The short answer
Choose Paste if you want a visual history with images, editing, flexible filters, pinboards, and access across Apple devices. Choose Clipboard History if you want a completely free, inspectable Mac app with no subscription, account, app analytics, or cloud copy of your history.
These products optimize for different priorities. Paying for Paste buys a broader, multi-device experience. Clipboard History’s narrower feature set is the tradeoff behind its free and local-only model.
Paste and Clipboard History compared
| Area | Paste | Clipboard History |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Paid monthly, annual, Lifetime, Family, and Teams options after a seven-day trial. Official plan guide; see the current price on Paste’s site. | Free, open source, and MIT-licensed with no paid tier. Source and releases. |
| Devices | Mac, iPhone, and iPad; one personal plan unlocks all three. Paste plan guide. | Mac only, requiring macOS 14 or later. Clipboard History FAQ. |
| Sync | Optional iCloud sync across devices. Data is stored on devices and in the user’s private iCloud, not Paste Team servers. Paste storage guide. | No sync. Clipboard records stay in one local SQLite database. Privacy details. |
| Content | Text, links, images, files, and other content, with preview and editing. Explore Paste. | Text, links, and references to Finder files or folders. Bitmap-only clipboard images are not recorded. Clipboard History FAQ. |
| Search | Search and filter by time, source app, device, or content type. Paste search overview. | Immediate text search across copied text, links, and filenames; no time, app, device, or content-type filter controls. |
| Organization | Pinboards for reusable content, including shared pinboards for collaboration. Paste organization overview. | Local named groups and Favorites; no sharing or collaboration. |
| Paste tools | Original-format or plain-text paste, multi-item paste, labels, and editing. Official Paste feature page. | Direct paste, Command-number selection, groups, and file reveal; no editor, multi-item stack, or explicit plain-text mode. |
| Clipboard privacy | Local storage with optional private iCloud sync; excludes marked confidential/transient content and chosen apps. What Paste captures. | Local-only storage; skips supported password managers plus concealed/transient content and user-selected apps. Privacy details. |
| Usage analytics | Paste’s privacy policy says it collects anonymized app usage and device information through EU-hosted PostHog. Paste privacy policy. | No app telemetry. Optional analytics applies to this website only after consent, never to clipboard contents or the Mac app. Website analytics disclosure. |
| Source code | Proprietary. | The complete app is open source under MIT. |
Paste prices and plans can change. The descriptions above come from Paste’s official product, help, and privacy pages as checked on July 27, 2026; verify the linked checkout information before purchasing.
When Paste is the better fit
- Your clipboard should follow you. Paste is designed for a library shared across Macs, iPhones, and iPads through your private iCloud account.
- You work with images and rich content. Visual previews, bitmap capture, editing, and original/plain-text options are material advantages.
- You need stronger retrieval filters. Time, application, device, and content-type filters help with a very large library.
- You share reusable material. Shared pinboards and Teams plans address collaboration that Clipboard History does not attempt.
When Clipboard History is the better fit
- You do not want another subscription or purchase. Every current feature is free.
- You want source-level transparency. The full Swift application is public under an MIT license.
- Clipboard data must remain on one machine. There is no account or sync path to configure, and the app sends no usage telemetry.
- Your “rich content” is mostly Finder items. File and folder references, previews, missing-file states, and Reveal in Finder are core parts of the app.
For the larger landscape, read the Mac clipboard history guide and our free clipboard-manager comparison.
Clipboard History limitations to know first
- No iCloud sync and no iPhone or iPad app.
- No bitmap image history, visual gallery, OCR, or image search.
- No in-app editing, rich-format selector, multi-item stack, or shared groups.
- No filters for source app, device, date, or content type.
- Finder items are location references rather than backups; if an original moves or is deleted, its old reference cannot paste it.
For multi-device creative work, Paste is the stronger product. Clipboard History is intended for people who consciously prefer a smaller, local-only Mac tool.
Sources and methodology
Paste facts come from the official product page, current help center, plan guide, and privacy policy effective June 27, 2026. Clipboard History facts come from its public documentation and source. We do not estimate user counts, traffic, or private performance data.