Clipboard History App for Mac: How ClipHistory Compares in 2026

Clipboard History App for Mac: How ClipHistory Compares in 2026

If you spend more than a few hours a day writing, coding, or moving information around on a Mac, a clipboard manager is one of those tools that becomes invisible in the best way. You stop losing things you copied, stop re-copying the same text repeatedly, and stop mentally juggling what was "just" in your clipboard.

The market in 2026 has a handful of strong options: Paste, Maccy, Alfred, Raycast, Pastebot, and the newer ClipHistory. This article walks through what each does well, where they differ, and how to pick the right one for how you actually work.

What to Look For in a Mac Clipboard Manager

Before comparing tools, it helps to name the things that actually matter:

• History depth — How many clips does it store? Is there a hard limit?
• Search and recall speed — Can you find something from three days ago in under two keystrokes?
• Privacy model — Does your clipboard data leave your Mac?
• AI integration — Can you transform, rewrite, or translate a clip without leaving the tool?
• Price model — One-time, subscription, or freemium?
• System compatibility — Apple Silicon native? Signed and notarized?

Side-by-Side Comparison

Prices sourced from each app's public pricing pages; verify before purchasing.

ClipHistory in Detail

ClipHistory is a macOS-native app built in Rust and Tauri, distributed as a universal binary that runs natively on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. Apple has signed and notarized it.

Open it with Cmd+Shift+V. That one shortcut surfaces your history in a searchable panel. ClipHistory keeps the last 150 unpinned clips automatically, but anything you pin is kept indefinitely — there is no cap on pinned clips.

Every clip gets automatically categorized: URLs, emails, phone numbers, code snippets, color values, numbers, plain text, and images are all detected and tagged. That makes filtering fast when your history grows.

AI Transforms are the feature that separates ClipHistory from most alternatives. You can summarize, rewrite, translate, fix grammar, or run a custom instruction on any clip with one click — without leaving the panel. You connect your own API key from any of five supported providers: Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek, Google, or a custom endpoint. Because you bring your own key, you are not locked into ClipHistory's pricing or a bundled AI tier.

Beyond history, ClipHistory includes three workflow features worth knowing:

• Snippets — store reusable text templates (signatures, boilerplate, code blocks) and insert them on demand.
• Custom Boards — group clips into named collections, useful for keeping project-specific references together.
• Paste Stack — queue a set of clips and paste them in sequence. Useful for filling out forms or inserting a series of values in order.

Everything stays on your Mac. ClipHistory has no cloud component, no account requirement, and no telemetry. Your clipboard data does not leave the machine.

The license is $19.99 per year — a single one-time payment, not an auto-renewing subscription. Get ClipHistory — $19.99

How the Alternatives Compare

Paste is the most polished subscription option. Its iCloud sync across Macs is genuinely useful if you work across machines, and its visual browsing of history is well-designed. The trade-off is that your clipboard data goes to iCloud, and the recurring subscription adds up over time.

Maccy is the minimalist free option. It does clipboard history reliably, has a configurable depth, and stays local. It has no AI, no snippets, no boards — but for straightforward clipboard recall it is hard to beat at its price point.

Alfred with Powerpack includes clipboard history as one feature among many in a broader productivity launcher. If you are already paying for Alfred's Powerpack for its other features, the clipboard integration is a solid bonus. As a standalone clipboard tool, the value proposition is less direct.

Raycast takes a similar approach — it is a launcher first, and clipboard history is one of many features. The Pro plan adds Raycast AI, which can transform text, but your data goes through Raycast's cloud. If you are already on Raycast Pro, the clipboard history is worth using. If you just want a clipboard manager, it is more than you need to pay for.

Pastebot is a well-regarded one-time purchase that has been around for years. It keeps data local (unless you opt into iCloud), has good filters, and supports text transformations via custom rules — though not AI-powered ones. A solid choice if you want a proven local tool without a subscription.

Who Should Choose ClipHistory

ClipHistory makes the most sense if:

• You want AI-powered clip transformations and are already paying for an API key with Anthropic, OpenAI, or similar — you are not adding a new bill.
• Privacy matters and you do not want clipboard data in any cloud.
• You want unlimited pinned clips for long-term reference without paying a subscription.
• You use Snippets, Boards, or Paste Stack workflows rather than just passive history recall.
• You want a native Apple Silicon binary with a clean annual price, not a monthly subscription.

If cloud sync across multiple Macs is your top priority, Paste is the better fit. If free is the hard requirement, Maccy is the obvious choice.

Bottom Line

The right clipboard manager depends on whether you are optimizing for cost, privacy, AI features, or cross-device sync. In 2026, ClipHistory is the strongest option in the local-first + AI-transforms space at a reasonable one-time annual price. Maccy remains the best free option. Paste leads on multi-Mac sync. None of them do everything — pick the one whose trade-offs match your actual workflow.