Cleanfox vs InboxSweeper
Cleanfox
join.cleanfox.ioInboxSweeper
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Cleanfox | InboxSweeper |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Email Cleanup Software | 8.8 (#4) | 8.7 (#5) |
| Cleaning actions | Users can delete all emails from a newsletter, delete received emails while remaining subscribed, or keep the newsletter. | It can unsubscribe, move selected mail to Trash, or report selected senders as spam. |
| Purpose | Cleanfox deletes unwanted emails, unsubscribes from newsletters and clears old emails. | InboxSweeper bulk deletes old promotions and newsletters and unsubscribes from mailing lists. |
| Support | Technical support is offered by email in English or French, with a stated usual response time of 24 to 48 business hours. | The project directs users who encounter an unlisted issue to open a GitHub issue with their OS, browser, and the exact wording of the problem. |
| What it does | Cleanfox scans connected mailboxes to identify newsletters and order-confirmation messages for cleanup. | InboxSweeper bulk-cleans promotional and newsletter email, unsubscribes from mailing lists, moves selected mail to Trash, and reports selected senders as spam. |
Plans
In their own words
Cleanfox
Cleanfox is a free service for removing unwanted email and unsubscribing from newsletters. It identifies recurring senders and lets users decide what to keep before cleaning. For a newsletter, users can remove all its messages, delete received emails while staying subscribed, or keep it. Mail support includes Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, iCloud Mail, and most other providers. Card and list views help sort newsletters, with bulk actions in list view; users can add multiple mailboxes and sort them together. Automatic cleanup rules are available. An initial mailbox scan takes an average of 30 minutes to 3 hours. Deleted messages move to the mailbox trash and remain recoverable until the email provider empties it, typically after 5 to 30 days. Cleanfox says it uses end-to-end encryption, does not read or sell emails, and anonymizes newsletter and commercial-transaction data for market statistics. It says users are not targeted by advertising. Attachment downloading and deletion is marked “Soon.” Cleanfox is available on Android, iOS, and the web.
InboxSweeper
InboxSweeper is a free, open-source tool for clearing old promotional mail and newsletters and unsubscribing from mailing lists. It supports Gmail fully; Yahoo and other IMAP inboxes are experimental. Choose among three sweep modes: Sloth targets mail older than two years, Normal mail older than one year, and MadMax includes recent promotional mail. Their respective run caps are 25, 50, and 100 senders. Before moving messages, sweeps show counts; financial, security, payment, receipt, and government mail is protected. You can unsubscribe, move selected messages to Trash, or report senders as spam. Trash messages are described as recoverable for about 30 days. One-click and mailto unsubscribe options are supported; web-link-only options are flagged for manual handling. The tool runs on your computer and says it does not upload mail, credentials, or tokens. It offers a local browser interface, Windows executable, terminal CLI, and AI-agent instructions. It uses a scoped app password rather than Google OAuth, with credentials stored in macOS Keychain or a locked file.