Raycast Pro Free Trial 2026: What You Get & How to Start

If you've been curious about Raycast Pro but aren't ready to commit to a paid subscription, the free trial is the perfect way to test everything risk-free. Raycast offers a full 14-day trial that unlocks every Pro feature — no restrictions, no feature gates, no watered-down experience. You get the real thing.

I've been using Raycast as my primary launcher for over two years, and the Pro upgrade was a turning point in my workflow. In this guide, I'll walk you through exactly what the trial includes, how to sign up, what happens when it ends, and how to get the most out of those 14 days. If you want to start right now, grab the free trial with a 80% discount lock-in here.

How the Raycast Pro Free Trial Works

The Raycast Pro trial is straightforward. When you sign up, you get 14 days of unrestricted access to every Pro feature. There's no credit card required upfront for the trial period, and you can cancel at any time before the trial ends without being charged a single cent.

Here's the signup flow in a nutshell:

1. Visit the Raycast Pro signup page
2. Create a Raycast account or sign in with your existing one
3. Choose your preferred billing plan (monthly or annual — this only matters after the trial)
4. Start your 14-day trial
5. Open Raycast and every Pro feature is immediately available

The trial activates instantly. There's no waiting period, no approval process, and no verification step. The moment you start the trial, Raycast AI, cloud sync, custom themes, and every other Pro feature lights up in your launcher.

What Features Are Included in the Trial

This is what sets the Raycast trial apart from other software trials: you get everything. There's no "trial tier" with limited features. Every single Pro capability is unlocked. Here's what that means in practice:

Raycast AI

This is the feature that sells most people on Pro, and rightfully so. Raycast AI gives you a powerful AI assistant that lives inside your launcher — accessible from anywhere on your Mac with a simple keyboard shortcut.

During the trial, you get full access to AI chat with models like GPT-4 and Claude. You can ask questions, generate code, translate text, summarize documents, and draft emails — all without leaving whatever app you're working in. The AI understands context, so you can select text in any application, hit your shortcut, and ask Raycast to rewrite, explain, or transform it.

What makes Raycast AI genuinely different from ChatGPT or other AI tools is the system-level integration. It's not a separate browser tab you have to switch to. It's embedded in your workflow. I use it dozens of times a day for things like explaining error messages, generating regex patterns, writing commit messages, and converting data formats.

You also get access to AI Commands — custom prompt templates that you can trigger with a keyword. For example, I have a command called "Fix Grammar" that takes selected text and returns a corrected version. Another one called "Explain Code" that takes a code snippet and produces a plain-English explanation. You can create as many custom commands as you want during the trial.

Cloud Sync

If you use more than one Mac — say a work laptop and a personal desktop — cloud sync is a game-changer. It synchronizes your snippets, quicklinks, custom AI commands, settings, and preferences across all your devices automatically.

Before cloud sync, I had to manually export and import my Raycast configuration every time I made a change. With sync enabled, everything just stays in lockstep. Create a snippet on your work machine and it appears on your personal Mac within seconds.

During the trial, cloud sync is fully active. This is a great opportunity to set up your configuration on one machine and let it propagate to others, so if you do decide to subscribe, everything is already in place.

Custom Themes

This might sound like a minor feature, but if you spend all day looking at your launcher, aesthetics matter. The free tier locks you into the default Raycast theme. With Pro, you can customize colors, pick from community-created themes, or build your own from scratch.

The theme system is surprisingly deep. You can customize the background, text colors, accent colors, icon styles, and more. The Raycast community has created hundreds of themes that you can browse and install directly from the app.

Unlimited Clipboard History

The free plan gives you 30 days of clipboard history. Pro makes it unlimited. Every piece of text, image, link, or file you've ever copied is searchable and accessible from your Raycast clipboard manager.

I didn't realize how much I relied on this until I tried going back to the free plan after my first trial ended. The number of times I need to find something I copied two months ago is surprisingly high — API keys, code snippets, URLs, meeting links. With unlimited history, it's all there.

Floating Notes

Floating Notes are persistent sticky notes that hover above your windows. They're perfect for keeping a quick reference visible while you work — a list of tasks, an API endpoint you keep referencing, or notes from a meeting.

Unlike macOS Stickies (which feel like they haven't been updated since 2005), Floating Notes are modern, support Markdown, and integrate with the rest of Raycast. You can create them from the launcher, pin them to specific desktops, and dismiss them with a shortcut.

Raycast Free vs. Pro: What You're Missing Without the Trial

To put the trial in perspective, here's what the free tier gives you versus what Pro unlocks:

The gap is significant. The free plan is excellent as a Spotlight replacement, but Pro turns Raycast into an integrated productivity system. The trial lets you experience that difference firsthand.

How to Sign Up for the Raycast Pro Trial

Getting started takes about two minutes. Here's the step-by-step process:

1. Download Raycast if you haven't already. It's a free download from raycast.com. Install it and replace Spotlight as your default launcher (Raycast will walk you through this). For step-by-step instructions, see our complete download and installation guide.
2. Create a Raycast account. You can sign up with your email or use GitHub/Google OAuth. This account is what ties your trial and subscription to your identity.
3. Navigate to the Pro trial. Use this link to go directly to the Pro signup page, which automatically includes the 80% discount and free trial.
4. Choose your billing plan. Select monthly ($8/mo) or annual ($96/year). Remember, you won't be charged during the trial — this is just setting your plan for after the trial ends.
5. Start the trial. Confirm and your Pro features activate immediately. Open Raycast and you'll see the AI option, theme customization, and cloud sync settings are now available.

The entire process happens within Raycast itself and takes under two minutes. No lengthy forms, no phone verification, no enterprise sales calls.

Cancellation Policy: What You Need to Know

Raycast's cancellation policy is refreshingly simple: cancel anytime before the trial ends and you won't be charged. There's no cancellation fee, no early termination penalty, and no requirement to contact support. You can cancel directly from your Raycast account settings.

When you cancel during the trial:

• Your Pro features remain active until the trial period expires
• You won't be charged when the trial ends
• Your account reverts to the free plan automatically
• Your data (snippets, quicklinks, etc.) is preserved — you just lose access to Pro features

If you forget to cancel and get charged, Raycast doesn't offer refunds by default, but users have reported success reaching out to their support team within the first few days of an accidental charge. Still, set a calendar reminder for day 12 or 13 if you're on the fence.

What Happens After the Trial Ends

When the 14 days are up, one of two things happens:

If you keep your subscription: Nothing changes. Your Pro features continue working seamlessly. Your billing cycle begins, and you're charged according to the plan you selected (monthly or annual). If you signed up through our discount link, the 80% discount is already locked in.

If you cancel or let the trial expire: Your account reverts to the free tier. Here's what that means in practice:

• Raycast AI stops working. You lose access to AI chat and all custom AI commands.
• Cloud sync is disabled. Your settings stay on each device but no longer synchronize.
• Clipboard history is capped at 30 days. Items older than 30 days are no longer accessible (though they may be restored if you re-subscribe later).
• Custom themes revert to the default. Your selected theme is saved in case you return, but the interface goes back to the standard look.
• Floating Notes disappear from your screen. The notes themselves are preserved if you re-subscribe.

The free tier is still a great launcher — you won't lose your extensions, snippets, or basic functionality. But you'll definitely feel the absence of AI and cloud sync if you've been using them heavily.

7 Tips to Maximize Your 14-Day Trial

Fourteen days goes fast. Here's how to make the most of them:

1. Set Up AI Commands on Day One

Don't wait to experiment with AI. On your first day, create at least three or four custom AI commands for tasks you do regularly. Good starting points: "Fix Grammar," "Explain Error," "Summarize Text," and "Write Commit Message." The sooner you integrate these into your workflow, the sooner you'll understand whether you can live without them.

2. Enable Cloud Sync Immediately

If you have multiple Macs, enable cloud sync on day one. It takes time for your configuration to fully propagate and for you to experience the convenience of synchronized settings. Don't leave this for the last few days.

3. Import Your Snippets

If you're using TextExpander, Alfred snippets, or another snippet manager, import everything into Raycast during the trial. Test whether Raycast can fully replace your current snippet tool. If it can, that's one less subscription you need.

4. Explore the Theme Store

Browse the community theme store and find a theme that matches your terminal and editor aesthetic. This sounds trivial, but a unified look across your tools reduces visual context-switching and makes the experience feel more polished.

5. Use Floating Notes for a Real Project

Don't just test Floating Notes with dummy text. Use them during an actual work session — keep your sprint tasks visible, pin a list of API endpoints you're testing, or maintain a running log of questions for your next standup. You need real usage to evaluate whether they're valuable.

6. Push Clipboard History to Its Limits

Copy everything. Screenshots, code blocks, links, terminal output. After a week, go back and search for something you copied on day two. That's the moment you'll understand why unlimited clipboard history matters.

7. Track Your Time Savings

Keep a rough log of time saved. Every time Raycast AI writes a regex for you instead of you Googling it, every time cloud sync saves you from re-configuring a setting, every time you find a clipboard item from last week — note it down. At the end of 14 days, you'll have a concrete answer to "is this worth $8/month?"

Is the Trial Worth It?

Absolutely. There's no risk and no cost. The 14-day trial gives you enough time to genuinely integrate Raycast Pro into your workflow and make an informed decision. Most developers I know who started the trial ended up subscribing because the AI features alone justify the cost — especially when you factor in the current 80% discount.

For a detailed cost analysis, check out our Raycast Pro pricing breakdown. And if you want a thorough evaluation of the Pro features, read our full Raycast Pro review.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is the Raycast Pro free trial?

The Raycast Pro free trial lasts 14 days. You get full access to every Pro feature during this period, including Raycast AI, cloud sync, custom themes, and unlimited clipboard history. No features are restricted or limited during the trial.

What features are included in the Raycast Pro trial?

The trial includes every Raycast Pro feature: Raycast AI (with GPT-4 and Claude models), cloud sync across devices, unlimited clipboard history, custom themes, floating notes, and all Pro extensions. It's identical to the paid experience.

Can I cancel the Raycast Pro trial at any time?

Yes. You can cancel the Raycast Pro trial at any time before the 14 days are up and you will not be charged. There is no cancellation fee and no questions asked. Cancel directly from your Raycast account settings.

What happens after the Raycast Pro trial ends?

After the 14-day trial, your account converts to a paid Pro subscription unless you cancel beforehand. If you cancel, you revert to the free plan and lose access to AI, cloud sync, custom themes, and unlimited clipboard history. Your data and snippets are preserved.