GrandPerspective alternatives

Why people look for a GrandPerspective alternative

GrandPerspective is a free, open-source disk analyzer that draws a treemap: every file is a rectangle whose area matches its size. It has been around for twenty years and is still actively maintained, with version 3.8.1 out on September 13, 2026. People who look for something else are usually after more than the picture.

• Help deciding what to remove. GrandPerspective has no cleanup rules or suggestions, no duplicate finder and no uninstaller. Its focus is deliberate.
• A review list and Undo. Deleting is an optional preference. When it's on, you delete the selected item from the view, with an optional confirmation, and a deleted folder moves to the Trash. There's no list of everything you've picked to check first, and no undo is documented.
• System Data, by name. GrandPerspective's help explains unscanned "miscellaneous used space" in general terms and suggests granting Full Disk Access. It doesn't name System Data, purgeable space or local snapshots.
• A different view. Some people read a sunburst or a sorted list more easily than a treemap.

When GrandPerspective is the right tool

If you want a free, open, well-maintained treemap, stay. Its coloring and filters are flexible, it saves and reloads scans, analyzes Time Machine backups, scans cloud folders without downloading their files, and the app is translated into ten languages besides English. The same app is also $2.99 on the Mac App Store.

How we chose

The first pick is free, for people who just want a different view. The others add something GrandPerspective doesn't: a sunburst, explanations, or cleanup suggestions with a review step. For each we noted the price and what happens to removed files, as of October 22, 2026, from the vendor's own pages.

We make MacClearings, the second pick, so read that section knowing who wrote it. There's also a side-by-side page: MacClearings vs GrandPerspective.

OmniDiskSweeper

OmniDiskSweeper from The Omni Group lists everything on a drive in Finder-style columns, largest first. There's no chart: you drill down until you find what's big, then open it or move it to the Trash. It handles network volumes and can run as root to size folders your account can't read.

• Price: free.
• Requirements: macOS 11 or later. Version 1.16 came out on September 12, 2025.
• Removed files: moved to the Trash by default since version 1.10 in 2018. Holding Option deletes immediately, skipping the Trash. No review list and no in-app undo.

MacClearings

We make MacClearings; it's a one-person app by Chris Williams. It keeps the treemap and adds the help GrandPerspective leaves out.

The Map draws any folder as a treemap or a sunburst. Hover or select a folder and the field guide explains it: what it is, which app made it, whether it comes back, and what happens without it. Breakdown starts from what macOS reports, names System Data, purgeable space, local snapshots and swap, and shows whatever MacClearings can't see as a number instead of hiding it. Suggestions has 28 rules, and Duplicates always keeps one copy of every file.

• Price: $25 once, or $12.50 for the first 25 buyers. GrandPerspective is free. See pricing.
• Requirements: macOS 15 or later, Apple silicon and Intel. Closed source.
• Privacy: no account and no analytics in the app.
• Removed files: only ever moved to the Trash. You stage items, review them on one sheet, and only then do they move to the Trash, each one checked again first. History has Undo and Put Back, and measures each cleaned place again after 1, 7 and 30 days. MacClearings never empties the Trash, so the space comes back when you empty it. See the safety page.

DaisyDisk

DaisyDisk draws an interactive sunburst you can drill into, and you drag what you want gone into a collector. Its stand-alone edition breaks hidden space into purgeable space, other APFS volumes and local snapshots, and it can scan Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and Box.

• Price: $9.99 once for up to 5 personal Macs, direct or on the Mac App Store.
• Requirements: macOS 10.13 or later for the direct edition.
• Removed files: deleted permanently, not moved to the Trash, with five seconds to cancel. Its guide says it can't restore deleted files.

DiskBuddy

DiskBuddy shows one scan eight ways, a treemap among them, and adds a cleanup list, a duplicate finder, an uninstaller and a system monitor. One license covers the Mac and Windows versions.

• Price: $19 for the first 400 copies, then $49; the page showed 37 left on October 22, 2026. One Mac at a time.
• Requirements: macOS 14 or later.
• Removed files: moved to the Trash by default, with Undo for the whole cleanup. Permanent deletion is a separate option with its own warning. Items apps rebuild, caches included, start ticked.

Mole for Mac

Mole for Mac's Analyze tool draws a treemap with Move to Trash and Reveal in Finder. Clean has a System Data group covering local snapshots, system caches and logs, and old macOS installers, alongside an uninstaller, maintenance tasks and a live system monitor.

• Price: $19 once, and the license activates 2 Macs. Each paid tool works twice before you buy.
• Requirements: macOS 14 or later.
• Removed files: Analyze and uninstalls use the Trash. Cache cleanup is permanent by default unless you change a setting, and there's no undo command.