Kept vs Raycast clipboard history
Raycast is a launcher that happens to include a very good clipboard history, and many people never need more. Kept is only a clipboard manager. That is its whole job, and it shows in where the card opens and what pasting feels like.
One of the Kept, compared pages.
| Kept | Raycast | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free; sync and some features in the paid Pro plan |
| Open with | ⇧⌘V for the card, ⌥⇧⌘V for the panel, or click the menu bar icon | A hotkey you assign |
| Where it opens | At your text cursor; the panel under the menu bar icon | The Raycast window, centred on screen |
| Return | Return pastes into the app you were in | Return pastes |
| Search | Full text, as you type, in the card and the panel | Type to search |
| What it keeps | Text, links, code, colours, files, images and screenshots | Text, images, files, links, colours |
| Scope | A clipboard manager and nothing else | A launcher with extensions, AI, windows and more |
| Sync | None, on purpose | With Pro |
| Network | No networking code; checked on every build | The app connects for its store, updates and account |
| Terminal | The kept command lists, searches and copies history | None |
Keep Raycast if
- You already live in Raycast and its clipboard history is enough.
- You want sync and are happy with Pro.
- You want one launcher for everything.
Switch to Kept if
- You want the history at your cursor, not in a window in the middle of the screen.
- You want a tool that provably never connects to anything.
- You want plain text into Slack and terminals by default, and a one-line mode for commands.
- You want your history from the terminal with one command.
Switching
In Kept's welcome window, or in Settings › General, choose "Raycast" under "Use the shortcut from". Kept then opens with the shortcut your hands already know. Your Raycast history stays in Raycast; Kept starts collecting from the moment it runs. Download Kept, free, for macOS 14 or later.
Facts as of October 2026, from Raycast's own documentation. Something wrong or out of date? Say so and it gets fixed.