CCleaner alternatives

2 projects to consider for your CCleaner workflows.

1 open source · 1 custom license

Explore Mole and Pearcleaner. Each takes a different approach to your CCleaner workflows. Read its capabilities and limitations to find the right fit.

Catalogue facts checked October 3, 2026

New

Mole

Free open-source Mac cleaner with app manager and monitor

Open sourceGPL-3.0

Mole fits Mac users who want free local cleanup plus menu-bar monitoring without paying a yearly optimizer subscription. Its 162-command toolkit, deep cache and large-file cleanup, and complete app uninstaller cover the same maintenance workflow the paid incumbents charge for. The tradeoff is macOS-only coverage and a young project without official support, so anyone wanting a supported cross-platform suite should look elsewhere. If you want free and transparent Mac maintenance, choose Mole; if you want guided cleanup with a vendor behind it, choose CCleaner's free edition first.[1][2][3][4]

Good fit. Mac users refusing optimizer subscriptions: Mole is free and open source with no paid tier, so it fits anyone whose maintenance needs do not justify a yearly CleanMyMac-style subscription.[1][2][3][4]

Keep in mind. Windows, Linux, or mobile-first users are unserved: Mole targets macOS only, with no other desktop or phone story.[1][2]

Repository review signals: unknown status, stale · Observed October 11, 2026.

Read project review Official website

Sources and editorial review

Source research. Reviewed on October 11, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.

We have not run or tested this product.

Two public Reddit reports on Mole were inspected in October 2026: one r/macapps comment and one r/MacOS comment, both describing a switch from paid CleanMyMac to Mole as smoother, alongside peer caution about cache cleaners and a macOS 26.0 startup error. Only two firsthand Reddit reports were inspected, both from August 2026 CleanMyMac-replacement threads, so this sample is directional rather than representative. No prevalence or satisfaction claim is made.

Mole - Native Mac Cleaner, App Manager, and System Monitor
official · Observed October 11, 2026
Official product site: free open-source Mac cleaner positioning, download, install FAQ, Apple non-affiliation, roadmap.
tw93/Mole: Keep your Mac clean, light, and running like new
official · Observed October 11, 2026
Official repository: identity, GPL-3.0 signal, Swift stack, v1.54.0 capability notes, privacy posture, platform floor.
r/macapps: Any good free alternatives to CleanMyMac?
community · Observed October 11, 2026 · Published August 1, 2026
Community thread on free CleanMyMac alternatives with one Mole switch report and peer caution.
r/MacOS: Is Clean My Mac worth renewing?
community · Observed October 11, 2026 · Published August 1, 2026
Community thread on renewing CleanMyMac with one Mole switch report and peer caveats.

Pearcleaner

Free source-available Mac app uninstaller and cleaner

Custom licenseApache-2.0 with Commons Clause

Pearcleaner fits Mac users who want free, thorough app removal with leftover and orphan cleanup on macOS 13 and later. Its uninstaller, orphaned-file search, Trash-watching Sentinel monitor, and Homebrew manager cover the maintenance workflow paid incumbents charge for. The tradeoff is an on-hold project with no active maintenance since the end of 2025, so anyone wanting supported software with regular updates should look elsewhere. If you want a free uninstaller and accept paused development, choose Pearcleaner; if you want an actively maintained free alternative, start with Mole.[1][2][3]

Good fit. If dragging apps to Trash has left gigabytes of orphaned support files, the uninstaller plus orphaned-file search maps directly to that cleanup.[1]

Keep in mind. Development has been on hold since the end of 2025 with no Mac available to the maintainer for builds or testing, so bugs and macOS compatibility fixes should not be expected soon.[1]

Repository review signals: unknown status, stale · Observed October 12, 2026.

Read project review Official website

Sources and editorial review

Source research. Reviewed on October 12, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.

We have not run or tested this product.

One public forum mention inspected in October 2026: a January 2026 MacRumors reply by member haralds recommending Pearcleaner for removing apps and hidden disk cruft, with a follow-up embedding the v5.4.3 release notes. No Reddit or G2 firsthand usage report was found; two Reddit reads were attempted and blocked. A single recommendation mention is directional, not representative; it is not quoted as testimony since only Reddit/G2 reports qualify as testimonials. No prevalence or satisfaction claim is made.

alienator88/Pearcleaner repository
official · Observed October 12, 2026
Official repository: free source-available fair-code Mac app cleaner positioning, version 5.4.3, on-hold status, homepage link.
Pearcleaner README
official · Observed October 12, 2026
Feature set, macOS 13-26 support table, distribution, Apache 2.0 with Commons Clause note, on-hold statement, legitimacy warning, AppCleaner inspiration credit.
Pearcleaner repository metadata
official · Observed October 12, 2026
Repository metadata: Swift language, 14,836 stars, 387 forks, created November 2023, last push June 2026, not archived or disabled.
MacRumors Forums: Remove Most Programs (Pearcleaner mention)
community · Observed October 12, 2026
January 2026 forum reply by member haralds recommending Pearcleaner to quickly remove apps and hidden disk cruft, with a follow-up showing the v5.4.3 release. A recommendation mention, not a firsthand usage report; thin single-mention sample.

Compare CCleaner alternatives

Known catalogue facts at a glance. Columns with no reviewed values are omitted. “Not reviewed” means unknown, not that a capability is absent.

Known facts for CCleaner alternatives
Project	License policy	Hosting	Deployment	Offline	Best fit
Mole	GPL-3.0 · OSI-approved	Not fully reviewed	easy	Yes	Freeing disk space and removing leftover files from a Mac; Monitoring CPU, memory, disk, and network from the menu bar
Pearcleaner	Apache-2.0 with Commons Clause · custom	Not fully reviewed	easy	Yes	Completely uninstalling Mac apps together with their leftover support files; Finding orphaned files from apps that were already dragged to Trash

Before you switch

Check that the project covers the workflows and data you need to move.
Confirm that the license terms fit how you plan to run, modify, and distribute it.
Choose between self-hosting responsibility and a reviewed managed option.
Open the project page for repository freshness, review dates, and any unresolved requirements.

About CCleaner

CCleaner is a PC and phone cleaner that removes junk files, browser cookies, trackers, and leftover temporary data. It also cleans the Windows registry and closes privacy gaps left by browsers that do not clean up after themselves.

The Professional edition adds Health Check fixes, driver and software updaters, and a Performance Optimizer for speed and battery life. Editions cover Windows PCs, Mac, Android, and iOS, backed by twenty years of release history and weekly desktop installs in the millions.

A free edition covers basic cleaning, with paid Pro and Pro Plus tiers for automation and extras; Pro was listed at INR 1,240 and Pro Plus at INR 1,590 when observed, with prices varying by region. CCleaner is published by Gen Digital Inc., which also owns the Recuva and Speccy utilities.

Gen Digital Inc. · Free edition plus paid Pro tiers; Pro INR 1,240 and Pro Plus INR 1,590 observed 2026-10-03, prices vary by region. · Checked October 3, 2026

Official website

How this list is ordered

Recommended · Organic catalogue order.

A deterministic editorial score using relationship confidence, category fit, logarithmic popularity, as-of maintenance and freshness, with bounded anomaly quarantine and known-data penalties. Payment is fixed at zero.

Payment does not affect organic ranking. Order is a starting point, not a universal recommendation.

OpenAlternative organic alternatives v4 · version 4