RoomForGemsCompare · as of October 2026
What RoomForGems does that others don’t
We checked 16 photo cleaner apps and the built-in tools on iPhone and Android, on 10 October 2026. These are our five headline features. Where another app does something similar, the table below says so.
The five headline features of RoomForGems
Make Room For…
Room for the next update.
Say what you need room for: the update, an hour of video, a holiday's photos, an app. The app frees exactly that much, the least painful way: copies and old screenshots first, biggest first, and you see every item before anything goes.
Free space is your phone's own number. It can read the size from a screenshot of the update screen, and always shows it to you to check.
Where Did the Space Go?
See the space really come back.
Every delete gets a receipt: your phone's real free space just before, right after, and later. If the space didn't come back, it says why, in plain words: still in Recently Deleted, only in iCloud, or apps grew in the meantime.
It measures, it doesn't guess. On Android it can empty the trash for the items you deleted, with your phone's own confirmation.
Your Gems
Clean up. Keep the gems.
Every time you clear a group of copies or similar shots, the photo you kept is gathered with your gems. Cleaning up leaves you a highlights collection as well as free space.
On iPhone it's a real album in Photos. An album only points at photos, so it uses no extra space. On Android, Gems are listed in the app and can be starred as Favourites.
Stop It Filling Up
Stop it filling up again.
See what keeps filling your phone, in GB a month: WhatsApp saving every photo, 4K video, JPEG instead of HEIC. Each comes with the exact setting that stops it.
Worked out from your own last three months. The savings are labelled as estimates. It's the one feature designed to make you need us less.
Only-Photo Guard
The only photo? It asks first.
Before anything is deleted, the app checks whether it's the only photo from that day or gathering, or the only one with someone in it. If it is, it asks first, with the date.
Bulk selections leave these photos out. It never blocks you; it just makes sure you meant it.
And also
What deleting does here
In your own numbers: what's on this phone, what's only in iCloud, and what a delete will remove from your other devices. With Plan Check, to see if you could pay less for cloud storage.
Helper Kit
Set it up for a parent in two minutes: Simple mode, a reminder, a PIN for settings. Then they can send you a status note, numbers only, no photos.
Trim, don't delete
Keep the best minute of a long video as a real smaller file. The original goes only after the copy is saved and checked.
Moving day
Tidy before you switch phones, then check every photo and video arrived before you reset the old one. No account needed.
Greeting pictures
Forwarded good-morning and festival images, found by the words on them, read on your phone. Never selected for you.
Oops videos
Pocket recordings and black screens, found by looking at a few frames of each video. You always see them first.
Feature by feature
From each app’s App Store listing, help pages and recent reviews. Last checked 10 October 2026. Apps change; this is what we could confirm on that day. “Not found” means we did not find the feature on our check date. It does not mean the app can never do it.
| Feature | RoomForGems | Cleanup | CleanMy Phone | Cleaner Kit | Slidebox | Apple Photos | Google Photos | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copies and similar shots, best one pickedApple Photos merges exact and near-exact copies and does not group similar shots (not verified). Google Photos can stack similar shots under a top pick, only for backed-up photos, and stacking frees no space. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not found on our check date | Partly | Partly | 2026-10-10 |
| Says why it picked the photo to keep | Yes | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | 2026-10-10 |
| Your Gems: the best shot kept from every group you clear | Yes | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | 2026-10-10 |
| Asks before deleting the only photo of a day | Yes | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | 2026-10-10 |
| Make Room For…: frees exactly what an update or video needsiOS itself can offer to remove apps for now during an update; it doesn't choose photos. | Yes | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | 2026-10-10 |
| Where Did the Space Go?: free space measured before and after each deleteA newer app, More GB, also measures real free space. | Yes | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | 2026-10-10 |
| Stop It Filling Up: what fills the phone each month, and the setting that stops it | Yes | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | 2026-10-10 |
| Keep the best part of a long video as a smaller filePhotos apps can trim a video, but on iPhone a trim is an edit that keeps the full original. | Yes | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Partly | Partly | 2026-10-10 |
| Checks everything arrived on a new phone | Yes | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | 2026-10-10 |
| Finds accidental (pocket) videos | Yes | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | 2026-10-10 |
| Helper Setup and Simple mode | Yes | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | 2026-10-10 |
| Cloud plan check | Yes | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | 2026-10-10 |
| One plan across every category, one confirmation | Yes | Not found on our check date | Yes | Yes | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | 2026-10-10 |
| Make videos smaller, many at onceCleanup compresses one at a time; CleanMy Phone five at a time with the app open. | Yes | Partly | Partly | Yes | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | 2026-10-10 |
| Swipe month by month, with undo | Yes | Yes | Partly | Yes | Yes | Not found on our check date | Not found on our check date | 2026-10-10 |
| Tracking listed on its App Store privacy labelRead from each app's own US App Store privacy label on the check date. A label is the app maker's own statement and can change. Ours is planned and not published until the app is approved. Not checked for Apple Photos and Google Photos. | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not checked | Not checked | 2026-10-10 |
| One payment, no subscriptionOthers sell weekly or yearly plans; some also list a lifetime price. | Yes | Partly | Partly | Partly | Partly | Yes | Yes | 2026-10-10 |
How photo cleaner apps charge
Prices as listed on the US App Store, checked on 10 October 2026. Prices vary by country and change often, so check the listing before you buy. Each row links to where we read it.
| App | Price as listed | One-time option? | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RoomForGems | $9.99 once | Yes | Free to scan and free up to 1 GB. No subscription. New, so no years of reviews yet. | This site |
| Photos Duplicates (iPhone), Files by Google (Android) | $0, built in | Free | Finds and merges exact and near-exact copies. Start here. | Apple Support |
| Simple Photo Cleaner | $2.99 up front | Yes | The listing calls it “a one-time purchase app”. Weekly review of photos; no duplicate finder listed. | App Store |
| Slidebox | $1.99 to $2.99 a week, $19.99 to $29.99 a year, or lifetime $29.99 or $49.99 | Yes | Swipe photos into albums or the trash. 4.8 stars from about 17K ratings. | App Store |
| Clever Cleaner | $6.99 a week after a trial, or $39.99 lifetime | Yes | Free use with daily limits. Best shot, largest videos, compression. 4.8 stars from about 83K ratings. | App Store |
| Purgo | $4.99, $6.99 or $39.99 | Unclear | The listing doesn't say which price, if any, is one-time (not verified). Has a trash tab to review before emptying. | App Store |
| CleanMy Phone | $7.99 a month, $36.99 a year, or “Unlimited access” $34.99 | Unclear | Whether “Unlimited access” is a one-time purchase isn't stated (not verified). 4.6 stars from about 23K ratings. | App Store |
| Cleanup | “Cleanup Pro 1 Week” from $5.95 to $11.99 | Unclear | The description mentions a lifetime plan, but no lifetime price is listed (not verified). 4.7 stars from about 733K ratings. | App Store |
| Swipewipe | $3.99 to $9.99 a week, or $29.99 a year | None listed | Month-by-month swiping. No one-time option listed. 4.7 stars from about 97K ratings. | App Store |
“(not verified)” marks something the listing didn’t make clear. Ratings are the App Store’s US figures on the day we checked.
What others do that we don’t
- Clever Cleaner has a polished one-time option and tens of thousands of ratings. We are new.
- Some apps add streaks and daily reminders. We leave them out on purpose: one optional monthly reminder, off by default.
- Some apps pre-select blurry photos for you. We show probable mistakes with the reason and never choose them for you, because blur finders flag good photos too often.
- Some apps also clean contacts, calendars or email. We only look at photos and videos, and leave the rest alone.
- Some apps have a private vault or AI search. We don't: everything here is about clearing space safely.
How to choose
Try your phone’s own tools first; they’re free and often enough. If you want more, prefer an app that tells you its price before you start, and read the payment sheet: if it mentions renewing, it’s a subscription.