ExifCleaner vs ExifTool

ExifCleaner is a desktop app for removing metadata from supported images, media files, and PDFs. You can drop files or folders into it and process large batches, then inspect a before-and-after diff of the metadata fields removed from each file. Options include preserving image orientation and timestamps, saving copies, and removing macOS extended attributes. The project states that the app has no automatic updates or network traffic, zero telemetry, and no phone-home behavior. It supports macOS 12 or later, Windows 10 or later, and 64-bit Linux, and includes 25 languages with in-app switching. Its tested intake list includes image formats, media such as MP4 and MOV, and PDFs. Some formats, including RAF, MKV, TIFF, AVIF, and certain RAW files, may be only partly handled or unsupported. PDF metadata removal is reversible, so original metadata remains recoverable rather than securely erased. ExifCleaner is open source under the MIT License. It is free.

ExifTool is a free Perl library and command-line application for reading, writing and editing metadata in many file types. It can read tags, change or delete their values, and copy or move metadata between files. Supported formats include EXIF, GPS, IPTC, XMP, JFIF, GeoTIFF, ICC Profile, Photoshop IRB, FlashPix, AFCP and ID3, as well as maker notes from numerous camera manufacturers. Sources can be file names, directory names or standard input. ExifTool is available for Linux, macOS and Windows; its Perl distribution can be run by extracting it on Mac or Linux, and the Windows EXE version can also be extracted. A C++ interface lets applications communicate with an external ExifTool process. When writing metadata, ExifTool preserves the original file by adding “_original” to its name by default, and it will not write a metadata type unsupported by the target format. The maker says it is not designed as an image validator, though its extra validation checks focus mainly on JPEG and TIFF. The full Perl distribution includes documentation and API libraries. ExifTool costs nothing.