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The best disk space analyzers for Mac in 2026

By Parsa Nasirimehr

A disk space analyzer, also called a disk usage analyzer, shows every folder on your drive sized by the space it takes, so the big ones stand out, which Storage settings never does. Here are the five apps people actually choose between on macOS (once called OS X), what each costs, and who each one suits. We make Scrubs, one of the five, so where another app is the better pick, we say so. Coming from Windows? See what to use instead of WinDirStat on a Mac.

AppPriceHow it shows the diskDeletingScan as administratorRuns onBest for
Scrubs$14.99 once, 3 MacsTreemap + outlineTrash first, ⌘Z undoYesApple silicon, macOS 15+Careful cleanup, with undo
DaisyDisk$9.99 once, 5 MacsSunburstCollect, then deleteYesSee its siteA polished map at a low price
Disk Inventory XFreeTreemapFrom the listNot statedIntel; not notarized; last update 2019Older Intel Macs only
CleanMyMac Space LensFrom about $66 a year (Plus plan)Bubble mapCleans what you pickNot statedSee MacPaw's sitePeople who already pay for CleanMyMac Plus
Mole$19 once, 2 MacsTreemap in AnalyzeTrash in AnalyzeNot statedmacOS 14+, Apple silicon and IntelA cleanup toolbox with a map inside

Details are from each app's own site and Homebrew, checked in October and November 2026. Prices change; each name links to a fuller comparison with sources. Spotted something wrong? Write to support@getscrubs.app and we fix it.

Which one to pick

For the most polished map at a low price: DaisyDisk

$9.99 once for up to 5 Macs, with a sunburst map, a scan as administrator, and tools for hidden and purgeable space and Time Machine snapshots. Scanning is free; deleting needs a license. It's the established paid choice and hard to beat on price per Mac.

If you already pay for CleanMyMac: Space Lens

Space Lens is CleanMyMac's bubble map, and it's only in the Plus plan. Not worth subscribing for on its own, but if you have Plus, you have a disk map.

For cleanup with a map inside: Mole

Mole is a cleanup toolbox, with uninstalls, app updates and a treemap in its Analyze view, $19 once for 2 Macs. Pick it if cleaning tools matter more to you than the map.

Not on an Apple silicon Mac: Disk Inventory X

It made the treemap famous on the Mac, but its last release came out in 2019, it's built for Intel, and it isn't notarized: Homebrew disabled it on 1 September 2026 because it fails Gatekeeper. Fine on an old Intel Mac; on anything recent, use one of the others. See Disk Inventory X alternatives.

For careful cleanup, with undo: Scrubs

Scrubs is a treemap beside a sortable outline, with search, Largest Files, and Quick Wins: old macOS installers, installers in Downloads, Mail's attachment copies and caches, plus iPhone backups and old downloads to check, and on developer Macs, Xcode's DerivedData, old simulators and node_modules. Everything you delete goes to the Trash first, and ⌘Z puts it back. Scanning is free, with 2 free deletes on every Mac; a license is $14.99 once for up to 3 Macs. It needs an Apple silicon Mac on macOS 15 or later.

What to check before you choose

Does it count space correctly?APFS makes this harder than it looks. A duplicated file is a clone that shares blocks with the original, so two "5 GB" copies may take 5 GB together. Docker's disk image reports its 64 GB limit while using 10.9 GB on the Mac we measured. Counting folders the plain way, du put the simulator runtimes at 43.2 GB where they really took 35.1 GB. Scrubs counts a clone once and files by the space they really use; why the numbers disagree explains the rest.
Can it see the whole disk?Without Full Disk Access, macOS keeps Mail, Messages and other apps' data closed. Other users' folders need administrator rights. An analyzer that can scan as administrator shows the space the others leave unexplained.
What happens when you delete?Deleting straight away is fast and unforgiving. Moving to the Trash first means a wrong click costs nothing.
Is it maintained and notarized?An app that isn't notarized needs you to override Gatekeeper, and one built only for Intel runs through Rosetta on Apple silicon. Both are signs nobody is looking after it.
Map or list?A treemap or sunburst shows the whole disk at once; a list is easier to read row by row. Scrubs shows both side by side.

Not sure what the big folders are once you find them? The Mac folder guide covers each one, What is System Data covers the grey bar in Storage settings, and how to find large files on a Mac compares the built-in ways with a disk map.

About the author: Parsa Nasirimehr is a mobile app developer who builds Scrubs, a disk map for the Mac. Spotted something wrong? Write to support@getscrubs.app.

Try Scrubs on your own disk

Scanning and every list are free, plus 2 deletes per Mac. A license is $14.99 once for up to 3 Macs, $9.99 for the first 100 buyers.

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