Clipdiary vs Ditto: Log Everything or Stay Light?

Choose Clipdiary if you want a long-term archive of everything you copy, with snippets and a password-encrypted database. Choose Ditto if you want a free, searchable history for everyday reuse without licence conditions. Clipdiary's free licence only covers certain users, so check the terms before using it for work.

Clipdiary vs Ditto at a glance

Clipdiary details are from clipdiary.com; Ditto details from its GitHub project and wiki, checked in October 2026.

What Clipdiary is built for

Clipdiary monitors the clipboard and saves what you copy to its database, with the stated aim that you can retrieve it whenever you need it, years later. On top of that archive it offers:

• Snippets for text you reuse, such as standard replies, addresses or code.
• Stars and labels to mark important clips and organise them into folders.
• AES-256 database encryption protected by a password.
• Local storage: the site says your clipboard history stays on your computer.
• A portable version as a ZIP download.

What Ditto is built for

Ditto keeps a working history. Press Ctrl+`, type to search, and press Enter to paste into the window you came from. It stores text, images, HTML and other formats in a local database, adds groups and plain-text paste, and can exclude clips that match a regular expression. The project lists no login, no cloud and no telemetry, and it's free under GPL-3.0 for any use.

The privacy cost of keeping everything

A clipboard archive will, sooner or later, contain things you never meant to keep: passwords copied "just once", one-time codes, client details, draft messages. The longer you keep history, the more there is to expose.

Clipdiary's AES-256 option helps if someone gets the database file, for example from a lost laptop. It doesn't help while you're signed in and the app is unlocked, and it's only as strong as the password you choose. Does a local clipboard app need encryption at rest? explains what disk-level and app-level encryption each protect.

Ditto can grow just as large if you never prune it. The difference is emphasis: Clipdiary is pitched as a long-term record, so people tend to keep more for longer. How many items should a clipboard remember? weighs search value against exposure.

If you do keep a long archive:

1. Turn on Clipdiary's database password.
2. Keep password-manager copies out of history, and don't use your history as a password store.
3. Don't run it on a shared family login; see clipboard history on a shared family PC.
4. Turn off Windows clipboard history so copies aren't stored twice.
5. Delete what you don't need on a schedule. Auto-deleting clipboard history on a timer shows how in different tools.

Licensing: who gets Clipdiary free

Clipdiary offers a fully functional 60-day trial. After that, its free licence page says you qualify only if one of these applies:

• you use it on a personal computer for non-commercial purposes, which excludes remote work, freelancing and running your own business,
• you use it on a private computer for work and your average combined income over the previous six months is under $2,000 a month, or
• you're a not-for-profit organisation.

Everyone else needs a paid licence. The register page listed these in October 2026:

The site describes them as lifetime licences with free future updates starting from 5.72. Ditto has no licence conditions beyond GPL-3.0, so it can be used at work without a purchase, subject to your organisation's software policy.

Maintenance

Clipdiary's current stable release is 5.7, dated December 10, 2021, with a 5.72 beta also offered. Ditto's latest GitHub release is 3.25.113.0 from September 2025. Neither is a fast-moving project, so test either on your own Windows version before relying on it.

Which one to pick

1. You need last week's copies, kept locally, with no licence questions: Ditto.
2. You need last year's copies on purpose, and will encrypt and prune them: Clipdiary.
3. You want long history plus scripting or ignore rules: CopyQ; see Ditto vs CopyQ vs Win+V.
4. You only want snippets: a text expander may suit you better than either.
5. You need nothing after a restart: Windows clipboard history (Win+V) is enough.
6. You mostly reuse today's screenshots and files and want old copies to expire: a staging shelf fits better; Edge Drop vs Clipdiary compares the two approaches.

FAQ

Is Clipdiary free?

Only for qualifying users after the 60-day trial: personal non-commercial use, work on a private PC under the stated income limit, or non-profits. Others need a paid licence.

Does Ditto encrypt its history?

Its project page says data is encrypted when sent over the network. For the database itself, the 3.25.73.0 release notes say encryption support has begun, but there's no documented password option like Clipdiary's, so rely on Windows disk encryption such as BitLocker for data at rest.

Can Clipdiary store files?

Its site lists files among the formats it records, along with text, RTF, BMP images and HTML.

Related reading

• How Big Should Clipboard History Be? 25 vs 250 vs Unlimited
• Does a Local Clipboard App Need Encryption at Rest?
• Ditto vs CopyQ vs Win+V: Which Should You Use?
• Free vs Paid Clipboard Managers: What You Actually Buy

Sources

• Clipdiary — what it records, formats, snippets, stars and labels, AES-256 encryption, local storage, long-term retrieval.
• Clipdiary download — 60-day trial, portable version, version 5.7 and its date.
• Clipdiary free license — who qualifies for free use.
• Clipdiary register — licence types and prices.
• Ditto (GitHub) and Ditto releases — formats, default shortcut, local-first policy, licence, latest release.
• Ditto project page (SourceForge) — SQLite storage and network-sync encryption.

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