Where Cleanup wins
Cleanup is a whole-phone storage tool, and it is very widely used: 4.65 average from 749,372 US ratings as of October 2026. If the goal is to free space everywhere, it does much more than Queryable.
- It deletes duplicate photos and videos, removes similar screenshots and “lookalike videos”, and compresses large videos.
- It also cleans spam and promotional email and merges or removes contacts — none of which Queryable touches.
- It groups similar photos with “Best” marked, and nothing is removed without approval: a final review screen follows each session.
- It offers a 7-day free trial with unlimited access, and the vendor says “No internet connection needed - No files leave your phone”.
- It supports older systems: iOS 15.0 or later, against Queryable’s iOS 18.0.
Where Queryable adds something
Queryable is a photo-search app whose cleanup covers one job — look-alike still photos — and charges for it once.
- $4.99 once, with no subscription, trial or in-app purchase. At Cleanup’s yearly price of $29.99, a year of Cleanup costs about six times Queryable’s one-time price.
- Three tiers from one scan — Exact Duplicates, Nearly Identical and Similar Scenes — so you can clear the safe tier first and review the rest.
- An aesthetic score pre-selects the photo to keep in each group; one system confirmation dialog covers the batch.
- Search in the same app: describe a photo or use a sample photo to find it before you decide what to delete.
- Its App Store privacy label is “Data Not Collected”; Cleanup’s label lists purchases, identifiers and usage data under “Data Used to Track You”.
Compare
Every Cleanup cell is taken from Cleanup’s own US App Store listing — its price list, description and privacy label — numbered to its source. Where the listing says nothing, the cell says “Not published”.
| Dimension | Cleanup 6.25.1 | Queryable 2.1.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Price (as of October 2026) | Free download. In-app purchases: “Cleanup Pro 1 Week” listed at several price points ($5.95–$11.99), and “Cleanup Pro 1 Year” at $29.99. The description names “Weekly Subscription” and “Lifetime Subscription” options. [1][2] | $4.99 on the US App Store, paid once. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no free tier and no trial. [9] |
| Trial and renewal | 7-day free trial with unlimited access; the account is “automatically charged for renewal, based on the annual subscription plan” unless cancelled at least 24 hours before it ends. [3] | No trial and no renewal: one purchase. [9] |
| What it cleans | Duplicate photos and videos, similar screenshots, lookalike videos, large-file compression, spam and promotional email, unused and duplicate contacts. [2] | Still photos only. Videos are never grouped or deleted, and there is no email, contacts, screenshot-specific or compression tool. [10] |
| Similar-photo grouping | “Smart grouping for similar photos, with ‘Best’ marked.” [2] | Three tiers from one scan: Exact Duplicates, Nearly Identical and Similar Scenes. [10] |
| How the keeper is chosen | Not published in the Cleanup pages read for this comparison. The listing says “Best” is marked but not how it is chosen. [2] | An on-device aesthetic score pre-selects the photo to keep in each group. [10] |
| Deleting | “Nothing is removed without your approval,” with a final review screen after each session. [2] | Nothing is deleted automatically; one system confirmation dialog covers the whole batch. [10] |
| Photo search | Not published in the Cleanup pages read for this comparison. [2] | Yes: by description, by sample photo, and “Similar Photos” from any result, with time filters. [10] |
| Where processing happens | On the device, by the vendor’s account: “No internet connection needed - No files leave your phone.” [2] | On the device. Indexing and search run through Core ML and Metal on the phone, the app makes no network request of its own, and it ships no analytics or crash-reporting SDK. [10] |
| App Store privacy label | “Data Used to Track You”: purchases, identifiers and usage data. Also “Data Linked to You” and “Data Not Linked to You” sections. [1] | “Data Not Collected.” No analytics or crash-reporting SDK. [9][10] |
| Requirements | iOS 15.0 or later; the listing says “Only for iPhone” (version 6.25.1). [1] | Any iPhone or iPad running iOS 18.0 or later. No Apple Intelligence requirement, no account and no sign-in. [9][10] |
| Other features | Charging animations, a PIN-protected vault, battery and storage widgets. [2] | None outside photo search and photo cleanup. [10] |
| Detection quality and speed | Not tested. | Not tested. |
Detection quality and speed: No ranking quality, recall, precision, indexing speed or search latency was measured for this page. A claim of that kind requires the controlled hands-on test in the project’s comparison research protocol, and this page is deliberately published without one.
Which to choose
Choose Cleanup if…
- You want one app to free space across photos, videos, email and contacts.
- You want lookalike videos found and large videos compressed.
- You are happy to pay weekly or yearly for it, or only need it during the trial.
Choose Queryable if…
- You only need look-alike still photos cleaned, and want to pay once.
- You want near-duplicates and similar scenes in separate tiers with a keeper suggested.
- You also want to search your photos by description or with a sample photo.
Other ways to avoid the subscription
You do not need a weekly plan to clean up look-alike photos, and Queryable is one of several alternatives. As of October 2026, on the US App Store:
- Apple Photos’ own Duplicates collection (Collections › Utilities) merges exact duplicates for free; it does not group similar scenes.
- Clever Cleaner is free within daily limits with no ads; its optional plans are $6.99 a week or $39.99 lifetime.
- Photoscope is free with “no subscriptions or limits” and helps pick the best of a series of similar shots; it needs iOS 26.
- Remo Duplicate Photos Remover is free, with no in-app purchases listed.
- Duplicate Photos Fixer is $7.99 paid once, with an adjustable matching level.
What this page does not claim
Cleanup does more than Queryable; this page compares only photo cleanup and price.
- Neither app’s detection quality or scan speed was tested.
- The App Store shows at most ten in-app purchases, so Cleanup’s full price list may be longer; prices vary by storefront.
- Queryable cleans still photos only and is not a storage cleaner: no videos, email, contacts or compression.
Methodology
Dates and storefront: Cleanup facts were read on 30 October 2026 from its US App Store listing for version 6.25.1 (minimum iOS 15.0): the in-app purchase list, the description and the privacy label. Prices for the other cleaners named above come from their own US listings on the same day. Queryable is version 2.1.6, US App Store, minimum iOS 18.0.
What was tested: nothing. This is a facts-only comparison published under the Tier 1 rules of the project’s comparison research protocol: every Cleanup cell is a fact Cleanup publishes, with its source numbered; every Queryable cell describes the shipping app; anything neither side publishes says “Not published”, and result quality is marked “Not tested”. No row states a ranking, accuracy, recall or speed figure. Queryable publishes this page, so read it as our argument checked against Cleanup’s own pages, not as a neutral review. Corrections are welcome through the project’s GitHub repository.
Citations
Every Cleanup statement above was read from the pages below on the date shown. Vendor pages change without notice; if one now says something different, the vendor is right and this page is stale.
- Cleanup: Phone Storage Cleaner — US App Store listing (v6.25.1)
- Cleanup: Phone Storage Cleaner — App Store description
- Cleanup — App Store description (trial terms)
- Apple — Merge duplicate photos and videos on iPhone comparisons.ts citation 5.
- Clever Cleaner: AI CleanUp App — US App Store listing (v3.5)
- Photoscope: Best Photo Picker — US App Store listing (v1.8)
- Remo Duplicate Photos Remover — US App Store listing (v4.0)
- Duplicate Photos Fixer — US App Store listing (v3.0)
- Queryable on the US App Store Source for the one-time price, the absence of in-app purchases, the minimum iOS version and the “Data Not Collected” privacy label.
- How Queryable works The on-device model, the local index, the search path and the app’s documented limits, taken from the shipping 2.1.6 build.
Questions about Cleanup and Queryable
How much does Cleanup: Phone Storage Cleaner cost?
It is free to download with a 7-day trial. As of October 2026 its US listing sells “Cleanup Pro 1 Week” at $5.95–$11.99 and “Cleanup Pro 1 Year” at $29.99, and after the trial it renews on the annual plan unless cancelled.
Is there a similar-photo cleaner without a subscription?
Yes. Queryable is $4.99 once; Duplicate Photos Fixer is $7.99 once; Photoscope and Remo Duplicate Photos Remover are free; Clever Cleaner is free within daily limits; and Apple Photos merges exact duplicates for free.
Does Queryable clean videos, email or contacts?
No. Queryable groups and deletes still photos only. Videos are never grouped or deleted, and it has no email, contacts or compression tools.
Does Queryable delete anything automatically?
No. It pre-selects a keeper in each group, and nothing is deleted until you confirm the batch in one system dialog.
Is my photo library uploaded by either app?
Cleanup says “No files leave your phone.” Queryable makes no network request of its own and its App Store privacy label is “Data Not Collected”. Cleanup’s label lists purchases, identifiers and usage data as used to track you.