I'm a Nova refugee, and I've been satisfied with Lawnchair as a replacement. It isn't as feature rich, but it hits the key notes.

Edit: Lawnchair site: https://lawnchair.app/

Niagara:

KISS Launcher.

KISS Launcher.

Olauncher

I like Smart Launcher. It's freemium, but I think the paid version is really nice.

I am a fan of KISS, a rather simple launcher. It is also a search-based launcher.

Neo launcher does everything I need it to

I like Kiss.

Have you considered reporting the battery drain issue to the Kvaesitso devs? They could fix it if it can be reproduced.

I tend to switch every month or two between Kvaetsivo and IAO, which is my main driver now. I find it handy and hihgly configurable.

https://aiolauncher.app/

Kvaesitso has drained less than 3% of my battery every day for the last week. > 20% sounds like an unusual amount of drain

I'm still using Nova as it's so feature-rich. I've had 0 problems with it, but I had no idea people were dropping it. Also had no idea it for bought out either, so maybe it's time to look into using another launcher instead...

I would suggest Octopi Launcher. Started using during the alpha and switched back and forth between it and Nova. But now I am fully on Octopi. I really like the widget stacking, now I just have one page homescreen. The dev recently implemented drawer categories and tags. The dev is active and listens to feedback on the subreddit.

I use whatever the stock launcher of the ROM is...

I am a full screen gestures user and for me the 3rd party launchers are broken since A12, or probably before that, even with usage of the GestureNavContract API they are still not smooth enough for me...

With that said, if you are rooted you can get away from that limitation with Lawnchair and quickSwitch, or if you use navigation buttons you are gold with almost all the launchers I'd say.

I so much wish there was a replacement for the now abandoned ADW Launcher (both 1 and 2). I am currently stuck on Nova now.

Ion launcher is simple and light. The only thing missing (for me) is you can't lock the desktop so I sometimes mistakenly move things around.

https://f-droid.org/packages/one.zagura.IonLauncher/

I'm also a nova refugee after loving it for years. Currently using Before. It's list based that functionally makes me use search a lot. But it's quick, clean and while not particularly feature rich. It does have a lot of personalization and customization, such as setting any font type ya can download.

I renamed all my apps to what they are actually used for. Where? is maps, What? is my to do list, Huh? controls my hearing aid.

I've used NOVA launcher for like a decade

I used Lawncher for like a year and now I'm giving μlauncher a go. The latter is more stress free and one has to fight initially with muscle memory until they get it right. I think I'm gonna keep using μlauncher for a while.

I'm currently trying fast draw, it was in fdroid 🤷‍♂️

Kinda like smart launcher where you set up categories along the bottom, can select a widget at the top. I miss being able to search for a specific app but it's usable.

Niagara, but I've also been trying out Octopi every now and then, it's still in beta and there are certain features missing but it feels like it has potential to fully replace Nova.