Malwarebytes Review 2026: One of the Best Cybersecurity Suites on the Planet

8.8 / 10

Score

Cnet Score

CNET provides expert, unbiased reviews of products and services. When we assign a score, we use a scale of 1-10. Each product we score is evaluated by criteria specific to its category with most assessing pricing, quality, features and performance.

Read more on: How we test

Malwarebytes Antivirus

Buy at Malwarebytes

Score Breakdown

Performance 9/10Security 10/10Customer Support 8/10Usability 9/10Value 8/10Features 9/10

Pros

• Low resource usage, including during active scans
• Comprehensive cybersecurity coverage, including identity theft protection for international users
• Windows optimization tools to improve computer performance
• High-quality live chat support

Cons

• Default plans are limited to three devices; You’ll have to pay more to cover additional devices
• Slow VPN
• No phone support

Originally a simple malware scanner, Malwarebytes now offers real-time antivirus protection, ad blocking, a VPN and online data management tools to help you protect your information. You’ll even get an intuitive dashboard for quickly optimizing your Windows privacy settings and performance, something I haven’t found in other cybersecurity suites. I was thoroughly impressed with both the variety of tools available and how well they performed during my hands-on tests.

Malwarebytes antivirus is quick to install and mostly easy to navigate, with instant access to rapid scans and fully customizable, schedulable scanning options to give you a personalized security experience. Meanwhile, Browser Guard’s anti-tracking protocols and the Windows configuration options are great for limiting the data corporations can gather about you. Identity protection tools further allow you to see where your data’s already been found and, if you’re in the US, to quickly remove that data from numerous places.

Malwarebytes’ prices are also pretty reasonable, with one caveat: Most individual plans by default cover three devices, less than the five covered by most Bitdefender plans or the unlimited devices protected by most McAfee plans. You can add more devices to any Malwarebytes plan (or downgrade to a single-device plan), but the price increases for more than three devices are steep when compared to other antivirus companies’ offerings.

Malwarebytes antivirus features, plans and prices

Malwarebytes has a free malware scanner and remediation program, plus some free safe browsing and computer optimization tools. There are also three premium plans for individuals with real-time antivirus protection, a VPN and various identity protection tools. These packages are similar to what you’ll get from other top cybersecurity companies such as Bitdefender and McAfee, with some additional benefits including the Windows optimization tools.

The one feature Malwarebytes lacks that you can get from our other top-ranking antivirus, Bitdefender, is email protection, which scans incoming emails for signs of scams. However, in my experience, these tools typically aren’t more effective than the filters built into Gmail and other email clients, and they can raise privacy concerns if the company’s privacy policies aren’t great. This is probably why they’re not particularly common ; of all of the antivirus tools I’ve tested, only Bitdefender and McAfee come bundled with email protection.

Free Malwarebytes tools

Malwarebytes offers a free malware scanner and remediation program to help you remove malware that’s already made its way onto your computer. You can also download a free AdwCleaner to remove adware (such as trackers) from your computer.

Additionally, Malwarebytes’ Browser Guard, an online security extension for browsers including Chrome and Firefox, is free. This extension scans websites for potential danger and blocks ads and ad trackers, protecting your digital privacy. If you're in the US, you can further protect your digital privacy by using the free version of the personal data remover to find out where your data is available online, though this version of the tool requires you to manually request data removal.

Malwarebytes Standard

Built for people who want solid, fundamental device protection, Malwarebytes’ premium antivirus includes a malware scanner (with added scan scheduling) and removal tools, plus real-time protection against malware. This includes protection against phishing, a kind of scam that uses fraudulent communications such as emails or texts to gain access to your personal information. You’ll also get ransomware protection to guard against threats that lock you out of your device and demand money in exchange for restoring your access.

The individual version of Malwarebytes Standard costs $60 per year for three devices. You can lower your costs to $45 per year if you only have one computer or phone to protect. You can also extend protection to five devices for $80 per year. The family version costs $120 per year for 10 devices or $170 per year for 20.

Malwarebytes Plus

Designed for those who want to improve their online privacy, Malwarebytes Plus adds a VPN to disguise your IP address while you’re surfing the web. However, we don’t recommend using Malwarebytes’ VPN; while it theoretically offers better privacy than VPNs from other antivirus-first companies, it significantly slowed down my internet during testing. As such, we recommend purchasing one of the best VPNs we’ve tested separately.

The individual version of Malwarebytes Plus costs $80 per year for three devices. You can reduce this to $60 if you’re only seeking protection for one computer or phone. You can also extend coverage to five devices for $100 per year. The family version of Malwarebytes Plus costs $150 per year for 10 devices or $250 per year for 20.

Malwarebytes Ultimate

Created for people with significant concerns about identity theft and protecting their assets, Malwarebytes Ultimate includes three-bureau credit monitoring, alerts on bank and investment accounts and $2 million identity theft insurance. You’ll also get social media account monitoring, plus dark web monitoring and data breach alerts. Those in the US can further protect themselves with the Personal Data Remover, which finds places where your data is stored online and automatically sends requests to remove that info.

The individual version of Malwarebytes Ultimate costs $140 for the first year and $280 per year after, with coverage for three devices. This decreases to $120 in the first year ($240 per year after) if you only have one computer or phone to protect. Conversely, you can opt for five-device coverage for $160 in the first year and $320 per year after.

The family version of Malwarebytes Ultimate for coverage of up to 10 devices costs $200 in the first year and $400 per year after. This increases to $250 in the first year and $500 per year on renewal if you extend protection to 20 devices.

Malwarebytes antivirus usability: Simple and straightforward

I created a Malwarebytes account and explored the account dashboard, product installation and basic setup for both the antivirus and Malwarebytes’ additional tools to determine their usability. Setup and general usage were largely straightforward, with only a couple of mild hiccups along the way.

Account navigation

Creating my Malwarebytes account was easy. I made login credentials, entered my payment information and was given the option to download the antivirus right away. From there, I went to the account dashboard, where I was asked to confirm my location to set up identity protection.

I closed this pop-up and went to the account dashboard -- called the Secure Hub -- where I found information about the status of the antivirus, identity protection and browser guard. The clutter-free design also made it easy to find links for activating and managing these tools.

The sidebar of the account area is also clutter-free, with clearly labeled links to the Secure Hub, a subscription management area and an Identity Protection page. However, there are some issues with these areas. 

First, the subscriptions area only shows the products you’ve purchased, with options to install or activate them; it doesn’t have any billing information or options to cancel your subscription. In fact, I wasn’t able to find an option for canceling my products at all. You’ll need to go to customer service to do this, making cancellation frustratingly difficult. Unfortunately, I also experienced this problem when testing Bitdefender. I recommend Norton or AVG if being able to easily cancel your subscription at any time is important to you.

The other issue is that the identity protection page is effectively a blank page with a link to a separate management area. This isn’t a big deal; but it does result in one additional click, which is annoying.

Antivirus installation and setup

The Malwarebytes installer took just a few seconds to download and it launched the Malwarebytes setup wizard. I selected the type of device I was protecting, had the option to download the browser guard with the antivirus and waited a couple of minutes for the antivirus to unpack itself. I also glanced at the advanced options, but it only directed me to create a desktop shortcut, so you can ignore this.

The software unpacked itself in about a minute, then asked me to sign in to connect my account. Once signed in, I was directed to the software’s main screen. Here I found a prominent quick scan option, an expandable box showing my detection history (a map of previously identified threats) and a virus activity tracker confirming that real-time protection was enabled.

My one confusion was the lack of a clear option for deep scans. While this often isn’t in the main dashboard of antivirus software, other tools such as Bitdefender have an expanded antivirus area in the sidebar. Malwarebytes takes a different approach, storing advanced scan options in a menu you can access by clicking on three dots at the left side of the Scanner box. This is also where you’ll find the scan scheduler.

Apart from the difficulty in locating the advanced scan options, I found the desktop version of Malwarebytes fairly easy to navigate. I wish the icons in the sidebar were accompanied by words, but the images are clear enough for most people to quickly find everything they need. Moreover, this problem resolves itself once you’ve used Malwarebytes a couple of times and have grown familiar with the layout.

I also installed the Android version of Malwarebytes on my phone through my subscriptions area. Malwarebytes generated a code so I didn’t have to log in on my phone, saving me the trouble of remembering (or finding) my Malwarebytes password. From there, the program launched into an area where I could perform manual scans and toggle various protections on or off.

Malwarebytes antivirus performance

I spent three days running Malwarebytes and performed several active scans to determine its efficiency. I was thoroughly impressed by Malwarebytes’ consistently low resource usage, including during active scans. Quick scans were, in fact, quick, reliably taking three minutes or less. Deep scans, meanwhile, took around half an hour each, longer than comparable scans from companies including Bitdefender and Norton but still reasonable, especially with the minimal resource usage.

Note: I ran the desktop tests on a Lenovo ThinkPad with an Intel i5 processor with roughly 50GB of data stored on the hard drive. Your own experience may vary, especially if you’re using an older system or your computer has significantly more data. Android tests were performed on a Motorola G Stylus (around 5 years old), so results may improve if you’re using a newer phone.

Background performance

I ran Malwarebytes in the background for two days while browsing the web and performing other simple tasks such as image editing. I was pleased to see that the software didn’t slow down my computer at all. Task Manager showed that Malwarebytes used just 0% to 0.1% of my CPU power and 132MB of memory when running in the background. This low resource usage allows you to participate in high-resource activities such as video editing and gaming without Malwarebytes slowing you down.

While this is great, it’s pretty average when compared to other antivirus tools I’ve tested. Bitdefender used more memory -- around 500MB -- but its CPU usage was similarly low at 0.2%. Norton was more variable, but still light on resources, using 0% to 5% of CPU power and staying near the bottom end of that range through the majority of my testing. Even McAfee and Avira, which both consumed massive amounts of resources during active scans, hovered around 0.6% CPU usage when running in the background.

Active scans

I ran a mix of quick scans and deep scans with the desktop version of Malwarebytes and was thrilled by its generally low resource usage (ranging between 5% and 8% CPU usage during deep scans) and the rapid completion of quick scans. Malwarebytes’ deep scans took longer than the two to three minutes most deep scans I ran with Bitdefender took, but were still reasonably paced at roughly 30 minutes each. The Android app, meanwhile, performed scans in less than a minute.

I started with the default scan visible in Malwarebytes’ main area, which turned out to be a quick scan. It used between 5% and 8% of CPU power and 200MB of memory, leaving me with plenty of resources to resume my regular activities. Moreover, the scan only took two minutes, so there wasn’t much reason to switch to another task. My second and third basic scans were similarly light on both resources and time. This performance is almost identical to quick scans with Bitdefender, which used 4% to 7% of CPU power and just 60MB of memory.

I moved on to deep scans and was pleased that the first deep scan used just 3% to 6% of CPU power and 215MB of memory. This is similar to Bitdefender’s 7% to 10% CPU usage during deep scans, with slightly higher memory usage than Bitdefender’s 55MB. There was, however, a big difference in time: My first Malwarebytes deep scan took 34 minutes, about 10 minutes longer than my first deep scan with Bitdefender. My first deep scan with Norton scan was much faster at just 10 minutes, but used 30% to 40% of my CPU power to achieve that speed.

Unfortunately, Malwarebytes’ follow-up scans weren’t much faster, with both my second and third scans taking around 29 minutes. In contrast, Bitdefender’s follow-up scans only took around three minutes each, and Norton’s scans took eight to 10 minutes each. This could be a major downside of Malwarebytes if you need to conduct scans in a hurry, but the light CPU and memory usage means you can continue working, gaming or otherwise using your computer while Malwarebytes scans your computer.

With the desktop version of Malwarebytes fully tested, I moved on to running scans on the Android version. The first scan took less than one minute, with follow-up scans coming in at less than 30 seconds each. While this seems great, most of the antivirus apps for Android that I’ve tested also took between 30 seconds and one minute to complete their scans, so it’s actually pretty average.

Usability and performance of additional tools: Robust and efficient privacy protections

Malwarebytes offers many tools beyond its antivirus software, and I tested them all. Most Malwarebytes tools, from Browser Guard to the identity protection tools, were as intuitive and efficient as the antivirus component. The one disappointment was the VPN, which was easy to use but, like most antivirus-first companies’ VPNs, majorly slowed down my internet during testing.

Browser Guard usability and performance

Malwarebytes prompted me to install the Browser Guard extension (available for Firefox, Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Safari) during the main antivirus setup process. The process was near-instant, requiring just a couple of clicks to enable the correct permissions.

I then spent two days exploring the web with Browser Guard active. It ran smoothly in the background without slowing Firefox down at all, while also blocking hundreds of ads and trackers across the many websites I visited. The taskbar icon displayed the number of things blocked on each page. Clicking on the icon reveals a panel where you can enable various types of protection and view the items blocked on the page you’re viewing.

This functionality is very similar to Bitdefender’s browser safety extension. The biggest difference is that Malwarebytes doesn’t let you pause Browser Guard on specific websites; you’ll need to fully disable it if you want to view a website or access a functionality Browser Guard may be blocking. Browser Guard’s breakdown of blocked items isn’t as detailed as the list included in Bitdefender’s comparable tool; you just get a list of items, not the categories of problematic content they fall into -- but it’s plenty of information for most people.

Identity Protection tools

Malwarebytes prompted me to set up identity protection as soon as I logged into the website account dashboard. I entered my country, full name, address, email address and phone number as requested. Malwarebytes then sent me to the identity protection management area, where I had options to enter various forms of ID, connect my social media accounts and launch the password manager.

Dark web monitoring started running immediately. This feature also runs continuously regardless of whether you’re logged in, so I logged out for the night and returned in the morning to find three alerts. Two of the alerts were for specific data breaches, while a third led to my historical data breaches. Overall, Malwarebytes found around 50 data breaches -- almost twice what Bitdefender found. Seeing this many breaches was frightening, but it did reassure me that Malwarebytes’ dark web monitoring is extremely thorough.

The social media monitor connects to Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube near-instantly. Unfortunately, these are the only accounts you can connect it to, so it won’t be able to monitor accounts on other platforms such as Bluesky and TikTok. I don’t use most of these platforms much, so I connected my Facebook account and ignored the other options.

Malwarebytes scanned my Facebook account for threatening activity, cyberbullying and other potentially harmful posts or activity. Malwarebytes didn’t find anything, but the lack of suspicious activity may be due to how little I use Facebook rather than an indicator of the tool’s effectiveness.

The identity protection area of the Malwarebytes software provides access to a digital footprint tool. Here, you’ll enter your email address and near-instantly receive a comprehensive history of data exposure. This tool is similar to the Bitdefender Digital Footprint, though it doesn’t provide as much visualization. If you’re in the US, you’ll be able to click on any data breach and use the personal data removal tool to determine if there’s a way to have your data removed. If there is, Malwarebytes will submit the request for you.

The password manager, meanwhile, might be too simple. You can view all saved passwords at a glance and quickly add individual passwords, but there’s no bulk import tool. It also didn’t come with a browser extension, leaving me unsure of how effective it is for helping you log in to sites quickly.

Scam Guard

Scam Guard is an AI system you can share websites, emails, text messages and more with. This tool is both easy to find (by clicking on the shield icon in the sidebar of the Malwarebytes software) and easy to use, functioning similarly to a chatbot.

I sent in an email from my spam folder, and the bot analyzed it in a matter of seconds, correctly identifying it as suspicious and explaining why. I deeply appreciated the level of detail in Scam Guard’s response, as it showed the program’s understanding of common phishing signs. This also helps less tech-savvy people learn what to look out for in future messages.

The email I selected was a pretty obvious scam -- especially since I’ve never been to any casino, let alone one as tacky as Mr. Thrills Casino -- so it’s unclear whether Scam Guard would detect more subtle scams. Still, it can be an effective tool for those who aren’t familiar with cybersecurity best practices, and may be able to identify less blatantly suspicious scams as well.

Windows optimization tools

Malwarebytes recently added privacy controls for Windows devices, a neat benefit for Microsoft users. Accessed through the eye icon in the sidebar of the antivirus software, this area lets you disable some or all Windows features that collect your personal information. These granular privacy controls are something I haven’t found in other antivirus tools, making them a major selling point for those who use Windows.

The tools area (found by clicking on the icon with a screwdriver and a key) gives you the opportunity to test other new features Malwarebytes is building, such as Windows Firewall customization. The system tweaks are particularly exciting, as they include options for cleaning up disk space, ensuring file system integrity and controlling settings such as dark mode. This lets folks who aren’t technically inclined quickly and easily optimize their computers, though it’s not as extensive as the device optimization software from AVG and Avira.

VPN

Malwarebytes’ VPN has better transparency than VPNs from some other antivirus-first companies, with AzireVPN, the company that powers Malwarebytes’ VPN, publishing regular transparency reports. However, Malwarebytes’ VPN hasn’t been audited yet (one is ongoing), a crucial trust signal we look for when recommending VPNs. Accordingly, we suggest using a vetted VPN for privacy needs until that audit is complete.

Still, Malwarebytes’ VPN has potential value for people using it casually, such as watching region-locked Netflix shows, so I set out to determine how much it interfered with internet speeds (as all VPNs do, to some extent). Malwarebytes’ VPN disappointed me with a 41.89% average speed loss, much higher than our recommended maximum loss of 25%. However, this number was dragged down by major speed losses when set to servers in distant-to-me countries such as Singapore. Your speed loss may be minor if you’re using VPN servers closer to where you live.

I ran three Ookla speed tests before activating the VPN, establishing that my default ping is 3ms, my default download speed is 535.96Mbps and my default upload speed is 824.32Mbps. I then set the Malwarebytes VPN to my optimal server -- Toronto, Canada -- and ran another three tests. My ping was slightly slower at 4ms, while average download and upload speeds actually improved, coming in at 685.03Mbps and 839.62Mbps, respectively.

While I saw faster speeds on a local-to-me server with the Malwarebytes VPN enabled, this is a rare situation. A VPN can bypass internet provider throttling or establish a more efficient connection to the internet at large than your ISP does, but most of the time, VPNs will slow your internet down at least a little bit in the process. As such, you can’t expect to replicate these results, though my tests suggest you’ll retain good internet speed if you use your default server.

Using Malwarebytes’ VPN servers in different countries is another story. I ran speed tests with the VPN set to several countries and came up with the following averages:

The US server showed minimal slowdown and didn’t interfere with my internet usage in any noticeable way, which is great for fellow Canadians trying to access US-only content. My UK speeds were a bit slower, but still fast enough to watch some things without issue. Tests of Malwarebytes’ Germany (Munich) server had similar results to the UK tests. The speed was lower in France, but still acceptable. If you’re in North America and you want to access content restricted to one of these countries, you’ll probably be fine using the Malwarebytes VPN.

Unfortunately, my internet speed took a nosedive when I tested the VPN servers in Singapore and Australia. While these lowered speeds aren’t necessarily surprising -- servers further from your location will typically be slower than nearby servers -- these dramatic drops make the Malwarebytes VPN basically unusable if you want to access content in these locations. Most antivirus-first companies’ VPNs are the same way, so we recommend ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Proton VPN, Surfshark or Mullvad for more consistent global speeds and better privacy.

Malwarebytes antivirus security: Solid protection for your devices -- and your privacy

I analyzed Malwarebytes’ third-party lab testing to determine whether its antivirus protections are effective and had misgivings at first, as Malwarebytes doesn’t have recent tests through AV-Test, one of the primary sources I use when researching antivirus tools. However, Malwarebytes has done well in tests from other third-party labs. Malwarebytes also theoretically has great privacy policies and infrastructure for its VPN (though this is difficult to confirm without access to a third-party audit). The privacy policies are also some of the best I’ve seen from an antivirus company, with only minimal provisions for sharing your data with third parties.

Antivirus security

I was initially very concerned by the fact that Malwarebytes hasn’t been tested by AV-Test since 2023. I spoke about this with a Malwarebytes representative. They said they have some concerns about the testing processes used at AV-Test and therefore don’t consider it a worthwhile testing avenue. I wasn’t able to verify any cause for concern on this front, but I understand why a company might make this decision and, more importantly, that Malwarebytes has undergone more recent third-party testing from other labs.

Specifically, the Malwarebytes AV-Comparatives page shows tests as recent as September 2025. Malwarebytes had a 98.8% online detection rate, similar to other top antivirus software such as Bitdefender (which also had a 98.8% online detection rate) and McAfee (with a 99.3% online detection rate). The online protection rate, which determines the number of viruses prevented from accessing devices, was even higher at 99.88%. This is slightly lower than the 99.99% of Bitdefender or the 100% of McAfee, but still very effective.

The one area of the AV-Comparatives test where Malwarebytes didn’t perform as well was the offline detection rate, which represents its ability to identify malware on things like USB keys. However, the offline detection rate was still high at 94.7%, and many other antivirus tools aren’t as effective at protecting against offline threats. McAfee, for example, had an offline detection rate of just 87.3%.

Malwarebytes also received a Product of the Year award from the AVLab Cybersecurity Foundation in 2025. The AVLab Cybersecurity Foundation is a reputable organization and a member of AMTSO (Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization), so these results are promising, offsetting my concerns about the lack of recent AV-Test results.

Additional tools security

Malwarebytes’ VPN secures your internet connection with AES-256 encryption, an industry-standard encryption protocol. The VPN has a comprehensive no-logs policy, which means it won’t track your public IP address, DNS requests, bandwidth usage or other internet usage data while the VPN is active. Malwarebytes’ VPN -- AzireVPN -- also has a Blind Operator mode, which disables remote access to the VPN servers to prevent anyone, including Malwarebytes employees, from accessing or modifying server traffic.

Moreover, AzireVPN uses RAM-only, diskless servers. This means data is never written onto permanent storage, suggesting true no-logs functionality in line with Malwarebytes’ privacy policies. AzireVPN also publishes regular transparency reports, allowing me to independently confirm its commitment to privacy. 

Unfortunately, Malwarebytes’ VPN hasn’t been audited yet. A contact at Malwarebytes also informed me via email that a third-party audit conducted by renowned expert X41 was in progress at the time of writing this article. While not silver bullets, third-party audits back up VPN company no-log claims, so if you’re truly concerned about privacy, you should use a VPN that’s been audited until the results of Malwarebytes’ audit are released.

Malwarebytes is headquartered in the US, but AzireVPN is headquartered in Sweden. I reached out to Malwarebytes for clarification around the VPN’s jurisdiction and received this response: “While AzireVPN is now part of Malwarebytes, a US-based company, we don’t operate solely under US laws. AzireVPN servers continue to comply with all applicable laws in Sweden, where we were founded and still have servers. Likewise, our servers in other countries must follow the local laws where they are located. This multi-jurisdictional compliance is standard for global VPN providers.”

While this may seem good to those who are concerned about privacy invasions from the US government, it’s worth noting that Sweden is part of the 14 Eyes Alliance. As such, it’s technically possible for Swedish law enforcement to request Malwarebytes’ VPN data and share it with other governments in the alliance, including the US. However, Malwarebytes’ no-logs policy and advanced privacy infrastructure mean there shouldn’t be much data for authorities to collect.

The bottom line? If you’re concerned about privacy, you should use a tried-and-tested VPN. 

Privacy policy

The best thing about Malwarebytes’ privacy policy is its Simply Put sections, which convert legalese into more accessible language so regular people can understand them. These sections explain that Malwarebytes only collects the data it needs to keep its programs running optimally. The longer legalese sections explain in more detail what this data is and how it'll be used to improve Malwarebytes programs, with overall collection and usage strongly resembling that of other antivirus companies.

As for third parties, Malwarebytes’ policy includes provisions for sharing your data with Google Analytics, payment processors and certain marketing companies for things including email campaigns -- a very similar list to Bitdefender’s. Notably, Malwarebytes explicitly states that it will not share your information with social media platforms unless you give active consent (such as by activating the social media monitoring tool). Malwarebytes also says those third parties can only use your data for purposes outlined in their partnership agreements and that they're not allowed to disclose your information to additional third parties.

The other third party Malwarebytes may share your information with is the government, though its policies clearly state it'll only do so if required by law. Malwarebytes’ primary headquarters are in the US, and AzireVPN is headquartered in Sweden, both of which are part of the 14 Eyes Alliance. As such, your information could theoretically be requested by any government within the alliance. But Malwarebytes shouldn’t have much to give them -- especially if you’re using the no-logs VPN -- and most popular antivirus tools are headquartered in countries connected to a similar intelligence-sharing alliance, but this is still important to be aware of.

Malwarebytes antivirus customer service: Live chat is great, but other channels are inconsistent

Malwarebytes has a self-serve knowledge base, 24/7 live chat and email support. I tested all three to determine how well Malwarebytes serves its customers. The AI-powered chatbot connected me with a human within a couple of minutes, and the worker I spoke to was polite and helpful. However, response times to support tickets aren’t great and there is no phone service, so you may want to choose Bitdefender -- which offers excellent phone support and decent email support -- instead, if you prefer those methods of communication.

Knowledge base

Malwarebytes calls its knowledge base a help center and provides arrows to help first-time visitors find what they need. These are a nice visual touch, but I’m not certain how helpful they are since everything is clearly labeled, with a search bar at the top, buttons leading to various quick start guides and a link to articles about account/billing management.

Each quick start guide offers step-by-step tutorials for completing basic tasks in Malwarebytes’ account center or software, with screenshots to help you understand what you’re doing and tables to visually organize key information. However, there are no videos in these guides and images aren’t always present in other tutorials. You’ll be better off choosing Bitdefender or Norton if you prefer learning through more visual mediums.

Direct communication

A button for live chat appeared in the bottom corner of Malwarebytes’ knowledge base right away, which was a lovely thing to see after jumping through several hoops to access Bitdefender’s live chat. Even better, the bot sent me to a person the first time I asked, rather than making me ask three or four times as Bitdefender and Norton did.

The agent’s first response came in roughly three minutes, falling within my expected timeline of five minutes. The representative was polite, professional and capable of answering my questions, with the whole interaction taking under 10 minutes. This was a little bit longer than my live chat conversations with Bitdefender or Norton, but still quite reasonable.

The other option presented when you ask to speak to a person -- or you ask a question the AI can’t answer -- is to submit a support ticket. I wish it was easier to find this option without going through the bot, but I’m glad it exists. However, I was less glad when Malwarebytes took roughly six hours to respond to my support ticket. While this is much faster than the 12-hour wait time I experienced during my 2025 tests of Malwarebytes, it’s much slower than the hour Bitdefender took to respond to my email request.

Malwarebytes antivirus value: Great for people with three or fewer devices

Comparing Malwarebytes’ value to other top cybersecurity companies is complicated. The company's prices are generally in the same ballpark as its competitors, namely Bitdefender and McAfee. But Malwarebytes doesn't have auto-renewal price hikes on many of its plans, while Bitdefender, McAfee and Norton all do.

You can pay similar prices to get more generous coverage for five devices with Bitdefender or unlimited devices with McAfee. Malwarebytes Standard for three devices costs $60 a year, offering more long-term affordability than competitors' comparable plans. Bitdefender's Antivirus Plus for three devices initially undercuts Malwarebytes, but renews at $70 a year.

Malwarebytes lets you choose coverage for between one and 20 devices on most of its plans, but it can get expensive for higher-tiered coverage. Family plans from Bitdefender and McAfee can be more cost effective, particularly when covering 10 or more devices. For instance, Malwarebytes charges $200 for the first year (renewing at $400 a year) for a 10-device family plan on its Ultimate tier. Bitdefender charges $200 for the first year (renewing at $350 a year) for its Ultimate Security Plus family plan, which gives you five accounts and 25-device coverage, which is a lot more than Malwarebytes.

Malwarebytes does offer identity protection, including up to $2 million in identity theft insurance, with similar pricing to McAfee’s highest-tier, Ultimate Plus. Most of these protections are also available internationally, whereas Bitdefender’s identity theft protections are only for people in the US. As a Canadian resident, I appreciate the international-friendly offerings.

Overall, I like the value of Malwarebytes for one- to three-device coverage, and appreciate there isn't a price hike on many plans. Additionally, I appreciate that Malwarebytes provides identity protection services to people in some international regions. But for more than five devices, you may be better off elsewhere, such as opting for Bitdefender, McAfee or Norton.

Malwarebytes: Is it right for you?

Overall, Malwarebytes’ premium antivirus and cybersecurity tools are excellent, giving you multilayered protection without interfering with your daily activities. Most are also very easy to use and Malwarebytes provides many resources to help even the least technically inclined among us get started. This puts Malwarebytes on equal footing with Bitdefender, our top-ranking antivirus for two years running.

Some of the benefits of Malwarebytes include:

• Features, plans and pricing: Malwarebytes has a highly flexible antivirus and great privacy tools including Browser Guard, Windows privacy optimization and an effective VPN. The identity protection features are also great, especially for folks in the US who can use the Personal Data Remover.
• Usability: The core Malwarebytes software makes it easy for even tech newbies to perform antivirus scans, optimize their Windows settings, enable a VPN and test the validity of emails and other content through Scam Guard. Other Malwarebytes programs such as the Browser Guard and dark web monitoring were similarly intuitive to set up.
• Performance: Malwarebytes’ antivirus used virtually no resources while running in the background and minimal resources when running active scans. Other tools also ran smoothly without interfering with my other activities. Even the VPN -- something other antivirus companies don’t do a great job with -- had minimal impact on my internet speed, unless they were set to Singapore or Australia.
• Security: Malwarebytes performs well in third-party tests conducted by AV-Comparatives and AV-Labs. I was also impressed by the encryption protocols Malwarebytes uses and its comprehensive privacy policies. The VPN offers particularly robust protection, with diskless servers that guarantee a true no-logs protocol. While it’s not audited yet, there’s one in the works, which is a nice trust signal.
• Customer service: Malwarebytes has a great knowledge base, well-trained AI chatbot and fast, helpful representatives accessible through live chat. Email support is on the slower side, but the agents were able to resolve my issues in one email, minimizing the pain of these delayed response times.
• Value: Malwarebytes plans are reasonably priced for those with fewer than three devices. However, adding more devices significantly inflates the cost.

Despite these benefits, the three-device limits on Malwarebytes’ premium plans mean I can only recommend it to those with three or fewer devices. You’ll get a better deal from Bitdefender if you have four or five devices to protect, while Norton and McAfee offer better value for people with more than five devices.