Is CleanMyMac X anti virus worth spending money on?

<< I want to ask the community if its worth buying the premium on this app? >>

Not only is it NOT worth paying any money for, you should take steps to remove the version you have as soon as possible.

The idea that a third party, with no special knowledge of the inner workings of MacOS, can somehow find a simple way to protect or speed up your computer — that is not already being done by MacOS itself — suggests that the MacOS developers are somehow "holding out on you". That is absurd.

 You should remove any and all (other than Apple built-in) virus scanners, speeder uppers, optimizers, cleaners, App deleters or VPN packages you installed yourself, or anything of that ilk.

Third-party file Sync-ers such as DropBox, BackBlaze, OneDrive, or GoogleDrive can ruin performance, but are not inherently dangerous.

In 2000, Apple made automated, self-maintenance routines part of the macOS. The routines do ALL housekeeping your Mac requires, including defragging, and does so without your having to think about it. Catlike, Macs clean themselves.

As the industry knows this 24 year old fact, IMHO this makes any products sold to Mac users that claims to clean, optimize, disinfect, or otherwise tidy-up a Mac rather scam-like. All they do is interfere with the elegant automation you pod Apple to include in the OS.

Riklik wrote:

It is also important to consider the use applications!!!!!

EX: If you are using macos for only work applications and personal use, then AVs and cleaners are useless. However, if you use it for gaming applications alongside grey areas of the web, then it may be useful to have it.

It doesn't matter what you use your Mac for. CleanMyMac, AV programs and VPNs are not required and can slow your computer down an cause other problems.

Me personally, I use VPNs, AVs, and CMMx, but they all have seperate uses. the VPN is for security, the AV is when I go onto shady sites or download something from the web instead of the app store (aka 99% of the time), and CMMx is mainly only used for ram and purgeable space, along with clearing caches

Unless you are logging into a secure server with a VPN provided by your employer, a VPN doesn't make anything more secure.

See here:

Don't Use VPN Services

Your Mac already has built-in malware that is better than third-party offerings. Also, some AV software, notably ClamVX, has gotten into trouble for selling personal data. That's a problem with VPN services as well. So, AV and VPN software make your data less safe than not having them.

CleanMyMac is also unnecessary (as has already been explained in this thread) and has a tendency to delete things that shouldn't be deleted.

Yes, MacOS has many protections installed to stop malware and badware from infecting your computer, but you only have one computer, so I prefer to use trusted applications to help protect my computer.

Exactly. You have only one computer so don't voluntarily put junk on it.

This article was linked to above but, in cased you missed it, you should really read it:

Effective defenses against malware and ot… - Apple Community

MacOS shares a lot of the lock-down mechanisms developed for the iPhone. Applications are all sand-boxed with a list of the resources they require, and they cannot ask for anything outside their sandbox without crashing. Signed Applications are checked that they are from legitimate Developers, and Notarized Applications are delivered with the assurance that they have NOT been modified since their release by the Developer.

Recent versions of MacOS completely changed how you should think about malware.

From MacOS 10.15 Catalina onward, the system is on a Separate, crypto-locked System Volume, which is not writeable using ordinary means. Any unauthorized differences that appear to the crypto-locked volume are quickly detected and you are alerted.

So you could store just about every malware known to mankind on your Mac, and your Mac would not get infected spontaneously. Scanning for virus-like patterns might make you feel a little better now, but it is outdated nonsense.

Nothing can become Executable Unless/Until you supply your Admin password to "make it so".

It is also important to consider the use applications!!!!!

EX: If you are using macos for only work applications and personal use, then AVs and cleaners are useless. However, if you use it for gaming applications alongside grey areas of the web, then it may be useful to have it.

Me personally, I use VPNs, AVs, and CMMx, but they all have seperate uses. the VPN is for security, the AV is when I go onto shady sites or download something from the web instead of the app store (aka 99% of the time), and CMMx is mainly only used for ram and purgeable space, along with clearing caches

Yes, MacOS has many protections installed to stop malware and badware from infecting your computer, but you only have one computer, so I prefer to use trusted applications to help protect my computer.

You don't need any of it - free or not - as all it will do is slow your Mac down and make things worse. So-called 'anti-this etc/protect/clean-up/sweep/speed-up' applications are pretty much self serving and do nothing useful. Everything you need is already built in as well as using your own common sense which is the best protection of all.

Good luck.

VPNs are not security software. At all. Not even a little.

AV software cannot protect you from yourself. There's where all Mac malware is. Trojans, that the user downloads and installs/runs. The AV can't know what you're doing until the damage is already self-inflicted. Since there are literally no self-replicating viruses that can affect a Mac, this makes all AV software useless.

The only thing even remotely associated with cache data and security is your browser cache. And the user can clear that themselves at any time. You don't need third party software to perform such a simple task. If you enable Developer Mode in Safari's settings, you can clear the cache at any time by pressing Command+Option+E.

I suggest you read this user tip:

Effective defenses against malware and ot… - Apple Community

Riklik,

Most people will find clearing the cache actually self defeating at best, crashing at worse. The process of clearing caches from the system level can cause Launchservices to fail until you wipe and reinstall the operating system. Caches are there to optimize your system. If clearing the cache does help with speeding things up, it is due to some already nascent issues of storage help causing corruption. AppleJack is one utility that allows cleaning of system caches while they are not being actively written. All others create more conditions for corruption than solving.

VPNs are useful when working remotely to remain on corporate and school networks from home. Using incognito and private browsing mode on most browsers offers the same level of protection. The downside is if a VPN server is behind a slow firewall, and it will make your web browsing as a whole slower, it also generally does not allow simultaneously connection while printing to your own wireless printers at home.

AVs as other mentioned are there mainly to watch out for trojan horses. Which basic understanding of the risk is usually better protection than using utilities:

How to handle phishing? - Apple Community

lf you use gray areas of the web, unfortunately anti-virus is not bulletproof, and can miss stuff. Keep a good backup and don't tell anyone about it. We can only advise about legal activities on this board.