Emptie vs AI Cleaner
Updated 25 October 2026 · By Dimitar Zurnov, who makes Emptie. Facts about AI Cleaner are from its App Store listing; we haven’t tested it.
AI Cleaner is a storage cleaner that does many things, video compression among them, on a subscription. Emptie only does video: it compresses the videos in your library on your iPhone and replaces the originals, keeping their dates, places, favorites and albums, for free. Pick AI Cleaner for an all-in-one tool; pick Emptie if video is what fills your phone.
At a glance
| Emptie | AI Cleaner | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A video compressor that replaces originals in your Photos library | Storage cleaner: Finds duplicate photos and videos, sorts photos by swipe, tidies email, contacts and calendar events, and compresses photos and videos at high, medium or low levels. |
| Price | Free. Optional $2.99 one-time Founding Supporter purchase | Free download. Plans are listed from $6.99 to $9.99 a week, $9.99–$19.99 a month, $19.99 for 6 months and $29.99–$34.99 a year. |
| A year of use | $0 | $29.99–$34.99 a year (yearly plans), or $363–$519 a year if kept on a weekly plan |
| App Store privacy label | Data Not Collected (planned) | Data Used to Track You · Data Linked to You · Data Not Linked to You |
| Replaces the original for you | Yes, after a side-by-side review and one iOS confirmation | Not stated in the listing |
| Keeps date, location, favorites and albums | Yes, and checks each copy before deleting an original | Not stated in the listing |
| Sorted by space you would free | Yes | Not stated in the listing |
| Runs with the phone locked | Yes, with progress in the Dynamic Island | Not stated in the listing |
| Requires | iOS 26 or later (iPhone 11 and newer) | iOS 15.0 or later |
| US ratings | Not released yet | 4.58 from 210,613 ratings |
“Not stated in the listing” means we didn’t find it in the App Store description, not that the app can’t do it.
What AI Cleaner does well
- Covers email, contacts and calendar as well as photos and video
- Compresses photos as well as videos, with three levels to choose from
- Highly rated (4.58 on more than 210,000 US ratings)
Best for: People who want to compress photos as well as videos and tidy email and contacts in the same app.
Where Emptie is different
- Emptie is free instead of a weekly or yearly plan; an optional one-time $2.99 purchase supports the founder
- Emptie’s planned privacy label is “Data Not Collected”; AI Cleaner’s listing declares data used to track you
- Emptie sorts your videos by how much space compressing each one would free
- Emptie replaces the originals for you and keeps their dates, places, favorites and albums
What it costs over time
AI Cleaner: Free download. Plans are listed from $6.99 to $9.99 a week, $9.99–$19.99 a month, $19.99 for 6 months and $29.99–$34.99 a year. Kept for a year: $29.99–$34.99 a year (yearly plans), or $363–$519 a year if kept on a weekly plan.
Emptie is free. If it helps you, an optional one-time $2.99 Founding Supporter purchase supports the founder. Compressing a library is mostly a one-time job, so we don’t think it should cost you every week.
What happens to your original videos
This is where video apps differ most. Many save a smaller copy as a new item and leave you to find and delete the original yourself. Unless the app carries the details over, the copy can show up under today’s date and outside the albums the original was in.
Emptie keeps every original untouched until its compressed copy is saved to your library and checked: it plays, it’s the same length, and its date (with time zone), location, Favorite and Hidden status and albums arrived. You review each pair side by side, and one iOS confirmation replaces the batch. The originals stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days. Why the space comes back after you empty it.
Privacy
AI Cleaner’s App Store privacy label lists Data Used to Track You · Data Linked to You · Data Not Linked to You. Emptie’s will say Data Not Collected: no account, no upload, no ads and no analytics, and the app makes no network calls.
Which should you choose?
- Choose AI Cleaner: it’s best for people who want to compress photos as well as videos and tidy email and contacts in the same app.
- Choose Emptie: if videos are what fill your iPhone, you want them smaller without losing their dates and albums, and you’d rather not pay a subscription.
Frequently asked questions
Is Emptie a AI Cleaner alternative?
For video, yes. Emptie only handles video: it compresses the videos in your library and replaces the originals, keeping their details. If you also want duplicate photos or contacts sorted, AI Cleaner covers more ground.
How much does AI Cleaner cost compared with Emptie?
Free download. Plans are listed from $6.99 to $9.99 a week, $9.99–$19.99 a month, $19.99 for 6 months and $29.99–$34.99 a year. Emptie is free, with no subscription; an optional one-time $2.99 purchase supports the founder. Prices are from the US App Store listing as of 25 October 2026.
Does AI Cleaner collect data?
Its App Store privacy label lists: Data Used to Track You · Data Linked to You · Data Not Linked to You. Emptie’s planned label is “Data Not Collected”: it has no account, no analytics and makes no network calls.
How we compared
We read AI Cleaner: Clean Up Storage’s US App Store listing, in-app purchase list and privacy label on 25 October 2026. It was one of the 888 storage and video-compression apps we reviewed on 23 October 2026. We didn’t install or test it. Prices change, so check the listing before you buy. If something here is wrong, email [email protected] and we’ll fix it.