Pastebot is a lovely piece of Mac software. Tapbots are known for craft, and it shows: a clean interface, fast search, filters that transform text as you paste, and paste sequences that let you fire off several clips in order. It is a paid app, a one-time purchase, and it lives entirely on your Mac. If you work all day on macOS and care about a tool feeling great to use, Pastebot is a deserved favorite.
Relic is built around a different priority. Your clipboard is full of sensitive things, and many of us work across more than one kind of device. Relic keeps everything you copy, encrypts each item on your device so only you can read it, and syncs it across your devices, including Windows, the Mac and your phone. The two are both clipboard managers, but they are aiming at different problems.
At a glance
| Relic | Pastebot | |
|---|---|---|
| Keeps everything | ||
| Search | ||
| Syncs across devices | Macs only | |
| Works on Windows | ||
| Works on Mac | ||
| Works on phone | ||
| End-to-end encrypted | ||
| Open source | ||
| Free tier |
A couple of honest notes. Pastebot is genuinely excellent at what it does, and its filters and paste sequences go beyond what Relic offers for transforming text. Its reach, though, stops at the Mac. Relic’s Linux desktop app is still on the way, and on phones Relic is a browse-and-search companion rather than a background recorder. More on that below.
When Pastebot is the better pick
Pastebot is the right answer for a lot of Mac users, and we are happy to say so.
- You live on the Mac.If every device you touch is Apple and you do not need Windows or Android, Pastebot’s single-platform focus is a feature, not a limit.
- You want powerful paste tooling. Filters that reshape text and sequences that paste several clips in order are its signature, and they are genuinely strong.
- You prefer to pay once. A one-time purchase with no subscription appeals to a lot of people, and Pastebot delivers on it.
- You value polish. Tapbots sweat the details. The app is a pleasure to use day to day.
When Relic is the better pick
Relic earns its place when you step outside a single Mac, or when privacy and permanence come first.
- You work across platforms. Copy a link on your Windows PC and grab it from your phone. Relic syncs your history so it is wherever you are, not tied to one operating system.
- 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. Pastebot keeps history locally and is not built around end-to-end encrypted cloud sync.
- 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 search that reads images. Relic tags items on device and runs OCR on screenshots, so you can find the words inside a picture.
One thing we will say plainly: Pastebot has years of polish behind it and Relic’s Mac app is much newer. Relic on macOS is a signed, notarized download for Apple Silicon that captures from your menu bar and syncs with the Windows, Linux and Android apps. 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. Like Pastebot, Relic never writes to your clipboard on its own. It only puts something back when you pick it.
FAQ
Is Pastebot free?
No. Pastebot from Tapbots is a paid Mac app, sold as a one-time purchase rather than a subscription. Many people happily pay once for how polished it is. Relic has a free tier, plus an optional Pro plan around 4 to 5 dollars a month for keeping everything forever and syncing it encrypted across devices.
Does Pastebot work on Windows or my phone?
No. Pastebot is Mac only. There is no Windows, Linux, Android, or iPhone version. If your life is entirely on the Mac, that focus is part of its charm. If you move between a PC and a phone, Relic is built to follow you across all of them.
Is my Pastebot history encrypted or synced to the cloud?
Pastebot keeps your history locally on your Mac. It is not built around encrypted cloud sync across platforms. 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, and that history reaches your other devices.
Which one should I pick?
If you live entirely on a Mac and want a beautifully made local clipboard manager with powerful filters and paste sequences, Pastebot is excellent. If you want your history kept forever, encrypted, and synced across your Mac, your Windows PC and your phone, that is where Relic fits.