Tidy vs Zush: renaming, or tidying up?

The important difference is not the price. Zush is a naming layer: by its own description, it does not move files between folders.

Written by the developer of Tidy — bias disclosed. Verified on their own site, 5 September 2026.

The 20-second verdict: If what you want is a very configurable naming convention applied across a mixed folder — and you are happy to keep the files where they are — Zush does that well, on Mac and Windows. If you want the folder to end up organized, not just renamed, that is Tidy.

Side by side

What	Tidy	Zush
Price	One payment, lifetime updates	$36 one-time (limited offer, normally $48) + VAT, or $10 / month + VAT
Moves files into folders	Yes — rules, subfolders, group by month	No. It “renames files in place” and “does not move files between folders”
What you must bring	Nothing	Their cloud, or your own API key (Gemini, OpenRouter, OpenAI, Claude), or a local model
Where documents are read	On your Mac, always	Their cloud, your provider, or local via Ollama / LM Studio
macOS version	macOS 14 and up	macOS 15 and up
Platforms	macOS	macOS and Windows
Free trial	None — 14-day money-back guarantee instead	50 AI renames, no signup, no card
Search inside your files	Yes — global panel, including scanned PDFs	Not its purpose
Handles screenshots and installers on their own	Yes — archives screenshots, ejects the .dmg, trashes the installer	Not its purpose
Deletes anything	Never. Trash only, one-click undo	No deletion advertised
Interface languages	English · Spanish · German · Portuguese · French	English

Their figures come from zushapp.com as published on 5 September 2026, including the quoted sentence about not moving files.

Where Zush genuinely wins

Windows. Same as before: if you work on both, Tidy is not for you.
Naming conventions. Zush is built around applying your format across a mixed folder, and it goes deeper on that one job than Tidy does.
You can try it for nothing. Fifty renames with no signup at all is a generous, confident offer.

If your files are already where you want them and only the names are wrong, Zush is a good buy.

Where Tidy wins

It tidies, not only renames. Rules move files into folders, group them by month, archive screenshots, eject a mounted .dmg and trash the installer. Zush states plainly that it does not move files between folders.
It runs on macOS 14. Zush needs macOS 15, which leaves out Macs that are perfectly healthy.
No key, no provider, no account. The recognition is the one already in your Mac.
It searches inside your documents afterwards, including scans Spotlight cannot read.
It never deletes, and it shows the plan first.

Frequently asked

Does Zush organize my folders?

By its own description, no: it renames files in place and does not move them between folders. It is a naming layer. Tidy does both.

Is Zush cheaper than Tidy?

No. At the time of writing Zush costs $36 on a limited offer, normally $48, plus VAT, or $10 a month plus VAT. Tidy is a single payment well below that.

Does Tidy work on macOS 14?

Yes, macOS 14 and later, on Apple Silicon and Intel. Zush requires macOS 15 or later.

Can I use both?

You could, but keep them off the same folder. Two tools renaming the same files at the same time is a bad idea whichever two you pick.

Try the quiet one

Tidy does not just rename the file. It puts it where it belongs, and lets you find it again by what it says inside.

Get Tidy

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

Prices and features checked on zushapp.com on 5 September 2026 and quoted as published. Zush is a trademark of its owner. If anything here is out of date or unfair, write to hola@tidymacapp.com and I will correct it — that has happened before and I did.

The other comparisons: Tidy vs Hazel · Tidy vs NameQuick · Tidy vs Keep It Shot · Tidy vs Sortio · Why these apps charge monthly