I use KISS launcher. It is simple and I love it.

Apex Launcher. Left Nova a while back and it offers basically the same features without the aggressive bullshit. And while the pro version is somewhat subscription based the lifetime price (7€ here) is absolutely reasonable. `

Pixel 4a 5G, Nova launcher.

On a Pixel with GrapheneOS

I use KISS, I wanted an opensource launcher

Its quick actions, history and tags are exactly what I need.

You need to customize it heavily to get it to look good: I use a very minimal amoledBlack&white config with Arcticons and I love it

I like Lawnchair, it's FOSS, runs very beautifully and supports gestures (though that requires root and Quickswitch module)

Lawnchair. It mimicks the Pixel launcher quite well, which is my favorite stock Android launcher, and is much better than default OneUI. To be honest, I dont care for phone customization as much as I used to, but Lawnchair just works. Not to mention its FOSS and has a great themed icon pack that covers every app I use daily except for the Lemmy app Liftoff.

Action Launcher

Neo launcher, it is foss and can use Neo Feed (which is also foss) it is stable, has cool features and a backup function. Also it is under active development.

I'm on Pixel 5 and my vote is Niagra! It's utterly unique among launchers, most of which are more or less the same but with different customizations. It's difficult to say what makes Niagra better for me, but now that I've gotten used to it (not easy but worth it) all the samey launchers just feel so much worse.

I have used many over the years. Lots of great ones, but it came down to taste for me. A few faves were Niagara, Nova, Lawnchair and the stock Pixel launcher. But for the last few months, I have gone back to Square Home. I was a huge Windows Phone enthusiast, so I just really wanted to go back to that vibe. It took a decent amount of time to get it set up and exactly how I wanted. Worth a try if you want something different.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ss.squarehome2

I technically use the stock launcher... from my first ever Android, the OnePlus One. It used to ship with CyanogenMod preinstalled, which had the Trebuchet launcher. I got used to that, so when CM died I found Evie on the Play Store which is a port of Trebuchet. I still use it to this day!

nova launcher because its what i've always used. plenty fast and pretty customizable

I'm pretty much forced to use the Samsung launcher as I can't live without the gestures. I've tried multiple launchers and the gestures are always broken in some form or fashion.

But...using Goodlock has made it bearable.

I used nova for years, until I discovered Niagara. It's so effortless to find and launch the app I'm looking for

Ruthless launcher! Came from a Pixel to Samsung and can't deal with their UI. Ruthless allows mostly replicating the Pixel look I'm used to.

Probably not very helpful for you on a Pixel, but maybe it helps someone else :)

Since it's not mentioned, I use Before Launcher to help reduce phone usage. It still has some customization, folders, and a notification filter to block out noise.