IObit Driver Booster 9 review

Keep your device drivers updated to their latest versions and more

IObit Driver Booster 9 Review Hero
(Image: © IObit)

TechRadar Verdict

Outdated or missing drivers are a typical reason for slow PC performance. It isn’t easy to keep track of your computer’s drivers by yourself, so you need a tool like IObit Driver Booster to do that. This software enables you to automatically detect which drivers are outdated or missing and update them or download new ones.

Pros

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    Relatively cheap

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    Automatic driver detection and updates

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    Vast driver database

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    Driver backup and restore

Cons

  • -

    Windows-only

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    Upselling for other IObit products

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    Free version has limited functionality

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IObit Driver Booster is a PC optimization tool made by IObit, an American software company. Apart from Driver Booster, IObit has many other products, including a software uninstaller, VPN, screen recorder, antivirus, and more.

IObit released the first Driver Booster a long time ago and has released many more updated versions. This review is for IObit Driver Booster 9, released in 2021. We’ll judge it based on specific criteria, including features, pricing, compatibility, ease of use, etc.

Plans and pricing

Anyone can download a free version of the IObit Driver Booster, but it has limited functionalities. You’ll need to pay for the premium version to make the most of Driver Booster.

Pricing

IObit only charges you a bit more to cover two additional PCs (Image credit: IObit)

The premium version is available through an annual subscription, with two different plans according to the number of supported PCs. You can get a yearly subscription covering 1 PC for $19.95 and 3 PCs for $22.95. Note that these are discounted rates for first-time users. In the ensuing years, you may end up paying the regular price, which is $40/year for 1 PC and $75/year for 3 PCs. 

The premium version has a 14 days trial period you can utilize. IObit also offers a 60-days money-back guarantee for every purchase.

Features

IObit Driver Booster 9 includes plenty of features and tools to help optimize your PC (Image credit: IObit)

Features

IObit Driver Booster 9 includes a number of useful features designed to help your PC run at optimal performance including:

Driver Updates

IObit Driver Booster 9 scans your system and provides you with a list of all of your outdated drivers (Image credit: IObit)

Driver Updates

This is the first and foremost feature of IObit Driver Booster 9. It scans all your computer’s drivers and reports back which ones are outdated or missing. Afterward, you can download the newest versions for the outdated ones or new ones for the missing ones. This software checks your drivers against a vast database of over 8 million drivers. 

You can constantly update your computer’s drivers and boost its performance with this feature.

Backup and Restore

IObit Driver Booster lets you backup your drivers and restore them where needed. This feature is essential because some driver updates can cause malfunctions. In such a case, you’ll just need to revert to the backup version and have your PC perform as usual.

Junk files could be software leftovers, temporary folders, random executables, thumbnail caches, etc. What’s common among them is that they slow down your computer.

IObit Driver Booster 9 lets you find and quickly remove junk files from your computer. 

This feature enables you to collect and display detailed information about your computer. 

Common Problems

Driver errors can often be responsible for common PC problems (Image credit: IObit)

Fix Common Problems

Driver Booster has tools to fix common problems you encounter when using your computer. Such issues include network failure, wrong resolution, no sound, device error, and so on. 

Automatic Scans

You can set schedules for Driver Booster to automatically scan your computer’s drivers. For example, it could be daily, weekly, or whenever your computer boots up. 

Game Booster

IObit Driver Booster 9 can also stop unnecessary apps and services from running to improve your gaming performance (Image credit: IObit)

Game Boost

This feature stops all unnecessary apps from running during gaming to have the best gaming experience. 

Interface and in use

IObit Driver Booster 9 is relatively easy to download and use. We downloaded the setup file directly from the official website with no hassles. Afterward, launching the setup file and installing it on our computer took less than five minutes. We began using the tool right away.

UI

IObit Driver Booster 9's user interface is free of clutter and easy to navigate (Image credit: IObit)

IObit Driver Booster 9 has a dashboard from which you can observe and control all its features. After opening the app, the first feature you’ll notice is the “scan” button that lets you run a check on all your PC’s drivers.

There are two other tabs labeled “Boost” and “Tools”, where you can find all the other features.

Support

IObit offers customer support through email and telephone. You can contact them directly to resolve your challenges when using the app. Note that IObit prioritizes paying customers over non-paying customer support inquiries.

Support

IObit's FAQ page could give you some insights into common issues and concerns (Image credit: IObit)

There’s also a user manual and FAQ page published online to help users familiarize themselves with Driver Booster.

The competition

IObit has many competitors, such as Ashampoo Driver Updater and Auslogics Driver Updater. Let’s make a quick comparison.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Row 0 - Cell 0 IObit Driver Booster 9Ashampoo Driver UpdaterAuslogics Driver Updater
Minimum price$19.95/year$19/year$11.50/year
CompatibilityWindows-onlyWindows-onlyWindows-only

Final verdict

There are many driver management tools out there. IObit Driver Booster is one of them and a perfect one. It has the necessary features to ensure you continually update your drivers. However, if we could change something, we’ll make it available for other operating systems apart from Windows. 

We've also highlighted the best driver update software and the best programs to speed up your PC

Stefan Ionescu

Stefan has always been a lover of tech. He graduated with an MSc in geological engineering but soon discovered he had a knack for writing instead. So he decided to combine his newfound and life-long passions to become a technology writer. As a freelance content writer, Stefan can break down complex technological topics, making them easily digestible for the lay audience.