A PasteBar alternative, when a shared folder is not really sync

What PasteBar gives you, free and source-available

PasteBar keeps an unlimited, searchable copy history and adds saved custom clips on top of it: the snippets you paste over and over, kept where you can reach them rather than scrolled back to. Collections, tabs and boards organise both, and quick-access paste menus get you to them without opening the window.

It handles text, images, files, links and code, highlights the syntax of popular programming languages, and adds forms, templates and web scraping for the people who want them. A lock screen and passcode sit in front of the lot. It runs on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs and on Windows 10 and 11, and the code is on GitHub under a non-commercial licence with a limited commercial-use exception.

A PasteBar Pro tier is mentioned for unlimited collections and tabs, without a price on the page. Check what it costs today rather than planning around a number from a review.

The Custom Data Location route, and what it actually is

The left column is what PasteBar's own site and repository state. The right column is only what each one means when two Macs are involved.

Which PasteBar alternative you actually need

If you are on one Mac, or one Mac and a PC, and you liked the boards and saved clips, there is no reason to leave. Nothing on this site replaces templates, web scraping or a Windows build.

If you want one merged history that every device browses, the shared-folder route is the closest PasteBar gets, and you should judge it on your own sync service rather than on a feature list. Where it disappoints people is timing: you are waiting for a file to sync before the other machine knows anything happened.

If what you want is the copy you just made to be on the other Mac when you switch to it, that is a different job. It is the one Deskferry does, and it is the only one it does.

PasteBar vs Deskferry: what changes if you switch

Deskferry is a menu bar app for macOS 14 or later, with no cloud service and no account in the path. The administrator chooses Add Mac, the other Mac chooses Join a Group and enters a 6-digit code valid for 120 seconds, and the administrator approves it. From then on the two Macs pass copies over a local network they can both reach.

Text, addresses and images cross on every plan. Files and videos need Pro or Max and folders need Max, with a 100 MB cap per transfer by default. Because there is no shared login involved, a work Mac on a company Apple ID and a personal Mac on your own can still be in the same group.

The trade-off: no boards, no templates, no Windows

Deskferry has no saved clips, no collections, tabs or boards, no syntax highlighting, no forms and no web scraping. Its history is a searchable record on each Mac — saved text, contact fields, file names and folder names, searchable on every plan, with the latest 20 records fully open on Free.

It also does not merge histories. Each Mac keeps its own, and nothing gives you one list across both, which is exactly the thing the shared-folder route was trying to buy you. If that merged library is what you came for, weigh it against having to wait for a file to sync before either machine is current.