MacKeeper Review 2025: Mac’s Best Friend

MacKeeper is built for macOS, but is it worth adding to your Mac? It performs well in third-party testing, easily blocked the malware threats we threw at it, and has built-in tech support built right into the product if you ever need help. 

We also like all the features MacKeeper includes, like its performance optimization tools, VPN, and ad blocker. But we hope MacKeeper continues to enhance its antivirus offerings by adding a firewall and phishing protection.

Overall, we were happy with the security MacKeeper provides, making it one of the best antivirus programs for Mac.

At a glance

Price	$71.40-$89.40/yr
Free plan	Yes
# of devices protected	1 - 3
Malware scans	Manual and scheduled scans
Real-time protection	Yes
EICAR test results	2/3
Firewall	No
Phishing protection	No
Compatibility	macOS
Extras	VPN, data breach monitoring
24/7 customer support	Yes
Learn more	Get MacKeeper

We last tested MacKeeper on January 28th, 2025.

Our experience

We had a good experience testing MacKeeper on our Macbook. It was nice to find an antivirus program designed for our device, instead of a watered down program made for Windows.

Once the software was setup, we were unclear about the available scans. Our download started with the Find & Fix scan, which went through our device for cyberthreats, performance issues, and junk. We could also assign an email for data breach monitoring. 

There's also a tab labeled Antivirus, where you need to set up real-time protection. We had to allow MacKeeper some permissions on our device to enable real-time protection and run scans. 

Once we started to run a scan, MacKeeper quickly detected a malware test file we had downloaded prior to installing MacKeeper on our computer. 

We played with every feature and security tool listed in the dashboard. Everything worked seamlessly and didn’t make our Mac buggy or slow. Even with the VPN and the ad blocker running simultaneously, there was no lag time on our browser.

We were only disappointed by there being no firewall or anti-phishing protection, leaving some gaps in our antivirus protection. 

Still, we were very pleased with our MacKeeper experience. From easily accessible customer support to useful features, we were impressed with its speed and usability. MacKeeper is a solid piece of security software for macOS.

Who is MacKeeper best for?

• Recommended for Mac users wanting performance and safety tools

It’s often said that macOS is so secure it doesn’t require any virus protection. Although Macs are notably more secure than PCs, there have been plenty of instances where Macs have become infected with a virus, spyware, scareware, and expensive ransomware. 

If you’re a Mac user who wants protection, MacKeeper may be the product for you. In addition to virus and malware protection, MacKeeper also offers performance-enhancing tools. 

It will even update apps that may not automatically update, so anyone looking for performance tools may also want to check out MacKeeper.

MacKeeper prices and subscriptions

MacKeeper has a limited free version plus paid subscriptions that range from $71.40-$89.40/yr. The only difference in MacKeeper's paid tiers is how long your subscription term is and how many devices you wish to cover.

MacKeeper can be expensive compared to other top providers. However, you'll be able to receive all the features listed on its site versus other antivirus providers that focus on Windows. 

Here's how MacKeeper compares to other antivirus plans that include a VPN:

• Norton: $39.99/first yr
• TotalAV: $39.00/first yr

Because you don’t need a VPN if you’re using MacKeeper, it may be worth the cost if you think about the price of an average antivirus product (around $50 per year) and an average VPN product (around $35 per year) bundled together.

	Free	Full
Price for first year	Free	Starts at $71.40/yr
# devices supported	1	1 - 3
Compatible with	macOS 10.13 or later	macOS 10.13 or later
Manual and auto scan
Phishing protection
Firewall
Real-time protection	For one week
Ransomware protection
Performance optimization tools	One-time use
VPN
Ad blocker
Details	View Plan	View Plan

MacKeeper security features

MacKeeper provides real-time antivirus protection plus features like ID Theft Guard, a Duplicates Finder, and an Update Tracker to help you get the most out of your Mac. The Update Tracker is helpful in allowing you to update apps on your Mac that may not update automatically. (It updated our Zoom app.)

However, it has some gaps when it comes to antivirus protection — there's no firewall or phishing protection included.

Malware and antivirus scan

When you install MacKeeper, it automatically prompts you to run a scan. Once finished, you can continue to manually run scans with MacKeeper’s antivirus whenever you like. 

Automatic scans are run once a day, but there’s an option to customize the auto scans. The antivirus software is pretty straightforward, and the security features on the dashboard are user-friendly.

Phishing protection

According to MacKeeper’s support, there's no phishing protection. But you can use the ID Theft Guard feature to scan your email for potential threats. 

We scanned our email and it came back with no threats detected.

Firewall

According to MacKeeper’s support team, there's no firewall feature for MacKeeper but it does encourage you to enable its VPN, Private Connect. 

A firewall is an important antivirus feature. It monitors incoming and outgoing traffic to protect your network from unauthorized users and cyberthreats like viruses, phishing attacks, remote hijackings, and more. 

We hope MacKeeper adds a firewall to its software for more comprehensive protection. 

Real-time protection

As long as you have MacKeeper running in the background on your Mac, real-time protection is enabled. 

Some Mac customers running an older version of Mac have reported issues with the real-time protection, but MacKeeper’s techs have a solution. The real-time protection runs both antivirus and anti-malware, but also identity protection technology such as ad blockers. You get a lot from this product.

Ransomware protection

Ransomware is another part of the nasty malware family. Because MacKeeper is running real-time protection to keep you safe from viruses, it’s also scanning for potentially unwanted applications (PUAs) that may contain ransomware. 

There’s no need to worry about turning on this feature, as it comes standard and is already active.

Anti-fraud protection

The ID Theft Guard feature not only scans emails for spam, scams, and phishing attempts, but it also monitors your data in real time. This means that while MacKeeper is running, it’s making sure nothing is happening with your personal information. 

Bonus features

MacKeeper’s bonus features help make it a bundled tool. With a VPN, ad blocker, and patch management feature all built-in, you could eliminate some of the products you’re already using. Here’s a list of some of the built-in bonus features:

• Privacte Connect: Built-in VPN
• StopAd: Browser extension that blocks ads such as pop-ups, as well as browser notifications and site trackers
• Update Tracker: Updates the apps on your Mac from a convenient location
• Smart Uninstaller: Helps you uninstall apps and deletes unneeded browser extensions, plug-ins, and widgets
• Duplicates Finder: Finds duplicate files to help you clean your memory
• Login Items: Lets you choose what apps launch on startup
• Safe Cleanup: Removes clutter, such as logs and caches, from your Mac
• Adware Cleaner: Gets rid of adware on your Mac

MacKeeper test results

With every antivirus program we review, we go through three categories of tests:

• Scan speeds: Measure how long it takes for the program to run different type of scans and how much the scans impact device performance
• EICAR tests: Use cyberthreat test files to safely test the antivirus ourselves
• Third-party test results: Review antivirus test results from independent research organizations 

MacKeeper had solid performance with all three categories. Its scan speeds were varied but didn't slow down our device. It passed all the EICAR malware tests. And its most recent AV-TEST scores were near-perfect.  

Scan speeds

• Result: Fast

We couldn't find any traditional scan types from MacKeeper. There was a Find & Fix scan, which scanned our device for security, privacy, cleaning, and performance. There was also a scan on the Antivirus tab, which seemed to go through all the files on our device.

Scan type	Time spent
Find & Fix	20 seconds
Antivirus	21 seconds

Surprisingly, the Find & Fix scan finished in under one minute with results on all four categories. The full antivirus scan was only one second more, and it swiftly detected the malware test file we downloaded prior to installing MacKeeper. 

EICAR test results

• Result: 2/3

The European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research, or EICAR, develops test files for various types of cyberthreats. That way, anyone can test the efficiency of their antivirus from home without downloading real malware. 

We used three types of test files on MacKeeper: malware detection, drive-by malware downloads, and phishing page detection tests.

Test	MacKeeper score
Malware detection	Pass
Drive-by malware downloads	Pass
Phishing pages detection	Fail

Test results as of 07/01/2025.

Every time we downloaded an EICAR malware file, MacKeeper informed us that the file was placed in quarantine. We were prompted to run a scan as well. 

MacKeeper didn't pass the phishing test but it doesn't have dedicated phishing protection so this result was expected.

AV-TEST results

• Result: MacKeeper earned perfect scores in protection, performance, and usability. 

AV-TEST is an independent research organization dedicated to testing security software. It runs three types of tests on antivirus programs: malware detection and protection, impact on device performance, and accuracy and usability when it comes to detecting cyberthreats. 

Test type	macOS Monterey score
Protection	6/6
Performance	6/6
Usability	6/6
Total	18/18
Date	None
Link to test	Link

MacKeeper has been undergoing annual AV-TESTs since March 2021. It received perfect results in protection, performance, and usability this time around. MacKeeper had a 100% protection score, beat the industry average on several performance tests, and detected zero false positives. 

In March 2024, MacKeeper was docked in the performance tests due to having slower installation of frequently-used applications, so we're glad MacKeeper has made improvements since then. 

MacKeeper compatibility

Although the Premium service on MacKeeper helps with all types of devices, that’s more of a paid form of tech support. When you’re looking at the normal product, you can see that MacKeeper is compatible with just Macs. It’s nice to have a Mac-focused product because so many products with a version for Mac usually have limited functionality.

Operating system:

• MacKeeper 5 (latest version 5.10) for macOS 10.11-10.12
  
• MacKeeper 6 (latest version 6.0) for macOS 10.13+

CPU:

• 64-bit Intel-based processor, Apple M1, or newer

RAM:

• 2 gigabytes (GB)

Disk Space:

• 113 megabytes (MB)

MacKeeper customer support

MacKeeper might have the most useful customer support we’ve ever encountered in any tech product. The built-in window is available from any portion of the dashboard and slides out on the right so you can ask a question. The technicians are so quick to answer and very helpful.

The one caveat to this is that they want to have a tech remote into your Mac and check everything for you. Even though Apple verified MacKeeper, we still aren’t keen on someone poking around in our Mac. 

When we explained we were working and didn’t have time, they were nice and stopped asking. Otherwise, MacKeeper’s support is on point. It also has a help center you can access with detailed tutorials.

Top alternatives

MacKeeper is one of our favorite antivirus programs for Apple, but what if your household is divided on operating systems? We've compiled recommendations of antivirus programs that excel for all platforms: 

FAQs

Bottom line: Is MacKeeper good?

Yes, MacKeeper is good. Despite the negative online reviews, this current version of the MacKeeper product worked well for us. We've been using it for well over a year with great results. 

Because it’s one of the only cybersecurity products out there built for macOS alone, it's refreshing to be able to use a product that delivers on all the features offered on the website. 

While we’re creating a wishlist, a firewall and dedicated phishing protection would be nice. Otherwise, MacKeeper is a product worth putting on your Macbook. 

If you're still seeking an antivirus program, you can refer to our top alternatives or review our list of the best antivirus software.