MacPaste vs Flycut:
developer minimal or full clipboard?
Flycut is the free open-source plain-text clipboard built for developers. It does one thing and does it well. MacPaste covers everything Flycut does, plus images, tags, preview, and iPhone sync.
You're past plain-text-only
- You copy images, screenshots, or rich content regularly
- You want a polished panel UI with search and previews
- You want iPhone sync and an iOS app
- You want color tags and pinned boards
You're a terminal-first dev
- You only copy plain text — code snippets, URLs, commands
- You want 100% open-source (GitHub MIT)
- You want the lightest possible footprint
- You don't need cross-device sync
| MacPaste | Flycut | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free · Pro $49 lifetime | Free (open-source) |
| Open source | No | Yes (MIT, GitHub) |
| Distribution | Direct download · notarized | Mac App Store · GitHub |
| Plain text | Yes | Yes |
| Images / screenshots | Yes | No (text only) |
| Unlimited history | Yes | Configurable up to 99 |
| Color tags | Yes · 7 colors | No |
| iCloud Sync Mac ↔ iPhone | Yes (Pro) | No |
| iPhone app | Yes (Pro) | No |
| Pinned boards | Yes | No |
| Hover preview | Yes (scrollable) | No |
| Search in history | Yes | Basic |
| Global shortcut | ⌘⇧V | ⇧⌘V (custom) |
| Disk footprint | 5.9 MB | ~2 MB |
Flycut is a developer's tool.
Flycut started as a fork of Jumpcut back in 2009 and has stayed faithful to its philosophy ever since: plain text only, no nonsense, on GitHub. It's the app you install in two minutes, configure once, and forget about for ten years.
For developers who live in terminal and editor windows, copying URLs, environment variables, and curl commands all day — Flycut is genuinely excellent. It's free, it's open, and it's built specifically for that flow.
Where MacPaste covers more ground
- Beyond plain text. Flycut explicitly strips formatting and ignores images. MacPaste preserves them — designers, writers, and anyone who copies screenshots get a real preview.
- Visual organization. Color tags, pinned boards, hover preview. Flycut is just a list.
- Cross-device sync. Flycut is Mac-only. MacPaste Pro syncs Mac ↔ iPhone via iCloud.
- Search worth using. Flycut's search is basic. MacPaste indexes every clip and lets you find anything from any moment.
The open-source question
Flycut wins here, no contest. MIT-licensed, public source code, you can fork it and ship your own version tomorrow. MacPaste is closed-source — that's a real tradeoff.
What you get in exchange: a polished design system, active weekly development, iCloud sync (which requires a paid Apple Developer account), and a single dev who's reachable at support@macpaste.app.
Beyond plain text?
Try MacPaste for free. Keeps images, tags, and syncs to iPhone.
Download MacPaste