Critical reception

TuneUp Utilities received generally-positive reviews, despite the product secretly installing pop-up advertisements without notifying the user. Computer Shopper magazine reviewed TuneUp Utilities 2009 and give it a score of 8 out of 10. It commended TuneUp Registry Cleaner as well as the hard-drive-related components of product but also noted that some tools are superficially implemented and that this suite lacks an antivirus and a personal firewall. TuneUp Utilities 2009 was voted #37 of "The Top 100 Products of 2009" and won the award "Best Utility Suite" of Computer Shopper.

CNET also reviewed TuneUp Utilities 2009 and gave it 5 stars out of 5. “To call TuneUp Utilities 2009 useful would drastically understate the situation”, said Seth Rosenblatt, an associate editor with CNET. He assessed TuneUp Utilities as a powerful and easy-to-use set of tools, with its disk cleanup and registry cleaner the “bread-and-butter” of the entire set.

PC World's Preston Gralla reviewed the 2010 version and commented that TuneUp Utilities is a comprehensive suite that “includes everything from a startup optimizer to a driver defragmenter, from an overall speed optimizer to a Windows Registry cleaner, and more.” However, he said that the high price of the entire suite ($50) might make the purchase decision more difficult. Preston had also previously reviewed TuneUp Utilities 2009 for PC Advisor and gave it 4.5 stars out of 5 stars.

PC Magazine reviewed TuneUp Utilities 2011 and gave it a score of 4 out of 5. “Overall, the software does a fine job of revitalizing a worn PC," commented Jeffrey L. Wilson, PC Magazine software analyst. He appreciated the product's one-click repair feature and the subsequent reduction in his test PC's boot-time. However, Wilson criticized the software license that only permits installation on three PCs, contrasting it with Iolo System Mechanic 10, a competing product that allows an unlimited number of installations in the same household.

TuneUp Utilities also received a Softpedia Pick award from Softpedia. Although Alex Muradin, Softpedia editor, expressed concern over the lack of proper technical support for TuneUp Utilities 2006, he gave this product a final score of 5 out of 5. However, it is notable that he gave this product a subscore of 3 out of 5 for Pricing/value.

Christian Immler characterizes TuneUp Utilities as a classic amongst tuning tools.