I’ve been using CCleaner since the early “Crap Cleaner” days, long before the subscription model. Up until last July I was still on the free version, and I upgraded because I believed the paid product would preserve — and improve — the tools I relied on. Instead, the opposite has happened.
Over the past year, CCleaner has steadily removed or buried the very functions that made it worth using. Custom Clean is now hidden behind layers of UI meant to push me toward automated “Smart Cleaning,” which I do not want. Cookies to Keep, once a simple, essential control panel, is now effectively gone. The interface is cluttered with subscription nags and upsell banners, even though I’m already a paid user. And the workflow I’ve used for years — manual, precise, predictable cleaning — has been replaced with a system that assumes it knows better than I do.
I didn’t subscribe to CCleaner for automation. I subscribed because I trusted the product’s original philosophy: transparency, user control, and respect for long‑time customers. What I’m seeing now is a shift toward hiding controls, removing options, and funneling users into features they didn’t ask for.
My subscription was under $30 when I signed up. Now it’s set to renew at more than double that, while delivering less of what I actually use. I’m asking for a clear explanation of why these core features were removed or buried, and whether CCleaner intends to restore them. If not, I need to know before my renewal date so I can make an informed decision.
I’m not looking for canned responses or marketing language. I want a direct answer about the product’s direction and whether long‑time users who prefer manual control are still part of CCleaner’s roadmap.