Antivirus for iPhone: Do You Need It, and Which Apps Are Worth It?

Not every product on the market. Links go to each vendor’s official site unless marked as partner links. How we rank Not ranked: AVG Mobile Security (its App Store description lists no scam or malicious-link blocking).

Ties share a rank and are listed A–Z. Prices are the lowest in-app purchase each US App Store listing labels as yearly; a feature in the next table can need a higher tier than that price. No independent lab tests iPhone security apps, so we don’t rank protection.

Features as each vendor lists them in its US App Store description, checked October 24, 2026. “Not listed” means the description doesn’t mention it.

Do you need antivirus for iPhone?

Most iPhones don’t need antivirus, because Apple says “all third-party apps are sandboxed”, which is designed to stop an app reading or changing data stored by other apps. The same wall that blocks malware also blocks a scanner, so no App Store app can inspect your other apps or files the way Windows antivirus does.

Apple adds more layers on top of the sandbox:

• App Store review: Apple runs automated scans for known malware and has people review apps before they’re listed.
• Security updates: iOS can download and install updates automatically (Settings > General > Software Update > Automatic Updates).
• Lockdown Mode: an optional setting from iOS 16 for the few people who may be personally targeted by advanced spyware. Apple warns that apps, sites and features will work differently with it on.

Independent labs don’t fill the gap either. AV-TEST’s mobile tests cover Android only; its most recent round, July 2026, evaluated Android security products and no iPhone apps.

What iPhone security apps actually do (and can’t do)

iPhone security apps protect the edges of your phone, the links, texts, networks and accounts, rather than scanning the phone itself.

What they can do:

• Block known phishing and scam sites (Bitdefender says its filter covers traffic from every app, not just the browser).
• Flag or filter scam and spam texts.
• Check whether the Wi-Fi network you’re on looks unsafe.
• Alert you when your email address or passwords show up in a data breach.
• Run a VPN that encrypts your traffic on public Wi-Fi.

What they can’t do:

• Scan other apps or your files for malware.
• Stop you from typing your password into a convincing fake site the filter hasn’t seen yet.

The 7 iPhone security apps compared

Each app below is listed in the ranking order above (AVG, unranked, comes last), with its lowest confirmed yearly App Store price and what its description says the iPhone version includes.

Avast One

Avast One costs $19.99 a year on its cheapest yearly App Store plan, and higher yearly tiers are listed as well. The iOS app lists Web Guard for scam and malware links, Network Inspector for Wi-Fi, Hack Alert for password leaks and the SecureLine VPN. Safe SMS and Call Guard sit in the Scam Guardian Pro tier. Best for someone who wants most of the features on one inexpensive plan.

Norton 360 for iOS

Norton 360 for iOS has a yearly Norton Mobile Security plan at $19.99 on the App Store, with Norton 360 for Mobile and Norton 360 Deluxe plans priced higher. The app lists Safe Web, Safe SMS, Safe Call for scam calls, a Wi-Fi check, a device check for an outdated iOS or missing passcode, and dark web monitoring. Norton says feature availability varies by plan and country, so check which plan includes the VPN before you buy.

Bitdefender Mobile Security

Bitdefender Mobile Security costs $29.99 a year on the App Store. Its web protection covers traffic from every app, not only the browser, and it flags phishing in messages and “calendar virus” spam events. The built-in VPN gives 200MB of free traffic a day; unlimited VPN is a separate yearly purchase.

McAfee Security

McAfee Security has a yearly Standard subscription at $29.99 on the App Store, plus pricier Plus, Advanced and Total Protection plans. McAfee’s free tier is the most useful of the free options here: a Wi-Fi scan, an identity scan and a system scan. The Basic plan adds the VPN, safe browsing and basic identity monitoring. Credit monitoring and data-broker cleanup belong to the expensive McAfee+ plans, which overlap with identity theft protection services.

TotalAV

TotalAV lists an annual plan at $47.90 on the App Store, and a second yearly plan at a higher price. The free version includes a data breach check, a device check and a calendar-spam check. WebShield (link blocking in all browsers), QR code checks, spam-text filtering and the VPN are Premium features. Our full TotalAV review covers its renewal pricing.

Malwarebytes Mobile Security

Malwarebytes Mobile Security sells a 3-device Standard plan at $59.99 a year on the App Store, the same yearly price Malwarebytes prints on its own site. The App Store also shows a cheaper single “Standard” item without a billing period, so we don’t rank on it. The iOS app lists web protection, an ad blocker, scam-text and robocall filtering, a VPN and a digital footprint scan.

AVG Mobile Security

AVG Mobile Security starts at $19.99 a year on the App Store, but it isn’t ranked because its description lists no unsafe-link blocking. Avast and AVG are sister brands, but AVG’s iPhone description lists fewer features: password-leak alerts, an encrypted photo vault, a Wi-Fi check and a VPN in the Premium version. Skip AVG if you mainly want scam-link or scam-text blocking; its description mentions neither.

Best free option for iPhone

The best free protection is the one already on your iPhone: automatic iOS updates, the app sandbox and App Store screening cost nothing, much as with antivirus on a Chromebook. Among apps, McAfee’s free tier adds a Wi-Fi scan and an identity scan, and TotalAV’s free tier adds a data breach check. Free tiers don’t block scam links or texts in either app.

For a free VPN alone, a dedicated VPN with a real free plan is a better fit than a security suite; see our NordVPN vs ProtonVPN comparison for one that has no data cap.

Is Norton or McAfee better for iPhone?

Norton is the cheaper start on iPhone: its yearly App Store plan costs $19.99 against $29.99 for McAfee’s Standard plan. Both list unsafe-link blocking, scam-message warnings, a Wi-Fi check, breach alerts and a VPN. Pick McAfee if you want something free first, since McAfee has a free tier with a Wi-Fi scan; Norton’s App Store listing offers a 7-day trial instead. Our antivirus hub covers both brands on computers, including a head-to-head Norton vs McAfee comparison.

How to check your iPhone for viruses

Checking an iPhone for malware takes four steps from Apple’s own support pages, and none of them needs an app.

1. Update iOS: Settings > General > Software Update, and turn on Automatic Updates there.
2. Delete unknown configuration profiles: Settings > General > VPN & Device Management. If you see no profiles, none are installed. Ask your employer before deleting a work profile.
3. Run Safety Check (iOS 16 or later) to review and stop what you share with people and apps.
4. Delete apps you don’t recognise, and turn on Lockdown Mode if you have reason to think you’re personally targeted.

A password manager also helps here, because it won’t autofill your password on a fake site; our Bitwarden vs 1Password comparison covers two good options.

Why we don’t list Kaspersky

Kaspersky isn’t on this list because the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security barred Kaspersky from selling its software to US customers in a determination announced June 20, 2024, and cut off its updates in the US from September 29, 2024.