A ClipBook alternative only matters once the copy has to cross

What ClipBook does, in its own words

ClipBook describes itself as a clipboard history for advanced Mac users: it runs in the background and keeps what you copy, including text, images, files, folders, links, colours and emails. You search that history, and its search reaches text inside images too.

Around the list sit the tools that make it a power-user app rather than a simple stack: favourites, tags, custom names, editable entries, flexible sorting, dozens of text transformations, merging and splitting items, and customisable keyboard shortcuts. It also detects sensitive content such as passwords and verification codes, lets you pause recording, and lets you ignore specific apps.

The code is published on GitHub. Read that as source-available rather than the usual open-source bargain: ClipBook is a paid app, and its repository restricts commercial use and redistribution. You can inspect it and build it for yourself, which is the transparency the developer is offering.

ClipBook's stated requirements and prices, and what each means for a second Mac

Everything in the left column is stated on clipbook.app. The right column is only what it means once there are two Macs on your desk.

Which ClipBook alternative fits: three kinds of reader

If everything happens on one Mac and you wanted a better history, you do not need an alternative at all. ClipBook is built for exactly that, and nothing below improves on tags, image search or 78 text transformations.

If you want one merged history that several devices share, no app on this page does it. ClipBob merges through iCloud when every Mac runs macOS 26 on Apple Silicon under one Apple ID; Paste carries a history to an iPhone through its own subscription. Those are the pages to read instead.

If what you actually need is the copy itself to arrive on your other Mac, that is a different job from history, and it is the one Deskferry does.

ClipBook vs Deskferry: what changes if you switch

Deskferry is a menu bar app for macOS 14 or later. It uses no cloud and no account: the administrator chooses Add Mac, the other Mac chooses Join a Group and types a 6-digit code that lasts 120 seconds, and the administrator approves it. After that the Macs talk to each other over a local network they can both reach.

What crosses is the copy you just made. Text, addresses and pictures go on every plan; files and videos need Pro or Max, folders need Max, and a transfer is capped at 100 MB by default. If the two Macs are on different Apple IDs, or one is managed by an employer, none of that changes — there is no shared login in the path.

The trade-off: Deskferry's history is plainer, and stays put

Deskferry keeps a searchable history on each Mac, and that is the whole of it. There are no tags, no favourites, no text transformations and no text extraction from images. Search covers saved text, contact fields, file names and folder names on every plan; Free fully opens the latest 20 records, and a paid plan opens the rest.

It also does not merge the two histories. Each Mac keeps its own record, so you cannot sit at the desktop and browse what the laptop copied last Tuesday. If that shared library is the thing you wanted, keep looking — and read the comparison of history against sync before you pay for anything.