2023 was a banner year for malware attacks aimed at Macs. A ransomware strain called LockBit was the first to target Apple’s proprietary chips. Netizens trying to get Final Cut Pro by torrenting rather than paying ended up getting malware as a bonus. And Microsoft discovered a macOS vulnerability dubbed “Migraine,” because it was a real headache for Apple to fix. Forget what the TV ads said—Macs do need antivirus protection. But which Mac antivirus is best for you?
We’ve tested dozens, and what follows are our top recommendations, along with buying advice to find the right antivirus software for your needs.

Independent antivirus labs put macOS antivirus tools to the test, reporting scores that let us know which ones are the most effective. Both AV-Test and AV-Comparatives give Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac a perfect score, and it earned very good scores in my hands-on tests. In the default Autopilot mode, it does its work while keeping user interaction to a minimum.
This antivirus doesn’t boast the immense feature collection found in its Windows equivalent, but it still goes well beyond the average macOS antivirus. Its tracker-blocking system actively prevents advertisers and others from tracking web surfing activity in your browsers, and, like its Windows counterpart, it actively protects against ransomware. A VPN (virtual private network) gets installed with the antivirus and lets you protect 200MB per day of web traffic (for a separate fee, you can remove that bandwidth cap and unlock other features). In addition to the Web Protection that steers you away from malicious and dangerous web pages, Bitdefender’s Traffic Light browser extension marks up search results with green and red icons to flag safe and dangerous pages.
Suppose that antivirus protection isn’t a hobby for you; it’s a chore. You want the best, but you don’t want to hear about every little event. Bitdefender’s Autopilot achieves that set-and-forget goal, letting you spend your online time doing things you actually enjoy while lab-certified protection goes on in the background.
Norton 360 Deluxe is a powerful cross-platform security suite, and Norton 360 Deluxe for Mac goes well beyond antivirus basics. The independent labs verify its effectiveness—AV-Test, the one lab whose latest report includes Norton, gave it a perfect score. It also earned a very good score in my own hands-on testing against phishing frauds.
Like Bitdefender, Norton gives Mac users a VPN along with antivirus protection. But unlike Bitdefender, Norton doesn’t require an extra fee. Out of the box, the VPN has no limits on bandwidth or features. With Norton, you also get a cross-platform password manager, a two-way firewall, and a cleanup tool that, among other things, helps you identify duplicates and near-duplicates in your videos and images.
Some folks just want the cheapest item available, while others are happy to pay a little more and get a lot more. Is that you? A Norton 360 Deluxe subscription costs more than many, but it gets you five cross-platform security licenses, five no-limits VPN licenses, and 50GB of storage for online (Windows) backups. It’s a bonus feature bonanza bargain.
It’s always nice to know that the experts think you’ve made a good choice; the lab-testing experts think Avast One is just about perfect. At least, it takes the highest possible scores in the latest reports from two labs. It does well in my own tests, earning a phishing protection score within a hair of perfect and 85% detection of Windows-focused malware.
But this program goes well beyond simple antivirus protection. For starters, it includes a full-powered VPN with no limits on bandwidth or features. It also offers unusual protection against browser fingerprinting, a technique for tracking your online activities even when you’ve engaged the traditional Do Not Track technology. Its people-centric user interface is a welcome change from big, dark rectangles. Data breach monitoring, a performance enhancement tool, and a cleanup system for your photos are among the other elements of this feature-rich offering.
You’re not a fan of shopping—you’d rather make one purchase and have everything you need. Avast One combines award-winning antivirus with no-limits VPN protection for your online traffic. To that dynamic duo, it adds an impressive collection of bonus features, all wrapped in a user interface that should brighten your day. Security shopping? Done!
Total Defense Essential Anti-Virus for Mac protects your Mac’s files and backups from ransomware, just like Bitdefender. It earns an excellent score in our phishing protection test, even better than Bitdefender’s latest. It detects and deletes Windows malware, it offers Autopilot mode, and its browser extension marks up dangerous links in search results, just like Bitdefender. Coincidence? Nope. When Total Defense needed to extend protection into the macOS realm, the company simply licensed excellent Mac protection from Bitdefender.
Bitdefender gets perfect scores from two antivirus testing labs, but the labs make it very clear that their results apply only to the tested app. We can guess that Total Defense would also excel in these tests, but we don’t have hard results. Total Defense also doesn’t bring along Bitdefender’s VPN component, which is admittedly quite limited unless you pay extra for its premium edition.
Bitdefender is proudly based in Romania, even featuring dragon-wolf images from the ancient Dacian peoples of the region. Total Defense has headquarters in Minnesota, promises US-based tech support, and was spun off from another US company, Computer Associates (now CA Technologies). The main reason to buy Total Defense rather than going straight to Bitdefender is if you’ve got a strong “Buy American” goal.
If you’re a security tech expert, phrases like browser hardening and sandbox virtualization make you happy. The rest of the population may prefer Clario’s unusually human-centric interface, with live chat help built right in and always available. Rather than confronting you with a dizzying set of configuration options, it quizzes you about your feelings and preferences, configuring itself accordingly. And if you want to raise your Mac tech cred, you can take a collection of in-app classes.
Along with all this handholding, it does scan for malware—quickly, too! If it finds a threat, the default option is to work through the problem with a live chat agent. Alas, the independent labs I follow don’t include Clario in their testing. Its Chrome-only online protection earned a decent score in my hands-on phishing protection test, though nowhere near the top. And here’s a nice surprise—Clario includes a basic VPN, invoked automatically when you choose actions such as online banking.
You know that you’re supposed to protect your Macs with an antivirus utility, but you’ve been put off by the highly technical nature of the ones you’ve tried. Enter Clario. It’s all about you and your needs, not about antivirus details. In the rare event that it does encounter a malware attack, you’re not alone; you can work through the event with always-on tech support.
Most antivirus utilities for macOS come from companies that established their bona fides in the Windows realm. Intego, by contrast, has been supplying macOS-specific security since 1997. Its latest release, Intego Mac Internet Security, has frequently been certified by AV-Comparatives for protection against macOS malware, though it just missed the cutoff in the most recent report. In the past, it has also received certification from AV-Test. Intego detects malware that targets Windows and Linux, so your Mac doesn’t become a malware-carrying Typhoid Mary.
In addition to the VirusBarrier antivirus component, Intego features a firewall called NetBarrier. You tell the firewall what sort of network you’re using (Home, Work, or Public Hotspot), and it controls network communication appropriately.
Does using an antivirus app developed as an afterthought by a Windows-focused company make you feel like a second-class citizen? Would you prefer to support a security company that’s always been proudly Mac-oriented? If so, Intego is just what you’re looking for.
When malware gets past your antivirus or keeps you from installing antivirus, who do you call? Malwarebytes isn’t just a Windows product. You can run a cleanup scan on your Macs for free, just as you can on your PCs. Even better, install Malwarebytes for Mac Premium and get ongoing real-time protection to fend off any new attacks. Without scores from the independent labs, it’s riding on the company’s reputation, but that’s an impressive reputation. And its Browser Guard extension earned near-perfect scores in our hands-on testing.
If Malwarebytes Premium provides your Windows antivirus protection, going for the Mac edition is a no-brainer. Your licenses are interchangeable.
McAfee AntiVirus Plus for Mac is the Mac-oriented manifestation of the cross-platform McAfee AntiVirus Plus. With your McAfee subscription, you can install antivirus protection for every Mac in your household, as well as every Windows, Android, iOS, or ChromeOS device. For a modern household brimming with devices, McAfee can be an amazing bargain, and it comes with a guarantee. If malware gets past McAfee’s protective shield, the company’s experts will fix the problem remotely or, if they can’t, give your money back.
McAfee’s antivirus efficacy is backed by a guarantee, but not at present by lab results. The labs haven’t included McAfee in testing for some years, though it regularly received certification when they did rate it. In my own platform-independent phishing protection test, McAfee managed 97% detection both on macOS and Windows, and its WebAdvisor component also helps you avoid malware-hosting pages and other online dangers.
If you’re the security guru for a house full of Mac users, you’ll save by setting them all up with McAfee’s antivirus protection. As a bonus, you can also protect your crew’s devices that run other operating systems, Windows, Android, iOS, or even ChromeOS.
Just like its Windows equivalent, Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus for Mac is a tiny package that scans for malware at blazing speed. More than most, it strongly resembles its Windows version, the main difference being the absence of a button for firewall protection.
The independent labs haven’t reported on Webroot’s macOS protection lately. In the past, it has earned 100% protection in our hands-on phishing test, but its most recent score dropped to 93%. Likewise, when we challenged it with a collection of Windows malware, its score dropped from 97% to 90%. These are still good scores, just not at the top. On the plus side, like Total Defense, Webroot offers tech support that’s entirely US-based.
Another change is the removal of the useful option for remote monitoring and control. Previously, you could log in remotely, check security status, and even run a scan. Useful features that remain include a system analyzer to check your Mac’s overall status, a secure deletion tool to permanently wipe sensitive files, and a system optimizer to clear junk files and otherwise speed up performance.
Do you prefer small, tight, speedy solutions over ponderous, slow-loading downloads? Install Webroot, and it will immediately get busy protecting your Mac. The fact that it packs some handy bonus features into its tiny package just makes things better.
As with Windows antivirus tools, the most common price is just under $40 per year for a single license. ProtectWorks is unusual in that a single $29.95 payment lets you protect all the Macs in your household with no subscription needed. McAfee goes beyond that with a $64.99 per year subscription that protects all your Macs, PCs, Android, and iOS devices. For $60 per year, Sophos Home Premium lets you install and remotely manage protection on 10 Macs or PCs. At the high end, you pay $99.99 per year for a three-license subscription to Intego Mac Internet Security X9 or Airo Antivirus for Mac.
When you go to select a new washer, refrigerator, or other appliance, chances are good you research it first. User reviews can be helpful if you discard the very best and worst of them. However, actual test results published by an independent lab give you more reliable information. Two large labs include macOS antivirus apps in their testing, but the number of apps in each test varies. When we first rounded up Mac antivirus apps, we only selected those with at least one certification, but at present, many of them don’t appear in either lab’s test results.
The researchers at AV-Test Institute evaluate Mac antivirus tools on three criteria: protection, performance, and usability. An app can earn up to six points for each. Protection against malware protection is essential, of course. A low impact on performance is also important. A high usability score reflects a small number of false positives, legitimate programs, and valid websites identified as dangerous. In the latest report, all but two of the tested apps achieved a perfect 18 points, all six points for all three criteria.
In the latest macOS malware test by AV-Comparatives, more than half the charted programs scored 100%. This lab, too, included a test using malware aimed at Windows. Yes, these samples can’t affect a computer running macOS, but they could conceivably escape to Windows machines on the network. All the apps we follow scored 100% against Windows malware. This lab also runs a test using PUAs (Potentially Unwanted Applications). Most Mac antivirus tools came in at or near 100% against these less virulent annoyances.
Results in macOS-specific tests have a much smaller point spread than tests of Windows antivirus utilities. It’s good that many programs in the chart received at least one certification for Mac protection. Even better, some received two certifications. Avast, AVG, Bitdefender, and Trend Micro all received top scores from both labs.
When we test malware protection on Windows, we use live malware inside an isolated virtual machine. We’ve coded several analysis tools over the years to help with this testing. Little of that testing regimen carries over to the Mac.
Phishing, however, isn’t platform-specific, and neither is our antiphishing test. Phishing websites imitate secure sites, everything from banks and finance sites to gaming and dating sites. If you enter your credentials at the fake login page, you’ve given the phisher access to your account. And it doesn’t matter if you are browsing on a PC, a Mac, or an internet-aware rowing machine.
The wily malefactors who create phishing sites are in the business of deception, and they constantly change and update their techniques, hoping to evade detection. If one fraudulent site gets blacklisted or shut down by the authorities, they simply pop up with a new one. That being the case, we try to use the very newest phishing URLs for testing, scraping them from phishing-focused websites.
We launch each URL simultaneously in four browsers. One is Safari or Chrome on the Mac, protected by the Mac antivirus that’s under test. The other three use the protection built into Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. Discarding any that don’t fit the phishing profile and any that don’t load correctly in all four browsers, we report the phishing detection rate as well as the difference between its detection rate and that of the other three test systems.
Most of the apps in this roundup beat the combined average of the three browsers. McAfee and Trend Micro own this test, with 100% detection.
The scourge of ransomware is on the rise. While ransomware attacks are more common on Windows devices, Macs have suffered as well. Of course, any antivirus utility should handle ransomware just as it handles spyware, Trojans, viruses, and other malware types. Since the consequences of missing a ransomware attack are so great, some antivirus utilities add components with the sole purpose of preventing ransomware attacks.
We’ve observed a wide variety of ransomware protection techniques on Windows. These include blocking unauthorized access to user documents, detecting ransomware based on its activity, and recovering encrypted files from backup. Of the programs listed here, Avast, Bitdefender, and Trend Micro offer a ransomware component that blocks unauthorized modification of protected documents.
Bitdefender’s Safe Files feature prevents all unauthorized access to your documents, including your Time Machine backups. Trend Micro offers multiple layers of Windows ransomware protection. Folder Shield, which, like Safe Files, prevents unauthorized document access, is the only layer that made its way to the macOS edition.
Sophos Home Premium includes the same CryptoGuard behavior-based ransomware protection found in its Windows equivalent. Our Windows test systems are virtual machines, so we feel free to release real-world ransomware for testing. We just roll back the virtual machine to a clean snapshot after testing. We don’t have the option to do that on the physical Mac testbed, so we just have to figure since it worked on Windows, it probably works on macOS.
Any kind of malware problem is unpleasant, but spyware may be the most unnerving. Imagine some creeper secretly peeking at you through your Mac’s webcam! Other types of spying include logging keystrokes to capture your passwords, sending Trojans to steal your data, and watching your online activities to build a profile. As with ransomware protection, we’ve observed more features specifically devoted to spyware protection on Windows-based antivirus tools than on the Mac, but a few programs in this collection do pay special attention to spyware.
Sophos Home Premium offers substantial protection for the webcam and microphone. You get a notification any time an untrusted program attempts to access either; you can allow access or stop the program. There’s also an option to whitelist a program, so you don’t get a popup every time you use your off-brand video chat tool.
Many antivirus tools on Windows boast a ton of bonus features, packing in everything from tune-up utilities to VPNs. That behavior seems less common on the macOS side, though Norton includes a VPN with no bandwidth limits. Even so, some vendors don’t have a standalone Mac antivirus, opting instead to offer a full security suite as the baseline level of protection, and a few others include suite-like bonus features in the basic antivirus.
A typical personal firewall component blocks attacks coming in from the internet and also manages network permissions for programs installed on your Mac. Intego, McAfee, and Norton each include a firewall component.
Parental control is another common suite component. With Sophos and Trend Micro, a content filter can block access to websites matching unwanted categories.
There’s another angle to the variation in Mac antivirus pricing. How about paying nothing at all? Avast One Essential for Mac, AVG AntiVirus for Mac, and Avira Free Antivirus for Mac are free for personal use. The best commercial antivirus utilities offer more protection, but if you can’t afford the best, at least install a free antivirus.
Many of the apps covered in this roundup earned certification from at least one independent testing lab; some managed two certifications. There are no bad choices here as far as basic antivirus protection goes. Even so, a few stand out.
Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac not only achieved lab certification, but it also earned the maximum score on every test. Norton 360 Deluxe for Mac is a full security suite, also has certification from one lab, and its features include a no-limits VPN. These two are our Editors’ Choice winners for Mac antivirus protection.
However, these aren’t the only choices.  Look over our reviews, pick the antivirus that suits you best, and get your Mac protected. Once you’ve done that, you should also consider installing a Mac VPN. While an antivirus protects you, your devices, and your data locally, a VPN extends that protection to your online activities, protecting both your security and your privacy.
Editors’ Note: Based on the increasing censure and criticism of Kaspersky by US government agencies, foreign agencies, and informed third parties, we can no longer recommend Kaspersky’s products. We continue to evaluate these products on their merits and report on them for those who wish to decide for themselves.
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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