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.
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.
New
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.
Every deletion, on the record
Each item, what was done and how much went. Copy it or open the saved file.
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
Pay once.
No subscription.
- Unlimited cleanup
- All supported developer caches
- 2 personal Macs
- No subscription
- Support independent development
- Unlimited cleanup
- All supported developer caches
- 3 personal Macs
- No subscription
- Support independent development
- Everything in the lifetime license
- One key per developer
- Priced for your team size
- One invoice
- All future updates included, no upgrade fees
- 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
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.
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.
I am replacing my Mac. How do I move the license?
Before you erase or sell the old Mac, open Settings › License in Cache Goblin and click Deactivate on this Mac: the seat is freed and the same key activates the new one as on day one. If you move everything with Migration Assistant or a Time Machine backup, the license comes along and nothing needs doing. If the old Mac is already gone and every seat is taken, email [email protected] from the address you bought with and we free the seat.
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.
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.
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.