Mac Clipboard Managers Compared (2026)
Since macOS 26 Tahoe, your Mac keeps a short clipboard history in Spotlight. So the first question is whether you need an app at all. Below is the honest version: what each option costs, what it protects, and who it suits. Every competitor fact links to that company's own page and was checked on 17 Oct 2026.
- Free and already on your Mac: Spotlight Clipboard history (macOS 26+, up to 7 days).
- Free, open source, minimal: Maccy (MIT, macOS 14+).
- Already use Raycast: its Clipboard History is free for personal use, encrypted locally, kept up to 3 months.
- Sync across Mac, iPhone and iPad with pinboards: Paste ($29.99/year, or a Lifetime plan).
- Deep filters and stacks, on macOS 26+: Pastebot 3 ($39, includes a year of updates).
- History locked behind Touch ID, encrypted on disk, passwords skipped, one-time price: SaneClip ($14.99 once, 14-day trial, no card).
Side by side
| Spotlight (built in) | Maccy | Raycast | Paste | Pastebot 3 | SaneClip | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free | Free for personal use | $29.99/yr or $99.99 Lifetime | $39 incl. 1 yr updates | $14.99 once |
| Trial | n/a | n/a | n/a | 7 days | 14 days | 14 days, no card |
| Needs | macOS 26+ | macOS 14+ | — | Mac, iPhone, iPad | macOS 26+ | macOS 14+, Apple silicon |
| How long history lasts | 30 min, 8 h or 7 days | — | Up to 3 months | No limit | — | Unlimited (Pro), auto-expire optional |
| Skips passwords | Apple warns sensitive info may appear | Yes, by default (confidential types) | Yes, by default | Yes, with rules | App blacklist | Yes (1Password, Bitwarden, LastPass, Dashlane…) plus sensitive-data auto-purge |
| Encrypted on disk | — | — | Yes | — | — | Yes, AES-256-GCM (Pro) |
| Touch ID lock | — | — | — | — | — | Yes (Pro) |
| iPhone access | — | — | — | Yes, included | Universal Clipboard import | Free companion app, syncs via your iCloud |
| Paste a queue in order | — | — | — | Yes (Paste Stack) | Yes (stacks) | Yes (paste stack, FIFO/LIFO) |
| Source code | No | Open source (MIT) | — | — | — | Public on GitHub (PolyForm Shield) |
“—” means the company doesn't state it on its own site. Sources, checked 17 Oct 2026: Apple: Spotlight Clipboard history, Apple: Spotlight settings, Maccy and its README, Raycast Clipboard History and pricing, Paste pricing and home page and App Store listing, Pastebot 3. Spotted something out of date? Email [email protected] and I'll fix it.
Which one fits you
Spotlight Clipboard history
Built into macOS 26 Tahoe and later: Command-Space, then Command-4. It's free and needs nothing installed. It keeps up to 7 days, you can't lock it, and Apple notes that sensitive information may show up in it. If you just want to grab something you copied this morning, start here.
Maccy
Free, open source under MIT, and deliberately minimal: keyboard-first search, pins, and it ignores confidential clipboard types from password managers by default. Choose Maccy if you want a free app and don't need sync, encryption or snippets.
Raycast Clipboard History
If you already use Raycast as your launcher, its Clipboard History is free for personal use, encrypted on your Mac and kept for up to 3 months. It comes as part of a full launcher, so it's the natural pick if you already use Raycast, and a bigger change if you only want clipboard history.
Paste
The polished choice for people who live across Mac, iPhone and iPad: unlimited history, pinboards, shared team pinboards and sync through your private iCloud. It costs $29.99 a year, or there's a Lifetime plan, and you get a 7-day trial.
Pastebot 3
Tapbots' power-user tool, with stackable filters, Smart Pastebins, stacks, Shortcuts and a command-line tool. It costs $39 including a year of updates, and you keep the last version you paid for. It needs macOS 26 Tahoe.
SaneClip
- ✓ Locked and encrypted: Touch ID or password lock on history, and AES-256-GCM encryption at rest (Pro).
- ✓ Secrets stay out: skips copies from 1Password, Bitwarden, LastPass and Dashlane, and detects and auto-purges card numbers, SSNs and keys.
- ✓ More than history: OCR text capture, paste stack, snippets with placeholders, text transforms, URL tracking cleanup.
- ✓ iPhone too: a free iPhone and iPad companion that syncs through your own iCloud account.
- ✓ Pay once: $14.99, after a 14-day full Pro trial with no card. Also on Setapp.
Not for you if you're on an Intel Mac (SaneClip needs Apple silicon and macOS 14+), or if Spotlight's 7 days already covers you.
Questions people ask
Does macOS have a built-in clipboard history?
Yes, on macOS 26 Tahoe and later. Press Command-Space to open Spotlight, then Command-4. In System Settings > Spotlight you can keep Clipboard history for 30 minutes, 8 hours or 7 days, or clear it. Older macOS versions keep only the last item you copied.
What is the best free clipboard manager for Mac?
If you are on macOS 26 or later and 7 days of history is enough, Spotlight's built-in Clipboard history is free and already installed. If you want a free, open-source app with longer history, Maccy (MIT licence, macOS 14+) is a popular pick. Raycast's Clipboard History is also free for personal use.
Is there a free alternative to Paste for Mac?
Maccy and Raycast's Clipboard History are free. Spotlight's Clipboard history is free on macOS 26+. None of these sync your history to an iPhone the way Paste does. SaneClip is not free ($14.99 once), but it has no subscription and includes a free iPhone and iPad companion that syncs through your own iCloud account.
Which Mac clipboard manager can lock history with Touch ID?
SaneClip Pro locks clipboard history behind Touch ID or your Mac password and encrypts it at rest with AES-256-GCM. The other apps in this comparison don't list a Touch ID lock on their own sites.
Is there a clipboard manager for Mac without a subscription?
Yes. Maccy, Raycast (personal use), CopyClip 1 and Spotlight are free. SaneClip is $14.99 once. Pastebot 3 is $39 once and includes one year of updates (you keep the last version you paid for). Paste offers a subscription or a Lifetime plan.
Does SaneClip work on Intel Macs?
No. SaneClip for Mac needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later on an Apple silicon Mac. If you're on an Intel Mac, Maccy supports macOS 14+ and is free.