DevCleaner vs Decruft: when the free Xcode cleaner is enough, and when it is not
· 2 min read
If your disk problem is Xcode and only Xcode, install DevCleaner. It is free, open source, has been maintained for years, and does the job. This page is for the case where you ran it, got 30 GB back, and the disk is still full.
What DevCleaner cleans
Six folders under ~/Library/Developer:
- Device support symbols for iOS, watchOS, tvOS and visionOS
- Archives
- DerivedData
- Documentation cache
- Old simulator and device logs
- Old documentation downloads
Each with sizes, each selectable, with a total. It asks for access to the Developer folder once and remembers it. It does not touch anything else.
What it does not cover
On my own Mac, after DevCleaner had done its work, the folders it does not look at held more than the ones it does:
| What | Where | Mine |
|---|---|---|
| Simulator devices and caches | ~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator |
21 GB |
| Docker reclaimable space | inside Docker.raw |
18 GB |
| npm, pnpm, Gradle, Cargo, CocoaPods, SwiftPM | dotfolders and ~/Library/Caches |
10 GB |
| iPhone backups | ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync |
34 GB |
| App caches | ~/Library/Caches |
13 GB |
| Homebrew downloads | ~/Library/Caches/Homebrew |
0.2 GB |
None of that is DevCleaner's fault. It is an Xcode cleaner and says so.
What Decruft does
Decruft's Smart Scan covers DevCleaner's folders and the table above in one pass, with the same approach: a path, a size, a line on what recreates it, and a checkbox. It also has a duplicate finder, a large-file browser, an app uninstaller that removes leftovers, and a System Data pane that explains the grey bar in Storage settings category by category.
Everything it removes goes to the Trash. Archives and iPhone backups are labelled review-first, since both can hold something irreplaceable.
Price
DevCleaner is free, with an optional tip inside the app.
Decruft is $19 once for 3 Macs. Scanning is free without a license, so you can run both, compare the lists, and decide whether the extra rows are worth it on your machine.
A fair summary
Xcode only: DevCleaner. Xcode plus Docker plus package managers plus the
backups you forgot about: Decruft, or DevCleaner plus an afternoon with du.
Questions
Is DevCleaner for Xcode safe?
Yes. It is open source under GPL-3, cleans only folders Xcode regenerates (DerivedData, archives, device support, documentation, old logs), and has been on the App Store for years. Read its list before you clean archives.
Does DevCleaner clean simulators?
It removes old simulator and device logs. It does not delete simulator runtimes or devices; those need Xcode's Components settings or xcrun simctl.
Does Decruft replace DevCleaner?
It covers the same Xcode folders plus simulator devices, Docker, package-manager caches, iPhone backups, app leftovers and duplicates. If Xcode is your only problem, DevCleaner is free and enough.