Launcher
SnipVault vs Alfred for Mac
Alfred is the veteran Mac launcher. The paid Powerpack adds clipboard history capped at three months, snippets with basic placeholders, and workflows. Clipboard history never syncs, by policy.
Verified 2026-09-04.
Alfred pricing
£34 once (Powerpack)
Powerpack single-user licence £34 (about $43); Mega Supporter with lifetime upgrades £59 (about $74). Priced in GBP only. Core launcher is free; no Powerpack trial.
sourceSnipVault pricing
$29.99/yr or $79 once
Also $2.49/month. 7-day free trial, no card.
Platforms
Alfred: Mac
SnipVault: macOS 13+, Apple Silicon and Intel
Feature by feature
What you get with each
| Feature | SnipVault | Alfred |
|---|---|---|
Clipboard history Alfred: Powerpack only. | ✓ | ✓ |
Unlimited history Alfred keeps at most 3 months of clipboard history. | ✓ | — |
Full-text search | ✓ | ✓ |
Snippets with :keyword expansion Alfred auto-expansion is off by default. | ✓ | ✓ |
Placeholders ({date}, {clipboard}, {cursor}) Alfred: {date}, {time}, {clipboard}, {cursor}; no date math or modifiers. | ✓ | ✓ |
Screenshot OCR (region → text) | ✓ | — |
OCR captures kept searchable (text + image) | ✓ | — |
Pinboards / collections + tags Alfred has no pinning; you convert a clip to a snippet instead. | ✓ | — |
Paste stack (sequential paste) | ✓ | — |
OTP / card-number auto-expiry | ✓ | — |
Ignores password managers | ✓ | ✓ |
Works fully offline, on-device | ✓ | ✓ |
Sync between Macs Alfred syncs preferences via Dropbox; clipboard history never syncs. | Partial | — |
One-time purchase available | ✓ | ✓ |
Free tier / open source Alfred's core launcher is free; clipboard and snippets need the Powerpack. | — | Partial |
| Price | $29.99/yr or $79 once | £34 once (Powerpack) |
Strengths
Where Alfred is strong, and where SnipVault is
Alfred does well
- •One-time purchase with a lifetime-upgrades option
- •Mature workflow automation ecosystem
- •Clipboard history, merge-copy (⌘C C), and snippets in the Powerpack
- •Very stable, long-lived developer
SnipVault does well
- •Unlimited clipboard history; Alfred caps retention at 3 months
- •Screenshot OCR with captures kept in the vault
- •Pinning, nested pinboards, and tags instead of converting clips to snippets
- •Secret auto-expiry and a capture-trust counter
What users say
Common complaints about Alfred
Quoted from public reviews and forums. Follow the links for full context.
“Clipboard sync won't happen for both security/privacy reasons and because of the sheer amount of data.”
“The snippet keyword doesn't disappear reliably in Google Docs.”
“The expansion sound plays but leaves text blank, requiring 5-7 attempts to work sometimes.”
FAQ
Can SnipVault and Alfred run together?+
Yes. Keep Alfred for launching and workflows and let SnipVault own the clipboard, OCR, and snippets. Disable Alfred's clipboard history so both do not capture the same item.
Does Alfred do OCR?+
No. Alfred has no built-in text recognition. SnipVault's ⇧⌘2 reads any screen region on-device and keeps both the text and the image.
Is SnipVault a one-time purchase like Alfred?+
Yes. SnipVault Lifetime is $79 once, and it includes future updates. There is also $29.99 a year if you prefer.
How much does Alfred cost?+
Alfred is £34 once (Powerpack). Powerpack single-user licence £34 (about $43); Mega Supporter with lifetime upgrades £59 (about $74). Priced in GBP only. Core launcher is free; no Powerpack trial. SnipVault: $2.49/month, $29.99/year, or $79 once.
What platforms does Alfred run on?+
Alfred: Mac. SnipVault: macOS 13 or later, Intel and Apple Silicon, three Macs per licence.
Launch with Alfred; copy, snip, and expand with SnipVault.