Which fits your needs?
DeepClean: Mac users who want explained cleanup categories and developer-cache coverage.
NullDisk: Mac users managing local/remote storage, and developers who need Git-aware cleanup or scriptable disk reports.
Features, pricing, and workflow
Scroll across to compare
| Feature | DeepClean | NullDisk |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Mac users who want explained cleanup categories and developer-cache coverage. | Mac users managing local/remote storage, and developers who need Git-aware cleanup or scriptable disk reports. |
| Visualization | Category and large-file lists with safety ratings | Radial map, treemap, and file list; CLI terminal treemap |
| Platforms and requirements | macOS 13+ | Mac app: macOS 14+; CLI: macOS, Linux, Windows |
| Pricing and editions | Free scan and first gigabyte of cleanup; unlimited cleanup listed at $39 once per Mac. | Direct Mac edition free with reminders; optional $9.99 one-time personal license or team seat removes reminders. App Store terms are separate. |
| Open source | No | No |
| Native macOS UI | Yes | Yes |
| Cleanup workflow | Select items for Trash; caution items require deliberate selection and acknowledgement. | Review source and action: local Trash, explicit permanent removal, or backup/delete; remote and cloud actions depend on the destination. |
| Reports and portability | Retain deletion history and important decisions separately. The product overview does not document importing its records into another analyzer. | CLI produces JSON/NDJSON scan reports. Third-party scan files are not directly imported into the Mac GUI. |
DeepClean: what stands out
A good fit for Mac users who want explained cleanup categories and developer-cache coverage.
DeepClean: strengths
- Safe/Review/Caution categories and item explanations
- Developer toolchain cleanup and content-matched duplicates
- Trash-first cleanup with deletion history
Considerations
- Unlimited cleanup requires a paid per-Mac license
- Category judgments still depend on your workflow
- Primarily category-based cleanup rather than a disk map
NullDisk: what stands out
A good fit for Mac users managing local/remote storage, and developers who need Git-aware cleanup or scriptable disk reports.
NullDisk: strengths
- Radial and treemap views with local, SSH, and cloud sources
- Git-aware development cleanup for generated output and eligible worktrees
- Native Mac UI plus terminal UI and JSON/NDJSON CLI reports
Considerations
- Desktop GUI requires macOS 14+; Linux/Windows use the separate CLI
- Mac app sends anonymous usage telemetry; no in-app opt-out at this review
- No content-based duplicate finder; allocated bytes are not a guaranteed recovery total
For a useful comparison on your own drive, match the scan root, access permissions, and size mode. Chart style changes how you explore the results; it does not by itself establish measurement accuracy.
Common questions
When should I choose DeepClean?
A good fit for Mac users who want explained cleanup categories and developer-cache coverage. Free scan and first gigabyte of cleanup; unlimited cleanup listed at $39 once per Mac.
When should I choose NullDisk?
A good fit for Mac users managing local/remote storage, and developers who need Git-aware cleanup or scriptable disk reports. Direct Mac edition free with reminders; optional $9.99 one-time personal license or team seat removes reminders. App Store terms are separate.
Will both apps show the same size?
Not necessarily. Match the scan root, permissions, exclusions, and logical/allocated-size mode. Hard links, APFS clones, snapshots, sparse files, and cloud placeholders can change totals. A reported size is not a guaranteed amount recovered after deletion.