Comparison

Cyd vs Clean Express

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Cyd

Features
Read full description

Most tech platforms are controlled by a tiny group of powerful billionaires. You don't OWE them your data. Even posting on Bluesky is a privacy nightmare. Why should our social media posts remain on the internet forever? With Cyd for iPhone, you can: - CREATE A LOCAL, PRIVATE BACKUP OF YOUR DATA, including Bluesky posts, reposts, likes, bookmarks, and chat messages. - CHOOSE WHAT YOU WANT TO DELETE. You can delete it all, or you can be selective, deleting most of it but keeping what went viral. - SCHEDULE AUTOMATIC DELETION, keeping your online data as ephemeral as you want over time. The Cyd developers can't access your accounts or your data. - Cyd runs directly on your device, not on our servers. - Cyd is designed so that we don't have access to your accounts, or to any of your data in those accounts. We don't even record what your username is. - When you sign into a Bluesky account in Cyd, you grant the app running locally on your phone permission to access it, not us, the developers of the app. Cyd is open source. The code is available at: https://github.com/lockdown-systems/cyd-mobile Read our privacy policy at: https://cyd.social/privacy/ Read our EULA at: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Clean Express

This application allows users to read, download, and post articles on Usenet (NNTP) servers. It offers secure server connections, efficient group management, and robust attachment handling. Users can compose and post new messages or replies with automatic draft saving.

Highlights
  • Secure NNTP server connections
  • Group browsing and subscription management
  • Thread syncing and filtering
  • Inline attachment preview
  • Binary content decoding
  • Download queue management
  • Draft saving for posts and replies
Read full description

Clean Express is a modern Usenet (NNTP) client for Apple platforms. Read threads, download attachments, and post articles in one focused workflow. Connect with confidence - Add one or more NNTP servers with Plaintext, STARTTLS, or SSL/TLS (Implicit). - Review self-signed certificate fingerprints and choose whether to trust them. - Store server credentials securely in Keychain-backed storage. Stay on top of busy groups - Browse server groups, search and manage subscriptions, and filter your sidebar. - Sync thread headers with incremental progress updates. - Sort by recent activity or original post, then filter by All, Unread, or Threads with Unread. - Expand or collapse branches, watch threads, and move quickly with keyboard or swipe navigation. - Mark messages, threads, or full visible ranges as read. Work with attachments - Preview supported attachments inline, including text, images, and PDFs where available. - Decode common Usenet binary content, including yEnc and uuencode payloads. - Add large downloads to a dedicated queue with staged progress, retry/cancel, and clear-completed actions. - Save completed downloads to files, with queue state restored after relaunch. Compose and post without losing your place - Create new posts and replies with quote-aware reply context. - Keep drafts automatically and resume after relaunch. - Add attachments from the file picker or drag and drop. - Choose MIME, yEnc, or uuencode posting formats based on server or community preferences. - Send in the background with visible posting progress.

Screenshots

Cyd4 screens
Clean Express4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Clean Express at none against Cyd's 1. Clean Express also leads on device support (4 vs 2). Cyd's advantage is iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Cyd sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $39.99 per year. Clean Express asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cyd ships an update weekly, Clean Express every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Cyd versus Clean Express: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCydClean Express
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS16.4 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size67 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLockdown SystemsCleanbit, MB

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Cyd

Subscriptions1
  • Cyd Premium Annual$39.991 Year
None

Clean Express

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Cyd free?
Cyd is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Clean Express free?
Clean Express is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Cyd or Clean Express have ads?
Neither Cyd nor Clean Express shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cyd or Clean Express?
Cyd ships an update weekly, and Clean Express every 5 days. Most recently, Cyd was updated on October 25, 2026 and Clean Express on October 31, 2026.

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