MacBooster Review: Quick Expert Summary
MacBooster is a top-notch Mac cleaner whichthat provides an excellent range of tools for optimizing and protecting your Mac. During my tests, the system junk cleaner performed exceptionally well, scanning for over 20 types of junk files and freeing up significant space on my Mac. MacBooster comes with nifty optimization tools, too, including Turbo Boost (which adjusts permissions to increase performance), Memory Clean (a RAM performance enhancer), and a startup optimizer. Everything worked as advertised, enhancing the overall performance of my Mac.
MacBooster also includes a malware scanner and privacy protection features. These add a layer of security to your device, but honestly, MacBooster isn’t the best Mac antivirus. Similarly, the VPN is limited in terms of features and isn’t included in the same app.
With this in mind, there are some areas where MacBooster could improve. I wish it came with additional features (such as a password manager) and a better VPN. The customer support options are also very limited. But despite these minor drawbacks, it’s still an effective and user-friendly tool for enhancing your Mac’s performance.
Overall, MacBooster is an appealing option in 2024. With a 60-day money-back guarantee on its premium plans, you can explore its full capabilities risk-free.
🏅Overall Rank | #30 out of 71 antiviruses |
🔥 Firewall | ❌ |
🌐 VPN | ✅ Separate purchase (unlimited data) |
🎁 Free Plan | ✅ |
💵 Pricing | $29.95 / year |
💰 Money-Back Guarantee | 60 days |
💻 Operating Systems | Mac |
MacBooster Full Review — Comprehensive Mac Tools (Protect + Optimize Your Mac in 2024)
MacBooster offers a comprehensive suite of tools aimed at optimizing and safeguarding Mac systems, all packaged in a user-friendly interface.
Its system junk cleaner efficiently scans for various junk files. Meanwhile, the optimization tools are highly effective at freeing up resources and tuning Macs for optimal functioning.
Overall, it’s an attractive choice for Mac users. The optimization and maintenance tools stand out, but the security features aren’t as notable. In any case, MacBooster offers a 60-day money-back guarantee on all its plans, so you’ll have time to see if it’s worth it yourself.
MacBooster Plans & Pricing — Limited Free Plan + Good Premium Plans (Protect 5 Macs)
MacBooster has a free plan and 3 premium plans: Standard, Premium, and Lite. Unfortunately, the free plan is quite limited and only lets you scan for items that need optimization — it won’t let you fix any of them without upgrading.
Meanwhile, Standard costs $29.95 / year, covers 1 Mac, and provides full access to:
- System junk cleaner.
- Virus & malware scanner.
- Turbo Boost.
- Large & old files finder.
- Duplicate finder.
- Photo Sweeper.
- Memory cleaner.
- Privacy protection.
- App uninstaller.
- Startup optimization.
- 24/7 customer support.
Premium, on the other hand, covers 3 Macs for $49.95 / year and adds on priority support. Lastly, Lite covers 5 Macs for $89.95 / year, making it suitable for small families or users with multiple devices. However, it lacks 24/7 customer support and priority support. All of MacBooster’s premium plans are covered with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
Here’s a quick overview of all of MacBooster’s plans:
Free | Standard | Premium | Lite | |
Platforms | Mac | Mac | Mac | Mac |
Price | Free | $29.95 / year | $49.95 / year | $89.95 / year |
Number of licenses | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
System junk cleaner | ✅ (Limited) |
✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Virus & malware scanner | ✅ (Limited) |
✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Turbo Boost | ✅ (Limited) |
✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Memory Clean | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Privacy protection | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
App uninstaller | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Startup optimization | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Large & old files finder | ✅ (Limited) |
✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Duplicate finder | ✅ (Limited) |
✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Photo sweeper | ✅ (Limited) |
✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
24/7 customer support | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
Priority support | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
MacBooster Optimization & Security Features — Great Cleanup Tools + Helpful Malware Scanner
MacBooster’s cleaning tools are pretty great. Its system junk cleaner is capable of scanning every corner of your Mac, searching for 20 different types of files likely to be junk. These include outdated downloads, broken iTunes files, unnecessary system logs, mail attachments, language files, and other kinds of trash. When I ran the system junk cleaner on my Mac, it found 5.3 GB of junk files and gave me the option to permanently remove them from my device.
Aside from purging junk files, MacBooster provides other tools for cleaning your disk. For example, it can show you your largest and oldest files. These might not be worthless, so they aren’t included in the junk cleaner — but in some cases they aren’t necessary, so I liked that it was easy to locate them. MacBooster also found 2.9 GB of old files, including pictures, videos, apps, documents, and more. There’s also a duplicate file finder that removed almost 1 GB worth of junk from my Mac.
The app uninstaller is very straightforward. Simply select which apps you want to uninstall, and MacBooster will do the rest. There’s also a Photo Sweeper tool, which is similar to the duplicate finder, but it instead focuses on finding similar or duplicated photos. The fact that it recognizes similar photos is impressive. If you’re someone who takes lots of photos at once to get the best shot but forgets to delete the rest, it’s a very useful tool.
I was also impressed with MacBooster’s optimization tools. Turbo Boost is designed to increase performance (namely by streamlining permissions and clearing caches). I found it to be effective, and it’s especially handy for non-technical users who might not know how to do this themselves. Even for those that do, using Turbo Boost is a lot faster than manually changing lots of settings.
MacBooster can also reduce the delays associated with opening and using apps. Such slowdowns are generally caused by a lack of RAM. The Memory Clean tool tackles performance issues caused by high RAM consumption and large amounts of inactive memory reserved by the system. It accomplishes this by locating resource-intensive applications and optimizing or terminating these apps. This frees up memory for other purposes.
Unnecessary startup items are another common cause of Mac slowdowns. They consume RAM and CPU resources that you might need for other apps. MacBooster’s startup optimization tool is designed to counter this issue. It analyzes your MacOS, assessing and managing the services and applications that start with your system to help accelerate your Mac’s boot time and overall performance. I particularly like how this tool provides recommendations on whether certain apps should start on bootup, aiding you in discerning between crucial and non-crucial programs.
I like that MacBooster provides a malware scanner — most Mac cleaners don’t. You can use it to scan for viruses, malware, and malicious cookies. It also checks to see if all your system security settings are activated. In my testing, the malware scanner detected 22 malicious cookies and advised me to turn on the Automatically check for updates setting in the App Store. But when it comes to keeping your Mac secure, MacBooster isn’t nearly as good as Intego, which offers flawless Mac-specific malware detection, great real-time protection, and a wide range of scan options (it’s our favorite antivirus for Macs).
There’s also a privacy protection feature that clears malicious tracking data from browsers and third-party apps to protect your privacy for all kinds of accounts. The tool worked well in my tests; however, I still think a VPN is the best tool for protecting your online activities — this is something MacBooster also provides.
Macbooster’s VPN is a separate download called iTop VPN, and it’s available from the MacBooster website. It’s pretty decent, but the free version is quite limited. It only lets you use 700 MB of browsing data per day, restricts you to a limited number of servers, and doesn’t support streaming or torrenting. Honestly, I much prefer Proton VPN’s free plan.
That said, iTop VPN’s premium bundle is pretty good — it provides 1,800+ servers worldwide, unlimited data, dedicated servers for streaming, gaming, and social media platforms, an ad blocker, split tunneling, torrenting support, and more. However, ExpressVPN is still my favorite premium VPN, as it offers excellent security and is the best and fastest option for streaming, torrenting, and gaming.
MacBooster Ease of Use & Setup — Visually Appealing User Interface + Useful Toolbar Widget
MacBooster is remarkably user-friendly, both in terms of setup and day-to-day usage. At first, I had issues installing the software on my system, but this was due to the antivirus I was running. Once I temporarily disabled my antivirus, I was able to install MacBooster within a few minutes with no complicated steps or technical jargon involved.
The user interface (UI) is clean, visually appealing, and intuitive. The menu is free of clutter, unnecessary options, ads, and pop-ups. This makes for a consistently smooth user experience across the platform.
The MacBooster home screen provides immediate access to all its features. You can find every tool on the left side of the home screen — there’s no need to click through any drop-down menus.
The application is not buggy, providing a stable and reliable user experience. It works as promised without the hassle of dealing with crashes or slow responses, which can be a common annoyance with other Mac cleaners I’ve tested.
After each scan or cleanup, MacBooster provides comprehensive information about the process, presented in a simple and digestible format. This means even non-technical users can get a clear picture of what the software does.
I also like MacBooster Mini, the toolbar widget. Accessible from your Mac’s menu bar, Mini offers easy access to a wealth of information. It provides real-time updates on memory usage, network status, and your Mac’s in-built firewall settings, providing you with critical insights at a glance.
A simple click allows you to clean memory, clear your cache, optimize DNS, and open the main MacBooster app. It also offers the Lightning Booster mode, a feature designed to enhance your online surfing speed, contributing to an overall smoother and faster browsing experience.
In summary, MacBooster is completely intuitive to set up and use. Its design is well-thought-out, prioritizing user accessibility and comprehension. MacBooster Mini also comes in handy and is an efficient tool that caters to both beginners and more experienced users.
MacBooster Customer Support — Detailed User Manual + FAQs
MacBooster offers 3 main customer support options:
- Online feedback.
- FAQs.
- User manual.
MacBooster’s online feedback system is basically a support ticket system that provides a way for you to reach out with inquiries, concerns, or suggestions. When I created a support ticket about the installation process, I got a response within 48 hours, which is quite poor. However, I think the support agent took this long to reply because I sent the ticket over the weekend. After this first reply, the agent typically replied to me within 24 hours.
The FAQ section is thoughtfully organized and packed with information. It covers a broad spectrum of topics, from basic installation guides to more advanced troubleshooting steps. Whether you’re a novice user or have more technical know-how, the FAQs offer clear and concise answers to common questions.
There’s also a comprehensive user manual that goes beyond the basics. It offers detailed instructions on how to use all the features of the software, including the MacBooster Mini tool. I often found that I didn’t need to contact the support team, as the manual was very useful in solving most issues.
Overall, MacBooster’s customer support options are quite limited, but they’re well-designed to meet the needs of their user base. That said, I’d like to see MacBooster provide more interactive and immediate support channels like a live chat feature or phone support, as this would greatly elevate the overall support experience.
Is MacBooster a Good Mac Cleaner in 2024?
MacBooster is an impressive Mac cleaner for 2024. Its cleaning tools are more than satisfactory, with the system junk cleaner scanning for over 20 types of junk files, effectively freeing up hard disk space. In my tests, it found 5.3 GB of junk files, including user downloads, iTunes broken downloads, system log files, and more.
The optimization tools are another area where MacBooster shines. The Turbo Boost optimizes disk storage, permissions, and your hard drive to elevate your Mac’s performance. There’s also a memory clean tool that tackles resource-intensive applications to free up inactive memory and a startup optimization feature that prevents startup items from slowing down your Mac.
While MacBooster has a lot to offer, it’s not without its shortcomings. Most notably, the malware scanner is pretty basic when compared to the competition. The customer support is also limited, and so is the VPN (unless you buy the premium version of it separately).
MacBooster is definitely worth considering, especially if you’re looking for good optimization tools but only need basic security. It’s super easy to use and all plans come with a 60-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it out risk-free and decide if it’s the right Mac cleaner for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is MacBooster safe to use?
Yes, MacBooster is safe to use. It’s developed by a reputable company, IObit, and is designed to enhance Mac system performance without harming your computer. However, it’s essential that you download it from the official website or another trusted source to ensure that you get the genuine, safe version of the software.
Is MacBooster easy to use?
Yes, MacBooster is very easy to use. Its intuitive interface allows you to navigate through various features effortlessly, whether it’s cleaning junk files, optimizing memory, or managing startup items.
The software also provides clear explanations of what each feature does. MacBooster caters to both beginners and advanced users, offering a simplified experience without sacrificing functionality.
How much does MacBooster cost?
MacBooster offers various pricing options depending on the plan you choose. There is a free version with basic features, but it doesn’t actually let you fix the issues it finds with your system without upgrading. Premium plans start at $29.95 / year for a single Mac license.
What apps are like MacBooster?
There are several other optimization tools similar to MacBooster, such as CleanMyMac X and MacCleaner Pro. These apps offer various features to clean, optimize, and enhance the performance of Mac systems. Individual capabilities and pricing can vary, so you may want to compare them to find the best fit.