Best Open-Source Clipboard Managers in 2026

The best open-source clipboard manager for most Windows users is Ditto: free, GPL-licensed, quick to search and simple to set up. Choose CopyQ if you want scripting or also use Linux or macOS, EcoPaste if you want a modern interface with full-text search on Windows and macOS, and Edge Drop if you mostly drag screenshots and files between apps. All four keep your history on your own computer and need no account.

Edge Drop is made by the team behind this site. It's included because it does one of these jobs well, and its limits are listed alongside the others'.

Quick comparison

Release dates are from each project's GitHub releases page. Windows' own clipboard history (Win+V) isn't open source, but it's already installed and is the right starting point if you only reuse a few items a day. Press Win+V and select Turn on to try it.

1. Ditto: best for most people

Ditto saves everything you copy to a local SQLite database: text, images, HTML and custom formats. Press Ctrl+`, type a few letters, and press Enter to paste into the window you were using.

• Strengths: quick search, history that survives restarts, groups, plain-text paste with Shift+Enter, auto-delete by count or age. Its site lists "no login, no cloud, no telemetry", and Windows binaries are code-signed through SignPath.
• Install: installer, portable zip, Microsoft Store, Chocolatey or winget.
• Limits: Windows only, a plain list interface, and no scripting beyond what its options offer.

Choose Ditto if you want a dependable history you can search, and nothing more.

2. CopyQ: best for scripting and power users

CopyQ stores text, HTML, images and custom formats in tabs you can sort, edit, tag and annotate. Its standout feature is automation: commands can run on a shortcut or on every copy, and a command-line interface lets scripts read and add items.

• Strengths: runs on Windows, Linux and macOS; rules to ignore copies from certain windows or matching certain text; a Vim-like editor option. Its security documentation says CopyQ sends nothing over the network and ignores clipboard content that apps mark as secret, such as password-manager copies, by default.
• Install: installer or portable zip from GitHub, or Scoop and Chocolatey.
• Limits: a steep first hour. History is stored unencrypted unless you turn on its encryption option.

Choose CopyQ if you want copies to trigger actions, or you work across operating systems. Ditto vs CopyQ compares the two most popular picks in depth.

3. EcoPaste: best modern interface

EcoPaste is built with Tauri and Rust, with a React interface. Its README lists capture of plain text, HTML, RTF, images, files and folders, SQLite full-text search across clips and notes, and filters by source app and content type.

• Strengths: skips copies that look like high-confidence secrets (private keys, service tokens, AWS keys, JWTs); favourites, pins, notes and custom groups; drag items out to other apps; export and import backups, including encrypted ones. Windows builds cover both x64 and ARM64.
• Install: setup files on its GitHub releases page.
• Limits: a younger project than Ditto or CopyQ, with no Linux build listed.

Choose EcoPaste if Ditto's look puts you off and you don't need CopyQ's scripting. EcoPaste vs Edge Drop compares it with a different style of interface.

4. Edge Drop: best for dragging images and files

Edge Drop is a clipboard shelf that slides out when your cursor rests at the left, right or top edge of the screen, or when you press Alt+C. It keeps text, links, colours, images and files copied in Explorer, 250 unpinned items by default (up to 1,000), and its history survives restarts.

• Strengths: click a card to paste it into the app you were using, or drag images and files straight into Explorer, chat or design apps. Merge up to 10 images or files into one stack. It has no telemetry, skips content that apps flag as excluded from clipboard history, and encrypts its history index with Windows DPAPI.
• Install: Microsoft Store or the installer on GitHub.
• Limits: Windows x64 only; text and link cards can't be dragged out; no sync, scripting, plain-text paste, OCR or export. Search covers text, links and file names, but only the first 300 characters of long text.

Choose Edge Drop if you move screenshots and files between apps all day and prefer the mouse. If you mainly search old text, Ditto suits you better.

Open-source tools that aren't clipboard managers

People searching for an open-source clipboard manager often actually need one of these:

• Espanso (GPL-3.0; Windows, macOS, Linux) is a text expander: you type a short keyword and it inserts saved text. Use it if you retype the same text, rather than lose things you copied. Do you need a text expander instead?
• ShareX (GPL-3.0, Windows) is a screenshot and recording tool. It can copy captures, files or upload links to the clipboard, but doesn't keep a history of your copies. ShareX vs Snipping Tool covers it.
• PowerToys Advanced Paste (MIT, part of Microsoft PowerToys) changes the format of what you paste: plain text, Markdown, JSON or text from an image. Advanced Paste vs a clipboard manager explains how it fits with the tools above.

On a Mac, Maccy is a popular MIT-licensed choice. On Linux, CopyQ runs natively.

How to check an open-source clipboard app before installing

A clipboard manager can read everything you copy, so it's worth five minutes of checking:

1. Download from the project itself. Use the GitHub releases page or a store listing the project links to, not a download portal or search ad.
2. Read the licence on the release you install. Look for a recognised licence such as GPL-3.0, MIT or Apache 2.0 in the repository's LICENSE file.
3. Check it's maintained. Look at the date of the latest release and whether recent issues get answers.
4. Read its privacy statement. Ditto and CopyQ both document that they don't send your clips anywhere. Look for the same in any app you consider.
5. Test it with a dummy password. Copy a fake password using your password manager's copy button, then search the new history for it. If it's there, set up exclusions before relying on the app. How to stop clipboard managers from saving secrets covers each approach.
6. Run one history at a time. Turn off Windows clipboard history or any older manager, or every copy is stored twice.

Open source lets you, or anyone, inspect the code; it isn't an audit in itself. Open-source or closed clipboard apps: which is safer? goes further.

GPL vs Apache 2.0 for everyday users

For personal or internal company use, both licences let you install and run the software freely. The differences matter mainly if you distribute the software, modified or not. GPL-3.0 requires that copies you distribute come with their source code under the same licence. Apache 2.0 is permissive: it lets you distribute modified versions under other terms, provided you keep its notices. Neither licence says anything about how an app treats your data.

FAQ

What is the best open-source clipboard manager for Windows?

Ditto for most people. CopyQ if you want scripting, EcoPaste for a modern interface with full-text search, and Edge Drop for dragging images and files.

Is there an open-source clipboard manager that works on Windows, Mac and Linux?

CopyQ runs on all three. EcoPaste covers Windows and macOS.

Are open-source clipboard managers safe?

Their code can be inspected, and the four above all keep history locally. Download from the official project, keep the app updated, and test that it skips passwords before relying on it.

Related reading

• Best Clipboard Managers for Windows in 2026: 8 Compared
• Open-Source or Closed Clipboard Apps: Which Is Safer?
• Ditto vs CopyQ (2026): Which Clipboard Manager to Use
• Open-Source Clipboard Licenses: Apache vs GPL vs MIT

Sources

• Ditto (GitHub) and Ditto releases — licence, formats, hotkey, install options, latest release.
• Ditto website — no login, no cloud, no telemetry.
• CopyQ, CopyQ on GitHub and CopyQ releases — features, platforms, licence, latest release.
• CopyQ security — no network use, secret formats ignored, unencrypted storage by default.
• EcoPaste (GitHub) — features, platforms, licence and latest release.
• Edge Drop releases (GitHub) — latest release.
• Espanso (GitHub) — licence and platforms.
• ShareX (GitHub) — licence.
• PowerToys (GitHub) — MIT licence.
• Maccy — macOS requirement and MIT licence.
• GNU General Public License v3.0 and Apache License 2.0 — licence terms.

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