Mint vs Mole
Mole is a free, open-source cleanup CLI with a $19 Mac app, and it now cleans Claude Code, Codex and Cursor leftovers too. Mint manages storage with one framework built on each file’s life cycle, and understands and optimizes deeply for AI agents. It cleans the same kinds of files, each with how it comes back, but starts with space you get back without deleting anything, by optimizing how duplicate and idle files are stored. It also organizes folders by hand, on a schedule or as files arrive, frees memory, runs on its own with Auto Care, keeps an Ignore List, and works from Raycast, the menu bar, the command line and MCP. Pick Mole if you like open source and running cleanup from the terminal; pick Mint for one app that keeps the whole Mac in order. We make Mint.
Side by side
| Mint | Mole | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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 | Yes, in preview |
| Disk map | Yes, by where space comes from and what you can do with it | Yes, in the terminal |
| 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 | No |
| Free memory | Yes, quits idle apps, and Auto Care can do it when memory passes a line you set (direct download and Setapp) | No, shows memory status |
| 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 built in |
| Leaves alone what you protect | Ignore List: files and folders no scan, clean or organize run ever touches | A whitelist of protected caches |
| Undo | 90 days of Undo: moves to the Trash and organizing put back where they were | Trash for analyze and uninstall; clean deletes for good and empties the Trash by default |
| 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) | Command line; Raycast through script commands and a community extension; no MCP |
| macOS | 14 or later | App 14 or later, CLI 12 or later |
| Price | Free tier; $39.99 one-time for full use (Direct) | CLI free; app $19 one-time for 2 Macs |
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 Mole is the better pick
Pick Mole if you like open source. Its command-line tool, mo, is open source under GPL-3.0 and covers cleaning, uninstalling apps, disk analysis, clearing project build folders and finding installers; the Mac app is a separate paid product. If you want to read the code, check its cleanup rules for yourself, follow the issues and pull requests where people discuss them, and run deletions from the terminal, Mole is a good one to play with. The same goes if one of its commands is exactly what you need on the command line.
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. Where Mole hands you a command that deletes, Mint tells you what each item is before anything goes.
- 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
Is Mint safe to use?
Mint sorts every file by its life cycle before it offers anything: where it came from, whether it comes back on its own, and whether something is using it. Then it puts it in one of four buckets: Optimizable (space back without deleting anything), Safe to clean (caches and build output that come back by themselves, each with how), Yours (your own files, which you decide on) and Keep (what is in use or needed, never offered). Mint looks at how your whole Mac uses space and aims for the most usable space and the best experience, whether that means optimizing, cleaning or organizing. Before it removes anything it checks again that nothing is using it, it never touches what is on your Ignore List, and moves to the Trash and organize runs can be undone for 90 days.
Does Mint delete my AI coding conversations?
Only the ones you tick. Removing pictures keeps the text, and Codex conversations are deleted through Codex itself, so its own list stays consistent.
See what your AI tools are holding
Mint’s scan is free and shows Codex, Claude Code and Cursor storage beside the rest of your disk.