Pastebot Was Great. Then macOS Moved On.
Pastebot by Tapbots was one of the original Mac clipboard managers. But its design language hasn't kept pace with modern macOS. It still uses rigid AppKit menus, lacks hardware-accelerated animations, and offers no support for code syntax highlighting or inline video previews.
Pasty was built for the era of ProMotion displays, Liquid Glass, and Apple Silicon. Every animation is GPU-composited at 120Hz using Metal 3. Code is syntax-highlighted across 30+ languages. Your history is encrypted with AES-256. And it spawns at your cursor — no menu bar clicking required.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
Pastebot vs Pasty — side by side.
| Feature | Pasty | Pastebot |
|---|---|---|
| Clipboard History | ✓ | ✓ |
| Search & Filter | ✓ | ✓ |
| Custom Paste Sequences | ✗ | ✓ |
| Syntax-Highlighted Code View | ✓ | ✗ |
| Video / Image Previews | ✓ | ✗ |
| Screenshot Capture to List | ✓ | ✗ |
| Pin Items & Always-on-Top | ✓ | ✗ |
| AES-256 Encrypted History | ✓ | ✗ |
| 120Hz ProMotion / Liquid Glass | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cursor-Anchored Hotkey | ✓ | ✗ |
| Resizable Panel | ✓ | ✗ |
| Price | $9.99 once | $12.99 once |
| Built With | Swift + Metal 3 | AppKit |
Pastebot 🤖
A Reliable Veteran: Pastebot is solid and dependable. It has paste sequences and a clean interface. But it was designed for an older era of macOS — before ProMotion, before Liquid Glass, before Apple Silicon changed what "native" means.
Static UI: No hardware-accelerated animations, no code highlighting, no inline media previews. It works, but it doesn't delight.
Pasty ⚡
Built for Modern macOS: Every pixel is GPU-composited. The panel spawns at your cursor with CoreAnimation spring physics. Code is auto-detected and syntax-highlighted. Video thumbnails render inline. Backgrounds blur dynamically through Liquid Glass.
Developer-First: Pasty was built by a developer, for developers. The code view alone — with line numbers, 30+ language detection, and expand-to-full-screen — is something no other clipboard manager offers.
One-time purchase · macOS Ventura and later · Native Swift + Metal