Softwr

Utilities · head to head

Paste vs VTScada

Paste logo

Paste

Utilities

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

From
$29.99/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
VTScada logo

VTScada

Utilities

SCADA software for water, wastewater and remote telemetry with a published price list

From
$3395/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; VTScada licences are per installed PC rather than per system, so a redundant pair plus a development machine means paying three times unless you buy the discounted multi-server bundles.
  • They diverge on capability: Paste covers Clipboard history, VTScada covers Automatic version control.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Paste and VTScada actually diverge.

Attributes where Paste and VTScada differ
AttributePasteVTScada
Starting price$29.99/year$3395/one-time
Pricing modelPer user per monthOne-time purchase
PlatformsMac, iOSWindows

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 VTScada

  • Automatic version control
  • Bundled historian
  • Alarm notification
  • Driver set included
  • Redundancy and sync
  • Thin clients
  • Idea Studio
  • Slippy maps

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 VTScada
  • A user organising reusable snippets like email signatures or boilerplate text into named pinboardsnot VTScada
  • A team member already paying for Setapp who wants Paste included rather than purchased separatelynot VTScada
  • Anyone who has outgrown a local-only clipboard manager because they now work across multiple Apple devicesnot VTScada

VTScada

  • A municipal water authority with 60 remote pump stations on licensed radio that needs DNP3 polling and regulator-facing change recordsnot Paste
  • An oil and gas gathering operator polling wellsite RTUs over intermittent cellular links with store and forwardnot Paste
  • A small utility that must produce a defensible budget number before going to council for capital approvalnot Paste
  • An integrator standardising on one product where historian, alarming and dialler costs are inside the licence rather than quoted separatelynot 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.

VTScada

  • Licences are per installed PC rather than per system, so a redundant pair plus a development machine means paying three times unless you buy the discounted multi-server bundles.
  • Thin client licensing is by concurrent connection and is priced steeply at scale: unlimited thin clients on a 50,000 tag system costs 59,395 USD on top of the base licence, more than the base licence itself.
  • It is Windows only with no Linux or container deployment, which rules it out of modern edge and virtualised architectures that other SCADA products now support.
  • SupportPlus at 15 percent of the original software price must be maintained continuously; if you let it lapse you cannot simply resume, and reinstatement is negotiated rather than published.
  • The scripting environment and the integrator pool are both proprietary and small, so finding a second-source integrator in a region where Trihedral has thin coverage is genuinely difficult.

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

VTScada

$3395/one-time
  • Base licence up to 1,000 I/O$3395/one-time
    • Runtime and full historian
    • All I/O drivers included
    • Alarms and events
  • Base licence up to 5,000 I/O$4295/one-time
    • Runtime and full historian
    • Development add-on 4,100 USD
    • Alarm notification add-on 2,895 USD
  • Single Server bundle, 5,000 I/O$19095/one-time
    • Development node
    • Alarm notification
    • 2 thin clients
  • Single Server bundle, 50,000 I/O$32495/one-time
    • Development node
    • Alarm notification
    • 2 thin clients

Which should you pick?

Choose Paste if

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

Choose VTScada if

  • You need automatic version control.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want bundled historian.
VTScada review

Questions people ask

Is Paste or VTScada better?
Neither clearly leads. Paste starts at $29.99/year and VTScada at $3395/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Paste or VTScada?
Paste starts at $29.99/year and VTScada at $3395/one-time.
Does Paste or VTScada run on more platforms?
Paste runs on Mac, iOS. VTScada runs on Windows.
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 VTScada is typically brought in for.
What can Paste do that VTScada cannot?
Paste covers Clipboard history, iCloud sync, Pinboards, Rich content support. VTScada covers Automatic version control, Bundled historian, Alarm notification, Driver set included.

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.

VTScada: Is VTScada perpetual or subscription?

Perpetual. Licences are one-time purchases per installed PC, with an optional annual SupportPlus contract at 15 percent of the original software price.

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.

VTScada: Are drivers extra?

No. Standard and proprietary I/O drivers, the historian, trending, reporting and security are all included in the base licence.

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.

VTScada: What does support actually cost?

Annual SupportPlus is 15 percent of total software purchase price. Adding 24/7 emergency support is a further 5 percent with a 1,540 USD minimum.

VTScada: Does it run on Linux?

No. VTScada is Windows only.

Share

Related pages

More on Paste

More on VTScada

Keep looking

Other head to heads