Best Antivirus for Mac in 2026: 9 Mac Antivirus Apps Ranked

Last verified 4 October 2026. The best antivirus for Mac is Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac: it scored 6 out of 6 for protection, performance and usability in AV-TEST's June 2026 macOS Tahoe test, scored 99.0% for Mac malware protection in AV-Comparatives' 2026 Mac test, and costs $24.99 for the first year on one Mac. The best free Mac antivirus is Avast Free Antivirus for Mac, which includes real-time protection at no cost. Do you need either? macOS already ships with XProtect, Gatekeeper and notarization, so a careful user is not unprotected, but a third-party app earns its place if you want web and phishing protection, ransomware folder guards, or a second layer for malware that slips past Apple's checks. Below are 9 Mac antivirus apps, checked against each vendor's own site this week.

Toolradar data: of the 716 tools in our security category, 94 are completely free and another 254 are freemium.

Quick Comparison

Our picks: the best antivirus for Mac, ranked

1. Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac is the best all-rounder. It earned 6, 6 and 6 for protection, performance and usability in AV-TEST's June 2026 macOS test and scored 99.0% for Mac malware protection across 1,500 samples in AV-Comparatives' 2026 Mac Security Test. Avast, AVG, ESET and Norton scored 99.9% there, but a 0.9-point gap on 1,500 samples is small, so features and price decide it.

The app adds real-time protection against viruses and ransomware, Safe Files (only apps you trust can touch the folders you pick), Time Machine Protection, anti-phishing, adware removal and Windows malware detection. Bitdefender's support page says it runs natively on Apple silicon without Rosetta 2, and it needs macOS Big Sur 11.3 or later.

It costs $24.99 for the first year on one Mac and $29.99 for 3 devices. Bitdefender says those are first-year prices and that renewal "may be higher," without printing the renewal price. A 30-day trial needs no credit card, and the separate Virus Scanner for Mac is free on the App Store. The bundled VPN is a taste at 200 MB a day (see our best free VPNs for real options).

Pick it if you want strong, low-fuss protection for one to three Macs at the lowest first-year price among the paid plans here.

2. Avast Free Antivirus for Mac

Avast's free Mac antivirus is the rare free tier with real-time protection, plus Web and Email Guards. AV-Comparatives scored Avast One Free for Mac at 99.9% for Mac malware protection, and AV-TEST's June 2026 test lists Avast One at 6, 6 and 6.

What the free tier lacks: Avast labels Wi-Fi intruder alerts and Ransomware Shield as Premium. Premium Security for one Mac is $49.08 for the first year and renews at $77.99; a 10-device plan is $69.48 and renews at $99.99. Avast lists macOS 10.14 or later on a 64-bit Intel or ARM processor.

The catch is trust and upsells. In June 2024 the FTC finalized an order banning Avast from selling or licensing web browsing data for advertising and requiring $16.5 million in payment. The FTC alleged the data came from Avast's browser extensions and antivirus software and was sold through its Jumpshot subsidiary. Review the privacy settings during setup.

Pick it if you want real-time protection for free and can ignore the upgrade prompts.

3. ESET HOME Security Essential

ESET sells its Mac protection (ESET Cyber Security) through ESET HOME Security plans that cover Windows, macOS and Android in one subscription. AV-Comparatives scored ESET HOME Security Essential for macOS at 99.9%. AV-TEST's June 2026 test gave ESET Security Ultimate 6 for protection, 5.5 for performance and 6 for usability, one of two products below 6 on performance.

ESET's store lists Essential at $49.99 a year for one device, $59.99 for 3 and $69.99 for 5, shown as 12-month new-customer prices with no renewal price. There is a 30-day trial with no credit card, and the Mac app needs macOS 13 or later. The page does not mention Apple silicon.

The catch is the entry price, twice Bitdefender's for one Mac, and no free tier.

Pick it if you want one subscription covering a Mac, a few PCs and Android phones.

4. AVG AntiVirus Free for Mac

AVG AntiVirus Free for Mac gives you real-time protection, safe browsing and email scanning at no cost. It tests like Avast because it shares the engine: AV-Comparatives notes that Avast, AVG and Norton, all Gen Digital products, use the Avast engine. AVG scored 99.9% there, and AV-TEST's June 2026 test lists AVG Antivirus 20.8 at 6, 6 and 6.

The paid step is AVG Internet Security for Mac: $46.68 for the first year on one Mac (list $77.99), or $59.88 billed upfront for two years on 10 devices (list $99.99). AVG bills the discount for the first term only, so check what renewal will cost.

Pick it if Avast's installer or upsells put you off but you still want a free real-time app on the same engine.

5. Norton 360 AntiVirus Plus

Norton scores well and costs more over time. AV-TEST's June 2026 test lists Norton 360 26.6 at 6, 6 and 6, and AV-Comparatives scored Norton AntiVirus Plus for Mac at 99.9%. Norton says it gives real-time protection for one Windows PC or Mac.

Norton 360 AntiVirus Plus is $29.99 for the first year for one device, renewing at $59.99, or $39.99 for 5 devices, renewing at $84.99. Norton 360 Standard adds a VPN for 3 devices at $39.99 and then $94.99; Deluxe covers 5 devices at $49.99 and then $124.99. Plans include a password manager (compare our best free password managers first), but Cloud Backup, Parental Control and SafeCam are unsupported on macOS, per Norton.

The catch is renewal: the price roughly doubles after year one.

Pick it if you want the bundled VPN and password manager and will mark the renewal date.

6. Intego ONE

Intego ONE for Mac is the current product from a vendor that has focused on Macs since 1997; the old Mac Internet Security X9 page now redirects to it. Essential is antivirus plus firewall, Advanced adds SmartClean cleanup, and Complete adds a VPN and covers one Mac plus one iPhone. It runs on Intel and Apple silicon with macOS 12.4 or later.

First-year prices for one Mac are $29.99 for Essential (renews at $39.99), $48.99 for Advanced (renews at $69.99) and $58.49 for Complete (renews at $89.99). A 30-day money-back guarantee stands in for a free tier; Essential for 3 Macs is $41.24 and for 5 Macs $52.49.

The catch is detection. In AV-Comparatives' 2026 Mac test, Intego ONE Complete scored 96.7% for Mac malware protection, the lowest of the consumer products tested, with no false alarms. Intego was not in AV-TEST's June 2026 Mac test.

Pick it if you want a Mac-only vendor with a firewall and accept a lower lab score.

7. Malwarebytes Premium Security for Mac

Malwarebytes' Mac app comes as a free download and a free trial of Premium. The free version scans when you ask; the paid app adds real-time threat quarantine and web protection against malicious sites, infected ads and credit card skimmers.

List prices on its pricing page are $59.99 a year for Standard (3 devices) and $79.99 for Plus, which adds a VPN. Malwarebytes was discounting them to $35.99 and $47.99 through October 11, so check checkout. No single-device price was listed, and the page does not say whether the app runs natively on Apple silicon.

The catch is evidence: Malwarebytes was not in AV-TEST's June 2026 Mac test or AV-Comparatives' 2026 Mac report.

Pick it if you want an on-demand second opinion next to Apple's protection, or you are cleaning a Mac you suspect is infected.

8. Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac

Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac covers one device for $29.95 for the first year (list $42.95). It lists protection against ransomware and web threats, flags phishing emails and scam websites, and blocks unauthorized use of your camera and microphone. It needs macOS 11 or later, and the page does not mention Apple silicon or real-time scanning.

Internet Security (3 devices, $59.95, list $83.95) and Maximum Security (5 devices, $74.95, list $104.95) include Mac too. A free trial is available, and the introductory price covers the first term only.

The catch is the lack of Mac lab data: Trend Micro was not in AV-TEST's June 2026 Mac test or AV-Comparatives' 2026 Mac report.

Pick it if you want a cheap single-Mac plan with camera and microphone protection and can skip lab scores.

9. Sophos Home Premium

Sophos Home protects up to 10 Windows and Mac computers, and its Mac scanner is real-time. It adds ransomware security, web protection and parental web filtering. A 30-day trial covers 3 devices with no credit card, but Sophos lists only the trial and a paid subscription, not a free plan.

Sophos's checkout priced Home Premium in euros: 37.46 EUR for the first year, renewing at 49.95 EUR, so confirm the dollar price before you buy. Sophos was not in the 2026 Mac lab tests we checked.

Pick it if your household mixes Macs and PCs and you want parental web filtering in the same subscription.

How to choose a Mac antivirus

Start with what macOS already does. Apple's Platform Security Guide describes three layers: Gatekeeper with notarization tries to stop malware launching, Gatekeeper, notarization and XProtect block it from running, and XProtect remediates malware that did execute. Notarization is a malware scanning service run by Apple, and macOS checks for XProtect signature updates daily by default. Apple's support page adds that notarization is required by default on macOS Catalina and later.

Know where a third-party app helps. AV-Comparatives' 2026 report notes that anything which gets around notarization looks safe to the built-ins, and that signature scanning alone misses zero-day attacks. It cites MacSync Stealer, distributed through signed and notarized executables, and ClickFix attacks that trick you into pasting commands into Terminal, bypassing Gatekeeper entirely.

Compare the renewal, not the first year. Norton AntiVirus Plus goes from $29.99 to $59.99, Avast Premium from $49.08 to $77.99 and Intego Essential from $29.99 to $39.99. AVG lists $77.99 against a $46.68 first year. Bitdefender, ESET and Trend Micro print no renewal price.

Check your chip and macOS version. Bitdefender and Intego state native Apple silicon support and Avast lists ARM; the others do not say. Minimum macOS is 10.13 for AVG, 10.14 for Avast, 11 for Trend Micro, 11.3 for Bitdefender, 12.4 for Intego and 13 for ESET and Sophos.

Expect setup prompts, and run one real-time scanner. AV-Comparatives notes that any antivirus on recent macOS needs its system extensions enabled and permissions such as Full Disk Access granted.

Skip Kaspersky if you are in the US. On June 20, 2024 the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security announced a final determination prohibiting Kaspersky from providing its software in the United States. Under the BIS prohibition, Kaspersky could not sign new US agreements from July 20, 2024 or provide antivirus signature updates after September 29, 2024. It scored well in both labs, but a product US customers cannot buy or update is not a pick. For Windows and cross-platform options, see our best antivirus software guide.

FAQ

Does a Mac need antivirus?

Not strictly. XProtect, Gatekeeper and notarization block known malware. A third-party app is worth it if you download software from outside the App Store, share files with PC users, or want phishing filtering; AV-Comparatives says information stealers dominated new macOS threats in 2023 and 2024.

What is the best free antivirus for Mac?

Avast Free Antivirus for Mac, because the free tier includes real-time protection and scored 99.9% for Mac malware protection in AV-Comparatives' 2026 test. AVG AntiVirus Free for Mac scored the same on the same engine. Bitdefender's Virus Scanner is a scan-only app, and Malwarebytes' free app scans when you run it.

Is XProtect enough?

For known malware it is a solid base: Apple describes it as built-in antivirus technology that detects and removes malware by signature, scanning apps at first launch and when they change. It does not filter web pages or phishing links, and AV-Comparatives warns that signatures alone cannot catch zero-day attacks.

Do Apple silicon Macs still need antivirus?

Apple says Apple silicon adds protections that limit the damage malware can do if it runs, but it does not stop you running something malicious. If you install an antivirus, confirm it supports your chip: Bitdefender and Intego say they run natively.

Does antivirus slow down a Mac?

AV-Comparatives says its 2026 tests found no meaningful performance impact from any reviewed product.

Is Kaspersky available for Mac in the US?

Not as a new purchase. The Commerce Department barred Kaspersky from new agreements with US persons from July 20, 2024 and from providing antivirus updates after September 29, 2024.

Bottom line

Buy Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac if you want paid protection: it has the best mix of lab results, Mac-specific ransomware guards and first-year price, and you should mark the renewal date. Choose Avast Free Antivirus for Mac if the budget is zero. If you only install from the App Store and keep macOS updated, Apple's built-in protection plus careful habits is a defensible choice. Skip Kaspersky in the US.