Dev tools leave caches behind.
Cache Goblin cleans them up.
247.5GBcan be freed on an LLM developer's Mac.
From $29 lifetime · 2 or 3 personal Macs · No subscription · macOS 13 or later
Pick what you build.
247.5 GB can be freed on an LLM developer's Mac. Safe items go in one click, the rest after a single confirmation.
Trusted by developers at:
Three colors, and only three
Graded by what it costs you to lose.
The colored dot next to a row is the whole label. No "junk" scores, no scary numbers.
The tool rebuilds it on its own. The green button removes these right away.
- DerivedDataXcode build products
- npm cachedownloaded packages
- Go build cachecompiled packages
- Module cachesSwiftPM, Gradle, Maven
- Old exported buildsolder .ipa, .dmg
Comes back by downloading or rebuilding. Trashed only after you confirm.
- Simulator runtimesolder iOS versions
- Docker imagespulled again on demand
- Model weightsHugging Face, Ollama
- node_modulesin abandoned projects
- App leftoversfrom uninstalled apps
Might hold work you still need. Listed, never pre-selected, never automated.
- Xcode archivesyour signed releases
- Android virtual devicesemulator disks
- VM disksParallels, UTM, Docker
- Old toolchainsearlier Xcode, JDK, Rust
- Database dataPostgres, MySQL, report only
Any class can be switched to permanent deletion in Settings.
What it finds
Every toolchain you installed.
And the ones you forgot.
25 groups of detectors. Each knows which tool wrote a cache, how the tool cleans it, and whether it comes back. Caches whose tool is gone are marked tool missing.
Download Free for MacNew
It also finds the builds you exported and forgot.
Exported builds never land in a cache folder. Cache Goblin finds the .ipa, .apk and .dmg files in Downloads, on the Desktop and in your projects, reads their bundle id and version, and knows which ones are yours.
Grouped by app, newest kept
One row per app: 14 builds, 1.0.3 to 1.2.0. Older versions go, the newest stays.
Yours or downloaded
A build that matches a project on this Mac is yours. One that came from a browser or Slack says so, and is never graded below Restorable.
Result bundles, dumps, images
Old .xcresult bundles and traces, Java heap dumps, stray disk images and loose model weights, each named for what it is.
How it works
One green button. A question for everything else.
Real screens from Cache Goblin. Safe caches go in one click; anything you might miss is spelled out before it moves.
Clean Safe Items, no questions asked
The green button runs immediately. The chevron beside it reveals Restorable and Risky, each with its own colour and its own confirmation.
It shows you first
The sheet names the largest items, counts the rest, and says where they go.
Finds what the tool left behind
Tried Deno for a week, replaced Yarn with pnpm, switched from Docker to OrbStack? Their caches are still found, marked, and cleaned without the tool.
Every path, every tool
Where a tool has its own cleanup, such as docker system prune, Cache Goblin runs that instead of deleting folders behind its back.
Rescans on your terms
Every 12 hours by default, or whenever you ask. Low priority, idle time only, never on a timer.
The full window, when you want detail
Categories on the left, every cache with its tool and size, an inspector with paths and the largest files inside. Projects you touched in the last 30 days are shown but never offered for cleaning.
Scope
What it does. What it stays out of.
A cache cleaner for developers is a narrow tool. That is the point.
It does
- Find caches, build outputs, downloaded runtimes and old toolchain versions from 25 groups of developer tools.
- Tell you what each one is, in a sentence, and when it comes back.
- Show the exact paths, the tool and version that made them, and the largest files inside.
- Find
node_modules,target,build, UnityLibraryfolders and friends in your projects, matched to the project file that created them. - Honor a tool's own
CACHEDIR.TAG, so folders that declare themselves regenerable are listed as such. - Spot leftovers from apps you uninstalled, without a list of known apps.
- Clean safe caches automatically, if you turn that on. It is off by default.
It does not
- Touch your documents, photos, mail, browser history, the Trash or Time Machine. macOS and Finder manage those.
- Delete anything on its own, except the safe items you explicitly enabled for auto-clean.
- Remove database data, VM images or Xcode installs. Some things it only reports, so you know they are there.
- Guess. If the tool that made a cache is still installed, the tool's own cleanup command is used.
- Claim a downloaded file as yours. If it came from a browser, you are told where from, and it stays Restorable.
- Send anything about your disk anywhere. There is no account and no telemetry.
- Watch your disk in the background.
Performance
A menu-bar app should cost nothing while it sits there.
You already have enough things running. Cache Goblin scans when you ask, or on a schedule the system picks for battery and thermal headroom, and then does nothing at all.
No watchers, no timers, no helper process.
Per-item totals, never lists of files.
Never competes with your build.
Swift, SwiftUI, AppKit. No Electron.
One exception, stated plainly: during a scan, and only then, a single bounded Spotlight query looks for build outputs wherever they landed in your home folder, so nothing deep gets walked. Nothing runs between scans.
Pricing
Scan for free.
Pay once to clean.
There is no trial and nothing to sign up for. The free download shows you every cache and exactly how much you can get back. A lifetime license unlocks cleaning: pick it by how many personal Macs you use.
- Unlimited cleanup
- All supported developer caches
- One developer
- 2 personal Macs
- No subscription
- Unlimited cleanup
- All supported developer caches
- One developer
- 3 personal Macs
- No subscription
- Everything in the lifetime license
- One key per developer
- Priced for your team size
- One invoice
Want to see what Cache Goblin finds first? Download it free and scan your Mac before buying.
| Free | Lifetime | |
|---|---|---|
| Scan developer caches | ||
| See reclaimable storage | ||
| Inspect cache categories | ||
| Clean caches | — | |
| Unlimited rescans | ||
| 2 or 3 personal Macs | — | |
| Price | $0 | $29 / $39 once |
- All future updates included, no upgrade fees
- Scanning stays free forever, no account, no email
- 14-day refund if it did not help you
- Move a license between Macs yourself, in Settings
Made by one developer
Small tool, small team.
6 months ago my Mac ran out of space and Apple's own storage tools showed nothing to remove. Digging by hand turned up 40 GB of dead iOS simulator data left behind by 5 years of macOS upgrades and invisible to Xcode. That is why Cache Goblin exists. It is built and supported by one independent developer: there is no account to create and no subscription to cancel, and when you write to support, a person answers.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can I try Cache Goblin before buying?
Yes. Download Cache Goblin for free and scan your Mac. You can see exactly what is using your disk space before deciding whether to buy.
What can I do for free?
Scanning is free. Cache Goblin shows your detected developer caches, their sizes, and how much storage can be reclaimed. Cleaning requires a lifetime license.
How much does Cache Goblin cost?
$29 once for 2 personal Macs, or $39 once for 3. There is no subscription. Teams get custom pricing: email us.
Is there a free trial?
There is no time-limited trial. Scanning is free permanently, so you can see exactly what Cache Goblin finds before buying.
How many Macs can I use?
A lifetime license covers one developer on 2 or 3 personal Macs, whichever you pick at checkout. For a team, or more Macs than that, contact us for custom pricing.
How is this different from a general disk cleaner?
It only knows about developer tools, and it knows them well. There is no generic "junk" scan. Each item comes from a detector that knows which tool wrote it, how that tool cleans it, and whether it comes back. If you are not a developer, you do not need this app.
Do I need a bigger SSD, or can I free up space?
Run the free scan first. On a Mac used for development for a year or two it usually finds 60 to 90 GB of caches, of which 10 to 30 GB is safe to delete in one click and the rest comes back with a download or a build. If the scan comes back small, the disk is full of your own files and more storage is the right answer. We compared the options in the cheapest way to add storage to a Mac.
Does it need Full Disk Access?
Not to start. Your own caches under your home folder are readable without any permission. A few locations that macOS protects, such as leftovers of deleted apps and Docker's disk image, are skipped until you grant access in System Settings. The app shows you where.
What does it send over the network?
Nothing about your disk. A one-time license check when you activate, a quiet revalidation about every 30 days, and the update check. Scanning, sizing and cleaning happen on your Mac.
App Store or direct download?
Both will cost the same and use the same detectors. The direct download can run tools like simctl and docker for you and updates itself. The sandboxed App Store build, when it ships, asks for folder access up front and shows you the command for a few system-owned items instead of running it.
Do you offer refunds?
Yes. If Cache Goblin is not useful to you, email [email protected] within 14 days of purchase.
Which Macs?
macOS 13 (Ventura) and later, Apple silicon and Intel.