Mac clipboard managers compared (2026)
A fair side-by-side of the clipboard managers people actually consider on macOS in 2026 — by price, whether they can search text inside screenshots, Arabic support, and whether your history ever leaves the Mac. Each one is good at something; this is meant to help you pick, not to sell.
Short version: Want free and open-source for text and code? Maccy. Need your clipboard on iPhone and iPad too? Paste. Already live in a launcher? Raycast. Want to search the text inside screenshots — in Arabic and English — for free and fully offline? Clipboard Doctor.
The comparison table
| App | Price | Search text in screenshots | Arabic OCR | Fully offline / no account |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clipboard Doctor | Free | Yes — on-device | Yes | Yes |
| Maccy | Free (open source) | Yes — since v2.4.0 | Not documented | Yes |
| Paste | $29.99 / year | Yes (v4.4+) | Not documented | No — iCloud sync, Apple ID |
| Raycast | Free · Pro $8 / mo | Yes — on-device | Not documented | Yes (3-month free cap) |
| Alfred | Powerpack — from £34 once | No — Powerpack, no OCR | No | Yes — local, no account |
| Maus | Free · Pro $12.99 | Yes — on-device | Inherited, not marketed | Yes (24h free history) |
| PasteBar | Free (open source) | No | No | Yes |
| Pastery | Subscription | Yes — on-device | English-focused | Account required |
| Clipory | $7 one-time (OCR in Pro) | Yes — Pro | English-focused | Yes |
| macOS 26 Spotlight (built-in) | Free — built in | No | No | Yes |
Prices and free-tier limits are as observed in 2026 and can change — check each app's own site before buying. If you spot something out of date, email [email protected] and it gets fixed.
What each one is best at
Maccy — free, open source, text-first
MIT-licensed, around since 2019, on the Mac App Store. If you value a minimalist, inspectable, text-first tool, Maccy is a great pick. It added on-device OCR search for images in v2.4.0, though it stays text-first and doesn't document Arabic recognition. Full comparison →
Paste — the cross-device one
The most polished option and the only one that syncs your clipboard across Mac, iPhone and iPad. That sync runs through iCloud and needs an Apple ID, at $29.99/year. If multi-device is the point, nothing else here matches it. Full comparison →
Raycast — if you already use the launcher
Raycast is an excellent Spotlight replacement, and its built-in clipboard history now runs on-device OCR too — but the free tier drops history after 3 months, the fuller history is Pro, and its OCR is English-oriented with no documented Arabic support. Great as part of a launcher workflow; a free standalone clipboard tool with bilingual OCR goes further. Full comparison →
Maus — OCR with a cursor-following paste
A native Swift app with on-device OCR and a slick cursor-anchored multipaste. Its catch is the free tier: history expires after 24 hours, and unlimited costs $12.99. If multipaste is your priority it earns that. Full comparison →
PasteBar — free and cross-platform
Free, open source, and runs on Windows too. It stores images but does not run OCR, so you can't search the text inside a screenshot. Good for a simple, inspectable, cross-platform history. Full comparison →
Flycut — free, open source, text only
MIT-licensed and built on Jumpcut, Flycut is a tiny, keyboard-first favorite among developers, free on the Mac App Store and happy on older macOS. Its catch is that it keeps text clippings only — copy a screenshot and it isn't stored, so there's nothing to OCR or search. Reach for it if your clipboard is purely text and code. Full comparison →
Pastebot — paid automation, macOS 26 only
Tapbots' polished power tool. Pastebot 3 (2026) adds rule-based Smart Pastebins, paste filters, and sequential paste — but it's paid ($24.99/yr or $39 direct) and requires macOS 26 Tahoe. No OCR, so screenshots aren't searchable by their text. Reach for it if deep paste automation is the point and you're on the latest macOS. Full comparison →
Pastery & Clipory — paid OCR options
Both add screenshot OCR via Apple Vision. Pastery is a subscription with text transforms and app filters; Clipory asks a fair one-time $7 for its Pro OCR. Both are English-focused. vs Pastery → · vs Clipory →
macOS 26 Spotlight — the free built-in baseline
Since macOS 26 (Tahoe), Spotlight has a built-in clipboard history — free, private, and already on your Mac. It's the baseline every list starts from in 2026. The catch: it's off until you switch it on, drops items after 8 hours, and runs no OCR, so text inside a screenshot is never searchable. Reach for it if you just want your last few copies back; reach for a dedicated manager when you need history that lasts or want to search inside screenshots. Full breakdown →
Clipboard Doctor — free OCR, Arabic + English, offline
The moment you copy a screenshot, Clipboard Doctor runs Apple's Vision OCR on-device and indexes the recognized text — so later you can search "invoice" or "فاتورة" and find the image by what's inside it. It's free, keeps unlimited history, requires no account, and makes no network connections. It's the only app in this list that enables Arabic and English OCR together.
Download Clipboard Doctor — freemacOS 13+ · 2-minute install guide
How to choose
The free floor is now macOS 26 Spotlight's built-in history — fine for pulling back your last few copies, but off by default, gone after 8 hours, and with no OCR. Past that, most managers here run OCR — including Maccy since v2.4.0 — so screenshot search alone no longer narrows the field. The questions that settle it: do you need Arabic OCR, want to pay nothing, and want everything to stay offline with no account? That points to Clipboard Doctor, which does on-device OCR — including Arabic — for free. If you only need text and code and value open source, Maccy is plenty; if you live in a launcher, Raycast; if you need multi-device sync, Paste.
Questions
What's the best free clipboard manager for Mac?
For text and code, Maccy — free and open source. If you work in Arabic, or want a screenshot-forward history that's free and fully offline, Clipboard Doctor adds first-class Arabic + English OCR. PasteBar is another free, open-source option, but it stores images without OCR.
Which ones can actually search inside screenshots?
Clipboard Doctor, Maccy (since v2.4.0), Maus, Pastery, Clipory, Paste (v4.4+) and Raycast all run OCR. PasteBar doesn't. Of the OCR apps, Clipboard Doctor is the free, offline one that also reads Arabic.
Which stays fully offline with no account?
Maccy, PasteBar, Raycast's clipboard, Maus and Clipboard Doctor all keep history local without an account. Paste syncs through iCloud and needs an Apple ID. Clipboard Doctor makes zero outbound connections in normal use — verifiable with Little Snitch.
macOS 26 Spotlight has clipboard history now — do I still need one of these?
Spotlight's built-in history in macOS 26 (Tahoe) is free, private and already installed — but it's off by default, clears items after 8 hours, and runs no OCR, so text inside screenshots is never searchable and nothing is kept long-term. A dedicated manager earns its place when you want history that lasts, screenshot search, or Arabic OCR. Full macOS 26 breakdown →
Is this list biased toward Clipboard Doctor?
Clipboard Doctor is made by rawag.xyz, so treat the recommendation with that in mind — but the table is factual and the competitor strengths are real. If Maccy, Paste or Raycast fits you better, use them; they're named here for exactly that reason.
Also see: search text inside screenshots · Arabic clipboard manager · offline & private · vs Alfred