Clean Email vs Cleanfox (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Cleanfox grades higher than Clean Email: 3.0 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Cleanfox grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Clean Email
Inbox cleaner for bulk deleting, unsubscribing and auto rules
Cleanfox
Free tool for unsubscribing from newsletters and clearing inboxes
Which one is for you
Pick Clean Email if
- Fits if you've got thousands of old emails to delete or archive in one sitting
- Works for families, since the 5 and 10 account plans let you share the spare accounts
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a new email app, because it only cleans the mailbox you already have
- Tight if you're staying free, as that stops at 1,000 emails plus 100 a week, with no Screener, Auto Clean or Unsubscriber
- Pricey if you pay month by month, at $9.99 against $29.99 for the whole year
- Watch out: there's no Windows app, so on a PC you use the web version
- Watch out: the 5-account plan shows several App Store prices with no billing period, and the plans page varies by region
Pick Cleanfox if
- Fits if your inbox is full of newsletters you never read
- Works for people who accept the data trade for a free cleaner
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you don't want your emails scanned, as the site says it sells statistics compiled from them
- Watch out: signing up joins NielsenIQ's online consumer panel, according to the site
- Skip it if you want an email client, as it cleans subscriptions only
- Watch out: the site says it can't connect to some providers
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAClean EmailFair | 3.0GPACleanfoxVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | COne account is $9.99 a month, a little over this category's $8 middle and above the $4 of its lowest-priced quarter. A year up front is $29.99, about what three months cost paid monthly. Every plan carries every feature, and ten accounts are $99.99 a year with the spares shareable. | AEverything is free. The cost is not money: the site says it sells statistics compiled from the transactional emails and newsletters it scans. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free account cleans 1,000 emails, plus 100 a week with Cleanup Reminders on, and for a tool whose whole purpose is clearing thousands that cap arrives in one sitting. The 14-day Premium trial needs no card and includes 25 unsubscribe actions. | AFree outright, with all features at no charge and no paid plan. |
| Features | CGroup mail by sender, date or size and delete thousands at once, with an Unsubscriber, a Screener for unknown senders, Auto Clean rules and a Privacy Monitor watching for breaches. It does that fully and it's a small job: it cleans the mailbox you have and is no sort of mail app. | CNewsletter detection, delete or keep per sender, deleted mail goes to the bin, and several providers. It does that one job, a smaller job than an email client, and the site says it can't connect to some providers. |
| Ease of use | C4.46 from about 3,800 App Store ratings, under the 4.5 a B needs. It works alongside whatever email app you already use, and Cleaning Suggestions point you at the mail people usually bin first. | CNo store rating on record. You connect your mailbox first, though it's one-click per newsletter after that. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone, Mac and Android, connected to Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, Outlook, AOL, Fastmail and other IMAP accounts. No Windows app is listed, so on a PC it's the web version. | BWeb, iOS and Android, with Gmail and Outlook connections. No desktop app. |
| Best for | clearing thousands of old emails in one go | a free newsletter cleaner paid for by data |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Clean Email and Cleanfox. How we grade
Price against what you get
Clean Email starts at $2.50 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Cleanfox has no paid plan and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Cleanfox starts $2.50 a month lower. Of the other email apps on the chart, 7 score higher than Clean Email for less, and none scores higher than Cleanfox for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
At a glance
| Clean Email | Cleanfox | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $9.99 per month, or $29.99 per year (1 email account) | Free |
| Free plan | Free account: clean up to 1,000 emails, plus 100 more a week with Cleanup Reminders turned on. Screener, Auto Clean, sender settings and the Unsubscriber need Premium. | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of Premium features with 25 unsubscribe actions, no credit card required | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Clean Email, LLC | NielsenIQ |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | cleanfox.io |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Clean Email
- A free account can clean 1,000 emails, plus 100 a week with reminders on. Screener, Auto Clean and the Unsubscriber need a paid plan.
- It is not an email client: it connects to your mailbox and works alongside the email app you already use.
- Prices here are US prices from the App Store listings and Clean Email's own pages. Its plans page shows local-currency prices that vary by region.
- The US App Store lists 5-account purchases at several prices without a billing period, so that plan's price is given as a range.
Cleanfox
- Cleanfox is paid for by data: the site says it sells statistics compiled from the transactional emails and newsletters it scans.
- Signing up joins NielsenIQ's online consumer panel, according to the site.
- It cleans subscriptions only; it is not an email client and does not replace one.
- The site says it is unable to connect to some providers.
Key features
Clean Email
- Unsubscriber
- Lists every subscription and newsletter in one place and unsubscribes for you. If a list ignores the request, its messages are moved to the trash automatically.
- Bulk cleaning
- Groups mail by sender, date or size so that thousands of messages can be deleted, archived, labelled or moved in a single action.
- Smart Folders and Cleaning Suggestions
- Predefined filters gather mail such as social notifications, rideshare receipts and online shopping, and suggestions point to messages people usually delete or archive.
- Screener
- Holds messages from senders who have never emailed you before, so you can allow or block each one before it reaches the inbox.
- Auto Clean rules
- Rules based on sender, domain, status or age automatically move, star, mark, delete or archive messages as they arrive or once they get old.
- Privacy Monitor
- Checks your email address against known data breaches on a regular basis and alerts you if it has been compromised.
Cleanfox
- Newsletter detection
- After you connect a mailbox, Cleanfox lists the newsletters it finds so that each one can be reviewed in turn.
- Delete or keep, per sender
- For each newsletter you can delete future emails automatically, delete emails already received, or keep it.
- Deleted mail goes to the bin
- Removed emails move to the inbox bin and are emptied automatically after a few days, so a mistake can be restored.
- Several providers and apps
- It works with Gmail, Outlook and other providers, and there are Android and iOS apps as well as the web version.
Plans
Clean Email
Free$0
Clean up to 1,000 emails, plus 100 a week with Cleanup Reminders on. Premium tools are available only during the 14-day trial.
1 account$9.99
per month, or $29.99 per year
All features and unlimited cleaning for one email account.
5 accounts$19.99–$69.99
US App Store in-app prices; billing period not shown
All features for five email accounts, sold monthly or yearly on the plans page. Unused accounts can be shared with friends and family.
10 accounts$29.99
per month, or $99.99 per year
All features for ten email accounts. Unused accounts can be shared with friends and family.
Cleanfox
Free$0
All features at no charge; the service is funded by selling statistical data from scanned emails.
Ways to pay less
Clean Email
- Annual discount
Yearly plans cost about 75% less than monthly
For one account the yearly plan is $29.99 against $9.99 a month, which Clean Email's App Store listings describe as saving 75% on the monthly rate.
- Education
Education discounts on request
The plans page says Clean Email offers discounts for education, with quotes handled by email. The size of the discount is not published.
- Nonprofit
Non-profit discounts and bulk pricing
The plans page also offers discounts for non-profits and special bulk pricing for organizations, quoted by email.
Cleanfox
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Clean Email or Cleanfox?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Cleanfox is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $2.50 a month when paid by the year for Clean Email. Clean Email starts at $9.99 per month, or $29.99 per year (1 email account), and Cleanfox is free.
Which has a free plan, Clean Email or Cleanfox?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Clean Email and Cleanfox have a free plan.
Which platforms do Clean Email and Cleanfox run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Clean Email lists a macOS app. Both list a web app and iOS and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.