Guide
Which Mac Clipboard Manager Should You Use?
Most clipboard manager comparisons are organized by competitor. This one is organized by what you actually need — so you can pick a tool in under two minutes and move on.
Written by the Pastery team. We build a Mac clipboard manager, so we have a perspective — but every recommendation below links to a detailed comparison or guide where you can verify the trade-offs yourself.
If you need X, use Y
Start here. Each row is a real buyer question we hear — not a feature checklist. If two rows match you, read both sections below the table.
| If you need… | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Free text-only clipboard history | Maccy | Open-source, lightweight, menu bar list. No cost, no visual cards, no image OCR. |
| To find old screenshots by what's inside them | Pastery | Apple Vision OCR indexes every screenshot at copy time. Search by error text, URLs, or labels. |
| Clipboard history on Mac and iPhone | Paste | iCloud sync across Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Pinboards for permanent clip collections. |
| A clipboard manager without installing anything new | macOS 26 built-in | Text-only history in Spotlight, up to 7 days. Free, limited, no images. |
| Deep history with filters by app and date | Pastery | Overview Mode with sidebar filters. Find something from Slack last Thursday without scrolling a flat list. |
| JSON formatting or URL decoding before paste | Pastery | Text transforms inline — format JSON, decode URLs, change case — without leaving your current app. |
| Everything local, nothing in the cloud | Maccy or Pastery | Both store history on your Mac only. Paste syncs via iCloud; Raycast connects to its own servers for AI features. |
| A developer workflow (errors, API JSON, terminal output) | Pastery | OCR for error screenshots, JSON transforms, app filters. Maccy if your work is text-only and free matters most. |
| The cheapest paid option with visual cards | Pastery | From $2.99/month with a 14-day free trial. Paste starts around $29.99/year with a 100-item free tier. |
| You're already deep in Raycast | See below | Raycast clipboard is good for recent text and images. Dedicated tools win on OCR, filters, and transforms. |
Text-only, free, minimal
If you only copy plain text and want to pay nothing → Maccy. It lives in your menu bar, stores a searchable list of recent copies, and uses very little RAM. It does not show image thumbnails, cannot search inside screenshots, and has no per-app filters. For many people that is exactly enough.
macOS 26's built-in clipboard history is another free option, but only for text and only for 7 days. If you're on Ventura or Sonoma, it does not exist — see how to access clipboard history on Mac.
Screenshots, deep history, and retrieval
If you need to find something you copied days or weeks ago → Pastery. This is the workflow gap most clipboard managers do not solve. You copied a screenshot of an error, a design spec, or a Slack message. You do not remember when. Finder cannot search inside PNG files. A plain thumbnail grid forces you to scroll and hope you recognise the right image.
Pastery runs Apple Vision OCR on every image at copy time and stores the extracted text in a local search index. Type the error message or URL fragment you remember and the screenshot surfaces immediately. Overview Mode adds filters by content type, source app, and date range — so "that hex color from Figma last week" is a filter problem, not a memory problem.
Read the full walkthrough: how to search inside screenshots on Mac.
Mac + iPhone clipboard sync
If you need the same clips on your Mac and your phone → Paste. Paste syncs clipboard history and Pinboards across Mac, iPhone, and iPad via private iCloud. Copy on your phone, paste on your Mac — that specific workflow is Paste's main advantage and Pastery does not offer it (Mac-only, no iCloud).
The trade-off: Paste has no OCR image search, no Overview Mode filters, and no text transforms before paste. If your need is cross-device sync, Paste wins that use case. If your need is finding an old screenshot on your Mac, Pastery covers more ground. See Pastery vs. Paste for the full comparison.
Already using Raycast
Raycast's built-in clipboard history ships free with the launcher. For many Raycast power users, it is enough — recent text and images, fast search, no extra app to install.
Raycast clipboard is enough when…
- Your history is mostly recent text from the last day or two
- You rarely need to retrieve screenshots from more than a few days ago
- You do not need to search text inside images
- You want one fewer app in your menu bar
Add a dedicated manager when…
- You copy screenshots and need OCR search by content
- You need to filter by source app or date range
- You want JSON formatting or URL decoding before paste
- You want clipboard data fully local with no cloud component
Raycast and Pastery do not conflict — keep Raycast as your launcher and use Pastery for clipboard. Each opens with its own shortcut. Full comparison: Pastery vs. Raycast clipboard history.
Quick feature matrix
For the full category overview, see the complete guide to Mac clipboard managers. Terms like OCR clipboard search and pinboards are defined in our clipboard manager glossary.
| Feature | Maccy | Paste | Raycast | Pastery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | ~$29.99/yr | Free (Pro $8/mo) | $2.99/mo · $24.99/yr |
| Image thumbnails | Label only | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| OCR image search | — | — | — | Apple Vision |
| iPhone / iPad sync | — | iCloud | — | Mac only |
| Filter by app / date | — | Limited | — | Overview Mode |
| Text transforms | — | — | — | JSON, URL, case |
| Local-only storage | Yes | iCloud sync | Cloud for AI | Always local |
| Pinboards | — | Yes | — | — |
Frequently asked questions
What is the best clipboard manager for Mac in 2026?
There is no single best — it depends on your workflow. Maccy for free text-only. Paste for Mac+iPhone sync. Pastery for screenshot OCR, deep history, and text transforms. Raycast clipboard if you already use Raycast and only need recent items.
Do I need a clipboard manager if I have macOS 26?
Only if you copy images, need history older than 7 days, or want to search inside screenshots. macOS 26's built-in history is text-only and limited to one week. See our macOS 26 clipboard history review for details.
Is Maccy enough for developers?
For text-only dev work, often yes. The gap appears when you need to retrieve an error screenshot, format JSON before paste, or filter clips by source app. See our guide for Mac developers for a workflow-by-workflow breakdown.
Can I use Raycast and a clipboard manager together?
Yes. They run independently with separate shortcuts. Keep Raycast for launching apps and use Pastery (or Maccy) when clipboard retrieval becomes a daily pain point.
Which clipboard manager is most private?
Maccy and Pastery both store everything locally on your Mac with no cloud sync. Paste syncs via iCloud. Raycast stores clipboard locally but connects to its servers for AI and extension features.
