Glaze lets users build custom Mac apps without code, with upcoming AI integrations

Raycast’s newly launched Glaze platform allows users to describe a piece of software in plain English and receive a functional Mac app in return. These apps integrate into the user’s dock, operate offline, and can be distributed publicly through a dedicated app store or privately within teams.

Glaze builds on Raycast’s existing ecosystem of over 3,000 open-source extensions, which the company credits with catalyzing community growth and feature expansion. Raycast’s CEO, Thomas Paul Mann, argues that giving users a tool to create their own tools fundamentally changes what software can be: highly personalized and narrowly scoped to individual needs.

Raycast announced a $10,000 contest for the best app built on Glaze, inviting users to submit entries for judging. Mann also disclosed that Glaze Pro subscribers will soon access language models and image generation directly through their subscriptions, reducing the need to manage external API keys.

Mann predicts that within three years, 30 to 50 percent of the software on a typical Mac could be user-built using tools like Glaze. He frames this shift as part of a broader transition toward "disposable software," where users replace generic SaaS subscriptions with bespoke, single-purpose applications tailored to their workflows.

The platform’s design emphasizes minimalism and user agency. Mann contrasts this with the common trajectory of commercial software, which often accumulates features until it becomes unwieldy. By contrast, Glaze encourages users to build only what they need and share improvements with others, fostering a remix culture around software creation.

Mann’s background—including roles at Facebook and the Fraunhofer Society—shaped his view that productivity is maximized when engineers spend more time in code editors and less navigating bloated interfaces. Glaze extends this philosophy by enabling non-experts to generate functional tools without deep programming knowledge.