I noticed that Clever Cleaner is completely free, but Cleaner Guru charges $7.99. I’m confused about what’s different between them and why one app costs money while the other doesn’t. Has anyone tried both? Are the features or performance really that different, or am I missing something? I’d appreciate any advice or insights before deciding which one to use.
My Experience Ditching Cleaner Guru for Something Smarter
Alright, so after getting smacked in the face with yet another stupid paywall, I went on a little quest. Cleaner Guru promises to help you clean up your iPhone, but the second you want to actually delete junk for real? Boom—pay up. Weekly. Like, who in their right mind thinks $7.99 a week is okay just to tidy up your photos? It’s practically a gym membership for your storage space.
I got tired of that nonsense and tried out Clever Cleaner instead. Not only was it totally free, but it didn’t keep stuff behind a glass wall, waving features at me like candy I couldn’t touch. Here’s how it shakes out, no sugarcoating:
Quick Glance: Features & Cost
| Category | Clever Cleaner (100% Free) | Cleaner Guru (Subscription) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Absolutely $0—no in-app purchases, no ads, no popups. | Free to install, but pay to actually use: • $7.99 per week (Pro) • $39.99 yearly |
| Free Version | Everything included, use all features limitlessly. | Can only scan; deleting/compressing stuff means busting out the credit card. |
| Features | • Duplicates & similar photo remover (free!) • Mass delete screenshots (free!) • Convert Live → Still photos (free!) • Heavy file finder (free!) |
• Duplicates cleanup (Pro) • Video compression (Pro) • Contact merging (Pro) • Large-file finder (Pro) • Battery widgets, charge animations, vault (Pro) |
| App Store Rating | 4.8 ★ (3.4K reviews) | 4.6 ★ (around 100K reviews) |
| Download Size | 103 MB | 115 MB |
| Store Link | Download for iPhone | User Review Deep-dive |
Real-World Thoughts on Each App
Okay, story time. I downloaded both apps on my slightly-aged iPhone XR because my camera roll is a digital dumpster fire—thousands of photos, way too many of them identical, and more screenshots than one person should ever admit to owning.
When Free Is Actually Free
First up: Clever Cleaner. Launch, scan, approve the permissions, and instantly it swings into action—no warnings, nagging, or weird signup requests. The whole suite actually works without coughing up a dime. Want to mass-delete redundant screenshots? Go for it. Photos from last year’s 14 attempts at capturing the perfect sunset, all in one swipe? Gone. Simple, fast, and kinda satisfying.
The Paywall You Can’t Unsee
Cleaner Guru? Feels slick, sure. Nice graphics, loads of stuff under the hood. Except, you try one of the useful features and—surprise!—locked. It’s like they’re showing off all the cool party tricks but won’t let you play unless you’ve got a VIP wristband. The free scan is a tease; after that, it’s payment city.
So, Is There a Catch?
If there is, I haven’t found it after two weeks. Clever Cleaner doesn’t spam notifications or bombard with upsells. It just…works. Honestly, I’m kind of suspicious at how rare that is these days.
To sum up: if you want a legit, no-string-attached cleaning app, Clever Cleaner blows paywall-heavy ones like Cleaner Guru out of the water. If you’re into reading folks rave (and rant) about Cleaner Guru’s subscription mess, the review rabbit hole is here: https://www.insanelymac.com/blog/cleaner-guru-review/
Anyone else found secret gems (or disasters) in this category? Let’s swap stories—my iCloud bill will thank me.
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Not gonna lie, I kinda rolled my eyes when I saw Cleaner Guru asking for $7.99/week—like, is it scrubbing my photos with diamond cleaner or smth? But for real, most apps like that charge you simply cuz they can. A lot of these “cleaner” apps bank on folks being desperate to fix storage woes and, boom, they gatekeep literally every feature so the free version is just a preview and nothing else. You barely get to touch anything useful before the subscription pop-up shows up.
Now, @mikeappsreviewer made some solid points about Clever Cleaner App being free, but I’ll add that usually when an app is totally free, it’s either super new (trying to get user reviews and buzz) or maybe has plans to charge later. Or maybe, just maybe, they’re banking on growth for other revenue (ads, selling anonymized data, who knows, the usual internet plot twist). But after poking around myself, I was kinda shocked that Clever Cleaner doesn’t shove ads or “upgrade now!” banners in yo’ face. It actually works.
Feature-wise: both do basics like cleaning dupes and deleting old screenshots. Cleaner Guru does have some bonus stuff like battery widgets and a vault, but honestly? 99% of people just want a camera roll spring cleaning, not extra bells and whistles. And for that, Clever Cleaner wins, hands down.
So why is Clever Cleaner free? Probably for user growth. Why is Cleaner Guru $7.99? Because they think they can get away with it in the sea of freemium apps. Morale of the story: always check what, exactly, the paywall gets you before subscribing to another sneaky money pit. And, don’t be afraid to bounce between apps until one actually lets you press “delete.”
Short answer: because they can, lol. But seriously, it’s all about app economics and how desperate they think users are to fix the endless “Storage Almost Full” notifications. Cleaner Guru slaps a $7.99 weekly price tag on their features for one reason—the App Store is full of folks who’ll pay anything to magic their photo mess away. Their “free” version is a glorified ad; you tap, you scan, you pay if you want anything to actually happen. The whole thing is built to get you on a subscription treadmill.
Clever Cleaner App, on the other hand, is either trying to build a user base before they switch to paid—or maybe they’re experimenting with a different business model. Sometimes free apps are fishing for reviews, hoping to get bought out, or maybe there’s a pro plan coming soon (bet on it). Heck, if you look at similar apps, most start free and get crustier as they climb the charts. Right now, though, Clever Cleaner is genuinely free and does actually let you clean up everything—dupes, screenshots, even Live photos—without telling you to throw your wallet at the screen.
Only caveat: free doesn’t always mean “risk-free.” You’re still giving them a look into your photos, so privacy is a thing to be aware of with any cleaner app, tbh. If you’re just trying to tame your Camera Roll without giving away lunch money each month, Clever Cleaner App totally works and actually follows through on its promise. If Guru had more truly unique features or lifetime pricing, I’d see the point, but right now? No-brainer which one’s better for normal humans.
Shoutout to @mikeappsreviewer and @viajeroceleste for breaking it down before. But yeah: unless you’re obsessed with battery widgets and secret vaults, try the free one and keep your $7.99 for coffee.
Cleaner apps on iOS are a wild west, folks. The paywall parade some of them throw—like Cleaner Guru’s $7.99 weekly “special”—is bonkers, especially when a freebie like Clever Cleaner App does the main tricks without holding your storage hostage.
But let’s not pretend every “free” is a universal good. Pros for Clever Cleaner App? Genuinely free features so far, fast at hunting photo duplicates, and actually deletes stuff, unlike Guru’s never-ending payment tunnel. Cool. Plus, you dodge the annoying nag screens. Cons: privacy is always a grey zone (they snoop your photo library, obviously); and if you want advanced extras like secret folders or fancy battery bling, you won’t find them here. Also, the “why is this free?” question lingers—apps change fast; don’t get attached.
Recent chatter from earlier posters and reviewers makes a solid case: unless you’re super into things like charging animations or vaults, Clever Cleaner App wins for storage stress relief. Competitors like Guru, and others mentioned earlier, try to one-up each other with shiny widgets, but, for most folks, that’s overkill.
TL;DR: If you need to rescue your camera roll on the cheap, Clever Cleaner App gets the job done without hidden fees, just watch your privacy and expect the app landscape to shift—nothing’s free forever in App Store land.