A free Clipy alternative for Mac
On Hand vs Clipy: what each is good at, what they cost, and which one fits how you copy and paste.
The short version: Clipy is back after a long pause, and its snippet folders are still its best feature. If you mostly paste the same boilerplate, it’s a good fit. If you want to search and pin what you copied, On Hand is built around that.
On Hand vs Clipy at a glance
| On Hand | Clipy | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Source code | Open source (MIT) | Open source (MIT) |
| Images | Yes | Yes |
| Search | Yes, by text or source app | Not yet shipped |
| Pinned clips | Yes, with named boards | Not documented |
| Search text in images | Yes, on your Mac | Not documented |
| Sync | No. History stays on your Mac | No |
| Skip password managers and apps | Yes. Password managers skipped; card numbers, SSNs, and 25+ kinds of keys never saved, concealed, and cleared after 90 seconds | Yes |
| Shortcuts | ⌘⇧Space to open (changeable), ⌘1–9 to copy | ⇧⌘V menu, ⌃⌘V history, ⇧⌘B snippets |
| Requires | macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon or Intel | macOS 13 or later |
Checked October 6, 2026 against Clipy’s own site, release notes, or App Store listing. Prices and features change, so check before you buy. Something out of date? Open an issue.
Choose Clipy if
- You paste the same blocks of text often and want them organized in snippet folders.
- You used Clipy or ClipMenu before and like its menu-style list.
- You need to run on macOS 13 Ventura.
Choose On Hand if
- You want to search your history. Clipy’s 1.3.0 notes describe search as still in preparation.
- You want to pin clips and preview text and images before you copy them.
- You want an app with no analytics. On Hand’s app sends none.
Is Clipy still maintained?
Version 1.3.0 shipped in June 2026, the first release in about eight years. It moved to SQLite and added Firebase.
Switching from Clipy
On Hand starts fresh. It doesn’t import history from Clipy, so pin anything you want to keep after you copy it again. Both apps can run at the same time while you try On Hand; give them different shortcuts. On Hand opens with ⌘ ⇧ Space, and you can change that in Settings.