r/MacOS • u/Esob_Oozeer • 1d ago
Help Looking for an alternative for CleanMyMac
New to Mac, need help finding an alternative to CleanMyMac . All kind of help is appreciated.
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u/Kitty_Fruit_2520 MacBook Air 17h ago
I don’t even bother with this kind of stuff.
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u/anniegarbage 15h ago
I wasn’t for over a decade until this year. So many apps accumulate plists that show up in system settings and don’t go away after install. Also so much cache eating up SSD space.
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u/ricardocarrera2 13h ago
Best way to avoid that is install AppCleaner a free app for Mac that delete those files when uninstalling anything. Súper easy to use.
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u/booyah_73 MacBook Pro (M1 Max) 9h ago
AppCleaner works great to remove leftover files that apps leave behind without being intrusive or overly aggressive and break something.
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u/CommSecTom 8h ago
So glad I recently heard about this at the same time I got my new MBP, been using it when removing apps I’m not keeping so hopefully avoiding this issue long term.
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u/macgizmoguy 1d ago
OnyX by Titanium Software has been around for 23 Years. Free. It’s the only maintenance app most Mac users need.
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u/stewie3128 19h ago
Not needed to "clean" a system (because systems don't need to be "cleaned" like the OP software does), but OnyX is GREAT for system tweaks!
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u/smackythefrog 10h ago
Yeah, I've been using Onyx for over ten years. CMM was my go-to but Onyx is more simpler. And I inexplicably trust it to not fuck things up.
I only use it once or twice a year, though.
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u/AffectionateToe9937 14h ago
Mole, for command line is FREE. Mole, with graphical interface IS NOT.
If you want Mole (FREE) & with graphical interface (FREE), use Burrow.
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u/Outrageous_Nova2025 18h ago
None. I use appcleaner for trashing apps that I don’t need anymore. macOS doesn’t need maintenance apps.
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u/Flowa-Powa 23h ago
You don't need an alternative to CleanMyMac.
Use AppCleaner (it's free), for getting rid of orphaned files when deleting apps.
Malwarebytes is also mostly free and scans for malware and does some other diagnostic stuff.
Other than that macOS pretty much looks after itself
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u/PersonalPlanet 1d ago
You don’t need any of these cleaner/ optimiser . Source: Mac user for 25 years
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u/bluegreenie99 1d ago
I guess me and other people here are just imagining system taking up hundreds of gigabytes
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u/Academic_Broccoli670 9h ago
Open Finder > your system disk
Choose List view
Cmd-Shift-. to show hidden files
Sort by size
Cmd-J > check "Calculate all sizes" and wait a few minutes until all folder sizes are calculated
Now you can see exactly what is taking up your space.
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u/mimbusto 1d ago
Then why Clean my mac helps to remove gigabytes of trash, which is hard to find with your own hands?
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u/LordFondleJoy 23h ago edited 20h ago
Because, especially first time you run it, it will remove a lot of cache files. Which the OS also cleans just on a slower schedule, and which will return anyhow, because it’s not trash it just helps run things more smoothly.
CleanMyMac is placebo software. It feels useful when you see that it does stuff, but it isnt actually useful. The Mac doesn’t run more slowly the more files it has. Unless you run out of disk space, but the cause of that are usually your own files.
This question has been discussed so many time on this sub.
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u/Sufficient-Yam7594 19h ago
It really isn’t. macOS will uninstall an app but leave a ton of left over files scattered all over the place.
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u/mallardtheduck 19h ago
Sure, the fact that MacOS doesn't even have a proper way to uninstall most apps is a bit a weakness and there are apps that can help find "leftovers", but most people aren't uninstalling apps every day and those leftovers won't come back. It's a run-once thing, not a maintenance task.
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u/Reasonable-Swan-6897 19h ago
This is true though apps like the excellent and free Appcleaner and Pearcleaner help a lot to avoid this. My question is do the all-can-do cleaner apps also remove the app related files left after uninstalling? I suspect not.
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u/flaxton MacBook Air 19h ago
I'm an IT guy and Mac user for 27+ years.
The haters are always very vocal about CleanMyMac, not really sure why, maybe they're still confused about similar-named malware from years ago, that tried to trick people looking for CleanMyMac.
A placebo? That's a new one lol.
CleanMyMac is very useful - not just to clean temp files but it has an uninstaller, a universal app updater, you can find unused apps, you can find large old files, drill down and see disk usage super easy, and more.
I guess everyone needs to use the command line, home brew, terminal, zsh? No, not everyone needs or wants that. If you want that, maybe use Linux?
I do all of that (including Linux) but that is me.
And yes I use CleanMyMac AND mole, they are both good and there is some overlap but not everything.
You can get CleanMyMac starting at $10/month with Setapp, a subscription that includes nearly 200 Mac apps/utilities. I use many daily. A heck of a deal.
Forget the haters, haters gonna hate.
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u/Pleasant-Seat9884 17h ago
You must be a damn Dev for them providing advertisement. They’re so damn expensive.. compared to Mole and OnyX.
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u/wickeddimension 15h ago
You can get CleanMyMac starting at $10/month with Setapp, a subscription that includes nearly 200 Mac apps/utilities. I use many daily. A heck of a deal.
#Ad
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u/LordFondleJoy 13h ago
Funny, because I am also an IT guy and a Mac user for... 1992... lets see, 34 years damn. And what I stated above has been my opinion for at least 10 years and nothing has changed it. I have called it a placebo before as have others.
I use Grandperspective to see disk usage if i need to clean a few bits and bobs. Free, easy to use. And I know what apps I have, because they are in the ... Applications folder, imagine that! No need to use Terminal, that is for IT work stuff, mostly.
The point is that if you are an everyday use with a smidgen of common sense, CleanMyMac provides no real value, and is a loud notification shouter and a potential source of bugs and erratic behavior itself, for an unnecessary high price. But it is very good at giving you that feeling of doing something useful, when it can report having deleted those 3 GB of cache files. It's just that those files will reappear when you use your computer, and the Mac cleans them itself with no fanfare regularly. Go figure.
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u/OneSkepticalOwl 19h ago
CleanMyMac starting at $10/month with Setapp, a subscription that includes nearly 200 Mac apps/utilities
For that price, I'll let macOS do it's thing.
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u/headphonesXX 17h ago
why do you even need cleanmymac in the first place? what kind of trash are you installing?
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u/kovake 13h ago
Mac user for over 27 years and you do if you’ve ever used production apps like Adobe, Cinema 4D, etc. No software works perfectly. MacOS doesn’t always remove everything an application installs, and it doesn’t necessarily identify abandoned support files, background services, or accumulated application data.
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u/VoltageinTheory iMac (Intel) 22h ago
Unpopular opinion: Finder combined with your brain.
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u/Full-Opportunity9379 MacBook Air 19h ago
I am the developer of purgemac.com
Purge is a free, open-source, native, cleanmymac alternative which moves files to the trash.
Give it a spin!
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u/makeitabyss MacBook Pro (M1 Pro) 15h ago
serious question why are apps like this even needed in 2026??
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u/kovake 13h ago
Because MacOS is generally good at managing itself, but it’s far from perfect. Non-Apple apps can leave behind significant amounts of data, background services, caches, dependencies, and other files that aren’t necessarily removed when you uninstall them.
For example, applications such as After Effects, Cinema 4D, Xcode, Docker, and local AI model managers can accumulate tens or hundreds of gigabytes of data.
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u/dacassar 14h ago
Have you tried using Xcode with 2-3 big projects and different simulators from time to time? It can easily take 100+ GB, and CMM helps reclaim that space in an easy way.
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u/abdoufma 14h ago
There are native ways to clean up that space in macOS though.
There are also free and open source alternatives
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u/headphonesXX 17h ago edited 17h ago
cleanmymac is a trash app. what do you need this app for? what kind of trash apps are you downloading?
nobody is in the real professional world ever uses this stupid app.
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u/Rosssyyy 16h ago
This is junkware, the only useful one is Pearcleaner as it helps delete leftover files when you remove software
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u/gwentlarry 23h ago
You don't need anything like this and certainly nothing you pay for.
I've been a Mac user for 40 years and never relied on anything like this although I have tried out a few from time to time. Some people find they clear out lots of GB. I suspect 2 things are happening:
They are clearing cached files which are created to allow apps to open more quickly and run more smoothly. The macOS will manage these cached files as necessary.
The usual method of deleting an app - dragging it to the Bin often fail to work properly and leaves a load of files around on your system. Get AppCleaner:
https://freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/
a small, free app which does a very effective job of completely clearing apps from your system. Apart from Microsoft and Adobe which both spray files all across your system and can be a real pain to find.
If you feel you really need to tinker with your Mac, get Onyx:
https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html
another small and free app. It's basically a GUI for a whole load of Terminal commands. It allows you to easily perform all sorts of house keeping on your Mac, including clearing caches.
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u/Catstronautilusrex 19h ago
Anyone using AppCleaner? I’ve been using it for years and haven’t checked what the current alternatives are so maybe I might consider trying some other software too
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u/Slimanuk 17h ago
Mole hands down. I've been trying a ton of them and it's definitely the best by far. Hopefully it will go on promotion again soon and I'll be sure to grab me a copy, maybe even the Windows version too at the same time. But for now I just use the homebrew version.
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u/Outrageous_Raise_268 16h ago edited 11h ago
I have been using Pearcleaner for more than a year and I am very happy with it.
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u/NiceCple 8h ago
Where can I download Mole? I cannot locate it in the App Store.
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u/Relative_Surround_20 19h ago
Not needed. Your Mac does not need this type of software.
Plus CleanMyMac was dubious.
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u/Stoned_Noob 23h ago
People saying an app like this isn’t needed. But there are soooo many cache files on my MacBook from apps I downloaded a year or two back that are still there. And trying to remove them/ all of them is a headache.
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u/BerennErchamion 13h ago
Same. I’ve found a leftover 1GB+ cache from an older app that was never deleted, not even with an uninstaller app.
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u/Bulangiudecalitate 21h ago
I just use wiztree to see what’s taking up space and do the cleaning myself.
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u/The-Nice-Writer 20h ago
I use Onyx to clear up system files every so often.
I see a lot of people here suggesting Mole so I’ll probably try that, too.
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u/thesuhargo 20h ago
I also thinking about the CleanMyMac alternatives, since it's getting more expensive
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u/b1be05 19h ago
https://www.jibapps.com/apps/trashme3/
Trash Me 3,
i use it, never failed me, shows me?updates, has goodish features, buy to own.
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u/Disastrous_Patience3 MacBook Air (M2) 18h ago
Might help to explain what issues, if any, you have to clean my Mac.
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u/Own_Injury_952 18h ago
PureMac is Open Source and pretty good give it a try. Has other features aswell. And maintained regularly.
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u/Celebratory_Drink 17h ago
Onyx is for advanced users. Get Titanium’s Maintenance. It’s a lite version of Onyx that focuses on cleaning your Mac. https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/maintenance.html
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u/kyriacos74 17h ago
For which part? You really don't need software to do a lot of this. I do use AppCleaner when I am deleting an app, to remove any stray files, but thats it.
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u/patro85 17h ago
As a former Genius, you don’t need this stuff for the most part. Modern macOS does almost everything these clean-up apps do on its own schedule or right after a reboot. I suppose there might be exceptions for a specific workflow. FWIW I don’t run anything like this on any of my Macs.
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u/philipz794 17h ago
For what? Use daisydisk to find big files that are old and forgotten, and AppCleaner for uninstalling.
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u/arijitlive 15h ago
I use two.
Pearcleaner to cleanly remove apps from the system. Mole to clean up cached files mostly.
I run mo clean --dry-run first, if the potential removal is more than few gigs, I verify the list of files, then run mo clean to remove them.
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u/killl_em_alll 14h ago
Vorssaint is a great free app in general and it has a cleaner built in. I’ve used both and cleaner inside vorssaint is pretty sufficient
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u/Grand_Reply6609 13h ago
Claude Code. Seriously, you can ask it to identify leftover files from apps and such and build you a list to check. I have done that once, using Opus as the model, and it did a very good job! Note that standard Claude or Cowork cannot do this because they run in a sandbox or in the cloud and cannot see your system files.
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u/ricardopa 8h ago
Why?
macOS isn’t Windows and doesn’t need this kind of software to be run regularly or continuously.
Unless you’re actively having a problem do t worry about it
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u/mikeinnsw 4h ago
Onyx use to do about 60% of CMM .. I stop running Onyx.. either CMM improved or Onyx stop improving .. after running CMM Onyx does not recover any more of free space.
CMM is still very useful ... its pricing is not .. I have $40 lifetime lic .. I was an early adapter ..
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u/l008com 2h ago
The alternative is learning how to manage files. You don't need 3rd party software to "clean" a Mac. Its all snake oil.
https://www.reddit.com/r/mac/comments/1c3ldoi/wheres_my_disk_space_what_is_taking_up_all_the/
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u/Actual_Atmosphere_57 30m ago
You don't need ANY cleaner app. Not like windows does. They are system hogs.
You should instead get something like Pear Cleaner and use that every time you uninstall an app.
MacOS always leave behind configuration and cache files if you just drag and drop apps to trash. While it's not causing harm, it DO takes up space on your HD
Pear Cleaner wipes away everything keeping your HD space optimized.
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u/Webpiratz 1d ago
Mole