Best Antivirus for Mac 2024: Top Security Software Compared

Macworld

Macs have traditionally been a far less tempting target for malware writers, leading some to believe that Macs don’t even need antivirus, but their increasing popularity means they’re not immune from viruses and other types of malware – don’t find this out the hard way. While it is typically Windows computers that get news headlines for being attacked by computer viruses, Macs are vulnerable to malware, too. In this collection of Mac antivirus reviews, fully tested by our expert editors, we recommend the best Mac antivirus software to help keep you and your Mac or MacBook safe from whatever rogue software comes your way.

Not everyone is a security expert or knows how to check their Mac for viruses, but you also don’t need to be a security expert to keep your Mac safe. Apple does include some built-in antivirus protection, but a good Mac antivirus product will do it all for you, protecting your Mac from new and known malware, blocking ransomware, protecting older systems from security vulnerabilities caused by outdated software, stopping you from passing on Windows viruses to PC-using friends and colleagues, and so on.

The most difficult decision for you as a Mac user is deciding which of the multiple Mac antivirus programs on the market is going to do the best job of keeping you and your data safe, and which ultimately offers the best value.

Check out our Best overall Mac Antivirus: Intego Mac Internet Security

Our Macworld experts are here to help, and no-one is better placed to guide you on which antivirus to choose for your Mac than the leading authority on Mac products and products built for Mac (the clue is in our name). We thoroughly test all Mac antivirus products from a usability and functionality perspective and use a combination of our own testing data and AV Comparatives/AV-Test lab data to ascertain which is the most reliable and trustworthy security product for your Mac. These are the security products our own editors would (and do) choose for their own machines, so you can place your full trust in our Mac antivirus recommendations.

Our top pick right now is Intego Mac Internet Security. But depending on the type and number of devices you want to protect, and your budget, you may prefer one of the other Mac antivirus recommendations in our list below. Some cover more than Macs, you can also use them to protect your iPhone, iPad and other devices. You won’t find every Mac antivirus product we’ve tested here, only the very best contenders, meaning you can be sure that any of these products will do a decent job of protecting your Mac. We’ve also included some free options for those of you looking for the best free antivirus for Mac.

If value is the most important criteria for you, we also recommend looking at our best Mac antivirus deals round-up. And if you’re running Windows and macOS, also check out the advice from our sister site PC World for the best Windows antivirus.

Updated October 28 to add review of AVG Internet Security for Mac.

Best Mac Antivirus: Reviewed and Ranked






1. Intego Mac Internet Security X9 – Best overall Mac antivirus














Pros

Built for Mac.

Easy to set up.

Good performance.


Cons

Mac specific (no Windows/Android protection).









Price When Reviewed:

From $24.99 for first year, then $49.99 a year (1 Mac) Using our link




Best Prices Today:


$24.99 at Intego (first year)





Covers: macOS

Intego’s Mac Internet Security X9 combines the company’s VirusBarrier and NetBarrier applications to provide both antiviral protection and network traffic filtering programs. There’s also an Intel Premium Bundle X9 that includes five apps: VirusBarrier and NetBarrier as well as Mac Washing Machine (a Mac cleaner), ContentBarrier (Parental controls) and Personal Backup (a bootable backup).

Intego’s Internet Security costs $24.99/£20.99 for the first year. Intego’s Mac Premium Bundle costs $29.99/£23.99 for the first year. Use our link to get the deal: You can get Intego Mac Internet Security X9 and Mac Premium Bundle here.

The Mac Internet Security X9 is easy to download, install, and configure. It checks for the latest viral definitions and sets up real-time scanning features and intuitive network monitoring, allowing users to see and work with both incoming and outgoing Internet connections on their Mac.

While Mac Security X9 doesn’t offer every feature, it offers impressive configuration and customization to both its VirusBarrier and NetBarrier tools. VirusBarrier performs well in protecting users from viruses, while NetBarrier acts as a firewall that protects connections. The application allows users to create settings for home, work, or public connections, and allows or deny connections as needed.

There are some issues to address, we’d like to see a running counter tracking the number of files processed in a VirusBarrier scan and we were disappointed that it allowed traffic to questionable websites linked to spam messages. 

Mac Internet Security X9 doesn’t try to upsell users to Intego’s other suites and services, making it worth considering. The tools in place are effective, work well, and make this utility worth considering.

AV Comparatives, June 2024: 99% Mac Malware Protection, 93% Mac PUA Protection, 100% Windows Malware Detection.

Read our full

Intego Mac Internet Security X9 review






2. AVG Internet Security for Mac – Effective Mac antivirus














Pros

Caught an impressive amount of questionable apps.

Long trial.

Easy to use.


Cons

Let in a fake Flash player.

No indication that scans are happening.









Price When Reviewed:

$3.89 a month for 1 Mac ($46.68 for the first year, then $77.99 a year), or $4.99 a month for 10 devices ($59.88 for the first year, then $99.99 a year).




Best Prices Today:


$46.68 at AVG (first year)





Covers: macOS

AVG Internet Security for Mac is easy to download from the AVG website, downloads and installs easily, and once permissions have been assigned to your entire hard drive, you’re good to go. Best of all, it is available as a 60-day trial period before billing begins.

AVG Internet Security focuses on four directives: Computer Protection, Web & Email Protection, Hacks Attacks, and Payment Protection. The Smart Scan feature checks your virus definitions to make sure they’re up to date and scans for viruses and malware. A Ransomware Shield, Network Inspector, and Fake Website Shield features look things over to see where you stand in terms of your overall online presence and security.

The set of whitelists and exceptions can be customized to hone in on files you want to scan and leave out areas you want to leave alone. A quick antiviral scan took a few minutes while a full scan of an entire NVME drive with 821GB of data on it took just over 5.5 hours to complete.

Scans on external drives and specific folders are easy to set up and execute, the scheduling feature works well, the software can set up location configurations, and there are customization options for network security.

Tests with malware and phishing-based websites went well. The software, combined with macOS’s Gatekeeper functionality, stopped the vast majority of sample malware installations, quarantining them quickly and preventing installation. The software also prevented questionable external code from being loaded on suspect websites and blocked phishing sites from loading.

There are a few places for improvement with AVG Internet Security for Mac, but not many. During testing, the software allowed a fake version of Adobe Flash Player to be installed. If you do override the macOS Gatekeeper and AVG security features and install malware, AVG Internet Security does a good job of removing it.

If there’s one thing I might change about the software, it’s the fact that the scheduled scan feature doesn’t readily display that the scan is taking place.

AVG Internet Security for Mac catches an impressive amount of viral, phishing, and malware activity for a consumer package, and does its job well, all while wrapped in a bright, friendly user interface that’s easy to navigate. Granted, given the subscription pricing and packages, a VPN client wouldn’t be out of the question, and the price point for a single device moves into questionable territory, but the software still performs well, travels well with its location settings, and this is appreciated.

Have a look at its 60-day trial to see what works, what doesn’t, and what might be right for you. You may also be interested in trying the free AVG AntiVirus for the Mac. Despite being free, AVG’s free AntiVirus covers all the bases: blocking viruses and malware from websites, downloads, and email attachments. AVG will scan applications and check every file and remove threats from your Mac. It auto updates so you shouldn’t miss out on protection from the latest threats.

AV Test, June 2024: 100%

AV Comparatives, AV Comparatives, June 2024: 100% Mac Malware Protection, 98% Mac PUA Protection, 100% Windows Malware Detection.

Get AVG Internet Security or AVG AntiVirus for the Mac.

Read our full

AVG Internet Security for Mac review






3. Avast Premium Security – Best Mac antivirus for malware protection














Pros

Doesn’t impact performance.

Caught problem test files.


Cons

Slow manual scanning.

No option for single device license.

Upselling.









Price When Reviewed:

From $50.28 for first year, then $77.99 a year.




Best Prices Today:


$50.28 at Avast Software (first year)





Covers: Mac, PC, iOS and Android

There are four Mac antivirus products from Avast. The paid for Avast Premium Security and Avast One, and the free Avast Free Antivirus and Avast One Essential. Avast Free Antivirus is a free version of Avast Premium Security, while Avast One Essential offers additional features like ransomware protection, privacy protection, and data leak detection. 

Avast Premium Security is a well-featured suite that protects your Mac from various threats, including browser script hacks, ransomware, and remote attack activity. It includes modules such as Virus Scans, Core Shields, Traffic Monitor, Network Inspector, Email Guardian, Ransomware Shield, and Quarantine, all easily accessible from the home screen.

Virus scan options include Smart Scan, Deep Scan, Targeted Scan, or External Storage Scan. The Traffic Monitor shows data usage and bandwidth usage, while Network Inspector scans the network for safety and alerts users when unfamiliar devices join the network. Core Shields prevents fake websites from loading and triggering software.

The main frustration with Avast Premium Security is its subscription-based model, but that tends to be standard these days. Some features are only available on the Avast Ultimate subscription tier.

Those looking to save money can try the two free Antivirus for Mac solutions, Avast Free Antivirus and Avast One Essential. If you want just a virus scanner, we recommend Avast’s Free Antivirus, which is the free version of Avast Premium Security. Avast One offers some additional functions and a different interface, but and annoys with intensive advertising for paid functions.

You can get Avast Premium Security for Mac here. Also consider Avast One, Avast Free Antivirus and Avast One Essential.

AV Test, June 2024: 100%

AV Comparatives, June 2024: Approved, 100% Mac Malware Protection, 98% Mac PUA Protection, 100% Windows Malware Detection.

Read our full

Avast Premium Security review






4. McAfee Total Protection














Pros

Good, customizable set of security tools.

Background scanning feature is handy.


Cons

Laggy when initially launched.

McAfee demands credit/debit card info to use trial.









Price When Reviewed:

From $39.99 for first year, then $119.99 a year (5 devices)




Best Prices Today:


$39.99 at McAfee Total Protection (first year)





Covers: macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, ChromeOS

McAfee Total Protection continues to be steadily updated and offers a good suite of anti-viral, anti-malware, identity protection, VPN, and scheduling tools. It is simple to use; once you’ve walked through the guided steps for assigning permissions to work behind the scenes you can just leave it to get on with its job.

The software can perform a full scan of your hard drive as well as scan custom locations such as external volumes, and schedule scan times. You can control what Total Protection does when it finds suspect files, such as notifying you, quarantining them, or deleting the files. During our tests, it located and quarantined two suspected virus files I didn’t know about, thereby earning its keep.

Other features include an ID Protection tool that compares your email address to known data and password breaches, a firewall, and a Secure VPN feature that lets you quickly set up a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

McAfee’s Total Protection package extends up to five devices on one account, so it’s easy to add the app to other Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Android-based phones and tablets as needed. It’s worth noting that the Windows version offers features that you don’t get in the Mac app.

We noted some occasional performance impacts as it ran in the background, but it was largely unobtrusive in its efforts. Our only other grumble is the lack of simplicity in ending the trial.

You can get McAfee Total Protection here.

Read our full

McAfee Total Protection review






5. Norton 360 – Best value Mac antivirus














Pros

Easy-to-use & effective.

Multiple device cover.

Minimal performance impact


Cons

No backup on macOS.

Didn’t spot threats in zip files.









Price When Reviewed:

From $49.99 for first year, then $119.99 a year (Norton 360 Deluxe with LifeLock: 5 devices)




Best Prices Today:


$49.99 at Norton Security (first year)





Covers: macOS, Windows, iOS, Android

Norton 360 provides protection in Mac OS X 10.10 or later, with a reduced price for the first year. The Standard package protects one device. For more devices (including Macs, iPhones or PCs), the Deluxe or Select package are required. Note that all prices increase significantly after the first year. 

The software offers 110GB of cloud-based backup, a password manager, a basic VPN client, and Dark Web monitoring.

Norton 360 is easy to download and install, and its add-on programs work fairly well. The VPN is basic but easy to configure your preferred country of origin and initiate a connection. The password manager is reliable and includes a downloadable recovery key. There is an admirable level of possible customization on the firewall, although technical knowledge is needed.

Other utilities within Norton 360 for Mac include a Startup Manager module, File Cleanup module, and Dark Web protection module. With antiviral monitoring and scanning it’s easy to create white lists and exceptions as well as schedule scans, including of external volumes like USB thumb drives. However, the application still can’t perform scans on.zip files, I had to decompress the text drive of sample infections before it could see them. 

In our tests, the software was successful in catching a good amount of viral activity, with 25 individual infections detected on a test drive after scanning it. However, Norton 360 for Mac missed the OSX.Proton malware.

Extensions for web browsers and Norton Private Browser are included. These warn about spam and phishing-based websites, but still allowed us to travel to questionable websites from spam email links. 

However, there are still bugs to sort out, such as a bug in the Cloud Backup were we were unable to successfully click the “Get Started with Backup” button and create an initial backup set for the cloud. It also failed to remove OSX.Proton malware.

AV Test, June 2024: 100%

You can get Norton 360 here.

Read our full

Norton 360 review






6. Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac














Pros

Doesn’t slow down your Mac.

Effective real-time protection.

Unobtrusive browsing protection.


Cons

No password manager.

Very limited VPN.

No identity protection.









Price When Reviewed:

From $34.99 per year




Best Prices Today:


Free at Bitdefender (first year)





Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac covers: macOS, Bitdefender Total Security covers: macOS, Windows, iOS, Android

Bitdefender is another maker of antivirus solutions that has a number of solutions for the Mac, including a free option. There’s Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac, which offers basic protection for up to three Macs, Bitdefender Total Security, which protects up to five devices (macOS, iOS, Windows and Android), and Bitdefender’s free Virus Scanner for Mac.

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac is easy to download, install, and assign full drive permissions. It offers a speedy Quick Scan mode that performs a quick overview and locate, quarantine, and remove viral candidates within a few minutes as well as a Full Scan mode which runs in the background so you can continue to work. External volumes such as USB flash drives can be scanned. 

There isn’t much in the way of malware that gets by it. However, we found the application’s ability to locate and neutralize malware that was already on the system mixed – it missed four significant pieces of malware. 

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac offers anti-phishing protection in the form of web browser extensions for the Safari, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox web browsers. These offered varying degrees of success. Under Safari, Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac offered no prominent phishing protection, allowing us to visit questionable websites with no warning whatsoever.

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac offers an anti-tracker for web browsers and access to a VPN with basic functionality and a limit of 200MB a day. It encourages you to update to the full version, there are better VPNs for Mac out there.

When we reviewed it Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac retailed at “50% off” which is $19.99/£14.99 a year for one Mac (then $39.99/£29.99 a year), but the deal prices change often. There is also a 30-day trial available. 

There is also Bitdefender Total Security which includes Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac as well as coverage for iOS, Android and Windows. That software retails for $69.99/£44.99 a year for five devices (then $109.99/£74.99 a year) and offers a license that covers five devices, including Macs, Windows, Android and iOS with a 30-day trial available.

AV Test, June 2024: 100%

AV Comparatives, AV Comparatives, June 2024: 100% Mac Malware Protection, 99% Mac PUA Protection, 100% Windows Malware Detection.

Read our full

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac review






7. Avira Prime














Pros

Easy to use.

Full VPN.

Won’t slow down your Mac.


Cons

No fine-tuning scan options.









Price When Reviewed:

From $59.99 for first year, then $104.99 a year.




Best Prices Today:


$59.99 at Avira – Prime (first year)





Covers: macOS, Windows, iOS, Android

Avira Prime, the paid version of Avira’s free antiviral software Avira Free Security, provides several tools for the user. Avira Prime is designed around several modules (Virus Scans, Protection Options, Quarantine, VPN, Passwords, Cookie Cleaner, Identity Assistant, Junk Cleaner, Uninstaller, and Startup Apps). Each module can be customized and configured as needed. The software installs cleanly and requests permission to fully access the hard drive, which is par for the course. 

The Quick Scan can take less than 10 seconds, while a Full Scan took over six hours to look over 800+ gigabytes of files on a one terabyte SSD. The Custom Scan feature allows files and folders to be dropped in for quick scanning as well as external volumes to be scanned through as needed. There is a scheduler so you can program scans in advance.

You can minimize Avira Prime and work with other applications as the scan continues which is lucky because the Full Scan took over six hours to complete. Avira Prime located and quarantined several minor worm files, but missed suspect files such as the Wave web browser, which has been implicated in assorted phishing scams.

Cookie Cleaner module allows you to view and clean up cookie data, helpfully grouping cookies into different categories to make it easy to remove tracking and ads-based items in different browsers.

Junk Cleaner reclaimed a decent 55GB of space when we tried it. There’s also an uninstaller manager for cleaning up deleted apps and managing those that start automatically. 

Identity Assistant can track your email addresses, phone numbers, credit cards, bank accounts, physical addresses, driver’s license, and so on, to check for any illicit activity. 

The included Password Manager is a combination of local system and browser extensions plus a web-based management console with its own master password.

The password manager and junk files cleaner are included in both free and paid-for versions of Avira. Where Prime differs from the Free Security version is that you get full, use of the VPN service instead of a 500MB per month limit. The VPN can also block malicious website content.

You can get Avira Prime here. Also consider Avira Free Security for Mac.

Read our full Avira Free Security for Mac review.

AV Test, June 2024: 98.3%

Read our full

Avira Prime review






8. Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac














Pros

High malware detection rate.


Cons

Wouldn’t detect some malware in our tests.

Fewer extra features compared to less-expensive competitors.









Price When Reviewed:

$29.95 for first year, then $39.95 a year (1 Mac)




Best Prices Today:


$29.95 at Trend Micro (first year)





Covers: macOS

Trend Micro Antivirus isn’t too challenging to use, but looks almost old-fashioned compared to many competitors. The range of functions seems quite limited compared to competitors such as Norton and Avast. For example, there is no anti-phishing function and no VPN application included in the package.

There are five menu items: Overview, Web, Scans, Folder Shield, and Logs. Overview is the at-a-glance dashboard for Trend Micro Antivirus that shows that the various protections are active, the last time the app was updated and the last time a scan was run. 

Trend Micro offers a smart scan, custom scan, and full scan. In our tests Trend Micro had no trouble detecting most threats; however, in a few cases, it didn’t detect all the malware contained in a folder until a scan had been run.

Folder Shield is Trend Micro’s approach to ransomware protection. If an unknown program tries to change anything in certain folders, such as Documents, Music, Pictures, Movies, and Mobile Documents, Trend Micro will alert you. 

Trend Micro’s web extension boasts a privacy scanner that is supposed to check your privacy settings on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. 

AV Test, March 2024: 100%

Read our full

Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac review






9. BitMedic Pro Antivirus














Pros

Fast, simple to use.

One-time $10/£10 payment. 

Good external drive scanning and scheduling tools.


Cons

Clunky user interface. 

Buggy, occasional application crashes. 









Price When Reviewed:

$9.99 (single payment)




Best Prices Today:


$9.99 at Mac App Store (one off payment)





Covers: macOS

BitMedic Pro Antivirus is a good antiviral program, albeit with some shortcomings that need to be worked through, not least the fact that this hasn’t been updated since 2020.

The program, which retails for $9.99/£9.99/CA$9.99 on the Mac App Store, features a nice complement of tools, including an Antivirus Scan module, an Adware Cleaner module, a Result Log, a Custom Scan module, a Browser Privacy module, and a System Settings module that allows you to schedule deep scans, customize system behaviors, and create a whitelist of files not to scan.

Initial tests with the Antivirus Scan module’s quick scan and deep scan went well and BitMedic Pro Antivirus was able to find several phishing-based emails. The application crashed twice during testing though. Frustratingly, there was a lack of specific descriptions as to what the infected files were and their full location, even after a drop-down arrow was clicked.

The inclusion of an Adware Cleaner module is a nice touch – it performs well, and runs quickly. The Browser Privacy module functions as a quick and easy way to clean up your history, auto logins, bookmarks, remove all extensions, and reset the preferences on your browser, but this is an all-or-nothing option and we’d prefer to disable or delete individual extensions.

The $10/£10 price point with no subscription, is very appealing, but there are a few elements that let it down.

Read our full

BitMedic Pro Antivirus review






10. Malwarebytes Premium for Macs














Pros

Friendly user interface.

Impressive scan speed.

Reliable malware removal.


Cons

Left some malware.

Lack’s custom scan feature.

Features from the Windows version not included.









Price When Reviewed:

Basic: $3.75/£2.50 a month; Security + VPN: $5.00/£4.15 a month; Complete Protection: $7.92/ £6.25 a Month (down from $15.83/£12.50 a month)




Best Prices Today:


$44 at Malwarebytes (annually)





Covers: macOS

Malwarebytes Premium Security for Mac offers antiviral, VPN, and Real-Time Protection features and is available at $3.75/£2.50 a month for its Basic version, $5.00/£4.15 a month for its Security + VPN version, and $7.92/ £6.25 a Month (down from $15.83/£12.50 a month) for its Complete Protection version.

Malwarebytes Premium builds from the handy free version of Malwarebytes, which has been a convenient catch-all that needs to be run manually. The paid-for version sports a bright, friendly user interface and a good array of features. It includes quick viral scans, functional scheduling for scans, decent customization elements including whitelist creation, a good VPN client, and Real-Time protection that keeps an eye on what’s attempting to be installed.

The software performed well, offering speedy scans. Malwarebytes was able to quarantine and remove almost all the malware I installed, although it left elements behind such as the controversial Wave web browser, an incompatible version of MacSecurity, and a fake Adobe Album application.

The VPN isn’t as customizable as a dedicated VPN client, but it performs well and gets the job done. 

There doesn’t seem to be a custom scan element that allows you to easily scan an external volume such as a thumb drive, and the Real-Time Protection feature doesn’t kick in and scan an external volume once it’s mounted, nor can you drag and drop a volume into Malwarebytes for it to scan – which you can do in the Windows version of Malwarebytes. Malwarebytes offers no warnings against questionable websites and links either. 

Read our full

Malwarebytes Premium for Macs review






11. Sophos Home Premium for Mac