Pasteon vs Pastebot: Clipboard Filters, Paste Queues, and Custom Workflows Compared

Pasteon vs Pastebot: Clipboard Filters, Paste Queues, and Custom Workflows Compared

Pastebot and Pasteon are aimed at Mac users who need more than clipboard history. Both can change content before it reaches another app, and both include a way to paste a sequence.

Pastebot approaches this through filters, custom pasteboards, and Sequential Paste. Pasteon combines content-aware actions with visual or code Workflows, Paste Queue, Collect Mode, Split, and Merge.

This comparison was checked against public product documentation on August 12, 2026. Pasteon publishes it. Pastebot’s documentation remains the source of truth for its current behavior and compatibility.

The short answer

Choose Pastebot if you want an established Mac clipboard tool with reusable filters, custom pasteboards, search, and Sequential Paste.

Choose Pasteon if you want content-aware actions, editable visual and code Workflows, OCR, developer conversions, temporary collections, and LAN sync between nearby Macs.

Pastebot at a glance

Pastebot stores recent copied items and provides search, custom pasteboards, filters, and Sequential Paste. Filters modify a clipping before paste, while Sequential Paste works through a queue in order.

Official sources: Getting Started, Filters, and Preferences.

Pasteon at a glance

Pasteon stores searchable history locally. Its free plan covers the essential history workflow on one Mac.

Paid features extend that history with:

• Contextual actions for several content types.
• Workflows using Steps or Code.
• OCR, data-model generation, cURL conversion, and file output.
• Paste Queue for sequential entry.
• Collect Mode for gathering an ordered batch across apps.
• Split Content and Merge Paste.
• Local network sync between nearby Macs.

Filters versus Workflows

Pastebot Filters are reusable transformations. Its documentation says filters can be applied from the clipboard or custom pasteboards, and a shortcut can paste using the last filter.

Pasteon provides two authoring paths:

• Steps is a visual editor for trim, replace, template, OCR, and output operations.
• Code runs scripts using Simple or Script Filter mode.

A Simple workflow returns one result. Script Filter first returns a list of secondary actions, then executes only the selection. That suits a group such as Convert Case, where uppercase, lowercase, camelCase, snake_case, and other outputs belong under one primary action.

Code workflows can read copied text, content representations, target-app context, directories, and Variables. Results can produce text, files, an open URL, or a Finder reveal action.

Pastebot is easier if predefined filters cover the job. Pasteon offers more room to build and distribute custom behavior through the Workflow Hub.

Sequential paste

Pastebot includes Sequential Paste Mode, allowing users to create a queue and paste through it in order.

Pasteon’s Paste Queue can receive items from several paths:

• Split one copied block by lines or another supported delimiter.
• Select history entries.
• Finish Collect Mode and send the ordered collection to the queue.

Paste Queue enters one item at a time using the standard Mac paste workflow. It is useful for forms, spreadsheet rows, admin tools, and places where bulk import is unavailable.

If sequential paste is your primary requirement, test both interfaces. The important question is how quickly a queue can be built from your real source data.

Pasteboards versus Pinned and Collection

Pastebot’s custom pasteboards maintain organized sets outside rolling history.

Pasteon separates reusable and temporary groupings. Pinned is for content that should remain available. Collection is temporary: start collecting, continue copying across apps, review the results, then copy, merge, or queue the batch.

Custom pasteboards may be better for persistent libraries. Pasteon Collection may be better for short-lived research or data entry.

Supported actions

Pasteon detects text, links, images, files, colors, JSON, Markdown, HTML, timestamps, and dates. Default Workflows include:

• Case, URL, color, and time conversion.
• OCR and JSON formatting.
• JSON to Swift, TypeScript, Kotlin, Go, or Python models.
• cURL to URLSession, fetch, or Axios.
• Open in Browser and Open in Finder.
• PNG, TXT, JSON, and Markdown output.
• Markdown-link creation.

Consult Pastebot’s current help for its exact built-in filters rather than assuming every Pasteon workflow has a Pastebot counterpart.

Price and sync

Pastebot has historically been sold as a one-time Mac purchase. Verify its current App Store price, availability, compatibility, and sync scope before buying.

Pasteon offers free basic history for one Mac. Monthly, annual, and Founding Lifetime options unlock advanced functionality for up to three Macs. It also supports local-network history sync between nearby Macs. See Pasteon pricing.

Which should you choose?

Choose Pastebot when:

• Its filters cover your transformations.
• You want custom pasteboards.
• Sequential Paste is your primary advanced feature.
• You prefer its focused Mac workflow.

Choose Pasteon when:

• You want visual and code-based custom Workflows.
• You need OCR, structured-data, or developer conversions.
• You want Script Filter secondary actions.
• You want Collect, Split, Merge, and Queue to work together.
• You want downloadable workflows and Keychain-backed Secrets.
• You want local-network sync between nearby Macs.

Final verdict

Pastebot recognized early that history is more useful when content can be filtered and pasted in sequence. Pasteon builds on that insight with an extensible Workflow protocol and temporary workspaces around collecting, splitting, merging, and queueing.

Choose Pastebot when its filters and pasteboards match your routine. Choose Pasteon when you want to author, import, or share new clipboard behavior.

Explore the Workflow documentation, the Workflow Hub, or try Pasteon.