Clipboard manager · alternatives
The best Paste alternatives for Mac
Paste: $29.99/yr or $89.99 once, Mac (macOS 14+), iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision. Verified 2026-09-04.
Why people switch
Why people look for a Paste alternative
People usually go looking for a Paste alternative for one of two reasons. The first is money: Paste moved to a subscription in 2020 and doubled its price in 2024, and if you stop paying, the history you built up is locked rather than merely frozen. The second is scope. It is a beautiful clipboard browser, but a boilerplate reply has to live as a pinned card you paste by hand, and text inside a screenshot has to reach the clipboard before Paste can see it.
What to look for instead
Which of those bit you decides what to look for. If it was the bill, PastePal and Maccy cost far less and cover the basics well. If it was the scope, the useful upgrade is an app that also expands snippets and reads text off the screen, so the copy, the OCR capture, and the canned reply all sit in one searchable place. That is the gap SnipVault is built for, and it can be bought once, which makes the subscription question go away.
Our pick
1. SnipVault
Clipboard history, screenshot OCR, and snippets in one keyboard-first Mac app.
Next to SnipVault, Paste has no snippets with :keyword expansion, placeholders, otp / card-number auto-expiry, or built-in emoji library. Full table.
- ✓You also want screenshot OCR and text snippets without two more apps
- ✓You want to pay once and keep access to your history forever
- ✓You want secrets like OTP codes and card numbers to vanish automatically
- ✓You want tags and nested pinboards rather than one flat list
Other options
Other clipboard managers worth a look
Still with them?
When Paste is still the right call
- •You need clipboard history on your iPhone and iPad today
- •You share pinboards with a team
- •You prefer a large, mouse-driven visual grid over a keyboard palette
FAQ
What is the best Paste alternative?+
For most Mac users it is SnipVault: unlimited history with pinboards and tags, plus screenshot OCR and snippet expansion that Paste does not offer, for $29.99 a year or $79 once. Maccy is the best free pick.
Is there a free Paste alternative?+
Maccy is free and open source, and fine if a searchable list is all you need. SnipVault is paid, with a 7-day trial that needs no card.
How do I switch from Paste to SnipVault?+
Install SnipVault and let it build its own history while Paste keeps running. After a week, pin what matters and quit Paste.
Nothing to migrate: install it, keep Paste open, and see which one you reach for.