Clipdiary vs Ditto (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Ditto grades higher than Clipdiary: 2.8 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 6, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Ditto grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Clipdiary
Windows clipboard history manager with snippets and encryption
Free plan · from $19.99 one-time
Which one is for you
Pick Clipdiary if
- Fits if you want a clipboard history that keeps for months on Windows
- Works for home users who qualify for the free license
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you use a Mac, as it is Windows only
- Not for you if you freelance or run a business, since the free license excludes that
- Watch out: business use is $29.99 per PC
- Watch out: versions 5.72 and 5.73 are listed as beta on the download page
Pick Ditto if
- Fits if you copy and paste all day on Windows and keep losing the thing before last
- Works for people who want clips kept on their own PC, with no account or cloud service
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you use a Mac or want your clipboard on your phone, as it's Windows only
- Not for you if you want clips synced through the cloud, since they only move over your local network
- Too light for scripts that handle anything beyond ASCII text, which is all they can read
- Watch out: the Friends feature opens a network port; you can turn off receiving clips in Options - Friends
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAClipdiaryGood | 2.8GPADittoGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | APersonal is $19.99 one-time, under a year of what the category's middle subscription charges. | AFree and open source under the GPL-3.0 licence, a plain download, and priced at 0 on the Microsoft Store. There's a PayPal page if you feel like donating, and nothing changes if you don't. |
| Free plan and trial | B60-day full trial, and free for non-commercial personal use. Freelancing and running a business are excluded. | AThe whole app is free, not a cut-down version. There's no paid tier, no account and no telemetry, so you could stay on it for good. |
| Features | CClipboard history, several formats, labels, snippets and a protected database. A focused job, done fully. | CFor one PC it covers clipboard work: text, images, HTML and custom formats, search, plain-text paste on Shift-Enter, groups with their own hot keys, scripts and exclusion rules. The listing names the limits too. No cloud sync, only clips sent to PCs on your network, and scripts read ASCII text alone. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record, but you install it and start using it. | BNo store rating is on record, but nothing needs setting up: install it, copy as usual, then press Ctrl + ` and hit Enter on the clip you want. The scripting is there if you fancy it, not something you need. |
| Platforms and integrations | DWindows only. No Mac, Linux or phone version mentioned. | DWindows only, a single operating system. It comes as an installer, a portable ZIP, Chocolatey and Winget packages and a Microsoft Store app, but that's all one system. No Mac, no phone and no cloud sync. |
| Best for | long-term clipboard history on Windows | a free clipboard history on Windows |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Clipdiary and Ditto. How we grade
Where they differ
- Clipdiary can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Ditto is open source, according to its own site.
- Clipdiary also covers text expansion.
In commonFree planWindowsWorks offlineLocal-firstClipboard manager
At a glance
| Clipdiary | Ditto | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $19.99 one-time (Personal License) | Free |
| Free plan | Free for non-commercial personal use, nonprofits, and private computers where income is under $2000/month. | The whole app is free and open source under the GPL-3.0 license, and its Microsoft Store listing is priced at 0. The site links a PayPal page for optional donations. |
| Free trial | 60-day full-featured trial | None listed |
| Windows | ||
| Made by | Clipdiary | Scott Brogden |
| Price read from | clipdiary.com | apps.microsoft.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Clipdiary
- Windows only; the site mentions no Mac, Linux or mobile version.
- Free use excludes remote work, freelancing and running your own business.
- Version 5.72 and 5.73 are listed as beta releases on the download page.
Ditto
- Windows only: the downloads listed are an installer, a portable ZIP, Chocolatey and Winget packages, and a Microsoft Store app.
- There is no cloud sync. Clips reach other computers only when sent over the local network to machines listed under Options - Friends.
- Ditto opens a network port for the Friends feature; receiving clips can be turned off in Options - Friends.
- Scripts can read and change ASCII text only, a limitation of the ChaiScript engine.
Key features
Clipdiary
- Long-term clipboard history
- Saves clipboard contents to a database automatically, so clips remain retrievable even after many years.
- Several data formats
- Records plain text, RTF, HTML, images (BMP), files and more, so a series of screenshots can be saved too.
- Stars and labels
- Mark important clips with stars and use labels to arrange history into folders.
- Snippets
- Keep standard replies, addresses or code as snippets and paste them in a few clicks.
- Password-protected database
- History stays on your computer and can be locked with AES-256 database encryption.
Ditto
- Clipboard history
- Saves every item placed on the clipboard, whether text, images, HTML or custom formats, in a local SQLite database so it can be retrieved later.
- Hot key and tray access
- Opens from its system tray icon or a global hot key, Ctrl + ` by default. Double-clicking an item or pressing Enter pastes it into the previous window.
- Search and plain-text paste
- Earlier entries can be searched and pasted again, and Shift-Enter pastes the selected clip as plain text with no formatting. Copied images show as thumbnails in the list.
- Groups with their own hot keys
- Clips can be filed into groups. A group can be given a hot key, optionally a global one, that opens it or saves the currently selected text straight into it.
- Sending clips between computers
- Options - Friends lists other machines on the local network to send clips to. The project's feature list says data is encrypted when sent over the network.
- Scripts and exclusion rules
- ChaiScript scripts can run on every copy or paste and cancel or alter it, and regular expressions can stop matching clips from being saved, optionally per process.
Plans
Clipdiary
Personal License$19.99
one-time, lifetime license
Non-commercial use at home only; free updates from version 5.72.
Business License$29.99
per PC, one-time
For business, academic or government use; $24.99 each for 5 to 20, $19.99 each for 21 or more.
Extended License$39.99
one-time, up to 5 computers
Up to five computers owned by family members, including a work PC.
Site license$1499.99
one-time, up to 150 PCs
One license covering 150 PCs.
Ditto
Ditto$0
The complete clipboard manager as an installer, a portable ZIP, a Chocolatey or Winget package, or a Microsoft Store app. Donations are optional.
Ways to pay less
Clipdiary
- Nonprofit
Free for nonprofits and some personal use
The register page says Clipdiary is free for personal computers, not-for-profit organizations, and private computers with income under $2000 a month.
Ditto
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Clipdiary or Ditto?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Clipdiary starts at $19.99 one-time (Personal License), and Ditto is free.
Which has a free plan, Clipdiary or Ditto?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Clipdiary and Ditto have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.