Clipy vs Paste (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Clipy grades higher than Paste: 2.8 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 4, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Clipy grades higher on value for money, the free plan and ease of use. Paste grades higher on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Paste
Clipboard manager for Mac, iPhone and iPad with pinboards
Which one is for you
Pick Clipy if
- Fits if you want a free clipboard history on a Mac
- Works for people who paste the same snippets a lot
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you use Windows or Linux, as it is Mac only
- Not for you if you want history on your phone too, as there is no sync
- Watch out: it needs macOS 13.0 or later
- Watch out: updates depend on volunteers, as it is funded by donations
Pick Paste if
- Fits if you copy and reuse text, links and images on a Mac and an iPhone
- Works for people who want their clipboard history kept in their own iCloud
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free clipboard manager, as there's no free version after the 7-day trial
- Not for you if you use Windows or Android, or devices older than macOS 14 and iOS 26
- Pricey if you'd rather pay once: Lifetime is $99.99 on the US App Store, over three years of the yearly plan
- Watch out: the Family plan ($59.99 a year) is App Store only, and Teams is sold per seat at a price that isn't published
- Watch out: the pricing page shows only the yearly price; the monthly, Family and Lifetime prices come from the App Store
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAClipyGood | 2.2GPAPasteFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree for every feature, with no plan to charge. Donations optional. | C$29.99 a year, which the pricing page shows as $2.49 a month, or $3.99 paid monthly. That lands mid-table for utilities here, which sit at $2.99 a month in the middle. Lifetime is $99.99 on the US App Store, a bit over three years of the yearly plan. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright, with no paid tier and no feature held back. | CThere's no free version. You get a 7-day trial with every feature, and the direct Mac download needs no account or card. After that you need a plan, though your saved history is kept. |
| Features | CClipboard history, shortcuts and snippets. It does that job fully, but it is a smaller job and there is no sync. | BIt covers the clipboard job: unlimited searchable history, pinboards you can share with a team, iCloud sync, and rules that make it ignore passwords and apps you mark sensitive. It also connects to Claude, Codex and Cursor. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record, but you install it and use it with nothing to set up. | C4.2 from 1,326 App Store ratings, below the 4.5 a B needs. It saves what you copy with nothing to set up, but the App Store listing asks for macOS 14 or later and iOS 26 or later, so older devices are out. |
| Platforms and integrations | DMac only, macOS 13 or later. No Windows, Linux, phone or web version. | CMac, iPhone and iPad, synced through your own iCloud, and it connects to Claude, Codex, Cursor, VS Code and Windsurf. That's one family of devices, though: nothing for Windows or Android. |
| Best for | clipboard history on a Mac | a clipboard history shared by your Mac and iPhone |
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: Clipy and Paste. How we grade
Price against what you get
Clipy has no paid plan and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Paste starts at $2.49 a month and scores 2.3.
Paste scores higher, and starts $2.49 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other desktop utilities on the chart, none scores higher than Clipy for less, and 7 score higher than Paste for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Clipy is open source, according to its own site.
- Paste can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Clipy also covers text expansion and menu bar app.
At a glance
| Clipy | Paste | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free trial |
| Starts at | Free | $2.49 / month, billed annually ($29.99) |
| Free plan | Every feature is free; the site says there are no plans to charge for them. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial with every feature; the direct Mac download needs no account or card |
| macOS | ||
| iOS | ||
| Made by | Clipy Project | Paste Team ApS |
| Price read from | clipy-app.com | pasteapp.io |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 4, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Clipy
- Runs on macOS 13.0 or later only; there is no Windows, Linux or mobile version.
- The site lists no cross-device sync, so history stays on one Mac.
- Funded by donations, so support and update pace depend on volunteers.
Paste
- There is no free version; after the 7-day trial a plan is needed, though your saved history is kept.
- Apple platforms only. The App Store listing requires macOS 14 or later and iOS or iPadOS 26 or later.
- The Family plan is sold only on the App Store, and the Teams plan only on the website at a per-seat price that is not published.
- The pricing page showed only the annual price as text; the monthly, Family and Lifetime prices come from the US App Store listing.
Key features
Clipy
- Clipboard history
- Keeps what you copy, extending the clipboard beyond a single item, with support for plain text, images and other formats.
- Keyboard shortcut access
- Open the history menu with a shortcut and pick an earlier item to paste, without leaving the keyboard.
- Snippets
- Save frequently used text as snippets and paste it whenever you need it.
- Open source
- The code is public and the site invites bug reports, feature requests and pull requests through its issue tracker.
Paste
- Unlimited clipboard history
- Everything you copy is saved with no limit on age or count, and the whole history can be searched.
- Pinboards
- Pin the snippets, links, colors and templates you use regularly to pinboards. Pinboards can be shared to keep a team in sync.
- Sync through iCloud
- Clipboard history follows you across Mac, iPhone and iPad. The vendor says the data stays on your devices and in your private iCloud, not on its servers.
- Privacy rules
- Set rules so that Paste ignores passwords and anything copied in apps you mark as sensitive.
- Paste MCP for AI tools
- Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code and Windsurf can search your clipboard history and pinboards after you approve access. The server runs locally on the Mac.
- Suggestions with Apple Intelligence
- Paste suggests what you are likely to paste next based on what you are working on, processed on the Mac by Apple Intelligence.
Plans
Clipy
Free$0
All features at no cost; donations through Open Collective or GitHub Sponsors are optional.
Paste
Personal (annual)$2.49
per month, billed annually ($29.99)
Unlimited clipboard history, pinboards, search and sync across Mac, iPhone and iPad.
Personal (monthly)$3.99
per month, billed monthly (US App Store price)
The same features paid month to month.
Family$59.99
per year (US App Store price)
Paste for up to six people in an Apple Family Sharing group. Sold only through the App Store and billed annually.
Lifetime$99.99
one-time purchase (US App Store price)
Pay once and use Paste on your personal devices with no recurring charge, including future updates.
Ways to pay less
Clipy
No public discounts listed.
Paste
- Annual discount
Annual plan saves 37%
The pricing page marks the annual Personal plan, $29.99 a year, as saving 37% compared with paying monthly.
- Education
30% off the first year for students and educators
Students and educators get 30% off the first year of an annual plan by contacting Paste before buying through its website.
- Lifetime license
Lifetime plan with future updates
A one-time Lifetime purchase unlocks Paste for good, including all future updates. The US App Store lists it at $99.99.
- Other savings
Included with a Setapp subscription
Paste for Mac is included in a Setapp subscription at no extra cost. Setapp does not offer the Lifetime or Family plans.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Clipy or Paste?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Clipy is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $2.49 a month for Paste. Clipy is free, and Paste starts at $2.49 / month, billed annually ($29.99).
Which has a free plan, Clipy or Paste?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Clipy has a free plan. Paste does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Clipy and Paste run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Paste lists an iOS app. Both list a macOS app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.