Is Paste or Syncthing better?

Neither clearly leads. Paste starts at $29.99/year and Syncthing at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Paste or Syncthing?

Syncthing has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29.99/year for Paste and Free for Syncthing.

Does Paste or Syncthing run on more platforms?

Paste runs on Mac, iOS. Syncthing runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, Docker.

Can I use Syncthing for free?

Yes. Syncthing has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Paste starts at $29.99/year.

What is Paste best used for?

Paste is most often used for someone who regularly copies something on their iphone, such as an address or code, and needs it moments later on their mac, a user organising reusable snippets like email signatures or boilerplate text into named pinboards, a team member already paying for setapp who wants paste included rather than purchased separately, anyone who has outgrown a local-only clipboard manager because they now work across multiple apple devices. Of those, someone who regularly copies something on their iphone, such as an address or code, and needs it moments later on their mac and a user organising reusable snippets like email signatures or boilerplate text into named pinboards are not what Syncthing is typically brought in for.

What can Paste do that Syncthing cannot?

Paste covers Clipboard history, iCloud sync, Pinboards, Rich content support. Syncthing covers Peer-to-peer sync, Encrypted transport, File versioning, Selective sync.

Utilities · head to head

Paste vs Syncthing

Paste

Utilities

Subscription clipboard manager for Mac, iPhone and iPad with iCloud sync between devices

From: $29.99/year
Rated: -

Full review Website

Syncthing

Utilities

Continuous file synchronisation between your own devices

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Syncthing has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Paste it is an ongoing subscription, unlike the free, one-time-cost alternatives Maccy and the built in macOS clipboard, so the cost compounds every year it is used.; Syncthing synchronisation, not backup: a deletion propagates to every device, and versioning must be configured deliberately
They diverge on capability: Paste covers Clipboard history, Syncthing covers Peer-to-peer sync.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Paste and Syncthing actually diverge.

Attributes where Paste and Syncthing differ
Attribute	Paste	Syncthing
Starting price	$29.99/year	Free
Pricing model	Per user per month	Open source, no licence fee
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Mac, iOS	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, Docker

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Utilities).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Paste

Clipboard history
iCloud sync
Pinboards
Rich content support
Search and filter
Setapp availability

Only in Syncthing

Peer-to-peer sync
Encrypted transport
File versioning
Selective sync

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Paste

Someone who regularly copies something on their iPhone, such as an address or code, and needs it moments later on their Macnot Syncthing
A user organising reusable snippets like email signatures or boilerplate text into named pinboardsnot Syncthing
A team member already paying for Setapp who wants Paste included rather than purchased separatelynot Syncthing
Anyone who has outgrown a local-only clipboard manager because they now work across multiple Apple devicesnot Syncthing

Syncthing

Keeping files in step across personal machines without a cloud accountnot Paste
Syncing data that must not sit on a third-party server for policy reasonsnot Paste
Replacing a paid cloud storage subscription for sync-only needsnot Paste

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Paste

It is an ongoing subscription, unlike the free, one-time-cost alternatives Maccy and the built in macOS clipboard, so the cost compounds every year it is used.
Sync depends on iCloud, so a user without a reliable iCloud connection or who disables iCloud for privacy reasons loses the entire reason to pay for it over Maccy.
It has no Windows or Android app, so sync only works within the Apple ecosystem.
Because it preserves rich content and images, the synced history can grow large enough to be noticeable in iCloud storage use over time.
A user who only ever uses one Mac gets no benefit from the subscription cost over a free local-only tool like Maccy.

Syncthing

Synchronisation, not backup: a deletion propagates to every device, and versioning must be configured deliberately
Devices must be online simultaneously to sync, so an always-on machine is effectively required
Initial setup involves exchanging device IDs and is less approachable than signing into a cloud service
No web access to files, since there is no server holding them

Pricing, plan by plan

Paste

$29.99/year

Paste$2.49/month
- Billed annually at roughly 29.99 USD per year
- Covers Mac, iPhone and iPad apps under one subscription
- iCloud sync between all devices

Syncthing

Free

SyncthingFree
- Full functionality
- No usage limits
- Community support

Which should you pick?

Choose Paste if

You need clipboard history.
You work on Mac, iOS.
You also want icloud sync.

Paste review

Choose Syncthing if

You need peer-to-peer sync.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, Docker.
You also want encrypted transport.

Syncthing review

Questions people ask

Is Paste or Syncthing better?: Neither clearly leads. Paste starts at $29.99/year and Syncthing at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Paste or Syncthing?: Syncthing has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29.99/year for Paste and Free for Syncthing.
Does Paste or Syncthing run on more platforms?: Paste runs on Mac, iOS. Syncthing runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, Docker.
Can I use Syncthing for free?: Yes. Syncthing has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Paste starts at $29.99/year.
What is Paste best used for?: Paste is most often used for someone who regularly copies something on their iphone, such as an address or code, and needs it moments later on their mac, a user organising reusable snippets like email signatures or boilerplate text into named pinboards, a team member already paying for setapp who wants paste included rather than purchased separately, anyone who has outgrown a local-only clipboard manager because they now work across multiple apple devices. Of those, someone who regularly copies something on their iphone, such as an address or code, and needs it moments later on their mac and a user organising reusable snippets like email signatures or boilerplate text into named pinboards are not what Syncthing is typically brought in for.
What can Paste do that Syncthing cannot?: Paste covers Clipboard history, iCloud sync, Pinboards, Rich content support. Syncthing covers Peer-to-peer sync, Encrypted transport, File versioning, Selective sync.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Paste: Is Paste free?

No. It is a subscription, priced around 2.49 to 3.99 US dollars a month or roughly 30 dollars a year, though it is also available through the Setapp bundle.

Syncthing: Is Syncthing free?

Yes, open source with no licence fee and no storage costs, because there is no server.

Paste: Does Paste sync between my Mac and iPhone?

Yes, that is its main differentiator, using iCloud to sync clipboard history across Mac, iPhone and iPad.

Syncthing: Is Syncthing a backup tool?

No. It synchronises, so deletions propagate. Use it alongside a real backup, not instead of one.

Paste: Is there a free alternative that does not sync?

Yes, Maccy is free, open source and Mac-only with no sync, for users who do not need cross-device history.

Syncthing: Do my files pass through anyone else’s servers?

No. Transfers are peer to peer and encrypted. Discovery and relay servers can help devices find each other, and relayed traffic remains encrypted end to end.

Paste vs Syncthing

Paste

Syncthing

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Paste

Only in Syncthing

What people use each for

Paste

Syncthing

Where each one falls short

Paste

Syncthing

Pricing, plan by plan

Paste

Syncthing

Which should you pick?

Choose Paste if

Choose Syncthing if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Paste

More on Syncthing

Keep looking

Other head to heads