Paste

A better way to copy and paste on Mac, iPhone, and iPad

4.8•32 reviews•

2.3K followers

A better way to copy and paste on Mac, iPhone, and iPad

4.8•32 reviews•

2.3K followers

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Note and writing apps

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Team collaboration software

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Content Management Systems

Paste is a time machine for your clipboard that lets you instantly find anything you've ever copied and use it whenever you need it again.

The Best Paste Alternatives

The best Paste alternatives are Pasta, Maccy, CleanClip, CopyCat Clipboard, and ClipScript.

Pasta

5.0 ·

Choose Pasta if...

✓you want a strong free tier indefinitely
✓you prefer visual, grid-style clip browsing
✓you want filters by type and app

See details ↓

Maccy

5.0 ·

Choose Maccy if...

✓you want open-source, lightweight clipboard history
✓you rely on keyboard shortcuts and fast search
✓you need pinning and multi-item paste

See details ↓

CleanClip

Choose CleanClip if...

✓you want a near-cursor paste menu
✓you want number-key selection while typing
✓you hate switching to a big clipboard UI

See details ↓

CopyCat Clipboard

5.0 ·

Choose CopyCat Clipboard if...

✓you need Mac to Android clipboard sync
✓Universal Clipboard keeps failing for you
✓you want E2E encryption with your own key

See details ↓

ClipScript

Choose ClipScript if...

✓you want programmable clipboard transformations
✓you automate formatting and repetitive paste workflows
✓you want to share importable clip functions

See details ↓

What to Consider

Paste is a well-known Mac clipboard manager for turning your clipboard history into an organized, browsable library with a polished UI. The alternatives split into distinct philosophies: freemium, designer-friendly visual browsers like Pasta; lightweight, keyboard-first and open-source tools like Maccy; near-cursor “paste menu” experiences like CleanClip for ultra-fast insertion while typing; cross-platform sync options like CopyCat Clipboard (especially for Mac↔Android and when Universal Clipboard is unreliable); and programmable approaches like ClipScript that treat the clipboard as an automation surface rather than just history.

In evaluating options, we focused on how each tool changes the day-to-day retrieve-and-paste loop—pricing and free-tier depth versus subscriptions, speed and keyboard ergonomics, UI style (visual browsing vs minimal panels vs inline menus), cross-device sync and reliability, privacy/encryption posture, OS requirements, and the level of customization or automation available.

Pasta

Clipboard time machine

5.0 · 1 review

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Pasta leans into a freemium-first clipboard history experience that can stay useful long-term without forcing a subscription decision. If Paste’s premium polish feels like overkill for basic daily capture and recall, Pasta offers a capable alternative that keeps the barrier to entry low while still feeling purpose-built.

The interface is designed for fast visual scanning, which is a meaningful difference from more shelf-style browsers. Grid-style browsing makes it easy to spot the right clip at a glance, especially when working with mixed content like snippets, links, and images.

Pasta also emphasizes filtering by content type and source app, which helps keep a busy history navigable as it grows. For people who spend all day moving text and assets between tools, that “find the right thing quickly” loop can be simpler than managing a more feature-heavy organization system.

Overall, it’s a strong choice when the goal is an attractive, practical clipboard manager that stays out of the way and doesn’t feel gated by pricing.

Best for

Best for budget-conscious Mac users who want a visual clipboard history without a subscription.

Standout features

✓Freemium clipboard history
✓Grid-style visual browsing
✓Filter by app and content type
✓Fast retrieval for mixed media clips

Maccy

Lightweight. Open source. No fluff.

5.0 · 4 reviews

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Minimalism is the point with Maccy: it focuses on fast clipboard history retrieval without the heavier, more curated “library” feel that Paste is known for. For users who primarily want speed, search, and reliability, Maccy’s lightweight approach can feel more efficient day to day.

Keyboard-first workflows are where it shines. Customizable key commands, quick search, and a compact panel make it easy to pull past clips without breaking focus, which is ideal for developers, writers, and anyone living in hotkeys.

Maccy also supports pinning and practical multi-item workflows, so important snippets don’t get buried and repetitive tasks take fewer steps. It’s a strong alternative when the goal is utility over aesthetics and when “no fluff” is a feature.

For people who value open-source software and prefer to avoid subscription pricing, Maccy is often the simplest path to a dependable clipboard stack.

Best for

Ideal for Mac power users who want an open-source, keyboard-driven clipboard manager.

Standout features

✓Open-source clipboard history
✓Customizable keyboard shortcuts
✓Pinned items for quick access
✓Multi-item paste workflows
✓Compact, lightweight interface

CleanClip

The Easiest Way to Use Clipboard History like a Pro

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CleanClip stands out by bringing clipboard history to the cursor, turning recall into a near-native paste menu instead of a separate browsing destination like Paste. That design targets the exact moment of need: when typing in a field and wanting to insert something immediately.

The Cmd+; trigger and number-key selection keep hands on the keyboard and eyes on the current context. This can be noticeably faster than switching to a larger clipboard UI, scanning, then returning to the original app.

It’s especially compelling for repetitive form entry, support replies, and any workflow where pasting is frequent and interruption is costly. The trade-off is that it’s less about building a “clipboard library” and more about accelerating the last-mile action of inserting content.

If the priority is the tightest possible retrieve-and-paste loop, CleanClip’s inline approach can feel more natural than a full visual manager.

Best for

Best for heavy typists who want instant, cursor-level paste access while staying in flow.

Standout features

✓Near-cursor paste menu
✓Number-key clip selection
✓Fast keyboard-first retrieval
✓Low-distraction, in-context pasting

CopyCat Clipboard

Clipboard Experience You Always Wanted

5.0 · 2 reviews

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CopyCat Clipboard is built for cross-device reality, especially when work spans beyond Apple’s ecosystem. Compared with Paste’s Mac-centric experience, CopyCat is compelling when syncing between platforms like Mac and Android is non-negotiable.

It’s also a practical fallback when native Universal Clipboard isn’t reliable between Apple devices. Instead of hoping the system handoff works, CopyCat provides a dedicated sync layer so the workflow is consistent across devices.

Privacy-minded users may prefer CopyCat’s explicit end-to-end encryption model where the encryption key is controlled by the user. That added control comes with responsibility—key management matters—but it’s a clear stance for anyone who wants stronger guarantees than “trust the service.”

With a feature-rich free tier that still covers daily needs like saving, searching, and syncing, CopyCat becomes a strong alternative for people who want breadth across devices more than a premium Mac-only interface.

Best for

Ideal for users who need reliable clipboard sync across Apple and Android devices.

Standout features

✓Cross-platform clipboard sync
✓Search and save clipboard history
✓End-to-end encryption with user key
✓Useful free tier for daily use

ClipScript

Transforms macOS clipboard into a productivity powerhouse

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ClipScript treats the clipboard as an automation surface, not just a history list, which sets it apart from Paste’s core “capture and browse” model. When the recurring pain is what happens after copying—cleaning, reformatting, templating, or transforming text—ClipScript can remove entire steps.

Custom functions let users encode repeatable clipboard actions, turning messy inputs into ready-to-paste outputs. That’s valuable for developers, marketers, and operators who constantly reshape text for tickets, social posts, docs, or structured fields.

Because functions can be exported and imported, setups can be reused across machines or shared within a team’s standard workflows. This makes ClipScript feel less like a clipboard manager and more like a lightweight toolbox that happens to start from the clipboard.

Choose it when Paste’s organization features aren’t the bottleneck and the real win is automating the transformations that happen between copy and paste.