MacKeeper 5.0
Security, privacy, and clean–up rolled into one
$10.95/month; $71.40/year ($89.40 for three–Mac license) From Clario, mackeeper.com
Needs macOS 10.11 or later, 2GB RAM, 93MB HD space
Remember MacKeeper? It used to be synonymous with scamware, but that’s all in the past. New owner Clario has just unveiled version 5.0 of the app to try and establish a new reputation for itself.
MacKeeper 5.0 is effectively 11 tools in one, split over four categories: security, cleaning, performance, and privacy. That sounds like great value for the price, and you can give all of them a road–test for free — one free fix is provided for each, but after that you’ll need to buy a subscription.
Security is provided by two tools: Antivirus and Adware Cleaner. The antivirus uses Avira’s engine rather than Clario’s own security product, but still performs well in AV–Labs tests. Both are no–frills, don’t cover all threats, and the real–time protection isn’t set up by default.
A Safe Cleanup tool quickly goes through your hard drive finding potentially redundant items — you can review what it finds, ensuring you don’t accidentally delete anything. Also, there’s a Duplicates Finder and Smart Uninstaller tool that will clean up leftovers. All are easy to navigate thanks to MacKeeper’s user interface.
Performance comes with a memory cleaner, startup manager, and update tracker, which locates updates for non–store apps. The tool will even try to apply this automatically — with mixed results.
Finally, Privacy provides a VPN, ad– blocker, and ID Theft Guard. This latter tool lets you scan for password breaches involving your emails. The VPN itself offers private connections through a choice of around 300 servers. But aside from the lackluster antivirus, there’s no information about who’s providing the VPN server, which undermines its privacy and transparency.
Lastly, there’s a “Premium Services” section which offers support via a chat tool. But don’t get too excited — this requires a subscription that’s more expensive than MacKeeper itself. This is the app’s problem — the cost is expensive for a product using a free antivirus engine while not revealing who supplies its VPN service. Better to spend your money on a trusted source: Norton, or even Clario itself.
THE BOTTOM LINE. It’s now perfectly legit, but MacKeeper fails to inspire. NICK PEERS