-search)” queries Raycast’s own File Search index, while “Ask Finder (@finder)” asks against macOS Finder. The distinction is useful: one route targets Raycast’s index, the other asks Finder. The manual does not establish that those routes search the same material or use the same indexing behavior, so choose the route that matches the search target rather than assuming they are interchangeable.
For example, if you remember that you saved a particular PDF recently, you can formulate a request around its type, subject, and approximate time instead of guessing the filename. The manual’s examples establish that this kind of natural-language phrasing is supported; they do not establish universal coverage for every folder or file format.
Where Raycast differs from DigUp
Raycast is the strongest first pick for a natural-language search experience tied to a launcher. The cited manual does not establish that it understands the contents of audio and video or can open them at a matching timestamp. It therefore should not be treated as a documented substitute for DigUp’s full multimodal and location-level workflow. If your searches are usually “find that screenshot” or “find the PDF I downloaded,” it is a closer fit than if you need to search what someone said in a recording.
Stella: semantic search for a text-heavy Mac library
Stella is a strong candidate when the material you want to retrieve is mostly written content. Its product page describes natural-language semantic search over local files, specifically PDFs, notes, documents, and spreadsheets, with indexing on-device. It also advertises macOS 13 Ventura or later and offline use without an account.
Semantic search is useful when the phrase in your query differs from the wording in a document. Rather than relying only on an exact filename or phrase, the product’s stated purpose is to search by meaning. That is a different job from applying an exact metadata filter, and it suits a library where the likely answer is a document rather than a moment in a recording.
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The listed formats make Stella relevant for a work or personal archive of PDFs, notes, office documents, and spreadsheets. The cited product page does not establish DigUp-level understanding of photos, audio, or video, nor does it establish page-, line-, or timestamp-level result opening. If those are essential, the available description is not enough to call Stella a like-for-like replacement.
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HoudahSpot: structured searches and repeatable criteria
HoudahSpot is the better fit when you can describe the file through attributes and want control over how results are narrowed. Its official guide calls it a file-search utility and documents criteria including name, text, kind, date, tags, pixel count, and author. This makes it useful for questions such as “show me image files with these properties” or “find documents by this author,” where precise constraints matter more than conversational interpretation.
When its search model is an advantage
Structured criteria make a search inspectable: you can see which properties are being used and refine the result set. The guide also supports saved searches, making the approach appropriate when you repeatedly look for files using the same combination of attributes. If you know the file type, date range, tag, or author, explicit filtering may be more dependable for your task than trying multiple natural-language descriptions.
HoudahSpot should not be described as conversational multimodal search on the basis of the cited guide. The documented criteria cover file attributes and text, not natural-language understanding of photos, recordings, or video. The guide does not establish a page- or timestamp-jump feature comparable to DigUp’s stated result navigation.
Find Any File: when the file may be hidden or outside your usual folders
Find Any File is a complement to semantic search when the central problem is coverage: you suspect a file exists but it is hidden, stored outside your own home folder, or inside an archive. Its documentation describes root mode for searching other users’ home folders, saved searches, handling hidden files, and searching the contents of ZIP files, including DOCX and XLSX files. It also documents integrations with Alfred, Keyboard Maestro, and PopPop.
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Use it to widen the search, not to interpret media
Root mode and hidden-file handling address locations or files that ordinary searches may not show. Archive-content search helps when the document is packaged in a ZIP and you remember something inside it. These are useful forms of filesystem reach, but they are not the same as asking a system to understand what appears in an image or what is said in a recording. The cited documentation does not establish semantic multimodal search or opening an audio or video result at a matching moment.
Find Any File is therefore the sensible choice when you remember a filename, file property, or text that may be in an archive, but do not know where the item was saved. If the missing clue is only a visual scene or spoken phrase, the documented features do not establish that it can retrieve the file from that clue.
Alfred: keyboard-first file finding and actions
Alfred suits people who want file lookup to be part of a keyboard-driven workflow. Its official site describes hotkeys and keywords for searching the Mac and web, launching applications, and finding files, with browsing, previewing, and actions available from the keyboard. That makes it useful when speed of access and what you do next matter more than semantic interpretation.
The cited site does not document natural-language semantic indexing across photos, audio, or video. Alfred is best understood here as a launcher and file-action alternative, not a direct replacement for DigUp’s content search. It may be the right tool if you already know enough to search by filename or use a keyboard workflow, but it is not the documented choice for queries such as “find the video where the speaker mentions the launch date.”
Compare the alternatives by the clue you remember
| Tool | Natural-language or semantic search | Formats or search scope established in the cited material | Distinctive strength | What is not established as a DigUp match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DigUp baseline | Semantic matching and exact-string matching are described. | Photos, PDFs, documents, audio, video, and code are described by its repository; the site describes photos, PDFs, docs, audio, and video. | Local folder indexing and opening to a page, timestamp, or line are described. | Comparative speed or accuracy figures are not stated. |
| Raycast File Search | AI Extensions can accept natural-language questions in AI Chat or Quick AI. | Raycast’s own File Search index or macOS Finder, depending on the route. | Conversational requests within a launcher workflow. | Full audio/video understanding and timestamp-level opening are not stated in the manual. |
| Stella | Natural-language semantic search is described. | PDFs, notes, documents, and spreadsheets, indexed on-device. | Text-focused local search; offline and no-account use are advertised. | Image, audio, video, and location-level results are not established on the product page. |
| HoudahSpot | Not described as conversational semantic search in the guide. | Search by name, text, kind, date, tags, pixel count, and author. | Explicit criteria and saved searches. | Natural-language multimodal understanding and timestamp/page navigation are not established in the guide. |
| Find Any File | Not described as semantic search in the documentation. | Hidden files, other users’ home folders with root mode, and ZIP contents including DOCX and XLSX. | Broader filesystem and archive search, with documented integrations. | Understanding image/audio/video content is not established in the documentation. |
| Alfred | Not described as semantic file search on the cited site. | Mac and web search, file finding, browsing, and previews. | Keyboard-oriented launching and file actions. | Semantic indexing of photos, audio, or video is not established on the cited site. |
“Not established” means the cited product description or documentation does not support treating that capability as confirmed. It does not prove a tool can never provide it through another version or extension.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Choose by workflow, not by the word “search”
You remember a description, not a filename
Start with Raycast if you want to phrase a request conversationally from a launcher. Stella is the more focused option when the expected result is in a local text-document library. If your query depends on a visual scene, spoken words, or a video moment, the cited alternatives do not document the same breadth of media search as DigUp.
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You know the file’s properties
Use HoudahSpot when the clue is a combination of file attributes such as kind, date, tag, author, or pixel count, especially if you will repeat the search. It is a better fit for a precise filter than for a natural-language description of a media file’s content.
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You think the file is somewhere unusual
Use Find Any File when the suspected location is hidden, another user’s home folder, or a ZIP archive. Its documented scope directly addresses those cases. This is a location-coverage problem rather than a semantic-retrieval problem.
You want to stay on the keyboard
Choose Alfred for file finding, preview, and actions as part of a keyboard workflow. Choose Raycast instead if the key requirement is asking natural-language questions through a launcher. Both are launcher-oriented, but only Raycast’s cited manual describes the AI File Search and Finder routes.
A practical way to decide before moving your search habit
- Write down the clue you normally remember. Separate filename or date clues from content clues such as “the chart about quarterly revenue,” and from modality clues such as a scene in a photo or a phrase in a recording.
- Identify the likely location. If the file may be hidden, in another user’s home folder, or inside a ZIP, prioritize Find Any File. If it lives in a text-heavy folder you want to search semantically, consider Stella.
- Match the interaction style. For conversational queries, consider Raycast; for explicit reusable filters, HoudahSpot; for keyboard file actions, Alfred.
- Check the capability that would make or break the switch. If you need audio/video understanding or opening at a page or timestamp, the documented scope of the alternative matters more than its general claim to search files.
- Try a representative query in the actual workflow. Use a file you can verify, and test both an easy clue and one that depends on the capability you care about. Do not infer full folder or format coverage from one successful result.
This process avoids a common mismatch: replacing a content-retrieval tool with a filename launcher, or replacing a broad filesystem search with a semantic tool whose indexed formats are narrower.
Privacy, indexing, and capability limits
Privacy claims should be read at the level they are actually documented. DigUp describes private folder indexing and on-device operation in its repository. Stella advertises on-device indexing, offline use, and no-account operation. Raycast’s manual distinguishes its own File Search index from Finder, but the cited description does not state enough to characterize the privacy or storage behavior of either route. The cited HoudahSpot, Find Any File, and Alfred materials establish their search functions, not equivalent privacy guarantees.
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There are no independently established speed, accuracy, or market-share figures in the cited material. Nor are prices stated there for these alternatives. Treat the comparison as one of documented workflows and scope, not a performance ranking or price comparison.
Recommendation
For the closest documented natural-language launcher workflow, begin with Raycast File Search. For semantic retrieval from text-heavy documents with on-device, offline use advertised, consider Stella. Choose HoudahSpot for attribute-based searches you want to refine and save, Find Any File when hidden or archive locations are the obstacle, and Alfred when keyboard access and file actions are the priority. If your defining need is searching across images, audio, and video and opening the matching page or moment, DigUp remains the only tool in this comparison whose cited description establishes that full combination.
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