is there a better alternative to clean installs?
Certainly, if you are selling or passing on a Mac to someone else, then you should wipe the disk and install the OS anew, ideally leaving it so that it boots to the &quot;Welcome&quot; setup assistant. This will remove all personal data. (Trying to recover deleted data on SSDs is much harder than on hard drives.)
Cautious purchasers / recipients may wish to ensure that the computer is 'safe' by wiping the disk and installing the OS themselves.
But for the purposes of trouble-shooting an existing installation, or as part of 'routine maintenance', a clean install is largely 'overkill'. This is particularly true if you intend to restore most of your previous software and settings to the disk, leaving out only some elements that may be causing problems. It's analogous to destroying your whole house and rebuilding it just because you need to replace the toilet.