Is MacKeeper still a scam in 2026?

No, not in the way the phrase once meant. In the Zeobit and Kromtech era, MacKeeper was widely reported to use aggressive popup marketing, fake virus warnings, and tactics that made it difficult to remove. Since Clario acquired it in 2019 and rebuilt the product, it has been signed and notarized by Apple, is no longer flagged by major antivirus scanners, and can be downloaded and uninstalled normally. The historical reputation is real and earned, but the current product is a legitimate piece of software. Whether it's the right software for you is a separate question.

Is Shiny safer than MacKeeper?

Both are signed and notarized by Apple, which means both have passed Apple's security checks and are safe to install in that sense. The difference is scope and data collection. Shiny collects zero analytics, has no background processes beyond the menu-bar agent, and does nothing except free memory when you click the button. MacKeeper runs antivirus, VPN, and monitoring services in the background and collects anonymous usage statistics. Shiny is simpler and narrower by design; MacKeeper is a fuller suite with more moving parts.

How do I uninstall MacKeeper completely?

Open MacKeeper, go to the menu bar and choose MacKeeper > Uninstall MacKeeper. Follow the prompts. The modern Clario-era version uninstalls cleanly through this route. If the app is already gone, you can also drag any remaining MacKeeper folder from /Applications to the Trash, then search for leftover files in ~/Library/Application Support and ~/Library/Preferences. AppCleaner (free) can also surface leftover files from most Mac apps, including MacKeeper.

Can I trust Clario, MacKeeper's parent company?

Clario is a legitimate cybersecurity company registered in Cyprus that also owns other security products. Since acquiring MacKeeper in 2019, the app has been rebuilt, properly notarized, and no longer associated with the scareware tactics of the earlier eras. That said, if you have specific concerns about a security product's data practices, reviewing the privacy policy directly is always worth doing. For memory clearing specifically, the question doesn't really apply: Shiny does one job and collects nothing.

What's a cheaper alternative to MacKeeper?

Depends which part of MacKeeper you want. For memory clearing: Shiny is $4.99 once and covers three Macs. For malware scanning: Malwarebytes has a free version and a paid plan that's typically cheaper than MacKeeper. For antivirus plus VPN bundled together, Norton 360 or Bitdefender are well-regarded options with strong reputations. macOS also includes its own silent malware scanner (XProtect) that updates automatically, so many Mac owners don't need a third-party antivirus at all.

Shiny vs MacKeeper

Shiny is $4.99 once, does one job (freeing memory), lives quietly in your menu bar, and collects no data. MacKeeper is $60-110 a year, is a full security and maintenance suite (antivirus, VPN, junk cleaner, memory cleaner, ad blocker, ID theft monitor), and has a complicated history that most people searching for this comparison already know about. This post addresses that history honestly, then gets to the practical question of which tool is right for you.

I make Shiny, so you're reading a comparison from a biased source. I've tried to write it the way I'd want it written if I were the buyer: honest about where MacKeeper genuinely wins, honest about where Shiny does, and clear about the history without exaggerating it in either direction.

At a glance

	Shiny	MacKeeper
Price	$4.99 once, forever	$60-110 / year, depending on plan
Macs covered	Up to 3 personal Macs	Typically 1 Mac per plan
What it does	Frees memory in one click	Antivirus + VPN + junk cleaner + memory cleaner + ad blocker + ID monitor
Telemetry	None	Anonymous usage statistics
Popups / reminders	None	Scan reminders and notifications
Notarized by Apple	Yes	Yes (since Clario era)
Made by	THEODOREHQ	Clario Tech (Cyprus; formerly Kromtech/Zeobit)
Brand reputation	Clean indie, no baggage	Rebuilding from a well-documented scareware era

The MacKeeper history question

Most people searching "Shiny vs MacKeeper" or "MacKeeper alternative" already have a vague impression that MacKeeper was once something to be wary of. That impression is accurate, and it's worth being clear about the details rather than vague.

MacKeeper was originally built by Zeobit and later sold to Kromtech. During that period, it became one of the most complained-about Mac apps on the internet. The specific issues were: aggressive advertising that used fake Mac diagnostics to frighten people into downloading it, in-app warnings designed to create urgency rather than reflect genuine problems, and an uninstall process that many users found confusing or ineffective. A US class-action settlement in 2015 resulted in Kromtech paying $2 million to affected users.

In 2019, Clario Tech acquired MacKeeper and rebuilt it. The current version is signed and notarized by Apple, is not flagged by major antivirus scanners, does not use fake diagnostics, and can be uninstalled through the standard app menu. MacKeeper has worked hard to clean up its act since the Clario acquisition, but the brand reputation is hard to undo, and many tech-literate Mac owners still steer clear on principle.

That's the factual picture. What you do with it is up to you.

Where MacKeeper wins

I want to be clear about this section, because a comparison that doesn't concede anything is worthless. There are genuine cases where MacKeeper is the better tool.

Bundled antivirus and VPN. If you want both an antivirus scanner and a VPN on one subscription, MacKeeper provides that in a single package. Buying Norton or Bitdefender plus a separate VPN often costs more individually than MacKeeper's bundle price.

ID theft monitoring. MacKeeper includes identity monitoring features that alert you if your email or personal data appears in known data breaches. Shiny has nothing like this and never will. This is a different category of software entirely.

Full maintenance suite. Beyond memory, MacKeeper handles junk file cleanup, duplicate finder, app uninstalling, and safe browsing. If you want one app for all of those jobs, that's a coherent choice.

One subscription for everything. Some people genuinely prefer paying one bill for a bundle over buying multiple single-purpose tools. If that's your preference, MacKeeper makes the bundle case.

Where Shiny wins

Price. $4.99 once versus $60-110 a year, ongoing. Over five years that's $4.99 versus $300-550. If memory clearing is the only feature you'd use, the price gap is not small.

Focus. Shiny does one thing: free memory. Click the menu-bar icon, it closes orphaned helper processes, releases inactive memory, pauses idle apps, and shows you what it freed. There's no dashboard, no scan to dismiss, no notification to clear. The whole interaction is one click.

Zero telemetry. Shiny collects no analytics, no usage data, no crash reports. MacKeeper collects anonymous usage statistics. If telemetry-zero matters to you, Shiny is the stricter choice.

No popups. Shiny doesn't warn you about threats. It doesn't suggest you run a scan. It doesn't send you reminders. It lives in the menu bar and waits until you click it.

No historical baggage. Shiny is a new, single-purpose app from one developer with no scareware history, no class-action history, no reputational rebuilding project. If that matters to you, it's a real differentiator.

Three Macs on one license. One Shiny purchase covers up to three personal Macs. MacKeeper plans typically cover one Mac, with multi-device plans costing more.

"If memory clearing is the only feature you'd use, the price gap is not small: $4.99 once vs $300-550 over five years."

Who Shiny is for

You'll probably prefer Shiny if:

You only want a memory cleaner. Not antivirus, not VPN, not junk files. Just memory.
You prefer one-time payments over ongoing subscriptions.
You don't want any analytics or background data collection, ever.
You want a tool you click once, not a suite you manage.
The MacKeeper history makes you uncomfortable, even accounting for the Clario rebuild.
You have two or three Macs and want a single purchase to cover them all.
Your Mac is generally fine but edges into memory pressure during heavy work, and you want a quick release valve.

Who MacKeeper is for

You'll probably prefer MacKeeper if:

You want antivirus, VPN, and maintenance in one subscription and one interface.
You're actively concerned about identity theft monitoring alongside Mac performance.
You'd rather pay one annual bill than buy four separate single-purpose tools.
You'll genuinely use three or more of MacKeeper's features on a regular basis.
The Clario rebuild reassures you and the historical reputation doesn't factor into your decision.

One honest note: if a security suite is what you actually want, Norton 360 and Malwarebytes have stronger reputations in the security community than MacKeeper does, even post-Clario. If the antivirus and VPN bundle is the main draw, it's worth comparing those options too before committing.

Should you switch from MacKeeper to Shiny?

Only if memory is the feature you actually use. Open MacKeeper and look at which sections you've clicked in the last three months. If the answer is mostly "the memory cleaner," Shiny replaces it at a fraction of the price. If you're regularly using the antivirus, VPN, or identity monitoring features, switching to Shiny means giving those up entirely.

There's also a middle path. Shiny and MacKeeper don't conflict with each other. Some people cancel MacKeeper's subscription, install Shiny for daily memory clearing, and pick up Malwarebytes Free for periodic malware scans. That combination costs $4.99 total and covers the two most commonly used features.

For a wider view of what these tools do and don't accomplish, the posts on whether Mac cleaner apps are actually worth it and the best Mac memory cleaners in 2026 are worth reading alongside this one. There's also a similar comparison for Shiny vs CleanMyMac if CleanMyMac is on your shortlist.

Bottom line

If you want memory clearing without subscriptions and without historical baggage: Shiny. $4.99 once, three Macs, zero telemetry, zero popups.

If you want a bundled antivirus, VPN, and maintenance suite: MacKeeper is one option, though Norton and Malwarebytes have cleaner reputations in the security space and are worth comparing directly.

If you only use MacKeeper for the memory cleaner, the honest answer is that you're paying $60-110 a year for a feature Shiny handles for $4.99 once. The question people ask about safety also applies here: the right question isn't just "is it safe" but "do I actually need what it does."