CleanLoupeIf you want a free alternative to CleanMyMac, you have two routes: a free all-in-one cleaner such as CleanLoupe, or a handful of free single-purpose tools combined with macOS's own Storage settings. Either way, most everyday cleaning jobs carry over. What changes is mainly malware scanning, file shredding and a few specialist modules, which you would cover with other tools or not at all.
This guide is written for people whose subscription is coming up for renewal, or who simply want to stop paying for cleaning. It tries to be fair to both sides.
First, what CleanMyMac is
CleanMyMac by MacPaw is a paid, long-established all-in-one cleaner. Alongside storage cleanup it includes extra modules such as malware scanning, and it has a polished interface that many people like. It is a legitimate product from a known company, and if it does what you need and the price works for you, there is no reason to leave.
Pricing, plans and what each plan includes change from time to time, so check MacPaw's site for current details rather than relying on any third-party article, including this one.
Before you switch: list the jobs you actually use
The most useful thing you can do before choosing a replacement is write down which parts of your current cleaner you actually open. For most people it comes down to a short list:
- Clearing caches, logs and other junk
- Uninstalling apps along with their leftover files
- Seeing what takes up disk space
- Finding large, old or duplicate files
- Cleaning up photos
- Maintenance tasks such as flushing DNS or reindexing Spotlight
- Malware scanning
If your list is short, you may not need a replacement at all. macOS covers more than people expect: Apple menu › System Settings › General › Storage shows a breakdown of your disk, offers Optimize Storage and Empty Trash Automatically, and lets you browse most categories with the ⓘ button. Our honest take on whether you need a Mac cleaner goes into this.
What you keep with CleanLoupe
CleanLoupe – Mac Cleaner is free: no subscription, no trial, no ads and no account. It runs on macOS 15 Sequoia or later, on Apple silicon and Intel. Here is how the common jobs map across. The full list is on the features overview.
Junk and caches
Cleanup covers app caches in ~/Library/Caches (skipping caches that hold live state, such as iCloud, Find My and Wallet), app logs in ~/Library/Logs, iOS and iPadOS update files, iPhone and iPad backups, Mail attachment copies, old installers and archives in Downloads older than 14 days, the Trash, and system caches and diagnostic logs (with your administrator password). Each item is labelled Safe, Review or Careful.
Uninstalling apps
The Applications module lists apps in /Applications and ~/Applications with size and last used date. When you uninstall, it finds leftovers by bundle ID in folders such as ~/Library/Application Support, ~/Library/Preferences, ~/Library/Containers and ~/Library/LaunchAgents. It also finds leftovers of apps you already removed. It checks App Store and Sparkle apps for available updates and shows which ones have them; it does not install updates for you.
Seeing what is big
Space Lens builds a size tree of a folder or disk in one pass and shows it as a two-ring sunburst with a sorted list beside it. Click to drill down, tick items, and send them to the Trash.
Large, old and duplicate files
My Clutter walks your home folder for files of 100 MB or more, files of 10 MB or more not opened for a year, byte-identical duplicates of 1 MB or more (it suggests keeping the oldest copy), and iCloud Drive files whose local download can be removed while the file stays in iCloud.
Photos
Photos reads your Apple Photos library and compares images on your Mac using Apple's Vision framework. It finds exact duplicates, look-alike sets with the best shot kept, screenshots, large videos, and blurry or badly exposed shots. Favourites are never flagged as blurry. Deleted photos stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days.
Maintenance
Performance offers flushing the DNS cache, freeing purgeable memory, reindexing Spotlight, rebuilding Launch Services, thinning Time Machine local snapshots, clearing font caches, resetting Quick Look and compacting Mail's index. It also lists launch agents and daemons so you can turn them off or remove them, and marks ones pointing to missing programs as Broken. These fix specific symptoms; none of them is a general "speed up" button.
Menu bar and developer files
A menu bar monitor shows free space, CPU, memory, download speed and, on MacBooks, battery health and cycle count, plus the apps using the most memory with a quit button for each. If you write code, the developer cleanup covers Xcode DerivedData, device support folders, unavailable simulators, Gradle, npm, pnpm, Yarn, dependencies of old projects (node_modules, Pods, Flutter build folders), Docker's unused images and build cache, and more. A separate AI tools group lists caches of Claude, Codex, VS Code, Cursor and Windsurf, and downloaded AI models.
What changes
Being honest about the gaps matters more than the feature list.
- No malware protection. CleanLoupe does not scan for or remove malware. macOS has its own built-in protections such as Gatekeeper and XProtect. If you want a dedicated scanner, use a separate security tool.
- No file shredder. Removed items go to the Trash. There is no secure-erase feature.
- Some developer data stays manual. It does not remove simulator runtimes, Android emulators, Docker volumes, old Homebrew versions in the Cellar or Python virtual environments. Homebrew's download cache and JetBrains IDE caches live in
~/Library/Caches, so they show up among App caches. - macOS 15 or later only. On older macOS versions it will not run.
- Version 1.0.0 is not yet notarized. Upcoming releases will be. For now, the download page shows the file's SHA-256 checksum so you can verify it, and explains how to open the app once from System Settings › Privacy & Security without turning off any protections. The guide on whether Mac cleaners are safe walks through these steps.
The FAQ answers common questions about permissions, privacy and the safety model.
How the safety model differs in practice
Files CleanLoupe removes go to the Trash and are logged in History, where Put Back restores them until you empty the Trash. Unavailable simulators and Docker's prune go through Xcode's and Docker's own commands instead, so they can't be put back. Smart Scan's Clean button removes only Cleanup items marked Safe; everything else waits in its module for review. Items written in the last hour are never preselected, nor are Apple's own caches. Scans run locally and no file or photo is uploaded. The app sends anonymous usage statistics and crash reports, which you can switch off in Settings › General › "Share anonymous usage and crash reports".
Free single-purpose tools for the rest
If you'd rather assemble your own kit, these free tools each cover one job well. Check each project's site for current licence terms. Our guide to choosing a free Mac cleaner compares them in more depth.
- AppCleaner: a long-running free uninstaller. Drag an app onto it and it lists related files.
- Pearcleaner: a free, source-available uninstaller that lists an app's related files.
- OnyX: a free maintenance utility with many system tasks.
- GrandPerspective: a free, open-source treemap viewer of your disk.
- OmniDiskSweeper: lists folders sorted by size.
- DaisyDisk: draws your disk as an interactive sunburst map; check its site for pricing.
- DevCleaner for Xcode and npkill: for Xcode caches and
node_modulesfolders.
For the manual leftovers
A few things CleanLoupe leaves to you are easy to handle by hand. Simulator runtimes:
xcrun simctl runtime list
xcrun simctl runtime delete <identifier>
Replace <identifier> with one from the list. Homebrew has its own cleanup command, brew cleanup. Android emulators are best deleted from Android Studio's Device Manager. Our guide to deleting old Xcode simulators covers the Xcode side in detail.
Cancelling and switching cleanly
If you decide to switch, cancel your subscription through wherever you bought it (MacPaw's account page, or the App Store if you subscribed there) before the renewal date. Then uninstall the old app. Apple's uninstall instructions cover the basics; a cleaner with an uninstaller can also catch its leftover support files. Avoid running two cleaners at once, as they may both try to manage the same caches.
FAQ
Is there a free version of CleanMyMac?
MacPaw's offers change over time, so check cleanmymac.com for what is currently available. If you want a cleaner that is free with no trial or subscription, CleanLoupe and the single-purpose tools above are options.
What is the best free alternative to CleanMyMac?
It depends on which features you use. For cleaning caches, uninstalling apps, finding large and duplicate files and photo cleanup in one app, CleanLoupe covers those jobs. For a single job, a focused free tool may be all you need.
Will I lose malware protection if I switch?
CleanLoupe does not include malware scanning. macOS keeps its own built-in protections either way. If malware scanning is important to you, keep or add a dedicated security tool.
Can I use CleanLoupe on an older Mac?
It requires macOS 15 Sequoia or later. It runs on both Apple silicon and Intel Macs that can run macOS 15.
Try it alongside your current cleaner
You don't need to cancel first. Download CleanLoupe, run a scan, and compare what it finds with what you are used to. Nothing is removed until you choose, and everything removed can be put back from History until you empty the Trash.