Disk space analyzers for Mac compared (free and paid)

Part of: Do Mac cleaners work? An honest answer from people who build one (Choosing a tool)

For most people a free analyzer is enough: GrandPerspective is free from SourceForge and Disk Inventory X is free under the GPL. If you want a paid app with a different look, DaisyDisk is one. Pick one, scan your home folder, and see whether it answers your question.

DiskJoy is our product, and it is on the list below. Every other fact comes from the product’s own page, linked at the end, and we left out anything we could not confirm there.

What an analyzer does

A disk space analyzer reads the sizes of your files and folders and draws them as a picture. Big things look big. That is all. It does not decide what is safe to remove. That decision stays with you.

You do not need a tool for a first look. Open System Settings, General, Storage for Apple’s own summary. In Terminal, du -sh ~/* | sort -h lists the size of each folder in your home folder, smallest first. It is read-only.

The options

How they differ

Picture or list. A treemap or circle shows proportions at a glance. A list sorted by size is plainer and some people find it faster for hunting one big file.

Which macOS you run. Disk Inventory X’s page lists macOS 10.13 through 10.15. If you run a newer system, check before you rely on it. GrandPerspective lists macOS 14 or higher.

Can it delete. OmniDiskSweeper’s page says you can Trash files from it. Deleting from inside an analyzer is convenient and also easy to regret, so review each file first.

Price. One-time, free and donation-funded tools exist. You do not need a subscription to see where your space went.

What none of them tell you

Sizes can disagree between tools. APFS clones and hard links can make a folder look bigger than the space it really uses, and macOS counts purgeable space differently from some apps. DiskJoy reports allocated bytes and treats its reclaimable figure as a lower bound. See why Storage settings may not change.

How to choose

1. Try a free one first.
2. Scan your home folder, not the whole disk, if you only want your own files.
3. Look at the top three folders. Most of the answer is usually there.
4. Do not remove anything you cannot explain.

A two-minute test drive

Whichever tool you try, use the same routine so the comparison is fair:

1. Scan your home folder, not the whole disk, so you only see files you own.
2. Note the three biggest folders.
3. Open each in Finder and ask what it is.
4. Compare with du -sh ~/* | sort -h, which is read-only.

If a tool’s biggest folders match what Terminal prints, it is measuring the same thing as you. If they differ, check whether it counts hidden files, other volumes or cloud placeholders differently. That is usually the reason, and it is a good question to ask of any analyzer.

Hidden folders and Full Disk Access

Some of the biggest folders on a Mac are hidden, such as your user Library. Many tools need Full Disk Access in System Settings, Privacy and Security to read everything. It is reasonable for a disk tool to ask. Grant it only to apps you trust, and know you can turn it off later.

Safe, Risky, Never

Try a scan

If you want a category view with a cautious estimate of what could be reclaimed, run DiskJoy’s scan. It reads only. Cleanup is not built yet, so nothing is removed.

Sources and disclosure

DiskJoy is our product. Accessed 2026-10-05: DaisyDisk https://daisydiskapp.com/ ; GrandPerspective https://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/ ; Disk Inventory X https://www.derlien.com/ ; OmniDiskSweeper https://www.omnigroup.com/omnidisksweeper (price and current macOS support not stated there, so omitted). du was run read-only on macOS 27.0.