Power Cleaner Studio vs Mole
Five-tool native Mac utility (Clean, Software, Optimize, Analyze, Status) plus a free CLI. Conservative defaults, one-time purchase.
Power Cleaner Studio
macOS 14+ · native · sandboxed
$9 one-time
Family Sharing across Apple ID · refundable via Apple
Full Free tier · cleanup unlocks with the one-time purchase.
Mole
Each paid tool works twice without a license + a free OSS CLI
$9 early bird (then $19) one-time — 2 Macs per license
As listed on mole.fit
Five-tool native Mac utility (Clean, Software, Optimize, Analyze, Status) plus a free CLI.
Where we win
- ✓Family Sharing across your Apple ID, not 2 Macs / license
- ✓MCP server — AI agents can read scan results
- ✓Curated rules for 15 difficult apps (Adobe, JetBrains, Docker, etc.)
- ✓Mac App Store sandboxed variant for users who prefer it
- ✓Smart 'memory healthy' insight that explains macOS's 80% used number
- ✓30-day Trash recovery (Mole's caches are permanent)
Where Mole wins (honest)
- ◐Disk usage treemap (we don't have this)
- ◐Status dashboard with GPU / network / battery / thermals / fans
- ◐Fan-mode control (Auto / Cool / Quiet) on supported Macs
- ◐App-update checks via Sparkle + Homebrew + MAS
- ◐Free open-source CLI with 100+ contributors
- ◐Maintenance tasks: rebuild Quick Look, repair caches
Feature-by-feature
Same features across both columns, no asterisks. ✓ = full, ◐ = partial, ✕ = no.
| Feature |
PCS
| Mole |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| One-time purchase (not subscription) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free tier (forever, not just trial) | ✓ | ◐ |
| Family Sharing across Apple ID | ✓ | ✕ |
| Refund window | — Via Apple | — 14-day |
| Trust & privacy | ||
| Zero telemetry / analytics | ✓ | ✓ |
| Sandboxed (Mac App Store distribution) | ✓ | ✕ |
| Works without Full Disk Access | ✓ | ✕ |
| Open-source components | ✕ | — yes (CLI) |
| Fuzz-tested dangerous-path corpus | ✓ | — yes (CLI) |
| Cleanup | ||
| Junk / cache cleanup | ✓ | ✓ |
| Duplicate finder (SHA-256) | ✓ | ✕ |
| Similar photos (perceptual hash) | ✓ | ✕ |
| App uninstaller + leftover discovery | ✓ | ✓ |
| Curated rules for difficult apps (Adobe etc.) | — yes (15 apps) | ◐ |
| Xcode / Brew / Trash quick-cleanup recipes | — yes (Xcode / Brew / Trash) | ✓ |
| Monitoring | ||
| Live system CPU + RAM + per-process | ✓ | ✓ |
| Menu-bar HUD with sparklines | ✓ | ✓ |
| One-click quit a hungry app | ✓ | ✓ |
| Honest memory-pressure indicator | ✓ | ◐ |
| Disk usage treemap (DaisyDisk-style) | ✕ | ✓ |
| Safety | ||
| Cleanup goes to Trash (recoverable 30 days) | ✓ | ◐ |
| Refuses critical paths (/System, ~/.ssh, …) | — yes (DestructivePathPolicy) | ✓ |
| Review-before-delete sheet | ✓ | ✓ |
| Extras | ||
| MCP server for AI agents (Claude / ChatGPT) | ✓ | ✕ |
| Antivirus / malware scan | ✕ | ✕ |
| Bundled VPN | ✕ | ✕ |
| Ad-blocker | ✕ | ✕ |
| Command-line tool | — yes (pcs-mcp) | ✓ |
What Mole does that inspires our roadmap
We watch every alternative. Here's where Mole pushed our thinking:
- →Disk treemap visualizer (DaisyDisk / Mole-style)
- →Status metrics: GPU, network, battery, thermals, fan speed
- →Maintenance tasks: rebuild caches, repair metadata, audit login items
- →App updates: check Homebrew + Sparkle + MAS in one place
- →Solar-system / planetary metaphors as a brand differentiator (we don't need to copy, but worth noting)
See the changelog for what's shipping next.
Try Power Cleaner Studio
Free download — full scan + browse + Activity Monitor. $9 once for the cleanup actions.
Looking for another comparison? vs CleanMyMac · vs MacKeeper · vs CCleaner for Mac