A App Cleaner & Uninstaller Alternative
Nektony's App Cleaner & Uninstaller is a full app manager: it removes apps and their hidden leftovers across 20,000+ supported apps, and also manages extensions, login items and daemons, bulk-updates apps, blocks apps' network access and audits permissions. The free version scans; Pro starts at $7.95 a month after a two-day trial. Notchy's Uninstall mode, new in 1.0.178, does the core job — an app plus its leftovers, to the Trash — as part of a one-time $24.99 app.
Looking for App Cleaner & Uninstaller itself? It lives at nektony.com/mac-app-cleaner.
- App Cleaner & Uninstaller price
- Free scan; Pro from $7.95/mo
- App Cleaner & Uninstaller requires
- macOS 11 or later
- Notchy price
- $24.99 one-time, 7-day free trial
Why use Notchy instead of App Cleaner & Uninstaller?
- No subscription
Notchy has no Pro tier and no monthly fee: one $24.99 licence, updates included. Uninstalling is one tab of the app.
- See before you delete
Each leftover is listed by kind — support files, caches, preferences, containers, logs, cookies, launch agent — and you confirm before anything moves.
- Updates next door
The same Packages tab lists outdated App Store, Homebrew and Sparkle apps, which Nektony sells as part of Pro.
- Where App Cleaner & Uninstaller is better
Coverage and scope: a database of 20,000+ apps, system-wide leftovers, extension and startup management, network blocking and a permissions audit. Notchy checks only the standard per-user locations.
Everything Notchy does, in one app
- Fluid Dynamic Island animations on the Mac notch
- Command palette (⌃⌥K) — every action one keystroke away
- Knock — double-tap a modifier key to open the notch
- AI usage tracker (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot)
- Detach any tab into a menu-bar popover
- Now Playing music controls (Apple Music & Spotify)
- Time-synced karaoke lyrics under the notch
- Mac clipboard history shelf (password-manager safe)
- Searchable clipboard — filter by text, file name, or OCR'd words
- On-device OCR — copy a screenshot, get its text (Apple Vision)
- Window snapping — drag a window to the notch to tile it
- App Launcher — pin apps to the notch, open with one tap
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- Text snippets — TextExpander-style pastes from the ⌘K palette
- One-tap screen capture to clipboard + shelf
- Color eyedropper — sample any pixel, hex auto-copied
- System-wide mic mute for every meeting app at once
- Keystroke HUD for demos & screencasts (secure-input safe)
- Keyboard cleaning lock with countdown island (⌘⎋ unlocks)
- Menu-bar icon hiding — Bartender-style separator & chevron
- Live CPU / memory / network stats flyout
- Custom islands through the local developer API (off by default)
- iPhone-style call island — Answer/Decline FaceTime on the notch
- Notch Terminal — real VT100/xterm shell in a PTY, its own tab
- Camera Guard — alert (or block) when any app opens your camera
- Caps Lock HUD — brief island on every toggle
- Full Charge island with adjustable threshold + low-battery sound
- Alt HUD styles — edge-pinned bar or circular gauge off the notch
- Audio-reactive Now Playing visualizer (real FFT of system audio)
- Custom closed-notch idle animation — drop in your own Lottie JSON
- Drag-and-drop file drop shelf — persists across relaunches
- Zip & unzip files right from the shelf
- Image converter (HEIC, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, PDF) + video → GIF
- Run Apple Shortcuts with one tap
- Screenshots auto-staged on the shelf, ready to drag
- Download finished alerts with Reveal in Finder
- USB drive mount island with one-tap Eject
- Apple Reminders quick capture & due list
- macOS Pomodoro notch timer & stopwatch — streaks + 7-day chart
- Resizable expanded panel (width & height, live preview)
- System HUDs (volume, brightness, battery)
- Audio output switcher (speakers, AirPods, monitor)
- AirPods connection manager & battery
- Magic Mouse, Keyboard & Trackpad battery + low-battery alerts
- Quick notes & Calendar widgets
- Camera Mirror (check your appearance)
- Keep Awake (caffeine toggle)
- Teleprompter (Cuely) for Zoom calls
- Focus-aware alerts & native haptic feedback
- Lock screen widgets & hide-the-notch mode
- 134 languages, fully localized
- Native SwiftUI, tuned for Apple silicon
The honest verdict on App Cleaner & Uninstaller
If you want a full app-management suite and don't mind a subscription, App Cleaner & Uninstaller is thorough. If you only want an app gone with its leftovers, Notchy does it without a subscription.
App Cleaner & Uninstaller alternative — FAQ
How much is App Cleaner & Uninstaller Pro?
Nektony's site lists Pro from $7.95 a month, with a two-day free trial of every Pro feature. The free version scans.
Which macOS does it need?
Nektony lists macOS 11 through 27. Notchy runs from macOS 13 Ventura.
Does Notchy delete files permanently?
Never. Everything goes to the Trash, so you can put it back until you empty the Trash.
Can Notchy manage login items?
No — that's one of the extras App Cleaner & Uninstaller does and Notchy doesn't.
Since when can Notchy uninstall apps?
Since version 1.0.178. Notchy updates itself, so existing users get it automatically.