Pastebot 3 for Mac
What sets Pastebot 3 apart is its addition of deep automation tools. Not only does the update add MCP support, making it an excellent tool to use with Claude or ChatGPT/Codex, but it includes a brand new CLI that you or an agent can use from Terminal or incorporate into scripts you build.
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New filters have been added that allow you to transform clippings using text transformations and even shell scripts. Using the ability to script custom filters, I’ve begun adding a few of my own to Pastebot for things like adding and removing bullets from multiple lines of text.
I’ve long been aware of this app but hadn’t paid much attention because I’m happy using LaunchBar as my clipboard and snippet manager. LaunchBar has some transformations built-in, and I’ve built up a collection of my own scripts, but it’s appealing that Pastebot comes with so many out of the box.
From Pastebot’s main UI, you can select multiple items at once and right-click to add them to a Stack, or you can pick them one at a time in any order you’d like. As you select items, they’re numbered in the order you’ll paste them into a document using a keyboard shortcut. It’s an excellent feature for filling out forms or copying data from one spreadsheet to another.
There are also rule-based Smart Pastebins for automatic organization, like every link or image copied from Safari. Smart Pastebins can be filtered by clipping size, type, file extension, creation date, text, text length, and more. Multiple parameters can be combined for detailed filtering, and custom notes can be added to clippings to make them easy to find via search.
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Tapbots says Pastebot 3 was built to work with Apple's Universal Clipboard feature, and when enabled and active, anything you copy on your iPhone is saved in Pastebot automatically.
Chief among my favorite features:
- Remembers up to 1,500 clippings (up from a mere 1,000 in v2).
- Syncs via iCloud. If I copy something on one Mac, it’s in my Pastebot history on my other Macs.
- That sweet Tapbots UI.
Importantly, Pastebot 3 requires macOS 26 Tahoe or later and comes with a 14-day free trial. Users can buy the app directly from Tapbots for $39 or subscribe through the App Store for $2.99 per month or $24.99 per year.
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The direct purchase includes one year of updates, with additional years available for $19 each. Users who stop paying for updates can continue using the latest version covered by their purchase. Pastebot 2 owners can also get a $12.99 upgrade discount by entering their existing license key at checkout.
They are not offering any upgrade path for MAS customers. The reason they stated was “upgrade pricing has always been our way of thanking people who bought directly from the site.”
I generally try to avoid complaining about App Store review, since I do think they have a really hard job to do. But I’m about 2 more PB3 rejections from just giving up.
Previously:
- Apple’s Spotlight Clipboard Manager
- Boop 1.3.1
- Processing the Selected Text via Script
- iOS Background App Kludge
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I still use Pastebot 2. Works fine for my needs. They stopped updating it 50 years ago. Nice to see this new version after 250 years of work by their team. But this new version only works on Anal Dye's Liquid Ass Tahoe garbage. It won't sell me a copy but good luck with other players.
Yup, I also use Pastebot 2. Last updated 50 years ago? More like 80, but it still works and is still the best clipboard app by far. I never expected Pastebot 3 to appear and the one feature I want doesn't seem to be included: the ability to export all clipboards and filters to file then the ability to import those to another Mac running Pastebot. This is not possible and iCloud sync is a lazy solution. Some things should not be synced in any cloud let alone copied automatically to another computer. In the past I have ended up with two different sets of clipboards and filters (like home machine and work machine) with no practical way to get things merged or partially merged except manual copy & paste. I like the way Hazel does this, export any rule and import that rule in another copy of Hazel. Alas, the macOS 26 requirement is such a massive turn off, that P3 won't be happening at least until 27 is proven stable ...
I have used pastebot 2 since it was released. by far my favorite mac app (pretty close with cleanshot x). I always wished they made one for ios, I know it’s probably difficult but the amount of times i’d like to copy copy copy and then paste paste paste is insane. I will continue using pastebot 2 until macos 27. I am not upgrading to tahoe, it’s just so ugly. i’ll be skipping tahoe entirely.
It’s a shame that the two license options are a subscription via the App Store, or a subscription that pretends it’s not a subscription from Tapbots directly.
One year of updates and then you have to pay again is a subscription, and I feel it is dishonest to pretend otherwise.
@OR I don’t think it’s dishonest or what’s normally meant by a subscription, but it is very different from the traditional upgrade model. We need a good term for this kind of Sketch-style license.
@OR It's not a subscription. You don't lose what you paid for after a year.
I think it's a great model.
@Michael_Tsai I agree that we need a new term to refer to this kind of license.
@Hammer I used to have a license for an app that has a similar pricing model. Eventually I stopped paying the annual upgrade fee and while I still technically own the last version that was released when I was paying for upgrades, it’s badly outdated and possibly not even available for download anymore. Is it not functionally the same as a subscription?
@OR
> it’s badly outdated
At the time you purchased it was the latest version you could get.
Devs cannot predict what Apple will break and change, even between OS point updates. It's a ton of work to keep projects working on new releases, esp on Apple platforms.
It's not realistic to update your OS every year and expect some app you bought years ago to keep working and look up-to-date. That's expecting a dev to have clairvoyance or you to not pay for labor required to keep the project going.
> and possibly not even available for download anymore
The user is responsible for retaining and backing up older versions they want to keep. I expect companies to offer and support only their latest versions. If they offer an archive of older releases, that's considerate, but not required.
> Is it not functionally the same as a subscription?
No. Nothing stopped working. You still have what you originally licensed. If you kept the same OS and hardware, everything would look and work exactly as when you originally licensed it. A subscription would take that away from you.
One year of updates communicates the reality that maintaining software has a cost. It offers the dev flexibility to release with regularity instead of withholding features and trying to determine what constitutes a paid upgrade.
