Onyx Alternative for Mac (8 Tools Tested & Compared)

Looking for Onyx alternatives? Maybe you're not totally sold on Onyx or you're just exploring your options. Whatever your reason, don't worry—I've tested and picked eight alternatives that might just be the perfect fit for your needs. And trust me, they come with their own perks, quirks, and unique features you might love.

The recommendations in this article are based on real tests. We compared the overall experience of each tool, including ease of use, the ability to analyze space, performance improvement, and other functions.

1. iBoysoft DiskGeeker for Mac

iBoysoft DiskGeeker for Mac is an all-in-one disk management tool with various functions. It lets you declutter your Mac easily and improve system performance, similar to Onyx but in simpler steps. Besides, it can check and diagnose disk errors, prevent virus attacks, encrypt disks, read/write to BitLocker drives and NTFS drives, test disk speed, clone disks, map network drives, etc.

Overall experience

In my test, iBoysoft DiskGeeker for Mac is the best alternative for Onyx. It exceeds other utilities in scanning speed, performance, functionalities, and other aspects. With it, I can free up space on internal and external disks, safeguard my disks with encryption, and perform so many other tasks that are essential in my work.

Full review

iBoysoft DiskGeeker for Mac has two sections dedicated to analyze disk space and remove unwanted files. One is Space Analyze, which scans a selected disk and list all files in descending order by size. You can quickly grasp the storage usage of the drive, find the large, unwanted files, and permanently delete them.

Another one is Clean Junk, which specializes in discovering and removing junk files, including logs, caches, preferences, trash, emails, downloads, and other temporary files, to boost performance.

2. CleanMyJunk

CleanMyJunkis also a handy junk-cleaning tool for Mac. With a single click, you can instantly scan and remove unwanted junk files, including system logs, Xcode cache, temporary files in the Trash, browser cache, app-generated cache files, logs from QQ, WeChat, WhatsApp, web cache, and more.

Overall experience

I highly recommend this tool if all you want is an easy-to-use junk file remover. I had a great experience with it and reclaimed 4GB of space by deleting the unnecessary files. For someone with a crowded Mac, this is a big win.

After installing it, it ran a scan on my Mac automatically and showed the results in a few seconds. These files are neatly organized into 8 categories on the left sidebar, which includes Application junk, System log, System junk, Trash, Xcode cache, Chat tools, Browser cache, and Downloads.

What's especially helpful is the size breakdown for each category, which gives you a clear understanding of where your storage is being used. For example, I was shocked to find that a significant chunk of my storage was being eaten up by the browser cache.

Full review

Getting started with CleanMyJunk is a breeze. The installation process is quick and straightforward, and within moments, the app is up and running. As soon as you launch it, CleanMyJunk automatically starts scanning your system for junk files, without the need for any complicated setup.

Overall, CleanMyJunk is a fantastic tool if you're looking for a fast and efficient way to clean up junk files on your Mac.

3. CleanMyMac

CleanMyMac is like a personal housekeeping service for your Mac. It's a powerful software designed to help you declutter, optimize, and speed up your computer. With just a few clicks, CleanMyMac scans your system to remove unnecessary files, clear out caches, and even find hidden junk files you didn't know existed.

Overall experience

The interface of CleanMyMac is clean, intuitive, and not overwhelming at all. You don't have to be tech-savvy to figure it out, which was a big win for me. Once I launched the app and scanned my drive, it showed me the results into several categories, including junk, threats, performance, application updates, and clutter.

Full review

CleanMyMac is a robust system optimization tool that promises to clean, speed up, and protect your Mac with ease.

The standout feature for me is the Smart Scan. It offers a one-click solution to clean your Mac, optimize performance, and protect against malware—all at once. It's a real time-saver. Plus, the app includes tools to manage startup items, uninstall apps fully, and even monitor system health.

4. CCleaner

CCleaner is a popular software tool designed to optimize your computer's performance by cleaning up junk files, clearing browser caches, and removing unnecessary system clutter. It helps free up valuable disk space, improve system speed, and enhance privacy by securely erasing your browsing history and cookies.

Overall experience

CCleaner is a solid tool to keep the system clean and fast. I especially liked the ability to set up automated cleanups, so I didn't have to manually run scans each time. The tool's privacy features were a nice bonus, securely wiping traces of my online activity to keep things private.

Full review

After using CCleaner, I freed up some valuable space on my Mac. One thing I found particularly helpful is that I can schedule it to automatically clear browser history, cookies, passwords, and other autofill data.

While CCleaner is great at keeping things streamlined, I felt it lacks some of the advanced options or customization that Onyx provides, especially for users who want more control over what's cleaned or deeper system-level tweaks. But for general use, CCleaner delivers a straightforward, efficient way to boost your system's performance without overwhelming you with features you don't need.

5. OmniDiskSweeper

OmniDiskSweeper is a simple disk analyzer that helps you quickly identify and free up storage space on your Mac. It shows you the files on your drive, from the largest to the smallest, allowing you to trash or open them efficiently.

Overall experience

OmniDiskSweeper may not be a complete alternative to OnyX for Mac, but it's still a good option if you want an overview of your Mac's storage usage.

Full review

OmniDiskSweeper is available for free download and can be utilized on macOS. This disk space analyzer assists you in determining which files and folders are consuming the most space on your hard drive so that you can delete them manually.

6. AVG Cleaner for Mac 

AVG Cleaner is a free, minimal utility that helps you find and remove hidden clutter and forgotten duplicates. It has two features: disk cleaner and duplicate finder.

Overall experience

This free tool is easy to use and doesn't require login. It's comparably fast and easy to clear junk and duplicates. The whole app is simple. However, I feel it's too minimal at times.

Full review

This cleaner is lightweight with a size of 16MB. When I use it to clean up my disk, it searches for various unwanted files, including downloads, iPhoto library trash, caches, junk files, logs, app leftovers, etc. It also reminded me of the file that cannot be deleted.

The duplicate finder also found four identical images on my Mac, which I then deleted to reduce clutter. I think it covers some basic cleaning functions and is worth a try if you don't want a paid tool.

7. DaisyDisk 

DaisyDisk is a sleek and intuitive app designed to help you free up space on your Mac by visually mapping out your storage. It scans your hard drive and presents the data in a colorful, interactive map that makes it easy to spot large files and folders you might have forgotten about.

Overall experience

What distinguishes DaisyDisk from other tools is its colorful presentation. After scanning the disk, it presents storage usage in a fun graph, which you can click to see more details. It supports analyzing internal, external, and cloud disks.

Full review

DaisyDisk is visually appealing and easy to navigate through. Simply right-click or control-click for a preview, then drag the file to the lower-left corner to delete it. The process is quick, and intuitive, and gives you full control over your storage.

8. Hazel

Hazel is a smart, automated file management tool designed to make organizing your digital life a breeze. It helps you automatically sort, move, rename, and tag files based on customizable rules you set up.

Overall experience

Unlike other apps in this guide, Hazel is a rule-based file manager. It does a lot of background work without needing human interaction, except for the initial setup. This powerful app works based on the custom rules you create.

Full review

I consider Hazel a personal assistant that's capable of automating all sorts of things on Mac. For example, I can have it automatically delete files older than 30 days, alert me when a folder reaches 50GB, import downloaded movies, and music into the corresponding app, move all PDFs to a selected folder, color files older than one month, empty trash, and more.

How did we test Onyx alternatives for Mac?

To test and compare the best Onyx alternatives for Mac, we set up a controlled testing environment using a macOS Sequoia virtual machine, alongside six cloned systems on a 2020 13" MacBook Air. This ensured that all apps were installed and operated in identical system conditions for a fair comparison.

We then proceeded to install and configure each Onyx alternative, testing their performance and user experience in real-world scenarios. Our main test involved running a series of system cleaning, maintenance, and optimization tasks—similar to the ones typically performed in Onyx—such as clearing caches, managing disk permissions, and checking for system errors.

Additionally, we ran speed tests to measure how long each alternative took to complete these tasks and whether they offered features like batch processing or automated maintenance schedules. To assess the tools' impact on system performance, we monitored CPU usage and memory consumption throughout the tests.

To further evaluate compatibility, we ran the same applications and operations on a 2024 MacBook Pro (14-inch) with Apple Silicon, ensuring that all Onyx alternatives performed well on the latest hardware and macOS versions.

Throughout the tests, we also compared user interface design, ease of use, and the range of additional features like privacy protection or file management that each alternative offered.

Share this article to help others pick the best Onyx alternative on Mac!