Which fits your needs?
Delve: Apple Silicon users on macOS 26+ who want two maps and staged cleanup.
SquirrelDisk: People wanting a free open-source GUI across desktop systems and remote storage.
Features, pricing, and workflow
Scroll across to compare
| Feature | Delve | SquirrelDisk |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Apple Silicon users on macOS 26+ who want two maps and staged cleanup. | People wanting a free open-source GUI across desktop systems and remote storage. |
| Visualization | Treemap, sunburst, and file list | Sunburst, treemap, file list, and duplicates |
| Platforms and requirements | macOS 26+, Apple Silicon | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| Pricing and editions | Vendor lists $4.99 once after a 14-day trial. | Free; AGPL-3.0 source published on GitHub. |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Native macOS UI | Yes | Cross-platform interface |
| Cleanup workflow | Stage items in the Collector, then send the reviewed batch to Trash. | Collector offers Trash, permanent removal, secure erase, or backup before deletion. |
| Reports and portability | The developer documents exporting maps as posters with Command-Shift-E. Keep that image as a reference; it is not a scan file that NullDisk can import. | The current overview does not establish an interoperable scan-report format. Preserve paths, duplicate decisions, and remote source settings separately. |
Delve: what stands out
A good fit for Apple Silicon users on macOS 26+ who want two maps and staged cleanup.
Delve: strengths
- Treemap, sunburst, and file list
- Logical and on-disk measurement with filtering
- Quick Look, collector-to-Trash, and map image export
Considerations
- Requires macOS 26 or later
- Apple Silicon only in the current requirements
- A map export is a visual record, not a file backup
SquirrelDisk: what stands out
A good fit for people wanting a free open-source GUI across desktop systems and remote storage.
SquirrelDisk: strengths
- Live maps and a staged removal collector
- Content-based duplicate search
- SSH and rclone-backed cloud storage
Considerations
- Uses a cross-platform Rust interface rather than SwiftUI
- Permanent deletion and secure erase require deliberate review
- Cloud/SSH actions depend on provider and remote-system support
For a useful comparison on your own drive, match the scan root, access permissions, and size mode. Chart style changes how you explore the results; it does not by itself establish measurement accuracy.
Common questions
When should I choose Delve?
A good fit for Apple Silicon users on macOS 26+ who want two maps and staged cleanup. Vendor lists $4.99 once after a 14-day trial.
When should I choose SquirrelDisk?
A good fit for people wanting a free open-source GUI across desktop systems and remote storage. Free; AGPL-3.0 source published on GitHub.
Will both apps show the same size?
Not necessarily. Match the scan root, permissions, exclusions, and logical/allocated-size mode. Hard links, APFS clones, snapshots, sparse files, and cloud placeholders can change totals. A reported size is not a guaranteed amount recovered after deletion.