Clipboard Doctor vs Pastery
Both search text inside screenshots using Apple Vision OCR — that's what makes them stand out from basic clipboard managers. The difference comes down to price and language: Clipboard Doctor is free with Arabic + English OCR. Pastery is a paid subscription focused on English content.
Short answer: If you need OCR clipboard history and want to pay nothing, Clipboard Doctor does the same core job — screenshot indexing via Apple Vision — for free, with the addition of Arabic support. If you work exclusively in English and prefer a subscription product with polish features like text transforms and app filters, Pastery is a capable option. There is no reason to pay for screenshot OCR when a free alternative covers the same capability.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Clipboard Doctor | Pastery |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, always | Paid subscription |
| Search text inside screenshots (OCR) | Yes — Apple Vision, on-device | Yes — Apple Vision, on-device |
| Arabic OCR support | Yes — bilingual AR + EN | English-focused |
| Image / screenshot history | Yes — every screenshot stored | Yes |
| Text clipboard history | Yes — unlimited | Yes — unlimited |
| Account required | None — no login, no email | Yes — subscription account |
| Fully offline (no network) | Yes — verifiable | Subscription requires connectivity |
| Tags and pinning | Yes | Yes |
| Snippets / templates | Yes | Yes |
| Text transforms | No | Yes (UPPERCASE, trim, etc.) |
| App source filters | No | Yes — filter by source app |
| macOS requirement | macOS 13+ | macOS 13+ |
Where Pastery wins
Pastery has invested in workflow features that Clipboard Doctor doesn't have: text transforms (one-click UPPERCASE, lowercase, trim whitespace), per-app filters to browse what you copied from a specific application, and a polished interface that many users find premium. If those features are part of how you work and you're comfortable with a subscription, Pastery delivers them cleanly.
Where Clipboard Doctor wins
The core OCR capability — indexing text inside screenshots — is powered by Apple's Vision framework in both apps. Clipboard Doctor does this for free. Pastery charges a monthly subscription for the same underlying engine.
The more meaningful difference is language coverage. Clipboard Doctor enables Arabic and English OCR simultaneously. Screenshots that mix languages — a Gulf region app, an Arabic document alongside English labels, a bilingual error message — are fully indexed and searchable in both directions. If Arabic is part of your day, Clipboard Doctor is the only option in this category that handles it without a workaround.
On privacy: Clipboard Doctor stores everything in a sandboxed local container and makes zero network requests during normal use — verifiable with Little Snitch or Charles. No account exists to associate your clipboard data with. Pastery requires a subscription account, which means your usage is tied to a login.
Download Clipboard Doctor — freemacOS 13+ · 2-minute install guide
Which OCR engine do they use?
Both apps use Apple's Vision framework — the same on-device OCR engine built into macOS. There is no difference in the underlying recognition quality for English text. The distinction is configuration: Clipboard Doctor sets both Arabic and English as active recognition languages, making it the only clipboard manager in the category that supports bilingual screenshot search out of the box.
Because OCR runs on-device via Apple's Neural Engine on Apple Silicon, neither app sends screenshot content to a remote server for recognition. The processing is local in both cases.
Questions
Is there a free alternative to Pastery with screenshot OCR?
Yes — Clipboard Doctor. Every screenshot you copy is automatically indexed by Apple Vision OCR at copy time, making its text searchable instantly. It's free with no subscription and adds Arabic OCR support on top of English. The core screenshot-search capability is identical to what Pastery provides.
Does Pastery support Arabic in screenshot OCR?
Pastery's OCR is focused on English content. Clipboard Doctor enables Arabic and English simultaneously in Apple Vision, so bilingual screenshots are fully searchable in both languages without any setup. If your work involves Arabic text — in documents, apps, or web content — Clipboard Doctor is the only clipboard manager that covers this natively.
Does Clipboard Doctor or Pastery store clipboard data in the cloud?
Clipboard Doctor stores all history locally in a sandboxed macOS container. Nothing is transmitted anywhere — you can confirm this with any network monitoring tool. Clipboard data never reaches a server. Pastery is a subscription product; its data handling depends on its terms of service. If local-only storage is a requirement for your security policy or personal preference, Clipboard Doctor is the verifiably offline option.
Do I need an account for Clipboard Doctor?
No. Download the DMG, open it, and Clipboard Doctor runs immediately. No account, no email, no registration. It stays in your menu bar and starts collecting history from the first copy.
Can I use Clipboard Doctor and Pastery at the same time?
Technically yes, but running two clipboard managers simultaneously is redundant — both would index the same copies. Most users pick one. If you want to try Clipboard Doctor, quit Pastery first to avoid duplicate menu-bar entries and double indexing.
Also see: vs Maccy · vs Paste · vs Raycast · search text in screenshots · Arabic clipboard manager