CopyQ vs Ditto
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Where they differ
- CopyQ is free. Ditto is free.
- Only CopyQ lists macOS and Linux apps.
In commonFree planWindowsOpen sourceWorks offlineLocal-firstClipboard manager
At a glance
| CopyQ | Ditto | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | The whole app is free and open source under the GPL-3.0 license, with installers and packages linked from the GitHub repository. The site links a Liberapay page for optional donations. | 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 | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | Lukas Holecek | Scott Brogden |
| Price read from | github.com | apps.microsoft.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
CopyQ
- People who want the same clipboard manager on Windows, macOS and Linux
- Users who script or automate what happens to copied content
- Keeping clipboard history on the device, with nothing sent over the network
Ditto
- Windows users who want a searchable history of everything they copy
- People who want clips kept on their own PC, with no account or cloud service
- Passing clips between PCs on the same local network
Worth knowing
CopyQ
- Under Wayland on Linux, pasting from CopyQ, global shortcuts and clipboard monitoring depend on the desktop environment and can need workarounds.
- The macOS build is unsigned: the docs say Accessibility access must be granted again after each install or update. macOS 13 or later is required.
- Tab data is stored unencrypted in the configuration directory unless encryption is turned on.
- Clips do not travel between devices on their own; a tab can only be mirrored to files in a folder on disk, such as a Dropbox folder.
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
CopyQ
- Clipboard history in tabs
- Saves copied text, HTML, images and custom formats as items in tabs. Items can be sorted, edited, removed and moved by drag and drop, and they are restored the next time the app starts.
- Filter and paste
- The history can be browsed and filtered, and Enter pastes the selected item into the previously active window once that option is on. Items can also be pasted from the tray menu.
- Custom commands and global shortcuts
- The Command dialog (F6) adds predefined or custom actions that run from the menu, on a system-wide shortcut or automatically whenever the clipboard changes.
- Command line and scripting
- A copyq command-line tool and a scripting API can add, read and write items and clipboard content. The main application has to be running for commands to work.
- Tags, notes and pinned items
- Items can carry notes and tags. Pinned items keep their row and are not removed when a tab reaches its item limit. On Windows, tags and pinning come from plugins.
- Encryption and secret handling
- Built-in encryption, available since version 14.0.0, protects all stored tabs with a password. Clipboard content that password managers mark as secret is ignored by default.
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
CopyQ
CopyQ$0
The complete clipboard manager as a Windows installer or portable zip, a Homebrew cask for macOS, and Linux packages, AppImage or Flatpak.
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.
