ClipStack vs Maccy
Maccy is a good clipboard manager, and it's free. If it does what you need, keep using it. This page is for people deciding between the two, written by the people who make ClipStack, so we've tried to be fair.
The short answer
Pick Maccy if you want something free and open source, or you like adjusting every setting.
Pick ClipStack if you want something that pastes straight into the app you're typing in from the first minute, with fewer settings to think about.
Side by side
| Maccy | ClipStack | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (open source), or $9.99 on the Mac App Store | $12 once, 14-day free trial |
| Default shortcut | ⇧⌘C | ⌥⌘V |
| Return | Copies the item (can be set to paste) | Pastes into the app you were in |
| ⌘1 to ⌘9 | Copy the nth item (⌥1 to ⌥9 paste) | Paste the nth item |
| Paste directly | Hold ⌥, or turn on Paste automatically | Always, out of the box |
| Pinned items | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes |
| Search | Type to filter | Type to filter, plus Text, Images and Links tabs |
| Skips passwords | Yes | Yes |
| Settings | Many: shortcut, popup position, ignored apps and more | Few, by design |
| Source code | Open (MIT) | Closed |
| Needs | macOS 14 or later | macOS 14 or later |
Maccy details are from its README and App Store listing as of October 2026, with its default settings unless noted.
The real difference: copy or paste
Both apps keep everything you copy and show it in a list. The difference is what happens when you pick something.
Out of the box, picking an item in Maccy copies it. You then press ⌘V yourself, or hold Option while you pick to paste it straight away. If you'd rather it always paste, Maccy has a Paste automatically setting you can turn on.
ClipStack is built around pasting. Press ⌥⌘V, choose, and it's already in the app you were typing in, with nothing to set up. ⌘1 to ⌘9 do the same for the first nine items, so pasting something you copied a minute ago is two keystrokes.
Where Maccy is ahead
- It's free, and the code is open for anyone to read.
- It has far more settings, including a custom shortcut and where the window appears.
- It has been around for years and has a large community.
Where ClipStack is ahead
- Return and ⌘1 to ⌘9 paste directly from the start, with no setting to find.
- Tabs for Text, Images and Links narrow a long history quickly.
- Fewer choices to make. It works the same way from the first minute.
Try it next to Maccy
The trial is the full app for 14 days, with no card needed. The two use different shortcuts, so you can run both side by side and keep whichever one you reach for. Get Maccy only from maccy.app, its official site.
One-time purchase · macOS 14+ · Apple Silicon and Intel · 30-day money-back guarantee.
Switching from Windows?
See Win+V on a Mac for how macOS clipboard history compares with Windows.