Looking for a DaisyDisk Alternative? Here’s an Honest Comparison

By Mukul Mehra, the developer of Klarity · 6 September 2026

I write Klarity, so read this page knowing I have a side. What I have tried to do is describe DaisyDisk the way I would want my own app described — accurately, without cheap shots. DaisyDisk is a genuinely good piece of Mac software: shipping since 2011, well-regarded, and a lot of people are perfectly happy with it. If you are one of them, you probably do not need to switch.

This page is for a narrower group: people who think better in rectangles than in wedges, people who would rather pay less for a utility they open a few times a year, and people who want a disk analyser that physically cannot talk to the internet. If none of those describe you, the honest answer is to keep what you have.

Where DaisyDisk is great

• It is beautiful, and that matters. The sunburst ring is one of the most recognisable pieces of interface design on the Mac, and people remember it.
• It has fifteen years of polish behind it. Shipping since 2011 means an enormous number of edge cases have been found and fixed on real disks. A newer app cannot claim that.
• Its reputation is earned. DaisyDisk is well-regarded for good reasons, and a $9.99 one-time purchase on the Mac App Store is a fair price for what it does. Nobody buying it is being taken advantage of.

Where Klarity differs

A treemap and an icicle chart instead of a sunburst

This is the real difference, and it is about how you read sizes rather than which app is “better”. A sunburst encodes size as the angle of a wedge; a treemap encodes it as the area of a rectangle. People are measurably better at comparing areas than angles, and in a ring chart the outer levels get thin and hard to hit. Klarity gives you a treemap for spotting the one enormous folder at a glance and an icicle chart for reading the hierarchy top-down; I wrote up the reasoning in treemap and icicle vs sunburst. If you prefer the sunburst, that is a legitimate preference and this page will not talk you out of it.

$6.99 once

Klarity is $6.99 on the Mac App Store, paid once; DaisyDisk is $9.99, also paid once. Three dollars is not a dramatic saving and I would not switch apps over it alone — but neither charges you again next year, which puts both above the cleanup suites that want $30–50 a year for the same job.

No network access, at all

Klarity ships with no network entitlement. The sandbox forbids incoming and outgoing connections, which means it is not a promise in a privacy policy — it is enforced by macOS. There are no accounts, no analytics, and nothing to opt out of. A disk analyser sees the name of every file you own, so I would rather the app simply have no way to send that anywhere.

A RAM and process monitor in the menu bar

Klarity also watches memory: a menu bar readout of RAM pressure and the processes using it, which replaced a second utility I was running purely for that. If you never think about memory, ignore this line.

An age heatmap

Klarity can colour the map by how old files are rather than how big they are. Large and old together is usually the safest thing to delete — the 40 GB of footage untouched since 2023, rather than the 40 GB you are using this week. There is also a large file finder for a flat list of the biggest items.

Deleting is deliberate

Klarity moves things to the Trash only after you confirm, and anything over 1 GB requires a slide-to-confirm gesture rather than a click you can fire by accident. It never empties the Trash for you. If you change your mind, the file is still there.

Klarity vs DaisyDisk at a glance

I have filled in only what I can state as fact. Where I do not know DaisyDisk’s current answer, the cell says “—” rather than a guess.

One thing Klarity does not do yet

The version on the App Store today skips hidden folders such as ~/Library unless you point a scan directly at that folder. That is a real limitation, and it matters because System Data often hides in exactly those places. It changes in the update after 1.3 — 1.3 itself is in review now — but I would rather you hear it from me before you buy than discover it afterwards.

Who should stay with DaisyDisk

Plenty of people, genuinely:

• If you like the sunburst. Some people read the ring instantly and find rectangles fiddly. Visual preference is not a bug to be argued with, and if the sunburst is how your head works, switching would make you slower.
• If you already own it. You have paid; it works; three dollars is not a reason to relearn a tool.
• If you rely on something Klarity does not have. Klarity is a young app on version 1.2, with 1.3 in review. A fifteen-year-old app has features and edge-case handling mine has not caught up with, and if your workflow depends on one of them, staying put is the right call.
• If you routinely dig through hidden system folders. Until the update after 1.3 lands, that is the one job Klarity is not yet the best tool for.

What else is in Klarity

It needs macOS 14.6 or later, is sandboxed and asks for disk access once through Apple’s own folder picker (1.3 makes that a single grant per volume), has six colour themes, and since 1.2 meets WCAG 2.1 AA contrast and works with VoiceOver. Questions go to the support page, which has my email on it.

Frequently asked questions

Is Klarity a one-time purchase?

Yes. Klarity is $6.99 once on the Mac App Store. There is no subscription, no account to create, and no in-app purchase to unlock features.

Does Klarity send any data off my Mac?

No. Klarity has zero network access — the sandbox it ships with forbids both incoming and outgoing connections, so it cannot talk to a server even if it wanted to. There are no accounts and no analytics.

Can I move files to the Trash from Klarity?

Yes, after you confirm. Klarity moves items to the Trash only once you approve it, and anything over 1 GB needs a deliberate slide-to-confirm. Klarity never empties the Trash, so you can always put something back.