Maccy
Maccy vs Clipy: Which Mac Clipboard Manager Should You Use?
Quick answer: Choose Maccy if you want a fast, searchable clipboard history that is actively maintained and works on current macOS. Choose Clipy if your main need is a library of reusable text snippets organized in folders, and you accept that the app has seen little development in recent years. Both are free and open source.
TL;DR
- Maccy: minimal, keyboard-first, type-to-search history. Snippets are not its focus.
- Clipy: menu-driven history plus a real snippet manager with folders and per-snippet hotkeys. No search in the history menu.
- Maintenance: Maccy is actively updated; Clipy’s last stable release dates from 2018 .
- Cost: both are free to download from GitHub. Maccy is also sold on the Mac App Store, which supports development.
What is the difference between Maccy and Clipy?
Maccy App is a lightweight clipboard history that lives in your menu bar. You press a shortcut, start typing, and the list filters instantly. Clipy is a clipboard extension that also stores snippets, which are reusable pieces of text you organize into folders and paste on demand. Maccy Mac optimizes for finding something you copied. Clipy optimizes for browsing and for reusing text you wrote on purpose.
That difference in philosophy explains almost every other point of comparison below.
Maccy vs Clipy at a glance
| Feature | Maccy | Clipy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (GitHub); paid on the Mac App Store | Free |
| License | MIT, open source | Open source |
| History access | Popup with search field, opened by hotkey | Menu from the menu bar or hotkey, organized in numbered groups |
| Search history | Yes, type immediately | No built-in search in the history menu |
| Snippets | No dedicated snippet manager (pinning is the closest feature) | Yes, folders, editor, import/export |
| Pinning | Yes, pin items to the top | Not applicable; use snippets instead |
| Ignore apps | Yes | Yes, exclude apps in preferences |
| Content types | Text, images, files | Text, RTF, PDF, images, filenames, URLs |
| Cloud sync | No | No |
| Development activity | Active | Largely dormant |
| Apple Silicon | Native | Runs via Rosetta if the build is Intel-only |
Which one is faster to use day to day?
Maccy Clipboard, for retrieval. The default shortcut is ⇧⌘C. The popup opens with the cursor already in the search field, so you type a few characters of what you remember, press Return, and the item is pasted or copied depending on your settings. You never have to scroll or count positions.
Clipy’s history is a menu. It is quick when what you need is the last few items, since recent copies sit at the top. It gets slower as history grows, because you are scanning a list rather than filtering it. If you routinely copy forty things and need the third one back, search wins.
Which one is better for text snippets?
Clipy. This is its genuine strength. You create folders, add snippets with titles, edit them in a dedicated window, assign hotkeys to folders, and export or import your library as XML . Typical uses are email sign-offs, support replies, code boilerplate, and addresses.
Maccy does not try to be a snippet manager. You can pin items so they stay at the top of the history, which covers a handful of frequently used strings. Past roughly ten or fifteen pinned items, the list becomes unwieldy and you will want a proper snippet tool, whether Clipy or a text expander.
Is Clipy still maintained?
Not in any meaningful way. The latest stable Clipy release is version 1.2.1 from 2018 , and the repository has had little activity since. It still works for many people, but you inherit the risks of unmaintained software: no fixes for macOS behavior changes, no guarantee of compatibility with future releases, and no native Apple Silicon build to rely on.
Maccy, by contrast, ships regular releases and tracks new macOS versions. Recent versions require a modern macOS release, so check the minimum system requirement on the releases page before installing on an older Mac .
How do privacy and security compare?
Both apps keep history on your Mac and neither syncs to a cloud service, which is the baseline you want from a tool that sees every password you copy. The more important control is what gets excluded.
- Ignore by app: both let you exclude apps such as password managers. In Maccy this is under Settings → Ignore.
- Ignore by content type: Maccy can also ignore specific pasteboard types and, in its ignore settings, regular-expression patterns . This is useful for filtering anything that looks like a token or key.
- Concealed items: well-behaved password managers mark copied secrets as concealed so clipboard tools skip them. Test yours: copy a password, then open the history and confirm it is absent.
Whichever you choose, do not rely on the defaults. Spend two minutes on the ignore list.
Which should you choose?
| If you mostly… | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Need to find something you copied earlier | Maccy | Instant type-to-search |
| Prefer never touching the mouse | Maccy | Fully keyboard-driven |
| Reuse the same text blocks every day | Clipy | Folders, editor, hotkeys for snippets |
| Run a current macOS on Apple Silicon and want updates | Maccy | Actively maintained |
| Want the smallest possible footprint | Maccy | Narrow scope, minimal interface |
| Want history and snippets in one app | Clipy | Both under one roof, with the maintenance caveat |
Can you use both?
You can, but there is little reason to. Running two clipboard monitors means both record every copy, both want the same global shortcuts, and you double your exposure for sensitive data. If you need snippets and history, a cleaner combination is Maccy for history plus a dedicated text-expansion tool for snippets.
Switching from Clipy to Maccy
- Export your Clipy snippets from its snippet editor and keep the file. Maccy cannot import them, so treat it as a backup and move the few you use most into another tool.
- Quit Clipy and remove it from Login Items under System Settings → General → Login Items.
- Install Maccy from GitHub, Homebrew, or the Mac App Store.
- Grant the requested permissions when prompted. Recent versions need accessibility access to paste directly .
- Open Settings → Ignore and add your password manager and any sensitive apps.
- Pin the handful of strings you paste constantly.
The honest verdict
For most people, Maccy is the better default: it solves the common problem, retrieving what you copied, with less friction and with ongoing maintenance behind it. Clipy remains a reasonable choice for one specific profile, someone whose workflow is built around a snippet library and who is comfortable with an app that is no longer evolving. If that is you, keep using it until something breaks. If you are choosing fresh today, start with Maccy.
Maccy is free and open source, and you can read its code before it touches your clipboard. Which feels like the bigger gap for you, search or snippets?
