PopClip Alternatives for Mac: Free and Paid Options

PopClip has been the go-to text selection app on the Mac for years. Select text in almost any app and a small toolbar appears with actions: copy, search, translate, change case, send to a notes app or ask an AI model. It is still actively developed (version 2026.8.1 shipped in September 2026), but it is not the only way to get that workflow.

Maybe you want something free, something with deeper AI, a translation popup, or you already own an app that can do the same job. This guide covers the PopClip alternatives worth installing in 2026, and when PopClip itself is still the better choice.

Quick Verdict

• Best overall alternative: BetterTouchTool, if you want a selection menu plus a huge automation toolkit.
• Best free PopClip clone: OpenClip, a new open-source floating action bar with AI actions and extensions.
• Best for translation and dictionary lookups: Easydict, free and open source.
• Best for AI actions on selected text: BoltAI, with its AI Command palette and a one-time license.
• Best if you already use a launcher: Raycast, through AI Commands that read your selection.
• Best built-in option: Writing Tools and the Services menu in macOS, at no cost.

Feature Comparison

Why Look Beyond PopClip?

PopClip is fairly priced and well made, so most people switch for practical reasons rather than because it is bad:

• You want free. PopClip's trial is fully functional but starts nagging after 250 actions.
• You want AI to be the main event. PopClip can call AI through extensions, but dedicated AI apps go further with model choice, prompts and output options.
• You already own something that overlaps. BetterTouchTool, Raycast and BoltAI each cover part of PopClip's job, and one fewer menu bar app is a fair goal.
• You bought it from the Mac App Store long ago. PopClip's App Store version stopped at 2023.9, and 2026.7 and later are a paid update for App Store buyers from 2018 or earlier.

PopClip: The Benchmark

Before switching, it is worth knowing what you are replacing. PopClip shows its toolbar the moment you select text, and recent versions can also open it with a keyboard shortcut, including a single F-key since 2026.8. Its extension directory lists more than 250 extensions for search, translation, text transforms, notes, to-do apps, developer tools and AI, and you can write your own with JavaScript, shell scripts, AppleScript, Shortcuts or key presses. Settings sync over iCloud.

Pricing is a one-time purchase. When we checked, PopClip's store returned about $12 for a Standard license (two years of updates) and $26 for Lifetime (all future updates), before tax; both cover up to five Macs and prices are lower in some countries. Students get 50% off. PopClip is also included in Setapp.

Keep PopClip if you like the "select, then click" flow and want the largest extension library. It remains the most polished app of its kind.

BetterTouchTool

BetterTouchTool is best known for custom trackpad gestures, keyboard shortcuts and mouse buttons, but it also has a text-selection menu: a floating menu appears when you select text, with actions such as translate, search, change case, count characters, send to an AI assistant, copy as HTML and run in Terminal. Under the hood it uses a "Text Selection Did Change" trigger, so you can attach any BetterTouchTool action, script or shortcut to a selection.

That flexibility is both the strength and the cost. BetterTouchTool can do almost anything PopClip can, plus window snapping, Touch Bar and Stream Deck setups and far more, but you will spend more time configuring it. It is updated very often, with new builds landing most weeks.

Pricing is $15 for a Standard license with two years of updates or $25 for Lifetime (prices vary by country and tax). It is also on Setapp.

Choose BetterTouchTool if you want one app to replace PopClip and several other utilities, and you enjoy building your own setup.

OpenClip

OpenClip is the closest free match to PopClip's design. Select text and a floating action bar appears with copy, search and transform actions, plus AI rewrite, summarize and translate results shown in place. AI can run through cloud models or locally with Ollama, so private text does not have to leave your Mac. A search box (⌥⌘C) finds any action quickly, and its "Clip Store" offers more than 100 extensions written in JavaScript, AppleScript or shell.

It is free and open source (AGPL-3.0), with no account, paywall or telemetry. Install it from the website or with Homebrew. OpenClip needs macOS 14 or later and Accessibility permission.

The caveat is age: OpenClip is new and a small project, though releases are frequent (version 1.9.0 arrived on October 20, 2026). Expect fewer polished extensions and more rough edges than PopClip's decade-old ecosystem.

Choose OpenClip if you want a PopClip-style toolbar for free, or you prefer open-source software and local AI.

Easydict

Easydict solves the most common PopClip use, looking up and translating selected text, and does it better than a general toolbar. Turn on "Mouse Select Translate" and a small query icon appears after you select text; hover it to see the translation. You can also press ⌥D to translate the selection, ⌥A to type a query, or ⌥S to OCR and translate part of the screen.

It pulls results from more than 20 services, including Apple Dictionary, Apple Translate, DeepL, Google, Bing and AI providers such as OpenAI, Gemini, Claude, DeepSeek and local Ollama models. Easydict is free and open source, with about 15,000 GitHub stars and a release in September 2026. Install it with Homebrew (brew install --cask easydict) or from GitHub releases; it needs macOS 13 or later.

Choose Easydict if you mainly use PopClip to translate or define words, especially if you read in more than one language.

BoltAI

BoltAI is a native AI client for Mac, and its AI Command feature covers the AI side of PopClip. Select text in any app, press a global shortcut, and pick a command from a palette: fix grammar, summarize, explain code, translate, or any custom prompt you write. Each command can have its own shortcut, and the result can open in a new window, go before or after your selection, replace it in place, or go to the clipboard.

Because BoltAI works with hundreds of models, including your own API keys and local models, you choose the model per task instead of being locked to one provider. It also has a chat bar, dictation and screenshot questions. BoltAI even publishes PopClip extensions, so you can keep PopClip and send selections to BoltAI if you like the toolbar.

The trade-off is price: BoltAI is a one-time license from $79 for one Mac (with a year of updates), so it only makes sense if you want a full AI app, not just a selection menu. There is a 14-day free trial. We cover it in more depth in our BoltAI review.

Choose BoltAI if most of your PopClip actions are really AI prompts, and you want more control over models and output.

Raycast

Raycast does not show a toolbar when you select text, but its AI Commands use a {selection} placeholder, so a command like "Translate to Spanish" works on whatever you have selected. You run it from the Raycast window or assign it a hotkey.

If Raycast is already your launcher, this is a cheap way to cover the AI part of PopClip. The catch is that AI needs a paid plan: Pro costs $10 a month or $96 a year, and the built-in Translator is Pro-only too. The free plan still covers clipboard history, snippets, Quicklinks and thousands of extensions.

Choose Raycast if you already live in it and prefer keyboard shortcuts over a mouse-driven toolbar.

macOS Built-In Tools

Your Mac already has some PopClip-like features:

• Writing Tools: on Apple silicon Macs with Apple Intelligence turned on, Control-click selected text and choose Writing Tools to proofread, rewrite (friendly, professional or concise), summarize, list key points or describe your own change. It is not available in every language or region.
• Services and Quick Actions: the Control-click menu's Services section lists actions from apps and from Shortcuts set to run as a Quick Action on text. You can give any of them a keyboard shortcut in System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Services.
• Look Up and Translate: Control-click a word or phrase to look it up or translate it.

These are free and need no extra app, but they take more clicks and offer less customization than a dedicated toolbar.

Choose the built-in tools if you only need an occasional rewrite, lookup or translation.

Which PopClip Alternative Should You Choose?

• Choose PopClip if you want the most polished select-and-click toolbar and the biggest extension library.
• Choose BetterTouchTool if you want a selection menu plus deep control over gestures, shortcuts and automation.
• Choose OpenClip if you want a free, open-source PopClip-style toolbar with local AI.
• Choose Easydict if translation and dictionary lookups are your main use.
• Choose BoltAI if your selection actions are mostly AI prompts and you want a pay-once AI app.
• Choose Raycast if you already use it and would rather trigger actions from the keyboard.
• Choose macOS built-in tools if your needs are light.

If PopClip and BetterTouchTool both appeal, Setapp includes them both, which makes it easy to try each without buying two licenses.

Final Verdict

PopClip is still the best dedicated text selection app on the Mac, and at a one-time price under $30 for lifetime updates it is easy to recommend. But it now has real competition.

BetterTouchTool is the strongest paid alternative because its text-selection menu comes with a full automation toolkit. OpenClip is the most interesting newcomer: a free, open-source clone with AI built in, though it is still young. Easydict is the specialist pick for translation, and BoltAI or Raycast make sense when your selections mostly go to an AI model. If you only rewrite text now and then, start with the tools already in macOS.

Catch these apps on sale: many paid Mac apps, including productivity utilities like these, run discounts at least once a year, most often around Black Friday. Subscribe to the Apps.Deals newsletter to hear when the deals arrive.

Note: Features and prices are current as of October 2026. Prices vary by region and tax, and features change with updates, so check each developer's site before buying.

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