iPhone Photo Cleaners With a One-Time Purchase (2026)

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Seventeen iPhone photo cleaners sold a one-time or lifetime unlock when I checked the App Store on 4 Nov 2026, and 15 of them also sold subscriptions. Pixtide is free with 1,000 sorts every 7 days and an optional one-time Pro, $14.99 once (£14.99 in the UK). Gallery Cleaner lists one $4.99 upgrade. Rival one-time items ran from $0.99 to $79.99.

I make Pixtide, so this page is written by its maker. I name where the other apps win and which of them cost less.

One-time prices, free tiers and subscriptions

Every rival price below was checked on the App Store on 4 Nov 2026, on the US and UK store pages. Pixtide's price comes from the site's price file. The "Ads label" column shows whether the store page carries Apple's Contains Advertising label.

Minus Photos sits just outside the table: its UK page lists "Minus PRO Lifetime Membership" at £39.99 and £59.99, while its US items are all named "Minus PRO", so a lifetime option cannot be confirmed there.

Picks by need

The free tier matters as much as the unlock price, because it decides whether you need to pay at all.

• One purchase, no subscription on offer, no ads: Pixtide. Pro is $14.99 once (£14.99 in the UK), checked on 27 Oct 2026, and the free tier needs no payment at all.
• Lowest price with nothing else on sale: Gallery Cleaner at $4.99, if you accept ads until you upgrade.
• Tools beyond swiping, such as compression: Clever Cleaner at $39.99.
• Sorting into albums: Slidebox at $29.99 or $49.99.
• Free sorting, paying only to delete: Unroller, with 15 free deletions in total.

Pixtide

Pixtide is a free iPhone swipe cleaner whose only purchase for sorting is a one-time Pro, with no weekly plan, no subscription and no trial. The free tier gives 1,000 sorts every 7 days with no daily limit, so all 1,000 can go in one day, and they refill 7 days after your first sort. Reviewing and deleting what you have already sorted stays free. Pixtide Pro adds unlimited sorting and clearing a whole Similar shots group in one tap. Finding those groups is free: Similar shots finds bursts, duplicates and blurry photos with Apple's on-device Vision and suggests which to keep. Deleting a burst removes every frame.

There are no ads, there is no account, and your photo library is never uploaded. Its limits are plain: it needs iOS 18 or later on iPhone, it has no iPad version, it compresses nothing, and it launched in 2026, so it has 36 US ratings (4.75, checked on the App Store on 4 Nov 2026) far fewer than the older apps.

Gallery Cleaner

Gallery Cleaner lists exactly one in-app purchase, a $4.99 Premium Upgrade, checked on the App Store on 4 Nov 2026. That makes it the other app here with no subscription in its list, and it costs less than most lifetime items in the table. It has been on the App Store since 2015 under earlier names and holds 4.71 stars from 692 US ratings. Its listing places "No Limit! Clean all the photos you want" and "Ad Free!" under Premium, so the free version has a limit and ads, though the number is not stated. Nothing in the listing calls the upgrade a subscription, but I have not confirmed the purchase inside the app.

Clever Cleaner

Clever Cleaner holds 4.78 stars from 84,666 US ratings, checked on the App Store on 4 Nov 2026, far more than most apps in this table. Its listing offers "a weekly plan with a 3-day free trial or a one-time lifetime purchase", at $6.99 and $39.99. It carries no ads label, and it says "Swipe has no daily limit", so swiping alone may never need the purchase. It also does more than swiping, and it supports iOS 16 where Pixtide needs iOS 18. Not everyone expected the price: "it's $6.99 a week or $39.99 for a lifetime. Where's the free Clever Cleaner??!!" (1 star, 1 Sep 2026). Is Clever Cleaner free? covers the free tier, and Pixtide vs Clever Cleaner sets the two side by side.

Slidebox

Slidebox lists lifetime items at $29.99 and $49.99 beside weekly and yearly plans, checked on the App Store on 4 Nov 2026. Its description says you can "unlock the full version of Slidebox permanently". It holds 4.81 stars from 16,706 US ratings, and filing photos into albums is its strength. One reviewer wrote: "Easily the simplest and cleanest photo organizer and I'm so happy it doesn't have a monthly subscription." (5 stars, 6 Jul 2026). The free version carries the Contains Advertising label, and reviews since about September 2025 say it reaches only the most recent year. The description still quotes monthly and annual prices that do not match the item list, so trust the paywall. See Is Slidebox free? for more.

Flic

Flic gives 50 free swipes a day and sells Premium at $6.99 a month, $39.99 a year or $49.99 lifetime, checked on the App Store on 4 Nov 2026. Its listing says "No ads, no account", there is no weekly plan, and Premium adds unlimited swiping and its AI features. The list also holds a $24.99 "Flic Premium Lifetime Offer"; the listing does not say when that price appears. Against the annual plan, the $49.99 lifetime pays for itself after 15 months. It holds 4.53 stars from 1,127 US ratings. The Flic alternatives page goes further.

Unroller

Unroller lets you swipe and sort for free, then charges for deleting. Its listing says "Delete up to 15 photos and videos in total for free", after which deleting needs Pro. Two lifetime items are listed, at $14.99 and $49.99, checked on the App Store on 4 Nov 2026, and the listing does not say which one the paywall shows or whether $14.99 is an offer. Its weekly plan is $6.99, its monthly plan $9.99 and its yearly plan $39.99. It carries no ads label, holds 4.70 stars from 176 US ratings and supports iOS 17. Its updates come often, so prices here move: on 29 Sep 2026 its lifetime items were $44.99 and $79.99. The Unroller alternatives page has the details.

Swipy, Swipe Guru and Swipp

These three list low lifetime prices, and each comes with a catch worth reading. Prices here were checked on the App Store on 4 Nov 2026.

Swipy lists "Lifetime Access" at $0.99 among ten items running up to $29.99, including a "Hidden Offer". The listing does not say who sees that price, so treat it as unconfirmed until your own paywall shows it. Reviews describe a cooldown between free sessions.

Swipe Guru lists "Premium Lifetime Access" at $19.99. Its description gives a week price of $3.99 while the item list shows $5.99. Reviewers report that only a few months are open for free, with more behind a rewarded ad.

Swipp lists Lifetime at $19.99 and carries the Contains Advertising label. Reviewers say swiping is not capped, and the listing does not state what Premium unlocks.

Lifetime items sold beside plans

Most apps in this table sell a lifetime item next to recurring plans, and the store page does not show which one a paywall leads with. Favvy, SwipePhotos, Siftly, Cleaner Neat and PixSwipe all list weekly plans, so a lifetime item may not be the first option you see.

Favvy's $49.99 lifetime sits beside six other items, with weekly plans from $4.99. One Favvy reviewer asked for exactly this page's subject: "I wish there would be a one time purchase option instead of a subscription" (4 stars, 10 Feb 2026). SwipePhotos has no free tier: "sorting and deleting need a purchase", and it lists three lifetime prices, $29.99, $39.99 and $69.99, with one purchase covering iPhone and Mac. Tidy's $49.99 lifetime is described plainly as "one-time purchase", and the Tidy listing sells a $14.99 annual plan, so the lifetime item only comes out ahead in the fourth year. Siftly's $79.99 lifetime is the highest price here, and it equals two years of its $39.99 annual plan.

All prices in this section were checked on the App Store on 4 Nov 2026. The no-subscription swipe cleaner comparison covers more of them.

What "lifetime" means on the App Store

A one-time unlock is a different kind of purchase from a subscription, and Apple describes the two separately. Apple says "You buy non-consumable in-app purchases once", while "Subscriptions renew automatically unless you cancel them". A subscription can be stopped in Settings, as Apple's cancellation page shows.

A one-time purchase can often be restored. Apple says you might be able to restore a non-consumable purchase, and to look for a restore option in the app's store, main menu or Settings, signed in to the same Apple Account you used to buy it.

"Lifetime" means the life of the app, not yours. A 13 Aug 2026 App Store review of Cleaner Kit says a lifetime purchase was no longer honoured, and its current list shows no lifetime item. That is one reviewer's report, but it is a reason to look at how recently an app was updated before paying.

How to choose

Four checks settle most of this before you pay anything.

1. Try Apple's free tools first. Photos groups duplicates in the Duplicates album under Utilities, at no cost.
2. Use the free tier for one real session. See whether it runs out at 15 deletions, 50 swipes or 1,000 sorts.
3. Read the item name on the paywall. Look for "lifetime" or "one-time", and for a trial that turns into a plan.
4. Divide the price. Clever Cleaner's $39.99 lifetime costs less than six weeks of its $6.99 plan, but check first whether the free tier covers your clean-up.

Whatever you buy, deleted photos go to Recently Deleted for 30 days, according to Apple, so a mistake can be undone within that window. For apps with no paid tier at all, see which photo cleaner apps are free.

How I checked

I read the US and UK App Store pages and the iTunes lookup for each app on 4 Nov 2026, after scanning the roughly 40 photo cleaners I track for items named lifetime or one-time. Store pages show at most about ten in-app purchases, so an app with many items may list more than I saw, and they do not show which item a paywall offers you. Free-tier notes marked "per reviews" come from dated App Store reviews, not from testing each app. Prices change, and paywalls can differ by country and by person.

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

Frequently asked questions

Is there a photo cleaner app for iPhone with a one-time purchase and no subscription?

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Yes. Pixtide is free with 1,000 sorts every 7 days and sells one optional one-time Pro with no subscription. Gallery Cleaner lists a single $4.99 Premium Upgrade and no subscription terms, checked on the App Store on 4 Nov 2026, but its listing carries the Contains Advertising label. The 15 other apps in this table sell a lifetime item alongside subscriptions.

How much is a lifetime photo cleaner app on iPhone?

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Listed US prices ran from $0.99 to $79.99, checked on the App Store on 4 Nov 2026. Clever Cleaner is $39.99, Slidebox lists $29.99 and $49.99, Flic and Favvy list $49.99, and Siftly is $79.99. Eleven of 16 rivals listed a one-time item at $39.99 or more. Several apps list two or three lifetime prices, so read the paywall before paying.

Does Clever Cleaner have a one-time purchase?

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Yes. Clever Cleaner lists a lifetime purchase at $39.99 (£39.99 in the UK) beside a $6.99 weekly plan with a 3-day trial, checked on the App Store on 4 Nov 2026. Its listing says Swipe has no daily limit and that the other tools work within free daily limits. The app has no Contains Advertising label and 4.78 stars from 84,666 US ratings.

Can I get a one-time purchase back on a new iPhone?

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Often, yes. Apple says a non-consumable purchase such as a pro upgrade might be restorable, and that you should look for a restore option in the app's store, main menu or Settings. Sign in with the same Apple Account you used to buy it. Apple also says non-consumable purchases can be used on any device tied to that Apple Account.

Is a lifetime photo cleaner cheaper than a subscription?

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It depends on the plan it replaces. Clever Cleaner's $39.99 lifetime costs less than six payments of its $6.99 weekly plan, while Tidy's $49.99 lifetime only beats its $14.99 annual plan in the fourth year, checked on the App Store on 4 Nov 2026. Check whether the free tier covers your clean-up before paying at all.