Best appsPublished November 10, 2026Updated November 10, 20269 min read

Best clipboard manager for Mac

macOS now keeps a short clipboard history in Spotlight. Here is when that is enough, and which free, open source and paid Mac clipboard managers to use when it is not.

Short answer

On macOS Tahoe 26 or later, including the current macOS 27 Golden Gate, try the built-in history first: press Command-Space, then Command-4, and Spotlight shows what you copied, for up to 7 days. If you need more, Maccy is the best free, open source Mac clipboard manager. Paste suits an all-Apple setup that wants history on iPhone and iPad, Raycast and Alfred cover it if you already use them as a launcher, and Clypy fits if your clipboard has to reach Windows, Linux or Android.

How this guide was checked

In November 2026, each app's platforms, price, license and latest release were checked on its own site, Mac App Store listing or GitHub repository, and Spotlight clipboard history was checked against Apple's macOS 27 documentation; Clypy's behavior was checked against its source code. The apps were not benchmarked against each other.

Reviewed by the Clypy product team

On this page

Mac clipboard managers compared
The short list
Try Spotlight's clipboard history first
When a Mac clipboard manager is worth installing
Free and open source Mac clipboard managers
Paid options and what you are paying for
Older macOS versions and Intel Macs
Syncing with your iPhone and other computers
Passwords and sensitive copies
How this list was put together
Common questions
Official sources

Mac clipboard managers compared

App	Price	Open source	History kept	Syncs history
Spotlight	Free, built in	No	30 minutes, 8 hours or 7 days	None documented
Maccy	Free; $9.99 on the App Store	Yes, MIT	Stored on your Mac	No
Paste	$29.99 a year, or lifetime	No	Unlimited	iCloud, Apple devices
Raycast	Free; Pro $10 a month	No	Up to 3 months free, unlimited on Pro	No
Alfred Powerpack	From £34	No	Up to 3 months	No
PastePal	Free; Pro $14.99 once	No	Unlimited	iCloud, Apple devices
Clipy	Free	Yes, MIT	Stored on your Mac	No
Clypy	Free; Pro $29.99 once	No	No item limit; 90 days by default, forever if you choose	Pro: Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android

The short list

Best built-in option
Spotlight clipboard history
Runs on:
macOS Tahoe 26 and later
Price:
Free, built in
Press Command-Space, then Command-4, and Spotlight lists what you copied recently. Search it, select an item and press Command-C to copy it again, or clear it from the More menu. In System Settings, Spotlight, you choose whether it keeps 30 minutes, 8 hours or 7 days.
Where it stops: Seven days is the longest it keeps, and you copy an item back out before pasting it.
Spotlight clipboard history
Best free and open source
Maccy
Runs on:
macOS 14 Sonoma and later
Price:
Free, open source (MIT); $9.99 on the Mac App Store
Maccy does one job: a keyboard-first list of what you copied, where you type to filter and press Return to pick an item. You can pin items with Option + P, ignore chosen apps and clipboard types, and search the text inside copied images. Version 2.8.0 shipped in October 2026.
Where it stops: It covers one Mac, with no sync or iPhone app. The download from maccy.app is free; the App Store version is paid to fund development.
Maccy Clypy vs Maccy
Best if you only use Apple devices
Paste
Runs on:
Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro
Price:
Subscription ($29.99 a year) or lifetime purchase
Paste saves everything you copy with no limit, with search and pinboards for snippets, links and templates. History syncs through your own iCloud between your Mac, iPhone and iPad, and one purchase covers all of them after a 7-day free trial.
Where it stops: It is for Apple devices only. The Mac app needs macOS 14 or later, and the iPhone and iPad apps need iOS and iPadOS 26.
Paste Clypy vs Paste
Best if you already use Raycast
Raycast
Runs on:
macOS Tahoe 26 on Apple silicon, Windows
Price:
Free; Pro is $10 a month
If Raycast is already your launcher, its Clipboard History command may be all you need. It keeps text, images, files, links and colors, filters by type with Command-P, and leaves out Passwords and Keychain Access by default. The free plan keeps up to three months.
Where it stops: Longer history needs Pro, a subscription, and Cloud Sync does not include clipboard history. The current version needs macOS Tahoe and Apple silicon, though an older version 1 download is still offered.
Raycast Clypy vs Raycast
Best if you already own the Powerpack
Alfred
Runs on:
macOS 10.14 and later, Intel and Apple silicon
Price:
Free app; Powerpack from £34
Turn on clipboard history in Alfred's Preferences, under Features, Clipboard. It keeps text, images and file links for 24 hours, 7 days, 1 month or 3 months, ignores Keychain Access, 1Password and concealed clipboard data by default, and can save a clip as a snippet. Version 5.8, from September 2026, added changes for macOS 27.
Where it stops: Clipboard history needs the paid Powerpack, three months is the longest it keeps, and history stays on each Mac even when Alfred's preferences sync.
Alfred
Best one-time purchase for Mac and iPhone
PastePal
Runs on:
Mac (macOS 14 or later), iPhone, iPad
Price:
Free download; Pro is $14.99 once
PastePal keeps unlimited history with search, collections and a paste stack, adds more than 50 text transforms, and can capture text from anywhere on screen. It syncs through iCloud between Apple devices, Peer Share sends clips to nearby devices on your network without iCloud, and the iPhone app includes a keyboard.
Where it stops: Pasting needs the Pro upgrade, so treat the free download as a trial. It runs on Apple devices only.
PastePal
Best free option for saved snippets
Clipy
Runs on:
macOS 13 Ventura and later
Price:
Free, open source (MIT)
Clipy opens your history and a menu of saved snippets from separate shortcuts, which suits signatures and boilerplate you paste every day. It handles plain text, images and other formats, keeps its data on your Mac, and released versions 1.4.0 and 1.4.1 in October 2026.
Where it stops: There is no sync or iPhone app. Version 1.4.1 is the last to support macOS 13.
Clipy Clypy vs Clipy
Best if you also use Windows, Linux or AndroidOur app
Clypy
Runs on:
macOS 13 and later on Apple silicon, plus Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android
Price:
Free; Pro is $29.99 once
The free plan keeps local history with no item limit and no account (90 days by default, or forever if you choose in Settings), searches by meaning so you can find a clip by what it was about, and makes the text in screenshots searchable. Collections and templates are free too; Pro adds end-to-end encrypted sync with Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad and Android.
Where it stops: It needs Apple silicon and macOS 13 Ventura or later; there is no Intel build. The Paste Strip (Command + Option + V) and sync are part of Pro, and it is not open source.
Download Clypy

Try Spotlight's clipboard history first

macOS Tahoe 26 added clipboard history to Spotlight, and it is still there in macOS 27 Golden Gate. If you mostly need something you copied earlier today, it is the right answer, and the Mac clipboard history guide covers it in more depth.

1Press Command-Space to open Spotlight.
2Press Command-4, or click the Clipboard button to the right of the search field. If asked, allow results from the Clipboard.
3Type to search, or select an item and press Command-C, then paste it with Command-V.
4To change how long it keeps history, open System Settings, choose Spotlight, and pick 30 minutes, 8 hours or 7 days.

In the same settings you can turn off Results from Clipboard, or use Clear Clipboard History. Apple warns that sensitive information may appear on the clipboard.

When a Mac clipboard manager is worth installing

Spotlight stops at seven days and lives inside search. A dedicated app is worth it when you need a clip from last week, want snippets you paste every day, want your history on an iPhone, or work across a Mac and a Windows PC. Which one fits depends on which of those you need, and whether you would rather pay nothing, pay once or subscribe.

Free and open source Mac clipboard managers

Maccy and Clipy are both free and MIT licensed: Maccy is a fast searchable list, Clipy a menu with saved snippets. CopyQ, free under the GPL 3.0, runs on macOS 13 and later and suits people who want tabs and scripting. Flycut, MIT licensed and aimed at developers, pastes from history with Shift-Command-V and comes from the Mac App Store or GitHub. CopyClip, free on the Mac App Store from FIPLAB, keeps a simple history of recent copies in the menu bar.

Paid options and what you are paying for

Paste and PastePal both sync through iCloud to iPhone and iPad: Paste is a subscription with a lifetime option, PastePal a one-time $14.99 upgrade. Pastebot 3 from Tapbots needs macOS 26 Tahoe or later and adds custom pastebins, stackable filters, stacks for pasting in sequence and Shortcuts support. It costs $39 direct with a year of updates, or $24.99 a year on the Mac App Store, after a 14-day trial. Alfred's Powerpack and Raycast Pro mostly make sense if you use the rest of the launcher.

Older macOS versions and Intel Macs

Apple's compatibility list for macOS 27 Golden Gate includes only Apple silicon Macs, and Mac apps are moving the same way. Spotlight's clipboard history needs Tahoe 26, Raycast's current version and Pastebot 3 need Tahoe, and Clypy needs Apple silicon. On older systems, Alfred supports macOS 10.14 and later on Intel and Apple silicon, CopyClip needs macOS 12, Clipy 1.4.1 runs on macOS 13, and Maccy, Paste and PastePal need macOS 14.

Syncing with your iPhone and other computers

Universal Clipboard already moves your current copy between a Mac, iPhone and iPad on the same Apple Account, with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Handoff on, but it carries only that one copy, and only briefly. Paste and PastePal sync full history through iCloud between Apple devices, while Raycast, Alfred, Maccy and Clipy keep it on each Mac. If your other computer runs Windows or Linux, or your phone is Android, Clypy Pro syncs text, links and images end to end encrypted between them, pairing by scanning a code with no account.

Passwords and sensitive copies

A clipboard manager records passwords too, so check how it treats them. Alfred ignores Keychain Access, 1Password and concealed clipboard data by default. Raycast leaves out Passwords and Keychain Access and suggests adding your password manager. Maccy removes a copied password when your password manager clears it. Clypy skips copies from known password managers and keeps newly detected secrets concealed, including on your other devices.

How this list was put together

Clypy makes this guide and one of the apps on it. Each app's platforms, price, license and latest release date were checked on its own site, Mac App Store listing or GitHub repository in November 2026, and Spotlight against Apple's documentation for macOS 27. The apps were not benchmarked against each other.

Common questions

Does Mac have a built-in clipboard manager?

Yes, on macOS Tahoe 26 and later. Press Command-Space, then Command-4, to see clipboard history in Spotlight. It keeps up to 7 days, depending on the option you pick in System Settings, Spotlight.

What is the best free clipboard manager for Mac?

Spotlight's built-in history if 7 days is enough. Beyond that, Maccy is free and open source under the MIT license, and Clipy is a free, MIT-licensed choice if you want saved snippets.

Is Maccy free?

Yes. Maccy is MIT-licensed open source and free to download from maccy.app. The Mac App Store version costs $9.99, and that money funds its development.

What is a good Maccy alternative?

Clipy if you want saved snippets for free, Paste or PastePal if you want your history on iPhone and iPad, Raycast if you want a launcher with it, and Clypy if you also use Windows, Linux or Android.

How long does Mac clipboard history last?

Spotlight keeps 30 minutes, 8 hours or 7 days of clipboard history, depending on the option you pick in System Settings, Spotlight. Clear Clipboard History removes it from Spotlight on that Mac.