CleanMyMac and AppCleaner alternative
Clean up your Mac and uninstall apps — in your file manager
CleanMyMac is the best-known all-in-one Mac cleaner, malware protection included. AppCleaner is the free uninstaller that does one thing. Folia Files is a complete file manager with Mac care built in: cleanup that explains each item, apps uninstalled with their leftovers, duplicates and Space Lens — bought once.
7 days free with every feature, no account, no card. Then $49.99 once for up to 3 Macs, every future update included — no subscription.
In short
CleanMyMac ($39.95 a year or $119.95 once for one Mac, macOS 11 or later; also on the Mac App Store and Setapp) is MacPaw's dedicated Mac cleaner: Smart Care, cleanup, malware removal with real-time monitoring, maintenance, an app uninstaller and updater, duplicates, Space Lens, cloud and email cleanup, and a monitor in the menu bar. AppCleaner (free) does one thing: drop an app on its window and it finds the files the app scattered. Folia Files ($49.99 once, up to 3 Macs, a full file manager) has Mac care built in: a health score and Smart Scan, cleanup that explains each item, apps uninstalled one or several at a time with their leftovers, unused apps, large and old files, similar images, duplicates and Space Lens, startup items and browser traces checked, maintenance tasks — but no malware scan. Choose CleanMyMac for malware protection and the widest toolkit, AppCleaner for a free uninstaller; choose Folia Files for Mac care and a file manager in one purchase.
Mac care side by side
| Feature | Folia Files | CleanMyMac | AppCleaner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uninstall apps with their leftovers | YesOne or several at once | Yes | YesDrop an app on its window |
| Find the apps you no longer use | YesNot opened in six months | Yes“Unused” filter | Not stated |
| App updates | PartlyListed; the App Store or the app installs them | YesUpdated from CleanMyMac | No |
| Caches, logs, temporary and developer files | YesEach item says what it is and what removing it does | Yes | No |
| Duplicates, similar images, large and old files | YesMac care › Clutter | YesMy Clutter | No |
| A map of what takes space | YesSpace Lens, also in any pane | YesSpace Lens | No |
| Where removed files go | The Trash, unless you choose to delete caches for good | Large and old files: deleted for good, bypassing the Trash | Not stated |
| Malware scan and real-time protection | NoStartup items are checked instead | YesMoonlock Engine | No |
| Browser traces and app permissions | YesMac care › Protection | Yes | No |
| Maintenance tasks | YesDNS, purgeable space, Spotlight and more | YesNot in the Mac App Store edition | No |
| Cloud storage | PartlyFrees local copies; files stay in the cloud | YesCleans iCloud Drive, Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox | No |
| Email cleanup | No | YesNewsletters, spam, drafts | No |
| A monitor in the menu bar | YesProcessor, memory, free space, Trash | YesHealth, protection, storage, memory, battery, network | No |
| A full file manager | YesPanes, search, servers, tools | No | No |
| Notarized by Apple | YesWebsite edition | Yes | Not stated |
| Price | $49.99 once, up to 3 Macs, updates included | $39.95 a year or $119.95 once, for 1 Mac (All-in-One) | Free, with a donation link |
| Free trial | 7 days, every feature | 7 days, every feature | Free |
| macOS | 14 or later | 11 or later | 15 or later; older versions down to 10.10 |
| On the Mac App Store | Coming soon | YesWith fewer features; also on Setapp | From FreeMacSoft's website |
What CleanMyMac and AppCleaner do better
CleanMyMac goes further than Folia Files, starting with protection. Its malware scan, powered by MacPaw's Moonlock Engine, looks for viruses, miners, keyloggers, worms and Trojans; real-time monitoring watches new installations and warns you of suspicious activity, and background scans run on their own. It also updates your apps for you, cleans your cloud storage in iCloud Drive, Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox, tidies your mailbox — newsletters, spam, drafts — and keeps a monitor in the menu bar with your Mac's health, storage, memory, battery, processor and network. It is notarized by Apple and sold on MacPaw's store, the Mac App Store and Setapp, with a 7-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
AppCleaner is the opposite: a small free app with one job. Drop an app on its window and it finds the files that app scattered across your Mac, so you can delete them along with it. If you need malware protection, keep CleanMyMac or another antivirus: Folia Files isn't one. If you only remove an app now and then, AppCleaner costs nothing.
What you get with Folia Files
Mac care is a section of Folia Files, next to its other tools. The dashboard gives your Mac a health score — free space, memory pressure, startup items, apps not opened for months, a full Trash — and Smart Scan looks at cleanup, protection, performance, applications and clutter in one go. Before it runs anything, it lists what it will remove and asks.
- Cleanup: app caches, logs, temporary files, Xcode data, package manager caches, Mail attachments, old downloads, iPhone and iPad backups — each says what it is and what removing it does
- Caches of apps that are open are left alone, and each item is checked again right before it goes
- To the Trash by default, or deleted for good when you choose it
- Clutter: large and old files by type or age, similar images, old downloads, duplicates found by their content
- Space Lens: any folder or disk as bubbles by size
Uninstall apps, with what they leave behind
Like AppCleaner, Folia Files finds what an app scatters in your Library — preferences, caches, containers, saved window state, web data, launch agents, logs — by its identifier and its name. Select one app or several: Folia Files quits them, waits until they have really closed, and sends them to the Trash with the leftovers you ticked. An app that does not close is left alone, and folders that may hold your own documents, such as containers or a folder found only by the app's name, are never ticked in advance.
- Unused apps: not opened in six months, according to Spotlight and the files each app writes in your Library
- Sort by size, name or last use; show only App Store or Setapp apps
- Leftovers of apps already deleted, and forgotten .dmg and .pkg installers in Downloads and on the Desktop
- Apps installed for all users: one administrator password for the whole batch
- Updates checked on the App Store and the developers' update feeds; the App Store or the app installs them
Protection and maintenance, explained
Folia Files does not scan your files for malware. Its Protection module looks at what starts with your Mac: the agents and services that run in the background, each with its signature — Apple, an identified developer, a local signature or none — and compared with a short list of known adware names, and the apps that open at login; switch one off or remove it. It also clears browser traces in Safari, Chrome, Firefox and other browsers (cookies and saved passwords are never ticked in advance), and lists the apps allowed to use your camera, microphone, screen or whole disk, so you can revoke a permission.
Performance gathers eight maintenance tasks — flush the DNS cache, free purgeable space, reindex Spotlight, free memory, rebuild the “Open With” list, reset Quick Look, repair home folder permissions, clean font caches — each with what it does and when it helps, and one password for those that need it. Cloud frees the local copies of files in iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or Box: they stay in the cloud and download again when you open them.
Which one to choose
CleanMyMac or AppCleaner, if…
- You want malware scans and real-time protection (CleanMyMac)
- You want your apps updated, your cloud storage and your mailbox cleaned from one app (CleanMyMac)
- You want battery, network and connected devices in your menu bar monitor (CleanMyMac)
- All you need is a free uninstaller (AppCleaner)
Folia Files, if…
- You want cleanup and app uninstall in the app where you manage your files
- You want to know what each item is before it goes, and find it in the Trash
- You'd rather pay once, for up to 3 Macs
- You also want panes, search, servers and the other tools of a file manager
Website edition and Mac App Store
Space Lens, Cleanup, Clutter and Applications are in both editions. In the Mac App Store edition, Folia Files stays inside Apple's sandbox: it cleans and measures the folders and disks you open to it in an Open dialog, and asks when it needs one. Protection, Performance and Cloud are in the website edition, and in the Mac App Store edition with Folia Files Companion (free). Uninstalling apps installed for all users is in the website edition; in the Mac App Store edition, the Finder moves such an app to the Trash and Folia Files then removes its leftovers.
Questions
No. It does not scan files for malware. Its Protection module checks what starts with your Mac — login and background items, their signature and a short list of known adware names — and lets you switch them off. For malware protection, keep CleanMyMac or another antivirus next to Folia Files.
No. Each cleanup item says what it is first, and nothing goes until you confirm. Uninstalled apps, their leftovers and duplicates go to the Trash; caches are deleted for good only when you choose it in Cleanup, or confirm Smart Scan, which says so before it runs.
Yes. Folia Files doesn't need to be your only cleaner: keep CleanMyMac for its malware protection, or AppCleaner out of habit, and use Folia Files for the rest.
No. Folia Files is $49.99 once for up to 3 Macs, after a 7-day trial with every feature. CleanMyMac is sold by the year, by the month, or once ($119.95 for one Mac).
macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel. It is in 8 languages and is sold on its website, and soon on the Mac App Store.
Keep reading
See for yourself, free for 7 days
Every feature, no account, no credit card. Then $49.99, once, every future update included — no subscription.
Prices and features checked on 5 October 2026, on MacPaw's website, store and CleanMyMac knowledge base, the Mac App Store, and FreeMacSoft's website.
- CleanMyMac
- CleanMyMac plans and prices
- CleanMyMac purchase options
- Where to get CleanMyMac
- CleanMyMac: feature differences between editions
- CleanMyMac: free trial
- CleanMyMac: find and remove malware
- CleanMyMac: uninstall apps
- CleanMyMac: large and old files
- CleanMyMac: maintenance tasks
- CleanMyMac: Cloud Cleanup and Email Cleanup
- CleanMyMac: the Menu
- CleanMyMac on the Mac App Store
- AppCleaner