ClipTen Choosing a clipboard manager

Which clipboard manager

We make one of these, so read it with that in mind. Here is what each is good at, and the cases where the free one already on your computer is the right answer.

The short answer

Start with the free one you already have. Windows has clipboard history behind Win + V; macOS Tahoe has one in Spotlight. If you only ever need “what did I copy earlier?”, you are done and you should spend nothing.

Beyond that it splits by what you want. An unlimited searchable archive: Ditto on Windows, Maccy on a Mac, CopyQ on both — all free and open source. A polished pinboard you browse: Paste on a Mac, by subscription. Clipboard history inside a launcher you already use: Raycast. The same few items on fixed keys, so pasting costs no search at all: ClipTen, which is ours.

First, the honest bit

We make ClipTen. A page like this from a company that sells one of the options is worth exactly as much as its willingness to say when the others are better, so that is what the rest of this does. Every price and limit here was checked in September 2026; check the maker’s own site before you buy, because these change.

The free ones your computer already has

Windows clipboard history — Win + V

Free, built in, Windows 10 and 11. Keeps your last 25 copies at up to 4 MB each, holds text, HTML and images, and clears on every restart apart from pinned items. Optionally syncs across your PCs through a Microsoft account.

Use it if you occasionally want something from earlier today and you have never installed a clipboard tool in your life. It is good, and it costs nothing. Full guide →

Spotlight clipboard — macOS Tahoe

Free, built in, macOS Tahoe 26 and later. Command-Space then Command-4. Items expire after eight hours by default, and pasting out of it strips formatting. Nothing before Tahoe has any history at all.

Use it if your Mac is new enough and you want the last few hours back. Full guide →

The free, open-source archives

Ditto

Free, open source, Windows. The one long-time Windows users recommend, and deservedly. Effectively unlimited history, text and images and files and custom formats, groups, permanent hotkeys for frequent clips, editing an item before you paste it, and syncing between your own PCs on a network.

Use it if you want a deep searchable archive and do not mind an interface that looks its age. It is the most capable free option on Windows.

CopyQ

Free, open source, Windows, macOS and Linux. The same idea with scripting on top — it can transform items automatically as they arrive. Genuinely powerful, and more setup than most people want.

Use it if you are technical, want one tool across three operating systems, or have a rule you want applied to everything you copy.

Maccy

Free, open source, Mac. Small, fast, keyboard-first searchable history. Free from GitHub or Homebrew; the Mac App Store also lists a paid build that supports the developer and does the same things. Needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later.

Use it if you want a plain, quick history on a Mac and nothing else.

The paid ones

Paste

Subscription, Mac and iOS. The best-looking one by a distance: a visual pinboard of your copies that you browse, organise and sync across Apple devices. Around $30 a year at the time of writing.

Use it if you copy a lot of visual material, work across a Mac and an iPhone, and want it to be a pleasure to look at.

Raycast

Free tier, Mac. Not a clipboard manager — a launcher with a good one inside it. If you already use Raycast for everything else, there is little reason to add a separate app. The free tier keeps history for three months; longer needs Raycast Pro.

Use it if Raycast is already how you open things.

ClipTen, which is ours

Mac and Windows. Free for 30 days, then one slot free forever, or all ten for $20 once.

Everything above is a list you search. ClipTen is ten keys you put things on. Hold Command or Ctrl, press C, tap a number — that copy now lives on that number. Hold, press V, tap the number — it pastes, anywhere, with no window opening.

It is the fastest option for the thing most people actually do, which is paste the same four or five items over and over for an hour. It is the worst option if what you want is a searchable archive of the last six months, because it deliberately does not keep one.

Slots hold formatted text, links, images and several files at once, up to 16 MB each, survive restarts, and never leave the computer — there is no sync and no cloud clipboard, and copies marked secret by a password manager are never saved.

Use it if you want pasting to cost no thought at all, on both a Mac and a PC, for one payment.

All of them, side by side

PlatformPriceShapeBest at
Win + VWindowsFree, built inList of last 25Costing nothing
SpotlightmacOS TahoeFree, built inList, 8 hoursCosting nothing
DittoWindowsFree, open sourceSearchable archiveDepth on Windows
CopyQWin, Mac, LinuxFree, open sourceScriptable archiveRules and automation
MaccyMacFree, open sourceSearchable archiveBeing small and quick
PasteMac, iOSSubscriptionVisual pinboardLooking beautiful
RaycastMacFree tierInside a launcherOne less app
ClipTenMac and Windows$20 onceTen fixed keysRepeated pasting

How to choose in one minute

  • You want it free and you want it now: the one already on your computer.
  • You want to search everything you have ever copied: Ditto on Windows, Maccy on a Mac.
  • You want rules applied automatically: CopyQ.
  • You want it beautiful and synced to your iPhone: Paste.
  • You paste the same few things all day and want that to stop costing you anything: ClipTen.

Most of these can live together. A history for looking back and fixed keys for the work in front of you are not the same tool, and using both is not greedy.

Last checked September 2026.

Questions

What is the best free clipboard manager?
On Windows, Ditto — free, open source, effectively unlimited history, and it has been trusted for years. On a Mac, Maccy for the same reasons. If you want nothing installed at all, Win + V and the macOS Tahoe Spotlight clipboard are free and already there.
Do I need a clipboard manager if I have Win + V?
Not if you only ever want something from earlier today. Win + V holds 25 items, clears on restart, does not keep files, and makes you open a panel and search it for every paste. If those four things never bother you, you do not need anything else.
What is the difference between clipboard history and a clipboard manager with slots?
A history remembers everything automatically and you search it. Slots are chosen: you put a copy on a key, and it is on that key until you replace it. A history is better for looking back. Slots are faster for pasting the same few things repeatedly, because there is nothing to find.
Are clipboard managers safe?
It depends entirely on where the copies go. Anything with cloud sync is sending what you copied to somebody’s server, which matters a great deal if you copy passwords or client data. Check for three things: does it sync, is what it stores encrypted on disk, and does it honour the flag password managers use to mark a copy secret. ClipTen does not sync at all, encrypts every slot, and skips secret copies.
Is there one clipboard manager for both Mac and Windows?
A few. CopyQ runs on Windows, macOS and Linux and is free. ClipTen is built for Mac and Windows with the same two shortcuts on both, so moving between a work PC and a home Mac does not mean learning it twice.
  • All ten slots free for 30 days
  • No card, no subscription
  • $20 once, or stay free

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