Short answer: all five put emoji into your text. The difference is how you open them and where they appear. The macOS picker and Raycast open a separate window that you search. Rocket, Mojito and Slash open a small list at your text cursor while you type. Slash is the one that opens on // (so it does not collide with apps that use :), costs $5 once, and has no network code.
| Slash | macOS picker | Rocket | Raycast | Mojito | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How you open it | Type //, or press ⌥/ | Fn/Globe + E, or ⌃⌘Space | Type : and the start of a name | Open Raycast, run "Search Emoji & Symbols" (or your own hotkey) | Type : |
| Can you change the keys? | Yes: any one or two characters, and any shortcut | The Globe key can be set to open it | Yes: one punctuation mark; a double-key setting exists | Yes: any hotkey | Not checked |
| Where it appears | At the text cursor | A separate picker window | At the text cursor | The Raycast window | At the text cursor |
| Search by name | Yes, as you type | Yes, in its search field | Yes, as you type | Yes | Yes, as you type |
| Works in every app | Yes. In code editors use ⌥/ | Yes | Yes, except where another app uses secure input; it turns itself off on some websites | Yes, it pastes into the active field | Not checked |
| Other things it does | Nothing else. Favorites and most-used emoji | Symbols and special characters | Pro: gifs, snippets, custom shortcuts | A full launcher with many tools | Symbols (::) and GIFs (:::) |
| Price | $5, once | Free, part of macOS | Free. Rocket Pro: $10 + tax | Emoji search is in the free plan. Pro: $10 a month | Free, open source |
| macOS needed | 13 or later | All | 13 or later (per Homebrew) | See raycast.com | 14 or later |
| Sends data | No. It has no network code | No | See their site | See their site | See their site |
The macOS emoji picker.
Press FnE (or ⌃⌘Space) and a picker opens. It is free, it is on every Mac, and it has every emoji and symbol. It is the right tool if you use an emoji now and then. It is slower when you use many: it is a separate window with its own search field. Our guide to Mac emoji shortcuts shows all its options.
Rocket.
Rocket, by Matthew Palmer, is a well-known emoji picker of this kind for the Mac. You type a colon and the start of a name, like in Slack, and a list appears at the cursor. The free version has all emoji and skin tones. Rocket Pro adds a search window, gifs and images, your own shortcuts and text snippets. Its help page says it cannot work while another app has "secure input" on, and that it turns itself off on websites that have their own picker.
Choose Rocket if you want the colon, a free start, or the extras in Pro such as gifs and snippets.
Raycast.
Raycast is a launcher: one window from which you start apps and run commands. One of its built-in commands is "Search Emoji & Symbols". You open Raycast, search, and press Enter; Raycast pastes the emoji into the field you were in. You can give the command its own hotkey.
Choose Raycast if you already use it for everything. You do not need a second tool only for emoji.
Mojito.
Mojito is a free, open source picker that also opens on a colon, with :: for symbols and ::: for GIFs. It needs macOS 14 or later.
Choose Mojito if you want a free, open source tool and you like the colon.
Slash.
Slash is our app. It opens at the text cursor when you type //, or when you press ⌥/. You type the name and press Enter. What makes it different:
- Two slashes, not a colon. Slack, Notion, Telegram, GitHub and others already use a colon or a single slash for their own menus. Slash waits for the second slash and takes the first one back, so the other app's menu closes and nothing is left in your text. You can change the trigger (for example to
;;or:) and the shortcut in Settings. - Careful rules. It does not open inside links (
https://), inside words, or when you type the slashes slowly. In code editors and terminals, where//is a comment, only the shortcut opens it. - No keystroke is lost. If you type something that cannot be an emoji name, Slash closes and types back exactly what you typed.
- Private. No network code, no account, no analytics.
- Small and focused. About 0.9 MB to download. It only does emoji: no gifs, no snippets.
- $5, once. No subscription. 14-day refund.
Choose Slash if you type emoji many times a day, in many apps, and want one habit that works everywhere without touching the mouse.
Do not choose Slash if you want a free tool, gifs or text snippets, or if you need it on Windows or Linux. It is for the Mac only.
Buy Slash for $5 Try the live demo first
Questions and answers.
What is the best emoji picker for Mac?
It depends on how you work. The built-in macOS picker (Fn/Globe + E) is free and enough for occasional use. If you want to type the emoji name right in your text, in every app, choose a picker that opens at the cursor: Slash (//, $5 once), Rocket (:, free with a paid Pro version) or Mojito (:, free and open source).
What is the difference between Slash and Rocket?
Both open an emoji picker while you type, in any Mac app. Rocket opens when you type a colon and the start of a name; Slash opens when you type two slashes, or on a keyboard shortcut, and both keys can be changed. Rocket is free and has a paid Pro version (listed at $10 plus tax) that adds gifs, snippets and custom shortcuts. Slash costs $5 once and does one thing: emoji. Slash has no network code.
Is there a free emoji picker for Mac?
Yes. The macOS picker is built in (press Fn/Globe + E). Rocket has a free version, Mojito is free and open source, and Raycast includes an emoji search in its free plan.
Why does Slash use // and not a colon?
Many apps already react to a single colon or a single slash: Slack, Notion, Telegram and GitHub open their own menus. Two slashes typed quickly are rare at the start of a word, so the trigger stays out of the way. In Settings you can change it to a colon or anything else.
