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Searchmonkey III

Searchmonkey III is a desktop application for searching files stored on disk in real time.

Place
#28 of 57
Score
5.9
Searchmonkey III's website

What Searchmonkey III is

Searchmonkey III is a desktop application for searching files stored on disk in real time. It searches the filesystem directly rather than maintaining a background index or daemon, and results appear as the search progresses so they reflect the current disk state. Searches can use literal text or regular expressions. The interface indicates what was searched, skipped, filtered or blocked by permissions. Optional plugins add local processing for PDFs, Office documents, OCR and other formats; supported content stays on the user's machine. A ripgrep-inspired command line provides controls for paths, regex, globs, hidden files, symlinks, context and ignored files. Version 0.4.1 is offered for Linux as a portable AppImage, Windows as an installer, and macOS as a universal Intel and Apple Silicon build. The project is built with Tauri and ripgrep and released under the MIT license. The core tool has a free plan; listed one-time plugin prices are 9.00 USD for PDF Extractor, 14.00 USD for Office Documents and 18.00 USD for Image OCR.

Good

  • Searches the filesystem without a background index or daemon.
  • Results reflect the current state of disk.
  • Supports literal and regular-expression searches.
  • Optional plugins process supported content locally.
  • Available for Linux, Windows and macOS.

Watch out

  • Email archive, spreadsheet and audio transcription plugins are coming soon.
  • PDF, Office and OCR plugins have separate one-time prices.

Who it suits

Searchmonkey III suits people searching changing codebases, inspecting logs or working with large directories. It may also suit users who prefer not to rely on background search daemons or want supported document processing to remain local.

Verdict

Searchmonkey III offers direct, live file search with both a desktop interface and command-line controls. Its optional document-processing plugins are separately priced, and some plugin types are still listed as coming soon.

Plans and prices

From Searchmonkey III's own pricing page, checked 30 Sep 2026.

All about pricing
PlanPriceWhat it gives you
PDF Extractor$9, paid oncePDF · macOS · Windows · Linux · version 0.2.9
Office Documents$14, paid onceDOC/DOCX/PPT/PPTX/ODT/RTF · macOS · Windows · Linux · version 0.1.2
Image OCR$18, paid onceJPG/JPEG/PNG/WEBP/TIF/TIFF/BMP · macOS · Windows · Linux · version 0.1.9

The facts

Each one read from Searchmonkey III's own pages, with the date it was checked.

What it does

Command line
Searchmonkey provides a ripgrep-inspired command line with path, regex, glob, hidden-file, symlink, context, and ignore controls.checked 30 Sep 2026
Downloads
Version 0.4.1 is offered for Linux as a portable AppImage, Windows as an installer, and macOS as a universal Intel and Apple Silicon build.checked 30 Sep 2026
File handling
The interface shows what was searched, skipped, filtered, or blocked by permissions.checked 30 Sep 2026
Plugin roadmap
The plugins page lists email archives, spreadsheets, and audio transcription as coming soon.checked 30 Sep 2026
Plugins
Optional plugins add local processing for PDFs, Office documents, OCR, and other formats.checked 30 Sep 2026
Privacy
Plugins process supported content locally without moving documents off the user's machine.checked 30 Sep 2026
Purpose
Searchmonkey III is a desktop tool for real-time searching of files on disk.checked 30 Sep 2026
Results
Search results stream as files are searched and reflect the current state of disk.checked 30 Sep 2026
Search model
The application searches the filesystem directly without maintaining a background index or daemon.checked 30 Sep 2026
Search syntax
The application supports literal searches and regular expressions.checked 30 Sep 2026
Supported users
The project describes use cases including changing codebases, log inspection, large directories, and environments where background daemons are undesirable.checked 30 Sep 2026
Technology
Searchmonkey III is built with Tauri and ripgrep and is released under the MIT license.checked 30 Sep 2026

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