Is there a free clipboard manager for macOS?
Yes. Mimer is a free, open-source (MIT) clipboard manager for macOS. There is no subscription and no paid tier — it is free and stays that way. Install it with brew install --cask hasanjafri/tap/mimer or download the notarized DMG from GitHub Releases.
What is a good free alternative to Maccy?
Mimer is a free, open-source alternative to Maccy. Both are fast, menu-bar, local-only clipboard managers with no telemetry. Mimer adds a developer layer on top: ⌘K transforms (JSON → TypeScript, decode a JWT, Base64/URL, slugify), type-aware clips (git SHAs, issue keys, hex colors, file:line), and history that is encrypted at rest. See the full comparison.
Is there a clipboard manager without a subscription — a free Paste or CopyClip alternative?
Yes. Mimer is a free, open-source alternative to paid or freemium clipboard managers like Paste, Pastebot, CopyClip 2, and Raycast Pro. It offers transforms, a paste-stack, image clips, and encrypted history with no subscription. The one thing it deliberately omits is cross-device cloud sync, which it leaves out to stay local-first and private.
Can a clipboard manager transform text, like JSON to TypeScript or decoding a JWT?
Mimer can. Press ⌘K on any clip to run a transform with a live preview: change case, slugify, Base64 and URL encode/decode, pretty-print JSON, convert JSON to a TypeScript interface, decode a JWT, convert Unix time to ISO 8601, strip URL tracking parameters, and sort or dedupe lines. Only the transforms that apply to the selected clip are shown.
How do I see the whole clip without pasting it?
Hover a clip in Mimer's menu or its ⇧⌘V palette and the full text appears in a card beside the
list. Long clips keep their start and their end — the middle is elided, with the hidden amount
shown — because the ending is usually what tells two near-identical clips apart. The card is formatted for what
the clip is: minified JSON is re-wrapped for reading (whitespace only, key order untouched), diffs colour their
+/− lines with a change count, code gets comments, strings and keywords, and URLs
highlight the host and flag tracking parameters. It also shows the size, the app you copied from, and when.
Detected secrets stay masked in the preview. Turn it off in Settings → General.
Can I import my clipboard history from Maccy?
Yes. Mimer reads an existing Maccy history and brings the clips across with their original copy times and source apps; Maccy's pinned items become Mimer favourites, and anything already in Mimer is skipped rather than duplicated. It's offered on first run when a Maccy history is found, and is available any time from Settings → General → Import, including a file picker if your database lives somewhere else. Maccy's own history is copied to a temporary file and read there — Mimer never modifies it, even while Maccy is running.
Does any macOS clipboard manager encrypt clipboard history?
Mimer does. Clipboard history is encrypted at rest using AES-GCM (via Apple's CryptoKit), with the key stored in the macOS Keychain. The on-disk database and image blobs contain ciphertext only. Detected secrets such as API keys, tokens, and PEM private keys are also masked on screen so they do not appear on a screenshare.
Is Mimer safe? Does it send my clipboard anywhere?
Mimer is local-only. It has no accounts, no telemetry, and makes no network requests except to check for app updates via Sparkle. Your clipboard never leaves your Mac. The source code is open (MIT), so the privacy claims are verifiable, and history is encrypted at rest.
Does Mimer capture passwords from my password manager?
No. Mimer respects the macOS "concealed" pasteboard flag that password managers set, and additionally keeps a blocklist of known password-manager apps and excludes them from capture. You can also pause recording or exclude any app you choose.
Does Mimer support images and snippets?
Yes. Copied images are captured with a thumbnail and pasted right back, and — like all clips — are encrypted at rest. You can also author reusable snippets (signatures, boilerplate) that live in the command palette, and mark any clip as a favorite to keep it forever.
How do I install Mimer?
With Homebrew: brew install --cask hasanjafri/tap/mimer. Or download the notarized DMG from the latest release, open it, and drag Mimer to Applications. Mimer requires macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later and auto-updates via Sparkle.
Is Mimer open source?
Yes, Mimer is open source under the MIT license. The full source — including the encryption and secret-detection code — is on GitHub.