MacKeeper Review: Is It Legit, Safe to Use, & Good in 2025?

If you are searching for a Mac cleaner, one name that keeps surfacing is MacKeeper. For years, it’s been surrounded by conflicting reviews, which made me both curious and skeptical. So, I decided to try it myself. In this review, I’ll walk you through my honest experience with MacKeeper, its features, performance, and whether I ultimately believe it’s legit, safe to use, and good at optimizing my Mac.

A Brief History of MacKeeper

MacKeeper was originally launched in 2010 by ZeoBIT as a utility software designed to help Mac users clean, protect, and optimize their systems with features like junk file cleanup, memory optimization, and antivirus scanning.

However, in 2015, MacKeeper made headlines for a major data breach. Over 13 million user records were reportedly exposed due to a misconfigured database, including names, email addresses, and license keys. The incident significantly damaged the software’s credibility, and MacKeeper became synonymous with scareware in some tech circles.

Recognizing the need for change, in 2019, MacKeeper was acquired by Clario Tech, a UK-based cybersecurity company. Since the acquisition, Clario has overhauled the product architecture, redesigned the interface, and most importantly, repositioned the brand with a focus on transparency and user trust.

Is MacKeeper Legit and Safe to Use?

Since Clario Tech took over in 2019, MacKeeper has adopted a more transparent privacy policy. Today, MacKeeper is notarized by Apple, which means it has been vetted by Apple’s automated security checks for malware and code integrity. It’s also independently audited for data privacy compliance and security protocols, marking an important shift from its early days.

From my experience, this Mac cleanup tool behaved responsibly, required proper user permissions, and remained unobtrusive throughout my testing. That said, I understand why some users are still cautious - after all, a data leak scandal is fatal for a Mac optimization tool.

MacKeeper Pricing

MacKeeper offers flexible pricing based on the number of devices you want to protect and the duration of your commitment. The best value comes from the 12-month plan. If you have multiple Macs at home, the 3-device bundle (with a bonus license) costs $5.97/month, billed annually at $71.64 (40% off). If you only need protection for one Mac, the price drops to $5.17/month, or $62.01/year.

My Experience Using MacKeeper

Let’s get back to the product itself. Is MacKeeper good at what it claims to be? Below is my hands-on experience.

Setting up MacKeeper on my MacBook was smooth and quick, as expected. Right after the installation, the app immediately prompted a system scan. Before it began, it requested full disk access, something most modern security apps do. Then here’s the Find & Fix diagnosis.

After scanning, MacKeeper flagged four sections, including Security, Cleaning, Privacy, and Performance. I purchased the product and started the exploration.

Antivirus Scan

Since it’s my first trial, I began with a full system scan, and it took about 40 minutes on my MacBook Pro (M1), which is reasonably fast compared to competitors like McAfee or Norton, but slower than Webroot Antivirus, which finishes the antivirus scan in less than 10 minutes.

The scan didn’t noticeably slow down my machine. I continued working on browser-based tasks without any lag, which was a good sign. However, one downside is that MacKeeper doesn’t show the number of files scanned, so it’s hard to confirm how exhaustive the scan really was.

After the scan completed, I was prompted to enable real-time protection, which wasn’t turned on by default. While it only took a couple of clicks to activate, I do think real-time antivirus should be active out of the box. Fortunately, there was no malware or any suspicious programs on my MacBook.

What’s missing? The antivirus module doesn’t include phishing protection or malicious link filtering. I didn’t find a firewall or sandboxing features here, either. That said, MacKeeper does offer compensation, the ID Theft Guard feature.

Cleaning Features: Junk Removal, Uninstaller & More

MacKeeper’s cleaning tools are grouped into a dedicated section, and I tested each one thoroughly to clean up space on Mac. I started with Safe Cleanup, which scanned my Mac for unnecessary files, including logs, cache data, unused language packs, leftover trash, and, surprisingly, email attachments. The scan took less than a minute and found over 6 GB of junk on my MacBook.

However, I was a bit surprised that most items were pre-selected for deletion by default, with minimal explanation of what each category actually contains. And I didn’t get any prompt to review these files before hitting the Clean button. It’s quite disappointing, as this move goes against the title ‘Safe Cleanup’.

Next, I ran the Duplicates Finder, which looked for identical or similar files that were eating up your Mac space. In my case, they were mostly images and screenshots. Once finished, it did a good job at suggesting which was the best version to keep, especially when it came to resized or captioned image variants.

Unlike Safe Cleanup, this section reasonably asked me to manually select and review everything. Diving into each category, I could see the file path, file name, and preview the image, so it’s less likely to delete any important files by accident.

I also tested the Smart Uninstaller, which turned out to be more helpful than I expected. From what I’ve known, most Mac cleaners on the market tend to design a specific app uninstaller, but MacKeeper apparently explores more. After running a scan, the Smart Uninstaller identified not only unused apps, but also browser extensions, widgets, and plugins that were hidden below the surface.

Plus, I successfully deleted an old antivirus installer that I had tried but failed to delete in the past. We all know how hard it is to get rid of such tools, but MacKeeper removed it completely in one go.

The only downside is that, again, the app doesn’t clearly explain which system-level plugins should be avoided. There’s no warning before deletion, either. If you’re not careful, it’s easy to accidentally remove something important. Why on earth does MacKeeper not add one prompt? That’s confusing.

While it doesn’t strictly belong to the Cleaning module, I’d like to mention the Memory Cleaner feature here. It promises to free up RAM by clearing out what it considers unused memory in real time, similar to the built-in Activity Monitor in macOS.

I clicked Clean Memory, and within seconds, the tool claimed to have freed about 2.5 GB of RAM. But just a few minutes later, memory usage returned to almost the same levels as before. In other words, it felt more like a temporary reset than a real performance gain. I didn’t notice any change in how responsive my Mac was either before or after.

Also, compared to similar features from other Mac cleanup tools, such as CleanMyMac, MacKeeper’s Memory Cleaner feels less convenient. You have to open the full app and navigate to the right tab just to free up RAM. By contrast, CleanMyMac offers a menu bar widget that lets you see RAM usage and clean memory instantly.

In short, MacKeeper’s memory tool works, but it’s not as user-friendly or readily available as it could be.

Bonus Features I Liked

As a comprehensive Mac antivirus & cleanup tool, MacKeeper does come with some additional features. Among them, Adware Cleaner is a small but useful tool tucked under the Security tab. It focuses specifically on detecting adware, like browser hijackers and intrusive extensions, which many antivirus tools bundle into their main scan.

I also liked ID Theft Guard, which monitors your email address and any other verified emails for signs of data breaches. It scans for exposed passwords, credit card numbers, and other personal details, then alerts you if anything appears on breach databases or the dark web. It’s nice to have such a feature when online shopping.

Is There Any MacKeeper Alternative?

Yes, and there’s plenty. Depending on what you're looking for, there are several strong alternatives:

For antivirus protection, tools like Avast Security for Mac, Bitdefender, and Intego offer reliable malware scanning and real-time protection. Avast even has a solid free version for basic needs.

For system cleaning, the most popular alternative is CleanMyMac X, which offers a smoother interface and better menu bar integration. Another option is CCleaner for Mac, a long-time favorite for lightweight junk file cleanup and startup control.

For similar cleanup tools at a lower price, BuhoCleaner is the best option. It covers the basics well: junk file removal, duplicates cleanup, app uninstaller, startup manager, and even more - all with a simple interface and one-time purchase starting at $19.99. It's a great pick if you want MacKeeper-like features without paying for a full suite.

Final Verdict: Worth Trying, But Not the First Choice

MacKeeper covers most antivirus and Mac cleanup needs in one app, with useful extras like ID Theft Guard and Smart Uninstaller. It’s legit and safe to use today — but not without flaws.

Some features feel clunky or incomplete, the price is high compared to alternatives, and its past data breach still raises concerns. There are better, more affordable tools out there. So my final rating is 4/5. It’s functional and improved, but not an easy recommendation.