Bitdefender Antivirus is best antivirus for Mac options. Like Kaspersky and Norton, AV-Test’s lab, Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac blocked 100 percent of the threats thrown at it. Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac gets top marks from the independent labs and in our own hands-on testing. Your guide to the best antivirus and security software for Mac 2018 for your peace of mind. And if you want just the virus scanning then Kaspersky Anti-Virus is available for £24.99/$24.99.

Bitdefender Antivirus For Mac 2018 Review
Free Antivirus For Mac 2018

Best Mac Antivirus

Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac

Avast Security (for Mac), Avira Free Antivirus for Mac, and Sophos Home Free (for Mac) are totally free for personal use, although Sophos technically limits you to three devices, macOS or Windows. Mac users who want to protect their Macs should be aware that the threat of Mac malware is growing rapidly. In order to keep your Mac protected and secured, make sure to use reliable Mac security software. Sophos Antivirus for Mac If you are looking for a reliable and free antivirus for Mac, you need Sophos Antivirus for Mac. Of course, there is still the Premium version, which you can enjoy for 30 days since after installation.

Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac's top-shelf malware detection and barely there system impact make it the best antivirus solution.

Best Free Mac Antivirus

Avast Free Mac Security

Avast Free Mac Security's malware-squashing proficiency, negligible performance impact and included password manager make it the best free option.

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac offers top-shelf malware detection and protects files from ransomware.

After evaluating eight free and paid antivirus products, we've chosen Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac ($40 per year) as the best antivirus for Mac. It had a nearly invisible impact on system performance, and it caught all malware.

Avast Free Mac Security is our favorite free option, as it provided nearly perfect malware protection and an easy-to-use interface with an imperceptible performance hit.

You do need an antivirus program on your Mac. Recent years have seen more Mac malware and adware than ever before, from Trojans to targeted attacks, supply-chain attacks like the XcodeGhost attack and even encrypting ransomware.

MORE: Best Antivirus Software and Apps

Latest Security Alerts and Threats

— Thousands of people don't bother to change passwords they know have been compromised, a Google study found. ADVICE: Use strong, unique passwords for every online account, and use a password manager to keep them straight.

— Whoops — Apple's update of iPhones and iPads to iOS 12.4 re-opened a flaw that led to a successful 'jailbreak.'ADVICE: There's a slight possibility this could be used to hack iPhones from websites or App Store apps, so carefully choose which apps you install and to which sites you browse, and update to iOS 12.5 when it's ready.

— Scammers are gaming search-engine results so that voice assistants such as Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant call phony customer-support numbers when owners request it. ADVICE: Look up customer-support numbers on official company websites and have voice assistants call those instead.

How We Tested

To find the best antivirus for Mac desktops and laptops, we evaluate ease of use, interface and performance impact, we installed each AV program on the same Late 2013 MacBook Pro with Retina Display running macOS 10.12 Sierra. It was powered by a 2.6-GHz Intel Core i7 processor and had 8GB of RAM and 70GB of data stored on a 512GB SSD.

We conducted our own tests in July and August 2017 based on how much each antivirus product affected our laptop's performance. To do this, we used our custom OpenOffice benchmark, which matches 20,000 names and addresses in a spreadsheet. We measured how long it took to run a quick scan and a full scan while the laptop crunched numbers in the background.

We assessed how easy each program was to use and the number of useful extra features it offered (including free add-on software). To gauge how effective each package was at stopping malware, we used the results of evaluations conducted in May 2017 by AV-TEST, a well-regarded independent product-testing lab in Germany, and results from other tests conducted in July 2017 by AV-Comparatives, a similarly well-respected firm in Austria.

Best Mac Antivirus

Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac

Reasons to Buy

Minimal system impact

Reasons to Avoid

Kaspersky Internet Security is the best antivirus for Macs because it offers both the lowest system impact and some of the best malware-detection rates recorded. It even provides extra security features, including parental controls and options to lock down your webcam and stop websites from tracking your browsing activity. If you're willing to pay to protect your Mac from malware, Kaspersky Internet Security is the best option available.

Best Free Mac Antivirus

Avast Free Mac Security

Reasons to Buy

Excellent malware protection

Password manager included

Reasons to Avoid

Avast Free Mac Security caught 99.9 percent of all malware, packs in a password manager, barely leaves a smudge on system impact and doesn't charge a dime. If only it caught 100 percent of malware, as Kaspersky did.

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac

Reasons to Buy

Ransomware protection

Parental controls

Reasons to Avoid

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac

$38.99

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac is one of only a few solutions we tested that offers perfect malware detection. Further, its modern, streamlined interface places on-demand scans front and center. Bitdefender has dropped from first place, though, because its system-impact scores don't match the flawless marks posted by Kaspersky.

Norton 360 Deluxe

Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid

Noticeable system impact

Norton 360 Deluxe may offer excellent protection, but it charges more (after the first year) than its competitors do, without offering as many perks. Norton AntiVirus Plus offers similar protection for a single Mac, but with fewer perks. Still, both have always-on-call customer support.

AVG Antivirus for Mac

Reasons to Buy

Free

Reasons to Avoid

Comparatively high background impact

AVG Antivirus for Mac

If you're looking for the best antivirus for Mac without having to pay, AVG AntiVirus for Mac is not too shabby, with its 99.9 percent detection rate and easy-to-use design. Unfortunately, other free competitors provide extras (Sophos with parental controls, Avast's password manager) that AVG does not.

Bitdefender Antivirus For Mac 2018 Review

Best for Families

Sophos Home

Reasons to Buy

Remote manageability

Low system impact

Reasons to Avoid

With Sophos Home for Mac's simple interface and low system-performance impact, you'll barely realize the program is shielding you until you need it. Anyone with young children at home will find Sophos' parental controls useful, as they allow for remote scans and checks, and let you block sites by category. Sophos even keeps a log of when users try to reach banned pages. This program's major drawback, though, is its lackluster malware-detection rate.

Avira Free Antivirus for Mac

Reasons to Buy

Solid malware protection

Reasons to Avoid

Once our favorite, Avira Free Antivirus for Mac is no longer the best antivirus for Mac. That's because it is a hair shy of perfection in its malware detection, and fell behind in system-performance testing, earning some of the higher performance impacts recorded.

McAfee Antivirus Plus

Reasons to Buy

Familiar user interface

Reasons to Avoid

Unproven detection rates

McAfee® AntiVirus Plus

While McAfee's unlimited licenses mean you can support a whole family of Macs (and PCs and Android devices, too), this program's lack of special

Anti Viris For Mac 2018