Clipy vs PastePaw

Clipy is a free, open-source clipboard extension app for macOS. It opens clipboard history with a keyboard shortcut so you can choose an item copied earlier, and it provides a separate menu for saved snippets. Default shortcuts are Shift-Command-V for the main menu, Control-Command-V for history, and Shift-Command-B for snippets. Clipy supports clipboard formats including plain text and images. Clipboard history, snippets, preferences, and related data stay on the Mac. The project says copied contents are not transmitted to its servers or third parties. Firebase Analytics and Crashlytics are enabled by default but can be disabled in Preferences. Sparkle checks for updates. Clipy requires macOS 13 Ventura or later, is released under the MIT license, and accepts donations. macOS may require Accessibility permission for paste behavior.

PastePaw is a clipboard history application for macOS with a local MCP server that lets compatible agents search, read and write clips. Search checks the first 300 characters of each clip and any note attached to it. Eighteen clip tools cover formats and tasks including JSON, Base64, URL, YAML, XML, Markdown, HTML, JWT, QR and OCR. The macOS interface provides horizontal and vertical layouts, 20 themes, 29 looks, and light or dark modes. Clipboard history remains in a local SQLite database and is not uploaded, although anonymous usage statistics are enabled by default and can be disabled. Secure Collections encrypt stored clips, unlock with Touch ID or a Mac password, and stay unavailable to MCP clients; the main history database is not encrypted. Triggered AI features send selected content to the chosen provider. macOS requires version 14 or later on Intel or Apple Silicon. A separate Windows app is free and open source but omits several macOS features.