Which fits your needs?
Disk Xray: Mac users seeking an analyzer plus duplicate and photo cleanup tools.
SquirrelDisk: People wanting a free open-source GUI across desktop systems and remote storage.
Features, pricing, and workflow
Scroll across to compare
| Feature | Disk Xray | SquirrelDisk |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Mac users seeking an analyzer plus duplicate and photo cleanup tools. | People wanting a free open-source GUI across desktop systems and remote storage. |
| Visualization | Sorted folder breakdown and cleanup lists | Sunburst, treemap, file list, and duplicates |
| Platforms and requirements | macOS 10.13+ (vendor requirements) | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| Pricing and editions | Free App Store download; full functionality via subscription or lifetime purchase. The subscription includes a seven-day trial. | Free; AGPL-3.0 source published on GitHub. |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Native macOS UI | Yes | Cross-platform interface |
| Cleanup workflow | Review each module’s action; ordinary cleanup and permanent shredding have different recovery implications. | Collector offers Trash, permanent removal, secure erase, or backup before deletion. |
| 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. | The current overview does not establish an interoperable scan-report format. Preserve paths, duplicate decisions, and remote source settings separately. |
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
SquirrelDisk: what stands out
A good fit for people wanting a free open-source GUI across desktop systems and remote storage.
SquirrelDisk: strengths
- Live maps and a staged removal collector
- Content-based duplicate search
- SSH and rclone-backed cloud storage
Considerations
- Uses a cross-platform Rust interface rather than SwiftUI
- Permanent deletion and secure erase require deliberate review
- Cloud/SSH actions depend on provider and remote-system support
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 SquirrelDisk?
A good fit for people wanting a free open-source GUI across desktop systems and remote storage. Free; AGPL-3.0 source published on GitHub.
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.