Looking for a CleanMyMac alternative?
Last updated 17 October 2026
CleanMyMac is MacPaw's all-in-one maintenance app, sold as a yearly subscription. Plenty of people only want one part of it: getting disk space back. If that's you, there are good alternatives, several of them free. Here's an honest map.
First, decide what you actually need
- To see what's using space: a disk visualiser is enough.
- To uninstall apps completely: use a dedicated uninstaller.
- To clear developer and AI clutter safely: you want rules that know what each folder is and how it comes back.
- To keep the disk from filling again: you need something that runs on a schedule.
CleanMyMac also includes malware scanning and maintenance tools. If you rely on those, the alternatives below don't replace them.
Free and open-source options
- GrandPerspective draws your disk as a treemap. It's free from its website and has been around for years.
- Pearcleaner is a free, open-source app uninstaller that finds the leftovers apps scatter around
~/Library. - Mole is a popular open-source command-line cleaner; its makers also sell a native Mac app.
If you're comfortable in Terminal, you can also do a lot by hand. Our guide to clearing System Data lists the safe commands.
Paid, one-time options
DaisyDisk is a fast, polished disk map with a one-time price. If you mainly want to see where your space went and delete things yourself, it's excellent value. See DaisyDisk alternatives for how it compares with DiskCity.
How DiskCity differs
DiskCity is in development, aimed first at developers and people running AI tools locally. It does disk space only, with no malware scanning or system optimisation. What it does instead:
- Shows the disk as a pixel-art city, so the big and forgotten folders are obvious at a glance.
- Uses an open-source rulebook covering Xcode, Docker, JavaScript, Python, Rust, Go, Java, local AI models and coding-agent logs, each rule saying how the item comes back.
- Removes rebuildable items through the tool's own command (
docker builder prune,ollama rm,brew cleanup) and counts them as freed now. Personal files go to a 30-day Recycling Yard and are shown separately as reclaimable. - Pro adds Autopilot, which keeps a set amount of space free, and the Harbour, which moves files you haven't touched to your own NAS or external SSD after verifying the copy.
- Charges once: a free scan, $29 to clean, $49 for Pro. No subscription and no account.
If that sounds useful, join the waitlist and we'll email you once when it launches.