Comparison
PasteMyClip vs Maccy
Let's get one thing out of the way: Maccy is excellent. It's open source under the MIT license, it is and will always be free, and it does its one job — keeping your copy history a keystroke away — blazingly fast. If a minimal keyboard-driven list is all you need, close this tab and go install Maccy. Seriously.
Still here? Then you're probably wondering what $15 buys that free doesn't. The honest answer: a different kind of clipboard manager, not a better version of the same one.
Side by side
| Maccy | PasteMyClip | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, open source ($9.99 on the App Store if you want to support it) | $15, once |
| Interface | Minimal keyboard-first list — type to search, Enter to paste | Visual shelf of cards along the bottom of the screen |
| Visual previews | Compact list entries | Cards with image thumbnails, source app, and timestamps |
| Sync between Macs | None — everything stays on one Mac | Yes, through your own private iCloud |
| Organization | Pinned items | Pins, colored labels, and one-click type filters |
| Privacy | Local-only, honors concealed passwords | Local-first, honors concealed passwords, no account or servers |
Maccy's price and features verified on maccy.app and its App Store listing, August 21, 2026.
Choose Maccy if…
- You want free, and you like supporting open source.
- You think of your clipboard as a list to search, not a shelf to browse — mostly text, mostly the last few copies.
- You use one Mac and don't need history to follow you anywhere.
- You want the smallest possible footprint: no shelf, no cards, no visual anything.
Choose PasteMyClip if…
- You recognize clips by sight — screenshots, links, code blocks — and want thumbnails and previews instead of truncated text lines.
- You work across more than one Mac and want history synced through your own iCloud, with no vendor cloud in the middle.
- You keep reusable snippets and want to organize them with colored labels and pins, then filter by text, links, images, or files.
- You want direct paste into the frontmost app — arrow keys, Enter, done — from a shelf that never steals focus.
Both apps get the important things right: your clipboard stays on your machine(s), and anything a password manager marks as concealed is never recorded. This is a choice between two good options, not a trap.
Two honest questions
Why pay $15 when Maccy is free?
You're not paying for the same features with a nicer coat of paint — you're paying for a different interaction model: a browsable shelf with previews, cross-Mac iCloud sync, and label-based organization, none of which Maccy sets out to do. If you don't want those, keep your $15. And it really is $15 once: no subscription, no account, and a 14-day full refund if you try it and go back.
Can I run both while I decide?
Yes. They both watch the same system clipboard, so nothing conflicts — the only thing to check is that their shortcuts don't overlap. Try PasteMyClip's shelf for a week alongside Maccy and see which one you reach for.
Weighing other options too?
If you're coming from a subscription app, read the Paste alternative page — PasteMyClip imports your Paste history and pinboards in one click. For the full field, including the clipboard history built into macOS Tahoe, see the best clipboard managers for Mac roundup, or start at the PasteMyClip homepage.
The visual shelf, without the subscription
$15 once, all your Macs, free updates — and a 14-day no-questions refund if Maccy turns out to be all you needed.
macOS 14+ · one license, all your Macs · 14-day refund