Bitdefender For Mac V Avast Frr For Mac

1. Bitdefender Virus Scanner For Mac
2. Bitdefender Mac Free
3. Avast Premier V Avast Pro Antivirus
4. Avast Free
5. Avg V Avast

• Pros

  Protects files and backups from ransomware. Top ratings from two independent testing labs. Excellent score in our antiphishing test. No-hassle Autopilot mode. Blocks ad trackers in browsers. Includes VPN.

• Cons

  Full access to VPN features requires separate subscription.

• Bottom Line

  Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac gets top marks from the independent labs and in our own hands-on testing. With its handy Autopilot mode, you can set it, forget it, and have confidence that your Mac is protected against malware.

If you pick on using Avast Free for Mac, review these (see screenshot). They are not required for Virus and Malware Protection, but are offered for Free as Additional (not necessary) Security. There are some technological differences between Avast for Windows vs Mac, so not all features in Avast Internet Security are present for Avast Mac Security. Avast vs Bitdefender — Offered Products & Pricing Structure Avast Products As we said, Avast security products are available for various platforms such as Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone or iPad.

Long-time Windows users know that going without antivirus software is just plain crazy. Apple computers need protection, too, even though it doesn't always seem like it. When you're looking for Mac antivirus protection, it couldn't hurt to go with a name that's famed in the Windows world, like Bitdefender. While Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac may not offer the bonanza of added features that its Windows cousin does, it goes beyond most of its Mac competitors, with VPN protection, tracker blocking for your browser, and defense against ransomware.

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Right from the start, it's clear that Bitdefender brings more than the minimum antivirus protection to your Mac. You should definitely accept the installer's offer to enable Safe Files ransomware protection (more about that later) and to protect Time Machine backups against tampering. Once the product itself is installed, you'll also want to enable the Traffic Light browser extension, which identifies dangerous websites, and the new Anti-tracker feature, which prevents advertisers from profiling you on the web.

In this latest edition, the macOS product's main window precisely duplicates that of Bitdefender Antivirus Plus on Windows, except there's no option to change out the quick action buttons at bottom right. The pages reached by clicking Protection and Privacy in the left-rail menu are vastly less busy than in the Windows edition, though. On the Protection page, you can launch a quick, full, or custom scan, check quarantine, and manage browser extensions. The Privacy page is fully devoted to Bitdefender VPN (more about the VPN later) and Anti-tracker.

As with the Windows product, Bitdefender on the Mac defaults to running in Autopilot mode, making all necessary security decisions. Also as on Windows, AutoPilot now does more, displaying recommendations to make sure you take advantage of all the available features.

Pricing and OS Support

For $39.99 per year, you can install Bitdefender on a single Mac; raising that to $59.99 extends protection to two more systems. ESET and Kaspersky precisely match this pricing scheme. Webroot is similar, but you get three licenses for less—just $49.99. McAfee AntiVirus Plus (for Mac) also costs $59.99 per year, but that subscription includes protection for every macOS, Windows, Android, and iOS device you own.

Avast, Avira, AVG, and Sophos Home (for Mac) are totally free, which is handy if you didn't budget for Mac antivirus. Intego lists for $99.99 per year to protect three Macs. That sounds high, but it's more of a security suite than a mere antivirus. Norton is also a suite, which makes its price ($99.99 per year for five licenses) seem more reasonable.

If your Mac is brand-new, it has the very latest and greatest operating system. Good for you! But if you're running an older version, your need for antivirus is even greater. Like ESET Cyber Security (for Mac), Bitdefender works on anything from Mavericks (version 10.9 of the OS) to the present. Others require a more recent version. With Avira, McAfee, and Sophos, you need El Capitan (10.11) or better. Kaspersky, Norton, and Trend Micro need at least Sierra (10.12).

Excellent Malware Protection Scores

We have an elaborate set of hand-coded tools, developed over a period of years, that help in our hands-on Windows antivirus testing. On a Mac, they're worth exactly nothing. Oh, we can run a few tests manually, but for the most part we rely on reports from the major labs. Four of the labs we follow report on Windows antivirus products, just two on Mac products

Both the testing labs that we follow for macOS antivirus include Bitdefender in their testing roster, and both give it excellent scores. Like most products in the latest test by AV-Comparatives, Bitdefender achieved 100 percent success protecting against Mac-specific malware.

Because it's possible for a Mac to act as a carrier for malware that attacks Windows, the researchers also check how well each antivirus detects Windows threats. Bitdefender also managed 100 percent in this test, as did most tested products. The exceptions were CrowdStrike and Intego Mac Internet Security X9, which claim to detect Windows malware but simply didn't, and Webroot, which caught just 33 percent of the Windows malware samples.

Just as with Windows antivirus products, the testers at AV-Test Institute rate products on protection, performance, and usability, assigning up to six points in each category. Bitdefender aced all three tests for a perfect score of 18 points. Trend Micro also took perfect scores from both labs, the only other product to do so.

Windows Malware Protection

ESET, Intego, Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac, and a few others include the ability to automatically run scans on a predetermined schedule. Bitdefender omits this feature, because its real-time protection should catch any new malware before such a scheduled scan. That does mean that it's important to run a full System Scan as soon as you've installed the product, to make sure your Mac is clean.

A full scan with Bitdefender took 24 minutes, the same as Avira, and less than half the average time among current Mac products. Running a quick scan, which looks for active malware and checks system areas typically used by malware, took just one minute. That's fast, but Norton's quick scan took just 30 seconds, and Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus (for Mac) finished in 15 seconds.

All the products we've reviewed recently promise that they'll detect and remove Windows malware too, so your Mac doesn't become a Typhoid Mary. When we opened a folder containing our Windows malware samples, Bitdefender didn't react immediately, so we scanned the folder. Its scan window reported detecting nearly four times as many threats as there were files present, due to some multiple detections. One sample needed manual intervention; on Bitdefender's advice we simply deleted it. It removed the infection from another sample, leaving a clean file, uncommonly deft for a Mac antivirus handling Windows malware.

When we counted the survivors, we found that the antivirus had dealt with 78 percent of the samples. That's pretty good, but F-Secure Safe (for Mac) whacked 91 percent of the samples, ESET managed 93 percent, and Webroot swept the field, with 100 percent detection.

Superb Phishing Protection

Sites that host malware tend to be locked to a specific operating system—most often Windows. Phishing sites, though, are totally inclusive. No matter how you're browsing the web, whether from a laptop, a game console, or an internet-aware can opener, if a phishing site tricks you into giving away your security credentials, you're hosed.

To test how well an antivirus utility protects against phishing, we start by collecting the newest phishing URLs we can find on the web, with an eye to ones that haven't made it onto blacklists. We use a hand-coded test utility to simultaneously launch each URL in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox, relying on each browser's built-in fraud protection. We use the same utility when testing a browser protected by a Windows antivirus. As for the Mac products, well, our utility works only in Windows, so on the Mac our testing involves a lot of fancy cut-and-paste into the browser's Address bar.

We tested this product simultaneously with Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, and the two products turned in exactly the same score, 99 percent detected. That's a contrast with our previous review, in which the macOS product scored well below its Windows counterpart. In our collection of macOS antivirus tools, only McAfee has done better. On the Mac, as on Windows, it detected and blocked 100 percent of the phishing URLs we threw at it.

Traffic Light for Search Result Protection

If you try to navigate to a fake or dangerous site, Bitdefender's Traffic Light browser extension (for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari) steers you back to safety. Traffic Light also marks up search results, using green and red icons to identify safe and dangerous links. If you stay away from red-light links, you should be safe.

Clicking the red icon opens a page with detailed information about why the link is dangerous. You get a laundry list of reasons, with relevant icons highlighted. In most cases it's phishing or malware. But other reasons include Facebook scams, sending unsolicited email, and piracy.

Note that the Windows antivirus no longer bundles Traffic Light, because it has a more powerful Web Protection component. Traffic Light lives on under macOS!

New Anti-Tracker

New in the current edition, Bitdefender includes an anti-tracker browser extension. Like Traffic Light, it supports Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.

When you visit a site that contains ad trackers, site analytics trackers, or other trackers, Bitdefender puts the number of trackers on the extension's toolbar icon. By default, its active Do Not Track system blocks them all. You can click for a summary by category, which includes an estimate of the page load time saved. You can disable blocking of specific categories, too. You'll find similar Do Not Track functionality in a variety of security tools including Abine Blur, Avast Security Pro (for Mac), and Kaspersky Internet Security.

Bitdefender VPN

Bitdefender's many layers of antivirus, web, and network protection keep your devices and their data safe. However, when you connect to the internet your data in transit is potentially at risk. To ensure privacy for your data, you need a VPN (virtual private network). When you connect using a VPN, nobody, not even the owner of the shady Wi-Fi network you're using, can access your network traffic, and you'll be harder to track as you move across the web.

Bitdefender Virus Scanner For Mac

Pricing for Premium

Bitdefender VPN isn't available as a standalone product. Even the feature-complete Premium edition requires that you're already running a Bitdefender antivirus or security suite. This VPN is a re-branded version of the AnchorFree Hotspot Shield Elite VPN service. Bitdefender uses AnchorFree's servers and services, but your information is secure with Bitdefender. AnchorFree cannot see your online activities and only receives a Bitdefender identifier.

The VPN service will work out of the box, but only in a limited mode until you pay for a Premium subscription. The free version of Bitdefender's VPN restricts your use to 200MB per day. That's more generous than TunnelBear VPN's free version, which offers only 500MB per month. The free version also limits which VPN servers you can access. At the other extreme, the free version of ProtonVPN doesn't impose any limits.

If you decide to upgrade to the Premium edition of the Bitdefender VPN, you get access to all available VPN servers, with no data cap. An annual subscription costs $39.99 per year, or you can pay $6.99 per month. That's a remarkably low monthly cost, comparable to very affordable Private Internet Access VPN, which costs $6.95 per month. It's also notably less expensive than Hotspot Shield itself, which costs $12.99 per month.

The average price per month for a PCMag top-rated VPN service is about $10.50. Bitdefender is a little more than half the price of NordVPN and only 4 cents more than Private Internet Access. A typical standalone VPN allows use on a specific number of devices, most commonly five. With Bitdefender, you get as many devices as you have licenses for the underlying antivirus or suite. The price of the Premium VPN doesn't change.

Simple User Interface

The Bitdefender VPN is very simple: a slender grey rectangle with a large, blue button to connect the VPN. You change the VPN server from the pull-down menu, although you can only select the country to which you will connect. Other services, like NordVPN, let you select the specific server in a given country, and even tell you what kind of load that server is experiencing. Bitdefender is more of a set-it-and-forget-it affair. That said, it has only a few options: turning notifications on or off, configuring the VPN to connect automatically on unsafe (read: unsecured) Wi-Fi networks and having it launch on Windows startup.

The stripped-down nature of Bitdefender VPN Premium is understandable when you consider that it's being sold as an add-on to Bitdefender antivirus products. In fact, you cannot use Bitdefender VPN Premium as a standalone product—it must be installed alongside a Bitdefender antivirus or suite product.

Other VPN services, like TorGuard VPN, have a host of add-on options, like dedicated IP address and access to a 10GB network. NordVPN and ProtonVPN let you connect to the Tor anonymization network through their clients. Several VPN services also offer servers designed for specific activities, like P2P file sharing or Netflix streaming. The Bitdefender VPN doesn't have these, although it allows file sharing on the networks used by the Bitdefender VPN.

On the subject of Netflix, we found that we could not connect to the popular video streaming service while the Bitdefender VPN was active. That's not surprising, since we couldn't access when using Hotspot Shield, either. Netflix is very active about blocking VPNs, but VPNs are active in trying to keep their customers streaming happily. It's a bit of a cat-and-mouse game. When we last tested the services, NordVPN, Private internet Access, ProtonVPN, CyberGhost VPN, and IPVanish were the top-rated services that successfully worked with Netflix.

None of the documentation we found on the Bitdefender VPN outlined how many servers are available, but we've been told it's the same as those available with the first-party Hotspot Shield client. Hotspot Shield has 2,500 servers in 73 countries. That's a strong showing, beating out much of the VPN small fry. It's just shy of the heavy hitters, such as Private Internet Access, CyberGhost, and ExpressVPN, all of which have 3,000 servers or more. NordVPN, however, leads the pack with around 5,300 servers.

A large number of servers is useful, since it means fewer people will be allocated per server. Fewer people in a server generally means better performance, as you won't have to share as many slices of the bandwidth pie.

Server locations also matter, partly because more locations means more options for spoofing your own location, but mostly because a closer server will usually yield better speed and will definitely have lower latency. NordVPN, for example, is available in 62 countries, and ExpressVPN covers an impressive 94 countries.

You won't find an option to change the protocol used by the Bitdefender VPN client to create its encrypted tunnel. That's because Bitdefender always uses the OpenVPN protocol. That's good. We prefer OpenVPN, which has the advantage of being open-source and picked over for potential vulnerabilities.

See How We Test VPNs

Average Impact on Connection Speeds

A major concern with using a VPN is it impact on your internet connection speeds. Using the Ookla speed test tool, we find a percent change between speed test results with the VPN and without the VPN. Our testing was carried out in our New York offices, using the VPN server automatically assigned to us. These results are not the final word on Bitdefender VPN Premium's speed test performance, but rather for comparison between other products. Your results will differ depending on your location and connection.

(Editors' Note: Ookla Speedtest is owned by j2 Global, the parent company of PCMag's publisher, Ziff Davis.)

In our testing, we found that the Bitdefender VPN Premium reduced download speed results by 97.3 percent, and upload speed results by 87.9 percent. Bitdefender VPN also increased latency by 3,994.4 percent. As of writing, HideIPVPN is the fastest VPN we've yet tested, due to its low impact on upload and download speed test results.

You can see how Bitdefender compares in the chart below.

Bitdefender VPN Premium's upload speed test results were close to the median of 82.4 that we've recorded across some three-dozen VPN products. That's the end of the good news, however. We've recorded a median latency of 100 percent and a median download speed reduction of 88.1 percent—a far smaller impact that Bitdefender VPN Premium.

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As noted, Bitdefender didn't roll its own VPN. Instead, it whitelabeled the Anchorfree Hotspot Shield VPN product. Interestingly, in our testing the Bitdefender VPN Premium results didn't match with the Hotspot Shield VPN results. Hotspot Shield reduced download speed results by only 69.3 percent, and decreased upload speed results by 88 percent. Hotspot Shield increased latency by 5,300 percent—the worst score we've yet recorded.

If you're already paying for Bitdefender and are looking for a no-frills VPN service at a bargain basement price, Bitdefender VPN Premium fits the bill. If you're looking for more features, such as Tor-over-VPN, multi-hop connections, and so on, we recommend looking at NordVPN or ProtonVPN. Private Internet Access is slightly cheaper, and TunnelBear VPN significantly friendlier. All four of these products have received the coveted PCMag Editors' Choice award for their individual excellence.

You might also consider Symantec Norton 360 Deluxe (for Mac) if you want powerful security that includes VPN protection. At $99.99 per year for five licenses, it looks more expensive than Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, which charges $69.99 for the same number. However, with Norton you get a full-featured VPN at no extra charge.

Ransomware Protection Keeps Files Safe

Ransomware is a growing threat, and ransomware protection is showing up in more and more security products. Some add a monitoring layer that looks for behavior that suggests encrypting ransomware. Others, Bitdefender included, balk ransomware activity by limiting access to files in the folders typically affected by ransomware.

A ransomware attack doesn't aim to disable your computer. The perpetrators know you'll need a working computer in order to pay up. Ransomware usually attacks documents, images, and other personal files, working in the background until its dirty deeds are done. Bitdefender's Safe Files feature defaults to protecting your Desktop, Documents, Downloads, and Pictures folder; you can add any other folders in which you routinely keep important documents.

Known and trusted applications can access your files just as they always would, but when an unknown program attempts to create or modify files in a protected folder, Safe Files prevents the change and pops up a warning. If you recognize the program, if it's something you're actively using, you can add it to the trusted list. If not, let Bitdefender keep blocking the attack.

Under Windows we had no trouble seeing this feature in action. We used a couple of programs guaranteed to be unknown, a simple fake encryptor and a tiny editor coded in house. We don't have anything similar for the Mac in our bag of tricks, but we have no doubt the feature works in just the same way.

Savvy Mac users know that Time Machine keeps regular backups, theoretically insulating them against ransomware. Your files got encrypted by ransomware? Just restore from backup! But since the Time Machine backup drive is often left connected to the Mac, there's a possibility that backups could be compromised by a ransomware attack. Just as it prevents unauthorized access to your documents, Bitdefender also protects your Time Machine files.

A Fine Choice

Bitdefender has long been a name to conjure with in the world of Windows security software, and Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac carries on that tradition. Two labs certified its protection with their very best scores. In our own hands-on test of antiphishing prowess, Bitdefender beat all but one Mac-based competitor. It also protects your files and backups against ransomware.

New dangers target you directly These days cyberpunks “phish,” “spearphish” and “whale” to target you specifically. However today’s risks typically aren’t after your computer system– they seek your identification and your money. Avast free mac security reviews. Combine these with other dangers like router hijacking, as well as your identification is at fantastic risk of being taken.

This tool doesn't have the humongous collection of security bonus features found in its Windows equivalent, but it brings more to the table than most of its macOS competitors. Bitdefender is an Editors' Choice for Mac antivirus. With scores nearly as good as Bitdefender's and even more features, Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac is also an Editors' Choice.

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac

Bottom Line: Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac gets top marks from the independent labs and in our own hands-on testing. With its handy Autopilot mode, you can set it, forget it, and have confidence that your Mac is protected against malware.

• $89.99
• $59.99
• $39.99
• $0.00

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Many casual users may think that identifying the best Mac antivirus software in 2019 is rather redundant, given that Macs 'don't get viruses.'

Yet although Apple machines are targeted less than their Windows counterparts, they can still be infected - and the risks are increasing, which is why you need protection.

Every product in this list has been chosen because it's especially designed to protect Mac systems and has scored highly at identifying and removing viruses and malware.

• We've also highlighted the overall best antivirus

The macOS operating system is based on Unix, which is sandboxed, meaning it can be very difficult for viruses to do any damage. Think of them as locked in a little box from which they can’t escape, no matter how hard they try.

This means that you will need specific Mac antivirus software - whether that be the very strongest paid-for protection or a free download that we've picked out at the bottom of this guide - that's been designed to work with the unique demands that macOS has.

So read on for our top choices..

• Want your company or services to be added to this buyer’s guide? Please email your request to desire.athow@futurenet.com with the URL of the buying guide in the subject line.

Mac antivirus: which is best at detecting threats?

The excellent AV-TEST regularly puts anti-virus programs through their paces, and their most recent tests took place in June 2018 on macOS High Sierra. They tested two key areas: how well the packages detected Mac-specific threats, and how well they protected against Macs in mixed-OS environments being hijacked to spread Windows malware.

While the amount of Mac malware is still considerably less than that targeting Windows, its still 100 times higher than what experts predicted just a few years ago.

For Mac malware, six packages achieved 100 percent detection without false positives:

1. Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac is one of the most accurate virus protection suites for Apple devices on the market, and it comes with a host of features, including multi-layer ransomware protection, adware removal, and it can also scan for Windows PC malware as well.

If you're concerned about internet nasties, Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac is the best software for Macs in 2019.

2. Intego Mac Internet Security X9

Intego has been protecting Macs for 20 years, so if there's any software that knows what kind of security Apple machines need, this is it.

It comes with an antivirus engine that cans for the latest Mac threats, as well as Windows and Unix malware as well, and it also features a full firewall for managing network permissions.

3. Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac

Kaspersky is a well regarded name in the field of antivirus protection, and it maintains that reputation with its Internet Security for Mac software, which brings a range of features that put much of its competitors to shame, including protection against ransomware, parental controls and tools to make sure you can shop and bank completely securely online.

The huge range of features are certainly welcome, but it can make the interface a bit cumbersome to navigate if you're looking for a particular tool.

4. Norton Security Deluxe

Norton 360 Deluxe

Norton is another brand that's well known in the antivirus world, and the Norton Security Deluxe software helps protect your Mac with an excellent malware detection engine. It can cover a range of devices, so you can have it protect your Macs, or even any Windows PCs you have, or mobile devices. While the security it offers is great, there can be a noticeable impact on system speed when in use.

If you want to keep your Mac feeling as speedy as possible, look at one of the other choices in this best software for Mac list, but if you want robust, dependable protection, no matter what, then Norton Security Deluxe is definitely worth investing in.

The next four achieved between 99.5 percent and 98.4 percent without false positives:

5. Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac

Good security that includes social network protection

If you're running the latest version of macOS, macOS High Sierra (10.13), then Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac is a very good choice, as it has been built for compatibility with the recent operating system. It brings antivirus protection, email scam filtering, a social media privacy checker and new ransomware protection tools.

Scanning speed has also been improved since the last version, making it faster to check your Mac for any viruses.

6. ClamXAV

A trusted scanner for macOS

ClamXAV doesn't have the catchiest of names, but it's the antivirus software for Mac that many IT professionals swear by - not least because it only creates AV for Apple computers.

That doesn't mean it's overly complicated - in fact, it has one of the most simple and easy-to-use interfaces out of all the Mac antivirus software on this list.

It's particularly adept at catching viruses in email attachments, and while it doesn't come with some of the internet safety tools of other suites, it's still an excellent choice for protecting your Mac.

7. ESET Cyber Security for Mac

ESET Cyber Security for Mac scores highly from independent testing labs, so you can rest assured that your Mac is being well looked after if you have this installed.

It's not the quickest software to scan your Mac for viruses, but it digs deep into your system to make sure your machine is completely free from viruses, and it has a pretty competitive price tag as well.

8. F-Secure SAFE

Bitdefender Mac Free

F-Secure 1 Year

F-Secure SAFE is pitched as an antivirus service for the entire family, protecting all manner of devices, including PCs, smartphones, tablets as well as Macs, and strong parental controls.

AV-Test found F-Secure protected against 100 per cent of zero-day threats during March and April 2018, as well as 100 per cent of all widespread and prevalent malware discovered during the previous four weeks. However as of June 2018, detection rates of MacOS malware are 96.4 per cent.

Concerns about the suite slowing down the installation of frequently used applications also persist, as does a relative lack of features. Having said that it does offer some nifty capabilities such as banking protection, which blocks specific sites and apps from interacting with your system while you’re logged in, and specific safeguards across the scourge of ransomware.

In short, F-Secure’s user-friendly UI and accurate protection make it an adequate choice, but it is lacking in the feature department.

Do I need free or paid-for antivirus for Mac?

The debate is the same regardless of whether you have a Mac or a PC. Free antivirus products are effective at protecting against threats but they lack certain premium features.

Having multiple systems on a network means cyberattacks have more users and more endpoints to target. Additional management tools that let you set policies can help mitigate this risk.

Macs might be considered safer than PCs, but it still might not be risking it for the sake of saving some money.

Top 5 best free antivirus for Mac in 2019

1. Avast Free Mac Security

Strong all-round protection for your Mac

Avast Free Mac Security goes the extra mile to protect your Mac with an unusually lengthy feature list.

The core antivirus engine offers real-time protection to catch threats when they appear, for instance. You can run on-demand full system scans if you suspect a problem, or launch a more targeted check on specific files, folders or drives. It's even possible to schedule scans to run automatically when you're not around.

A Web Shield warns you about malicious websites, blocks dangerous downloads and email attachments, and protects your privacy by eliminating intrusive ad tracking.

There's an unusual extra in Avast's wireless network scanner, which quickly checks your network, router and connected devices, alerting you to any vulnerabilities.

Avast Premier V Avast Pro Antivirus

Mac antivirus software isn't often checked by the independent testing labs, but Avast's most recent results were good, with AV Comparative's 2018 test finding the package detected 100 percent of sample threats.

If you'd like even more, upgrading to Avast Security Pro gets you ransomware protection and instant alerts of Wi-Fi intruders or changes in your network security. A one Mac, one-year licence can be yours for £49.99 ($70).

2. Avira Free Antivirus for Mac

Block the latest malware before it can cause damage

While many antivirus companies try to win you over by piling on the features, Avira Antivirus for Mac takes a simpler, more lightweight approach. There's no web filtering, no network scanning or other security extras: it's purely focused on keeping your system malware-free.

That doesn't mean the package is short on power. Its real-time scanner checks any file the system accesses, picking up threats before they can do any harm. The scheduler enables setting up the app to scan your system automatically, or you're able to check your entire system whenever you like.

As a bonus, the app doesn't just protect against Mac threats. It also uses Avira's Windows experience to pick up any PC-related malware, ensuring you won't share any files that might endanger your friends.

The main testing labs haven't evaluated Avira Free Antivirus for a while, but AV Comparatives last report found the Avira engine blocked 100% of test malware (tying with Avast), and with Avira's strong record on the PC we've no doubt that this is an app you can trust.

Although this list is all about free Mac antivirus, Avira deserves a mention for its commercial Avira Antivirus Pro product. It includes tech support and protects up to three devices with one licence (Mac, Windows and Android) for a cost of £39.99 ($42) a year.

3. Bitdefender Virus Scanner for Mac

Bitdefender Virus Scanner is a lightweight free malware hunter which can track down and remove both Mac and Windows-related threats.

A simple and straightforward interface makes the app extremely easy to use. A status display keeps you up-to-date on how your system is doing, and four buttons enable running a quick scan of critical locations, an in-depth check of your entire system, or speedy scans of running applications or a folder of your choice.

Although this looks all very basic, use Bitdefender Virus Scanner for Mac for a while and you begin to notice some very neat touches.

The app doesn't force you to wait a day for your next virus signature updates, for instance. Bitdefender issues updates every hour and Virus Scanner always fetches the latest version before it starts a scan.

An option to exclude files and folders from the scan - network shares, system backups - is another plus, reducing the work the engine has to do and significantly speeding up your scan times.

What you don't get here is any form of real-time protection or web filtering, essential tools for a complete security solution. This simplicity also reduces the chance of conflicts with other apps, though, suggesting Bitdefender Virus Scanner could be a useful second opinion tool which you run alongside another security app.

Quick and easy anti-malware from a big-name provider

Malwarebytes Premium for Mac 1 YearMalwarebytes Premium for Mac 2 Years

Mac antivirus software isn't just about detecting the latest most deadly ransomware, or other high-risk threats. Most tools can also strip out adware and other potentially unwanted programs which may not be highly dangerous, but are wasting system resources and slowing your Mac down.

Malwarebytes has been eliminating the full range of Windows threats since 2006, and the Mac edition is just as simple, straightforward and effective.

The app is such a lightweight installation, the size of three digital music files, that you'll barely notice it's there. And while the lack of real-time protection means Malwarebytes can't stop attacks - only remove existing infections - it also ensures there's no real impact on your system resources and the app is unlikely to conflict with other antivirus tools.

Performance is another highlight, with Malwarebytes claiming the average system is scanned in less than 15 seconds. Set it running when you check your emails in the morning and it'll be finished before you are.

Installing Malwarebytes for Mac also gets you a 30-day trial of the Premium edition which is able to detect and block threats as they appear. If you're not interested in this, ignore it; real-time protection will disappear when the trial expires and you'll get on-demand scanning only.

Alternatively, upgrading to Malwarebytes Premium with a one-year licence costs just £29.99 ($38), with another option to protect up to 10 devices for £49.99 ($65)

5. Sophos Home for Mac

The free antivirus market is highly competitive and it can be difficult for individual companies to stand out from the crowd, but the British vendor Sophos has found a way: it gives you more features in its free products than many competitors provide in their paid editions.

On-demand scanning to clean up infected systems? Check. Real-time protection to prevent attacks in the first place? Of course. Browser filtering which blocks access to dangerous sites? Naturally. Parental controls to define the content your child can access online? Yep.

Oh, and you can cover up to three Mac or Windows devices with a single account, and remotely check and manage their status from a central web console - potentially very useful when protecting the whole family.

Sophos isn't just piling on these extras to disguise a weak antivirus engine, either. AV Test's December 2017 Mac detection rate tests showed Sophos delivered the same level of protection as products from Avast, Bitdefender, Kaspersky and other big names.

This works for us, but if you need more, Sophos Home Premium does have some worthwhile extra features: advanced ransomware protection, monitoring of access to your webcam and microphone, live chat and email support, and the option to protect up to 10 devices. It's a strong feature set, and competitively priced at £37.50 ($48) a year.

Mac antivirus: what’s the effect on performance?

Avast Free

Most of us believe that virus protection software has a negative effect on performance, but chances are it’s much less negative than we think: in their tests, AV-Test found that there was no measurable performance drop when using ClamXav, MacKeeper, Kaspersky or Norton. There was a measurable difference with Sophos and Trend Micro (two per cent of additional system load), and with ESET and Bitdefender, which added around four per cent to the overall system load.

Mac antivirus: do I really need it?

That really depends on you. The risk of infection remains pretty remote, and if you practice basic security measures and don’t fall for common scams then you’re very unlikely to suffer from any problems. Even ransomware can be defeated with the cunning tactic of having a backup of anything important.

Avg V Avast

That said, if you’ve ever experienced the mess malware can make on a Windows system you’ll know that just getting things back to normal can be an incredible time thief, especially if key data has been damaged. Perhaps the question shouldn’t be whether anti-virus is worth the money, but whether your time is more valuable than the cost of a security app.

• VPNs are another great way to stay safe online - check out the best Mac VPN