# Pearcleaner

A free, source-available Mac cleanup suite — app uninstall, orphaned-file search, Homebrew management, and more — from Alin Lupascu, currently on hold since late 2025.

- **Category:** [Utilities](https://notchlist.vercel.app/category/utilities/)
- **Price:** Free
- **Open source:** no
- **Official site:** https://itsalin.com/appInfo/?id=pearcleaner
- **Available via:** Homebrew, Direct
- **Requirements:** macOS 13 Ventura through macOS 26 Tahoe.
- **Maker:** Alin Lupascu

## Kitsmith's take

Started as a learning project inspired by FreeMacSoft’s AppCleaner and grew into a broader utility: full app uninstall with orphaned-file search, a development-environment manager, a Homebrew manager, PKG and plugin managers, and app “lipo” (stripping unused architectures to save space) — 14.5k GitHub stars and reportedly 1.6M+ downloads. Built by Alin Lupascu, who states plainly on the project’s GitHub that active development has been on hold since the end of 2025 due to a job change and losing access to a personal Mac for building releases — not abandoned, in the developer’s own words, but not currently maintained either. Licensed Apache 2.0 with Commons Clause: you can read, modify, and use the source, but the license explicitly forbids monetizing Pearcleaner or any fork of it — source-available, not open source in the strict sense. The developer’s own README also warns that pearcleaner.com is an impersonator site unaffiliated with the real project; itsalin.com is the only site the developer claims.

## Features

- **Full uninstall plus orphaned-file search:** Removes an app and hunts down leftover files it left behind elsewhere on disk.
- **Homebrew and PKG management:** Manage installed Homebrew casks/formulae and .pkg installer receipts from the same app.
- **App “lipo”:** Strip unused CPU architectures from universal app binaries to reclaim disk space.

## FAQ

**Is Pearcleaner still maintained?**

No, not currently — the developer’s own GitHub states development has been on hold since late 2025 due to a job change and losing access to a Mac for building releases. The existing build still works.

**Is Pearcleaner open source?**

The source is public, but it’s licensed Apache 2.0 with Commons Clause, which explicitly bars monetizing the app or forks of it — the developer calls it “source-available,” not open source in the strict sense.

**Is pearcleaner.com the real site?**

No — the developer’s own README warns that pearcleaner.com is an impersonator; itsalin.com is the only site the developer claims as legitimate.


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Hand-verified listing on Kitsmith: https://notchlist.vercel.app/apps/pearcleaner/