Can I use Tidy and Hazel together?

Yes. Some users keep Hazel for complex workflows and use Tidy for screenshots, installers and Downloads, where its zero-config automation and AI renaming shine. Just avoid pointing both at the same folder with conflicting rules.

Does Tidy work on Intel Macs?

Yes. Tidy is a universal app for macOS 14 or later, on both Apple Silicon and Intel. The optional AI features (natural-language rules and free-form renaming prompts) require Apple Intelligence on macOS 26.

Is Tidy really a one-time payment?

Yes. Tidy costs $9 once, with lifetime updates and a 14-day money-back guarantee. There is no subscription.

Tidy.

Honest comparison · 2026

Tidy vs Hazel: which Mac auto-organizer should you buy?

Q: Is Tidy a full replacement for Hazel?

For most people who want their Downloads and Desktop to organize themselves, yes. If you rely on deeply nested custom rules, AppleScript hooks, or watching many arbitrary folders recursively, Hazel remains the power tool.

Both apps make your Mac clean itself. They just believe in very different things — and one of them costs almost five times more.

Updated August 2026 · Written by the developer of Tidy — bias disclosed, honesty guaranteed.

The 20-second verdict: if you want deeply customized, folder-by-folder automation with AppleScript hooks and don't mind building rules for an afternoon, Hazel ($42) is the veteran power tool and still excellent. If you want your screenshots, installers and Downloads handled the minute you install it — with on-device AI renaming and a one-time $9 price — that's exactly what Tidy was built for.

Side by side

	Tidy	Hazel
Price	$9 once, lifetime updates	$42 once (major upgrades paid)
Time to first result	~2 minutes, zero config	You build every rule yourself
Create rules in plain language (AI)	Yes — on-device, macOS 26	No
Rename files from their content	Yes, out of the box — OCR on images & scanned PDFs names the file for you, plus free-form AI naming prompts	Hazel 6 can OCR PDFs and images on-the-fly for rule matching, and captured tokens can be used in renames — powerful, but you build every pattern yourself
Dry-run mode (preview before anything moves)	Yes — the full plan of every move, before anything happens	Rule preview shows matching files; Hazel 6 added per-file Revert in Finder
Ejects .dmg + trashes the installer	Yes, automatic	Partially — a rule can trash old .dmg files, but ejecting the mounted volume needs a custom AppleScript
Watch any folder, deeply nested	Downloads, the Desktop if you add it, and any other folder you pick; subfolders optional, folder by folder	Yes — any folders, recursive
AppleScript / shell hooks	No	Yes
Interface languages	English · Spanish · German · Portuguese · French	English
Safety design	Never deletes; Trash-first; only touches new files; run-level undo	Hazel 6 added Revert File (undo moves/renames from Finder); deletion behavior depends on the rules you write
Privacy	100% on-device, no account, its only network call is the update check	Also fully local

Updated September 5, 2026 — the language row said three languages (Tidy speaks five since 2.6) and the subfolder row said Tidy never enters subfolders, which stopped being true in 2.2, when they became optional per folder. Both corrected. Earlier, August 14, 2026 — a MacRumors reader pointed out our Hazel column was written against an older Hazel and didn't credit Hazel 6's on-the-fly OCR matching and Revert File. He was right; the table above reflects the correction.

Where Hazel wins — genuinely

Depth. Nested conditions, custom tokens, watching a dozen arbitrary folders recursively: Hazel's rule engine has had almost two decades of refinement and it shows.
Extensibility. AppleScript and shell-script hooks let Hazel trigger anything on your Mac. Tidy deliberately doesn't go there.
Maturity. Noodlesoft has maintained Hazel since 2006. That track record matters.

If you read those three points and felt excitement rather than exhaustion, buy Hazel — sincerely.

Where Tidy wins

It works before you configure anything. Screenshots archived, installers ejected and trashed, Downloads sorted by type — from minute one, with safe defaults (it never touches your pre-existing files).
AI that stays on your Mac. Describe a rule in plain words and it builds itself. Write a free-form renaming prompt ("in German, lowercase, date at the end") and the on-device model names your files that way. Nothing ever leaves the machine.
OCR renaming. A screenshot or a scanned PDF gets a real name from what's inside it — "download (3).pdf" becomes "power-bill-08-2026.pdf".
Trust by architecture. Dry-run preview, Trash-only, searchable history, one-click undo of a whole run. You can hand it to your least technical friend.
$9. Once. Less than a fourth of Hazel's price, and it speaks English, Spanish, German, Portuguese and French.

★★★★★

„Aufräumen kann so einfach sein.“

Independent 5/5-star review — wattblicker.de (Germany)

Read the full review →

Frequently asked

Is Tidy a full replacement for Hazel?

For most people who want Downloads and Desktop to organize themselves: yes. If you rely on deeply nested rules, AppleScript hooks or many watched folders, Hazel remains the power tool.

Can I use both together?

Yes — several users do. Keep Hazel for complex workflows and let Tidy own screenshots, installers and Downloads. Just don't point both at the same folder with conflicting rules.

Does Tidy run on Intel Macs?

Yes — universal app, macOS 14 or later. Only the optional AI features require Apple Intelligence (macOS 26).

Is $9 really the whole price?

Yes. One payment, lifetime updates, 14-day money-back guarantee, no subscription.

Try the $9 one

Install Tidy today and your Mac starts tidying itself before your coffee cools down.

Get Tidy — $9 once

One-time payment · 14-day guarantee · macOS 14+, Apple Silicon & Intel

Comparison based on publicly available pricing and features as of August 2026. Hazel is a trademark of Noodlesoft, LLC — a genuinely good app we respect; this page exists because people keep asking us for the differences. Corrections welcome at hola@tidymacapp.com.

Also worth reading: Tidy vs NameQuick · Tidy vs Zush · Tidy vs Keep It Shot · Tidy vs Sortio · Apple’s on-device model takes no images · The model stole a word · A Mac file organizer with no subscription