Is Malwarebytes Good? Our Malwarebytes Review for 2026

How well does Malwarebytes protect?

Malwarebytes protects well against malware: Malwarebytes Premium scored 6/6 for protection, 6/6 for performance and 6/6 for usability in AV-TEST’s July–August 2026 Windows 11 round.

Malwarebytes is back in the lab rounds after a gap. AV-TEST’s history lists no Malwarebytes Windows result between October 2023 and April 2026, when Malwarebytes Premium scored 5.5/6 for protection. AV-Comparatives included Malwarebytes Premium in its 2026 Windows tests too.

The false alarms are the catch. AV-Comparatives tested 400 live attacks and counted 39 safe files or sites wrongly blocked by Malwarebytes, and lowered its award for it; in the March 2026 Malware Protection Test it labelled Malwarebytes’ 23 false alarms “very many.” A false alarm means a safe program or website gets blocked until you allow it.

Malwarebytes Free vs Premium

Malwarebytes Free finds and removes malware that is already on your computer, while the paid plans stop it before it gets in. Malwarebytes’ own feature table splits it like this:

So Malwarebytes Free works as a second-opinion scanner next to the antivirus you already run, such as Microsoft Defender. On its own, the free app leaves you without real-time protection.

How much Malwarebytes costs

Malwarebytes Standard works out to $20 per device per year across 3 devices (our arithmetic on the published price), and the pricing page shows no first-year discount on Standard or Plus.

Malwarebytes turns on auto-renewal by default and emails a reminder with the amount 30 days before a yearly renewal. Its license agreement says the 60-day money-back guarantee covers new subscriptions bought from Malwarebytes, not renewals.

Is Malwarebytes safe and still trustworthy?

Malwarebytes is safe, legitimate software from a US company based in Santa Clara, California, and AV-TEST certified Malwarebytes Premium in its August 2026 Windows round. Marcin Kleczynski, who wrote the first version of the code, still leads the company, according to Malwarebytes. In January 2021 Malwarebytes disclosed that the nation-state actor implicated in the SolarWinds breach had accessed a limited subset of its internal company emails through a dormant email protection product in its Office 365 tenant; it found no evidence of compromise in its source code, build and delivery processes or production environments and said its software remained safe to use.

Get the app only from malwarebytes.com, Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Apps bought through Apple or Google are billed, refunded and cancelled through those stores, not Malwarebytes.

Malwarebytes vs Norton, McAfee and Defender

Malwarebytes costs more than Norton or McAfee in year one and trails them on false alarms and PC speed in AV-Comparatives’ 2026 tests (see the lab table above), but it shows no first-year discount that later expires.

Norton and McAfee renew at the higher prices in the table; Malwarebytes publishes no separate renewal price. Our comparison of Norton and McAfee covers both side by side, our verdict on whether Norton is good covers Norton alone, and our review of whether McAfee is good covers McAfee on its own. If you’re weighing a paid app against the built-in option, read whether Windows Defender is enough.

What are the cons of Malwarebytes?

Malwarebytes’ biggest downside is false alarms: it wrongly blocked more safe files and sites than Norton, McAfee or Defender in AV-Comparatives’ 2026 tests.

• Slower PC: an impact score of 19.1 in September 2026, 14th of 20 products (lower is better).
• No refund on renewals: the 60-day guarantee covers new purchases only.
• Extras cost more: an unlimited VPN needs Plus; identity protection needs Ultimate.
• Auto-renewal on by default: turn it off in your Malwarebytes account; canceled plans stay active until they expire.

Malwarebytes on Mac, iPhone and Android

Malwarebytes sells apps for Mac, iPhone and Android, but its 2026 lab results cover Windows only.

• Mac: neither AV-TEST nor AV-Comparatives included Malwarebytes in its 2026 Mac rounds. See our Mac antivirus guide.
• iPhone: the iOS app offers web protection, ad blocking and scam filtering rather than virus scanning. Our iPhone antivirus guide compares the iOS apps.
• Android: AV-TEST’s most recent Malwarebytes Android result dates from 2020. For Android apps on ChromeOS, see our Chromebook antivirus options.