Best photo cleaner apps for iPhone in 2026, compared

What it does. PhotoCleanse compares photo content on your iPhone and groups copies and similar shots. You choose how strict the matching is: Exact Matches, Balanced or More Matches. In each group it marks one BEST photo, picked from your favorites, pixel size, face quality, file size and date. It never selects your favorites on its own, and Select All Duplicates leaves each BEST photo and every favorite unselected. Swipe shows decks of up to 30 photos: left marks a photo, right keeps it, and nothing is deleted until you check the marked pile. Compress lists large photos with the space each would save and saves smaller copies with the quality and dimensions you pick.

Where it’s stronger. It’s the only app here whose listing offers a choice of matching strictness. It shows why the BEST photo was picked. It has one weekly and one yearly price ($5.99 and $29.99 in the US, both with a 3-day free trial for eligible new subscribers) rather than a list of price tests. It needs iOS 17, where Swipewipe needs iOS 18. Every delete goes through Apple Photos and the iOS confirmation, so deleted photos wait in Recently Deleted for 30 days, unless you’re over your iCloud storage limit, when Apple says they’re removed right away.

Where it’s weaker. It works on photos only, with no video, contact or email tools, and runs on iPhone only. The free plan is small: 3 duplicate-group cleanups, 1 Swipe deck and 1 compressed photo a month. It’s new and has no US ratings yet. Its App Privacy label lists data used to track you (purchases, identifiers and usage data, for ad measurement), like most apps here. Your photos aren’t uploaded.

Since iOS 16, Photos finds duplicate photos and videos and lists them in the Duplicates album under Utilities. Merge keeps one copy and moves the rest to Recently Deleted, and you can select every set and merge them at once. It doesn’t group similar shots or bursts, and it can take a while to appear after an update. If it covers your library, you don’t need a cleaner app.

How to delete duplicate photos on iPhone · Apple: Merge duplicate photos and videos

From CleverFiles, the maker of Disk Drill. Its listing describes duplicate and similar photo groups with a Best Shot, large videos sorted by size, screenshots, Live Photos converted to stills, compression for photos, videos and screenshots, and a Swipe mode with no daily limit. It says photos are processed on the device and deletions go to Recently Deleted.

Price. Free within daily limits; Premium is $6.99 a week with a 3-day trial or $39.99 once. Ratings: 4.8 from about 85,000 in the US. Runs on iOS 16 or later, and on Macs with Apple silicon. Its App Privacy label lists identifiers as data used to track you.

Clever Cleaner on the App Store

By Codeway (DEEP FLOW SOFTWARE SERVICES), and the most-rated cleaner here: 4.7 from about 754,000 in the US. Its listing covers duplicate photos and videos, similar photos with “Best” marked, screenshots, video compression, merging duplicate contacts, cleaning promotional email, a PIN-protected Secret Space, charging animations and widgets, with a review screen before anything is deleted.

Price. The listing shows nine weekly prices from $5.95 to $11.99 and $29.99 a year; it doesn’t say what is free. Runs on iOS 15 or later. Its App Privacy label lists purchases, identifiers and usage data as data used to track you, and email address and user ID as linked to you.

Cleanup on the App Store

MacPaw’s cleaner, which replaced Gemini Photos in 2024. Its listing covers blurred photos, old screenshots, large videos, duplicates and similar shots, merging contacts, video compression, Live Photos to stills, and AI categories such as Travel, People, Pets, Food and Documents. It says it works fully on the device and lets you mark photos as Sensitive so they’re never included.

Price. A yearly subscription with a 3-day trial; the in-app list shows CleanMy®Phone at $7.99 a month or $36.99 a year, alongside older Gemini Photos plans from $2.99 a month to $39.99 a year. Ratings: 4.6 from about 23,000. Runs on iOS 17 or later.

What happened to Gemini Photos · CleanMy®Phone on the App Store

By MWM, and the app that made swipe-to-delete popular. Its listing describes swiping right to keep and left to delete, month-by-month decks, On This Day with a widget and streaks, a photo map, AI enhancement of blurry photos, finding similar and blurry shots and screenshots, and bookmarking photos to decide later.

Price. The listing shows weekly prices from $3.99 to $9.99 and $29.99 a year. Ratings: 4.7 from about 101,000. Runs on iOS 18 or later, iPhone and iPad. Its App Privacy label lists identifiers, usage data and other data as used to track you.

Swipe to delete photos on iPhone · Swipewipe on the App Store

Its listing describes deleting with a swipe, filing photos into albums with a tap, comparing similar photos side by side, favorites and undo, with changes syncing through the Photos app and iCloud.

Price. $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year, with no free trial, or a one-time purchase to unlock it; paid plans include cloud storage for albums. Ratings: 4.8 from about 17,000. Runs on iOS 15 or later. Its listing carries Apple’s Editors’ Choice badge. It’s the only app here whose App Privacy label lists Photos or Videos as collected (not linked to you); it lists no data used to track you.

Slidebox on the App Store

Its listing describes finding exact and near-identical duplicates, keeping one best copy in each group automatically, marking and unmarking photos and previewing them with date, resolution and size before deleting. The listing is free with no in-app purchases shown, in English only, and its App Privacy label says the developer doesn’t collect any data. Ratings: 4.6 from about 14,000. Runs on iOS 15 or later.

Remo on the App Store