Malwarebytes antivirus review 2026: simple yet secure antivirus solution

To create a comprehensive review of Malwarebytes, I tested it across multiple devices and platforms by simulating real-world online threat scenarios, including malware downloads, phishing attempts, and potentially unwanted programs. I also compared real-time protection with manual scanning to evaluate how effectively threats were blocked before execution versus after infection.

Based on my testing, I recommend Malwarebytes for users who want a simple, lightweight antivirus without the complexity of full security suites. It proved to be a reliable solution against malware, spyware, and phishing threats, offering solid protection while maintaining minimal impact on system performance.

Malwarebytes pros and cons

• Strong protection. Malwarebytes performed well during independent lab tests in stopping malware, ransomware, and other threats.
• Lightweight on your system. Malwarebytes doesn’t slow down system performance, with a low impact on CPU and RAM.
• Beginner-friendly software. Its clean, intuitive design makes it easy to use for both beginners and advanced users.
• Available free version. If you don’t need all the extra features and just want casual protection, the free version is enough.
• Great independent test results. Malwarebytes performed well in independent test results.

• Free version is very limited. The free version lacks real-time protection, making it more of a reactive tool than a proactive defense.
• Expensive premium protection. Compared to competitors, the full premium package can be a bit pricey for the features offered.
• macOS protection is poorer. Malwarebytes performed well on Windows, but its protection for Mac was worse.

How much does Malwarebytes cost

Malwarebytes offers a free version for on-demand scanning. Meanwhile, paid plans start from $59.99/year for Standard, $79.98/year for Plus, and $89.99/year for Total. Which plan to choose depends solely on your needs: the Standard plan is ideal for personal device security, the Plus plan includes a premium VPN service, while the Ultimate plan offers credit and identity safeguards.

Malwarebytes also offers plans for families. The subscription tiers are the same as with plans for individuals, except each plan protects up to 10 devices. The Standard Family plan costs from $119.99/year, the Plus Family from $149.99/year, and the Total Family from $124.99/year.

Malwarebytes' free trial lasts 14 days and lets you use all of the Premium features without commitment. While I ultimately used the full trial and subscribed to the Ultimate plan, Malwarebytes' extremely generous 60-day money-back guarantee meant I was able to get a full refund when done with my testing.

Is Malwarebytes Free good?

Malwarebytes has a free version of its antivirus, though it’s more limited than the paid plans. With Malwarebytes Free, you’ll be able to scan your computer for viruses, but you don’t get real-time protection. This feature is crucial to stop malware from infecting your computer in the first place. Once malware’s on your device, it can cause problems not only for your device, but for your identity and credit too.

Besides real-time protection, Malwarebytes Free also lacks web filtering, ransomware protection, and exploit protection. However, it’s still a good line of defense to fully scan your system and remove malware that could be lurking without you knowing about it. I also found Malwarebytes Free to be very easy to use, so it’s well-suited to beginners.

As part of my testing, I used sample EICAR malware files to see whether Malwarebytes Free could detect the most common attacks. Of the 10 sample EICAR malware files that I loaded onto my device, the free version failed to block some zero-day threats and web-based attacks that a full-featured antivirus would have caught in real-time.

Getting started with Malwarebytes Premium

Installing Malwarebytes was a simple process. Once you've opened the software client for the first time, you'll see options down the left-hand side to access the Dashboard and Settings. If you've chosen the Ultimate plan as I did for my tests, you'll have a third option for Identity Protection. Within the dashboard, it's easy to launch a full scan, and the software recommends doing so after first-time setup.

On both desktop and mobile device tests, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, I found the interface extremely easy to use – it’s well-suited to antivirus beginners. Aside from starting a malware scan, it’s simple to check whether your real-time protection is enabled and view historical data on the threats that Malwarebytes has stopped. On the Plus and Ultimate plans, you can also quickly enable Malwarebytes VPN to protect your data and connection on unsecured networks.

There’s also a Trusted Advisor that awards a Protection Score of up to 100. Personally, I found this to be a superfluous feature; the number has no real value, besides being an indicator of the features you've enabled. According to Malwarebytes' website, the number increases when you enable a feature and decreases if you disable it. Assuming you have access to full functionality, I suggest ensuring that the VPN and real-time protection are active. This will provide you with strong security for streaming, browsing, and gaming.

Opening the Scan option lets you perform a full system scan. If you choose the scan scheduler feature, you can select from quick, full, and custom scans to be automatically launched on a specified frequency – hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly.

After collaborating with my colleagues, we were able to determine that Malwarebytes requires full disk access on macOS. This can be configured quickly within your Mac’s Security & Privacy settings.

I also tested the free Browser Guard extension for Edge, Firefox, and Chrome, which automatically blocks potentially malicious websites that could infect your device.

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Is Malwarebytes safe?

Malwarebytes is a safe, trusted, and legitimate anti-malware software. It has a long, transparent history of strong detection abilities, independent validation, and no instances of malicious behavior.

In the latest assessment data available from AV-TEST, Malwarebytes Premium achieved a protection score of 5.5 out of 6.0, a respectable score for protection against malware. Performance-wise, it also scored 5.5 out of 6.0; this mirrors my own experience in that Malwarebytes has a minimal impact on your system’s CPU power and memory (RAM). Malwarebytes was awarded a perfect score of 6.0 for usability, again reflecting my own experience in finding this a very beginner-friendly antivirus solution.

Next, I reviewed how Malwarebytes performed in another lab’s tests, AV-Comparatives, which started evaluating this antivirus in 2021. Recent AV-Comparatives malware protection tests show Malwarebytes delivered a 99.51% protection rate in early 2025, closely matching many competitors in blocking threats during live execution tests, though it had a relatively higher false-positive count compared with top brands. Independent AV-Comparatives also highlighted Malwarebytes’ strong performance in specific areas like stalkerware detection, scoring 100% in the 2025 stalkerware test, which underscores its evolving threat coverage beyond standard malware.

Finally, according to the AVLab, Malwarebytes has a 100% success rate at blocking viruses. Furthermore, for its performance in the May 2024 evaluation, Malwarebytes Premium Security also receives a certificate of “Excellence.”

How good is Malwarebytes against all types of viruses?

Independent tests have shown that Malwarebytes is adept at stopping numerous attacks, including malware, ransomware, adware, trojans, and spyware. It’s also shown that Malwarebytes can stop PUPs, or potentially unwanted programs – these are software apps that appear legitimate but can cause problems on your device.

The Premium version enhances security with real-time protection, ensuring users stay safeguarded against emerging and future threats.This is enhanced further by Browser Guard, a browser extension that can stop you from visiting malicious websites, trackers, and other online threats directly from the web browser.

In order to verify the accuracy of these results, I conducted in-house tests myself using official EICAR (European Institute for Computer Anti-Virus Research) files to put Malwarebytes through its paces.

My own test results aligned with those that I saw from AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives, as well as the research from the MRG Effitas 360 Assessment. While Malwarebytes didn’t block 100% of threats, it did offer robust real-time protection for the majority of malware attacks, besides also blocking a whole range of other cyberthreats.

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Malware protection test

To assess Malwarebytes' malware protection strength, I downloaded EICAR test files, which are an industry-standard way of evaluating antivirus efficiency. On Windows, I planted 10 malware samples, while on Mac, I ultimately tested Malwarebytes against 150 malicious files due to issues in getting the software to recognize any malware. Additionally, I assessed whether real-time protection blocked threats before execution or if on-demand scanning was required.

• Windows: Malwarebytes' real-time protection blocked 9 out of 10 malware files before they could execute, meaning that the software offers strong defense. Though one file slipped through, it was later caught during a full system scan.
• Mac: Initially, Malwarebytes blocked 1 out of 150 threats. This result surprised me, as I’ve seen Malwarebytes score well in independent lab tests. However, after enabling Full Disk Access, detection improved to around 50%. It’s still not a great result, but it indicates that the software was working correctly.

I was impressed by the fact that Malwarebytes can also scan for PUPs – potentially unwanted programs. What qualifies as a PUP can vary based on opinion and app behavior, but generally these are programs that might spam you with pop-up ads (adware) or modify your browser settings without your permission.

When I moved on to testing the free version, I noticed a big limitation – it lacks real-time protection. This means that malware could still infect your device, and you’d be relying on manual scans to catch it after the damage had potentially already been done. While it’s better than having no protection, I personally suggest trying Malwarebytes’ 30-day money-back guarantee if you want to test the software for yourself without commitment.

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Phishing protection test

I tested the Ultimate version of Malwarebytes again to vet the phishing protection features. In terms of simulated threats, I used live URLs linked to real websites that I know to contain potentially malicious ads, as well as other URLs from PhishTank and OpenPhish.

• Browser Guard: Malwarebytes’ web extension blocked 87% of phishing links, preventing access to known fraudulent sites. However, some new phishing pages (less than a day old) bypassed detection.
• Email-Based Phishing: Clicking on malicious links in simulated phishing emails triggered Malwarebytes' web protection, blocking 80% of the threats I introduced. Based on competitors like TotalAV, this figure is a little below industry average; this highlights the importance of keeping on your guard.

Verdict: 8/10. Malwarebytes’ phishing safeguards are strong, but not perfect. However, the Browser Guard extension is a solid addition to the real-time protection.

Ransomware protection test

Ransomware is a type of malware that forcibly encrypts and locks down your files, or even your entire device, until you pay a ransom to regain access. However, even after payment, you may still be unable to restore access to your stolen information.

I carried out my ransomware protection test with Malwarebytes Ultimate, focusing on real-time protection against sample ransomware files. As part of these tests, I simulated ransomware attacks using a virtual machine with Malwarebytes installed. This ensured a realistic test environment but could not compromise my device.

• Real-time protection: Malwarebytes successfully blocked 9 out of 10 ransomware attempts. My files were guarded against rogue encryption, and detected ransomware was quarantined before it could execute its malicious payload.

Verdict: 9/10. Malwarebytes’ ransomware protection is sufficient to block ransomware attacks, especially paired with the real-time protection feature.

Exploit protection test

Exploit protection relates to vulnerabilities in legitimate software apps that cybercriminals target to attack your device. It’s not quite the same as typical malware; instead, hackers use these weaknesses to remotely access your device or introduce malware that bypasses your protections. So, exploit protection focuses on safeguarding these vulnerabilities so that they can’t be targeted.

My Malwarebytes exploit protection test used the Ultimate plan and involved simulating threats like Javascript exploits and PDF exploits. The former type of attack exploits vulnerabilities in the Javascript codebase used in web browsers, while the latter leverages vulnerabilities in PDF-reading software.

• Exploit Protection: Malwarebytes blocked 90% of exploit attempts, stopping abuse of known vulnerabilities in both Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat. That said, it was weaker with and missed two zero-day exploits.

Verdict: 7/10. Malwarebytes’ exploit protection is capable of guarding against common software vulnerabilities. However, it underperforms with zero-day exploits or vulnerabilities in outdated software. Therefore, constantly update software apps and the device’s operating system software.

Malwarebytes CPU usage

This antivirus is known for being a slimline application that’s easy for beginners to understand, which is likely a contributing factor in Malwarebytes’ CPU usage being so low. My first test was to check my Mac’s Activity Monitor app while Malwarebytes was idling in the background. The result was around 0.7% CPU usage, which is extremely low.

Next, I checked how much load Malwarebytes was placing on my CPU during an antivirus scan. I expected this result to be much higher, but again the results were surprising – Malwarebytes CPU usage was just 2.9% during a full scan. While this result lines up with many of the best antivirus programs available, I’ve seen some well-known antivirus software spike up to 60-80% during intensive scanning.

Additional Malwarebytes features

While testing core Malwarebytes protection, I noted the inclusion of other useful features that offer further online safeguards. Here’s a quick overview of other features included in the Malwarebytes package.

• Identity theft protection: This feature will actively monitor your personal information and alert you if your data has appeared in a breach. Malwarebytes scans for breaches and other forms of compromised personal data, including your personal email addresses and credit card numbers. If the data appears online or on the dark web, you’ll be alerted via your Malwarebytes dashboard so that you can take preventative or remedial action.
• Ad blocker: Malwarebytes’ Ad Blocker feature is a nice addition to its web protection tools, albeit not the best ad blocker available. In my tests, it could block intrusive ads and trackers that can lead to slower browser performance or risk your privacy. So, blocking legitimate ads can improve your browsing experience, but it can also stop you from seeing malicious ads that can infect your device. My only criticism is that it can’t block YouTube ads; other popular ad blockers like Surfshark Clean Web 2.0 have this capability.
• Malwarebytes VPN: Using the VPN tool encrypts your internet connection; all of your data is hidden from cybercriminals, and your ISP can’t see what you’re doing online. It’s a great boon to have when you’re using risky public Wi-Fi or trying to bypass content restrictions online. However, my colleague’s NordVPN vs Malwarebytes VPN comparison determined that it lacks a lot of the power and functionality of leading VPNs like NordVPN.

How can you contact Malwarebytes customer service?

Malwarebytes offers several ways to contact customer support, including live chat and email support. I was disappointed to see that there’s no option to contact them by phone if you find that method of support easier. Below, I’ve summarized the available channels and their approximate response times:

When contacting a company, I always opt for the fastest responses that live chat delivers, so this was my preferred way of getting in touch. During my tests, I used live chat to test response times and ask a technical question so that I could gauge the agent’s knowledge of their product, which took around a minute to connect.

Final verdict: is Malwarebytes a good antivirus in 2026

Malwarebytes is a decent antivirus solution for casual everyday use. During my tests, it performed well; however, the performance was better on the Windows operating system, with 9/10 blocked malware files, compared to the 50% success rate on Mac. I found the iOS app to be underdeveloped, lacking essential features such as device scanning.

To conclude, while Malwarebytes performs well, I struggled to find reasons why it should be chosen over other, more complex and sometimes even cheaper antivirus solutions. For example, TotalAV is more affordable yet has 100% real-time protection.

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FAQ

Is Malwarebytes a legit antivirus?

Yes, Malwarebytes is a legitimate and trusted antivirus solution from a well-known brand that offers strong real-time protection. While it didn’t stop every single sample malware file in independent lab tests nor my own in-house tests, it still offers strong protection against malware, trojans, worms, adware, and spyware, besides having anti-phishing and browser protection features. However, it isn’t as powerful as several competing packages, such as TotalAV.

What are the disadvantages of Malwarebytes?

Malwarebytes’ disadvantages include real-time protection that doesn’t catch every virus, a limited free tier, and a very expensive price tag on its highest-cost plan. That said, it still performed well in independent and in-house tests, and it doesn’t slow down your system. On the Standard plan, users can still enjoy good protection against viruses, trojans, malware, and other threats.

How does Malwarebytes work?

Malwarebytes is an antivirus solution that identifies and neutralizes online threats. It scans your device for malicious software using signature-based detection, heuristic analysis, and behavior monitoring. It identifies known threats by matching malware signatures, detects new or unknown threats by analyzing suspicious behavior, and removes or quarantines harmful files. It also provides real-time protection to prevent infections.

Is Malwarebytes a good antivirus?

Yes, Malwarebytes is a good antivirus. It works great at detecting and removing threats that a weaker traditional antivirus sometimes misses. However, it doesn’t perform as well as other, more advanced antivirus solutions.

Does Malwarebytes detect viruses?

Yes, Malwarebytes can detect viruses as part of its broader malware detection capabilities. It identifies and removes traditional viruses along with trojans, spyware, ransomware, and other threats. Detection is available in both the Free and Premium versions, but only the Premium version provides real-time detection. In contrast, the Free version requires manual scans to identify viruses.

Does Malwarebytes protect against viruses?

Yes, Malwarebytes protects against viruses and other online threats, including malware, ransomware, spyware, and malicious websites. However, only the Premium version features a real-time scanner, meaning that with the free version, you must manually perform the scans.

Is Malwarebytes Free good enough?

Yes, Malwarebytes Free is sufficient for basic protection. It has a manual scanner that can detect and remove malware when you run it yourself. Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer real-time protection, scheduled scans, or ransomware blocking, so it is useless at stopping threats as they happen.

Is Malwarebytes Premium worth it?

Yes, Malwarebytes Premium is worth it if you want stronger protection than a free one. It comes with real-time protection, automatic scanning, and blocking of suspicious websites. Furthermore, Malwarebytes Premium is lightweight and easy to use, suitable for casual use. However, if you require more advanced features and protection, consider other antivirus solutions.