CCleaner is a device management and maintenance tool. It offers a wide range of features to keep your computer running at peak performance, such as a driver updater, PC health checks, and automatic application updates.
The company behind CCleaner is Piriform. It is a British software company and a subsidiary of Avast, the Czech cybersecurity software giant. Piriform was an independent private company for more than a decade before Avast bought it in 2017.
We'll rate Piriform's CCleaner based on specific criteria, including price, features, ease of use, customer support, and more.
Packages and rates
There is a free version of CCleaner aptly called "CCleaner Free". However, it lacks many features compared to "CCleaner Professional", the paid level.
CCleaner Professional is available by subscription. You can pay for a one- or two-year license that covers a certain number of computers. Their different pricing plans include;
- One year license for one PC - €29.95
- One year license for three PCs - €44.95
- Two-year license for three PCs - €79.95
You can pay for the software on the official website of CCleaner. Available payment methods include PayPal or credit/debit cards. There is a 14-day free trial for the professional version.
You will need to provide basic customer information such as their full name and email address. Once the process is complete, you will receive an activation key sent to the email address you provided.
Features
The main features of CCleaner include:
Driver update
Missing or outdated disk drivers are one of the most common things that affect PC performance. CCleaner has a built-in tool to scan your PC drivers and notify you if they are missing or out of date. You can then update these outdated drivers or download new versions of missing drivers directly from the software.
The scan didn't take long (less than a minute) in our tests on an HP Windows 10 Pro laptop. It found 12 drivers that needed updating, and we updated them right away.
You can set CCleaner to run automatic driver checks at specific times, for example daily, weekly, or whenever your computer restarts after shutting down. With this feature, say goodbye to bad disk controllers slowing down your PC.
Registry cleaner
Another common reason for computer performance deterioration is the presence of redundant or invalid entries in the Windows Registry. CCleaner has this feature to remove any unnecessary entries from your Windows Registry.
This feature just works: click a button to run a scan of your Windows registry. After the scan is complete, it will give you a report on the number of issues it found. In our test, it found 212 problems. You can solve all these problems at once or solve them one by one.
Clean unnecessary files
CCleaner allows you to scan your system for unnecessary files and remove them if you find any.
Automatic browser protection
After each browsing session, you can set CCleaner to clear your cache, history, and cookies. This feature helps you maintain privacy online and also improves browser performance.
software uninstaller
This feature allows you to install software or groups of software with a single click.
Interface and in use
CCleaner has a neat and simple interface. You can see all the features presented on the dashboard and choose the one you want. The software is easy to understand and navigate.
In the ease of use criteria, CCleaner gets an easy 5/5.
Support
CCleaner offers customer support via email. Free users also get email support, but the company is prioritizing requests from paid users over free requests, which is understandable. In addition to direct customer support, there is an extensive knowledge base, FAQ page, and video tutorials published by CCleaner to help users better understand their software.
Competition
CCleaner has many competitors, but we will only highlight two, Iolo System Mechanic and Avast Cleanup Premium. Let's do some quick comparisons:
CCleanerIolo System MechanicAvast Cleanup PremiumMinimum price€29.95/year€40/year€60/yearFree trial14 days30 days30 daysfinal verdict
If you are looking for a reliable PC cleaning tool, we recommend CCleaner. It has just the features you need to keep your PC running smoothly. It is also relatively cheap.
However, there are some downsides, such as the third-party data collection of its "Active Monitoring" feature. CCleaner was also the victim of a widespread cyberattack in 2017, where hackers hacked the app and used it to spread malware to users. However, cybercriminals often exploit popular software packages to deliver their malicious payloads.
We have also featured the best PC cleanup and driver update software.