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, open source, 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 12+ · 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 open source.
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.