Levo compared · Lists
Best disk space analyzers for Mac in 2026
A disk space analyzer answers one question: where did my storage go? The best one depends on whether you want a picture to explore, a plain list of the biggest files, or an answer about what’s safe to remove.
Quick verdict
- Best when you want to know what’s safe to remove: Levo.
- Best map for exploring: DaisyDisk.
- Best free map: GrandPerspective.
- Best free sorted list: OmniDiskSweeper.
- Best old-school treemap: Disk Inventory X.
Comparison table
| App | Price | How it shows your disk | Says what’s safe | Warns before it fills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Levo | Two free cleanups, then a lifetime licence | A list with sizes and reasons, from a live index | Your own AI agent, checked by Levo’s guard | Yes, at a limit you set |
| DaisyDisk | About US$10 once | Rings you can drill into | You do | No |
| GrandPerspective | Free (a paid App Store version exists) | A treemap of blocks | You do | No |
| OmniDiskSweeper | Free | A list, largest first | You do | No |
| Disk Inventory X | Free | A treemap with a file list | You do | No |
1. Levo
A menubar app for macOS 26 or later. Instead of a map it keeps a live index of what fills the disk, as a list grouped by kind with a size and a reason for each item. It works even when you can’t tell what a 40 GB folder is: your own AI agent (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini and others) judges it read-only, and Levo does the deletion itself after checking again. It warns you when free space drops below your limit, with the list ready. It’s a list, not a map, and it doesn’t try to be one.
- Good at: Knowing what a big item is, whether it comes back and whether it’s in use.
Pick it if: you want the answer rather than the picture.
2. DaisyDisk
By Software Ambience. The benchmark: your disk drawn as rings, with any folder or drive a click away and connected cloud storage too. Deleting is up to you.
- Price: About US$10 once, with a free trial (Nov 2026).
- Good at: Making a full disk understandable at a glance.
Pick it if: you like exploring visually.
3. GrandPerspective
A long-standing free treemap: each file is a rectangle sized by how big it is, so large files stand out at once. It’s light and simple, and it doesn’t tell you what anything is.
- Price: Free from its site; a small paid version is on the Mac App Store.
- Good at: Spotting giant files quickly, for nothing.
Pick it if: you want a map without paying.
4. OmniDiskSweeper
By The Omni Group. It lists files and folders from largest to smallest and lets you delete from the list. No picture, no advice, and very little to learn.
- Price: Free.
- Good at: A quick sorted list of the biggest files.
Pick it if: you’d rather read a list than look at a map.
5. Disk Inventory X
A free treemap with a sortable file list beside it, colour-coded by file type. It has been around a long time and is updated rarely, so check it runs well on your macOS version.
- Price: Free.
- Good at: A familiar treemap and file-type view.
Pick it if: you want a free map with a list and don’t mind an older app.
Map or list?
A treemap or ring map is fastest for finding the one giant folder, because size turns into area and your eye does the sorting. A list is better when you want to act: sort, tick, delete. Levo’s list adds one thing neither shows, a reason for each item, so a 40 GB folder named after an app’s bundle id becomes “this tool’s cache, it comes back”.
When to use both
Use a map to explore a drive you don’t know, such as an old external disk or a shared folder. Use Levo for the Mac you live on: its live index is kept current as files change, so there’s no wait for a scan, and it warns you when free space drops below your limit, with the list ready.
Things every analyzer runs into
Without Full Disk Access, macOS hides some folders and the totals won’t add up. Local Time Machine snapshots and the swap file show up as “System Data” in macOS, and are managed by macOS rather than by any analyzer; Levo leaves them to macOS. Files in iCloud Drive may be stored in the cloud, so deleting them locally is different from deleting them everywhere.
How we chose
- Starting point: the tools people most often name for this job, plus what macOS can do on its own.
- Kept: tools that are still maintained and that differ in approach, price or who decides what is safe.
- Sources: each maker’s own description and, for Levo, the app itself. Prices are rounded. No paid placements, and none of these makers reviewed this page.
Which one should you pick?
- Levo: You want to know what’s safe, and a warning before space runs out.
- DaisyDisk: You want the best map and will pay once for it.
- GrandPerspective: You want a free map.
- OmniDiskSweeper: You want a sorted list and nothing else.
- Disk Inventory X: You like a treemap beside a file list.
Questions
What is the best free disk space analyzer for Mac?
GrandPerspective for a map and OmniDiskSweeper for a sorted list. Both are free.
Is a map better than a list?
A map is quicker for spotting what’s huge. A list is easier to sort and act on. Many people use one of each.
Can an analyzer tell me what is safe to delete?
Most only show sizes. Levo adds your own AI agent’s judgement on each item, and checks again before it deletes.
Do I need Full Disk Access for these?
To see everything, yes: macOS keeps some folders private until you grant it in System Settings › Privacy & Security.
Why don’t the totals match macOS Storage settings?
Each tool counts differently: purgeable space, snapshots, and folders it can’t read all change the sum. See the free-space guide on this site for the full picture.
Which analyzer finds the most?
They all see the same files. The difference is how quickly you spot the big ones and whether you learn what they are.
Compared on 3 November 2026. Prices of other apps are rounded and can change; check the maker’s site.