Toolnotch vs Maccy: is a paid clipboard manager worth it?

Maccy is free, open source and does one thing well: it keeps what you copy and gets it back with a few keys. If that's all you want, keep Maccy. Toolnotch is a paid app that bundles several tools in the MacBook notch for one price. Its clipboard history, Pasteback, does more than Maccy: it searches the words inside screenshots, masks API keys and passwords on screen, shows previews, and pastes a queue of copies in order. And the same licence includes a window manager, eye breaks and a keep-awake tool. You pay for that, so the question is whether you'd use it.

I make Toolnotch, so weigh that. Maccy's details below come from maccy.app, its GitHub README and its Mac App Store listing, checked on 20 October 2026.

What each app does

"Not mentioned" means Maccy's site and README don't list it; check the current version if it matters to you.

Price and licence

Maccy's App Store version is the same app; buying it there is a way to support the developer. The free download is not a cut-down version.

What you get by paying

Search inside images. Copy a screenshot of an error, a slide or a receipt, and weeks later type a word that was in it: Pasteback finds the image, because it reads the text on your Mac in the background with Apple's text recognition. Pick it and choose Copy Text to get the lines out. More in search the text in your screenshots.

Secrets that don't sit in plain sight. Maccy ignores copies that password managers mark as concealed, which is the standard and a good one. Pasteback goes further for things you copy from anywhere: API keys, tokens, private keys and passwords inside URLs are recognised and shown as their first characters, then dots. Paste still sends the real value. By default a secret is kept until the Mac restarts. Details in clipboard managers and passwords.

Previews. A link shows its page title and image, a command or piece of code gets syntax colours, a colour shows as a swatch with its hex, RGB and HSL values, a screenshot shows full size.

The Paste Stack. Press ⌃⌘C, copy five fields from one window, then each ⌘V in the form pastes the next one in order. See paste multiple items in order.

Text from anything on screen. ⇧⌘2, drag over a slide in a screen share or a paused video, and the text is on your clipboard.

The shelf. Drag files to the notch to keep them close, and new screenshots wait there for 24 hours so you can drag one into a chat without hunting through the Desktop.

The other tools. Wyndow snaps windows with ⌃⌥ and the arrows and puts them back when you replug a display. Bodybreak gives 20-20-20 eye breaks that wait for calls. Staywake keeps the Mac awake while a terminal job runs. All in the same licence.

What Maccy does better

It's free, and the code is public under the MIT licence, which matters if you want to audit what reads your clipboard. It's tiny and fast, it runs on macOS 14 Sonoma, one version older than Toolnotch needs, and its menu bar list is quick to scan. It has years of use behind it and a large number of downloads on GitHub. There's nothing to activate and no licence check.

Pasteback, for its part, opens as a larger panel with previews. If you prefer a compact list that stays out of the way, Maccy's design suits you better.

Can you run both?

Not usefully: two clipboard histories would record the same copies, and both use ⇧⌘C by default. Toolnotch tells you when a shortcut is already taken and lets you pick another. If you'd rather keep Maccy for the clipboard, turn Pasteback off in Toolnotch's settings and keep the window manager, breaks and keep-awake.

Which one to choose

Choose Maccy if you want a free, open-source clipboard history and nothing else.

Choose Toolnotch if you'd use search inside screenshots, masked secrets or the Paste Stack, and if a window manager and eye breaks are on your list too. One licence covers three Macs and every tool Toolnotch adds later.

Want sync with your iPhone instead? See Toolnotch vs Paste. Read more in how to see your clipboard history on a Mac. Try the clipboard demo on toolnotch.app, or see pricing.

FAQ

Is Maccy really free?

Yes. The GitHub and Homebrew versions are free and open source. The Mac App Store version costs $9.99 and is the same app.

Can I import my Maccy history into Toolnotch?

There's no import. Pasteback starts recording from the moment you install it, and pinned items have to be pinned again.

Does Pasteback sync with my iPhone?

No. The history stays on the Mac, by design. If you need it on an iPhone, Paste does that through iCloud.

Which macOS do I need?

Maccy needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Toolnotch needs macOS 15 Sequoia or later, on Apple silicon or Intel.