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The best Mac antivirus software in 2022

The best Mac antivirus software in 2022

Best Mac antivirus
(Image credit: Avast)

Hey, Mac users: Yes, you lot demand 1 of the best Mac antivirus programs on your machine.

Macs do get infected by malware, every bit even Apple tree itself now admits. Mac malware has increased in the by few years, and today's Macs are also plagued by adware, scareware and other unwanted although not entirely malicious programs.

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Unfortunately, Apple's built-in antivirus protections, Gatekeeper and XProtect, don't ever work so well considering they employ out-of-engagement methods of stopping infections. The best Mac antivirus programs practice a meliorate job, speedily spotting make-new malware and double-checking dodgy files "signed" with an Apple programmer ID.

Many Mac antivirus programs besides check for Windows malware, which can utilize Macs every bit hidden bases from which to infect PCs on the aforementioned local network. Some Mac antivirus programs too come with useful actress features such equally password managers, system optimizers or VPN services.

The acme three best Mac antivirus brands

What is the best Mac antivirus program?

Nosotros remember Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac is the best Mac antivirus programme you can purchase. It had nearly nil bear upon on organisation performance in our own tests, caught all Mac and Windows malware in lab tests, rolls back files encrypted by ransomware and hardens your web browser against online attacks. It as well offers 200MB of VPN information daily, although that's just a tease for the unlimited VPN service.

Close behind is Norton 360 Standard, which has even better malware detection plus an unlimited VPN and a password manager. Norton catches all Mac and Windows malware, has a very small-scale system-performance impact and includes LifeLock dark-web monitoring.

Our favorite gratis option is Avast Security for Mac, with nearly perfect malware protection and an easy-to-apply interface. Its system-operation impact is less than information technology one time was, and it no longer nags y'all to upgrade to paid Avast products.

Kaspersky Cyberspace Security for Mac has perfect malware-detection scores, webcam protection and a hardened spider web browser. Information technology offers 300MB of daily VPN usage, but its password manager and parental controls are also limited unless you pay more.

There's non much wrong with Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac, except for a rather heavy system-performance impact during full scans. It shields files from ransomware, protects your webcam and very proficient malware protection. Yet it doesn't do much to stand out from the crowd.

Intego Mac Internet Security X9 comes from the grandpa of all Mac antivirus companies, and its detection and protection skills are very skillful. But it'southward got a relatively sparse set of tools and features that resemble those of gratis antivirus apps.

Sophos Habitation Premium is a hidden gem. Information technology has few actress features, but protects your Mac'southward webcam and has spider web filters for children and dedicated protection against ransomware. Yous can protect up to 10 Mac or PCs for a deal price.

McAfee Antivirus Plus is also an inexpensive ten-device bundle protecting Macs, PCs and Android devices. Simply it'due south got few extra features for Mac and its scans can create large system slowdowns. Its Mac malware protection performs a notch below those of Bitdefender and Sophos.

Malwarebytes for Mac Premium has never had malware-detection lab tests, simply Malwarebytes' Windows consumer antivirus software does not practise well. All the same, nosotros can recommend the free Malwarebytes for Mac, an excellent cleanup tool that's the perfect complement to adept Mac antivirus software.

The all-time Mac antivirus software you lot can become

Best Mac antivirus: Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac

(Image credit: Bitdefender)

1. Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac

The best antivirus program for Macs: lite, fast, strong and piece of cake to use

Reasons to buy

+

Very good malware detection

+

Ransomware protection

+

Modern, intuitive user interface

+

Calorie-free organization impact

Reasons to avoid

-

Lacks some features Windows version has

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac has an piece of cake-to-use interface, affordable pricing, nearly flawless malware detection and a very light system-performance impact. For those reasons, information technology'due south once again our Editor's Choice for best Mac antivirus software.

Unusually for a Mac antivirus programme, Bitdefender tin roll back ransomware encryption, including on Time Machine backups. It also offers extensions to harden your web browser and blocks online trackers to protect your privacy. The Autopilot and Bitdefender Shield features continue the software running without much human intervention.

The only downsides are the absence of the password manager that comes with the Windows version of Bitdefender Antivirus, and that the Bitdefender VPN service is express to 200MB per twenty-four hour period unless you pay more. Other than that, it's a near perfect Mac antivirus plan.

Read our total Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac review .

Norton 360 Standard (for Mac)

(Image credit: Norton)

ii. Norton 360 Standard

The best feature set amidst Mac antivirus programs, including unlimited VPN service

Reasons to buy

+

Flawless malware detection

+

Massive feature set. including unlimited VPN and password manager

+

Almost no impact on system performance

Reasons to avoid

-

Expensive for a single license

-

Parental controls, cloud storage don't piece of work on Macs

Norton 360 Standard has a ton of useful extras, including unlimited VPN service and an unlimited countersign manager, two features for which its rivals make you pay extra. Information technology'due south also got a ii-way firewall, a system optimizer and nighttime-spider web monitoring of your personal data.

More importantly, Norton 360 Standard has a very small impact on system operation, e'er-bachelor tech support and, last but non least, flawless detection of Mac malware.

Yous'll pay a lot for these luxuries, however, although yous'll be saving money on the cost of a stand up-alone VPN or password manager. We hope that Mac users will before long become the parental controls, webcam protections and backup software that Windows users of Norton 360 Standard already take.

Read our total Norton 360 Standard review .

Best free antivirus: Avast Free Antivirus

(Paradigm credit: Avast)

3. Avast Security for Mac

The best free antivirus for Macs

Reasons to buy

+

Excellent antivirus protection

+

Light system-performance impact

+

Screens out malicious websites

Reasons to avoid

-

Limited features

-

Weak client back up

Avast Security for Mac has improved a lot since it was called Avast Free Mac Security. The malware-detection charge per unit is now almost perfect, the organisation-functioning touch on is much less and the abrasive ads that tried to upsell you to Avast paid programs have been drastically dialed dorsum.

Avast likewise screens websites for phishing scams and other common threats and scans your Wi-Fi network for outdated devices and unwelcome guests. Its interface is attractive and easy to navigate, but be enlightened that some of the features, including ransomware rollbacks, are available but to paying customers.

The countersign manager and the email-zipper screener have disappeared, however, and the tech support is limited to online documents. Still, if you desire a solid, dependable Mac antivirus programme for nothing, this is the one to get.

Read our full Avast Security for Mac review .

Best Mac antivirus: Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac

(Epitome credit: Kaspersky)

4. Kaspersky Net Security for Mac

Flawless security in a flawed package

Reasons to purchase

+

Perfect malware detection

+

Hardened browser for cyberbanking, shopping

+

Webcam protection

Reasons to avoid

-

Password director, parental controls, VPN very limited

-

Noticeable background impact

Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac has perfect malware-detection rates, a light system impact during scans and an intuitive user interface. It can even turn off the webcam on a MacBook, a feature that Apple tree itself doesn't offer.

Kaspersky also offers a hardened web browser for use while banking or shopping online, plus browser extensions that block malicious URLs and tracking cookies and advise you to steer articulate of risky websites.

Withal, the all-time extra features are just teases. The password manager holds simply fifteen items. The parental controls are limited to a single child device without location tracking. The VPN service gives you only 300MB of data per day.

Unlimited versions of each price $15, $xv and $30 per year, respectively, which isn't terribly expensive, only Norton 360 Standard gives y'all two of those at no extra costs.    At to the lowest degree Kaspersky doesn't persistently try to upsell you on them.

Read our total Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac review .

Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac review

(Image credit: Trend Micro)

v. Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac

Excellent security without any standout features

Reasons to buy

+

Nigh flawless malware protection

+

Affordable pricing

+

Light background performance impact

Reasons to avoid

-

Outdated user interface

-

Heavy operation hit during full scans

Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac offers very good malware protection for a reasonable price, but information technology has a very heavy system affect during total scans.

If you lot can overlook that drawback, you lot'll observe ransomware protection for designated folders, webcam protection, a social-media privacy scanner and even a parental web filter. Trend Micro's interface is a bit old-fashioned, but it works.

However, the plan doesn't really stand out when rivals such as Bitdefender and Norton offering more. Yous could certainly practise worse than Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac, merely you could also do better.

Best Mac antivirus: Intego Mac Internet Security X9 review

(Paradigm credit: Intego)

6. Intego Mac Net Security X9

Astonishing malware scanning speeds

Reasons to buy

+

Solid malware protection

+

Blistering fast scans

+

Excellent legacy macOS back up

Reasons to avert

-

Limited feature ready

-

Disjointed user interface

Intego has been making Mac antivirus software since 1997, and its Mac Security X9 offers very fast scans, thorough malware detection and a full-fledged firewall. The program besides supports legacy macOS versions going all the way back to 2013's Mavericks.

Intego Mac Security X9 is a solid piece of software that does its job well, even if its user interface is a bit bare-basic. Y'all can even toss in effective Windows antivirus protection for a small actress fee.

Merely Intego'due south relatively loftier price doesn't quite match its sparse feature set. While other paid Mac antivirus programs might toss in browser extensions, a password manager or fifty-fifty a VPN to justify the purchase, Intego'southward extra features aren't too different from what you'd get with free Mac antivirus software.

Read our full Intego Mac Net Security X9 review .

Best Mac antivirus: Sophos Home Premium

(Prototype credit: Sophos)

7. Sophos Dwelling Premium

Most price-effective for big families

Reasons to buy

+

Covers 10 systems

+

Ransomware protection

+

Parental website filters

Reasons to avoid

-

Heavy background system impact

-

Untested malware detection

Sophos Home Premium can protect upwards to x computers, Mac or Windows, for a low price and its parental spider web filters can stop kids from seeing objectionable material online. It besides has dedicated protections against ransomware and for your webcam and microphone.

Its background system bear on is more noticeable than its competitors', although nowhere near the system impact of some Windows antivirus products. It'due south got a relatively small impact during active scans.

The interface is minimal and more often than not lives in the menu bar; for more controls, at that place's a powerful online management tool. Tech support is 12 hours a day, Monday through Fri, and limited to e-mail and chat interactions.

We just wish we had some third-political party lab-examination data near the efficacy of Sophos' Mac malware scanner, which might place it college among the best Mac antivirus software programs.

Read our full Sophos Dwelling Premium review .

Best Mac antivirus: McAfee Antivirus Plus

(Epitome credit: McAfee)

viii. McAfee Antivirus Plus

Another bargain for large families, but fairly sparse on features

Reasons to buy

+

Protects 10 devices

+

Low passive system impact

Reasons to avert

-

Unproven detection rates

-

Huge organization slowdowns during full scans

-

Confusing interface

McAfee Antivirus Plus's generous 10-device license ways you tin can provide antivirus protection for a whole family unit of Macs (and/or Windows PCs and Android phones) for a reasonable yearly fee.

Only the program doesn't have a lot of extra features for Macs, which makes information technology hard to recommend for Apple customers. All Mac users really get is a firewall, while Windows users get ransomware protection, cryptojacking protection and a system optimizer. McAfee Antivirus Plus besides has a heavy organisation bear on during scans and a confusing interface.

Furthermore, we don't know really how well McAfee Antivirus Plus protects against Mac malware. At that place oasis't been any recent Mac malware-detection testing scores for McAfee, so its protection powers are impossible to compare with those of the best Mac antivirus software.

Read our total McAfee Antivirus Plus review .

Best Mac antivirus: Malwarebytes for Mac

(Image credit: Malwarebytes)

9. Malwarebytes for Mac Premium

Stick to the costless version, which works well with amend AV software

Reasons to buy

+

Piece of cake-to-utilise design

+

Superfast scans

+

Low system touch

Reasons to avoid

-

No special features

-

Untested malware detection

Despite its fast scans, light impact on system operation, and vivid, easy-to-use interface, Malwarebytes for Mac Premium feels half cooked.

The programme doesn't have many of the extra features its competitors offer, such as malicious-website blocking and email scanning. And because its malware-blocking skills haven't been evaluated in lab tests, we don't actually know how good Malwarebytes is at protecting your Mac.

However, we do recommend the free version, Malwarebytes for Mac. It is not truly antivirus software, but an first-class post-infection cleanup tool that as well gets rid of the annoying adware and unwanted programs that antivirus software tends to miss.

You lot might want to let the two-week Malwarebytes Premium trial expire and instead use the free tier alongside some of the all-time Mac antivirus software.

Read our full Malwarebytes for Mac Premium review .

How to choose the best Mac antivirus software for you

Before you purchase or install Mac antivirus software, you have to effigy out what you really need. Practice yous take both Macs and Windows PCs at home? Then consider a multiplatform, multi-device bundle such as Norton 360 Palatial, Sophos Domicile Premium or McAfee Antivirus Plus. Bitdefender and Kaspersky likewise offer multiplatform bundles that come with the aforementioned software we've reviewed here.

Or do you have simply Macs? If and so, no need to go overboard: The i- or three-device versions of Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac or Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac should practice you just fine.

  • How to buy antivirus software

Practise y'all have young children or teenagers living at abode? Consider Mac antivirus software that comes with parental controls or web-content filters, like Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac or Sophos Abode Premium.

Then effigy out how much you lot tin can afford. If the respond is "nothing," and then endeavour Avast Security for Mac or the costless tier of Sophos Domicile. The trade-off is that those aren't every bit good as many of the paid programs.

But if you lot tin beget to spend $50 a year, then yous've got a lot of options. Most of the antivirus companies often offer discounts of up to threescore%, both straight from their websites or through online retailers, at least for the first buy.

How nosotros test the best Mac antivirus programs

To decide which of the above choices is the all-time Mac antivirus software, we evaluated ease of use, interface and performance impact. We installed each AV programme on the same 13-inch 2016 MacBook Pro running macOS xi Big Sur. It was powered past a two.9-GHz Intel Core i5 processor and had 8GB of RAM and 42GB of data stored on a 256GB SSD.

We conducted our own tests based on how much each of the best Mac antivirus programs affected our laptop'southward performance. To practise this, we used the Geekbench 5 benchmarking tool and ran information technology before installation of each antivirus program, then over again after installation, once again during a total scan so again during a quick scan.

We assessed how piece of cake each of the best Mac antivirus programs was to use and the number of useful extra features information technology offered (including free improver software).

To gauge how effective each package was at stopping malware, we used the results of evaluations conducted by AV-Exam, a well-regarded independent product-testing lab in Germany, and results from other tests conducted by AV-Comparatives, a similarly well-respected company in Austria. (Both labs as well test the all-time Android antivirus apps.)

iOS antivirus apps

A lot of people want iOS antivirus software for their iPhones and iPads. The truth is that such software doesn't exist. Apple won't permit third-party apps examine other iOS apps, or fifty-fifty inspect new apps as they're installed. Anything that claims to be antivirus software swiftly gets kicked out of the iTunes App Store.

Many major antivirus vendors, including F-Secure, McAfee, Norton and Trend Micro, do have "security" apps in the App Shop. But these bank check web links for known malicious sites, locate lost devices or pretend to protect your privacy. None scans an iPhone for malware.

There has been existent iOS malware that affects non-jailbroken devices, simply it's very rarely cropped up. In each example, Apple tree has pushed out a new version of iOS to end the malware in a matter of days or weeks. Generally, if you continue your Apple mobile device updated to the latest version of iOS, you should be safe.

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Paul Wagenseil is a senior editor at Tom's Guide focused on security and privacy. He has also been a dishwasher, fry cook, long-haul commuter, code monkey and video editor. He'due south been rooting around in the information-security infinite for more than fifteen years at FoxNews.com, SecurityNewsDaily, TechNewsDaily and Tom's Guide, has presented talks at the ShmooCon, DerbyCon and BSides Las Vegas hacker conferences, shown up in random Tv set news spots and even moderated a panel discussion at the CEDIA home-technology conference. Y'all tin can follow his rants on Twitter at @snd_wagenseil.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-mac-antivirus

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