CleanMyMac vs MacKeeper: Overall Comparison [2024 Review]

Jerome Mills
Last updated: Mar 14, 2024

This post will compare CleanMyMac and MacKeeper for you, including their differences and similarities. Keep reading for details.

Feel confused about which one to pick as your Mac cleaner assistant between CleanMyMac and MacKeeper?

Relax! This post will help you clarify CleanMyMac vs MacKeeper, which is better.

Let's get started.

CleanMyMac vs MacKeeper

CleanMyMac vs MacKeeper: Differences and Similarities

While choosing Mac cleaners, you may be confused about which one to pick between CleanMyMac and MacKeeper. That's why you are searching for CleanMyMac vs MacKeeper.

Before determining which Mac cleaner to choose, it's necessary to compare them in different aspects.

Below we will introduce the two Mac cleaners and list their features, pros and cons, price, etc. for your reference. Cost-effective alternatives to these two products will also be mentioned.

Note
The price mentioned of each Mac cleaner in this post may vary with time. Go to each product's official website for detailed price information.

Here is a table for you to have a general overview of the top three Mac cleaners we will introduce in this post:

CleanMyMac vs MacKeeper

CleanMyMac Review

CleanMyMac is a popular and easy-to-use Mac cleaner. It already won a huge number of likes from Mac users. It has a high reputation and product reliability among Mac users. This Mac cleaner focuses on helping Mac users better clean and manage their Macs.

CleanMyMac

Key features:

  • System junk clean
  • Malware removal
  • Space lens
  • Optimize Mac system performance
  • Keep control of system extensions

Pros:

  • Fast cleaning speed.
  • User-friendly interface.
  • Cost-effective.

Cons:

  • Its feature is not as wealthy as MacKeeper.

Price:

One-Year Subscription:

  • Plan for 1 Mac: $34.95
  • Plan for 2 Macs: $54.95
  • Plan for 5 Macs: $74.95
CleanMyMac price

MacKeeper Review

MacKeeper is also one of the best Mac cleaners. It not only provides you with some basic Mac cleaning features, but also some advanced features, for example, stop ads, delete duplicate files, etc.

Although it may be not as famous as CleanMyMac, it offers users a set of helpful features. However, while I tested this Mac cleaner, I always got stuck in a scan progress bar.

MacKeeper

Key features:

  • Safe cleanup
  • Duplicates finder
  • Memory cleaner
  • ID theft guard
  • Stopads

Pros:

  • Easy-to-use
  • Full-featured Mac cleaner

Cons:

  • The scan speed is a little slow.
  • You may get stuck while scanning.
  • More expensive than other Mac cleaners.
  • The scan results are not as wealthy as CleanMyMac.

Price:

  • Family plan: $71.64 (3 Macs+1 extra license)
  • Single plan: $62.01/1Mac
MacKeeper price

Similarities Between CleanMyMac and MacKeeper

Both of the two Mac cleaners can:

  • Delete mail attachment.
  • Track update.
  • Manage login items.
  • Uninstall apps.

Differences Between CleanMyMac and MacKeeper

These are features provided only by CleanMyMac:

  • Extensions management.
  • Instant size overview(Space Lens).
  • Shredder.
  • Remove browsing traces.

These are features provided only by MacKeeper:

  • Duplicate file finder.
  • StopAd(Block ads /stop ID theft).
  • Antivirus.
  • Adware cleaner.

CleanMyMac vs MacKeeper: Which One Is Better?

It's hard to say which Mac cleaner is better. It all depends on your needs and actual situation. In terms of cost-effectiveness, CleanMyMac is a better choice. While in terms of privacy protection and monitoring, MacKeeper may be the winner.

Here are some personally verified/tested references:

As for scanning speed:

CleanMyMac is more fluent compared with MacKeeper. MacKeeper scans slowly and is easy to get stuck while using the Find & Fix, Safe Cleanup, Smart Uninstaller, etc. features.

As for my own Mac:

CleanMyMac: 1m7s

MacKeeper: 36s

As for the update items:

I have tested the Updater/Update Tracker feature of these two Mac cleaners. The scan results of updates are different. CleanMyMac can even detect macOS updates, while MacKeeper cannot.

CleanMyMac:

CleanMyMac Updater

MacKeeper:

MacKeeper Update Tracker

As for stopping ads:

MacKeeper offers you an amazing feature named StopAd, which CleanMyMac doesn't have. This feature will help you block annoying ads, stop online trackers, and browse faster without trackers.

As for deleting mail attachments:

CleanMyMac has scanned 45KB mail attachments. The same mail attachments scanned by MacKeeper showed 43KB. I have found that the two Mac cleaners always show different file sizes for the same file.

As for the app uninstaller feature:

I got stuck while using the Smart Uninstaller feature of MacKeeper. Then I clicked STOP SCAN, it detected no leftovers. While the same feature of CleanMyMac has detected 11 leftovers.

Scanned leftovers in MacKeeper

Although I quit and relaunched this feature, it still gets stuck in the progress bar. In this case, MacKeeper may not show you the full list of apps and leftovers that can be uninstalled. However, it will show you the total size of leftovers or Applications, which CleanMyMac will not.

Best Alternative to CleanMyMac and MacKeeper

While CleanMyMac and MacKeeper are popular choices, several alternatives to them offer similar features and functionalities yet may be cheaper.

Some notable alternatives include BuhoCleaner, CCleaner, Avast Cleanup, Daisy Disk, etc. It's essential to research and compare these options to find the one that best suits your requirements and budget.

MacKeeper itself has written a BuhoCleaner Review to introduce this easy-to-use Mac Cleaner. You can also look for BuhoCleaner reviews online to learn more about this product.

In a word, BuhoCleaner offers you a cost-effective plan and almost the same features the other two Mac cleaners offer. In addition, it has a faster scan speed than the other two products (it only takes about 17s).

Take a look at what BuhoCleaner offers you:

DownloadFor macOS 10.10 and above
100,000+ Satisfied Users Worldwide
  • Free up Mac space in minutes.
  • Optimize Mac performance to the maximum.
  • Monitor Mac system status in real time.
  • Visually manage your disk space usage.
  • Keep your Mac at peak speed.
Best Mac Cleaner Software - BuhoCleaner

Key Features:

  • Flash Clean
  • App Uninstall
  • Large Files
  • Duplicates
  • Startup Items
  • Toolkit: Disk Space Analyzer, Shredder, Free Up RAM, Reindex Spotlight, Flush DNS cache.

Price:

  • $19.99 for 1 Mac
  • $29.99 for 3 Macs
  • $49.99 for 10 Macs (All for Lifetime)

Conclusion

After reading this post, are you clear about which Mac cleaner you should pick in terms of CleanMyMac vs MacKeeper?

Go and start your Mac cleaning journey with one of the three top Mac cleaners mentioned in this post right now!

Jerome Mills

I am Jerome Mills, a passionate enthusiast of all things Apple. I'm expertise in crafting tech-related articles, with a portfolio of more than 100 articles covering various Apple products like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.