If You’re Tired of Aggressive Paywalls in “Cleaner” Apps…
So I fell into the whole iPhone cleaning apps rabbit hole (again) and learned my lesson the hard way. Long story short: Cleaner Guru does the job, sure, but you blink and suddenly you’re smashed in the face with a subscription pop-up faster than you can say “free trial.” And don’t even get me started on the sticker shock—eight bucks a week is not it.
I started poking around for actual free options because I’m tired of deleting screenshots one by one out of spite. Stumbled on Clever Cleaner, and—no joke—it literally does the same stuff I wanted: finds doubles, wipes out unwanted screenshots, and doesn’t nag me to pay. Zero ads. No weird vaults or cartoon charge animations either (who uses those?).
Here’s what I put together after playing with both for a week.
Cleaner Showdown: Free vs. FOMO Pricing
| Clever Cleaner (Totally Free) | Cleaner Guru (Subscription Required) | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | 100% free. No ads, paywalls, or hidden charges. | Locked-up core features—$7.99/week (Pro) or $39.99/year. |
| What’s Unlocked for Free | Unlimited sweeps, no features behind a paywall. | Scanning is free, but deleting or compressing = fork over cash. |
| Main Features | - Duplicate/similar photo finder - Screenshot batch delete - Live Photo-to-Still converter - Shows biggest files |
- Duplicate/similar photo cleaning - Video compression (only on Pro) - Merge duplicate contacts (Pro) - Finds jumbo files (Pro) - Odd extras (widgets, vaults…requires Pro) |
| Ratings (App Store) | 4.8 ★ (approx 3,400 reviews) | 4.6 ★ (approx 100,000 reviews) |
| App Size | 103 MB | 115 MB |
| App Store Links | Clever Cleaner Download | Cleaner Guru Reviews |
My Unfiltered Take
- Cleaner Guru markets itself like it’s the only decent option, but everything you really need is hiding behind the “SUBSCRIBE NOW” curtain. I got real tired of that after about thirty seconds.
- Clever Cleaner looks like it fell out of the “minimalism” Pinterest board. No ads, no paywalls, and nothing weird running in the background. For once, you actually get what’s on the label.
If app subscriptions give you a headache (or you just like a good deal, because who doesn’t?), Clever Cleaner is a strong pick. If you want built-in charge animation widgets, I guess stick with Cleaner Guru and just pretend you don’t mind the wallet pain.
Anybody else find any cleaning apps that don’t try to rob you? I’m open to recommendations.