How many Macs would a hacker hack if a hacker could hack Macs? All of them, of course. If you skip antivirus protection on your Mac, you’re aiding and abetting those malware coders. Antivirus protection for your Mac is a necessity. Avast One for Mac gives you that, integrated VPN protection, defense against browser fingerprinting, data breach monitoring, and more. It can be a worthwhile upgrade from the free Avast One Essential for Mac, especially if you plan to rely on its VPN. However, you should also consider our Editors’ Choice Mac antivirus apps, Norton 360 Deluxe and Bitdefender Antivirus.
The Avast One software line is available in the US, as well as Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK. All of Avast’s existing software remains available for download or purchase in these countries and around the world, but the Avast One line is clearly the wave of the future.
In late 2022, Avast completed a merger with Norton, forming a new company called Gen Digital. Gen also owns AVG and Avira, but so far, all the brands continue to exist independently. Avast and AVG do use the same antivirus engine, however, and have done so since long before the merger. If you notice that lab results for these two are almost identical, that’s why!
Like their Windows cousins, quite a few Mac antiviruses cost just under $40 per year for a single license. Bitdefender Antivirus, Trend Micro, and CleanMyMac are examples. You pay $60 for Sophos, but that gets you 10 licenses. At first glance, Avast One’s price of $99.99 per year for five licenses might seem expensive, but it pencils out to just $20 per device.
Clario and Intego charge the same $99.99 for just three licenses. In addition, Avast One isn’t merely an antivirus. Your subscription gets you a broad range of protection, including five no-limits VPN licenses. With Norton, you also get five full VPN licenses, as well as 50GB of storage for your (Windows) backups, but Norton costs $119.99 per year. McAfee Total Protection, also with suite-level protection, costs the same as Norton for five licenses.
Five licenses not enough? Avast’s family plan jumps the costs to $139.99 per year, but that covers up to 30 devices running Windows, macOS, Android, or iOS. That’s not so very different from the unlimited license you get from McAfee+ for $10 more. And if you want unlimited Norton licenses, you must spring for the top tier of Norton 360 With LifeLock at $349.99 per year. Avast One’s pricing is in line with or better than comparable apps.
To install Avast One, you’ll need a Mac running macOS 10.13 (High Sierra). Most Mac owners keep the OS up to date, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Others need an even newer OS version. Trend Micro wants 11.0 (Big Sur), for example, while McAfee, Norton 360 Deluxe for Mac, and Webroot Antivirus for Mac all require 10.15 (Catalina).
At the other end of the spectrum, a few antivirus tools still support ancient macOS versions for those who can’t (or won’t) upgrade. Intego Mac Internet Security works on 10.9 (Mavericks) or higher, while ProtectWorks AntiVirus for Mac goes all the way back to 10.6 (Snow Leopard).
For years, Avast’s apps for Windows used a dark gray background, and the macOS apps went for a rich purple. Both those dark themes are gone in Avast One. The user interface is very similar across all platforms, with a light-colored background, rounded buttons, and a pleasant, airy feel.
Everywhere you look, there are line drawings enlivened with daubs of pastel colors. Many of the drawings include happy people, clearly pleased to have Avast’s protection. It’s very different from the way these apps used to look.
Naturally, users of this tool get all the features found in Avast One Essential for Mac, plus more. Look carefully at the premium-only features described below, as you may be able to get away with using the free version. The biggest reason for a premium upgrade is the unlimited VPN.
Antivirus protection is the same, naturally, and the labs give it excellent marks. AV-Test Institute awards it six points each for Protection, Performance, and Usability, for a perfect 18-point total. Seven others reached 18-point perfection, among them Bitdefender, ClamXAV, and Norton.
Tested by AV-Comparatives, Avast achieved 100% protection against macOS-centric malware and against Windows malware. In a test using lower-risk PUAs (potentially unwanted applications), Avast detected 99%, tying with Bitdefender and a few others for the top score. Avast, AVG, Kaspersky, and Trend Micro hold perfect scores in the latest reports from both labs.
Avast’s comprehensive Deep Scan finished in 10 minutes—much faster than the current average of 31 minutes. When I scanned a thumb drive containing my current Windows malware samples, it identified 78% of them as dangerous, a drop from 95% when last tested. Yes, Windows malware can’t infect a Mac, but the Mac could serve to pass along those threats over the network.
Ransomware protection works just as it does on Windows. By default, it protects a wide variety of important file types in your Documents and Pictures folders. Naturally, you can add file types or folders for extended protection. Under Windows, you can tell it to just protect all file types in selected folders; Mac users don’t get that option.
When an unauthorized program tries to access a protected file, Avast warns you and asks whether to allow it. If you’re testing a new, legitimate program, go ahead and trust it. But if the warning comes as a surprise, smack that Block button.
Avast’s Web Shield component works below the browser level, preventing your browsers from opening dangerous or fraudulent websites. Phishing frauds can be a real danger because they trick inattentive users into giving away important security credentials. When Avast detects a problem page, it diverts the browser to display a warning and also pops up a notification.
In my hands-on phishing protection test, Avast detected 99% of the very new real-world samples, just as its Windows version did. It scored significantly better than the phishing protection built into popular browsers. Looking strictly at Mac app scores, Avast shares second place with AVG, Bitdefender, and Malwarebytes. McAfee and Trend Micro reached a perfect 100% when their phishing protection was last tested.
Clicking Explore in the simple menu at left brings up a list of available features divided into three sections: Device Protection, Smooth Performance, and Online Privacy. In the free Avast One Essential for Mac, lock icons denote premium-only features. All the Smooth Performance features are locked away, but free users have access to everything under Device Protection except for the Web Hijack Guard. This somewhat arcane feature aims to foil malicious attacks that try to hijack your PC’s DNS requests. When DNS hijacking is active, the perpetrators can undetectably divert your web requests to fraudulent sites. This is not a common occurrence, and there’s no easy way for me to test the feature.
There are some differences even in features that appear both in free and premium editions. Those at the free level can use the basic features of Email Guardian to check the Mac’s built-in Mail app for malicious attachments or other dangers. Email Guardian for paying customers does quite a bit more; I’ll go into detail below.
Even in the free edition, the Network Inspector feature lists all the devices attached to your network and checks for network security problems. Paying customers can choose to get a notification when a new device connects. If the new connection is suspicious, you can’t actively block it, but it’s a clue that you need to change your Wi-Fi password.
In the Online Privacy section, only Tracking Prevention is locked for nonpaying users. Nonpaying users get access to Clear Browsing Data, Privacy Advisor, Data Breach Monitoring, and Traffic Monitor, as well as a limited version of the VPN. Even so, those who pay get more. For example, in addition to checking for exposed email addresses in known breaches, Data Breach Monitoring stays alert to new breaches and notifies you if your email is compromised.
As noted, those using Avast’s free version get Email Guardian protection for the built-in Mail app. Avast filters out malicious attachments and other email dangers.
Email Guardian in the paid edition goes way beyond that, with nonlocal protection for your webmail accounts. Once you set it up, it becomes independent of your device. Avast captures and filters your email in the cloud, so it works no matter what device you use to read your mail. No malicious attachments will reach your Inbox.
The first thing you do to enable protection for a web-based email account is give Avast the email address and password for that account. For some, that requirement may be a deal-breaker. Sure, the page says, “Your password will be encrypted—even we won’t be able to see it.” But some users, myself included, just aren’t comfortable giving away passwords.
I tried to test with a throwaway Yahoo account that I use only for testing, but Avast didn’t accept it. Digging deeper, I found that AOL and Yahoo are not supported as they lack a feature necessary for the required account linkage. The list of supported email providers looks rather odd from my US-centric point of view: Comcast.net, Gmail.com, GMX.net, mail.ru, Orange.fr, Outlook.com, Seznam.cz, T-online.de, Web.de, Wp.pl, and Yandex.com.
You’ll have to decide what’s more important. Getting cleaned-up email on all your devices without having to install software on all of them is convenient. But to do so, you must give Avast full access to read all your email messages and even send messages on your behalf.
Avast’s deep scan roots out any malware infestations on your macOS devices, and the File Shield real-time antivirus fends off new attacks. Data on your Mac should be safe with this protection in place. However, no antivirus can protect your data once it leaves the local computer. To protect your data as it traverses the internet, you need a VPN.
A VPN creates a secure encrypted connection between your device and a secure server managed by the VPN company. No snoop or hacker, not even the owner of the Wi-Fi network you’ve logged into, can access your data in transit. The VPN server passes your traffic to whatever site you selected and sends the responses back to you through the same encrypted connection. As a privacy bonus, your network traffic seems to come from the VPN server. That means that a site can’t determine your location based on your IP address. It can also get you access to location-locked content by making it seem you’re in a different location.
Avast’s free edition includes integrated VPN protection but with limits. You don’t get a choice of servers or server locations—you must use whatever the system chooses. And you can only protect 5GB of bandwidth per week. To be fair, that’s more generous than many free VPNs. The free edition of Hotspot Shield VPN allows 500MB per day—a little less than Avast. With TunnelBear VPN, nonpaying users get vastly less, 500MB per month. On the other hand, you can use ProtonVPN for free with no limits on bandwidth.
PCMag has evaluated the standalone Avast SecureLine VPN and found it to be a decent VPN but not an outstanding one. You can read our review for a full understanding of Avast’s VPN technology. Briefly, it uses recommended VPN protocols and offers a widespread but somewhat sparse selection of servers (almost 60 locations in 36 countries). Its privacy policy clearly states what information it collects; in our review, we noted that it gathers more data than is needed and more than most competitors. It doesn’t offer features beyond VPN the way some competitors do, and its scores in our speed tests proved confusing, ranging from greater than average slowdown to a speedup in one test.
With Avast One, the VPN is integrated, not a separate app, but the technology is the same. You choose your country and, when available, your location within that country. Icons for each location identify those that are fastest and those that are best for streaming or torrenting. You turn on the VPN to protect your web traffic. And that’s all you really need to do. The list of locations conveniently breaks out the fastest servers, those best for streaming, and those best for peer-to-peer connections.
The VPN reminds you to turn on protection when you connect to an untrusted network. Since your bandwidth isn’t capped, go ahead and have it connect automatically. I don’t advise turning off the untrusted network warning, though Avast does let you. You can also configure its behavior when you perform certain online activities: banking, shopping, accessing sensitive content, streaming, and torrenting. In each case, you can have it do nothing, flip on the VPN, or remind you to turn on protection manually.
By default, the VPN notifies you when it connects automatically, though you can turn off this option. It supports two VPN protocols, the older IPSec standard and a proprietary protocol named Mimic; by default, it chooses between them automatically. Note that we at PCMag prefer the widely used OpenVPN protocol or the up-and-coming WireGuard protocol, both of them open-source projects.
That’s it for VPN configuration options. You won’t find split-tunneling (the ability to send less sensitive traffic outside the VPN’s protection) like you get with CyberGhost VPN or SurfShark VPN. There’s no option for the added security of a multi-hop VPN connection. You can’t get a static IP address (useful for evading services that try to block VPN usage). Some VPNs include a kill switch, meaning they cut all connectivity if the VPN connection goes down. Not Avast, though.
Norton 360 Deluxe also includes full-scale VPN protection, and PCMag rates Norton’s VPN 3.5 stars as a standalone, a cut above Avast. Yes, if you’re a VPN enthusiast, you can do better with a standalone app, but the average Avast user will do just fine with the built-in VPN.
As noted, even users of this app’s free edition can submit any email address to find out whether it has appeared in known data breaches. Upgrading to the premium edition lets you submit one or more addresses for real-time monitoring. If a new breach contains one of your addresses, you’ll get a notification with an opportunity to go change any breached passwords.
Avast automatically monitors the email address associated with your account. To add another email, you must prove that it’s yours by responding to a verification message. Once you’ve completed that step, Avast starts monitoring the account. If the email you just added was found in existing, known breaches, it naturally displays those.
When your browser sends a query to a website, the website returns the requested information and then forgets all about you. For ongoing interaction, a site can place a cookie on your computer, a small text file that serves as its memory. What are your preferences? Did you log in? Things like that.
Cookies have been misused by advertisers and others who want to track your online activities. And privacy-centered organizations (including some browser purveyors) have worked out ways to defeat cookie-based tracking. Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac and various other security apps build in the ability to block such trackers.
Blocking cookie-based tracking has proven successful enough that trackers now rely on a technique called browser fingerprinting. Briefly, the tracking agency gathers a vast amount of data that your browser freely offers and boils it down to a digital fingerprint that uniquely identifies you.
Avast offers a standalone program called Avast AntiTrack that’s designed to foil the fingerprinters. It tweaks the data returned by your browser so that your fingerprint is always changing. In addition, it prevents cookie-based tracking, clears browser traces of online activity, and helps tune Windows for maximum privacy.
The premium-only Tracking Prevention feature in Avast One sticks to blocking fingerprinting techniques on your desktop devices. There are no settings. All you need to do is turn it on. It works deeply enough in the background that I couldn’t find a way to see it in action.
Enhancing system performance doesn’t directly bear on security, but users have been known to turn off security if they think it’s bogging down performance. And hey! Everybody wants a fast computer. Installed on a Mac, Avast One offers four components categorized under Smooth Performance: Disk Cleaner, App Uninstaller, Photo Cleaner, and Duplicate Finder. All four are locked away in the free edition.
Like the corresponding feature in the Windows edition, Disk Cleaner scans the system for junk files, files that can be deleted to free up disk space. On my test system, the speedy scan found application cache files, files residing in the trash, log files, and downloaded files that probably aren’t needed anymore.
None of the found items are checked for deletion by default. You can check off entire categories or dig in for details on a file-by-file basis. I chose to delete all the found items and thereby freed up 1.4GB of disk space. On completion, the cleanup scan reports its success in terms of how you can use that freed space, for example, “467 pictures, 1 hour of video, 350 songs.”
The App Uninstaller takes a different approach to freeing up disk space. It scans your Mac for installed third-party apps and lists them with their size and the date you last used them. You can also filter the list to just see little-used apps or just jumbo-sized ones. At your command, Avast uninstalls selected apps, including “all the system files that are usually left over.” I keep my test Mac clear of excess apps, so Avast didn’t find anything I really needed to remove. The first item on its list was Avast One itself!
Do you collect endless photos on your Mac? I’m not sure how much of a problem this is, given that most users use a smartphone for pictures and store them in the cloud. But if you do have a ton of photos saved locally on your Mac, the Photo Cleaner can help you weed out too-similar ones or just plain bad photos.
I don’t normally keep personal photos on my test Mac, so for testing, I copied over several hundred from another device. The speedy scan found several images it deemed “low quality,” and I agreed with its choices. It also found a half-dozen pairs of similar images. To regain space for locally stored images, just check off the ones you want to delete and click a button to remove them.
Avast can also scan for duplicate files in general. The filenames don’t have to be the same, but unlike the similar photo search, file content must be identical. You can review the dupes one by one or bulk-select all the oldest or newest ones for deletion. This feature exists in the Windows version as well. Unlike on the Mac, those using the free Windows app can run the scan for dupes. They just don’t get help with removal.
The items in the scrolling menu on the Explore page are divided into three groups, as noted, but there’s a bit more to see. At the very top, above Device Protection and not in any group, you’ll find Online Safety Score.
Your score is a number from 0% to 100%, with a brief list of good things you’re doing, as well as things you could do to raise the score. You can click to get more details in both categories. For example, on my test Mac, it griped that I don’t have the firewall turned on, nor the FileVault full-disk encryption system. In my case, FileVault is off because it can interfere with testing, and the firewall is off because some tested antivirus tools have their own firewall. But the average user would benefit by taking the app’s advice (and getting a higher score).
McAfee does something similar with its Protection Score, though that one runs from 0 to 1,000. I’m a fan of scoring systems like this. Everybody wants a good score, right? But it’s especially important that the system provide guidance on just how to raise that score, as Avast does.
Avast’s technology, free and paid, gets perfect scores from independent labs, and you get several significant benefits by upgrading your Mac’s Avast One installation from free to paid. Just for starters, upgrading gives you full access to all VPN features and servers with no limit on bandwidth. The excellent Avast One goes beyond basic antivirus, though some competitors reach even farther into the suite realm. Norton 360 Deluxe also includes a no-limits VPN, as well as a broad collection of features. The VPN included with Bitdefender Antivirus is limited unless you pay extra, but the app’s protection is excellent, and AutoPilot mode means you can just let it run in the background. These two are our Editors’ Choice winners in the macOS antivirus realm.
When the IBM PC was new, I served as the president of the San Francisco PC User Group for three years. That’s how I met PCMag’s editorial team, who brought me on board in 1986. In the years since that fateful meeting, I’ve become PCMag’s expert on security, privacy, and identity protection, putting antivirus tools, security suites, and all kinds of security software through their paces.
Before my current security gig, I supplied PCMag readers with tips and solutions on using popular applications, operating systems, and programming languages in my “User to User” and “Ask Neil” columns, which began in 1990 and ran for almost 20 years. Along the way I …
PCMag is obsessed with culture and tech, offering smart, spirited coverage of the products and innovations that shape our connected lives and the digital trends that keep us talking.

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