Paste It! vs Paste: Pricing, Sync, OCR and MCP Compared

Paste It! and Paste are different clipboard managers with similar names. Choose Paste It! for free, open-source local Mac history. Choose Paste when you want saved history on Mac, iPhone, and iPad, or shared pinboards. Both offer screenshot text search, Paste Stack, and Mac MCP integration.

If you only want to copy something on your iPhone and immediately paste it on your Mac, Apple's Universal Clipboard may already do the job. Paying for a history app becomes useful when you need to find and reuse older saved copies across devices.

Disclosure and method: we make Paste It!. This comparison uses Paste It! 0.2.8 and Paste's official product, help, and pricing pages, checked September 23, 2026. Workflow examples below illustrate documented features; they are not side-by-side performance or OCR accuracy tests.

Paste It! vs Paste at a glance

Sources: Paste It! 0.2.8 features and current MIT license; Paste's US App Store listing, storage and sync, OCR search, pinboards, Paste Stack, and MCP.

What does Paste cost, and is there a free trial?

Paste's US App Store lists $3.99 monthly, $29.99 annually, and $89.99 for Lifetime. The annual plan's advertised $2.49/month is a monthly equivalent: you pay the annual bill, rather than $2.49 each month. Prices can differ by region, tax, and purchase channel; check current Paste pricing before buying.

The website download offers a 7-day trial without a payment card. An App Store trial is attached to an eligible first subscription and renews into the paid plan unless canceled. That distinction matters if you only want to compare the apps for a few days. Trial details.

Paste also offers an App Store Family plan and a direct Teams plan. Mac access is included in Setapp; iPhone and iPad access requires a Setapp plan that includes iOS. A lifetime purchase is available, so Paste is not a subscription-only product. Purchase options.

Paste It! has no subscription. The project is available under the MIT license for personal and commercial use.

iPhone to Mac: Universal Clipboard or saved history?

These solve two different tasks:

• Paste the item you just copied: Apple's Universal Clipboard hands content between nearby compatible devices signed into the same Apple Account, with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Handoff enabled. The item is available briefly, or until another copy replaces it. It does not provide a browsable history library.
• Find an older saved item on another device: Paste can sync its saved history and pinboards through your private iCloud. Enable sync on each participating device. Paste It! does not sync its history to your phone or another Mac. Paste sync setup.

There is an important iPhone limitation: iOS does not let Paste continuously capture the clipboard in the background. You save a copy by opening Paste, using its share extension, or using the Paste Keyboard. Copying three things in another iPhone app does not automatically save all three. What Paste captures.

Example: sending the link you just copied on your phone to your Mac may need only Universal Clipboard. Keeping several research links, organizing them, and finding them on your phone next week is a reason to consider Paste.

Three Mac workflows to compare

1. Find a screenshot by the text inside it

Both apps support this. Paste It! uses Apple Vision to index copied images; Paste documents searching words inside screenshots and photos. OCR alone is therefore not a reason to switch between them. Paste search documentation.

In Paste It!, copy a screenshot containing a distinctive error message, press Shift + Command + V, and search for part of that message. The screenshot OCR guide explains how to capture directly to the clipboard. Compare results using your own screenshots, especially small text or mixed languages.

For a useful check, search for a word that appears only in the copied image. Copying the same words separately as text can make the test look successful even when the image was not recognized. This article does not establish which app has better OCR accuracy.

2. Reuse several values in a form

Imagine copying a name, an email address, and a reference number, then filling three fields. Both apps have a Paste Stack for keeping several clips in order. Paste It! lets you collect copies, switch between oldest-first and newest-first order, and move a queued item to the next-to-paste position. Its automatic Command-V handling requires Accessibility permission; see the clipboard shortcut guide.

Paste's documented stack uses Shift + Command + C to start collecting, then Command + V to paste items in sequence. You can reverse the stack's direction. Paste Stack instructions.

The useful comparison is what happens when the destination field order differs from the order you copied the values. Check that the next value shown by the stack matches the next field before pasting. Try harmless samples in the apps you actually use. If you evaluate both managers, quit one or change its shortcuts first: the default history and stack shortcuts overlap.

3. Give an AI tool context from earlier copies

Paste It!'s optional MCP connection lets an agent read and search local history, including OCR text. Its history tools cannot add clips or clear the library. Follow the Paste It! MCP setup guide.

Paste also supports MCP. Its official bridge can search saved items and save an assistant's output to a pinboard, so the comparison includes different tool permissions as well as different setup flows. Paste's MCP bridge.

For either app, a local MCP server does not guarantee that the connected AI product keeps retrieved content on your Mac. Review that client's data settings before allowing access to sensitive history. Paste describes this boundary in its MCP privacy and control documentation.

Decide what you would gain by switching

For one Mac, compare the local workflow first. Paste It! covers visual history, OCR, pinned clips and folders, and read-only history tools without an account or subscription. If those are your requirements, try the Mac download.

For shared or cross-device history, evaluate Paste. A link that must remain available next week on both a Mac and an iPhone needs saved-history sync, not just today's Universal Clipboard handoff. Check that exact requirement during the trial. Paste may also suit a Mac-only workflow if its editing tools or interface save you steps.

If avoiding cloud history is your priority, compare settings carefully. Paste It! has no app history sync. Paste can also keep history local when iCloud sync is off; you do not have to enable sync to use it. Paste storage details.

Switching checklist

1. Try the same text, screenshot, and form workflow in each app, with only one set of global shortcuts active.
2. Check your essential saved collections and snippets; Paste It! 0.2.8 allows up to three custom folders. This guide does not promise a Paste-to-Paste It! history importer.
3. If you need multiple devices, test a deliberately saved item on each device; do not confuse a successful Universal Clipboard handoff with synced history.
4. Keep the old app until your essential content and workflows work in the replacement. If you started a subscription trial, manage cancellation through the store where you subscribed.

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Ready to try local Mac history? Download Paste It!. For more options, see free Mac clipboard managers and their limits or Paste It! vs Maccy.