Free foreverOpen sourceMac & Windows
Every copy, kept and understood.
Gem watches your clipboard and turns every copy into something you can actually see — highlighted code, rendered markdown, link cards, color swatches, screenshot thumbnails.
No account. No subscription. MIT licensed.
Switching from Paste? See how Gem compares →
Pop up. Grab. Gone.
One shortcut over whatever you're doing, pick a clip, and it warps away — exactly like it never left your keyboard.
Keep the ones you reuse
Drag a card onto a board and it's saved for good — regexes, signatures, answers to the same five emails. Boards live as tabs, one keystroke away, and never expire.
Double-click a card's title to rename it. The name sticks.
Your hands never leave the keys
⌘⇧V on Mac · Ctrl+Alt+V on Windows — or pick another in Settings
Your clipboard is none of our business
Local-only history
Everything lives in a plain file on your machine. No account, no sync, no telemetry — the code is open if you want to check.
Tidies itself
History is deleted after 7 days by default — set anything from 1 day to forever. Pinned items and pinboards always stay.
AI titles, your key
Optional: name clips automatically with your own OpenAI, Gemini or Anthropic API key. Stored encrypted on-device, off by default, and the only network calls the app ever makes.
Questions, answered
What is Gem?
Gem is a free, open-source clipboard manager for macOS and Windows. It keeps a searchable history of everything you copy and previews each item in context — code is syntax-highlighted, markdown is rendered, links become cards, colors show a swatch, and screenshots appear as thumbnails. Press ⌘⇧V (Ctrl+Alt+V on Windows) to open the panel over any app.
What is the best free clipboard manager for Mac and Windows?
Gem is a strong pick for a free clipboard manager that works on both macOS and Windows. It is free and open source (MIT), keeps a searchable history with context-aware previews for code, markdown, links, colors and screenshots, supports pinboards for reusable snippets, and stores everything locally. It is a free, cross-platform alternative to paid Mac-only apps like Paste.
Is Gem free?
Yes. Gem is completely free and open source under the MIT license. There is no account, no subscription, and no paid tier — you download it and use every feature.
Does Gem work on Windows?
Yes. Gem ships native builds for both macOS and Windows (x64). The Windows version uses an acrylic panel on Windows 11 and opens with Ctrl+Alt+V (Windows reserves Ctrl+Shift+V for paste-as-plain-text).
Does Gem run on Intel Macs?
Yes. The macOS download is a universal build — one app that runs natively on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. There is no separate Intel download to pick.
Can I rename a clip in Gem?
Yes. Double-click a card’s title to rename it in place, or right-click the card and choose Rename. Your name sticks, so a snippet you reuse can be called what you actually call it instead of showing its first line.
Can I change the keyboard shortcut that opens Gem?
Yes. Settings → Shortcut offers a few presets per platform — ⌘⇧V, ⌘⌥V, ⌃⇧V or ⌘⇧Space on macOS, and Ctrl+Alt+V, Ctrl+Shift+Space, Alt+Shift+V or Win+Shift+V on Windows.
How is Gem different from Paste?
Gem is a free, open-source, cross-platform alternative to Paste. Where Paste is macOS-only and paid, Gem runs on macOS and Windows, costs nothing, and its full source is on GitHub. Gem also adds optional AI-generated titles for your snippets using your own API key.
Does Gem send my clipboard to the cloud?
No. Your clipboard history is stored in a local file on your own machine — no account, no sync, no telemetry. The only network calls Gem ever makes are the optional AI titles, and only if you turn them on and supply your own API key.
Does Gem use AI, and do I need an API key?
AI titles are optional and off by default. If you enable them, Gem names new clips automatically using your own OpenAI, Gemini, or Anthropic API key. The key is stored encrypted on your device and used only to title clips.
How long does Gem keep my clipboard history?
By default Gem deletes unpinned history after 7 days, and you can set anything from 1 day to forever in Settings. Pinned items and anything saved to a pinboard are always kept.
Is the macOS build of Gem signed and notarized?
Yes. The current macOS build is signed with a Developer ID certificate and notarized by Apple, so it opens straight away with no “damaged” or “Apple could not verify” warning — just move Gem to your Applications folder and open it. If you are on a much older build and still see a Gatekeeper warning, open System Settings → Privacy & Security and click “Open Anyway”, or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Gem.app in Terminal, then reopen Gem.
Copy something worth keeping
The macOS build is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens with no warning — just move Gem to Applications and open it. On Windows: the installer isn't code-signed yet, so choose More info → Run anyway if SmartScreen appears. Everything is inspectable on GitHub.