Levo compared · Alternatives

OnyX alternatives for Mac maintenance and cleaning

OnyX is a free, long-running toolbox for Mac maintenance. People look for alternatives when they want one that’s built for a particular job, such as finding what’s filling the disk, when they want it kept current without hunting for the right version for their macOS, or when they want help deciding what to run. This page compares the options.

Quick verdict

• Best free maintenance toolbox: OnyX.
• Best for finding and cleaning what fills the disk, with a list you tick: Levo.
• Best polished all-in-one: CleanMyMac.
• Best free command line: Mole.
• Best for uninstalling apps: AppCleaner.
• Best built-in start: macOS Storage settings.

What OnyX does well

By Titanium Software. OnyX is a free maintenance utility: it verifies system files, runs cleaning and maintenance tasks, deletes caches, rebuilds databases and indexes, uninstalls apps, and configures settings in Finder, Dock and Safari. Its page says it puts a clean interface on tasks that otherwise need typed commands. There’s a version for each macOS release.

• Price: free, with donations welcome.
• Good at: a free, long-running toolbox for system maintenance that doesn’t need a subscription.

Details from OnyX, checked 1 November 2026.

OnyX assumes you know what each task does. That’s its strength for people who do, and its limit for people who’d like help with a choice.

Comparison table

“Not stated” means the maker’s page doesn’t mention it, not that it’s missing.

1. Levo: what’s filling the disk, judged and guarded

Levo doesn’t do system maintenance tasks like rebuilding databases. It does one job: watch disk, memory, CPU and GPU, and clean what fills them. Your own AI agent judges what’s safe, you tick what goes, and Levo deletes with a guard that checks each item right before. Updates install automatically.

• Price: free to watch and ask, two free cleanups, then a lifetime licence for 2 Macs.
• Needs: macOS 26 or later.

Skip it if you’re on a Mac older than macOS 26, or you want a ready-made list with no agent involved.

2. CleanMyMac

By MacPaw. Its page presents CleanMyMac as an all-in-one app for cleaning, removing apps and keeping a Mac in shape, for macOS 11 and later. It’s polished and simple: one scan, one list, one button. It shows a 4.7 rating from about 3,300 reviews. It cleans what its makers have taught it about, so a tool it doesn’t know isn’t in the scan until an update adds it.

Details from CleanMyMac, checked 1 November 2026.

• Price: starting at about US$3.33 a month (Nov 2026), per its own page.
• Good at: an easy interface, a broad set of everyday cleanup and maintenance tasks, an uninstaller, and a long track record.

Pick it if: You want one polished app for everyday tidying and you don’t use a coding agent.

3. Mole

By tw93 and contributors. Mole is a free, open-source tool you run in Terminal as mo: mo clean, mo uninstall, mo optimize, mo analyze (a disk explorer in the terminal), mo status (a live health view), mo purge (build artefacts) and mo installer. Most commands take --dry-run. Its page also mentions native Mac and Windows apps.

Details from Mole, checked 1 November 2026.

• Price: free.
• Good at: speed, scripting, and doing the lot from one command line, with a preview before anything is removed.

Pick it if: You live in a terminal, want it free and open source, and are happy to read a dry run as text.

4. AppCleaner

By FreeMacSoft. AppCleaner has one job: drop an app onto its window, it finds the files that belong to it, and you delete them. Version 3.7 is for macOS 15 or later.

Details from AppCleaner, checked 1 November 2026.

• Price: free.
• Good at: being small, quick and easy to understand.

Pick it if: You only want to uninstall apps cleanly and nothing else.

5. macOS Storage settings

Apple. In System Settings › General › Storage, macOS shows a bar of what uses your disk, offers recommendations (store files in iCloud, empty the Trash automatically, review large files), and lists apps to delete.

Details from Apple’s page, checked 1 November 2026.

• Price: free, built in.
• Good at: safe, simple suggestions with nothing to install.

Pick it if: You want safe, simple wins and nothing to install.

How we chose

• Starting point: the tools people most often name when they look for this kind of Mac app, plus what macOS and an AI agent can do on their own.
• Kept: tools that are still maintained and differ on price, where you use them, or who decides what is safe.
• Sources: each maker’s own website, checked 1 November 2026, and for Levo the app itself. No paid placements, and none of these makers reviewed this page.

Which one should you pick?

• OnyX: You want free maintenance tools and know each one.
• Levo: You want help deciding what’s safe to clean, and want to see it first.
• CleanMyMac: You want a polished all-in-one.
• Mole: You prefer the command line.
• AppCleaner: You only uninstall apps.
• macOS Storage settings: You want built-in suggestions.

Questions

Is there an OnyX alternative that explains what it removes?

Levo gives each row a reason, because your agent has looked at the folder.

Does Levo do what OnyX does?

No. OnyX covers maintenance tasks, such as verifying the system and rebuilding indexes, that Levo doesn’t try to do.

Do I need a different version for each macOS?

OnyX has one per macOS release, per its page. Levo needs macOS 26 or later.

Can I use both?

Yes. They overlap very little.

Compared on 1 November 2026, from each app's own website. We make Levo.