Choosing a Paste alternative for Mac by what you use Paste for

What Paste gives you for the subscription

Paste runs on Mac, iPhone and iPad and keeps an unlimited clipboard history with search and pinboards. History syncs through your private iCloud to every device signed in with the same Apple Account, and Paste says it never touches its servers. The Personal plan is listed at US$29.99 billed annually before tax, a one-time Lifetime plan is also offered, and there is a 7-day free trial.

Keep that list in mind. Each alternative below describes itself as a macOS app, none lists an iPhone or iPad version, and most list no sync at all. If your only complaint is the subscription, Paste's own Lifetime plan is worth pricing before you switch.

The history apps at a glance

Every Mac Paste alternative in this table needs macOS 14 or later. They differ on price, license and whether anything leaves the Mac.

Free Paste alternative apps for Mac that keep the card look

If you searched for a free Paste alternative for Mac because you like the cards, three open-source projects copy that layout closely. Pesty calls itself a native reimplementation of the Paste experience: a color-coded strip slides up from the bottom of the screen, Command-1 to Command-9 paste recent clips, and pinboards hold what you reuse. The GitHub and Homebrew builds are free, and the Mac App Store build has an optional one-time fee. Its README also lists optional iCloud Drive sync of history and pinboards across your Macs.

Clipbara, which was called PasteClip until August 2026, shows clips as cards in a panel at the bottom of the screen, with pinboards, Quick Look and search by content or source app. Picking a clip puts it on the clipboard, and you paste with Command-V yourself, because the app does not ask for permission to type into other apps. Pasty is newer: its README marks version 0.2.0, lists a Paste Stack, snippet variables and a panel that drops down from the notch, and says the app is ad-hoc signed, so macOS asks you to confirm the first launch. These are small projects, so read each README before you trust one with everything you copy.

Lighter options: Maccy or Maus

Maccy is the free, MIT-licensed choice when a searchable list is enough. You open it with Shift-Command-C, type to filter and press Return, and everything stays on your computer. We compare it with Paste head to head in Paste vs Maccy, so the details are not repeated here.

Maus is for people who want no subscription and do not need open source. It opens next to your cursor, captures text, images, links, files and colors, and can paste several items in order. The free version has every feature with 24 hours of history. Pro costs US$12.99 once and adds unlimited history and extra themes. Its site says nothing leaves your Mac: no cloud, no sync, no account.

Stay on Paste if the iPhone matters

If you copy on the Mac and paste on an iPhone or iPad, Paste is still the tool for it. Every plan covers all three devices, history syncs through iCloud across devices on one Apple Account, and on iOS the Paste Keyboard brings that history into any app. A Family plan through the App Store covers up to six people.

Copies between your Macs: Deskferry

Some people leave Paste because their problem sits between Macs: a laptop and a desktop on the same network, maybe on different Apple Accounts, and a copy that has to land on the other machine. Pesty's optional iCloud Drive sync covers that if iCloud suits you. Deskferry is for people who do not want a cross-device history library tied to an Apple Account.

Deskferry is a macOS 14+ menu bar app. A group admin adds each Mac with Add Mac and a short code, and the current copy then moves between approved Macs over your local network, with no Deskferry cloud relay. History stays on each Mac, and there is no shared library between them. On Free, the admin can link one other Mac, and text, links and images sync between the two, with only the latest 20 history entries open in full. A third Mac or Finder files need the admin on Pro or Max, and folders need Max. Mac clipboard sync walks through setup, our Maccy alternative page covers the same move for Maccy users, and plans are on the pricing page.