CleanMyMac alternative: a Mac cleaner with no subscription

CleanMyMac is the best-known Mac cleaner, and it is a polished, capable app. People look for an alternative for three reasons: they do not want another yearly subscription, they want to know what a cleaner is about to delete, and they only need part of what it does. This page is for them. It covers what CleanMyMac includes, the free tools that cover parts of it, and where Kempt fits.

Prices and features of other apps below were checked on their own websites in October 2026. Check them again before you buy.

What CleanMyMac does

MacPaw’s site lists these parts:

• Smart Care, one routine that runs cleanup, a malware scan, performance tasks, app updates and decluttering together.
• Cleanup of system junk and outdated files.
• Protection, a malware scanner.
• Performance, tools to manage memory and CPU load.
• Applications, an uninstaller that also removes leftovers, plus app updates.
• My Clutter, duplicates, similar photos and large or forgotten files.
• Cloud cleanup, large files in cloud storage and redundant local copies.

It asks for macOS 11 or later and about 320 MB of disk.

Why people look for an alternative

• The subscription. MacPaw lists CleanMyMac from $3.33 a month, billed yearly, which is about $40 a year for one Mac. For a tool most people open once a month, that adds up.
• One button, many tasks. Smart Care is quick, but a single button that cleans, scans and updates at once tells you little about what it removed. Many people would rather review a list.
• More than they need. If your Mac already runs Apple’s built-in malware protection and updates apps from the App Store, the part you actually want is cleanup and uninstalling.
• Trial terms. MacPaw’s support pages describe a 7-day trial of every feature that turns into a paid plan unless you cancel it. Some people prefer a free mode with no card at all.

What a good alternative needs

1. It says what each item is and why it is safe, not just a total in gigabytes.
2. It lets you review the list before anything is removed.
3. It moves things to the Trash, so a mistake can be undone.
4. It is honest about what grows back. Caches refill as you use your apps; a cleaner that promises the space forever is overselling.
5. It removes apps completely, with the support files they leave behind.
6. It does not need an account to clean your own disk.

The free options

macOS Storage settings. System Settings, General, Storage shows what uses the disk, recommends emptying the Trash automatically, and lists large files under Documents. It is free and safe, but it will not say which folder inside System Data is large, or clear app caches.

Pearcleaner. A free, open source uninstaller that removes an app together with its leftover files. It does uninstalling only, and does it well.

By hand. Everything a cleaner does can be done in Finder. Our guides on freeing up disk space and what you can delete on a Mac go folder by folder.

Kempt: a Mac cleaner that explains itself

We built Kempt for people who want to keep a Mac in good shape without guessing what a button did.

• Cleanup by category: system junk, developer data, files left behind by deleted apps, duplicates, and big and old files. Each item is labelled Rebuilds itself, Downloads again, Look first or Yours.
• Review first, then the Trash. You see every item and the total before you confirm, and everything goes to the Trash, so you can put it back.
• It says what will grow back. The result screen tells you which cleared caches will refill as you use your apps.
• Uninstall apps completely, with the support files they leave behind, and see what each app really costs in space.
• Idle projects only. Developer projects count as clutter only after 90 days untouched; the project you worked on this morning is never part of the total.
• The storage gap explained. When the Storage panel says more is used than any scan can find, Kempt says where the rest is: purgeable space, local snapshots and folders macOS keeps closed.
• What the Mac is doing now: memory, CPU and disk, live, with a glance in the menu bar.
• Small and private. Kempt is a download of about 8 MB, needs no account, and nothing it sees leaves your Mac.
• Bought once. No subscription. Scanning is free for as long as you like; a license unlocks cleaning. It is also part of All Apps.

What Kempt does not do

Kempt deliberately leaves out a malware scanner (macOS has its own, built in and updated by Apple), an app updater, and similar-photo matching. It finds duplicates by content, which means identical files, not photos that look alike. If you want all of those in one app, CleanMyMac is the better fit.

DiskAtlas, if you mostly want to see where the space went

If your real question is “what is filling my disk?”, DiskAtlas answers it with a map of every folder, sized and labelled, plus duplicates and a review before anything moves. Kempt is the routine maintenance app; DiskAtlas is the investigation. They share the same safety rules, and All Apps includes both. See our DaisyDisk alternative page for how DiskAtlas compares with other disk analyzers.

Moving from CleanMyMac

1. Cancel the subscription first, where you bought it: your MacPaw account, the Mac App Store (App Store, your name, Account Settings, Subscriptions), or Setapp.
2. Quit CleanMyMac and its menu bar helper.
3. Uninstall it completely. Kempt removes the app together with the support files it leaves behind, or use Pearcleaner.
4. Run Kempt’s scan, look through each category, tick what you want gone, and review.

Quick comparison

Questions

Is Kempt free? Scanning is free, with no time limit and no card. Cleaning needs a license, and every purchase can be refunded within 15 days.

Is it safe? Kempt follows one rule for everything it removes: it is listed with a reason, you review it, and it goes to the Trash, so you can put it back.

Do I need a Mac cleaner at all? Not strictly. Everything a cleaner does can be done by hand. A good one saves you the time of finding what is large and checking what each folder belongs to.

Does it work on Windows? Kempt is Mac only.