Best free antivirus for Mac: Avast Free Mac Securityavast.com Many antivirus suites provide a decent level of protection, but a few rise above all others by providing the very best in performance. UK Mac users can buy Trend Micro antivirus for Mac for £29.97 here (discounted from £49.95 at time of writing). US users can buy it for $29.95 here. Read our Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac review.
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Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus (for Mac)
Apr 01, 2020 Check our reviews now and pick the Mac antivirus that suits your needs best—don’t wait!! As with Windows antivirus tools, the most common price is just under $40 per year for a single license. Find great antivirus software reviews, how-to guides, and comparisons of the best free, paid and business antivirus software for Mac and Windows PC. Antivirus Dec 14, 2016. Antivirus 2016 free download - AVG AntiVirus for Mac, Avira Free Antivirus, Virus Definitions for Norton AntiVirus 9.0/10.0/11.0 (PowerPC/Intel), and many more programs.
Pros
- Fast full scan.
- Certified by one antivirus lab.
- Good detection of Windows malware.
- Marks dangerous links in search results.
Cons
- Poor score in antiphishing test.
- Repeatable crash in testing.
Bottom Line
While it may not be the best protection against phishing websites, Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus (for Mac) is by far the fastest Mac antivirus scanner we've seen.
Have you installed antivirus protection for your Mac yet? I know, I know, the 'I'm a Mac' guy on TV told you that Macs don't get viruses, but it just isn't so. Viruses aren't the only kind of malware, and Mac users have suffered Trojans, ransomware, phishing attacks, and more. Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus (for Mac) takes care of your macOS security, with a small footprint, the fastest scan around, and a newly improved phishing protection layer.
During its quick installation, Webroot asks for your registration key and an email address. Registering an email address gets you access to 24/7 tech support and email alerts about new global security threats. As with Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus on Windows, you can also opt in for 'special offers and newsletters.' I didn't.
Webroot handles installing its security extensions for Safari, Chrome and Firefox very smoothly, with minimal user interaction required. It warned that a browser restart might be required, but I when I installed it on my Apple MacBook Air 13-Inch test system, I found that the extensions worked right away, with no browser restart needed.
More than most cross-platform antivirus tools, Webroot's main window on a Mac looks the same as that of its Windows counterpart. Aside from the macOS window style, the only immediately visible difference is that the Windows edition includes a toggle for its firewall component, something not included on macOS. Shades of green back most parts of the window, with a large light-colored panel that reports details on the latest scan and the next scheduled scan. Naturally there's a big button to scan your Mac on demand. That's a full scan by default, but, as I'll explain, Webroot's full scan is crazy fast.
Pricing and OS Support
As with Windows antivirus products, the most common price for a single Mac antivirus license runs just under $40. Webroot fits that profile, at $39.99 per year, as do Bitdefender, ESET Cyber Security (for Mac), Kaspersky and Trend Micro. But where most of the others jump to $59.99 for three licenses, Webroot charges $49.99 for three.
McAfee costs $59.99 per year, but that price lets you install McAfee's antivirus protection on all your macOS, Windows, Android, and iOS devices. You pay $89.99 per year for Norton, quite a jump in price, but that gets you five cross-platform licenses, and Norton offers a full suite, not just antivirus. At the other end of the spectrum, Avira Free Antivirus for Mac and Sophos are totally free.
You can run Webroot on a Mac running Lion (10.7) or newer; only ESET, ProtectWorks AntiVirus (for Mac), and ClamXav go further back, with support for Snow Leopard (10.6) or newer. Avira requires a more modern OS—it only runs on El Capitan (10.11) or better. As for Norton, it supports the current OS and the two previous ones. With Mojave rolling out, Norton supports Sierra (10.12) and later.
Decent Malware Protection Lab Results
When I review a Windows antivirus utility, I turn to the latest reports from the big testing labs. The more labs testing and the higher the scored achieved, the better. I also perform my own hands-on tests, using live malware safely isolated in a virtual machine. I can't do as much hands-on testing with macOS products, but fortunately two of the labs that I follow test Mac antivirus products, and one includes Webroot in its testing.
Lab reports for Windows antivirus products exhibit a much larger point spread than those for Mac antivirus. In the latest report from AV-Comparatives, every product protected against at least 99 percent of the malware samples, and every product, including Webroot, received certification.
Webroot protected against 99 percent of the threats, which looks good, but is actually the lowest score among products tested. Avast, Avira, Bitdefender, Intego, Kaspersky, and Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac managed 100 percent protection. All those products except Intego also detected 100 percent of Windows malware samples in a separate test. As for Webroot, it detected 45 percent of the Windows malware samples. Yes, Windows malware can't infect a Mac, but wiping out Windows malware keeps your Mac from being an uninfected carrier.
Bitdefender, Intego Mac Internet Security X9, Norton, and Trend Micro aced tests by both AV-Comparatives and AV-Test Institute. Kaspersky came very close, but lost one half-point in AV-Test's performance evaluation.
Fast, Persistent Scan
Like most of its competitors, Webroot offers two types of malware protection scanning. As the name implies, the default full scan looks at files and active processes. The quick scan still checks active processes, but then only looks at files in startup locations and known threat locations. You'll have to dig into Advanced Settings to select a quick scan.
In any case, Webroot's full scan finished in just 2.5 minutes, faster than the quick scan by many of the other products. Trend Micro had the next fastest time, completing a full scan in 13 minutes. F-Secure, Symantec Norton Security Deluxe (for Mac), Avast, and AVG all finished in 15 minutes or less. When I gave Webroot's quick scan a try, it went by in a flash, finishing in just five seconds.
Webroot runs a scan immediately upon installation, something that not all antivirus tools do. Also, by default it schedules a full scan every day. You can modify the schedule to run on just one day of the week, or to run on startup. But since it's so crazy fast, there's no real reason to switch away from the default.
Like most Mac antivirus utilities, Webroot aims to eliminate any Windows malware it sees, so your Mac doesn't inadvertently infect other devices on your network. To test this feature, I copied my Windows malware collection to a thumb drive. I also turned on a setting called Automatically Scan Removable Drive. Webroot started scanning the drive as soon as I plugged it in.
Webroot found malware samples right away, and displayed its findings with an offer to remove them. On completing cleanup, it immediately launched a full scan of the whole system. That scan reported all clear. If it had found more malware, Webroot would have kept scanning and rescanning until it came up clean, just as on Windows. When I checked the thumb drive, I found that Webroot had removed every malware sample, leaving behind a couple dozen legitimate Windows programs also residing on the drive. Sophos Home (for Mac) is the only other macOS product I've tested that wiped out every Windows malware sample.
Phishing Protection Success Story
Why waste your time and energy writing malware to steal personal data when you can just trick people into giving it away? That's the mindset of the malefactors behind phishing websites, those fraudulent sites that emulate bank sites, email services, and even dating and gaming sites. If you don't notice that the URL in the address bar doesn't match the real site, you can wind up giving away your account to fraudsters.
Phishing works by tricking the user, so the operating system and browser involved are irrelevant. Any device that can surf the internet can be a conduit for phishing attacks. When testing a product's ability to detect phishing frauds, I compare its detection rate with that of the protection built into Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer.
I start with a list of reported phishing URLs collected from websites that track such things. I launch each URL in all four browsers and note the reaction. If any one of the browsers can't load the URL, I discard it. I also check to be sure that each URL really does fit the definition of phishing, meaning it imitates a secure site and attempts to steal user credentials.
In the Windows realm, antivirus products have been getting better at keeping their users safe from these nasty frauds. Kaspersky and McAfee recently racked up 100 percent protection, and Webroot's Windows edition managed 97 percent. However, success on Windows doesn't always translate to the macOS platform. McAfee's 100 percent carried over to the macOS realm, for example, but Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac only detected 84 percent of the samples.
With Webroot, I tested the Windows and macOS editions simultaneously, and found that they aligned perfectly everywhere it mattered. It did seem that the macOS edition occasionally flagged a URL as fraudulent where on Windows it showed up as missing. However, since I only use URLs that loaded correctly for all four browsers, those instances made no difference.
On Windows, Webroot's 97 percent detection is very good, but still behind seven other products. In the macOS realm, that same 97 percent earns second place, topped only by McAfee AntiVirus Plus (for Mac). The Webroot team promised a big improvement in phishing protection, and they delivered on that promise.
Webroot's web filter extension also checks the links in your search results, marking safe links with a green checkmark icon and dangerous ones with a red exclamation icon. Point to the icon with the mouse for a pop-up that explains the link's status and, for dangerous links, its category. With Norton's similar feature, clicking the pop-up explanation gets you a full page of analysis reporting exactly what problems triggered the warning.
Advanced Utilities
There seems to be a trend toward simplicity in some Mac antivirus utilities. Sophos, for example, is so simple it doesn't even have the standard macOS main menu. Webroot is also on the simple side, but it does throw in some advanced utilities. Experts will appreciate them; ordinary users can safely ignore them.
As the name implies, the Active Processes list displays all processes that are currently active in your Mac's memory. For each process it shows a status of Allow, Monitor, or Block. You can kill a process by changing its status to Block, though you shouldn't do so without good reason. The Monitor status means that the verdict is still out on whether the process is safe or malicious. Webroot records all activity by the process, and reverses everything it did if the cloud-based analysis system comes back with a guilty verdict. Testing on Windows, I found that blocking a monitored program and running a scan correctly caused Webroot to undo all changes that program made.
In my previous review, I found a crash-worthy bug that involved using the arrow keys to navigate the list of active processes. I'm pleased to say there's no sign of that problem now.
The other advanced utilities come in handy if you run into trouble. You can use the Reports module to save a scan log for tech support agents to use in diagnosis. You can also submit suspect files directly to Webroot research.
Antivirus For Mac
Super-Fast Scanner
A full antivirus scan with Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus for Mac finishes more quickly than the nominally quick scans by many of its competitors, and its quick scan goes by in a flash. It schedules this super-fast scan to run daily, and if it detects any malware, it scans again and again until the system comes up clean. Furthermore, AV-Comparatives certifies its malware protection (though its score barely made the cut). It's a good Mac antivirus app, and its phishing protection has improved markedly since our last review.
But Webroot isn't the only speedy product. A quick scan with Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac finished in just one minute; Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac achieved the same speedy quick scan. More importantly, these two received certification from both testing labs, Bitdefender with perfect scores across the board and Kaspersky with almost all perfect scores. Webroot is good, but these two remain our Editors' Choice products for macOS antivirus.
Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus (for Mac)
Bottom Line: Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus is by far the fastest Mac antivirus scanner we've seen, and it provides especially good phishing protection in our testing, too.
Software Reviews
Pros
- Top scores from one independent testing lab.
- Speedy full scan.
- Attractive, lightweight user interface.
Cons
- Phishing protection not yet working.
Bottom Line
Newcomer Airo Antivirus for Mac earns top scores from one testing lab and has a refreshing Mac-centric interface, but some of its components aren't yet ready.
The proliferation of cross-platform security suite products has resulted in a Mac antivirus boom, as each vendor wants to promise protection on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. Few companies focus specifically on macOS, and even fewer new Mac-specific products show up. It's refreshing, therefore, to see the arrival of Airo Antivirus for Mac on the market. This newcomer earned some impressive lab scores, and its attractive, lightweight design should appeal to Mac enthusiasts. However, it's on the expensive side, and not all components are working yet as of this writing.
Pricing and OS Support
You pay $49.99 per year for a single Airo license. Upping that to $69.99 gets you three licenses, and $89.99 brings the total to five. Originally I reported prices of $69.99, $99.99, and $129.99, since these were visible (though struck out) on the pricing page. My company contact pointed out that those prices are never used, and proved it by removing them from the pricing page. I'm glad; the product looked rather expensive before that fix.
Intego costs $99.99 for three licenses, while ClamXAV (for Mac) costs just $29.99 for three. Like Airo, Intego and ClamXAV are specific to the macOS platform. In the cross-platform realm, you get five Norton licenses for $99.99, along with five no-limits licenses for Norton's VPN.
You can try Airo for a week at no cost, with no need to give any personal details. That's a nice touch, but a few macOS antivirus products are entirely free. You don't have to pay a thing to protect your Mac with Avira, Avast, or Sophos. Even ignoring these free options, Airo is on the high side, price-wise. The most common price-point for a single license is $39.99; that's what you pay for Bitdefender, Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac, ESET, Trend Micro, and Webroot.
Between $45 and $65 for three licenses is another sweet spot; Bitdefender, ESET, Kaspersky, ProtectWorks, Vipre, and Webroot all fall in that range. And for $59.99 per year, McAfee AntiVirus Plus (for Mac) lets you install protection on every Windows, macOS, Android, or iOS device in your household.
Like Avira, Sophos, and Vipre, Airo supports macOS versions 10.11 (El Capitan) and later. Trend Micro really wants you up to date; it only supports 10.13 (High Sierra) and later. If legacy software or antique hardware requires you to stay with an old macOS version, you might consider ProtectWorks AntiVirus (for Mac) or ClamXAV, both of which go all the way back to 10.6 (Snow Leopard). Webroot also handles dated systems, with support back to 10.7 (Lion).
Getting Started With Airo
Once you've purchased your license and created your Airo account, you simply download and install the product. It quickly grabs the latest build from Airo's servers. The installer walks you through granting necessary permissions, such as full disk access to remove malware, and it offers to explain why it needs each permission. It also offers to add phishing protection to your browser. When the installer has finished, it cheerily announces, 'All is good in the world. Airo has been installed.'
Airo aims for a light footprint. It doesn't appear in the dock. Rather, you pull down its distinctive tall, skinny window from its icon in the menu bar at top whenever you need it. The main Status page just reports on the latest scan and latest update, with a big button to launch a scan. A Threats page lets you review malware threats that the product found and quarantined. Another page holds the product's few configuration settings. The fourth and final page lets you manage your account.
The product prompted me to run a quick scan, so I indulged it. That scan finished in barely 20 seconds. Then I clicked the hard-to-see Scan Options link and launched a full scan, which also finished quickly, 11 minutes. Trend Micro came in slightly faster, at 10 minutes. Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus (for Mac) is the fastest macOS scanner I've timed, finishing its full scan in just 2.5 minutes.
Hands On With Airo
Just about every Mac-focused antivirus also tries to wipe out any Windows malware it encounters. Naturally these foreign programs can't execute on a Mac, but the Mac could conceivably serve as a conduit for them to reach Windows boxes on the network. I turned on the setting 'Scan external devices when connected' and plugged in a USB drive containing my current set of Windows malware samples.
When nothing happened, I checked with my contact at Airo. He explained that with this setting enabled, the scans you launch include any connected external drives. It doesn't mean that the event of connecting a drive triggers a scan.
With this understanding, I launched a folder scan of the removable device. Airo eliminated 72 percent of the Windows malware samples, which is precisely the average for current products.
It's true that others have done better against Windows malware. Webroot got 100 percent of them, ESET managed 93 percent, and F-Secure Safe (for Mac) detected 91 percent. Again, these samples can't infect a Mac, so detecting them is icing on the cake.
Airo's real-time protection checks any apps you download; it also checks apps on launch. Some products, among them Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac($34.99/Year at Bitdefender), F-Secure, and Sophos, figure this real-time protection is all you need and hence don't bother with scheduled scanning. Airo runs a daily quick scan and a weekly full scan automatically; it doesn't bother to expose the schedule for user-initiated changes. Given that both full and quick scans are plenty fast, this makes perfect sense.
Excellent Lab Test Scores
I've been working with PCs since the 80s, and with Windows-based antivirus tools for many, many years. I'm fully equipped for hands-on testing of Windows antivirus utilities against actual malware samples, even ransomware. But this is a Mac-specific product, and my expertise on macOS is minimal by comparison. That's why test results from independent labs are so important for my Mac antivirus reviews. In fact, when I started reviewing such products, I only chose products with scores from at least one lab.
As you can see in the chart below, the labs don't necessarily keep testing the same set of products. More than 40 percent of the products I track don't have any current lab results. Airo looks very good, with a perfect score from AV-Test Institute. That means it successfully protected the test systems against malware, correctly avoided flagging valid programs or sites as malicious, and did it all without dragging down performance.
Of course, getting top scores from two labs is even better. Avast, AVG, Bitdefender, Kaspersky, and Trend Micro all got perfect scores from both AV-Test and AV-Comparatives.
Quite a few big names, among them ESET, McAfee, and Sophos Home Premium (for Mac), don't have any current test results. For newcomer Airo to hit the scene with one set of perfect scores is impressive.
Best Free Antivirus For Mac
No Phishing Protection Yet
During Airo's installation I encountered a screen that stated, 'Airo can warn you about deceptive and phishing sites before you visit them.' In response to that offer, I installed browser protection in both Chrome and Firefox to take advantage of phishing protection. I did notice that the settings for the browser extension mentioned blocking sites that contain: Malware, Adware, Scareware, Spyware, and Suspicious. Phishing wasn't listed.
Free Mac Antivirus
Indeed, when I ran my standard phishing protection test, Airo did not detect or block a single phishing site. Fakes of PayPal, eBay, Amazon, and popular banks slipped right past it. The only page I found that got a reaction was the phishing test page from the AMTSO's collection of antivirus feature tests. Airo detected that one as an adware site.
My contact at the company confirmed that phishing protection is not yet present in Airo, and that the team plans to change the phishing protection promise during install until such time as that feature becomes available. That's good, because it's dangerous to give users a false sense of security by promising protection that isn't actually offered.
An Interesting Arrival
Airo Antivirus for Mac's enthusiastic developers have come up with an attractive new macOS antivirus that does its job unobtrusively. AV-Test Institute put it to the test and awarded the top score in each of three criteria. It wiped out some, but not all, of our Windows malware samples in testing. However, its promised phishing protection isn't yet present. We look forward to the next iteration of this interesting new arrival.
Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac and Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac get top scores from both labs we follow. Both excel in phishing protection, and both include uncommon features such as ransomware protection for Bitdefender and parental controls for Kaspersky. And both cost quite a bit less than Airo. The five-license price of Norton 360 Deluxe (for Mac) is the same as Airo's three-license price, and you can use your Norton licenses on macOS, Windows, Android, and iOS. In addition, your Norton subscription gets you five unlimited licenses for Norton's VPN and 50GB of online storage for your (Windows) backups. These three products are our Editors' Choice picks for Mac antivirus.