In our Malwarebytes Premium review, we take a deep dive into the various features of this antivirus solution and how this software has developed into a full-blown antivirus package for Windows, macOS, Chrome OS, Android, and iOS.
The Malwarebytes free version only offers manual malware scans: you can scan individual files for viruses and other types of malware. Real-time malware protection and other advanced features are reserved for premium subscribers.
But how secure is Malwarebytes Premium? What options does it offer, and is Malwarebytes worth it? Read this Malwarebytes review for the full scoop.
Malwarebytes Short Review
In general, we are fairly impressed with Malwarebytes’ antivirus software. Malwarebytes Free offers a decent anti-malware scanning program, while Malwarebytes Premium has some additional features.
What We Like
- The free version comes with malware scanning
- Supports Windows, iOS, macOS, and Android
- Provides real-tme threat protection
- CPU usage can be configured on macOS
- Scanning is fast and easy to execute
- Can use it with up to 5 devices
What We Don't Like
- VPN only included with the Malwarebytes Premium Privacy subscription
- Doesn't include a built-in firewall
- Headquarters located in a 5 Eyes country (US)
- Scans take up a lot of RAM
So, is Malwarebytes Premium worth it? The main reason you’ll want Malwarebytes Premium is because it offers you real-time protection. It shields you from infected websites, computer viruses, ransomware, and advanced exploit attacks. Moreover, you can secure up to five devices with a Malwarebytes Premium subscription.
On top of this, Malwarebytes Premium Privacy gives you access to the Malwarebytes VPN. However, based on our Malwarebytes VPN review, this provider is not the best VPN on the market. It’s a decent service that allows you to hide or change your IP address with one from a different location.
Granted, Malwarebytes’ headquarters are located in the United States, which is part of the 5 Eyes alliance. This is a coalition of countries that freely exchange information with each other. This certainly increases the risk of your data ending up in the hands of various authorities.
But despite that risk, Malwarebytes is a qualitative antivirus software with high-grade protection, great usability, and a strong track record, as we discovered during our Malwarebytes review. Click the button below to get it for just $3.75 a month, or start your 14-day free trial (if you use Windows).
Do you want to find out more? We put Malwarebytes to the test to see how good of an antivirus it is. In this review, we’re primarily assessing Malwarebytes Premium, which we have tested on a MacBook as well as a Windows PC and Android.
Malwarebytes: Specifications and Subscriptions
Below, you’ll find a breakdown of the features offered by each Malwarebytes subscription package. For Malwarebytes Premium, the price depends on how many devices you want to secure. If you want the full package for three devices, it will cost you $6.67 per month ($79.99 billed annually).
| Feature | Malwarebytes Free | Malwarebytes Premium (yearly) | Malwarebytes Premium Privacy (yearly) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $0.00 | $44.99 (one device – $3.75/month), $59.99 (three devices – $5.00/month) | $99.99 (five devices – $8.33/month) $79.99 (three devices – $6.67/month) |
| Antivirus | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Anti-Phishing | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Anti-Malware | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Anti-Spyware | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Real-Time Protection | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Ad Blocker | ✖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| URL Filtering | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
| Wi-Fi Security | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
| Firewall | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ |
| No-Log VPN | ✖ | ✖ | ✔ |
| Download Link | Get Malwarebytes Free | Get Malwarebytes Premium | Get Malwarebytes Premium Privacy |
As you can see, Malwarebytes Free is feature-light. They only have ad-hoc scanning available and don’t offer any additional virus protection. So, you can’t really use it as a long-term solution.
Malwarebytes Premium, on the other hand, offers more features, such as phishing, spyware, and real-time protection, as well as an ad blocker. However, features such as ULR filtering, Wi-Fi security, and a VPN are offered with the pricier subscription package, as we discovered in our Malwarebytes Premium review.
The VPN does include some useful functions, like robust encryption, a user-friendly interface, and a kill switch to stop your data from leaking online. However, keep in mind that there are better premium VPNs available for more affordable prices. Malwarebytes is, in the first place, an antivirus program rather than a VPN provider.
Security: Can Malwarebytes Premium Be Trusted?
Malwarebytes Premium is a highly-rated antivirus program that successfully protects devices from all kinds of threats, and while it’s not an exceptional product, we consider it a trusted provider. This is why we give Malwarebytes Premium a 7.5/10 for overall security.
Here’s what we observed during our Malwarebytes review:
- Malwarebytes has a high malware protection percentage but many false positives.
- The extra security features are quite limited.
- Malwarebytes’ behavior-based detection is good at identifying zero-day attacks.
- Real-time protection is only available on a premium subscription.
- Malwarebytes doesn’t offer a firewall against online threats.
If you prefer your antivirus software to be straightforward and you don’t want a bunch of extra features, then Malwarebytes is a great pick.
Security testing: How does Malwarebytes Premium perform?
In AV-Comparatives‘ most recent testing (July-October 2022), Malwarebytes scored a 97.8% protection rate on Windows. Of the 626 malware-infected files, Malwarebytes detected 620.
On the downside, the antivirus also had a lot of false positives — legitimate software that gets flagged as malicious. In total, 40 legitimate files were marked as malware, which is why Malwarebytes received a lower score for accuracy.
On top of that, AV-Comparatives stopped testing Malwarebytes for Windows in November 2022. They’re also not testing it for mobile or macOS devices, although in the past, Malwarebytes had good results on the former.
Malwarebytes also scores decently with other renowned independent testers, like AV-Test. From them, it received a perfect score for performance and usability but lagged slightly behind on protection.
Malwarebytes isn’t the most secure premium antivirus. Norton, Kaspersky, and plenty more services constantly score higher. But that’s not to say it’s not a good antivirus. Malwarebytes Premium is secure enough to get rid of most threats, as our tests revealed during our Malwarebytes Premium review.
If you want nothing but the best, though, check out Norton 360. This antivirus software is the best on the market and can effectively protect you against all types of online threats.
Norton 360 even has a password manager and a dark web monitor and provides 100% virus detection.
Malwarebytes scanning
Generally, the Malwarebytes scanning process is speedy and straightforward. There are three types of scans that Malwarebytes offers:
- Quick scan: It takes about a minute to complete and goes through your startup programs and memory to find potential threats.
- Threat scan: This is a more thorough scan that takes place daily and will look at your files, registry programs, and memory.
- Custom scan: You can check for online threats in all your files and folders with this type of scan.
With Malwarebytes Free, you can only run manual scans. But on Malwarebytes Premium, it is possible to schedule automatic scans.
To start a scan manually, we simply clicked on the “Scan” button in the app. You can select which threats Malwarebytes has to detect.
After the scan process is completed, a scan report is created. We could access any past reports by clicking the “Reports” tab.
Through this tab, we were able to see a summary of the scan and whether any malicious software was detected.
Infected files are instantly neutralized and placed in the Malwarebytes quarantine section. From there, you can delete the files or, if you’re sure the file is safe, restore it to its original location. It’s also possible to add these false positives to the “Allow” list — that way, Malwarebytes won’t place them in quarantine in future scans.
To schedule a scan, click the “Scanner” icon on the home screen of the app, followed by “Scan Scheduler.” Here, you can schedule automated scans for specific days and times.
This is the part where Malwarebytes also gave us a choice between the different types of scans mentioned above.
Scans are relatively fast and do not impact system performance much, based on our findings in this Malwarebytes Premium review.
Real-time threat protection
Exclusive to Malwarebytes Premium is real-time malware protection. This is based on different layers of protection:
- Web protection: Malwarebytes will block a variety of online threats, including scams and spam messages, as well as offer ransomware and phishing protection.
- Malware and PUP protection: This feature will block viruses, adware, and potentially unwanted programs (PUP).
- Ransomware protection: This is special protection against ransomware, which can lock and take files hostage.
- Exploit protection: Malwarebytes claims to protect you against malware that abuses vulnerabilities in your system. However, elsewhere they claim this only applies to potentially malicious attachments in your Outlook desktop app.
In the settings, we could also enable malware protection against brute force attacks. This software prevents non-authorized users from cracking your credentials like your username and password.
Malwarebytes Browser Guard
During our Malwarebytes Browser Guard review, we noticed that this feature is a handy free browser extension for Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox. The Browser Guard extension aims to protect against ads and trackers, phishing and malware-hosting URLs, tech support scams, and other online attacks.
We tested both the Google Chrome and the Firefox version of Browser Guard. For our own website, Malwarebytes didn’t have to delete any trackers since VPNOverview doesn’t use them. We also tested Speedtest.net, on which Malwarebytes deleted 34 trackers and ads.
Why is it useful to have a good ad blocker? Browser Guard makes webpages appear cleaner and load faster. Unwanted content is blocked. Moreover, it identifies and stops browser hijackers.
Privacy: How Does Malwarebytes Premium Handle Your Data?
Malwarebytes is not great at safeguarding your data and keeps a lot of your personal information. After extensive testing and research during our Malwarebytes Premium review, we gave Malwarebytes a 5/10 for privacy. This is based on the following conclusions:
- The VPN has some questionable logging practices.
- Malwarebytes itself logs a lot of personal data it doesn’t really need.
- Information is sometimes shared with third parties.
Malwarebytes Privacy VPN
A virtual private network encrypts your data and reroutes your internet traffic via an external server. This hides your real IP address and location, which is why you can use a VPN to get around geo-restrictions and stream a foreign Netflix library, for example. On top of that, a VPN makes you more anonymous online.
The Malwarebytes Premium Privacy subscription includes a VPN. You can also purchase the Malwarebytes Privacy VPN separately. While the service is decent, it’s not outstanding in any way.
The server network is pretty limited, with just over 400 locations in 30 countries. By comparison, NordVPN offers 5,400 servers in 60 countries (for $3.49 a month), while Surfshark offers more than 3,200 servers in over 100 countries (for $2.30 a month).
In terms of security, Malwarebytes Privacy VPN uses industry-standard AES-256 encryption, as well as a kill switch that cuts off your connection to the internet when the VPN stops working. Moreover, it offers a split-tunneling feature that lets you decide which apps should pass through the VPN. When it comes to data privacy, however, we are less impressed.
Malwarebytes Privacy VPN collects a concerning amount of user data, despite calling itself a “no-log” VPN. This data includes your device ID, browser type, internet service provider, and geographic location. Because Malwarebytes is located in the United States, all this data is easily attainable by the American intelligence services.
Malwarebytes’ privacy policy
Malwarebytes’ transparency about the data it collects and for what purpose is commendable. When it comes to how much the company knows about you, Malwarebytes doesn’t attempt to mislead you. The Malwarebytes privacy policy is easy to understand and details every aspect of information that’s stored. This includes the following:
- Which software you use
- Your geographical location, based on your IP address
- Type of network connection
- System processes on your device
- Information from Windows Security and Action Center, including security settings
- How you use Malwarebytes products
- A Malwarebytes-generated device ID
- Licensing data
- Network information
- Details on detected malware, programs, and exploits (considering the high number of false positives, Malwarebytes also stores information about legitimate software)
While Malwarebytes claims all this information is collected for a reason, we doubt whether they really need it. For example, one of their justifications for data collection is to detect patterns in malware attacks. Any user who’s just looking to protect their own device doesn’t benefit from this.
Moreover, while reviewing Bitdefender Antivirus, another great service provider, we found out that this data is not necessary to keep the antivirus software functioning.
When it comes to third-party access, Malwarebytes generally doesn’t share this information with just anyone. However, information is shared with its service providers, Amazon Web Services and Google Analytics. On top of this, the company will share your data with government authorities and private parties when they deem this necessary. They are not obliged to inform you of this.
Justifications for data exchange include:
- Judicial procedures
- Legal requests, including warrants and subpoenas
- Intellectual property protection
- Prevention of illegal or unethical activity
Usability: How User-Friendly is Malwarebytes Premium?
Malwarebytes Premium is easy to use, download, and cancel. There’s a free trial period, as well as a money-back guarantee. On top of that, the website and apps are easy on the eyes and a breeze to navigate.
For this reason, the antivirus scanner got an 8.5/10 for usability based on our Malwarebytes review. Here are a couple of points to take note of:
- The installation process is easy and straightforward.
- The app is well-organized and offers great extras for advanced users.
- There’s a free trial period and a money-back guarantee.
- Malwarebytes does not have a live chat function.
How do I install Malwarebytes Premium?
The Malwarebytes website is clean and well-structured. The homepage gives some basic information about the antivirus software and instantly shows you how to get Malwarebytes Free, which includes a 14-day free trial of Malwarebytes Premium for Windows users. We could also view the pricing of the Premium plans and subscribe to one of those directly.
From the homepage, we could download Malwarebytes easily. These are the steps you have to follow to download the Malwarebytes software:
- Click on the “>Free Download” button on the Malwarebytes website and run the installation file on your device to install the antivirus.
- Follow the installation wizard. If you’re using a Mac, you’ll likely need to input your system password. Once the installation is over, you’ll get a button to “Open Malwarebytes.”
- Click “Get Started” and sign up for a free trial if you’re using a Windows device.
- You’ll be directed to the Malwarebytes app dashboard and can jump straight into a full scan of your device.
Keep in mind:
If you’re on a Mac, you’ll need to give Malwarebytes full disk access. The software will guide you on how to do this in “System Preferences,” and you’ll need the settings toggled to a full scan.
Malwarebytes software
While conducting our Malwarebytes review, we noticed that the software has a simple interface that any user will quickly get the hang of. It’s well-organized, so even beginners should have no trouble navigating and tweaking the settings.
We saw three panels on the home screen, namely:
- Detection History: This shows a summary report of any recently detected threats.
- Scanner: You can use this feature to start manual, quick, or custom scans.
- Real-Time Protection: This setting indicates whether you are protected in real-time or not.
We found that the Settings screen lets you play around with a few options, too.
Each tab on the Settings screen has its own features:
- General: This is where you can manage the general settings, including connecting to the internet via a proxy server.
- Notifications: Here is where you can select how often and in what instances Malwarebytes can notify you.
- Security: An overview of various security settings, including how often to check for threat intelligence updates, whether to quarantine malicious software and several scan options.
- Display: A feature with the software’s visual settings, including the theme.
- Allow list: This is a list of files that Malwarebytes will skip in the next scan if you’ve marked them as safe.
- Account: A setting that has the details of your subscription.
- About: This section includes the version of Malwarebytes you’re currently running.
We found it all pretty self-explanatory and simple to use. If you still run into issues, you can click the “Help” icon (question mark in the top right corner) and contact customer support.
Malwarebytes for businesses
For corporate customers, Malwarebytes uses Nebula, a cloud-based security platform that can ensure protection in every use case. It can be used on Windows devices and Android phones just as easily, and it guarantees seal-tight security for businesses looking to protect their assets. More recently, they’ve expanded their offering with enhanced mobile device protection.
This includes higher security for Android, iOS, iPad, and Chromebook devices, as well as time-saving features and unification of endpoint security management. If you want to find out more, click the button below to check out Malwarebytes for businesses.
How easy is it to cancel Malwarebytes Premium?
Malwarebytes automatically renews your subscription, but canceling your plan is very easy, as we discovered during our Malwarebytes Premium review. All you need to do is follow these steps:
- Log into your Malwarebytes account.
- Open the Settings menu from the corkscrew in the top-right corner of the screen.
- Go to “Account.”
- Click “Deactivate.”
NOTE:
If you got the free trial, you’ll want to do this before the 14 days are up, to avoid being charged.
Malwarebytes Premium also offers a 60-day money-back guarantee. To request a refund for a subscription you have purchased, you can create a support ticket on the website within 60 days from when you first bought your plan.
Malwarebytes Premium customer support
During our Malwarebytes review, we noticed that when we clicked on the “Help” icon in Malwarebytes, we were automatically taken to the Malwarebytes troubleshooting webpage. Here, you can find various topics to browse through to find a solution to your problem. Unfortunately, there is no live chat.
If you’d like to contact customer support, you can submit a support ticket. This will provide you with more personalized assistance. To submit a ticket, you have to fill out a form and give your email address. We got a response to our ticket after two days.
While the advice was useful, it can be frustrating to wait for replies when you’re facing an urgent issue.
Speed and Performance: Will Malwarebytes Premium Slow Down My System?
Malwarebytes Premium loses points when it comes to speed and performance. After several tests on different devices, we decided we could only give it a 6.5/10 for performance.
Here’s what we found out during our Malwarebytes Premium review:
- Most custom scans may take a long time to complete, although sometimes they finished quickly during our tests.
- Custom scans put a big strain on your CPU.
- On macOS devices, you can limit the software from using up so many resources.
How long does a scan take?
A Quick Scan only took one to four minutes. A Custom Scan, however, can take much longer. In our slowest test, Malwarebytes took 1 hour and 49 minutes to scan 506,089 files. For comparison, during our McAfee review, the antivirus managed to do a full scan of 280,000 files in under fifteen minutes.
However, we did test Malwarebytes several times and observed that it was sometimes able to finish a full scan in under fifteen minutes too.
Keep in mind that the speed of a scan depends on your device’s specifications. There are a couple of factors that play a part:
- The number of files you’re scanning
- How much RAM your computer has available
- Your device’s CPU model and performance
We used a computer with an Intel Core i5-10300H CPU, 16 GB RAM DDR4, and SSD storage with Windows 11 21H2 64-bit.
How does Malwarebytes Premium impact my CPU?
When using the Malwarebytes security software, we did not notice any system performance issues on Mac. The program ran seamlessly in the background and did not cause any strain on the system.
If you’re using macOS, you have the option to adjust how much processing power Malwarebytes uses during a system scan. The software’s settings will allow you to choose between High, Medium, and Low. The High setting means the scan will be completed faster, but it might impact performance to a certain extent.
As you can see, CPU usage was about 2% when Malwarebytes was running in the background during our tests. However, when scanning, this went up to about 30%, a significant increase. Fortunately, this did not affect other apps, and our system continued to function smoothly. It’s worth noting that when testing Sophos Home, the software only took up between 0.4% and 0.9% of our CPU during a scan.
On a Windows PC, however, we noticed a huge difference with Malwarebytes. Our CPU use ran all the way up to 75% and 90% when running a full scan. On top of that, it took up about 900MB of the RAM. This is strikingly high and negatively affected our daily activities.
Final Verdict: Is Malwarebytes Premium a Good Virus Scanner?
Based on our Malwarebytes review, we can conclude that Malwarebytes Premium is a decent antivirus. Both the desktop app and the Browser Guard extension are easy to use, and the security features offered can protect you from most online threats.
It’s great that you have a free 14-day free trial at your disposal and that there’s a 60-day money-back guarantee on the Premium subscription.
However, Malwarebytes is not the best antivirus solution on the market. The provider keeps many logs and isn’t the most privacy-sensitive service. On top of that, the threat scan can be a strain on your system. Older computers or devices with less CPU power can suffer from tremendous lagging.
But, with an overall score of 6.9/10, Malwarebytes offers sufficient protection against online threats and, the pricier subscription gives you access to several handy security features.
If you still haven’t settled on an anti-malware solution, have a look at our reviews for our top antivirus programs below:
Do you have a question about Malwarebytes? We’re happy to help. Just click on a question below to see the answer.
Malwarebytes Free is simply a virus scanner that works well at getting rid of existing infections. However, it does not offer real-time protection, so it won’t protect your computer from new malware. If you want better overall protection, we recommend getting Malwarebytes Premium.
You don’t specifically need Malwarebytes when you use Windows 10. However, it’s a good security tool to help you clean up malware infections. It works well on Windows 10 and is easy to use.
The Premium version also offers real-time protection to shield your system against threats like viruses, ransomware, phishing, and so on.
We reviewed Malwarebytes Premium and found that it’s a pretty decent antivirus. It helps you clean up infections in your system and offers real-time protection against threats. However, it doesn’t have a firewall, parental controls, or other such features provided by competing software.
Yes, Malwarebytes is well-known antivirus software that’s safe to use on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. It can help protect your device against threats like viruses, adware, exploit attacks, and ransomware. However, there are better antivirus solutions out there that offer more well-rounded protection.
Malwarebytes has a free version. Malwarebytes Free is a safe, manual virus scanner. If you want real-time protection, however, you will have to get a Malwarebytes Premium subscription.
This will provide you with additional features, such as an ad blocker and Wi-Fi protection. Read our Malwarebytes Premium review to find out more.
The free version of Malwarebytes antivirus does not offer real-time protection. This means you’re not automatically protected from malware. The manual scans that Malwarebytes Free offers are safe and reliable, though.
Malwarebytes Premium offers good protection, but there are two main issues with the virus scanner:
- Malwarebytes has many false positives, where legitimate software gets flagged as malicious.
- Malwarebytes takes up a lot of your RAM, which slows down your PC.
No, Malwarebytes is not the best antivirus scanner. Other antivirus programs, such as Norton, offer more security features, such as a firewall and webcam protection. Check out our top five best antivirus scanners for more recommendations.
