The Best Free Clipboard Manager for Mac in 2026
macOS still has no built-in clipboard history — so a clipboard manager is one of the highest-value free apps you can install. Here are the best free options, and when an all-in-one tool makes more sense than a dedicated one.
Why you need a clipboard manager
By default, your Mac remembers exactly one thing you copied — the last one. Copy something else and the previous item is gone forever. A clipboard manager records a history of everything you copy (text, links, images) and lets you paste any earlier item with a quick search or shortcut. Once you have one, losing a copied snippet because you copied something else feels like a bug in the OS.
The good news: the best clipboard managers for Mac are free, and the best of those are open source and fully local — your copy history never leaves your machine.
Free vs paid at a glance
| App | Price | Search | Open source | Also a shelf? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maccy | Free | Fuzzy | Yes (MIT) | No |
| FlowShelf | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes + screenshots |
| Clipy | Free | Basic | Yes | No |
| CopyClip | Free | No | No | No |
| Paste | ~$30/yr | Yes | No | No |
| Pastebot | $12.99 once | Yes | No | No |
Verified June 2026; check each developer's site for current pricing.
The best free clipboard managers
Maccy — best dedicated free clipboard manager
Maccy is the one most people should install. It's open source (MIT), native, and laser-focused: it records your clipboard history, lets you fuzzy-search thousands of entries instantly, pins favorites, and ignores password-manager entries by default. Everything stays local — no account, no telemetry, no paid tier. It needs macOS 14 or later. If you want clipboard history and only clipboard history, done well, Maccy is the answer.
FlowShelf — best free all-in-one (clipboard + shelf + screenshots)
If your clipboard manager wishlist is really "stop losing the stuff I collect during the day," FlowShelf takes a broader swing. It automatically captures your clipboard and gives you a drag-and-drop shelf for files and links and captures screenshots and does OCR (⌘⇧O pulls text off the screen) — all in one private menu-bar app. Items auto-expire after 24 hours so it never piles up (pin anything to keep it). It's free, source-available, and local-only. Choose it if you'd otherwise install a clipboard manager and a shelf app and a screenshot/OCR tool. Download it free.
Clipy — lightweight open-source classic
Clipy is a long-standing free, open-source clipboard manager with snippet menus and a simple history. It's basic compared to Maccy's search, but dependable and featherweight if you like its menu-based approach.
CopyClip — simplest menu-bar list
CopyClip is a free, no-frills menu-bar history from the App Store. It's reliable for the basics but lacks fuzzy search, pinning, and open-source transparency. Fine if you want the absolute simplest list of recent clippings.
Paste & Pastebot — the paid options
Worth knowing for context: Paste is the most polished, with a beautiful timeline and iCloud sync across Apple devices — but it's a subscription (around $30/year, or a pricier lifetime fee). Pastebot is a $12.99 one-time purchase with advanced paste filters and sequential pasting for power users. Neither is free, but both are excellent if their specific extras fit your workflow.
Clipboard history + a shelf + screenshots — free
FlowShelf keeps everything you copy and collect today in one private menu-bar app. macOS 14+ · Apple Silicon & Intel.
Download FlowShelf — FreeWhen an all-in-one beats a dedicated app
A dedicated clipboard manager like Maccy is the right call if clipboard history is genuinely all you want — it's the most focused, polished version of that one job. But many people install three small utilities that overlap: a clipboard manager, a drag-and-drop shelf, and a screenshot tool. Each runs in the menu bar, each has its own settings, each its own window.
An all-in-one like FlowShelf collapses those into a single app and a single mental model: "everything I collect today lives here, and it cleans itself up." Fewer menu-bar icons, one place to look, and nothing to pay for. The trade-off is depth — a dedicated app may have more clipboard-specific power-user options than the clipboard half of an all-in-one.
Which should you pick?
- Just want clipboard history, done perfectly? → Maccy (free, open source).
- Want clipboard + shelf + screenshots in one free app? → FlowShelf.
- Want a polished cross-device pinboard and will pay? → Paste.
- Want scripted/sequential pastes? → Pastebot.
- Want the absolute simplest free list? → CopyClip or Clipy.
Frequently asked questions
Does macOS have a built-in clipboard manager?
No. macOS only keeps your most recent clipboard item. You need a third-party app for history.
What's the best free clipboard manager for Mac?
Maccy for a dedicated tool, or FlowShelf if you want clipboard history bundled with a shelf and screenshots. Both are free and local-only.
Are free clipboard managers private?
The best ones are. Maccy and FlowShelf store everything locally with no telemetry, and Maccy excludes password managers from capture by default.
Do I need a paid clipboard manager?
Only if you want a specific paid feature — Paste's cloud sync or Pastebot's scripted pastes. For most people the free apps cover everything.