Is Hazel or TreeSize better?

Neither clearly leads. Hazel starts at $42/one-time and TreeSize at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Hazel or TreeSize?

TreeSize has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $42/one-time for Hazel and Free for TreeSize.

Does Hazel or TreeSize run on more platforms?

Hazel runs on Mac. TreeSize runs on Windows.

Can I use TreeSize for free?

Yes. TreeSize has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Hazel starts at $42/one-time.

What is Hazel best used for?

Hazel is most often used for a freelancer who wants invoices and receipts auto-filed into client folders based on the text inside them, anyone whose downloads folder becomes unmanageable and wants files auto-sorted by type or age, a photographer who wants imported files renamed by date pattern and moved to a project folder automatically, a user who wants old files in a scratch folder auto-deleted after a set number of days without remembering to clear it manually. Of those, a freelancer who wants invoices and receipts auto-filed into client folders based on the text inside them and anyone whose downloads folder becomes unmanageable and wants files auto-sorted by type or age are not what TreeSize is typically brought in for.

What can Hazel do that TreeSize cannot?

Hazel covers Folder watching, Conditional actions, Content-based matching, Duplicate detection. TreeSize covers Free edition licensed for business, Network share scanning, Reports by age and owner, Duplicate file search.

Utilities · head to head

Hazel vs TreeSize

Hazel

Utilities

Rule-based file organisation for macOS that watches folders and automatically files, renames or deletes

From: $42/one-time
Rated: -

Full review Website

TreeSize

Utilities

Windows disk space analyser whose free edition may be used commercially, with paid tiers for scheduled reporting

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only TreeSize has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Hazel there is no free tier, only a 14-day trial, so the full 42 dollar cost is a real barrier for a casual user just wanting one simple rule.; TreeSize it traverses directories rather than reading the NTFS master file table, so a local drive scan takes noticeably longer than the fastest alternatives.
They diverge on capability: Hazel covers Folder watching, TreeSize covers Free edition licensed for business.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hazel and TreeSize actually diverge.

Attributes where Hazel and TreeSize differ
Attribute	Hazel	TreeSize
Starting price	$42/one-time	Free
Pricing model	One-time purchase	quote
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Mac	Windows

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Utilities).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Hazel

Folder watching
Conditional actions
Content-based matching
Duplicate detection
Trash auto-empty
App Sweep

Only in TreeSize

Free edition licensed for business
Network share scanning
Reports by age and owner
Duplicate file search
Scheduled scans
Exports

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Hazel

A freelancer who wants invoices and receipts auto-filed into client folders based on the text inside themnot TreeSize
Anyone whose Downloads folder becomes unmanageable and wants files auto-sorted by type or agenot TreeSize
A photographer who wants imported files renamed by date pattern and moved to a project folder automaticallynot TreeSize
A user who wants old files in a scratch folder auto-deleted after a set number of days without remembering to clear it manuallynot TreeSize

TreeSize

Deploying one free disk analyser across a company without a personal-use licence problemnot Hazel
Reporting on a file server by owner and file age before an archiving or quota decisionnot Hazel
Finding duplicate files spread across departmental network sharesnot Hazel
Producing a storage report for someone who will read a PDF but not run a scannot Hazel

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Hazel

There is no free tier, only a 14-day trial, so the full 42 dollar cost is a real barrier for a casual user just wanting one simple rule.
Rules are entirely hand-built, so the tool provides no value until a user invests time writing and testing conditions.
A misconfigured rule can silently move, rename or delete the wrong files, and mistakes are only obvious after the fact unless tested carefully first.
It is Mac only, so it does nothing for a Windows machine sharing the same file workflow.
It focuses purely on file automation, so a user also wanting window management, clipboard history or gesture control needs entirely separate tools.

TreeSize

It traverses directories rather than reading the NTFS master file table, so a local drive scan takes noticeably longer than the fastest alternatives.
It is Windows only, so file servers running Linux or a NAS appliance need a different tool or a share mounted from a Windows machine.
Useful features are spread across three paid tiers, so the single capability a buyer needs frequently sits two tiers above the one they were considering.
Scanning large network shares generates significant traffic and takes hours, which means it has to be scheduled rather than run when someone asks the question.
Pricing is per licence with separate maintenance, so an accurate total for a team requires a quote rather than a figure from the website.

Pricing, plan by plan

Hazel

$42/one-time

Single User Licence$42/one-time
- One user, Hazel 6
- Free updates within the major version
- 14-day free trial before purchase
Family Pack$65/one-time
- Multiple users covered under one purchase
- Same feature set as the single licence

TreeSize

Free

TreeSize FreeFree
- Folder size analysis and treemap
- Licensed for private and commercial use
- Basic exports
TreeSize Personal, Professional and Enterprise$undefined/year
- File search, duplicate detection and full exports
- Network share and file server scanning
- Scheduled unattended scans and stored reports

Which should you pick?

Choose Hazel if

You need folder watching.
You work on Mac.
You also want conditional actions.

Hazel review

Choose TreeSize if

You need free edition licensed for business.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Windows.
You also want network share scanning.

TreeSize review

Questions people ask

Is Hazel or TreeSize better?: Neither clearly leads. Hazel starts at $42/one-time and TreeSize at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hazel or TreeSize?: TreeSize has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $42/one-time for Hazel and Free for TreeSize.
Does Hazel or TreeSize run on more platforms?: Hazel runs on Mac. TreeSize runs on Windows.
Can I use TreeSize for free?: Yes. TreeSize has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Hazel starts at $42/one-time.
What is Hazel best used for?: Hazel is most often used for a freelancer who wants invoices and receipts auto-filed into client folders based on the text inside them, anyone whose downloads folder becomes unmanageable and wants files auto-sorted by type or age, a photographer who wants imported files renamed by date pattern and moved to a project folder automatically, a user who wants old files in a scratch folder auto-deleted after a set number of days without remembering to clear it manually. Of those, a freelancer who wants invoices and receipts auto-filed into client folders based on the text inside them and anyone whose downloads folder becomes unmanageable and wants files auto-sorted by type or age are not what TreeSize is typically brought in for.
What can Hazel do that TreeSize cannot?: Hazel covers Folder watching, Conditional actions, Content-based matching, Duplicate detection. TreeSize covers Free edition licensed for business, Network share scanning, Reports by age and owner, Duplicate file search.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Hazel: Is Hazel a subscription?

No. It is a one-time purchase per major version, currently 42 US dollars for a single user licence.

TreeSize: Is TreeSize Free really free for business use?

Yes. JAM Software licenses the free edition for private and commercial use, which is the main reason it appears on corporate machines where other free analysers are not permitted.

Hazel: Can Hazel read the content of files, not just names?

Yes, rules can match on text found inside supported file types such as PDFs and text documents.

TreeSize: Why is it slower than WizTree?

Method. WizTree reads the NTFS master file table; TreeSize walks the directory tree, which is slower but works on network shares and non-NTFS volumes.

Hazel: Does Hazel run in the background automatically?

Yes, it watches configured folders continuously and applies rules as files change, with no manual trigger needed.

TreeSize: Can it scan a NAS or Linux file server?

It scans them as network shares over SMB, with the speed penalty that implies. There is no agent that runs on the server itself.

TreeSize: What does the Enterprise tier add?

Scheduled unattended scans, stored historical results and reporting across servers, which is the difference between a cleanup tool and a storage reporting system.

Hazel vs TreeSize

Hazel

TreeSize

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Hazel

Only in TreeSize

What people use each for

Hazel

TreeSize

Where each one falls short

Hazel

TreeSize

Pricing, plan by plan

Hazel

TreeSize

Which should you pick?

Choose Hazel if

Choose TreeSize if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Hazel

More on TreeSize

Keep looking

Other head to heads