Part of: Do Mac cleaners work? An honest answer from people who build one (Choosing a tool)
The best replacement for CleanMyMac depends on which of its jobs you use. There is no single free app that does everything, but there are free tools for the main jobs: seeing what is big, removing apps and finding duplicates. If you are still deciding whether to leave, start with is CleanMyMac worth it, and for the wider question of what cleaners do, see do Mac cleaners work.
DiskJoy is our product and it is one of the options, but only for scanning today. We took the facts below from each tool’s own page on 2026-10-05.
Start with the job
CleanMyMac’s page lists many jobs, including cleanup, app uninstall, duplicate and similar photo removal and malware scanning. Most people use one or two. Name yours, then pick a tool for that.
See what is big
- GrandPerspective. A treemap, open source under the GPL, free on SourceForge or $2.99 on the App Store, macOS 14 or higher.
- Disk Inventory X. A treemap, “absolutely free” and released under the GPL according to its page. It lists macOS 10.13 to 10.15.
- DaisyDisk. A circular map, $9.99 one-time on its site.
- DiskJoy. Scans and groups by category, read-only, pre-alpha.
See the full comparison of analyzers.
Remove an app and its files
- AppCleaner. Its page says it lets you “thoroughly uninstall unwanted apps”: you drag an app onto its window and it finds related files. The page shows a donation option and no price. Version 3.7 needs macOS 15 or later.
- Pearcleaner. Its page lists no price and gives the license as Apache 2.0 with Commons Clause. It lists app uninstall and orphaned file search, macOS 13 through 26, and lists “Full Disk permission to search for files” as a requirement. The page also says development “has basically stopped since end of 2025”, and the developer calls the project “on hold indefinitely”, so check its state before you rely on it.
Whichever you choose, review what it lists. Leftover folders can hold your own data.
Find duplicates
- Czkawka. Open source (MIT for its GTK app and command line tool, GPL-3.0 for the Krokiet and Cedinia front ends, per its page). It says it finds duplicates by name, size or hash, plus similar images, empty folders and more, and runs on macOS among other systems. It warns that it has no official website, so only use its GitHub page.
Read how to choose the copy to keep before removing anything.
What macOS already gives you
Storage settings, the Trash, and Login Items and Extensions are built in. Apple’s guide describes removing items from Login Items in System Settings, General, Login Items and Extensions.
What you give up
A set of separate tools means several apps to keep up to date and no single place to review. A bundle gives you one place, at a price. Neither choice is wrong.
A sample setup with no bundle
Here is how someone could cover the main jobs without one big app:
- Disk view: GrandPerspective or Disk Inventory X, depending on your macOS version.
- App removal: the Trash plus a manual check of the Library, or an uninstaller you trust. Our uninstall guide shows the manual way.
- Duplicates: a duplicate finder, with the copy-choosing rules in mind.
- Login items: System Settings, General, Login Items and Extensions.
This takes more steps than one bundle, but each step is visible, and each tool is free, donation-funded or low cost according to its own page.
How to check an alternative is current
Free tools differ in upkeep. Before you rely on one, check three things on its page: the date of the last release, the macOS versions it lists, and whether the maintainer says anything about the project’s status. Pearcleaner’s page, for example, says development “has basically stopped since end of 2025”, and Disk Inventory X’s page lists macOS up to 10.15. A tool may still work, but you should know before you trust it with your files.
A short decision guide
- I only want to see what is big: a free analyzer is enough.
- I want to remove apps cleanly: try the Trash plus a read-only look through the Library first, then decide if you need an uninstaller.
- I want it all in one place and will pay: a bundle may suit you. See whether CleanMyMac is worth it.
- I want a one-time price: see Mac cleaners without a subscription.
Safe, Risky, Never
| Level | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Safe | Downloading a tool from its official page, and using it to look |
| Risky | Letting any tool remove leftover folders without reading them, or using an unmaintained tool on a newer macOS |
| Never | Downloading from a site that only claims to be official, or granting broad access to an app you cannot identify |
Try a scan
If your job is seeing where space went, DiskJoy’s scan is one more option. It only reads, and cleanup is not built yet.
Sources and disclosure
DiskJoy is our product. Accessed 2026-10-05: https://macpaw.com/cleanmymac ; https://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/ ; https://www.derlien.com/ ; https://daisydiskapp.com/ ; https://freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/ ; https://github.com/alienator88/Pearcleaner ; https://github.com/qarmin/czkawka ; https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/change-login-items-extensions-mtusr003/mac.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free alternative to CleanMyMac?
There are free or donation-funded tools for single jobs. Pearcleaner and AppCleaner uninstall apps (AppCleaner's page shows a donation option), GrandPerspective shows disk use, and Czkawka, which is open source, finds duplicates. None of them bundles everything the way CleanMyMac does.
What are CleanMyMac alternatives?
It depends on the job: a disk analyzer to see what is big, an app uninstaller for leftovers, a duplicate finder, and macOS itself for Storage and login items.