What private actually means
Three terms get used interchangeably when they describe very different things.
- Local-only. Your clipboard history is stored only on your machine and never transmitted anywhere. This is the strongest guarantee for a single device. Ditto, Maccy, and CopyQ all work this way. The tradeoff is that your history does not follow you to your other devices.
- End-to-end encrypted (E2EE) sync. Your history is encrypted on your device, using a key derived from your passphrase, before it is ever sent to a server. The server stores only ciphertext it cannot read. Even if the server were breached, your clipboard would remain unreadable. This is what Relic does.
- Transport encryption. Your data is encrypted in transit using HTTPS or TLS, then decrypted on arrival at the server. The server can read it. This is what most cloud services use by default, including Windows Clipboard History with sync enabled. It protects against interception on the wire but not against the server operator.
A tool that claims to be private but syncs through a server without E2EE is relying on transport encryption. That is a real protection against eavesdropping, but it is not zero-knowledge. The company can read your clipboard.
The comparison at a glance
| Relic | Ditto | Maccy | CopyQ | Win+V | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stays on your device only | Syncs, E2EE | Cloud sync | |||
| End-to-end encrypted sync | |||||
| No account required | Account for sync | Microsoft account | |||
| Open source | |||||
| Server can read your clips | Never (ciphertext only) | n/a (local) | n/a (local) | n/a (local) | Yes, if synced |
A note on CopyQ’s “partial” for E2EE: CopyQ supports optional per-tab GnuPG encryption, which means you can encrypt specific tabs manually. It is not automatic and not on by default, so your clipboard is not encrypted unless you configure it. Relic’s “partial” for open source reflects that its sync server and client encryption are open source and self-hostable today, while the full app is source-available.
Ranked by privacy need
1. You want zero cloud, single device: Maccy, Ditto, or CopyQ
If you work on one machine and want no cloud involvement at all, these three are the honest answer. Each one keeps your clipboard history entirely on your device, never phones home, and is fully open source so the code is auditable.
- Maccy is the lightest option for Mac users. Fast, keyboard-driven, minimal. It keeps a local history and nothing else. See Relic vs Maccy.
- Ditto is the best local option for Windows. It has a searchable history, runs quietly in the background, and can sync across your own Windows machines over a local network with no cloud involved. See Relic vs Ditto.
- CopyQ runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is the most scriptable and configurable of the three, and the right pick for power users who want tabs and custom commands. The tradeoff is a steeper learning curve.
All three are legitimate, genuinely private tools for their use case. There is no surveillance or cloud dependency to worry about.
2. You want a private history that syncs across devices: Relic
Relic is built for people who work across more than one machine and do not want to sacrifice privacy to do it. Every item is encrypted on your device using XChaCha20-Poly1305 with a key derived from your passphrase via Argon2id before it is stored or synced. The server holds only ciphertext. Even Relic cannot read your clipboard.
The honest caveat is not availability, since Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iPhone are all out today. It is that on mobile, Relic is a browse-and-search lens rather than a background recorder, because phone operating systems do not allow apps to capture the clipboard in the background. If you work entirely on one machine and never sync, a local tool above is a simpler fit.
3. Avoid: cloud clipboards without E2EE
Windows Clipboard History with cloud sync enabled, and similar built-in or third-party cloud clipboard tools that do not publish a zero-knowledge architecture, fall into this category. They use transport encryption, which protects against interception in transit, but your clipboard arrives at a server in a form the operator can read. For passwords, tokens, private messages, and anything sensitive, this is a real exposure.
If you use Win+V, you can limit the risk by leaving cloud sync off in Windows Settings. Your history will stay local but will clear on restart and keep only about 25 items.