The best photo cleaner apps for iPhone

This site is made by the developer of PrunePic, one of the apps below, so take what we say about our own app with that in mind. To keep the rest fair, every fact about another app comes from its US App Store listing or its developer’s own website, help pages and privacy policy, as they read on October 24, 2026. Where we mention what users report, it comes from App Store reviews we read and counted: recent reviews rated 1 to 3 stars, from 11 countries. We did not install the other apps for this page. Listings change often, so check the current page before you install.

Start with what is already on your iPhone

iOS covers more than most people realize, for free:

• Duplicates. In Photos, tap Collections › Utilities › Duplicates and merge each set. It catches exact copies and the same image at a different resolution or format, not similar shots. See how to delete duplicate photos.
• Media Types. Collections › Media Types gathers your Videos, Screenshots, Screen Recordings, Bursts and more, so you can select and delete them in bulk.
• Settings › General › iPhone Storage shows what is filling your phone and offers to offload unused apps.

What the built-in tools do not do: sort videos by file size, group similar shots, or give you a quick way to review thousands of photos and remember where you stopped. That gap is what cleaner apps fill. Our comparison with the Photos app goes into more detail.

Two kinds of photo cleaner apps

Scanners analyze your library and present groups to act on: duplicates, similar photos, large videos, screenshots, blurry shots. You review the groups and delete in batches. They are fastest when you have lots of near-identical shots. Several now add a swipe mode, but scanning is still their main job.

Swipe apps show your photos one at a time, full screen. You make one decision per photo with a gesture. They are slower per photo but better for the clutter no algorithm can judge: which of your old photos still matter to you.

The apps compared

App	Type	Requires	Data Used to Track You (App Privacy)
Clever Cleaner: AI CleanUp App	Scanner with swipe mode	iOS 16	Identifiers
CleanMy®Phone (MacPaw)	Scanner with swipe mode	iOS 17	Identifiers, Usage Data
Cleanup: Phone Storage Cleaner	Scanner with swipe mode	iOS 15	Purchases, Identifiers, Usage Data
Cleaner Kit (BPMobile)	Scanner with swipe mode	iOS 15	Purchases, Location, Identifiers, Usage Data, Diagnostics, Other Data
AI Cleaner: Clean Up Storage	Scanner with swipe mode	iOS 15	Identifiers
Cleansmith: Photo Cleaner	Scanner	iOS 16	Identifiers, Diagnostics
Slidebox: Photo Cleaner App	Swipe	iOS 15	None listed
Swipewipe: Photo Cleaner	Swipe	iOS 18	Identifiers, Usage Data, Other Data
Photo & Video Cleaner: Slider	Swipe	iOS 15	Identifiers, Usage Data
PrunePic	Swipe	iOS 26	Identifiers

“Data Used to Track You” is the section of Apple’s App Privacy label for data an app may use to track you across other companies’ apps and websites. Every app here also lists other data it collects; tap App Privacy on each listing for the full label.

Free versions, ads and one-time purchases

What each developer or listing says about the free version, whether the US listing carries Apple’s advertising label, and whether a one-time purchase is listed:

App	Free version, per the developer	Ads label	One-time purchase
Clever Cleaner	Unlimited swipe mode; a daily free allowance for the other tools	No	Lifetime, $39.99
CleanMy®Phone	Largest Videos, Screenshots and Other categories, plus the Health tab	No	MacPaw mentions a lifetime option
Cleanup	Free scan; a 7-day trial of Pro	No	None listed
Cleaner Kit	Essential tools; the trial has all features, some with limited use	Yes	None listed
AI Cleaner	A daily number of free removals, set in its terms	Yes	None listed
Cleansmith	Free with paid Premium; the AI eraser is free	Yes	None identifiable
Slidebox	Free with ads; no free trials	Yes	Lifetime, $29.99 and $49.99
Swipewipe	A limited number of swipes, then a countdown or a short video for more	Yes	None listed
Slider	Free; one paid plan, Premium, $19.99 a year	No	None listed
PrunePic	10 decisions a day, with the trash, Undo and Favorites	No	None

What users report goes further, and the numbers matter more than the labels:

• Free allowances are tight. Reviewers describe Clever Cleaner’s daily allowance as about 1 GB of deletions, Cleanup’s as 5 deletions a day for most of 2026 and mostly 25 since October, AI Cleaner’s as about 10 a day or 25 after watching an ad, Cleaner Kit’s as 1 to 2 GB a day, and Swipewipe’s as roughly one list or 20 swipes every seven to eight hours. Slidebox users say the free version covers about the last year of photos.
• Ads change. Slider showed no ads until about May 2026; since then reviewers report ad cards in the stack, which its $19.99 Premium removes. Since September 2026, Swipewipe users report watching an ad before a deletion completes.
• Weekly plans add up. Cleanup lists weekly plans from $5.95 to $11.99, AI Cleaner from $6.99 to $11.99, and Swipewipe from $3.99 to $9.99. At $9.99 a week, that is about $520 a year.

Organizing as you clean

If you want the photos you keep filed into albums, not just the bad ones deleted, check this before you choose. What the developers say:

• Slidebox: filing into albums is its core feature, one tap per photo, with folders and favorites.
• PrunePic: drag a photo right onto one of three pinned albums, any album, or a new one, as you swipe. See album filing.
• Slider: tap and hold a photo to add it to an album, since February 2026.
• Cleaner Kit: sorts into Photos albums or new ones, since April 2026.
• Cleansmith: an Organize mode files unsorted photos into albums.
• CleanMy®Phone: add a photo to an album from its full-screen view, in the paid version.
• Swipewipe: lets you clean an existing album, and bookmark photos to decide later. Its website and listing do not mention filing photos into albums.
• Clever Cleaner, Cleanup and AI Cleaner: no album filing is described.

The apps one by one

Clever Cleaner: AI CleanUp App

From CleverFiles, the makers of Disk Drill. AI grouping of duplicates and similar photos with a suggested Best Shot, large videos, screenshots, Live Photos to stills, compression, a one-tap Smart Cleanup, and a swipe mode with no daily limit. No ads, and photos are processed on the device, per the developer. It was free with no in-app purchases until version 3.0 in August 2026; it now has a daily allowance for its scanning tools, a weekly plan with a trial at $6.99 and a lifetime purchase at $39.99. Good for: a generous mix of scanning and unlimited swiping. What reviewers report: in 161 reviews rated 1 to 3 stars between March 2025 and October 2026, about 12% say the “free” promise was misleading, nearly all after August 2026, and several describe compression side effects such as a doubled library or changed dates.

CleanMy®Phone

From MacPaw, the developer of CleanMyMac; it replaced Gemini Photos in 2024. Duplicates, similar photos, blurry shots, screenshots, large videos, Live Photos to stills, video compression, contact merging, Gmail cleanup, and a swipe mode since December 2025. It works on the device, per MacPaw. Its Declutter scan preselects everything it finds except Largest Videos and Favorites, so you untick what you want to keep. The 3-day trial is on the yearly plan, $36.99 in the US. Good for: a polished all-round scanner, also included in Setapp. What reviewers report: in 201 reviews rated 1 to 3 stars between October 2024 and October 2026, about 17% expected CleanMyMac-style system cleaning, 15% mention billing and 15% crashes.

Cleanup: Phone Storage Cleaner

Listed by Deep Flow Software Services, with a Codeway copyright line. Duplicate and similar photos with a suggested best shot, lookalike videos, compression, a swipe mode, an email cleaner for Gmail, contact merging, a PIN-protected Secret Space and charging animations. The in-app purchases shown are weekly plans and a $29.99 yearly plan. Good for: speed on very large libraries, and one app for photos, contacts and email. What reviewers report: in 700 reviews rated 1 to 3 stars between June and October 2026, about 22% say the app was advertised as free, 20% describe a billing problem such as a charge right after starting the trial, and 18% find the price too high.

Cleaner Kit

From BPMobile, also sold as Smart Cleaner. Duplicates, similar and blurry photos, Live Photos to stills, compression, Gmail, contacts and calendar cleanup, a secret folder, and a swipe “Sort” mode where a left swipe moves a photo to an in-app Archive. Good for: the widest set of cleanup tools in one app. What reviewers report: in 700 reviews rated 1 to 3 stars between December 2025 and October 2026, about 15% describe a billing problem, 13% say it was advertised as free, and 11% describe a rating request they could not skip.

AI Cleaner: Clean Up Storage

From Grimlax Trade. Duplicate photos and videos, a one-tap Smart Cleaning, compression, Gmail, contact and calendar cleanup, a PIN vault, and a swipe mode since September 2025. Its in-app purchases are almost all weekly plans, from $6.99 to $11.99, plus a $34.99 yearly plan. Keep in mind: contacts and calendar events have no Recently Deleted, so a wrong merge there is hard to undo. What reviewers report: in 700 reviews rated 1 to 3 stars between March 2025 and October 2026, about 32% say the ads they saw called it free, 17% describe a billing problem, and 6% report contacts or calendar entries lost or merged.

Cleansmith: Photo Cleaner

From Monocraft, on the App Store since 2014 under the name Photo Cleaner. Duplicates, similar photos and videos, large files, closed eyes and low-resolution shots, detailed video compression, an AI eraser, a private album and an Organize mode for albums. It is not a swipe app. Good for: compressing videos with fine control. Few recent reviews mention it, so we cannot say much about current problems.

Slidebox: Photo Cleaner App

One of the original swipe apps. Swipe up to trash and down to favorite, tap to file into albums, undo, and a trash you empty before anything is deleted. Its listing says it contains ads and offers no free trials, and lists both subscriptions and lifetime purchases. Its privacy label declares no tracking. Good for: sorting photos into albums as you clean, with a one-time price. What reviewers report: in 205 reviews rated 1 to 3 stars between October 2024 and October 2026, about 28% report bugs, often the final delete button not working, 20% the ads, and 23% features removed in a 2025 redesign, most of which have since come back.

Swipewipe: Photo Cleaner

From MWM. Swipe right to keep and left to delete, month by month, with On This Day, streaks and widgets, a photo map, duplicate piles, bookmarks to decide later and an AI photo enhancer. Deletion happens on a review screen at the end of each list. Good for: turning cleanup into a daily habit, on iPhone, iPad or Android. What reviewers report: in 700 reviews rated 1 to 3 stars between May 2025 and October 2026, about 28% report bugs, 24% the ads (39% in the last six months), and 18% each a paywall straight away or the free limit. Our PrunePic vs Swipewipe comparison has the details.

Photo & Video Cleaner: Slider

From an independent developer who ships updates often. A simple keep-or-delete swipe stack with full video support, filing into albums, undo and a review step before anything is deleted. The listing says it works entirely on the device. Good for: a lightweight swipe app with one annual upgrade. What reviewers report: only 41 reviews rated 1 to 3 stars in two years; the most common, about 22%, say storage did not go down after deleting; one common cause is photos still waiting in Recently Deleted.

PrunePic

Our app. You swipe left to delete, up to keep and right to add to Favorites or file into an album, one photo or video at a time. Nothing is deleted on a swipe: everything waits in the PrunePic Trash until you empty it and confirm in iOS, then sits in Recently Deleted for 30 days. Cleaning modes narrow the feed to Photos, Screenshots, Videos sorted longest first, a Batch, On This Day or Trips & Moments. Those modes and album filing are part of PrunePic Pro, weekly or yearly; the free plan has the Random and Everything modes with 10 decisions a day, where each keep, delete, favorite or file counts as one. No ads, and your photos never leave your device.

What PrunePic does not do: it has no duplicate scanner, no video compression and no contacts or email cleaning, has no lifetime purchase, and needs iOS 26 or later. If your main problem is thousands of near-identical shots, a scanner will get through them faster.

How to choose

• Mostly duplicates and similar shots: start with the free Duplicates collection, then a scanner such as Clever Cleaner or CleanMy®Phone. Check each group before deleting; “similar” is a guess.
• Mostly big videos: any app that lists videos by size or length, or the free methods in how to find large videos on iPhone.
• Years of photos you have never looked through: a swipe app. Pick one whose free plan lets you try the gestures properly before paying.
• You want an album for every trip or person: Slidebox or PrunePic, which file photos into albums as you go.
• You do not want ads or a subscription: compare the two tables above. Clever Cleaner and Slidebox sell lifetime purchases; Clever Cleaner, CleanMy®Phone, Cleanup and PrunePic carry no advertising label.
• You care about tracking: compare the App Privacy labels, and turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track in Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking if you do not want any app to ask.

What to check before you install

• Photo access. Most cleaner apps ask for access to your full library. iOS asks when you first open the app, and you can change it later in Settings › Apps › [app name] › Photos.
• Trial terms. Free trials usually turn into paid subscriptions automatically. Note the date, and cancel in Settings › [your name] › Subscriptions if you do not want to continue.
• Weekly plans. A weekly price looks small. Multiply it by 52 before you compare it with a yearly or lifetime option.
• Where deletions go. Apps that delete through Photos send items to Recently Deleted for 30 days, so you can recover mistakes. Empty it to get the space back.

Common mistakes

• Paying before trying the built-in tools. Duplicates and Media Types are free and cover the basics.
• Expecting a cleaner to fix System Data. No App Store app can clear iOS’s own caches.
• Bulk-deleting a scanner’s suggestions without looking. Some scanners preselect everything they find. Check each group, especially for photos of people.
• Letting a scanner merge contacts or clean email unchecked. Contacts and mail have no Recently Deleted in Photos.
• Forgetting iCloud. With iCloud Photos on, deleting in any app deletes from all your devices.

The bottom line

Use the Photos app’s Duplicates and Media Types first. For similar shots at scale, a scanner such as Clever Cleaner or CleanMy®Phone does the heavy lifting. For working through years of photos one decision at a time, a swipe app such as Slidebox, Swipewipe, Slider or PrunePic fits better. Whichever you choose, read the free limit, the ads label and the trial terms first. For a plan that covers more than photos, see how to free up storage on iPhone.