Tool profile
Paste: cost, fit and limits
Paste is a clipboard manager made by Paste Team ApS of Denmark that keeps an unlimited, searchable history for Mac, iPhone and iPad, with optional AI features that suggest the next paste or share clipboard context with outside assistants.
What to know first
Paste is sold as a subscription with a monthly, an annual and a lifetime option, and every plan covers the Mac, iPhone and iPad apps. A 7-day trial is offered. The AI side has two parts: Intelligent Clipboard on the Mac, powered by Apple Intelligence, and Paste for AI, which lets assistants such as Claude, Codex and Cursor use what you copied. You choose what to share. Sync goes through your own iCloud account.
Paste at a glance
| Maker | Paste Team ApS (copyright and privacy policy), Denmark |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Free trial only |
| Entry price | $2.49 /month |
| API access | No |
| Category | Best AI Clipboard Manager Apps in 2026, rank 1 of 13 |
| Website | pasteapp.io |
Who Paste is best for
Apple users with several devices
One plan covers Mac, iPhone and iPad, and sync runs through iCloud, so a link copied on the phone appears in the Mac history without a manual transfer.
Developers who prompt AI tools all day
Paste for AI hands clipboard history to Claude, Codex or Cursor as context, which saves retyping snippets when a prompt needs material you copied earlier.
Writers who reuse blocks of text
Pinboards hold snippets, links, colors and templates you paste often, so recurring boilerplate lives in one place rather than in scattered notes.
Paste plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $2.49 per month | Paste on Mac, iPhone and iPad, with unlimited clipboard history, pinboards, search and sync. Prices are in USD without taxes and can vary by country. |
| Annual | $29.99 billed annually | The same features as the monthly plan: unlimited history, pinboards, search and sync on Mac, iPhone and iPad, billed once a year instead of monthly. |
| Lifetime | Amount not shown in the pricing text we read | A single payment that the pricing page says lets you use Paste forever, with all future updates included, and without any renewal fee later. |
Checked November 2026.
What Paste does
- Unlimited history
- Every copy is kept and the whole history can be searched, so an item from weeks ago is still reachable through the search box instead of being pushed out by newer copies.
- Pinboards
- Snippets, links, colors and templates you use constantly sit on pinboards, separate from the rolling history, so that frequently used items never scroll out of reach.
- Intelligent Clipboard
- On the Mac, Paste suggests what you are likely to paste next, powered by Apple Intelligence. The vendor frames it as a time saver for repeated workflows.
- Paste for AI
- Clipboard history connects to Claude, Codex, Cursor and other AI tools so they can draw on what you copied. The page says the user chooses what to share.
- iCloud sync across devices
- History moves between Mac, iPhone and iPad through the user's iCloud account, so the vendor does not need to host the clipboard content itself, and a copy made on one device is reachable on the others.
How Paste handles your data
Paste's privacy policy says clipboard data is not transferred to or stored on Paste's servers. Content stays on the Mac or iOS device and in the user's own iCloud when sync is switched on. Analytics run through PostHog, which the policy says is hosted in the European Union. The policy also states that answers on the website's AI help are generated by Anthropic. It does not say whether clipboard data is ever used to train a model, and no security certification is listed, only 'industry-appropriate' measures.
Where Paste falls short in practice
- Subscription cost. The amounts are low, but a yearly fee recurs for as long as you use the app, and the lifetime price is missing from the text we read, so check it on the pricing page.
- Apple platforms only. Mac, iPhone and iPad are the only platforms named on the pages we read. A mixed office with Windows laptops cannot standardize on Paste for everyone.
- Store-specific plans. The Family Plan exists only on the App Store, the Team Plan sits on a separate Paste for Teams page, and Setapp covers iOS only with a plan that includes iOS devices, so the route you buy through changes what you get.
Works with
Alternatives to Paste
Paste: common questions
Does Paste send my clipboard to its own servers?
The privacy policy says clipboard data is not transferred to or stored on Paste's servers. It stays on your device and in your own iCloud when sync is enabled. Analytics use PostHog, hosted in the European Union according to the policy. The pages we read do not describe a retention period.
What does Paste for AI actually do?
Paste for AI connects your clipboard history to AI tools such as Claude, Codex and Cursor so they can use copied material as context. The vendor says you choose what to share. The page we read does not detail the protocol or limits, so test it with a harmless copy before relying on it.
Is there a free version of Paste?
The pricing page describes a 7-day free trial that starts from the App Store or the Mac download. After the trial you pick a monthly, annual or lifetime plan. No permanent free tier was named on the pages we read, which separates it from Maccy or Ditto.
How much does Paste cost per year?
As of November 2026 the pricing page lists $2.49 per month and $29.99 billed annually, in USD without taxes, and these can vary by country. A lifetime plan exists as a one-time payment, but the amount was not in the pricing text we read. The annual plan costs less than twelve monthly payments.
Can Paste work with Windows or Linux?
No. The vendor describes Paste for Mac, iPhone and iPad, and the AI suggestions rely on Apple Intelligence on the Mac. Windows users should look at ClipboardFusion or Ditto, and Linux users at CopyQ, all of which are covered in the clipboard manager ranking.