Hazel alternative: Peekaboo vs Hazel
By Vishva Variya · Updated
Hazel is automation. You point it at a folder, write rules, and from then on matching files are renamed, tagged, moved, archived or uploaded without you lifting a finger, with text recognition available inside a rule. Peekaboo has no folder-watching rules engine and isn’t trying to be one. It’s what you open when you need a particular file now, want to see what’s using space, or have years of files no rule ever touched.
Looking for Hazel itself? It’s at www.noodlesoft.com.
- Hazel price
- $42 (single user)
- Hazel requires
- macOS 13 (Hazel 6.1.2) or later
- Peekaboo
- $24.99 one-time, 14-day trial, macOS 14+
Hazel figures from noodlesoft.com, noodlesoft.com/release_notes and store.noodlesoft.com, verified 2026-11-02.
Why pick Peekaboo over Hazel?
Nothing to set up
Hazel pays off once your rules are written. Peekaboo is useful as soon as it has indexed your folders: describe a file and it’s on screen.
The backlog rules never reached
Clean Up surfaces downloads you haven’t opened in 90 days, old installers, stale screenshots, big old videos and unused apps, and you decide what goes.
Downloads sorted without moving them
Downloaded From groups every download by the site or app it came from, using macOS’s own “Where from” data. It’s a view; the files stay put.
Peekaboo vs Hazel, job by job
| Job | Hazel | Peekaboo |
|---|---|---|
| Acting on files as they arrive | Folder rules: rename, tag, move, archive, upload | No folder-watching rules engine |
| Finding one file right now | Not a search app | Plain-English search, file contents and text in images |
| Leftovers from deleted apps | App Sweep offers to remove them | App Uninstaller finds them, and can offer to clean up when an app goes to the Trash |
| Reclaiming disk space | Empties old Trash items, caps the Trash size | Space Map, Disk Usage and duplicates, with one-click undo |
| Price | $42 single user, $65 Family Pack | One-time per Mac, 14-day free trial |
The honest verdict
If you want files handled without ever looking at them, Hazel is the better choice and Peekaboo has nothing like its rules. Peekaboo is for the parts automation can’t do for you: finding the file you need this minute, and deciding what to clear with a picture of the disk in front of you. There’s no reason not to run both.
Hazel vs Peekaboo: questions
Can Peekaboo sort my Downloads folder automatically like Hazel?
- No. Peekaboo doesn’t move files when they arrive or on a schedule. Downloaded From groups downloads by source in its own view, without moving anything.
How much is Hazel?
- $42 for a single user, $65 for a Family Pack of up to five people in one household, or $20 to upgrade from an earlier version, per store.noodlesoft.com on November 2, 2026. Hazel 6.1.2 needs macOS 13 Ventura or later.
Do both apps have a free trial?
- Yes. Noodlesoft’s install guide describes a 14-day trial of Hazel, and Peekaboo has a 14-day trial with every feature unlocked.