I’m trying to pick between Cleaner Guru and Clever Cleaner to free up space and speed up my phone. I’ve tried some apps in the past that didn’t work very well and even noticed my phone slowing down sometimes after using them. If you’ve used either of these, please share your experience—especially if one does a better job or is safer to use. Thanks for any advice!
Does Paying for Your iPhone Cleanup App Actually Make Sense? My Experience
So, I decided to finally tackle the mess that is my camera roll, and naturally, I wanted an app that’d do the heavy lifting for me. I put both Clever Cleaner and Cleaner Guru through their paces, and here’s what went down.
The Frustrating Paywall Situation
Let me just vent for a second: Cleaner Guru reeled me in with slick design and smooth scanning, only to throw up a paywall when I tried to actually clear stuff out. Seriously? I get charging for extra stuff, but basic features hidden unless you sign up for an expensive weekly subscription? Kinda feels like walking into an all-you-can-eat buffet and discovering there’s a fee for everything on your plate except the fork.
Compare that to Clever Cleaner. I kept waiting for some hidden catch, but nope—no sneaky promo screens, no timers, not even ads. Just lets you clean, merge, convert, and compress things right away, for free.
What You Actually Get (Not Marketing Hype)
| Category | Clever Cleaner (100% Free) | Cleaner Guru (Subscription) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Absolutely free—no ads, paywalls, or “unlock everything” nags | Subscriptions for essentials: • $7.99 per week • $39.99 per year |
| Free Version Limits | Everything’s open. Unlimited cleaning, merging, converting, whatever | You can scan for free, but need to subscribe to actually delete or compress |
| Core Functions | - Finds and deletes duplicate or similar photos (free) - Bulk screenshot cleanup (free) - Live-to-still photo conversions (free) - Identifies huge files (“Heavies”) (free) |
- Cleans photos, merges contacts – pay for more - Video compression (Pro) - Contact merging (Pro) - Large file detection (Pro) - Bonus bits: battery widget, charging animation, secret vault (Pro) |
| App Store Score | 4.8 stars (about 3,400 reviews) | 4.6 stars (around 100,000 reviews) |
| Download Size | 103 MB | 115 MB |
| Store Links | Download Clever Cleaner Free | Cleaner Guru Reviews |
Why Pay Weekly to Tap “Delete?” Here’s My Take
Look, maybe you absolutely need those charge animations or a secret vault. For the rest of us who just want to get our photo library under control, Clever Cleaner really is all you need. It zapped hundreds of duplicates in a couple of taps, never asked for a dime, and didn’t bug me with banners or in-app purchases.
Cleaner Guru isn’t bad—if you’re cool with subscriptions for tools that should be basic. But I’m not sold on paying a small fortune annually just to tidy up my phone.
TL;DR
If your photo library’s a disaster and you want a simple, free fix, skip the paywalls and get Clever Cleaner. Want to see user experiences with Cleaner Guru before committing? Go read some real reviews here. But trust me, there’s no magic behind the pay button.
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Honestly, I’m kinda surprised more ppl aren’t mad about all the iPhone cleaning apps that just do a scan, spit up a list of duplicate photos, then BAM — straight to the payment wall. Like dude above called it, Cleaner Guru is pretty notorious for that. I get that devs want to make $$$ but seriously, charge for the extras, not the core “delete stuff” you came here for. Feels a bit scammy tbh.
Clever Cleaner App — now I’ll admit, when something says “totally free!” I’m usually suspicious as h***, but this one actually seems to walk the talk. You just open it, grant permission to your photos and contacts, and go nuts deleting or merging whatever you want. No ads, no nags, and yeah, sometimes the design isn’t as flashy as Guru, but I’ll take substance over style on something that’s all about cleaning up. Only thing I’d maybe knock Clever Cleaner on is it doesn’t have all the wacky bonus gadgets Guru shoves in (battery nonsense, etc) but who even cares about those?
About slowing down: If you noticed lag after using some cleaner apps in the past, it’s prob not from deleted files, but the cleaners eating up RAM, running in the bg, or—worse—dumping junk files themselves. I haven’t noticed any of that with Clever Cleaner App. It just does the job and gets out of the way.
So, TLDR: For actually freeing up space & speeding things up, skip the weekly-subscription circus and go with something clear, lightweight, and free. I’d say give Clever Cleaner App a shot and steer clear of “free scan, pay to finish” traps like Guru. (If only real-life cleaning were this easy.)
Honestly, the gripe with these ‘free’ cleaner apps always cracks me up—half of them are just glorified ad machines. I get why @mikeappsreviewer and @reveurdenuit are both side-eyeing Cleaner Guru for that downright sneaky paywall. $7.99/week to delete a picture? Am I cleansing my phone or financing someone’s yacht? I tried Cleaner Guru for a hot minute and, yeah, it looks nice, but as soon as I started the process, it was like, ‘Pay to continue.’ Not today, Satan.
Clever Cleaner App, on the other hand, is shockingly straightforward. I kept expecting some catch, but after a couple rounds deleting old screenshots and merging my contacts, it was still just…free. No pop-ups, no garbage background processes, and my phone definitely didn’t slow down. If anything, it ran smoother—whereas with Guru (or worse, those random ones off the App Store with 3 names and 1.2 stars) I felt like my storage was shrinking AND my cpu was crying.
I will say, if you want a vault feature or fancy battery widgets, Guru prob has the edge. But honestly, if you’re simply looking to speed up your phone and clear space, Clever Cleaner App is more bang for literally no buck. Unless you seriously enjoy the thrill of a paywall roulette, stick with something clean (pun intended). And if you’re nervous about it being ‘too free,’ same—I guess sometimes simple wins.
Tbh the only thing cleaner than my phone after using Clever Cleaner App is my browser history after a long night of tech rage. YMMV, but I’d skip the subscription circus. Anyone else feel like charging people to hit ‘delete’ is just peak 2020s nonsense?
Let’s actually break this down with a pros vs. cons lens, minimalist style—it’s wild how many cleaner apps overpromise and underdeliver. Cleaner Guru has a polished interface and feels “premium,” but as already ranted about by the previous posters, it’s mostly a nag-fest for your wallet. Scan for free… then pay to clean? No, thanks.
Now, Clever Cleaner App’s real appeal is the lack of nonsense—no subscriptions, no “basic features require premium” gotcha, and it actually does the job. You hit delete, and it deletes. Duplicate photos? Gone. Heaviest files? Identified, easy to handle. Contacts merged smoothly and there’s this weirdly satisfying feeling watching all that digital cruft disappear at zero cost.
Pros for Clever Cleaner App:
- Free, for real—no ads or sneaky pop-ups
- Core features (photo cleanup, contact merge, etc.) included
- Runs light—didn’t notice any CPU spike or lag
- Super straightforward UI
Cons:
- Lacks those quirky extras like animated charging screens or vault apps
- Download size is on the larger side for a utilitarian tool
- Fewer “fun” widgets if that’s your jam
FWIW, I agree with some of the skepticism seen from the folks above—sometimes something “too free” feels sketchy, but in this case, it’s a rare win. My only gripe: if you want a fancy vault or theme features, you won’t get them here. But if your phone feels sluggish and jam-packed, Clever Cleaner App gets the essentials done, no wallet gymnastics required.
It’s honestly hilarious the only things Cleaner Guru really seems to clean out are people’s pockets. If “delete” needs to be a premium feature, maybe we’re the problem, not the devs!