SpotAsk vs Cherry Studio
A full AI workstation, or a native menu bar box for quick questions?
The short answer
Cherry Studio and SpotAsk are both free and open source, but they solve different problems. Cherry Studio is a cross-platform Electron AI workstation with multi-model chat, agents, knowledge bases, MCP and image generation; it also has a Quick Assistant window. SpotAsk is a native Swift/AppKit Mac menu bar app that only does quick questions: press ⌥ Space, answer with your own API key, act on selected text, or hand the question to ChatGPT or a local AI agent. Its installer is about 10 MB; Cherry Studio's Mac DMG is about 300 MB. In our test on an M1 Pro Mac, idle memory footprint was 17 MB vs 593 MB.
- Pick Cherry Studio if you want one app for multi-model chat, agents, knowledge bases, image generation, and mobile apps.
- Pick SpotAsk if you want a native Mac menu bar ask box with a ~10 MB installer and nothing else running.
- Use both if Cherry Studio does your heavy work and you want a lighter hotkey for quick questions.
Last checked: November 12, 2026. SpotAsk is our app. We installed Cherry Studio 2.2.0 on the same Mac for this page; features change quickly, so tell us if anything here is outdated.
For other comparisons, visit our comparison hub—including SpotAsk vs Raycast AI and SpotAsk vs ChatGPT for Mac.
What each app is for
Cherry Studio: a cross-platform AI workstation
Cherry Studio is an open-source AI workstation for Windows, macOS, and Linux: multi-model conversations, agents with tools and MCP servers, local knowledge bases, image generation, and scheduled tasks, with iOS and Android companions. It is built on Electron and keeps data on your device, with local and WebDAV backup.
SpotAsk: the focused menu bar ask box
SpotAsk does one thing: quick questions on macOS. Press ⌥ Space, get a streamed answer from your own provider key, press Esc to leave. Highlight text anywhere for Selection Assistant actions, or use External Ask to route a question to ChatGPT or a local AI agent in one keystroke. No accounts, no workspaces—just a menu bar app.
Side-by-side
Checked November 12, 2026. Dash (—) means not verified from official sources.
| Cherry Studio | SpotAsk | |
|---|---|---|
| Product type | Cross-platform AI workstation (chat, agents, knowledge bases, images, automation) | Mac menu bar quick ask + selected-text actions + hand-off |
| Tech stack | Electron 45 (Chromium runtime) | Native Swift/AppKit, no Electron |
| License | AGPL-3.0; commercial license on request | AGPL-3.0 |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux; iOS & Android apps | macOS only (15+) |
| Mac download (arm64 DMG) | 299.5 MB | 10.2 MB |
| Installed size | 813 MB | 28 MB |
| Idle memory footprint | 593 MB (6 processes)¹ | 17 MB (1 process)¹ |
| Memory after one question | 660 MB¹ | 46 MB¹ |
| Global quick-ask window | Quick Assistant, ⌘E default, off by default | Ask box, ⌥Space default, on by default |
| Selected-text actions | Selection Assistant (off by default; toolbar preview lists Translate, Explain, Summarize, Search, Copy, Ask Agent; needs Accessibility permission) | Selection Assistant (⌥⇧Space, needs Accessibility permission) |
| Hand-off to ChatGPT / local AI agent | Mini Apps embed web AI inside the app; no external hand-off found | Built in (External Ask, incl. decision routing) |
| Spotlight / Siri / Shortcuts | None found in app bundle | App Intents + spotask:// URL scheme |
| Knowledge base / RAG | Yes (local files, folders, web pages) | No |
| Agents / MCP / Skills | Yes | No |
| Image generation | Yes | No |
| Multi-model compare in one chat | Yes | No |
| Own API key (BYOK) | Yes (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, custom compatible; local via Ollama/LM Studio) | Yes (OpenAI-compatible, Anthropic, Gemini; local via Ollama/LM Studio) |
| Account | Not required for BYOK; CherryIN account for Flash subscription | None |
| Paid offerings | Optional Cherry Flash ($8/month promo, marked from $10²); Enterprise Edition | None |
| Key storage | Stored locally per privacy policy; mechanism not documented | Local file readable only by your user (0600), not Keychain |
| Telemetry | Anonymous usage and crash data on by default; off in Settings → Data Settings → Privacy Settings | No telemetry |
¹ Our measurements, November 12, 2026, single Mac; method below. ² Cherry subscription page, November 12, 2026.
Why a quick ask needs a different app
A quick question is a different habit from a work session. Checking a flag or an error message takes seconds; opening a full workstation, picking an assistant, and managing another thread does not fit.
Cherry Studio is designed around the long session—assistants, topics, knowledge bases, agents, tabs. SpotAsk exists for the other habit: summon, ask, Esc, gone. Nothing is open afterwards.
Native app vs Electron: size and resource use
Cherry Studio is an Electron app: its Contents/Frameworks contains Electron Framework.framework plus four helper apps, and the running process tree identifies Electron 45.2.2. SpotAsk is Swift/AppKit; its only bundled framework is Sparkle (updates). That architectural difference shows up directly in size and resident memory.
Measured November 12, 2026 on a MacBook Pro (M1 Pro, 16 GB, macOS 26.7.1), Cherry Studio 2.2.0 and SpotAsk 0.3.4, same provider, same model, cold start, 60-second idle, then one simple question. Three runs each; medians below. Metric: physical footprint (Activity Monitor's "Memory"), summed across all of each app's processes:
| Scenario | Cherry Studio 2.2.0 | SpotAsk 0.3.4 |
|---|---|---|
| Idle after cold start | 593 MB · 6 processes | 17 MB · 1 process |
| 10s after one answered question | 660 MB | 46 MB |
| 60s after one answered question | 661 MB | 46 MB |
| Idle, Quick Assistant enabled, main window closed (tray only) | 741 MB · 7 processes | — |
Two fairness notes. Cherry Studio's team specifically optimized memory in v2.0.5 (August 2026)—"reduce cold idle memory with lazy loading"—and the numbers above are the current 2.2.0, already reflecting that work. And Cherry's footprint buys you a full workstation loaded and ready; SpotAsk's buys you only the ask box. These are single-Mac, single-day measurements—our data point, not a benchmark.
Quick Assistant vs SpotAsk's ask box
Cherry Studio does have a quick-ask window—this page would be wrong to imply otherwise. Per the official docs, verified in the app on November 12, 2026:
- Quick Assistant is off by default; you enable it in Settings → Quick Assistant, and its hotkey (macOS default ⌘ E) must also be switched on in Settings → Shortcuts.
- Once enabled, it works with the main window closed (Cherry Studio stays in the tray)—we verified this—and can optionally read your clipboard when summoned.
- Cherry Studio also has a Selection Assistant—off by default, with a toolbar of built-in actions (Translate, Explain, Summarize, Search, Copy, Ask Agent in the 2.2.0 settings preview); like SpotAsk's, it requires Accessibility permission on macOS.
The difference is defaults and scope, not existence. SpotAsk's ask box is the whole app: on by default at ⌥ Space, answer, Esc, one menu bar process left behind. Cherry's Quick Assistant is one feature of a workstation keeping ~600–740 MB resident to back it.
Handing a question off (External Ask)
Sometimes a quick question deserves a long answer somewhere else. SpotAsk's External Ask routes the current prompt with one keystroke to web AI (opens the question in ChatGPT in your default browser, using your existing web login—works with no API key configured), to a local AI agent in Terminal, or to a desktop app via custom URI schemes. A decision model can also pick the destination for you, with inline confirmation.
In Cherry Studio, we found no equivalent "send this elsewhere" action: its Mini Apps open web-based tools inside the Cherry Studio window, and its cherrystudio:// URL scheme has no documented ask API. If your workflow ends in another tool, that is the practical difference.
Mac integration
SpotAsk's official signed release registers macOS App Intents, so you can ask from Spotlight, Siri, and Shortcuts, plus a documented spotask:// URL scheme for Terminal, Alfred, or Raycast. Details: Spotlight, Siri & Shortcuts.
Cherry Studio's app bundle contains no App Intents, and we found no Spotlight or Shortcuts actions for it on macOS—its integration story is cross-platform rather than Mac-specific.
Privacy, keys and accounts
SpotAsk: no account, no telemetry, no relay servers—requests go directly from your Mac to the provider endpoint you configure, and keys are stored in a local file readable only by your macOS user (0600), not in Keychain. See Privacy Architecture and the BYOK guide.
Cherry Studio: per its privacy policy (updated August 20, 2026), the app stores API keys, conversations, and settings locally, connects directly to providers you configure, and explicitly does not collect your API keys or conversation content. It does collect anonymized "basic operational information" and "product improvement information" (usage frequency, error logs, crash reports) by default, with a documented off switch under Settings → Data Settings → Privacy Settings. Using Cherry's built-in model services instead of your own key routes that request through Cherry's relay. We quote the policy rather than infer behavior from the code.
Price
Both apps are free and open source under AGPL-3.0. Cherry Studio additionally offers an optional Cherry Flash subscription—its pricing page showed $8/month (marked down from $10, a "20% off" promo) on November 12, 2026—bundling DeepSeek, Qwen, and GLM usage without per-provider accounts, plus an Enterprise Edition. SpotAsk has no paid tier: you pay only your provider's API usage, or $0 with local models.
When Cherry Studio is the better choice
Pick Cherry Studio when the quick question is not the whole job:
- You want a knowledge base: local files, folders, and web pages with RAG, cited in conversations and agents.
- You need agents, MCP servers, Skills, or scheduled tasks that work with files and tools.
- You generate or edit images as part of the workflow.
- You compare multiple models side by side in one conversation, or manage long project threads.
- You are not only on a Mac: Cherry Studio runs on Windows and Linux, with iOS and Android apps.
- You want one subscription for bundled model usage (Cherry Flash) or an enterprise deployment with centralized management.
When SpotAsk is the better choice
Pick SpotAsk when the question is the whole job:
- You want a native Mac app for quick questions: ~10 MB download, 17 MB idle footprint in our test, one menu bar process.
- You want the ask box on by default: ⌥ Space works immediately after install; Esc leaves nothing open.
- You hand questions off: one keystroke to ChatGPT in your browser or a local AI agent—no API key needed for web hand-off.
- You want zero accounts and zero telemetry, keys stored locally (
0600), requests direct to your provider. - You live in Spotlight, Siri, or Shortcuts: SpotAsk registers App Intents and a
spotask://URL scheme.
Using both
They coexist well: Cherry Studio for workstation jobs, SpotAsk for the quick-ask habit. Default hotkeys do not conflict—Cherry's Quick Assistant uses ⌘ E (once enabled), SpotAsk uses ⌥ Space. If ChatGPT's Mac app also claims ⌥ Space, see our shortcut conflict guide.
Install and verify in 30 seconds
brew tap shiquda/spotask https://github.com/shiquda/SpotAsk
brew install --cask shiquda/spotask/spotaskOr download the DMG from GitHub Releases. Then: Settings → add provider and key → Test Connection → ⌥ Space, ask, Esc. Full walkthrough: Getting Started.
How we checked
Verified November 12, 2026 on a MacBook Pro (Apple M1 Pro, 16 GB) running macOS 26.7.1. Cherry Studio 2.2.0 (arm64 DMG, 299,517,049 bytes, notarized) and SpotAsk 0.3.4 build 30 (arm64 DMG, 10,217,545 bytes) used the same OpenAI-compatible provider, model, and API key. Memory is physical footprint (Activity Monitor's "Memory"), summed across each app's processes: three cold-start runs per scenario, medians reported; CPU sat at 0–2% for both apps. We found no official minimum macOS version for Cherry Studio, and its key-storage mechanism is not documented—both are marked accordingly above.
Sources: Cherry Studio README, downloads, Quick Assistant, Selection Assistant, shortcut settings, privacy policy, subscription, v2.0.5 release notes, and v2.2.0 release.
FAQ
Is SpotAsk a replacement for Cherry Studio?
No. SpotAsk replaces only the quick-ask habit—a hotkey box for fast answers, selected-text actions, and one-key hand-off. Cherry Studio's knowledge bases, agents, MCP, image generation, and cross-platform apps have no equivalent in SpotAsk. The two apps can run side by side.
Is Cherry Studio open source?
Yes. Cherry Studio Community Edition is AGPL-3.0, the same license as SpotAsk, and the Cherry team offers a commercial license on request. Open source is not a differentiator between the two.
Does Cherry Studio have a quick-ask window?
Yes. Cherry Studio has a Quick Assistant (macOS default Command+E) and a Selection Assistant toolbar. Quick Assistant is off by default; you enable it in Settings and can use it from the tray with the main window closed.
How much memory does SpotAsk use compared with Cherry Studio?
In our November 12, 2026 test (M1 Pro, 16 GB, macOS 26.7.1), idle footprint after a cold start was about 17 MB for SpotAsk (1 process) vs about 593 MB for Cherry Studio 2.2.0 (6 processes); after one answered question, about 46 MB vs 660 MB. Single Mac, our test only.
Can I use Cherry Studio and SpotAsk together?
Yes. They use different default shortcuts (Cherry Quick Assistant: Command+E; SpotAsk: Option+Space), so both can stay resident. Use Cherry Studio for projects and knowledge bases, SpotAsk for quick questions and hand-off.