Is Hazel or Yelp better?

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

Which is cheaper, Hazel or Yelp?

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

Does Hazel or Yelp run on more platforms?

Hazel runs on Mac. Yelp runs on iOS, Android, Web.

Can I use Yelp for free?

Yes. Yelp 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 Yelp is typically brought in for.

What can Hazel do that Yelp cannot?

Hazel covers Folder watching, Conditional actions, Content-based matching, Duplicate detection. Yelp covers Business search and reviews, Reservations and waitlist, Yelp Guest Manager listings, Request a Quote.

Utilities · head to head

Hazel vs Yelp

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

Yelp

Utilities

Local business reviews and search app whose real business is advertising and first party lead data

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Yelp 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.; Yelp its revenue model depends on selling advertising and leads to the same businesses being reviewed, which creates a structural tension over how neutral rankings and filtered reviews really are.
They diverge on capability: Hazel covers Folder watching, Yelp covers Business search and reviews.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hazel and Yelp actually diverge.

Attributes where Hazel and Yelp differ
Attribute	Hazel	Yelp
Starting price	$42/one-time	Free
Pricing model	One-time purchase	Free for consumers, advertising sold to businesses
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Mac	iOS, Android, Web

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 Yelp

Business search and reviews
Reservations and waitlist
Yelp Guest Manager listings
Request a Quote
Photos and menus
Collections and lists

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 Yelp
Anyone whose Downloads folder becomes unmanageable and wants files auto-sorted by type or agenot Yelp
A photographer who wants imported files renamed by date pattern and moved to a project folder automaticallynot Yelp
A user who wants old files in a scratch folder auto-deleted after a set number of days without remembering to clear it manuallynot Yelp

Yelp

Finding a nearby restaurant or service and reading recent customer reviews before visitingnot Hazel
Booking a table at a restaurant that uses Yelp for reservationsnot Hazel
Requesting quotes from local contractors or service providers for a specific jobnot Hazel
Checking a business's current hours, menu or photos before goingnot 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.

Yelp

Its revenue model depends on selling advertising and leads to the same businesses being reviewed, which creates a structural tension over how neutral rankings and filtered reviews really are.
Businesses can pay to have a competitor's ad appear on their own listing page, a practice that has drawn sustained criticism from small business owners.
Yelp's review filtering algorithm is not disclosed in detail, so businesses cannot audit why some reviews are filtered out as unreliable and others are not.
Review quality varies widely by category and city, with restaurants and nightlife much better covered than niche trades in smaller markets.
Consumer data such as searches and saved lists feeds Yelp's advertising and lead products sold to businesses, which is the actual monetisation even though the app itself is free.

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

Yelp

Free

Consumer appFree
- Free search, reviews and reservations

Which should you pick?

Choose Hazel if

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

Hazel review

Choose Yelp if

You need business search and reviews.
You want to start without paying.
You work on iOS, Android, Web.
You also want reservations and waitlist.

Yelp review

Questions people ask

Is Hazel or Yelp better?: Neither clearly leads. Hazel starts at $42/one-time and Yelp at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hazel or Yelp?: Yelp has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $42/one-time for Hazel and Free for Yelp.
Does Hazel or Yelp run on more platforms?: Hazel runs on Mac. Yelp runs on iOS, Android, Web.
Can I use Yelp for free?: Yes. Yelp 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 Yelp is typically brought in for.
What can Hazel do that Yelp cannot?: Hazel covers Folder watching, Conditional actions, Content-based matching, Duplicate detection. Yelp covers Business search and reviews, Reservations and waitlist, Yelp Guest Manager listings, Request a Quote.

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.

Yelp: Does Yelp cost anything to use as a reviewer?

No, browsing and writing reviews is free with no subscription.

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.

Yelp: How does Yelp actually make money?

From advertising and lead generation products sold to local businesses, not from consumers.

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.

Yelp: Can a business pay to remove negative reviews?

No, Yelp states paying for ads does not remove or bury negative reviews, though critics have long disputed how independent the ranking and filtering process really is.

Hazel vs Yelp

Hazel

Yelp

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Hazel

Only in Yelp

What people use each for

Hazel

Yelp

Where each one falls short

Hazel

Yelp

Pricing, plan by plan

Hazel

Yelp

Which should you pick?

Choose Hazel if

Choose Yelp if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Hazel

More on Yelp

Keep looking

Other head to heads