Copywarden vs Paste
Paste is one of the most polished clipboard managers on the Mac — a genuinely lovely visual pinboard with mature iCloud sync across your Apple devices. Copywarden is built for a different need: an encrypted, local-first clipboard for people whose clipboard routinely holds passwords, API keys and regulated data. Here's an honest, sourced side-by-side.
What Paste does well.
Paste does well
- Beautiful visual pinboards with drag-and-drop organization.
- Mature iCloud sync across iPhone, iPad and Mac — shipping today.
- Unlimited history and a polished, well-designed interface.
Best for: people who want a polished, visual clipboard with mature cross-device iCloud sync.
Where Copywarden fits
- You need encryption at rest and secret redaction, not just history.
- You want a local-first core with no cloud by default.
- You'd rather keep a free core than subscribe to a clipboard.
Best for: people whose clipboard holds secrets or regulated data and who want on-device AES-256-GCM encryption.
Copywarden vs Paste, on what matters.
| Capability | Copywarden | Paste |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free core. Pro $29.99/yr (≈$2.50/mo billed annually) or $3.99/mo; $99 lifetime launch offer. | No free tier. $3.99/mo; $29.99/yr ($2.49/mo effective, “Save 37%”); $89.99 lifetime (Mac App Store in-app purchase). 7-day trial on all plans. |
| Sync | Local-first core — sync is off by default, and you choose whether to turn it on. End-to-end encrypted iCloud sync across your Macs is in development: every entry is sealed on-device with AES-256-GCM before upload to your own private iCloud database, so neither Apple nor Copywarden can read it. Local-Only mode disables both cloud backends. | Private iCloud sync across Apple devices, shipping today. |
| Encryption at rest | AES-256-GCM with per-item HKDF-SHA256 keys; the master key is wrapped by the Secure Enclave on supported Macs, and Keychain-guarded otherwise. | Paste uses private iCloud sync; at-rest AES-256-GCM on the device isn't advertised on its published pages (as of 2026-08-15). We don't claim Paste is insecure — the difference is Copywarden's on-device encryption. |
| Retention | Configurable, with GDPR/HIPAA (7-day) and Banking (3-day) retention profiles. | Unlimited (paid). |
| Open source | No — proprietary. Local-first and telemetry-free (verifiable on the wire), signed + notarized, published threat model and disclosure policy; no independent audit yet. | No — proprietary. |
- Paste's $89.99 lifetime and monthly are Mac App Store in-app purchases — the lifetime option doesn't render on pasteapp.io/pricing, so we cite the App Store listing.
- The $2.49/mo figure is the annual plan's per-month equivalent, not a monthly price — Paste's month-to-month price is $3.99/mo.
- Also on the App Store: Family $59.99, Legacy $9.99. Paste's pricing FAQ states: “We do not offer discounts on any of our plans. The only exception is a 30% student discount for the first year of our annual plan.” (pasteapp.io/pricing, retrieved first-person 2026-08-20).
- App Store rating: 4.5/5 from 5.3K ratings on the US listing's Mac view (retrieved first-person 2026-08-15). Read the Mac view specifically — the listing's default view reports 4.2/5 from 1.3K, which is not the figure for the app we compare against.
Sources
- Paste — pricing · retrieved 2026-08-15
- Paste — Mac App Store (lifetime & monthly IAPs, rating) · retrieved 2026-08-15
- Paste — home page (private-iCloud sync claim, unlimited history) · retrieved 2026-08-15
Secrets redacted, right in the popup.
Whatever you compare on, this is the difference that matters most: the moment Copywarden detects a secret, it redacts it inline — so it never reaches a screen share, an agent, or your history in the clear.
Copywarden vs Paste, answered.
Is Paste secure?
Paste syncs through your private iCloud, so we don't call it insecure. The difference is where the guarantee comes from: Copywarden encrypts each entry on your Mac with AES-256-GCM and wraps the key with the Secure Enclave on supported Macs, so your history is encrypted at rest on the device itself.
Does Copywarden sync like Paste?
Paste's iCloud sync spans Mac, iPhone and iPad today. Copywarden's Mac-to-Mac sync is still in development, and there is no Copywarden iPhone or iPad app — we won't pretend otherwise. What differs is what travels: sync is off by default, and when it is on, only AES-256-GCM ciphertext sealed on your Mac is uploaded to your own private iCloud database. With sync off, your history never leaves your Mac.
How much does each cost?
Paste has no free tier: $3.99/mo, $29.99/yr (a $2.49/mo effective rate), or $89.99 lifetime via the Mac App Store, after a 7-day trial (verified 2026-08-15). Copywarden's core is free; Pro is $29.99/yr or $3.99/mo, with a $99 lifetime launch offer.
Can I switch from Paste without losing anything?
Run both while you evaluate — Copywarden captures new clips as you copy, there's no destructive import, and Local-Only mode keeps everything on your Mac.
Your clipboard deserves the same care as your passwords.
Signed, notarized universal build for Apple Silicon and Intel. Free tier, no account required.
Download for macOSRead the security architecture