head to head · open source
Pearcleaner vs BleachBit
Pearcleaner has 14,653 GitHub stars, 375 forks, 84 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. BleachBit has 6,930 stars, 455 forks, 313 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Pearcleaner leads on adoption by 111% (14,653 vs 6,930 stars). Pearcleaner is written in Swift under a custom or non-standard licence; BleachBit is written in Python under GPL-3.0. Pearcleaner has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, BleachBit 7%. BleachBit was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Pearcleaner | BleachBit | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 6.9K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Swift | Python |
| Last push | 2026-06-22 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 375 | ⑂ 455 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Pearcleaner if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick BleachBit if
- You want the BleachBit feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and BleachBit fits your workflow better
About Pearcleaner
Pearcleaner is a free, source available, fair code licensed macOS application written in Swift and listed under Productivity & Utilities / System Cleanup & Optimization. It is described as a Mac app cleaner inspired by Freemacsoft's AppCleaner and by Sun Knudsen's Privacy Guides post about an app cleaner script. The project's homepage is hosted at itsalin.com, and the repository states that this is the only legitimate website owned by the author.
read the full Pearcleaner overview →
About BleachBit
BleachBit is a free, GPL 3.0 system cleaner written in Python that deletes files on Windows and Linux to free disk space and protect privacy, made for desktop users and administrators who want a cross platform alternative to commercial cleanup tools.
read the full BleachBit overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Pearcleaner or BleachBit more popular?
Pearcleaner has 14,653 GitHub stars and BleachBit has 6,930. Pearcleaner has the larger community by that measure.
Are Pearcleaner and BleachBit free?
Both are open source. Pearcleaner has no licence declared in this registry, and BleachBit is licensed under GPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Pearcleaner and BleachBit?
Pearcleaner is written in Swift and BleachBit in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Pearcleaner or BleachBit?
Choose Pearcleaner if you want the larger community (14,653 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose BleachBit if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.