Best Mac clipboard managers, compared by need
At a glance
| App | Price | Requirements | Good fit for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maccy | Free, MIT open source | macOS 14 Sonoma | Free, open source clipboard history you search by typing. |
| Paste | $2.49 a month or $29.99 a year, excluding tax; a Lifetime option exists, price not shown | macOS minimum not stated on the pages read | Polished clipboard history with pinboards and iCloud sync across Mac, iPhone and iPad. |
| PastePal | Free download; Pro $14.99 in app purchase | macOS 14.0 | Clipboard history with collections, 75 plus text transforms and optional iCloud sync. |
| Raycast | Free plan with 3 months of history; Pro $10 a month or $96 a year | macOS minimum not stated on the pages read | Clipboard history inside the Raycast launcher, with 3 months kept on the free plan. |
| Alfred | Core app free; Powerpack Single License 34 GBP, Mega Supporter 59 GBP | macOS minimum not confirmed | Clipboard history in the paid Powerpack of the Alfred launcher, kept up to 3 months. |
| CopyClip 2 | $7.99 on the Mac App Store | macOS 12.0 | Menu bar and Dock clipboard manager storing up to 9,999 text clippings. |
| Klipto | Free keeps 100 copies; Pro $19.99 one time | macOS 14 Sonoma | Native clipboard app with a paste queue, screen text capture and a free tier. |
| Flycut | Open source MIT; App Store price not stated | Current macOS minimum not stated | Open source, minimal clipboard stack made by developers for developers. |
| NotchStar | $4 once for ten tools, up to 3 Macs, 7 day trial, 7 day refund | macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon and Intel | Searchable clipboard history in the notch for text, links, images and Finder files, kept in memory only. |
Prices and availability were checked on 4 November 2026. Verify the linked product page before buying.
There is no single best Mac clipboard manager, so this list picks one for each need. Maccy is the free, open source keyboard pick. Paste suits people who want unlimited history synced across Apple devices. CopyClip 2 is the cheap menu bar pick. NotchStar suits people who want a short history in the notch. Prices as of 4 November 2026.
How we checked
Each entry comes from the maker’s own pages, read on 4 November 2026: websites, pricing pages, GitHub pages and Mac App Store listings. Nothing was tested by hand for this list, so it says what each maker states and no more. Where a page did not state a price or a macOS version, this list says so instead of guessing. Prices as of 4 November 2026.
At a glance
| App | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Maccy | a free, keyboard driven history | Free, MIT open source |
| Paste | unlimited history that syncs across Apple devices | $2.49 a month or $29.99 a year, excluding tax; a Lifetime option exists, price not shown |
| PastePal | a one time Pro price with opt in iCloud sync | Free download; Pro $14.99 in app purchase |
| Raycast | people who already use a launcher | Free plan with 3 months of history; Pro $10 a month or $96 a year |
| Alfred | a one time licence inside a launcher | Core app free; Powerpack Single License 34 GBP, Mega Supporter 59 GBP |
| CopyClip 2 | a cheap, simple menu bar list | $7.99 on the Mac App Store |
| Klipto | pasting several items in order | Free keeps 100 copies; Pro $19.99 one time |
| Flycut | developers who like a plain stack of clippings | Open source MIT; App Store price not stated |
| NotchStar | a short history right in the notch | $4 once for ten tools, up to 3 Macs, 7 day trial, 7 day refund |
Nine clipboard managers, one entry each
Maccy
Best for: a free, keyboard driven history.
Maccy says it is and will always be free, and its source is on GitHub. You search the history by typing and it keeps everything on your computer. By default it ignores copies marked confidential or temporary, and you can pause capture or skip only the next copy. The limit is what the pages do not say: history size and sync are not documented, and it needs macOS 14. Both Maccy pages warn that fake sites exist and name maccy.app as the only official one.
Price: Free, MIT open source. Requires: macOS 14 Sonoma.
Paste
Best for: unlimited history that syncs across Apple devices.
Paste says it saves everything you copy with no history limit, with full search, pinboards for snippets and templates, and sync across Mac, iPhone and iPad through your private iCloud. One plan covers all three devices on the same Apple Account. The trade is cost: it is a subscription or a paid lifetime option, and the trial is 7 days. The pricing page does not show the Lifetime price, so check it before you decide.
Price: $2.49 a month or $29.99 a year, excluding tax; a Lifetime option exists, price not shown. Requires: macOS minimum not stated on the pages read.
PastePal
Best for: a one time Pro price with opt in iCloud sync.
PastePal is a free download with a one time Pro purchase of $14.99 that covers Mac, iPhone and iPad. Its listing mentions 75 plus built in text transforms, collections, filtering, Siri Shortcuts, widgets and opt in iCloud sync. The limit is detail: the listing does not itemise which features sit behind Pro, does not state history limits and has no separate website that was read.
Price: Free download; Pro $14.99 in app purchase. Requires: macOS 14.0.
Raycast
Best for: people who already use a launcher.
Clipboard history is one feature of the Raycast launcher. It stores text, images, colors and links, lets you pin entries so they are kept, and ignores passwords from password managers by default. The free plan keeps 3 months of history and Pro makes it unlimited. If you only want a clipboard tool, a full launcher is more app than the job needs.
Price: Free plan with 3 months of history; Pro $10 a month or $96 a year. Requires: macOS minimum not stated on the pages read.
Alfred
Best for: a one time licence inside a launcher.
Alfred’s clipboard history needs the paid Powerpack. It saves text, images and file paths, and you choose to keep them for 24 hours, 7 days, 1 month or 3 months. It is off by default, needs Accessibility permission, and ignores password apps and concealed data. Prices are in pounds only, the maximum retention is 3 months, and the macOS minimum on the home page looks out of date, so it is not repeated here.
Price: Core app free; Powerpack Single License 34 GBP, Mega Supporter 59 GBP. Requires: macOS minimum not confirmed.
CopyClip 2
Best for: a cheap, simple menu bar list.
CopyClip 2 is a small 4.1 MB app that lives in the menu bar and Dock. It stores up to 9,999 text clippings, pastes with or without formatting, pins clips, supports Command 1 to 9 paste shortcuts and skips password fields. The limit is scope: it is built around text clippings and no sync is stated. The older CopyClip 1 is free, and its notes point to CopyClip 2.
Price: $7.99 on the Mac App Store. Requires: macOS 12.0.
Klipto
Best for: pasting several items in order.
Klipto’s Stack lets you copy several items and paste them in order. Pro also adds text capture from the screen, transforms and translation. Free keeps the last 100 copies and five snippets, with a 14 day Pro trial and a 30 day money back guarantee. Pro includes all 1.x updates, and future major upgrades may be paid.
Price: Free keeps 100 copies; Pro $19.99 one time. Requires: macOS 14 Sonoma.
Flycut
Best for: developers who like a plain stack of clippings.
Flycut stores items each time you copy and lets you paste earlier ones with Shift Command V. The hotkey is changeable in preferences. The limit is upkeep: the last GitHub release is from December 2020, and the README links App Store builds whose current versions were not read. Its free status is inferred from the licence, not a stated price.
Price: Open source MIT; App Store price not stated. Requires: Current macOS minimum not stated.
NotchStar
Best for: a short history right in the notch.
NotchStar puts the 50 most recent copies in the notch, with search, links, images and files copied in Finder. It skips anything a password manager marks as concealed and clicking a row copies it again. It does less than most apps here, by design: history lives in memory and clears when you quit, only the 10 most recent images are kept, and text is stored as plain text. Paste, Raycast and Klipto keep far more, and a persistent history is only an idea on its roadmap.
Price: $4 once for ten tools, up to 3 Macs, 7 day trial, 7 day refund. Requires: macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon and Intel.
How to choose
- Want free and open source: pick Maccy. Flycut is the other open source option, with an old release date.
- Want unlimited history across Mac, iPhone and iPad: read Paste’s pricing, then compare PastePal’s one time Pro price.
- Want one fee instead of a subscription: CopyClip 2 is $7.99, Klipto Pro is $19.99 and PastePal Pro is $14.99.
- Already use a launcher: Raycast and Alfred include clipboard history, with the history caps listed above.
- Want a short history next to your other notch tools: NotchStar costs $4 once, but forgets everything when you quit.
- Not sure you need an app: macOS may already cover your case. See the guide on Mac clipboard history.
Left out
Clipboard tools built into other notch apps are covered in the NotchNook comparison and the Droppy comparison. Related reading: NotchStar Clipboard, how to see clipboard history on a Mac and the free clipboard manager list.
Sources
Official pages, read on 4 November 2026. Prices as of 4 November 2026.
