Compare · updated July 2026
How Orbital compares
The Mac has two launcher traditions: keyboard palettes you type into, and radial menus that open where your cursor is. Orbital is radial and mouse-first — the dial opens on a middle click with apps, open windows, clipboard history, workspaces, and system actions. Here is how that stacks up against both camps, honestly: every row checked against the other product's own site, dated, and corrected when someone tells us we're wrong.
Radial launchers for macOS
| App | Price | Trigger | Middle click | Beyond app launching |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orbital | €9.99 one-time · 2 Macs | Middle click (default) or ⌥ Space | Yes — default | Windows · Clipboard · Workspaces · Actions |
| Charmstone | Free tier · Full version $9.99 one-time | Hold a modifier combo (⌥⌘ default) and move the mouse | No — modifier + mouse movement, no button trigger | App launching & switching (8 directional slots) |
| Orbit Launcher | Free | Keyboard hotkey (customizable modifiers) | No mouse-button trigger documented | App launching (pinned + recents, up to 24 apps) |
| Radial | €19.99 one-time · 5 Macs (as of July 2026) | Keyboard hotkey (customizable) | No mouse-button trigger documented | Apps · Files · Snippets · Scripts · Macros · Context menus |
| Loopty | Free | ⌥ Space default · hotkeys and mouse-button combos | Mouse-button combos supported; middle click not documented | Apps · Folders · Files · Websites · Terminal commands |
| OrbitRing | Free download · $5.99 lifetime unlock (as of July 2026) | Hold a configured key (e.g. ⌥) — release to launch | No mouse-button trigger documented | Apps · Files · Folders · URLs in multiple rings |
Also in this space: Pieoneer, Kando, and Orbit (a source-available radial app switcher on GitHub). Details checked July 2026 — if you ship one of these apps and something is wrong, email us and we'll correct it.
Coming from a keyboard launcher?
Raycast, Alfred, and LaunchBar are superb at what they do — typed commands from the keyboard. Orbital exists for the other hand: the sessions where you're steering a mouse and a centered search bar means a detour. These pages compare the philosophies honestly:
Orbital vs Raycast
“Your shortcut to everything.”
Orbital vs Alfred
“Boost your efficiency with hotkeys, keywords and text expansion.”
Orbital vs LaunchBar
“Keep your hands on the keyboard!”
Orbital vs BetterTouchTool
“Great tools for your Mac” — the do-anything input customizer.
The dial speaks for itself.
Middle click. Every feature free for 7 days — no card, no account.
Download Orbital 0.2.6