Which fits your needs?
Disk Xray: Mac users seeking an analyzer plus duplicate and photo cleanup tools.
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 | Disk Xray | NullDisk |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Mac users seeking an analyzer plus duplicate and photo cleanup tools. | Mac users managing local/remote storage, and developers who need Git-aware cleanup or scriptable disk reports. |
| Visualization | Sorted folder breakdown and cleanup lists | Radial map, treemap, and file list; CLI terminal treemap |
| Platforms and requirements | macOS 10.13+ (vendor requirements) | Mac app: macOS 14+; CLI: macOS, Linux, Windows |
| Pricing and editions | Free App Store download; full functionality via subscription or lifetime purchase. The subscription includes a seven-day trial. | 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 | Review each module’s action; ordinary cleanup and permanent shredding have different recovery implications. | Review source and action: local Trash, explicit permanent removal, or backup/delete; remote and cloud actions depend on the destination. |
| Reports and portability | The cited product page does not document scan export. Keep duplicate decisions and paths separately; hard-link accounting in NullDisk is not duplicate-content detection. | CLI produces JSON/NDJSON scan reports. Third-party scan files are not directly imported into the Mac GUI. |
Disk Xray: what stands out
A good fit for Mac users seeking an analyzer plus duplicate and photo cleanup tools.
Disk Xray: strengths
- Size-sorted folder scanner
- Byte-by-byte duplicate checks and similar-picture search
- App uninstaller, disk cleaner, and optional file shredder
Considerations
- Six modules serve different cleanup tasks
- Shredder operations are permanent
- Vendor limits content overwriting to supported HDDs, excluding SSD/APFS/network drives
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 Disk Xray?
A good fit for Mac users seeking an analyzer plus duplicate and photo cleanup tools. Free App Store download; full functionality via subscription or lifetime purchase. The subscription includes a seven-day trial.
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.