Best free clipboard manager for Mac (2026)
macOS still has no built-in clipboard history, so a clipboard manager is one of the highest-value free apps you can install. Here are the best free options in 2026 — and why Maccy is our top pick.
This guide covers free clipboard managers only. If you are open to paid apps too, see the best Mac clipboard manager overall, which weighs Paste and Pastebot as well.
What makes a clipboard manager “the best” free option?
Free is easy; good and free is rarer. The bar we used: it should capture history reliably, search instantly, respect your privacy (ignore password managers, keep data local), feel native on macOS, and still be maintained in 2026. Plenty of old free utilities tick the first box and fail the rest.
The best free clipboard managers, ranked
1. Maccy — best overall free
Maccy is a native, open-source clipboard manager under the MIT license. It launches instantly, searches thousands of entries without lag, pins items, ignores concealed password-manager entries by default, and keeps everything on your Mac. There is no paid tier and no telemetry. For most people, the search ends here.
2. Flycut — minimal and developer-friendly
Flycut is a free, open-source clip stack aimed at developers. It is simple and reliable, but its feature set is narrow (limited search, no rich pinning) and development is quiet. A fine choice if you want the bare minimum.
3. Clipy — classic and snippet-friendly
Clipy is a long-standing free clipboard manager with snippet menus. It is capable but its UI feels dated and updates are infrequent. Good if you rely heavily on nested snippet menus.
4. CopyClip — simplest from the App Store
CopyClip is a free, no-frills menu-bar history app. It is dependable for the basics but lacks fuzzy search, pinning, and open-source transparency. See how the free apps stack up.
5. Raycast clipboard history — if you already use Raycast
Raycast’s free tier includes a clipboard history. It is convenient if Raycast is already your launcher, but it is not a dedicated app and ties your clipboard to a larger tool. See Maccy vs Raycast.
Quick comparison
| Flycut | Clipy | CopyClip | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open source | Yes (MIT) | Yes | Yes |
| Fuzzy search | Yes | Basic | Basic |
| Pinned items | Yes | No | No |
| Password-manager safety | Yes | Partial | Partial |
| Actively maintained | Yes | Quiet | Quiet |
How to choose
If you want one recommendation, install Maccy — it is the most capable free option and costs you nothing to try. Choose Flycut or Clipy only if you specifically prefer their minimalism or snippet menus, and CopyClip only if you want the absolute simplest menu-bar list.
The short answer
Maccy is the best free clipboard manager for Mac in 2026 — and it is not close. It is free, open source, supports images, has regex search, excludes password managers by default, and has iCloud sync. No other free option comes close on features.
The free options compared
| App | Images | Search | Privacy | Maintained | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maccy | Yes | Text + regex | Ignore list | Active (2026) | Free |
| Flycut | No | No | None | ~2019 | Free |
| Jumpcut | No | No | None | ~2012 | Free |
| macOS Tahoe built-in | No | No | None | Tahoe only | Free (built-in) |
Maccy dominates in every category. The other free options are either unmaintained or limited to Tahoe's basic built-in.
Why free does not mean limited
Maccy's business model is not freemium — there is no paid tier that unlocks more features. The free version is the complete version. Everything available in paid clipboard managers (images, search, pinning, sync) is available in Maccy for free, supported by voluntary GitHub Sponsorships from users who appreciate the work.
Download
Get Maccy free from maccymanager.com/download or via Homebrew: brew install --cask maccy. See the beginner setup guide for first-launch configuration.