The best clipboard managers for Mac, compared
We make Maclip, so take this with that in mind. Every other app's facts come from its own website, and where another app is the better fit we say so. The short answer: the best clipboard manager is the one that matches how you work, and the table below makes that quick to see.
Updated
At a glance
| Maclip | Paste | Raycast | Alfred | Maccy | macOS Spotlight | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.49 once, normally $19.99 | $29.99/year, or lifetime | Free; Pro $10/month | £34 Powerpack | Free | Free, built in |
| How long history lasts | Unlimited | Unlimited | Up to 3 months | Up to 3 months | Not listed | Up to 7 days |
| Opens at the text cursor | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | No: In Spotlight |
| Paste several clips in order | Yes: Tab, Return or Space between | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | No |
| Snippets that expand as you type | Yes: Date, clipboard, cursor | Not listed | Yes | Yes: Date, clipboard, cursor | Not listed | No |
| Plain text or Markdown per app | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | No |
| Jump back to the source page | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Search by meaning, on-device | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Search text inside screenshots | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| AI apps (MCP) | Yes: You approve each request | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | No |
| Encrypted on disk | Yes | Not listed | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| iPhone and iPad | No | Yes: Syncs with private iCloud | Not listed | Not listed | No | No |
| Open source | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
Pick by what you need
- Your clipboard on iPhone and iPad too. Paste. It syncs through your private iCloud.
- Free and open source. Maccy.
- You already live in a launcher. Raycast or Alfred include a clipboard history.
- Only the last few things you copied. The history built into macOS Tahoe.
- Custom text filters and stacks, synced between Macs. Pastebot.
- Paste stacks, snippets, per-app paste rules and AI access you approve, on one Mac, paid once. Maclip.
Maclip
A native Mac app that opens your history at the text cursor with ⌘⇧V. It adds paste stacks with Tab between items, snippets with placeholders, plain text or Markdown per app, a link back to where each clip came from, search by meaning and inside screenshots, and a local MCP server that asks before any AI app reads a clip. Links you copy lose their tracking parameters, and selected text in any app can be saved or swapped for a clip from the right-click menu. History is encrypted on your Mac. $6.49 (launch price, normally $19.99) once for 2 Macs, with a 7-day trial. No iPhone app and no sync.
Raycast and Alfred: a launcher with a clipboard
Both are launchers first. Raycast's Clipboard History is free, encrypted on your Mac and kept for up to 3 months; it opens in Raycast's own window next to its snippets, window management and AI features. Alfred's Clipboard History and Snippets come with its Powerpack, a one-time £34 licence. History is off by default and kept for up to 3 months, and snippets support placeholders such as {date}, {clipboard} and {cursor}.
- Where Maclip goes further. History with no time limit, opened at the text cursor with
⌘⇧V; paste stacks with Tab between clips; plain text or Markdown per app; Go to Source; search by meaning and inside screenshots; AI access you approve over a local MCP server. - Where they win. Maclip is not a launcher: no app launching, window management or extensions. Raycast's clipboard costs nothing, and Alfred's workflows and placeholders go further than Maclip's Shortcuts actions and snippets.
- Pick a launcher if you want one app for everything and its clipboard history already covers you. Pick Maclip if you copy and paste all day, fill forms, or paste into apps that need plain text or Markdown.
They work together: leave either launcher's history on or off, and run Maclip's Shortcuts actions, such as Search Clips, from Raycast or Alfred.
Pastebot: stacks, filters and sync
Pastebot, from Tapbots, keeps your history and adds Stacks for pasting clippings one after another with ⌃⌘V, filters you can chain to transform text before pasting, rule-based Smart Pastebins, iCloud sync between Macs, Shortcuts support and a command-line tool. Pastebot 3 requires macOS 26 Tahoe.
- Where Maclip goes further. Its stacks press Tab, Return or Space between clips and paste the whole stack with one
Return. It adds snippets that expand as you type, paste rules per app, smart boards that detect emails, phone numbers and addresses, Go to Source, and AI access you approve. It runs on macOS 13 Ventura and later. - Where Pastebot wins. Sync between Macs, filters you build and chain yourself, and a command-line tool.
The others, in brief
- Paste. The most polished option across Apple devices: unlimited history, pinboards, private iCloud sync and an AI integration. $2.49 a month or $29.99 a year, with a lifetime plan.
- Raycast. A free launcher whose clipboard history keeps up to 3 months, encrypted on your Mac, alongside snippets and much more. Pro is $10 a month.
- Alfred. A launcher whose Powerpack (£34) adds clipboard history, kept for up to 3 months, and snippets with placeholders.
- Maccy. Free, open source and deliberately minimal. Keyboard-first, needs macOS 14.
- Pastebot. From Tapbots, with stacks for pasting in sequence, chainable text filters, and iCloud sync between Macs.
- macOS Tahoe's Spotlight. Built in from macOS 26:
⌘Spacethen⌘4, keeping items for 30 minutes, 8 hours or 7 days.
Facts for other apps come from their websites, checked in September 2026. Prices can vary by region.
Questions
What is the best free clipboard manager for Mac?
Maccy, if you want free and open source. Raycast's clipboard history is also free and keeps up to 3 months. On macOS 26 Tahoe, Spotlight keeps up to 7 days with nothing to install.
Which Mac clipboard manager can paste several items in order?
Maclip's paste stack pastes clips in order and can press Tab, Return or Space between them, which fills a form field by field. Pastebot's Stacks also paste in sequence.
Which clipboard managers work with Claude or Cursor?
Maclip and Paste both connect to AI tools over MCP. Maclip asks you to approve every request, never shares clips it detects as passwords or keys, and logs each one.
Which Mac clipboard manager removes tracking from copied links?
Maclip strips trackers such as utm_source, fbclid and gclid from every link you copy, on the clipboard itself, and keeps the parameters a link needs. Safari also offers Copy Link Without Tracking for links you copy from it.
How long do Raycast and Alfred keep clipboard history?
Both keep it for up to 3 months. Alfred's Clipboard History is part of its paid Powerpack and is off until you turn it on. Maclip can keep history with no time limit.
Can I use Maclip with Raycast or Alfred?
Yes. They don't conflict, and Maclip's Shortcuts actions, such as Search Clips, can be run from either launcher.
Is there a clipboard manager without a subscription?
Yes. Maclip is $6.49 (launch price, normally $19.99), paid once. Maccy is free. Alfred's Powerpack is a one-time licence, and Paste sells a lifetime plan alongside its subscriptions.