Top 10 Best Mac Cleaner Software

This article is an in-depth compilation of the 10 best Mac cleaner software that can help you free up space, optimize performance, and maintain overall system efficiency. We prepared short but helpful reviews based on criteria we thoughtfully devised while analyzing user habits and their different needs.

Our Evaluation Parameters for the Best Mac Cleaner

As the resident Mac and MacBook experts, we had much insight into the average user’s clutter build-up and in what ways it impacts their devices; this allowed us to choose the most effective tools for various scenarios. We also analyzed what users needed the most when selecting third-party apps to maintain their Macs.

Our list of the best Mac cleaner apps was formed with the following considerations:

• Feature set – We chose apps that offered a wide range of features like malware protection, duplicate finders, file shredding, contacts management, etc. OR did one type of cleanup task extremely well.
• Ease of use – The best Mac cleanup software should be accessible to everyone. We made sure our selection offers a good user experience, no matter how complex their toolbox is.
• Compatibility – All apps on this support the latest macOS and offer backward compatibility (to some extent).
• Value for Money – There is a whole section for free apps in this article. For paid apps, we were able to justify their cost by their features and performance. We also prioritized one-time payment offers but considered subscription-based apps that were worth the cost.

Best Mac Cleaners for Comprehensive Cleaning

The first category in our list of the best MacBook cleaners is dedicated to all-in-one solutions. The apps below offer a big toolbox of features that help with general system cleaning and optimization. They also provide extra features that can help with improving performance, like malware detection.

We think all users should try any of these apps at least once because they can perform “hidden” cleanup tasks that users easily miss or are tedious to do manually.

1. CleanMyMac X

CleanMyMac X is one of the most popular Mac cleanup apps available. It offers to make your Mac run as good as new, promising more disk space, better speeds, and stronger protection. With CleanMyMac X, you can:

Efficiently delete large and unimportant files, even those previously blocked by errors. Manage your apps and extensions all from one place. Optimize your MacBook’s performance by cleaning up system junk, resolving application errors, validating file system integrity, and more. Protect your Mac from malware and shield your sensitive data.

It’s pretty comprehensive!

✅ Pros:

• Beautiful modern interface and intuitive user experience
• Comprehensive toolbox that optimizes Macs from different angles
• Updated often
• Can improve your Mac’s performance quickly
• One-click cleaning
• Good price for what it offers

📛 Cons:

• Small learning curve – CleanMyMac X performs cleanup tasks that may be unfamiliar to beginners

Pricing & Free Trial:

• $34.95 per year or $89.95 one-time payment
• Offers a 7-day free trial (you’ll have to enter your payment details but you can cancel your trial before the period ends)

2. MacCleaner Pro

MacCleaner Pro is a literal suite of cleanup tools. On top of the “core” app that allows you to efficiently clean up all of your directories (including system junk data and temporary files), the installer sets up 5 other apps: the App Cleaner & Uninstaller, Disk Space Analyzer, Duplicate File Finder, Funter (hidden files finder), the Memory Cleaner.

MacCleaner Pro is all about getting rid of any unwanted files and apps on your Mac, with the bonus of helping you manage RAM usage.

✅ Pros:

• Nicely designed graphical user interface
• Its tools are straightforward and easy to operate and understand, even for beginners
• Gives your Mac a deep clean
• In-app links to helpful guides

📛 Cons:

• Pricey
• The launcher feature is a bit clunky – we expect some users to be confused when they first open it (unless they read a manual first)
• Gives your Mac a deep clean
• We prefer using multiple tools from a single interface, but other users may like the focused tool views

Pricing & Free Trial:

• $44.95 per year (as of this writing) or $119.95 one-time payment
• 2-day free trial (no payment details required)

3. Avast Cleanup Premium

Avast Cleanup Premium is an all-in-one cleaner that helps you get rid of junk and perform basic system optimization to improve your MacBook’s performance. Breeze through your directories, clean up easily missed clutter like app leftovers and duplicate files, and tidy up your browser data. Manage your Mac’s startup and use its handy System monitor to check your device’s overall health.

We also really like its advanced photo management tool – Photo analyzer – which helps you intelligently cull your photos.

✅ Pros:

• GUI is visually appealing and straightforward
• Additional photo management apps
• Useful home view with all the core tools in one place for easy scanning

📛 Cons:

• Subscription-based payment only (no option for one-time payment)
• The interface is a bit cluttered (and so less intuitive), whereas the other tools had their features neatly categorized

Pricing & Free Trial:

• $2.49 per month (billed annually)
• 30-day free trial (no payment details required)

Best Mac Cleanup Software for Specialized Cleaning

This section covers tools that only specialize in one or a few key cleanup tasks. These entries are perfect for users who know what kind of files they want to clean up.

Specialized cleaners greatly expand their core function by providing excellent user experience and efficiency, deep customization, and complementary features. They are also generally more affordable than all-in-one solutions.

1. Gemini 2

Gemini 2 (from the same developers that created CleanMyMac X) is an intelligent duplicate file cleaner. It uses complex algorithms to thoroughly scan file data to look for duplicate and identical files and lets you efficiently browse and delete them from one place.

It can even scan your Photos and iTunes libraries to look for identical photos and other media files. Gemini 2 can also prevent further clutter by monitoring your system for duplicates and notifying you as they’re created.

✅ Pros:

• Regular updates
• Nice-looking GUI and intuitive one-click interface perfect for beginners
• Doesn’t only clean up duplicates but prevents copies from accumulating
• AI allows it to learn from your behavior so it better recognizes duplicates from original photos

📛 Cons:

• A bit pricey for a single-feature tool but we think it’s a worthy investment if you tend to have a lot of duplicates

Pricing & Free Trial:

• $19.95 per year or $44.95 one-time payment
• Limited free trial – scan your Mac and analyze your data for free but you can only clean up to 500 MB without a subscription

2. DaisyDisk

DaisyDisk is one of the coolest storage management and space analyzer apps we’ve ever installed. Your Mac’s directories are represented by color-coded “petals” of different sizes accumulated on your disk. You can click on the petals to navigate through libraries from the outside-in (child libraries to root directories) or by size. Administrator mode makes restricted files accessible too.

It offers useful complementary features like a preview tool and snapshot management, which allows you to delete useless Time Machine snapshots that may have accumulated over time.

✅ Pros:

• Great price for a lot of impact on your Mac performance
• Intuitive design – it’s fun to use and accessible to beginners
• Ability to scan as administrator so you can modify protected junk files
• Scan cloud disks like Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.
• No subscription-based payments

📛 Cons:

• There are apps that perform similar functions for a much cheaper price, but they are generally less comprehensive and intuitive

Pricing & Free Trial:

• $9.99 one-time payment
• Limited free trial – you can scan, browse, preview, and detect files but you can only take action on them when you purchase the full version

3. App Cleaner & Uninstaller

App Cleaner & Uninstaller is a comprehensive app management toolbox with a lot of useful clutter-eliminating features. Completely uninstall apps for good or use Expert Mode to browse and modify installation libraries manually, while cleaning up any junk files left behind.

It can also help you improve your MacBook’s performance by allowing you to manage your startup programs and choose which apps are allowed to run whenever you boot.

✅ Pros:

• Multi-approach solution not only for managing apps but optimizing the Mac system
• The number of features and their impact on Mac performance is worth the price for users who install apps often
• The app does a lot but it’s easy to use, even for beginners

📛 Cons:

• It’s a bit too expensive if you don’t use or install a lot of apps on your Mac

Pricing & Free Trial:

• $7:95 per month, $14.95 per year, or $34.95 one-time payment
• 3-day free trial (no payment details needed)

4. Parallels Toolbox

Parallels Toolbox provides you with a big set of miscellaneous convenience tools for your Mac. It can do things like set alarms, convert files, download videos, eject all connected volumes, and more. Its toolbox also includes basic but useful optimization features.

Its cleanup crew consists of a drive cleaner to clear junk files, an app uninstaller to get rid of apps and leftover data, a duplicate finder, and the ability to show hidden files.

✅ Pros:

• Lots of tools that many Mac users (like students and professionals) may find useful during daily usage
• The cleanup features are simple but effective and can collectively improve your Mac’s performance

📛 Cons:

• Not a good option if you’re looking for a dedicated cleanup app
• Subscription-based payment only
• It’s expensive if you don’t regularly use all the tools it offers

Pricing & Free Trial:

• $24.99 per year
• 7-day free trial where some features are restricted

Best Free Mac Cleaning Software

We think that Mac maintenance tools should be available for everyone. The entries in this section are the best free Mac cleaner apps – all of them are $0 yet powerful and given a lot of love by their developers. And we made sure to cover all your bases – we included an all-in-one solution and specialized tools so you can start deep-cleaning your Mac without shelling out any cash.

1. CCleaner

CCleaner is a well-known all-in-one free Mac cleaner that provides all the tools you need to deep-clean your Mac. It can help you manage your storage space by cleaning up clutter, finding duplicates, thoroughly uninstalling apps, and intelligently culling your photo library.

It can also prevent unwanted apps and processes from running automatically whenever you boot your Mac. Overall, CCleaner provides amazing value for a $0 price tag.

✅ Pros:

• The free version offers everything users need to deep clean their Mac
• Great GUI for a free app and accessible to beginners
• Comprehensive cleanup ability that can greatly impact your Mac (positively)
• Handy Home menu with all the core scans presented to the user

📛 Cons:

• The app would be easier to use if its tools were categorized better

Pricing & Free Trial:

• Free
• $29.95 per year for CCleaner Professional, which includes:

• Clean browsers automatically
• Import browser bookmarks
• Empty Trash automatically
• CCleaner for PC and Android

2. OnyX

OnyX is the techie’s tool of choice for performing high-level maintenance on the Mac. Its cleanup tools include duplicate removal, system file cleanup, removal of outdated apps, junk deletion, and secure deletion of private data. It can also delete local Time Machine snapshots that may have accumulated.

Beyond that, it can verify the integrity of your file system, rebuild indexes, disable hidden features, repair app crash errors, perform checksum, and more. For those willing to learn it, it’s a highly valuable maintenance tool.

✅ Pros:

• Maintains your Mac at a deeper level than most commercial apps available – if you learn how to use it, it will take very good care of your Mac
• Performs cleanup tasks that would be super tedious to do manually and impossible for beginners
• Gives you a lot of control over your Mac and its files
• Can clean up files and perform repairs for better optimization

📛 Cons:

• Steep learning curve
• Inaccessible to beginners – you can cause errors if you don’t know what you’re doing
• Very basic interface

Pricing:

• Free
• No pro versions – donate only

3. dupeGuru

dupeGuru is a handy duplicate file finder with a simple interface and powerful features. Despite its humble appearance, dupeGuru goes through your libraries at warp speed and quickly finds duplicate and identical documents, photos, videos, music, and more – even if the copies have different extensions.

What makes it special is its scan customization features, which allow you to modify useful parameters like its similarity threshold for different file types. It’s simple but powerful.

✅ Pros:

• Finds duplicates really fast
• Works with most mainstream file types, including pictures and videos
• Can find duplicate and identical files
• Highly customizable scanning with advanced filters

📛 Cons:

• Super basic user interface and average user experience
• The app is straightforward but beginners might hesitate due to the lack of visual elements

Pricing:

• Free, no pro version

Are there Any Free Alternatives to the Mac Cleaning Software?

If you’re not ready to try third-party apps to clean up your Mac, macOS has a lot of free built-in tools that can help you manage your storage and optimize your device. For non-heavy users, these utilities are enough to keep their computers running smoothly.

• Activity Monitor – A useful native Mac utility that can help you quickly identify and close apps and processes that are unresponsive or using up too much energy.
• Photos app – Can compile your screenshots and find duplicate photos in albums for easy review and deletion.
• Music app – Has a built-in feature that can find and show duplicate music files in your library.
• Finder – Use Finder’s advanced search tool to quickly find user files by size, type, and many other useful filters so you can delete them.
• About This Mac – About This Mac > More Info > Storage shows you where your local storage space is being used and allows you to take action within the Settings app (e.g. deleting applications).
• Terminal – Lets users execute useful commands related to Mac cleanup like sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/*.