FileDial vs Clop
By Himanshu Ranjan · Updated 8 November 2026
Clop is a Mac optimizer from lowtechguys that shrinks images, video, PDFs and audio automatically, even as you copy them, with a free tier and a €15 lifetime Pro license. FileDial is a $20 Mac toolkit of 525 tools picked from a dial in Finder. Both run locally. Choose Clop for hands-off optimization, FileDial for a wider range of file jobs.
At a glance
| FileDial | Clop | |
|---|---|---|
| Where files are processed | On your Mac, files are never uploaded | On your Mac, no cloud services |
| Platforms | macOS 14+, Apple silicon (M1 or newer) | macOS 14+ |
| Price | $20 once, lifetime license for 2 Macs, 14-day refund | Free version; Pro €15 once |
| Trial | 1-day trial of every tool, no card | 14-day Pro trial, then free features stay |
| Automatic optimization | Watched folders run a recipe on new files | Clipboard, drop zone and watched folders |
| Clipboard images | Not a feature | Optimizes every copied image, free |
| Original file | New copy beside the original, with Undo | Optimizes in place, original kept in a backup folder |
| Batch | Select many files, one tool on all | Free: 5 files per drop; batch mode is Pro |
| Command line | No | clop CLI included |
| PDF jobs | 155 tools: merge, split, OCR, redact, sign | Optimize and crop PDFs |
| Number of tools | 525 across 10 file types | Focused on optimizing, converting, resizing |
Details about Clop come from its own website and documentation, checked 2026-11-09. Prices and features change; check the source links below.
About Clop
A Mac app that optimizes images, videos, PDFs and audio, including images copied to the clipboard, using tools such as pngquant, jpegoptim, ffmpeg and Ghostscript.
Platforms: Mac, macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. Price: Free version, free forever, with several features capped at 5 per session. Clop Pro: €15 lifetime license, one-time; 14-day Pro trial.. Where files are processed: On your Mac; Clop says it uses no cloud services and sends no file data to the internet.
Choose Clop if
- You want screenshots and copied images shrunk automatically without doing anything.
- You want a free tool and can live with 5 files at a time.
- You script from Terminal and want a clop command, or want an MCP server for AI agents.
- You only need optimization, conversion to modern formats and cropping.
Choose FileDial if
- You also merge, split, OCR, redact or sign PDFs.
- You want results as new files beside the originals rather than replaced in place.
- You want named jobs like Compress › Compress under 1 MB or Resize › Instagram square (1080×1080).
- You handle documents, spreadsheets, subtitles and archives too.
Two local apps with different ideas
Clop is a good indie app built around automation. Its site says it optimizes an image the moment you copy it, watches folders and a drop zone, and chains actions into pipelines you can run from the right-click menu or the command line. It bundles open source encoders including pngquant, jpegoptim, gifsicle, ffmpeg, libvips, gifski and Ghostscript, and can use Apple silicon's Media Engine for video. Its GitHub repository says the app is licensed under GPLv3.
FileDial is built around choosing a specific job. You select files in Finder, hold the right Option key, and a dial of categories and tools opens at the pointer. Neither app uploads anything, so privacy is not the deciding factor here: workflow and scope are.
Where each one goes further
Clop goes further on hands-off optimization. Clipboard optimization is free and unlimited, and Pro adds batch mode and drops of more than 5 files. It also converts HEIC, TIFF and MOV to more compatible formats and supports JPEG XL, WebP and AVIF. When it optimizes a dropped file in place, the original goes to a backup folder.
FileDial goes further on breadth. For photos there are Compress › Compress to size…, Convert › Convert to AVIF, Privacy › Remove location and Resize › Smart crop 4:5. For video, Compress › Compress to 720p took a 366 MB 1080p file to 117 MB in 23 seconds on a MacBook. For PDFs there are Combine › Merge PDFs, OCR › Make searchable and Sign & Lock › Redact text…, which Clop does not offer.
Price
Clop's free version stays free, and Pro is a €15 lifetime license after a 14-day trial. FileDial is $20 once after a 1-day trial, works on 2 Macs and has a 14-day refund. If optimization is all you need, Clop is the cheaper and more focused choice.
Questions
Does Clop upload files?
No. Clop's site says it does not use any cloud services and does not send file data to the internet. FileDial also runs every tool on the Mac without uploading.
Is Clop free?
Clop has a free version its developer says is free forever, with some features limited to 5 per session and 5 files per drop. Clop Pro is a €15 one-time lifetime license.
Does Clop replace my original files?
When you drop images or videos, Clop optimizes them in place and keeps the originals in a backup folder. FileDial saves a new file beside the original and offers Undo.