Disk Drill vs dupeGuru (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, dupeGuru grades higher than Disk Drill: 3.0 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Disk Drill grades higher on ease of use. dupeGuru grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Disk Drill
Data recovery app for Mac and Windows with free disk tools
dupeGuru
Free open-source tool that finds duplicate files by name or content
Which one is for you
Pick Disk Drill if
- Fits if you need one recovery after a deleted folder or a formatted card
- Works for people who want to see what is recoverable before paying
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to recover files without paying, as free is scan and preview on Mac and capped at 100 MB on Windows
- Watch out: every PRO purchase is non-refundable except where consumer law says otherwise
- Tight if you need more than 3 devices, as a PRO licence covers one user on up to 3
- Watch out: deep scans of Mac system disks rely on a kernel extension the app installs
- Pricey if you only need it once, since a year is $49
Pick dupeGuru if
- Fits if you want a free duplicate finder on Mac, Windows or Linux
- Works for sorting duplicate music and pictures
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want an actively updated site: the copyright line reads 2018 and recent downloads are on GitHub
- Not for you if you have an Apple silicon Mac and want a native build, as none is listed
- Watch out: fuzzy scans at a low threshold return false duplicates you must check yourself
- Watch out: the site's own text disagrees about which platforms it runs on
How we grade them
| 2.6GPADisk DrillGood | 3.0GPAdupeGuruVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPRO Lifetime is $69 once, under two years of what the category's middle subscription costs. The yearly option is $49, which is mid-range for the category. | AFree under GPL-3.0, with no paid edition. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe free edition scans and previews but, on Mac, does not recover; the Windows page says up to 100 MB. The disk health, cleanup and duplicate tools are free. | AThe whole program is free to download on every platform listed. |
| Features | BRecovers from drives, cards, cameras and RAID, reads Time Machine, and adds disk health, cleanup, duplicates and backups. Nothing in the listing is missing from the job. | BFilename and content scans, music and picture modes, and delete, move or copy. Nothing in the listing is missing from the job. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record. You install it and run a scan, though deep scans on Macs need a kernel extension it installs. | CScan modes and a fuzzy threshold to tune, and results to review by hand. No store rating is on record. |
| Platforms and integrations | CMac and Windows desktop only. No phone app, web version or published integrations. | CMac, Windows and Linux, computers only. No phone or web version, and no ARM Mac build is listed. |
| Best for | getting back deleted files on a Mac or PC | finding duplicate files for free |
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: Disk Drill and dupeGuru. How we grade
Price against what you get
Disk Drill starts at $4.08 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. dupeGuru has no paid plan and scores 2.3.
Disk Drill scores higher, and starts $4.08 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other desktop utilities on the chart, 1 scores higher than Disk Drill for less, and none scores higher than dupeGuru 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
- Disk Drill can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- dupeGuru is open source, according to its own site.
At a glance
| Disk Drill | dupeGuru | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $49 per year, or $69 one-time | Free |
| Free plan | Disk Drill Basic scans storage and previews every recoverable file; the Windows page says it recovers up to 100 MB for free. Disk health, cleanup, duplicate finder and backup tools are included in the free edition. | The vendor's site lists downloads for each platform and no price or paid edition; the source is under GPL-3.0. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | CleverFiles Inc. | dupeGuru open-source project |
| Price read from | cleverfiles.com | dupeguru.voltaicideas.net |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Disk Drill
- Unlimited recovery needs PRO; the Mac page describes the free edition as scan and preview only.
- All PRO purchases are non-refundable except where consumer law requires a refund, according to the vendor's FAQ.
- A PRO license covers 1 user on up to 3 devices; business use is allowed, and larger teams get a custom Enterprise quote.
- On Macs, deep scans of system disks rely on a kernel extension the app installs.
dupeGuru
- The vendor's site is sparse and its copyright line reads 2018; recent downloads are on GitHub releases.
- The Mac download is listed for macOS 10.12 or later, and the page lists no ARM-specific build.
- Fuzzy scans at a low threshold can return false duplicates that you have to review by hand.
- The site's own text is inconsistent about platforms: one paragraph also says it runs only on Mac OS X and Linux.
Key features
Disk Drill
- File and partition recovery
- Scans drives, SSDs, memory cards, USB sticks, cameras and RAID arrays for deleted files and lost partitions, and previews results before recovery.
- Time Machine and snapshots
- On Mac it reads Time Machine backup disks and local snapshots as extra places to find overwritten files.
- Disk health monitoring
- Free S.M.A.R.T. monitoring watches connected disks for signs of trouble.
- Cleanup and duplicate finder
- Shows what is using disk space and finds duplicate files in several locations.
- Byte-to-byte backups and recovery drive
- Creates disk and partition images and a bootable USB drive for recovery.
- Data protection
- With protection enabled, recovery of protected files is free, according to the vendor.
dupeGuru
- Filename and content scans
- Scans either filenames or file contents. The filename scan uses fuzzy matching, so similar names are found as well as identical ones.
- Music mode
- Scans music tags and shows music-specific information in the duplicate results window.
- Picture mode
- Scans pictures fuzzily to find images that are similar but not exactly the same.
- Safety features
- A reference directory system and grouping system are meant to stop you deleting files you did not mean to.
- Delete, move or copy
- Duplicates can be deleted, moved or copied elsewhere, and results can be filtered and sorted to weed out false matches.
Plans
Disk Drill
Basic$0
Scan and preview recoverable files, plus the free disk health, cleanup, duplicate finder and backup tools.
PRO One-Year Subscription$49
per year, renews yearly
Unlimited recovery on Mac and Windows, all updates while subscribed, 1 user on up to 3 devices.
PRO Lifetime License$69
one-time
Same as the subscription, with updates included permanently. Shown as $69 against a crossed-out $119 with no end date given.
dupeGuru
dupeGuru$0
Free download for Windows, macOS and Ubuntu, with source code on GitHub.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Disk Drill or dupeGuru?
As of Nov 13, 2026, dupeGuru is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $4.08 a month when paid by the year for Disk Drill. Disk Drill starts at $49 per year, or $69 one-time, and dupeGuru is free.
Which has a free plan, Disk Drill or dupeGuru?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Disk Drill and dupeGuru have a free plan.
Which platforms do Disk Drill and dupeGuru run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only dupeGuru lists a Linux app. Both list macOS and Windows 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.