Paste is one of the best-known clipboard managers on the Mac, and it's very good: unlimited history, search that reads text inside images, pinboards, a Paste Stack, and sync across Mac, iPhone and iPad through iCloud. It's sold mainly as a subscription, $29.99 a year. Toolnotch's clipboard history, Pasteback, covers the same daily job on the Mac with a one-time price, keeps everything on the one Mac with no cloud, and comes bundled with a window manager, eye breaks and a keep-awake tool. If you need your clipboard on your iPhone, Paste is the answer. If you work on a Mac and don't want another subscription, Toolnotch is worth a look.
I make Toolnotch, so read this with that in mind. Paste's details come from pasteapp.io, its help pages and its Mac App Store listing, checked on 20 October 2026.
What each app does
| Paste | Toolnotch (Pasteback) | |
|---|---|---|
| Clipboard history with search | Yes, unlimited | Yes, 10,000 clips by default, up to 50,000 |
| Opens with | ⇧⌘V (default) | ⇧⌘C (default), under the notch |
| Search the text inside screenshots and images | Yes | Yes |
| Pin what you reuse | Yes, pinboards, shareable with a team | Yes, pins and named snippets |
| Paste several copies in order | Yes, Paste Stack | Yes, Paste Stack (⌃⌘C) |
| Leave out password managers and chosen apps | Yes | Yes; password manager copies never touch the disk |
| Mask API keys, tokens, passwords copied from anywhere | Not mentioned | Yes, shown as first characters then dots |
| Copy the text of anything on screen | Not mentioned | Yes (⇧⌘2) |
| File shelf in the notch, screenshots kept 24 hours | No | Yes |
| iPhone and iPad apps | Yes | No |
| Sync between devices | Yes, iCloud | No, by design |
| Suggestions with Apple Intelligence | Yes | No |
| Connect the history to AI tools (MCP) | Yes | No |
| Window manager, eye breaks, keep-awake | No | Yes (Wyndow, Bodybreak, Staywake) |
"Not mentioned" means Paste's site and help pages don't list it.
Price and licence
| Paste | Toolnotch | |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | $29.99 a year on its site and the App Store; $3.99 a month on the App Store | None |
| Pay once | Lifetime plan ($99.99 on the Mac App Store) | $19.99 ($4.99 for the first 10 buyers, then $9.99 for the next 100) |
| Family | $59.99 a year, up to six people (App Store) | n/a |
| Setapp | Included | No |
| Devices | Mac, iPhone and iPad on the same Apple Account | 3 Macs |
| Free trial | 7 days, every feature | None; 14-day refund, no questions |
| Future tools | Paste updates | Updates and every future Toolnotch tool |
| macOS | 14 Sonoma or later (App Store) | 15 Sequoia or later |
Prices vary by country. Paste's website also sells a lifetime plan; its price wasn't readable on the page when I checked, so the figure above is the App Store's.
Over three years, Paste's yearly plan comes to about $90. Toolnotch costs $19.99 once, and that includes the other tools.
Where they're alike
On the Mac, the core is close. Both open over your work with one shortcut, both find a screenshot by a word that was in it, both pin what you reuse, both have a Paste Stack that pastes your copies one after another. Both keep your history on your device rather than on their own servers: Paste in your private iCloud, Toolnotch only on the Mac.
What Toolnotch does differently
One-time price. No renewal. The licence covers three Macs and every tool Toolnotch adds later.
Nothing leaves the Mac. No cloud, no account, no sync. That's a limit if you want your history on your phone, and a feature if your clipboard holds things you'd rather not have anywhere else.
Secrets masked on screen. An API key or token you copy from a terminal or a web page shows only its first characters, then dots, so it doesn't sit readable in your history during a screen share. Pasting sends the real value. More in clipboard managers and passwords.
⇧⌘2 copies text from anything on screen. Drag over a slide in a video call, a paused video or an error dialog, and the text is on your clipboard.
The shelf. Drag files to the notch and drag them out later; new screenshots wait there for a day. Images can be compressed, converted or stripped of their location and camera data in one drop.
Three more tools. Wyndow snaps windows with ⌃⌥ and the arrows and remembers your layout when you unplug a display. Bodybreak gives 20-20-20 breaks that wait for calls. Staywake keeps the Mac awake while a terminal job runs.
What Paste does better
Your clipboard on every device: copy on the Mac, paste on the iPhone, with history in sync. Shared pinboards for teams, a Family plan, an unlimited history with filters by app, device and date, suggestions powered by Apple Intelligence, and an MCP connection that lets AI tools such as Claude, Codex or Cursor read what you've copied. It runs on macOS 14 Sonoma. It has a seven-day trial with every feature, and ten years of reviews and polish behind it.
Can you run both?
You can, but two histories recording the same copies is clutter. Their default shortcuts differ (⇧⌘V for Paste, ⇧⌘C for Toolnotch), so nothing collides. If you keep Paste for its sync, turn Pasteback off in Toolnotch and use the rest of the app.
Which one to choose
Choose Paste if you want your clipboard on your iPhone and iPad, share pinboards with a team, or want AI tools to read your history.
Choose Toolnotch if you work on a Mac, want to stop paying every year for a clipboard manager, and would use a window manager and eye breaks too. One licence covers three Macs.
Want the free options first? Maccy is free and open source: see Toolnotch vs Maccy. For the built-in history in macOS Tahoe, see how to see your clipboard history on a Mac. Try Pasteback on toolnotch.app, or see pricing.
FAQ
Is there a Paste alternative without a subscription?
Yes. Toolnotch is a one-time purchase that includes its clipboard history. Maccy is free. Paste itself also sells a lifetime plan.
Can Toolnotch search text in images like Paste?
Yes. Pasteback reads the text in screenshots and copied images on your Mac, in the background, and search finds them by any word they contain.
Does Toolnotch work on iPhone?
No. Toolnotch is a Mac app, and the clipboard history stays on that Mac.
Can I move my Paste history to Toolnotch?
There's no import. Pasteback starts recording from the day you install it.