IFILEY VS HAZEL · UPDATED 29 SEPTEMBER 2026
A Hazel alternative with no rules to write
Hazel files what matches the rules you write. iFiley reads each download and works out where it goes, with no rules to write. Here's how they compare, honestly.
| WHAT YOU GET | iFiley | Hazel |
|---|---|---|
| How it knows where a file goes | Reads it and learns from your folders | Rules you write |
| Reads the words inside PDFs and scans | Yes, on your Mac | Through rule conditions |
| What it does besides filing | Renames and shrinks as it files | Renames, tags, archives, cleans the Trash, runs scripts |
| Price | $39 a year, or $99 once for every iFiley 1 update | $42 once, $20 for each paid upgrade |
| Family, up to 5 Macs | $79 a year, or $199 once | $65 once |
Where Hazel is better
Hazel does far more than file. It renames, tags, archives, empties the Trash on a schedule and runs your own scripts. If you like writing rules and want exact control over every folder on your Mac, it's been the Mac standard for years. Paid once, it also costs less than iFiley paid once.
Where iFiley is better
You don't write anything. iFiley reads each download, finds the folder it belongs in among the ones you already have, and files it with one press of Return. When a word keeps going to one folder, it offers to make that a rule for you, so you get rules without writing any.
How each one decides
Say an invoice from Bramblewood Joinery lands in Downloads. In Hazel, you write a rule for the Downloads folder: if the name or contents contain “Bramblewood”, move it to Clients / Bramblewood Joinery. You write one rule like that for every client, every supplier and every kind of file you care about.
iFiley reads the file's name, the text inside it, any names it spots and the site it came from, then weighs every folder you've given it. A rare word like “Bramblewood” counts for a lot. A word that turns up everywhere, like “invoice”, counts for nothing. The folder you filed the last Bramblewood invoice into gets a nudge too.
When a new client turns up
This is the real difference. With Hazel, a new client means a new rule, or the file sits in Downloads until you write one. iFiley has never seen the new client either, so it asks where the file goes, with a few folders that might fit. File it once, and next time it knows.
Your files, on your Mac
Both apps work on your Mac. iFiley reads, recognises text and ranks folders without sending your files anywhere. It only goes online to check your licence and to look for updates, and neither carries anything from your files.
Use both
They don't fight. Let iFiley file your downloads into the right folders, and keep Hazel for the clean-up jobs it's good at: emptying old files from the Trash, tagging, archiving. Just don't give both of them a rule for the same Downloads files, or they'll race each other.
Other Hazel alternatives
macOS has Folder Actions built in: attach an Automator workflow to Downloads and it runs on every new file. It's free, but you build and maintain each workflow yourself. Sparkle is the other AI option: it builds its own folder system rather than using yours.
Which one to pick
If you enjoy building rules and want an automation tool for your whole Mac, pick Hazel. If you want your downloads filed into the right folders without setting anything up, try iFiley for a week on your own files and see how often it gets the folder right.
Free for a week · macOS 14 and later
Try iFiley on your own downloads
Seven days, from the first file it catches. No card and no account. Notarised by Apple.
iFiley is made by us, so read this with that in mind. Hazel prices from noodlesoft.com as of 29 September 2026, in US dollars. Hazel is a trademark of Noodlesoft.