A Paste alternative for your Mac
Paste is one of the best-known clipboard managers on Apple platforms, and for good reason. Maclip takes a narrower approach. Here is the difference, including where Paste covers ground Maclip does not.
Updated
What Paste is
Paste has been around since 2015. It keeps an unlimited, searchable clipboard history, organises it into pinboards, and syncs it across Mac, iPhone and iPad through your private iCloud. It also has shared pinboards for teams and can hand your history to AI tools over MCP.
Its pricing page lists a personal plan at $2.49 a month or $29.99 a year, a lifetime option, a 7-day free trial, and family and team plans, and Paste is also included in Setapp. Prices vary by region, so check their site for current terms.
Where Maclip is different
- Pay once, Mac only. A single purchase, $3.99 at launch and $7.99 after, with no subscription.
- At the cursor.
⌘⇧Vopens your history right where you are typing. - Smart actions. Format JSON, encode Base64, strip tracking parameters from links and change case before you paste.
- On one Mac, nowhere else. With no sync there is no copy of your history on any server, iCloud included.
- Search syntax. Queries like
app:Safari type:link invoice, plus search by meaning, all on-device.
Side by side
| Maclip | Paste | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 once, then $7.99 | $2.49/month, $29.99/year, or lifetime |
| Devices | Mac | Mac, iPhone, iPad |
| Sync | None: history stays on one Mac | Private iCloud |
| Free trial | 3 days, no card | 7 days |
| Organising | Boards with colours and icons, tags | Pinboards, shared pinboards for teams |
| Text inside images | Searchable, on-device OCR | Searchable |
| Paste as plain text | Yes, ⇧Return | Yes |
| Shortcuts app | Yes, six actions | Yes |
| AI tools (MCP) | No | Yes |
What Maclip does not do
These are real gaps, and it would waste your time to pretend otherwise.
- No iPhone or iPad app, and no sync. If you want to copy on your Mac and find it on your phone, Paste does that and Maclip does not.
- No team sharing. There are no shared boards.
- No AI integration. Maclip does not expose your history to AI tools.
- A much shorter track record. Paste has a decade behind it. Maclip is new.
Which one you actually want
- You work across Mac, iPhone and iPad. Paste.
- You share snippets with a team. Paste.
- You work on one Mac and would rather pay once. Maclip.
- You want your history to exist on exactly one machine. Maclip.
Both have free trials. The honest advice is to try whichever matches your answers above for a few days of real work.
Questions
Is there a Paste alternative without a subscription?
Yes. Maclip is a one-time purchase, $3.99 at launch and $7.99 after, for up to 2 Macs. Paste also sells a lifetime option alongside its subscriptions.
Does Maclip work on iPhone?
No. Maclip is Mac only, and it does not sync. If you need your history on iPhone and iPad, Paste is the better fit.