Can’t decide among Malwarebytes and McAfee? Confused between opting for an Antivirus product that fulfills your day to day needs? Well, this article helps you decide just that. A full head to head comparison is carried out between the 2 software for you. So that you can easily compare them and decide which of these 2 will suit best to you and will meet your day to day internet protection needs.
So, Let’s get started.
As the number of internet users is growing. The risk of getting infected by malicious ware or harmful files are also increasing. As of today, you are prone to get infected by more than 800 million types of malicious ware available on the internet. Therefore, these harmful files and ware are responsible for various cyber theft, crime and internet, and PC related issues. Hence Antivirus has to block such files and ware to protect the users while using the internet.
The 2 well-known antiviruses, Malwarebytes and McAfee. well, people often find themselves confused when it comes to choosing among these 2. It is because they offer so many things to the customers. Although they may lack a couple of things or may excel to one another in some which make they differ from each other in many ways. Therefore, the detailed comparison for the same is carried out. Making it easier for you and other readers to decide which one to go for.
Plans offered by Malwarebytes and McAfee Antivirus
The list below explains about products offered by the companies for home users.
Malwarebytes Security Suites
- The free version. Malwarebytes free (Both Windows and Mac).
- Malwarebytes Premium (Both Windows and Mac).
McAfee Antivirus Suites
- McAfee Total Security Suite (Both Windows and Mac).
- And the McAfee LiveSafe Suite (Both Windows and Mac).
Therefore, the above list provides readers with the availability of all antivirus software for different platforms provided by the 2 companies for home users.
Pre-Comparison Result (Short Verdict)
Note: This section of the article is for those who want to skip the effort of reading an in-depth comparison report of the 2 antiviruses and directly know the result.
As per the research, McAfee is far better than the Malwarebytes. Since it offers a lot more security features and provides users with many utility tools in comparison to Malwarebytes. Also, as per the Lab test reports McAfee excels from Malwarebytes in Protection test as well as in the impact on the system performance test section. Making it the sheer winner of the battle.
It is recommended to kindly read the full comparison report for in-depth knowledge of what both the software has to offer before opting for any one of them.
A detailed description of everything included in Malwarebytes Security Packages
Malwarebytes is a known name in the field of antivirus. The company provides its users with two versions to choose from according to their needs. Hence the detailed description of those versions are as follows:
Malwarebytes Free
The free version of the company. The particular software is not at all recommended and is not worth installing Antivirus products. Since it doesn’t provide real-time scanning. Meaning no protection against malware attack. It only acts as a disinfectant because it can only remove malware that has already infected your system.
Malwarebytes Premium
It is the premium and maxed out version offered by the company to its users. It is a paid-security product and hence contains real-time protection against all types of malware. It also tends to offer online security, A powerful anti-exploit module, followed by the protection of sensitive files from ransomware.
The version is compatible with both Windows and Mac.
Note: The software can be purchased based on different prices. Depending on the no. of system’s protection one wants.
A detailed description of everything included in McAfee’s Antivirus Suites
McAfee is a well-renowned antivirus software known for its security and features. It is one of the famous antiviruses present out there in the market. It provides users with different products. Hence, those are stated above, readers can refer to the context stated in the “Plans offered” section of the article. Therefore all the things which the available versions of the software have to offer are as follows:
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McAfee Total Protection
This particular product is the companies most profound and best-selling product. It offers its users with complete protection from all types of threats. Besides that, it offers a 2-way firewall, a file shredder, and a file utility tool. Whereas, it also comprises of a Network Manager (Responsible for the protection of wifi network and prevents the intruder’s interference), an anti-spam filter(Blocks of malicious emails and messages), and a Vulnerability Scanner suite(keeps check on outdated software and other security flaws).
On top of that, the software consists of A Parental Control module, a social media guard, and several computer optimization tools present there in the software. The “Total Protection” subscription also provides the customers with five licenses 0f True Key Identity Manager (Password manager by McAfee). The single subscription of the high-end product by McAfee also allows the protection of up to 10 devices. Regardless of their OS.
McAfee guarantees in the state of Malware infection, that McAfee expert will either remove the virus completely or will refund your money. Supporting its statement stating “100% virus Protection Guarantee”.
Note: The software also provides an extension of Web Advisor, which users can buy separately.
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McAfee LiveSafe
The LiveSafe version by McAfee offers everything present there in the Total Protection Suite. Also, it provides its customers with 1GB of Secure cloud storage to store their files.
Note: Both “Total Security” and “LiveSafe” by McAfee offers compatibility with Windows, Android, Mac, and iOS devices.
Malwarebytes vs McAfee (in terms of providing better protection)
As of the 2 software. Both of them are considered to be really good Antivirus. Since in today’s time virus is more likely to hit a system. Its a must for antivirus to be good in terms of protection.
Therefore, the tests were held by AV-Test and AV-Comparatives. To check how well an Antivirus is against such increasing threats. Since these are the software responsible for an individual’s internet security and safety.
Note: The tests were carried out on a standard PC as well as a High-end PC.
AV-Test (Tests)
The most recent test by AV-Tests was conducted in September and October. McAfee took participation in the test. It was tested against 311 samples of zero-day malware and 21,257 samples of widespread malware.
As for McAfee’s Performance, It was completely impressive in detecting widespread malware tests as it blocked all the malware in both the months. But when it came to zero-day malware tests, it was slightly less effective in blocking the zero-day malware. It was awarded a good score of 5.5/6 in the test against zero-day malware and widespread malware in the “Protection” category.
And for Malwarebytes, it could only attain a score of 4/6 because of its mediocre performance against both widespread malware and zero-day malware in both the months.
AV-Comparatives (Tests)
AV-Comparatives also conducted 2 test. Malware Protection Test and Real-World Protection Test. As for the recent Real-World Protection test. McAfee managed to block out 99.94% of malware and returned 16 false positives.
And was awarded the “ADVANCED +” award for the test.
And as for the Malware protection test held in September 2018. McAfee attained the “ADVANCED ” award as it managed to detect all of the threats but his overall score was brought down by high no. of false positives. McAfee returned 35 false positives.
Whereas for the Malwarebytes test result, it didn’t participate in the AV-Comparatives test. Therefore no result in regards to the same can be carried out.
Therefore, looking at the result it can be stated that both McAfee is pretty good in terms of protection. Hence, making McAfee sheer winner in the test since it showed better protection rate results in the tests as compared to Malwarebytes.
McAfee vs Malwarebytes CPU Usage Comparison
Antivirus generally runs in the background to carry out the process of Real-Time scanning. Although, it is been a concern of people because this background activity tends to eat up most of the CPU performance. But is important for the sake of safety and security.
Therefore, for antivirus to be good in terms of performance. It should imply a less strain on PC because the heavy strain can result in unexpected pauses and hang in a system which can be pretty annoying.
Therefore, tests were conducted by independent labs to carry out the result. How the 2 software fared in a particular category by carrying out a couple of activities like launching popular websites, downloading and installing, commonly used applications, copying of files, and more.
Note: The tests were carried out on a standard PC as well as a High-end PC.
McAfee’s impact Test
McAfee attained the perfect score of 6/6 by the AV experts. Since it was very minimal in the background and did not put any type of load on the CPU. Attaining a perfect score in the “Performance” Category.
Below are the test reports for McAfee in the “Performance” Category (AV-Test).
Whereas in AV-Comparatives test results, McAfee attained an “ADVANCED +” rating with a low rating of 6.4. Making it a pretty stable software to use.
Below are the test reports for McAfee in the “Performance” Category (AV-Comparative).
Malwarebytes Impact Test
And for the Malwarebytes, it attained a slightly lower score of 5/6 in the AV-Test reports because of its slight high impact on the CPU performance.
Below are the test reports for Malwarebytes in the “Performance” Category (AV-Test).
And as mentioned earlier, Malwarebytes didn’t participate in any of the AV-Comparatives tests. Hence there are no results concerning the same.
Therefore, it is again clear that McAfee again won the category. Since no comparison could be carried out in the AV-Comparatives Test between both the Antivirus software and for AV-Test reports McAfee excels from Malwarebytes. Making McAfee winner of the “Performance” Category test.
Malwarebytes vs McAfee (in terms of Price)
Both companies might have basic duties of protection users from malware threats. But as for the price tags, it might not be the same case. As in this section, we’ll be stating the allotted price of each software version provided by both companies. Hence making it easier for readers to decide which one falls in their budget range.
McAfee Antivirus Software Pricing
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McAfee Total Protection
The total protection by McAfee is available for you to purchase at cost of rupees 1400 for a year subscription and for protection up to 5 devices.
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McAfee LiveSafe
The LiveSafe version is cost at rupees 1299 for a year subscription for 1 device protection.
Note: Each product prices vary depending on the no. of devices protection is needed for.
Therefore, the context stated above tells the readers about the prices available for all different types of McAfee software on a different platform.
Malwarebytes Antivirus Software Pricing
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Malwarebytes Premium (PC)
The premium version of the software is priced at 39.99 for a 1-year plan and 69.98 for a 2-year plan for a single device.
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Malwarebytes Premium (Mac)
The premium version of the software is priced at 39.99 for a 1-year plan and 59.99 for a 2-year plan for a single device.
Therefore, the context stated above tells the readers about the prices available for all different types of Malwarebytes software on a different platform.
The Winner!
Getting a premium antivirus in today’s time is everybody’s need. Since they tend to provide individuals with security and safety from online threats. As of the 2 Antivirus software discussed in this article. The comparison is for people to understand the software better and to opt for the one which suits best for their needs.
Hence, the conclusion is that both of the Antivirus software is very well functioning. And, are pretty successful in protecting the individual from online threats and malicious ware. But as of the result of the comparison between the 2. McAfee excels, Because of its streamlined features as well as prices and options available for all the customers. Also, it highly excels in terms of giving out false positives. Meaning that it tend to report very few safe files as a threat in comparison to Malwarebytes. McAfee guarantees in the state of Malware infection, that McAfee expert will either remove the virus completely or will refund your money. Supporting its statement stating “100% virus Protection Guarantee”.
Therefore, it is clear that McAfee is the winning contender of this head to head comparison between Malwarebytes and McAfee.