If you’re looking for a Spotlight replacement on your Mac that can aid in productivity, there’s no better option than Alfred. Alfred is a complete third-party replacement for Spotlight search. It offers a far more extensible and powerful platform with plenty of configuration, while retaining the same speed, ease of access, and sleek design that Spotlight is known for. While Apple’s default Spotlight search is a powerful tool for accessing apps, files, or searching the internet, it pales in comparison to Alfred.
Yes, 3rd party innovation can often be better, especially when they listen to what their users really want.
On Linux I use Krunner which is also quite integrated into the browser history, bookmarks, apps, etc, but it stops short of having controls for apps like Spotify. Linux also has Albert, but it is no relation to Alfred, apart from them doing similar things, and Albert does have a media player integration. Although, I’d venture to say that Krunner and Albert on Linux are probably on par with the free version of Albert on macOS.
See https://www.xda-developers.com/alfred-best-productivity-app-macos