What the World Needs is More $5 Apps like Nanoclip
This is a review. I am not the developer. I don't know the developer and I don't have any affiliate links to his software. NanoClip is a menu-bar app combining clipboard history, text-expansion snippets, and clipboard automation "flows." Free/demo tier; Pro is $9.99 one-time ($5 with code EARLYBIRD through Jul 31). macOS 14+, local-first, optional iCloud sync, no account. By Victor Baro. (getnano.dev/clip) The world needs more $5 apps like NanoClip. Before you roll your eyes at yet another clipboard utility, this one is actually three utilities rolled into one, and each can be summoned with its own global hotkey, fully remappable: Clipboard history (⌃⌘V) -- everything you've copied, searchable Snippets (⌃⌘S) -- text expansion with keyword auto-triggers Flows (⌃⌘F) -- automations that transform whatever's on your clipboard Upfront, I'll tell you that you can get a portion (but not all) of what NanoClip offers from Raycast or Alfred. The developer isn't hiding from that; right on the product page he features detailed comparisons against both of those big-name launchers, plus Maccy and Paste. I'm a heavy Raycast user, and inside it I keep a large set of text expansion snippets I've been using for years, imported from the OG TextExpander app, which is now subscription-based. NanoClip's snippets can go head to head with Raycast's: they support dynamic placeholders for the current date, clipboard contents, or fields you fill in before pasting. I also use Raycast's clipboard manager, and unlimited history is one of the main reasons I pay for Pro. Raycast, however, doesn't sync clipboard history between machines, and that's why I'm continually tempted to leave it. NanoClip Pro gives me unlimited clipboard history for $5 once versus $8 every month for Raycast Pro (which adds more than just clipboard history, to be fair). It also syncs history and snippets between Macs via iCloud -- optional, for obvious privacy reasons. The tools power users expect are here too: search, pinned items, and a paste queue that lets you copy several items and then paste them out in order -- handy for forms and spreadsheets. History captures text, rich text, code, links (with rich previews), images, GIFs, files, and color values, each rendered with an inline preview so you can see what you're about to paste. Although I write a lot, I confess to underusing the text manipulation tools I already own. Flows might fix that. You get 30 built-in blocks across text, image, URL, and AI categories, including regex extraction, JSON formatting, OCR, image resize/convert, URL tracking-parameter stripping, QR generation, and even Bash commands (direct-download build only). The AI blocks are strictly optional and run either locally (Apple Intelligence or Ollama) or through your own API key for OpenAI, Anthropic, or Gemini. Comparable apps Maccy is free and open source, the default recommendation for pure clipboard history, but has no snippets, flows, sync, or rich previews. Paste ($29.99/year or $89.99 lifetime) has the prettiest UI and iPhone/iPad sync, but it's a subscription for what NanoClip charges $9.99 once for. Raycast includes clipboard history (30-day retention) and snippets free inside its launcher; unlimited history and sync need Pro at $8/month. Alfred's Powerpack (one-time, ~£34) similarly bundles clipboard history and snippets into a launcher. NanoClip's free tier is a demo more than a daily driver (last 5 clipboard items, 3 snippets), but at $5 through July 31 -- $9.99 after -- Pro is a bargain if you need all its features.
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Thank you, once again, for your posts and reviews. I enjoy reading them and invariably learn a thing or two from them.
It’s a labor of love and knowing that you find them helpful is great. Thank you.
The part people gloss over is that $5-once only works while the app scope stays narrow. The moment it grows sync or an update treadmill, the dev is covering ongoing cost with a one-time payment, and thats the exact thing that pushes them toward a subscription a couple years in. Nanoclip keeping the AI local or BYO-key instead of hosted is smart for that reason. How do you feel about paid major-version upgrades as the middle path?
I'd be OK with that. I have paid for updates to my favorite apps many times over - Hazel, Keyboard Maestro, Default Folder X
Funny, I was just thinking I’m going to make all my apps $5 one time. I’m not in building them to get rich, but I’d love for more people to use them.
What are your apps? I'd like to support this :) You can DM me if its against the subs rules!
https://alanwizemann.com/tools - specifically the Mac apps, and I am adding trapperkeeper.co to this now. If you want any of them, DM me, and I can send you a code for the discount.
I’m poor, at 5 dollars I’ll buy whatever makes sense for my workflow. Beyond that price I either skip it, find a FOSS alternative (this is what I do 99,9% of the time) or just pirate it (if I really REALLY need it).
Curious if there was a product that is open source, but there is also a commercial version that offers support and auto-updates, but is feature-equal and low-cost (one-time purchase), would you, inevitably, pay to reduce the hassle of self-building, tracking updates, etc?
at least you're honest
I totally agree with one caveat: people should be buying a finished, polished, premium app. I’d rather pay $5-$10+ for something finished and premium than deal with open source works in progress or someone’s free weekend GitHub science project. I don’t expect free shit from people, I think devs should be rewarded for their work.
Agree. But even for 5 bucks, people deserve at least one annual update to ensure compatibility with major new macOS versions I fear that vibe-coded apps will lead to a wave of apps that never get a single update - just lazy cash-grabs
I'm in the process of vibe-coding an app :). It's mostly just for me but will be a free app via github with an option to donate via ko-fi. I don't expect to make any money but my theory is that as it's just a personal project that others *might* find use for expectations should be low.....
the healthy version of this is when the app stays narrow enough that the price makes sense. one job, no account, no cloud dependency, no giant roadmap that turns into a subscription later. that is also why i like small paid mac utilities more when they export normal files or use system features instead of trapping everything in their own database. cheap is good, but boring escape hatches are what make it feel safe to buy.
I use FlyCut: clipboard history, iCloud sync, free. Edit: ok this app is pretty amazing at $5, buying it.
Love this app. Would be great if they would add an iOS version.
Already bought it
I would say you can compare Deck to this
If I am not mistaken this is quite similar to 'AwesomeCopy'?
Strongly agree with the general point. I miss the era of small, sharp apps that do one job well and just charge a normal price for it. Not everything needs accounts, teams, cloud sync, and a monthly plan.
The "finished premium app vs. weekend GitHub project" framing feels like a false choice to me. The healthiest pattern I've seen is both at once: source on GitHub so you can verify it does what it claims (no telemetry, no weird network calls), and a paid polished build for people who just want to download and go. The $5 isn't for the code, it's for the notarization, the updates, and not having to compile anything yourself. Also agree with the narrow-scope point above — a utility that only reads system data is way easier to keep alive across macOS versions than one that changes things. Feature creep is what turns one-time pricing into a subscription two years later.
This is nice because it has the potential for functionality i’ve been looking for…scan my clipboard history and tell me the % similarity to other items to recommend they be added as snippets.
Small focused Mac apps are the right direction. I built markjason.sh around the same idea, except I made it free for now: native macOS editor for .md/.json/.env, no account, no tracking. It is intentionally boring: opens fast, live syncs files, and stays out of the way when you just need to tweak a README, AGENTS.md, or JSON blob.
I think that free / open source apps are the future. Give the option for agents and humans to support via donations / coffees. I know this might be controversial. But I find myself willing to go even further than 5 USD apps y they really make a difference.
This is one thing I don't like about Mac. Here, paying for every tom dick and harry app is so normalised.