When evaluating Windows antivirus utilities for malware protection, I rely on a wide range of testing apps that I've coded and recoded over the years. You can turn off the Real-time Protection system, but don’t! USB protection, meaning automatic scanning of any mounted USB drive, is unavailable unless you upgrade to the feature-complete cross-platform Avira Prime suite. You can schedule additional scans, quick or full, on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.Ĭlicking Protection Options in the left-rail menu brings up a very simple page with two options: Real-time Protection and USB Protection. Out of the box, Avira schedules a weekly quick scan. On the MacBook Air I use for testing, a quick scan finished in less than a minute, and the full scan took 26 minutes, just slightly quicker than the current average. The most common pricing plan among products we've reviewed is $39.99 per year for one license and $59.99 for three. Norton goes way beyond the features offered by a simple antivirus utility. At the high end, Intego Mac Internet Security X9 lists at $99.99 per year to protect three Macs, and Norton 360 Deluxe for Mac asks $104.99 per year for five cross-platform licenses. There's a big range of prices for Mac-based antivirus support. Just as in the Windows edition, the rest of the window features oversized icons representing Security, Privacy, and Performance, with a button to run what Avira calls a Smart scan. But where the Windows product just has Status, Security, Privacy, and Performance down the left side, the macOS edition adds two or three submenu items below each.

The main window features a simple menu down the left, like Avira Free Security. Since my last review, the macOS product has undergone a redesign that makes it look a lot more like the Windows version.

Avira Free Antivirus for Mac doesn't cost a penny, and it earns good scores in tests by the independent labs. You need antivirus protection on your macOS devices, though you don’t necessarily have to pay for it. Macs get hit by malware, even ransomware.

Yes, macOS has better built-in defenses and fewer users overall, but that also means that a malware attack doesn’t have as much competition. Windows and Android are the most popular targets for malware coders, but that doesn’t mean macOS is immune.

Avira mac antivirus review