Paid maintenance apps - Are they worth it?

[Tigerman82]

I just finished installing OS X Mavericks on my Mid-2010 iMac. I've always taken care of the OS by doing permissions repairs, executing Onyx automation and uninstalling the apps I don't use. While my OS does run smoothly, I do worry about the files and such I've left behind (I recently discovered that there were a lot of remains of uninstalled apps in the Library folder). As some people seem to be paying a lot for paid maintenance apps, I'm worried that I'm missing on something.

There seems to be at least three types of maintenance apps for file management:

Apps that delete unnecessary files: Disk Doctor
Apps that find duplicates and delete them: Duplicate Detective
Apps that map the locations of large files: Disk Map

All three apps are by Fiplab and cost only a few dollars. They seem to be popular. Obviously a better alternative to Disk Map might be Daisydisk, but the cost is a bit too much.

My question is this: Are these kinds of paid apps good to buy and use (do they do in-depth things that an average person would find difficult to do manually), or would an average person with under 200Gb of used space use these only once a year tops without any benefits?

 

[old-wiz]

the cleanup apps have a disturbing tendency to render the system unbootable. MacKeeper in partiucular is known for this.
don't waste your money on programs that can wreck the system.

 

[MauerFan07]

the cleanup apps have a disturbing tendency to render the system unbootable. MacKeeper in partiucular is known for this.
don't waste your money on programs that can wreck the system.

These apps are available in the App Store though.

 

[josh.b]

os x runs its own maintenance scripts so you don't actually need to use any 3rd party software

 

[fiatlux]

the cleanup apps have a disturbing tendency to render the system unbootable. MacKeeper in partiucular is known for this.

MacKeeper is a scam! Hopefully not all maintenance apps are.

 

[damidget]

I use Disk Diag (MAS) and MemoryKeeper (MAS)

 

[dan1eln1el5en]

Onyx
I think is the only maintenance software I used, and use.
it's not so much doing "it's own thing" rather opens some options build into OS X and I've been quiet happy with it's functions till now (from 10.4 and up)

 

[old-wiz]

These apps are available in the App Store though.

just because they are available through app store doesn't make them worth the money or reliable.

MacKeeper is the worst - just look at their nasty advertising to begin with.

 

[MauerFan07]

just because they are available through app store doesn't make them worth the money or reliable.

MacKeeper is the worst - just look at their nasty advertising to begin with.

Agreed on the money aspect, but MacKeeper isn't in the App Store and it's fairly well known that it's terrible. Would Apple put dangerous apps in their App Store?

 

[carboncocoa]

DiskWarrior is amazing. That's it. Just get it.

CleanMyMac 2 is quite good at freeing up disk space. Although it claims to not damage your iPhoto library, mine went a little wonky (still usable) and my sister's was just completely off.

Would I still use CleanMyMac 2? Yes. Would I trust it for iPhoto libraries? Back them up first and test them after. The amount of free space you gain back makes it worth trying.

 

[talmy]

There seems to be at least three types of maintenance apps for file management:

Apps that delete unnecessary files: Disk Doctor
Apps that find duplicates and delete them: Duplicate Detective
Apps that map the locations of large files: Disk Map

All three apps are by Fiplab and cost only a few dollars. They seem to be popular. Obviously a better alternative to Disk Map might be Daisydisk, but the cost is a bit too much.

I wouldn't pay money for any of these. Unnecessary files might turn out to be necessary, and then where would you be? The small amount of space saved isn't worth it, IMHO.

I also get nervous about deleting duplicates. I did get a copy of Gemini in a package, but I only delete things I'm absolutely sure of and never files referenced by databases (iTunes, iPhoto, Aperture, iMovie...). Gemini is too aggressive for my taste.

I use the free Disk Inventory X to map the drive usage. And the only maintenance utility I use is Onyx, also free.

 

[Negritude]

As some people seem to be paying a lot for paid maintenance apps, I'm worried that I'm missing on something.

No, you're not missing anything. Most of the paid apps are a waste of money.

It's better to donate to the developers of the free and donationware apps.

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These apps are available in the App Store though.

That's why they're crap. The MAS is full of crap just like the iPhone app store is full of lots of crap.

 

[old-wiz]

CleanMyMac 2 is quite good at freeing up disk space. Although it claims to not damage your iPhoto library, mine went a little wonky (still usable) and my sister's was just completely off.

Would I still use CleanMyMac 2? Yes. Would I trust it for iPhoto libraries? Back them up first and test them after. The amount of free space you gain back makes it worth trying.

And next time it might wreck your iTunes library. I would never ever trust CleanMyMac...it's malware.

 

[GGJstudios]

CleanMyMac 2 is quite good at freeing up disk space. Although it claims to not damage your iPhoto library, mine went a little wonky (still usable) and my sister's was just completely off.

I would not recommend using CleanMyMac or any of its variants, based on the number of complaints that have been posted in this forum and elsewhere. As an example: CleanMyMac cleaned too much. Here's a recent example. While you may not have experienced problems yet, enough people have that it's wise to avoid it, especially since there are free alternatives that have better reputations, such as Onyx.

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You don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well, and some of these apps can do more harm than good. Most only remove files/folders or unused languages or architectures, which does nothing more than free up some drive space, with the risk of deleting something important in the process. These apps will not make your Mac run faster or more efficiently, since having stuff stored on a drive does not impact performance, unless you're running out of drive space. In fact, deleting some caches can hurt performance, rather than help it, since more system resources are used and performance suffers while each cache is being rebuilt. Many of these tasks should only be done selectively to troubleshoot specific problems, not en masse as routine maintenance.

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Mac OS X does a good job of taking care of itself, without the need for 3rd party software. Among other things, it has its own maintenance scripts that run silently in the background on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, without user intervention.

Five Mac maintenance myths​

As far as app uninstallers, if you elect to use such apps, be aware that in most cases, app removal software doesn't do a thorough job of finding and removing files/folders related to deleted apps. For more information, read this and this. If you just want to delete the app, drag the .app file to the trash. No other software needed. If you want to completely remove all associated files/folders, no removal apps will do the job.

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The most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion:

Best way to FULLY DELETE a program​