Mint vs CleanMyMac
They are built on different ideas. Mint manages storage with one framework built on each file’s life cycle: space back without deleting anything, cleaning only what comes back on its own, leaving your own files for you to decide, organizing folders, and Auto Care to keep it running. And it understands and optimizes deeply for AI agents: it knows how tools like Codex, Claude Code and Cursor use your disk, and agents can use Mint themselves through MCP and the command line. CleanMyMac follows the classic Mac maintenance model: junk cleanup, login items, malware scanning and app updates in one suite, and it recently added a separate command-line beta that also cleans AI tool leftovers. Mint is $39.99 one-time; CleanMyMac Basic is $47.50 a year or $119.95 one-time. We make Mint.
Side by side
| Mint | CleanMyMac | |
|---|---|---|
| Space back without deleting anything | Yes, Optimize: duplicate and idle files take less room, and every file stays where it is and opens as before | No, it finds duplicates for you to delete |
| Caches, logs, build output, app leftovers | Yes, each with how it comes back | Yes |
| AI coding tool data (Codex, Claude Code, Cursor) | Yes, and it can remove the pictures inside a conversation and keep every word | In its separate command-line tool (beta) |
| Disk map | Yes, by where space comes from and what you can do with it | Yes (Space Lens) |
| App uninstaller with leftovers | Yes (direct download and Setapp) | Yes |
| Organize folders | Yes, by type, date or source: by hand, on a schedule, or as files arrive | Not found |
| Free memory | Yes, quits idle apps, and Auto Care can do it when memory passes a line you set (direct download and Setapp) | Yes |
| Runs on its own | Auto Care: cleanup daily or hourly when the Mac is idle, each folder on its own schedule, memory at your line | Not found in the consumer app |
| Leaves alone what you protect | Ignore List: files and folders no scan, clean or organize run ever touches | Ignore List |
| Undo | 90 days of Undo: moves to the Trash and organizing put back where they were | Not stated |
| Raycast, menu bar, command line, MCP | All four: a Raycast extension, the menu bar, mint-cli, and an MCP server for AI agents (direct download) | Menu bar app; command line in beta; no MCP found |
| Where to get it | Direct download, Mac App Store, Setapp | MacPaw Store, Mac App Store (fewer features), Setapp |
| macOS | 14 or later | 11 or later |
| Price | Free tier; $39.99 one-time (Direct) | Basic $47.50 a year or $119.95 one-time |
One app to clean, optimize and organize
- Space back without deleting: Optimize stores duplicate and idle files more efficiently, and every file stays where it is.
- Cleanup of what comes back on its own: caches, logs, build output and AI coding tool data, each with how it returns.
- Folders organized by type, date or source: by hand, on a schedule, or the moment new files arrive.
- Auto Care runs it all when your Mac is idle, and nothing on your Ignore List is ever touched.
- 90 days of Undo, and Mint from Raycast, the menu bar, the command line, or your AI agent over MCP.
When CleanMyMac is the better pick
If you want the classic maintenance suite, with junk cleanup, login items, malware scanning, app updates and maintenance scripts in one app, CleanMyMac is built for that, and it runs on older macOS versions too.
When Mint is the better pick
Pick Mint if you want one app that thinks about how your whole Mac uses space and gets you the most usable space and the best experience, whether by optimizing, cleaning or organizing. Mint manages your Mac’s storage with one framework, and understands and optimizes deeply for AI agents. The framework sorts what is on your Mac by each file’s life cycle: where it came from, whether it comes back on its own, and whether something is using it right now. Then it handles each layer its own way.
- Space back first, losing nothing: duplicates are kept once and idle files are stored smaller. Every file stays where it is and opens as before.
- Junk that is safe to clean: caches, logs, build output, and the workspaces and leftovers that AI coding tools such as Codex, Claude Code and Cursor pile up, each with how it comes back. Mint is tuned deeply for these tools.
- Your own files gone dormant: old downloads, screenshots and recordings, and files nobody has opened in months, sorted for you to decide on.
- Organizing: folders sorted by type, date or source, by hand, on a schedule or the moment new files arrive.
- Auto Care keeps all of it running on its own and never touches what is on your Ignore List. Every move to the Trash and every organize run can be undone for 90 days.
Frequently asked questions
How should I decide between Mint and CleanMyMac?
They are built on different ideas. Mint manages storage with one framework built on each file’s life cycle: space back without deleting anything, cleaning only what comes back on its own, leaving your own files for you to decide, organizing folders, and Auto Care to keep it running. And it understands and optimizes deeply for AI agents: it knows how tools like Codex, Claude Code and Cursor use your disk, and agents can use Mint themselves through MCP and the command line. CleanMyMac follows the classic maintenance model: junk cleanup, login items, malware scanning and app updates in one suite. It recently added a separate command-line beta that cleans AI tool leftovers too.
Which is cheaper?
Mint is $39.99 once for the first Mac (Direct) with a free tier of 1 GB a week, shared by cleanup and organizing. CleanMyMac Basic is $47.50 a year or $119.95 once, per Macworld’s July 2026 figures.
Start with the space that costs nothing
Mint’s scan is free and shows what can come back without deleting a file.