Siftly vs Pixtide: Which Free App Lets You Swipe Unlimited?

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Siftly: Camera Roll Cleaner is a paid-tier iPhone swipe cleaner by solo developer Pavel Ilin that sells Premium at $11.99 a week, $39.99 a year or $79.99 lifetime, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-25. It launched on 2026-01-05 and groups duplicates, but keeps unlimited cleanup sessions and unlimited undo for Premium. Pixtide is free with no ads, no in-app purchases and no swipe limit, checked on the same date.

This page is written by the Pixtide team (we make Pixtide). We name where Siftly wins.

Prices and facts verified on the App Store on 2026-09-25.

The short version

Siftly and Pixtide are both manual swipe cleaners: right keeps a photo, left marks it for deletion, and you make the call. The difference is in what the free version lets you do and what each app adds on top of the swipe.

Siftly's App Store listing describes it as a "swipe-based photo cleaner for your camera roll" and says "Go Premium to unlock" unlimited cleanup sessions, smart duplicate detection, unlimited undo and storage optimisation for heavy photos. Premium costs $11.99 a week, $39.99 a year or $79.99 lifetime in the US, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-25; we found no free trial. Siftly adds duplicate grouping, finds similar videos and large files, and converts heavy photos to save space.

Pixtide has none of those paid tiers. It has no subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads and no swipe or session limit, and it adds a third swipe: down sends a photo to Decide Later. It uses no AI and does not find duplicates. The question is whether you want Siftly's duplicate tools enough to pay for them.

Feature comparison

Siftly is not Sifty

Two swipe cleaners with almost the same name cause real confusion, and web summaries already mix them up. Sifty is the app with a free limit of 40 photos a day and plans of $3.99 a week or $29.99 a year, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-25. Siftly: Camera Roll Cleaner, by Pavel Ilin, is a different app with a different price list and no numeric daily cap in its listing.

An earlier version of this page repeated that mix-up and gave Siftly a 40-swipe daily cap. That was wrong, and we have corrected it. Siftly's own limit is on sessions and undo rather than a stated swipe count: the listing reserves "Unlimited cleanup sessions" and "Unlimited undo & recovery" for Premium without saying how much the free version allows.

There are also two newer apps with similar names on the App Store, "Siftly - Photos" and "Photo Cleaner: Sift", both with 0 or 1 ratings as of 2026-09-25. This page is only about Siftly: Camera Roll Cleaner. If you meant Sifty, the Sifty alternative page covers it.

Swipe limits: the difference you feel first

A free tier that runs out is the first thing you notice in a cleanup app, because a typical camera roll holds thousands of photos and the job only gets done if you can keep going. Siftly's listing does not give a number for its free allowance, but it names unlimited cleanup sessions as a Premium feature, so the free version is capped in some way. At $11.99 a week, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-25, a month of weekly Premium costs more than the $39.99 annual plan.

Pixtide has no cap on swipes or sessions and nothing to buy. You can sort 40 photos or 4,000 in one sitting, stop halfway through a month and pick up later, and the only thing pacing you is your own thumb. That matters because momentum is what clears a camera roll: one long sitting gets through more than a daily drip. If a no-cap, no-strings tool is what you are after, the free swipe photo cleaner with no subscription breakdown compares the other free options.

AI grouping vs you deciding

This is the real fork between the two apps. Siftly groups exact duplicates and near-duplicates so you can keep the best shot and clear the rest, and it also surfaces similar videos, large files, screenshots and bursts. Siftly describes itself as the opposite of apps that "push aggressive auto-deletion", and says it offers "No bulk deletes, no surprises, no irreversible actions." The grouping is still a machine deciding which photos belong together, and the smart version is a Premium feature.

Pixtide is deliberately manual. It does not detect blur, duplicates, similar shots or a "best" photo. You swipe right to keep, left to delete, and down to send a maybe into a Decide Later queue that you can come back to at the end. If automatic grouping is specifically what you want, that is a fair reason to keep Siftly in the running. If you would rather see every photo yourself, the manual approach is the point.

Video handling

If your camera roll is heavy on video, this is worth checking before you choose. Pixtide plays videos inline with sound and a scrub bar, so you can jump to the middle of a clip or check its ending before deciding to keep or delete it. Sound is off by default and turns on with one tap.

Siftly's listing says it finds similar videos and large files, which is useful for spotting the clips that take the most space. It does not list video playback inside the swipe view, so we cannot tell you how well it lets you judge a long clip; check that in the app before you commit to a paid plan. Judging a video from a still thumbnail is where swipe cleaners most often lose people.

Privacy labels and ads

Both apps say your photos stay on the phone, and neither needs an account for basic use. The App Store privacy labels still differ, checked on 2026-09-25. Siftly's label lists Usage Data as used to track you and lists Usage Data and Advertising Data as linked to you. Its privacy policy says the app "may use third-party services (for example, ads/analytics)", mentions "frequency capping (if ads are enabled)" and asks for the advertising identifier with your permission.

Pixtide's label reads Data Not Linked to You, with nothing listed as used to track you. Pixtide shows no ads, does not use the advertising identifier, and sends only anonymous usage statistics that you can switch off in Settings. No photo is ever uploaded by either app according to its own description. If tracking matters to you, the labels are the clearest difference between the two.

Safety: how the delete flow works

Deleting from your camera roll feels risky, so the rescue flow matters more than the swipe itself. Pixtide uses a triple safety net:

1. Swiping only marks. Nothing is removed while you sort: a left swipe just flags a photo.
2. A Review screen. Before anything is deleted, you see everything marked for removal and can rescue any photo you changed your mind about.
3. Recently Deleted. Confirmed deletes go to iOS Recently Deleted, recoverable for 30 days.

Siftly has a similar idea it calls "safe trash" before permanent deletion, and its listing promises you can "review every shot before it's removed". Both apps delete through Apple's Photos library, so a confirmed delete lands in the Recently Deleted album for 30 days, as Apple Support explains. To undo a mistake, follow Apple's steps to recover deleted photos. For the full picture, see where deleted photos go on iPhone.

Organization and momentum

Pixtide lets you work month-by-month or across a whole year, saves your progress so you can stop and resume mid-session, and offers category filters that mirror iOS media-type tags: screenshots, videos, selfies, Live Photos, panoramas, favorites, and bursts. Those filters are Apple's media-type tags surfaced inside a fast swipe interface, not AI guesses. There are also Recent and On This Day decks.

It adds light gamification: streaks, levels (Photo Rookie to Photo Sorter to Storage Guru), milestones, storage goals and a shareable stats card, to keep a long cleanup feeling like progress. Siftly's listing does not advertise month-by-month sorting, stats or streaks; it organises its work around duplicate groups, large files, screenshots and photo dumps instead.

Where Siftly wins

Siftly is the better pick in several concrete cases, all checked on the App Store on 2026-09-25:

• Duplicate detection: it groups exact and near-duplicates. Pixtide finds none.
• Older iPhones: Siftly needs iOS 16.0; Pixtide needs iOS 18.0.
• Languages: Siftly's listing covers 13 languages. Pixtide's listing is in English.
• Heavy photos: Premium can convert large photos to save space, which Pixtide does not do.
• A one-off price: if you want duplicate tools for good, the $79.99 lifetime plan avoids a subscription.

Siftly is also a small app: 15.4 MB, 8 ratings worldwide and a 5.0 average from its single US rating, with no written reviews yet. That is too few ratings to judge it either way, and the same is true of Pixtide, which launched in 2026 and is newer than most swipe cleaners.

One honest limitation

Pixtide does not detect duplicates, and that is the biggest thing Siftly does that Pixtide does not. For exact copies, use the Duplicates album in Apple Photos, which is free. Pixtide also shows only the representative photo of a burst, and deleting it removes the representative only, so prune individual burst frames in the Photos app. Pixtide is iPhone only and needs iOS 18.0 or later.

If those matter to you, that is a legitimate reason to keep Siftly in the mix, or to lean on Apple's tools alongside Pixtide.

Which should you pick?

Choose Siftly if you want exact and near-duplicate grouping, run iOS 16 or 17, want the app in your own language, and are comfortable paying $11.99 a week, $39.99 a year or $79.99 lifetime to lift its limits (prices checked on the App Store on 2026-09-25).

Choose Pixtide if you want to swipe as much as you like for free, decide every photo yourself, keep maybes in a Decide Later queue, and scrub through video before judging it. There is no AI, no ads, no subscription, and no swipe limit, just a fast manual layer on top of the safety nets your iPhone already has. If you are still weighing options, Pixtide vs Swipewipe covers another popular swipe cleaner, and the Pixtide features overview lays out everything in one place.

Both apps are manual swipe cleaners at heart, so neither is a bad choice. The honest deciding factors are whether you want duplicate grouping and whether you are willing to pay for it. If unlimited, you-decide swiping for free sounds right, Pixtide is built for exactly that.

Pixtide is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Siftly. All product names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. This comparison reflects publicly available information as of September 2026; pricing and features change, so please check each app's App Store listing for the latest details.

Frequently asked questions

Siftly vs Pixtide, which photo cleaner should I use?

Pick Siftly: Camera Roll Cleaner if you want duplicate and near-duplicate grouping, support for iOS 16 and a listing in 13 languages, and you are willing to pay $11.99 a week, $39.99 a year or $79.99 lifetime for Premium (checked on the App Store on 2026-09-25). Pick Pixtide if you want a free swipe cleaner with no ads, no in-app purchases, no swipe limit, a Decide Later swipe and video playback.

Is Siftly photo cleaner free?

Siftly: Camera Roll Cleaner by Pavel Ilin is free to download, but its App Store description reserves unlimited cleanup sessions, smart duplicate detection and unlimited undo for Premium. Premium costs $11.99 a week, $39.99 a year or $79.99 lifetime in the US, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-25. Pixtide is free with no subscription, no in-app purchases and no limits.

Does Siftly have a daily limit of 40 swipes?

No. The 40 photos a day free limit belongs to Sifty, a different swipe cleaner with a similar name. Siftly: Camera Roll Cleaner does not state a numeric free limit; its listing says Premium unlocks unlimited cleanup sessions and unlimited undo, checked on the App Store on 2026-09-25. Pixtide has no swipe or session limit and costs nothing.

Is Siftly safe and private?

Siftly says photos stay on the device and are not uploaded. Its App Store privacy label, checked on 2026-09-25, lists Usage Data as used to track you and Advertising Data as linked to you, and its privacy policy says it may use third-party ads and analytics. Pixtide's label reads Data Not Linked to You, and its anonymous statistics can be switched off in Settings.

Can I get back photos I deleted with Siftly or Pixtide?

Yes, for 30 days. Siftly and Pixtide both delete through Apple's Photos library, so a confirmed delete moves to the Recently Deleted album, where iOS keeps it for 30 days before removing it for good. Open Photos, go to Recently Deleted, select the photo and tap Recover. Pixtide also shows a review screen before anything is deleted.