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McAfee antivirus comes in at No. 5 in our rating of the Best Antivirus Software of 2024. McAfee is a well-known computer security company with a variety of products that can make you safer online, including full-featured antivirus software. If you want an all-in-one solution for your online security needs, read our McAfee antivirus review below.
McAfee is a security company that focuses on internet security. It includes products aimed at online privacy and identity protection in addition to antivirus and antimalware software for Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android devices. McAfee ranks No. 5 in our rating of the Best Antivirus Software of 2024 and No. 10 in our rating of the Best Antivirus Software for Macs of 2024. Founded in 1987, it was acquired on March 1, 2022 by an investor group led by Advent International Corporation. McAfee sells an antivirus package, VPN software, identity protection, and a comprehensive security suite called McAfee Total Protection. McAfee is widely used, covering over 108 million customers with more than 600 million devices.
Ranked #5 in Best Antivirus Software of 2024 (tie)
Ranked #10 in Best Mac Antivirus Software of 2024
Pros:
Coverage for unlimited number of devices
Malware protection for all four main classes of devices
Robust firewall
Cons:
Scanning speed is rather slow
Some features limited without autorenewal
McAfee offers what is generally considered an excellent antivirus and antimalware product that caught nearly everything testing organizations could throw at it. However, professional reviewers reported that McAfee’s scanning is slow.
McAfee Antivirus software is sold in four packages: Basic (one device for $29.99 for the first year and $89.99 upon renewal), Essential (five devices for $39.99 for the first year and $119.99 upon renewal), McAfee + Premium (unlimited devices for $44.99 for the first year and $149.99 upon renewal), and McAfee + Advanced (unlimited devices for $79.99 for the first year and $199.99 upon renewal). Essential, McAfee + Premium, and McAfee + Advanced include other security products like identity theft protection, a password manger, a virtual private network.
McAfee has one antivirus engine that forms the core of all of its offerings. In its most elementary form, McAfee Antivirus Basic ($29.99 for the first year) provides antivirus software and web protection for one device. Customers also get access to online security experts. McAfee’s other products are variations on this, with different numbers of devices and additional features added on to the basic antivirus. McAfee uses different avenues for selling the same product, so the same product can show up in different places.
Antivirus Basic covers one device for $29.99 for the first year and has the following features:
Essential sells for $39.99 for the first year and is the same as Individual Basic, but supports five devices.
McAfee + Premium supports unlimited devices and adds scans for personal data cleanup. It sells for $44.99 for the first year. Auto-renewal isn't required for the VPN.
McAfee + Advanced also supports unlimited devices and includes everything McAfee + Premium offers, plus additional identity protections like credit monitoring, up to $1 million in ID theft coverage, and professional help from identity restoration experts should you need it. This plan costs $79.99 for the first year.
Family plans are also available.
A subscription to McAfee Antivirus Basic starts out the McAfee Antivirus lineup and costs $29.99 per year for one device. The Essential plan adds more features, including a VPN, firewall, password manager, file shredder, identity monitoring and web protection for $39.99 per year for five devices. The McAfee + Premium level costs $44.99 a year for unlimited devices, and the McAfee + Advanced plan costs $79.99 a year for unlimited devices. Note that these are first-year rates, and renewal rates are significant more expensive.
Whether McAfee Antivirus or Bitdefender is the better product depends on who you ask. Professional reviewers differed on their assessment of these products, with some finding Bitdefender marginally better than McAfee at finding some malware and other threats, and others finding the opposite.
With the lack of a clear winner in protection, much of the difference was in performance. Here, McAfee was dinged on its lack of speed, and in one series of tests, its consumption of system resources. McAfee is slightly easier to use for inexperienced users. McAfee uses the same antivirus engine for its products, while Bitdefender’s level of protection varies according to the price. The difference with McAfee is based on additional features rather than basic protection.
Learn more in our Bitdefender review.
Professional reviewers favor McAfee over Trend Micro antivirus packages. McAfee has a better malware detection rate when taking false positives into account, where Trend Micro had higher numbers. Some reviewers noted that McAfee was more effective in handling zero-day attacks, which are attacks that are not previously known to the software. Reviewers also found that Trend Micro used more system resources than McAfee meaning that McAfee won’t slow systems as much, which is important if you’re trying to scan for malware while also working.
McAfee also has more security features than Trend Micro at the higher levels of the software packages. In addition, reviewers noted that the McAfee user interface was slightly better than Trend Micro, but those differences were minor.
Learn more in our Trend Micro review.
Price reflects discount.
Price reflects discount.
All McAfee antivirus packages include a host of highly effective antivirus and malware protections. However, McAfee antivirus software lacks some cybersecurity features that many other antivirus software vendors include, most prominently a VPN. Instead of a single all-inclusive solution, McAfee sells a number of different cybersecurity protections that can be used on their own or with its antivirus software.
McAfee says it updates its virus definitions more than 100 times a day. More complete software updates are issued several times a year, typically every month according to McAfee. All virus definitions and software updates are conducted automatically and invisibly to the user.
McAfee's "passive mode" allows users to temporarily disable antivirus protection, which it advises against. But this "passive mode" allows you to run another antivirus program alongside McAfee's for extra protection.
If you need to uninstall McAfee antivirus or cybersecurity software, it recommends using McAfee Setup Wizard, the same program used when you initially install its products. Alternatively, McAfee offers special Uninstall Utilities, which can be found on the McAfee website.
Our privacy and technology team has done countless hours of research on all sorts of consumer technology products and services. If you have a question that hasn’t been answered in one of our guides, send an email to digital-privacy@usnews.com and we’ll do our best to help.
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At U.S. News & World Report, we rank the Best Hospitals, Best Colleges, and Best Cars to guide readers through some of life’s most complicated decisions. Our 360 Reviews team draws on this same unbiased approach to rate the products that you use every day. To build our ratings, we researched more than 37 antivirus companies and analyzed 16 antivirus reviews. Our 360 Reviews team does not take samples, gifts, or loans of products or services we review. All sample products provided for review are donated after review. In addition, we maintain a separate business team that has no influence over our methodology or recommendations.
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Protect your devices and online privacy. Includes Antivirus, VPN, and Identity Theft Alerts. Covers 10 devices.
Protect your devices and online privacy. Includes Antivirus, VPN, and Identity Theft Alerts. Covers 10 devices.
