Both Malwarebytes and McAfee offer comprehensive malware scanners. However, while Malwarebytes is minimalistic and offers the most basic protection, McAfee is a complete antivirus suite with tons of extras — such as a powerful firewall and good parental controls.
Today, I’ll explain some key differences between McAfee and Malwarebytes so that you can make an informed decision on which you should download in 2024.
Short on Time? Malwarebytes vs. McAfee — Final Verdict:
- 1st place:
- 2nd place:
McAfee is better for malware protection, web protection, features, and customer support. For comprehensive online security, go with McAfee.
Malwarebytes is easier to use and cheaper. It offers minimalistic but essential malware protection. If that’s all you need in 2024, go with Malwarebytes.
Malware Protection
Malwarebytes
Malwarebytes’s malware scanner uses heuristic analysis and an extensive malware database to protect your computer from both known and emerging threats. This includes worms, ransomware, cryptojackers, and more.
Malwarebytes detected 95% of malware samples in my tests. I downloaded a repository that contained 1,000s of malware samples and hid them in different locations on my Windows 11 PC, including inside critical system folders. I then ran the full scan, which completed in around 3 hours.
Malwarebytes’s real-time protection performed well in my tests. I tried to download the same malware repository, and the real-time protection blocked 98% of the malware samples. Finally, I ran simulated exploit attacks against my system, and Malwarebytes was able to block all of them.
McAfee
McAfee also uses heuristic analysis and a large malware database to keep your computer protected from malware.
McAfee’s malware scanner performed much better than Malwarebytes’s — it completed in an hour and found every malware sample I’d hidden across my Windows 11 PC (the same repository I’d used to test Malwarebytes).
I also much prefer McAfee’s real-time protection. It blocked every malware sample I tried to download, including those that Malwarebytes couldn’t detect.
Web Security
Malwarebytes
Malwarebytes’s web security extension works across all major browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. It stops you from visiting phishing websites, having trackers steal your data, and being issued annoying pop-up ads.
Malwarebytes was able to block around 90% of the phishing websites I tried to visit. This is better than the default protections on most web browsers. However, McAfee had slightly better detection rates in my tests.
I wasn’t too impressed with Malwarebytes’s ad blocker. It was only able to block 35% of ads on the testing website I visited — which is pretty disappointing.
McAfee
McAfee’s web security extension works with Windows and Mac, as well as on all major web browsers, stopping you from accessing dangerous websites. However, McAfee doesn’t block ads or trackers like Malwarebytes does.
That said, in my tests, McAfee blocked every phishing site I tried to visit. This is much better than Malwarebytes’s 90% detection rate.
McAfee also offers color-coded safety ratings on search results, which is pretty good. You can see whether a link is safe to click on before you do, which is an excellent way for beginner users to avoid dangerous websites.
Features
Malwarebytes
Malwarebytes’s premium antivirus plan offers coverage for up to 5 devices and includes:
- Malware scanner.
- Real-time protection.
- Anti-phishing protection.
- VPN (virtual private network).
I particularly like the real-time protection. It offers several layers of protection that advanced users can customize. For example, you can choose whether Malwarebytes protects against dangerous websites, dangerous malware, PUPS, ransomware, or exploit attacks. Beginner users will just want to keep all options turned on. However, if you’re an advanced user getting lots of false positives, you can make adjustments, which is excellent.
I also like Malwarebytes’s VPN. It offers access to 300 servers across 30 countries, has a strict no-logs policy (so Malwarebytes doesn’t store any user data), and offers decent connection speeds on both near and far servers. However, I’m disappointed at Malwarebytes’s lack of a kill switch. If the VPN connection drops, Malwarebytes will expose your data. That said, this didn’t happen in any of my tests.
Malwarebytes also offers Identity Theft Protection, which focuses on comprehensive monitoring, insurance, and recovery support in case of theft. However, it’s an additional service and isn’t included with the standard antivirus plans.
McAfee
McAfee is much more comprehensive than Malwarebytes. It offers coverage on either 5 or an unlimited number of devices and includes:
- Malware scanner.
- Real-time protection.
- Web protection.
- Network scanner.
- Computer optimizer.
- VPN.
- Password manager.
- Parental controls.
- Identity theft protection.
- And more…
I quite like McAfee’s password manager. It uses 256-bit AES encryption to keep your data secure and includes a zero-knowledge policy so nobody but you can access your saved logins. If you want a password manager that just contains the fundamentals, it’s a neat inclusion. However, it doesn’t include vault auditing and secure password sharing — something standalone password managers have.
I also like McAfee’s performance optimizer. It can remove temporary files, cached browser cookies, and junk files, and it includes a tracker remover too. However, I wish McAfee blocked trackers in the first place like Malwarebytes does. When I tested McAfee’s performance optimizer, it only took a minute to complete and saved 2 GB of space on my PC.
Ease of Use
Malwarebytes
Malwarebytes is well laid out and simple to navigate, and it features a straightforward user interface with one-click access to most features. Since Malwarebytes is so minimalistic, it only takes a few minutes to download and install, and then it runs silently in the background without any slowdown to your PC.
Malwarebytes’s mobile apps are also well designed and great to use — especially if you’re a beginner. The Android version has the same features as the Windows version, and the iOS version features everything except for the malware scanner. I like the additional inclusion of spyware protection and privacy auditing on mobile, but I’m a bit disappointed these aren’t featured on the desktop version. That said, if you’re looking for minimalist protection on mobile, Malwarebytes is a good choice.
McAfee
McAfee has a slightly higher learning curve than Malwarebytes, but it’s still pretty easy to navigate. The main desktop application shows everything in your current subscription, and you can access features like the malware scanner in just a couple of clicks.
That said, you can’t access some of McAfee’s features from the desktop app, and you need to navigate to the online dashboard to use them. If you’re a beginner user, this can quickly get frustrating. Further, it makes the features completely inaccessible if your internet connection drops.
On the other hand, I really like McAfee’s mobile apps. They’re well laid out, uncluttered, and fast. I didn’t notice any slowdown on my Huawei P30 Lite with McAfee installed, and I enjoyed having every feature in one location (unlike on the desktop app).
Customer Support
Malwarebytes
Malwarebytes unfortunately lacks phone support, which is a bit of a letdown. Instead, it has a 24/7 chatbot to guide users through its knowledge base. While this is somewhat helpful, the chatbot doesn’t suffice for more detailed queries. It also has live chat, but the agents weren’t very knowledgeable, and I had to wait for some time before getting connected.
If you do have specific questions, Malwarebytes has email support. Its email support team is friendly and helpful, but the support reps take 24 hours to reply, which isn’t the fastest response time.
That said, I’m a huge fan of the Malwarebytes knowledge base. It offers in-depth guides that answered the majority of questions I had.
McAfee
McAfee offers more customer support options than Malwarebytes. It has an online knowledge base, live chat, 24/7 phone support, and an online forum where you can get community answers. McAfee’s community forum is typically quite active, but it’s temporarily down while preparations are made for its relaunch.
While testing McAfee’s live chat, I quickly connected with an agent most of the time, finding them consistently helpful and responsive. Occasionally, I was offered the option for a phone call instead. The phone support was impressive — the agent even offered to remotely control my PC to help troubleshoot an issue I had with the software.
However, I found McAfee’s knowledge base to be less impressive. It frequently provided instructions for outdated versions of McAfee that were no longer applicable to the version I was using. I didn’t encounter this issue with Malwarebytes, where the knowledge base provided more relevant and up-to-date information.
However, McAfee makes up for this by having a 6-hour email response time — which is much better than Malwarebytes’s 24-hour response time. McAfee’s email team was helpful each time they responded, and they gave me clear and straightforward answers.
