AppCleaner vs DaisyDisk

AppCleaner

• Mac users who want an app's support files removed along with the app
• People who want a single-purpose uninstaller at no cost
• Older Macs: builds are kept for macOS 10.10 and later

DaisyDisk

• Mac users who keep running out of disk space
• Finding what is behind large System Data or Other storage figures
• People who want a one-time purchase that covers their personal Macs

AppCleaner

• macOS only. The current version, 3.7, is for macOS 15 and later; earlier systems need one of the older builds.
• It uninstalls apps and their related files; the vendor's page describes no other cleanup or maintenance functions.
• The vendor's site is a short description with downloads. It shows no documentation, changelog or price list.

DaisyDisk

• macOS only; the current version needs macOS 10.13 or newer, and the FAQ says there is no Windows or iOS version.
• The free trial cannot delete files, show them in Finder, scan as administrator or scan cloud storage, and shows purchase reminders.
• The Mac App Store edition cannot scan as administrator and only detects hidden and purgeable space without revealing or purging it.
• It does not find duplicate files, and deletion is permanent, not a move to the Trash.

AppCleaner

Drag-and-drop uninstalling

Drop an application onto the AppCleaner window and it searches for the files that belong to that app.

Related-file search

Looks for the small files an installation distributes throughout the system, which otherwise keep using disk space after the app is gone.

Review before deleting

Found files are shown before anything is removed. A 2015 Macworld walkthrough describes checkmarks beside each file and says removed items go to the Trash.

SmartDelete

According to the same Macworld walkthrough, switching on SmartDelete in Preferences makes AppCleaner look for related files whenever an app is dragged to the Trash.

Builds for older macOS versions

The vendor lists version 3.7 for macOS 15 and later, 3.6.8 for macOS 10.14 up to 15.6, 3.6 for macOS 10.13 and 3.4 for macOS 10.10 up to 10.12.

DaisyDisk

Sunburst disk map

Scans a disk or folder and draws its contents as a sunburst map that you browse to locate the largest files and folders.

Fast scanning

The vendor quotes 12-20 seconds for an APFS SSD startup disk and 6-12 seconds for an HFS+ one, and 3-5 minutes for NTFS, FAT and exFAT volumes.

Collector and deletion

Drag items to the Collector, review them, then click Delete, with 5 seconds to cancel. Files are removed permanently, and system folders are not accepted.

Hidden and purgeable space

Detects space that regular scanning cannot account for, reveals it by scanning as administrator, and can purge purgeable space and local snapshots.

Cloud scan

Connects Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and Box and scans them over the network like a local disk, without allocating local disk space.

Quick Look preview

Pressing Space previews any file with the built-in Quick Look, so you can identify it before deciding whether to delete it.

AppCleaner

• AppCleaner$0

  The full uninstaller, downloaded directly from the vendor's page. No price is listed, and donations are optional.

DaisyDisk

• Lifetime License$9.99

  one-time purchase

  Stand-alone edition for up to 5 personal Macs. Minor updates and bug fixes are included, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

• Mac App Store edition$9.99

  one-time purchase (US Mac App Store)

  Sandboxed edition without scanning as administrator. The vendor offers App Store customers free migration to the stand-alone license.

AppCleaner

No public discounts listed.

DaisyDisk

• Lifetime license

  Lifetime license with no subscription

  One payment buys a lifetime license with no recurring charges. Minor updates are included, and a paid major upgrade would not invalidate the license.

• Education

  Student discounts on request

  The pricing page says student discounts are offered and asks buyers to contact the vendor for details.

• Other savings

  Corporate and portable IT licenses

  Corporate licenses and portable licenses for IT services are available on request, according to the pricing page.