MacPaste vs Maccy:
minimal or feature-rich?
Maccy is the leading open-source clipboard manager for Mac. Minimal, clean, and free. MacPaste goes further with images, tags, and iPhone sync. Here is when each option is the right choice.
You copy more than just text
- You frequently copy images, screenshots, and files
- You want color tags to stay organized
- You want Mac ↔ iPhone synchronization
- You appreciate a modern UI and visual previews
You want absolute minimalism
- You only copy text (snippets, URLs, terminal commands)
- You want a 100% auditable open-source code base
- You don't need multi-device synchronization
- You prefer zero fluff, just a functional list
| MacPaste | Maccy | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free · Pro $49 lifetime | Free (open-source) |
| Open source | No | Yes (GitHub, MIT) |
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images / screenshots | Yes (visual preview) | No (text only) |
| Files | Yes | No |
| Tags / labels | Yes · 7 colors | No |
| Hover preview | Yes (scrollable) | Basic tooltip |
| iCloud Sync Mac ↔ iPhone | Yes (Pro) | No |
| iPhone App | Yes (Pro) | No |
| Pinned boards | Yes | No |
| Exclusion of sensitive apps | Auto | Manual (ignore list) |
| Global shortcut | ⌘⇧V | ⌘⇧C by default |
| Disk footprint | 5.9 MB | 3 MB |
Maccy is a solid foundation.
Maccy is an open-source project maintained by Alex Rodionov since 2019. Its DNA is clear: fast, minimal, free. It is likely the most installed clipboard manager among Mac developers who just want a simple text history that works — without tracking, subscriptions, or clutter.
If your clipboard usage is limited to pasting URLs, code snippets, and pieces of text, Maccy is more than enough. It does what it does very well, and that is it.
Where MacPaste takes over
MacPaste is built for anyone who copies more than just text daily: designers copying images, developers taking screenshots, and writers juggling multiple sources.
- Images and screenshots: Maccy only captures text. MacPaste also saves images, with direct visual previews in the panel.
- Color tags: 7 colors, ⌃1-7 shortcuts. Mark a clip as "important" in red, "paste later" in orange, or "reusable snippet" in blue — then search by color in one click.
- iCloud Sync: What you copy on your Mac appears on your iPhone (and vice versa). Maccy lacks this feature entirely.
- Pinned boards: Keep reusable templates (email signatures, promo codes, snippets) always accessible, independent of your clipboard history.
- Hover preview: For long clips, Maccy's tooltip only shows the first few lines. MacPaste opens a fully scrollable, rich preview.
Open Source vs. Closed Indie
This is a valid point, and let's be honest: Maccy wins here. With MIT code and public contributors, you can audit what goes on yourself. For sysadmins or security-conscious users, this is a non-negotiable factor.
MacPaste is closed-source. In return, you get a dedicated single developer working full-time on the app, a cohesive design system, and iCloud sync (which requires a paid Apple Developer account — incompatible with a pure open-source model).
What about performance?
Maccy wins on disk footprint (~3 MB) and memory usage (being even more barebones). MacPaste sits at around 5.9 MB on disk and ~40 MB of RAM — still completely unnoticeable on a modern Mac. The difference is negligible unless you are counting megabytes.