1Clipboard earned attention for a clean concept. It runs on Windows and Mac, it is free, and it syncs your clipboard between machines using your own Google Drive rather than a company server. For a while it was a popular pick for people who wanted cross-platform sync without paying for it.
The honest problem is time. 1Clipboard has gone without meaningful updates for years. It still launches for some people, but an unmaintained app is a precarious place to store things you rely on: bugs do not get fixed, sign-in flows break as Google changes, and there is no one to turn to when it stops working. That matters a lot for a tool whose whole job is remembering your data.
Relic is built around the same instinct, cross-device sync, but with active development, real encryption, and its own sync rather than a dependency on Google Drive. It keeps everything you copy, encrypts each item on your device so only you can read it, and is maintained as a living product.
At a glance
| Relic | 1Clipboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Keeps everything | ||
| Search | ||
| Syncs across devices | ||
| Works on Windows | ||
| Works on Mac | ||
| Works on phone | ||
| End-to-end encrypted | ||
| Open source | ||
| Free tier |
A couple of honest notes. 1Clipboard does run on both Windows and Mac, which is more than many free tools, and its Google Drive sync was a smart trick. But that sync is not end-to-end encrypted, and the app being unmaintained undercuts all of it. Relic covers Windows, the Mac and Linux today, and on phones Relic is a browse-and-search companion rather than a background recorder. More on that below.
When 1Clipboard is the better pick
We will be straight with you: it is hard to recommend an unmaintained app for anything important. But there are narrow cases.
- You already use it and it works for you. If it is running fine on your machines and you do not store anything sensitive in it, there is no urgent reason to switch this minute.
- You want zero cost and your own Drive. If the idea of syncing through your own Google Drive really appeals and you accept the risks, that is its distinctive trait.
When Relic is the better pick
For most people choosing today, Relic is the safer place to keep a clipboard history.
- You want a tool that is actually maintained. Relic is in active development, not frozen in time. That alone is the biggest difference here.
- You want real encryption.Relic seals every item on your device with XChaCha20-Poly1305 and a key derived with Argon2id. We store only ciphertext and cannot read your content. 1Clipboard’s Drive sync is not end-to-end encrypted.
- You never want to lose a copy. The free tier keeps a rolling 500 items, and Pro keeps everything forever, with unlimited text on every plan.
- You want reliable cross-device sync. Relic runs its own encrypted sync rather than leaning on a third-party Drive folder that can break.
One thing we will say plainly: Relic captures automatically on Windows, the Mac and Linux, and on phones 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. Relic never writes to your clipboard on its own. It only puts something back when you pick it.
FAQ
Is 1Clipboard still maintained?
Not really. 1Clipboard was a promising free app, but it has gone without meaningful updates for years. It still runs for some people, but bugs go unfixed and there is no active development to rely on. That is the honest situation, and it is the main reason to be cautious about trusting it with your data today.
How does 1Clipboard sync?
Through your own Google Drive. It saves your clipboard data into a Drive folder so it can appear on your other computers. That is clever, but it is not end-to-end encrypted, and it depends on the app continuing to work with Google’s sign-in, which is risky for an unmaintained tool. Relic runs its own encrypted sync, sealing each item on your device first.
Is my 1Clipboard history encrypted?
No, not end to end. It stores history locally and syncs it through Google Drive in a form Google can access. Relic encrypts every item on your device with XChaCha20-Poly1305 and Argon2id before anything is saved or synced, so we only ever hold ciphertext we cannot read.
Which one should I pick?
1Clipboard had a nice idea, but an unmaintained clipboard app is a shaky place to keep things you care about. If you want something actively built, encrypted, and synced reliably across devices, that is exactly what Relic is for.