Clipboard manager
SnipVault vs Paste for Mac
Weighing up the Paste app for Mac? Here is how it compares with SnipVault, feature by feature. Paste is the most polished Mac and iPhone clipboard manager, with pinboards, iCloud sync, and a Liquid Glass redesign. It has no text expansion, and its 2020 switch to subscription and 2024 price doubling are the loudest complaints in the category.
Prices and features verified 2026-09-04. Corrections: diljit@dprsoftwarelabs.com.
Paste pricing
$29.99/yr or $89.99 once
Direct: $2.49/month, $29.99/year, or $89.99 lifetime. App Store monthly is $3.99. Teams $26.99/user/year with a 5-seat minimum. 7-day trial. Also on Setapp.
sourceSnipVault pricing
$29.99/yr or $79 once
Also $2.49/month. 7-day free trial, no card.
Platforms
Paste: Mac (macOS 14+), iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision
SnipVault: macOS 13+, Apple Silicon and Intel
Feature by feature
What you get with each
| Feature | SnipVault | Paste |
|---|---|---|
Clipboard history | ✓ | ✓ |
Unlimited history | ✓ | ✓ |
Full-text search | ✓ | ✓ |
Pinboards / collections + tags Paste has flat pinboards, no tags. SnipVault has nested pinboards plus tags. | ✓ | Partial |
Paste stack (sequential paste) Paste's stack is not persistent; SnipVault's survives restarts. | ✓ | ✓ |
Screenshot OCR (region → text) Paste can search text inside images you copied; it cannot capture a screen region. | ✓ | Partial |
OCR captures kept searchable (text + image) | ✓ | Partial |
Snippets with :keyword expansion | ✓ | — |
Placeholders ({date}, {clipboard}, {cursor}) | ✓ | — |
OTP / card-number auto-expiry | ✓ | — |
Ignores password managers | ✓ | ✓ |
Works fully offline, on-device | ✓ | ✓ |
Sync between Macs Paste syncs Mac and iOS via iCloud (off by default). SnipVault: iCloud between Macs. | Partial | ✓ |
iPhone / iPad app | — | ✓ |
Built-in emoji library | ✓ | — |
One-time purchase available Paste Lifetime is $89.99; SnipVault Lifetime is $79. | ✓ | ✓ |
Free tier / open source SnipVault: 7-day free trial, no card required. | — | — |
| Price | $29.99/yr or $79 once | $29.99/yr or $89.99 once |
Strengths
Where Paste is strong, and where SnipVault is
Paste does well
- •Beautiful, mouse-friendly interface with large previews
- •iPhone and iPad apps with an iOS keyboard extension
- •Shared pinboards and a Teams plan
- •Power Search finds text inside copied images
- •MCP server exposes history to AI tools
SnipVault does well
- •Screenshot OCR (⇧⌘2) that keeps both the text and the image in the vault
- •Snippets with :keyword expansion and placeholders; Paste has no expansion
- •Nested pinboards plus tags; Paste has one flat pinboard per item
- •Secret auto-expiry for copied OTP codes and card numbers
- •$79 lifetime versus $89.99, with no history locked behind a lapsed subscription
What users say
Common complaints about Paste
Quoted from public reviews and forums. Follow the links for full context.
“Paste's pricing is comical… a huge amount for a clipboard manager… still a large subscription for a tiny app.”
“If you don't pay, they lock away everything stored in your clipboard, preventing you from pasting anything - even the most recent.”
“Bought last year and used it, now dev want more money, so add a new subscription, and block me from using what I have already paid for.”
“Paying a sub for this seems strange to me, seeing as there are so many capable apps available for free.”
Verdict
Which one should you pick?
Pick Paste if…
- •You need clipboard history on your iPhone and iPad today
- •You share pinboards with a team
- •You prefer a large, mouse-driven visual grid over a keyboard palette
Pick SnipVault if…
- •You also want screenshot OCR and text snippets without two more apps
- •You want to pay once and keep access to your history forever
- •You want secrets like OTP codes and card numbers to vanish automatically
- •You want tags and nested pinboards rather than one flat list
FAQ
SnipVault vs Paste: questions
Is SnipVault a good Paste alternative?+
Yes, if you use Paste on the Mac. SnipVault covers unlimited history, pinboards, a paste stack, and plain-text paste, then adds screenshot OCR, snippet expansion, and secret auto-expiry. If you rely on the iPhone app, Paste still has that and SnipVault does not yet.
How much cheaper is SnipVault than Paste?+
Yearly they cost the same at $29.99. SnipVault Lifetime is $79 against Paste's $89.99, and SnipVault includes OCR and snippets that Paste does not have.
Can I import my Paste pinboards?+
Not automatically yet. Paste has no bulk export, so most people keep Paste installed for a week while SnipVault builds its own history, then pin what matters.
Does SnipVault sync to iPhone like Paste?+
Not yet. SnipVault syncs between Macs via iCloud in the iCloud-entitled build; an iOS app is planned.
How much does Paste cost?+
Paste is $29.99/yr or $89.99 once. Direct: $2.49/month, $29.99/year, or $89.99 lifetime. App Store monthly is $3.99. Teams $26.99/user/year with a 5-seat minimum. 7-day trial. Also on Setapp. SnipVault is $2.49 a month, $29.99 a year, or $79 once, and every plan has every feature.
What platforms does Paste run on?+
Paste: Mac (macOS 14+), iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision. SnipVault runs on macOS 13 or later, on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, and one licence covers up to three Macs.
Can I try SnipVault before switching?+
Yes. SnipVault has a 7-day trial of the complete app with no card, and you can keep Paste running alongside it until you are sure.
Try SnipVault next to Paste
Keep both installed for a week. If SnipVault does not replace it, nothing was charged.