Raycast Clipboard History vs Paste
Raycast Clipboard History vs Paste
Raycast and Paste solve clipboard history very differently. Raycast bundles a clipboard feature into its broader launcher — you reach it by command, inside a keyboard-driven palette. Paste is a dedicated app built around a visual wall of cards with iCloud sync. If you live in a launcher you'll lean one way; if you think visually you'll lean the other. Here's the honest comparison, plus where a local one-time tool fits.
Raycast clipboard history
Raycast is a launcher first; clipboard history is one of many built-in features. That has real advantages:
- One tool, one shortcut. If you already use Raycast for apps, search, and scripts, clipboard history is right there.
- Keyboard-native. Everything happens in the command palette — no mouse.
- Text-focused. It's excellent for snippets and recently copied text.
The trade-off: clipboard history is a feature of a larger product, not the product itself. Deep clipboard-specific features and visual previews aren't the focus, and unlimited history retention sits behind Raycast's paid tier.
Paste
Paste is dedicated and visual. Its shortcut brings up a horizontal row of cards showing previews, including images. It adds pinboards for reusable items and iCloud sync across Macs.
The trade-off is the model: Paste is a subscription, so you pay for as long as you use it, and history syncs through iCloud rather than staying purely local.
Where ClipHistory fits
ClipHistory is a dedicated clipboard manager like Paste, but local and paid once like a classic Mac app — with AI built in.
- One-time $19.99 for a 12-month license, no auto-renewal.
- 150 unpinned clips + unlimited pinned clips, so reusable items never expire.
- AI transforms — summarize, rewrite, translate, clean — on your own API key across Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek, Google, or a custom endpoint.
- Everything local. No cloud, no account.
- Opens anywhere with Cmd+Shift+V, with snippets, boards, and a paste stack.
Quick comparison
| Raycast | Paste | ClipHistory | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Launcher feature | Dedicated app | Dedicated app |
| Interface | Command palette | Visual cards | Visual + keyboard |
| AI transforms | No | No | Yes (your key) |
| Storage | Local | iCloud sync | Local only |
| Pricing | Free + paid tier | Subscription | One-time $19.99 |
Which should you choose?
- Raycast if you already use it as your launcher and want clipboard history without adding another app.
- Paste if a visual, iCloud-synced timeline justifies a subscription.
- ClipHistory if you want a dedicated visual manager with AI cleanup, kept entirely local, paid once.
A useful question: do you want clipboard history bundled into a launcher, or a focused tool that also rewrites and cleans your clips? If it's the latter, ClipHistory is built for exactly that.
Ready to try it? Get ClipHistory for macOS ($19.99) — a one-time payment, 12-month license, no auto-renewal. Signed and notarized by Apple, universal binary for Apple Silicon and Intel, macOS 12 or later. Everything stays on your Mac.