Comparison
RAAD vs Paste
Paste is a polished, iCloud-synced clipboard manager for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. It's genuinely strong on cross-device icloud-synced history with no visible size cap, "power search" combines ocr, typo tolerance, and structured filters in one search box, native mcp integration exposing history and pinboards to ai coding assistants.
RAAD takes a different approach: everything runs on-device, with no account needed for anything — paste requires an apple account to turn on sync or ai features, raad never does, mcp access includes writes with a full audit trail, not just read access to history, sealed pinboards behind touch id for anything you don’t want visible at a glance, secret redaction strips things like api keys before they’re ever written to disk. The table below is checked against both apps directly — see sources at the bottom.
| Feature | RAAD | Paste |
|---|---|---|
| Capture | ||
| Unlimited clipboard history | Yes | Yes |
| Rich content types(Not just plain text — rich text, links, colors) | Yes | Yes |
| Image & file capture | Yes | Yes |
| OCR (text from images) | Yes | Yes |
| Find | ||
| Keyword search | Yes | Yes |
| Semantic search(Search by meaning, not exact text) | Yes | Unconfirmed |
| Fuzzy / typo-tolerant search | Yes | Yes |
| Filter by app, date & type | Yes | Yes |
| Pinboards / collections | Yes | Yes |
| Favorites | Yes | Unconfirmed |
| Paste | ||
| Snippets with variables | Yes | Unconfirmed |
| Abbreviation expansion | Yes | Unconfirmed |
| Paste stack(Queue multiple items, paste in sequence) | Yes | Yes |
| Quick paste (⌘1-9) | Yes | Yes |
| Paste as plain text | Yes | Yes |
| Text transforms(Case, trim, encode, and similar one-click edits) | Yes | Unconfirmed |
| AI | ||
| MCP server(Exposes clipboard history to AI clients like Claude) | Yes | Yes |
| MCP write access + audit trail | Yes | No |
| Platform | ||
| Popup anchored at cursor | Yes | Unconfirmed |
| Grid view | Yes | Unconfirmed |
| CLI | Yes | Unconfirmed |
| Apple Shortcuts | Yes | Yes |
| Privacy | ||
| Works fully offline | Yes | Yes |
| No account required | Yes | Partial |
| Secret redaction before disk(Detects and strips things like API keys before they touch storage) | Yes | No |
| Password manager exclusion | Yes | Unconfirmed |
| Concealed / transient pasteboard support | Yes | Unconfirmed |
| Screen-share exclusion | Yes | Unconfirmed |
| Biometric-sealed collections | Yes | Unconfirmed |
| Encrypted local backup | Yes | Unconfirmed |
| Pricing & licensing | ||
| Open source | No | No |
| One-time purchase option | Yes | Yes |
| Subscription required | Yes | Yes |
| Free tier(14-day full trial, not a permanent free tier) | Partial | No |
Why people switch to RAAD
- No account needed for anything — Paste requires an Apple Account to turn on sync or AI features, RAAD never does
- MCP access includes writes with a full audit trail, not just read access to history
- Sealed pinboards behind Touch ID for anything you don’t want visible at a glance
- Secret redaction strips things like API keys before they’re ever written to disk
Not yet available — on the roadmap
The table above only lists what you can use today. These are built and tested but not shipped in the current release, so they’re never counted as a “yes” above.
- On-device AI actions
- Model-backed actions (summarize, rewrite, extract) exist in code but are gated off in the shipping build. Instant text transforms (case, encoding, etc.) already ship and are listed separately.
- End-to-end encrypted cloud sync
- Sync engine and schema exist and are tested, but not wired into the shipping app — no Settings tab, no way to turn it on yet.
- Team / shared memory
- The encryption layer for shared team boards exists in code but has no shipping UI yet.
- iOS / multi-device app
- RAAD is Mac-only today. Universal Clipboard lets you paste into iOS manually, but there is no RAAD iOS app.
Common questions
Is Paste or RAAD cheaper?
Paste runs $3.99/mo (or $2.49/mo billed yearly) with an $89.99 lifetime option. RAAD is priced separately for Personal, Lifetime, and Team — check the pricing table above for current numbers. Paste has no permanent free tier, only a 7-day trial.
Does RAAD sync across devices like Paste does?
Not yet. RAAD’s sync engine exists in code and is tested, but it isn’t wired into the shipping app — there’s no Settings tab for it. Paste’s iCloud sync across Mac, iPhone, and iPad works today. If cross-device sync is what you need right now, Paste has the edge.
Can I import my Paste history into RAAD?
There’s no automatic importer yet. You can run both apps side by side during a transition, or manually bring over anything you rely on — pinboards, snippets, and frequently used clips are the easiest to recreate by hand.
Does RAAD have anything like Paste’s MCP integration?
Yes, and it goes further: RAAD’s MCP server supports write access with a full audit trail, proxied writes, and peer verification — not just exposing history for an AI client to read.
Do I need an account to use RAAD?
No. RAAD works fully offline with no account required for any of its core features, including on-device AI. Paste needs an Apple Account the moment you turn on iCloud sync or Apple Intelligence features.
Pricing
Buy it once, or keep it updated.
Every plan unlocks every feature. Try all of it free for 14 days first — no card, no account.
Personal
…/ month
14-day free trial
Full clipboard history, on-device search, and an MCP server for AI tools.
- Unlimited clipboard history
- On-device semantic search
- MCP server, CLI, and Shortcuts
- Pinboards & Quick Paste
Lifetime
…one-time
Everything in Personal, once, forever. No subscription.
- Everything in Personal
- Free updates within the major version
- One Mac, transferable
Team
…/ month, 5 seats
14-day free trial
A shared, end-to-end encrypted board for the whole team.
- Everything in Personal, per seat
- Shared team snippets (E2E encrypted)
- Admin seat management
Prices shown in your local currency where Paddle supports it. VAT and sales tax are calculated at checkout.
Feature and pricing details verified against each vendor’s own site or App Store listing: Paste (2026-08-17). Found something out of date? Email hello@raad.app.
See how RAAD compares to Maccy, Raycast, Alfred, Pastebot, PastePal, CleanClip, Copy 'Em, Unclutter, Flycut, or see the full comparison.