Cleanup vs Clever Cleaner: what 4,789 reviews say

Cleanup vs Clever Cleaner: the numbers side by side

Where do Cleanup and Clever Cleaner differ most?

• Cleanup's unhappy reviewers mention billing, trials and cancelling roughly twice as often as Clever Cleaner's: 51.5% against 23.7% of 1–2★ reviews.
• On calling the app a scam or rip-off, Cleanup draws 10.5% of its 1–2★ reviews, while Clever Cleaner draws 0%.
• Clever Cleaner's unhappy reviewers mention an ad or listing that promised something else roughly twice as often as Cleanup's: 13.2% against 5.1% of 1–2★ reviews.
• Clever Cleaner's unhappy reviewers mention a paywall before the app does anything useful more often as Cleanup's: 15.8% against 11.4% of 1–2★ reviews.
• Ads, pop-ups and pushy screens is a bigger issue for Cleanup (6.8% of low ratings) than for Clever Cleaner (2.6%).

Both are compared on iPhone, where both have enough reviews. Cleanup deletes duplicate photos and videos and similar screenshots, merges duplicate contacts and compresses videos; Clever Cleaner finds similar photos, duplicates, screenshots, Live Photos and large videos, with daily free limits and no ads.

Are Cleanup and Clever Cleaner improving?

Cleanup went from 2.45 stars in 2026-Q2 to 3.15 in 2026-Q4, with billing at 42.8% of its latest 1–2★ reviews. Clever Cleaner went from 4.9 stars in 2026-Q2 to 4.65 in 2026-Q4, with billing at 38.1% of its latest 1–2★ reviews.

Where are Cleanup and Clever Cleaner alike?

Their reviewers agree on slowness, crashes and bugs, having to review items one by one and the app not working or doing little: on each, the two apps are within two points of each other (5.8% vs 5.3%; 3% vs 2.6%; 14% vs 15.8%). 45.3% of Cleanup's reviews are 1★ and 40.4% are 5★; for Clever Cleaner the split is 3.2% and 84.7%, so Cleanup has noticeably more very angry reviewers.

What do happy users praise in each?

38.4% of Clever Cleaner's 4–5★ reviews say it works, compared with 24.4% for Cleanup. 27.9% of Clever Cleaner's 4–5★ reviews say it is easy to use, compared with 17.3% for Cleanup. 4% of Clever Cleaner's 4–5★ reviews say a fair price or free use, compared with 1.3% for Cleanup.

Which is cheaper, Cleanup or Clever Cleaner?

Cleanup: App Store (US) in-app purchases from $5.95 to $29.99; Google Play (US) $6.99 to $39.99 per item, with ads. Clever Cleaner: App Store (US) in-app purchases from $6.99 to $39.99. Cleanup starts lower, at $5.95 against $6.99. Billing makes up 51.5% of Cleanup's 1–2★ reviews and 23.7% of Clever Cleaner's.

What reviewers say about Cleanup and Clever Cleaner

• Cleanup: "I just opened the app and its asking for credit card info altho there is a 7 day fre trail" (1★, Google Play, US, Aug 2026)
• Cleanup: "it's a scam. they keep charging huge amount every week without showing any option to cancel the subscription!" (1★, Google Play, US, May 2026)
• Clever Cleaner: "Very pleased with this app. Hope it doesn’t suddenly want to charge me" (5★, App Store, UK, Oct 2026)
• Clever Cleaner: "Awesome and actually free not a scam 3 days free thing" (5★, App Store, UK, Aug 2026)

Picked from the billing, trials and cancelling and calling the app a scam or rip-off themes, where the two differ most.

Should you choose Cleanup or Clever Cleaner?

On ratings alone, Clever Cleaner is the safer bet on the evidence here, with 47.1% fewer 1–2★ reviews. If billing, trials and cancelling is what worries you most, Clever Cleaner has the better record on it.