Best Antivirus 2026: A Tight Race, but Two Providers Lead the Pack

Bitdefender was our Editors’ Choice for best antivirus in 2025 and again in 2026 (tied with Malwarebytes) thanks to its intuitive navigation, low resource usage and rapid scans. Bitdefender’s cybersecurity suites provide tools for protecting yourself from ad trackers, controlling where your data is stored online and learning about data breaches as they happen.

Who it’s for

Bitdefender is ideal for anyone looking for an antivirus that provides solid protection without impacting their computer’s performance. Its data monitoring and removal tools make it a great choice if you want more control over where your data appears online, too. Additionally, people in the US with significant financial assets can leverage Bitdefender’s higher-tier plans to access identity theft protection.

Why we like it

Bitdefender boasts excellent malware protection, consistently scoring top marks from third-party lab tests by AV-Test and AV-Comparatives. My own testing showed that Bitdefender uses minimal system resources, allowing me to continue my daily activities without issue -- it used less than 1% of my CPU while running in the background and less than 10% of CPU power during active scans. Moreover, Bitdefender’s comprehensive cybersecurity tools include tools for safer browsing, data monitoring and identity theft protection.

I enjoyed using most of Bitdefender’s tools during my tests. The safe browsing extension blocks several types of trackers without compromising your browsing experience. The digital footprint helps you see where your data is stored online and send data removal requests, though McAfee’s online data removal tools are more comprehensive. Dark web monitoring tells you what’s been compromised -- going back several years -- so you can adjust passwords and other information as needed. 

People in the US can further benefit from Bitdefender’s credit monitoring and identity theft protection, which is available on some of the higher-tier plans. This includes up to $2 million of identity theft insurance.

Who should look elsewhere

You may want to skip Bitdefender if you have a lot of devices, as Bitdefender’s plans have a strict five-device limit. Meanwhile, McAfee provides unlimited device protection and Norton covers up to 10 devices on some comparable plans. You could circumvent this by buying a family plan, which allows for up to 25 devices for an extra $30 to $100 per year (depending on the plan). Bitdefender’s antivirus-focused plans still provide good value with this upgrade, but the broader cybersecurity suites become more expensive than similar plans from Norton.

Like most antivirus companies, Bitdefender’s VPN falls short in comparison to standalone VPNs. It was slow, causing a 39.78% speed loss during my tests, well above our recommended maximum of 25%. Furthermore, a Bitdefender representative told me its VPN undergoes third-party audits but didn’t share links to them, so we can’t confirm the effectiveness of its no-logs policy. Unfortunately, most VPNs from antivirus-first companies have similar issues, so we recommend buying a separate VPN.

Pricing

You can use Bitdefender for free, while its paid plans range from $25 for the first year (renewing at $50 a year) for entry-level Antivirus Plus to $200 a year (renewing at $350 annually) for a comprehensive Bitdefender Security Plus suite with full family coverage. These prices are lower than what you’ll pay for similar packages from companies like Norton and McAfee, though you can get better value from Malwarebytes if you have three or fewer devices.

Personally, I recommend Bitdefender Total Security for most people since it gives you the most bang for your buck. Bitdefender Total Security costs $60 in the first year and $110 a year after, with antivirus coverage for five devices plus tools to protect you from scams and data breaches.

If you want an all-encompassing plan, you can sign up for Bitdefender Ultimate Security Plus, which costs $120 for the first year (renewing at $190 a year). You’ll get credit monitoring, identity monitoring and identity theft restoration, plus identity theft protection of up to $1 million. There’s also an Extended version with $2 million of identity theft insurance and investment monitoring, which costs $140 in the first year and $250 per year after. Unfortunately, these plans only have antivirus coverage for five devices, but you can spring for a family plan.

Bitdefender has family versions of every plan, which extend coverage to up to 25 devices and six users. Most of these plans cost around $30 more per year than their counterparts for individuals, with the family version of Bitdefender Total Security starting at $80 for the first year and rising to $140 a year on renewal.

Once a simple malware scanner, Malwarebytes is now a robust antivirus tool -- and you can buy it bundled with several other cybersecurity and identity protection tools. Malwarebytes' antivirus performed admirably during my 2026 testing and, combined with significant improvements in customer support, brought its ranking into a tie with Bitdefender as our Editors’ Choice winner for best antivirus.

Who it’s best for

Malwarebytes is an excellent choice for anyone who wants reliable security software for three or fewer devices, especially international users who also want identity protection tools. People concerned with privacy will also appreciate Malwarebytes’ data monitoring tools and consumer-friendly privacy policies.

Why we like it

Malwarebytes offers reliable malware protection, an excellent slate of cybersecurity tools and intuitive apps. Like Bitdefender, Malwarebytes performed well in lab testing from AV-Comparatives, and even won the 2025 Product of the Year Award from the AVLab Cybersecurity Foundation. Malwarebytes was also light on system resources during my testing, using less than 1% of CPU power while idling and just 8% of my CPU during active scans, letting me continue my work while Malwarebytes did its thing.

Overall, Malwarebytes is highly effective. The safe browsing extension blocked numerous trackers without impeding my browsing experience. Scam Guard quickly and accurately detected signs of a scam in the email I submitted, providing a full explanation to help me identify scams in the future. The Windows optimization tools gave me a simple way to improve my privacy and security settings without diving deep into the Windows interface.

As a Canadian resident, I appreciated that Malwarebytes offers identity theft protection to people outside of the US. The exact nature of these identity theft tools will vary based on the financial infrastructure used in your country (some credit bureaus, for example, only operate in the US), but you’ll generally be able to track everything from your email address to your credit cards to specific pieces of ID like your passport. Moreover, the interface is highly intuitive, with instant alerts and continuous monitoring.

Who should look elsewhere

Malwarebytes individual plans default to three devices, so you’ll have to pay more to extend coverage to more devices on an individual plan, or select a pricier family plan for more coverage. For cheaper coverage, consider a competitor -- I recommend Bitdefender’s individual plans if you have four or five devices and its family plans if you have more devices.

As a Canadian resident, I was disappointed that I couldn’t take advantage of Malwarebytes’s personal data remover tool. Likewise, international users may also be frustrated by the inability to access the personal data remover, a tool that helps US folks remove their information from places like data brokers and people finder websites. You can use Bitdefender or McAfee to access similar tools from outside of the US.

Malwarebytes’ VPN was slow in my experience, causing an average 41.89% speed loss during my testing, making my internet downright unusable when set to servers far from my location. This is much higher than our recommended maximum of 25%. However, dramatic speed loss is common in VPNs from antivirus-first companies, so we recommend buying a separate VPN regardless of the antivirus you choose.

Pricing

Malwarebytes plans range from $45 a year for single-device antivirus coverage to $250 for the first year (renewing at $500 a year) for a comprehensive cybersecurity bundle on a family plan. Notably, only the highest-tier plan has an introductory discount, whereas other antivirus companies provide introductory discounts on all of their plans. As such, you’ll often pay more for Malwarebytes in the first year compared to rivals, but its long-term prices for three-device plans are similar to -- or more affordable than -- renewal costs for other antiviruses.

I recommend the entry-level Standard plan for most people, as it includes Malwarebytes’ full antivirus with real-time protection and Windows optimization tools -- all of the foundational protection many folks will find useful. Standard for three devices costs $60 a year, which is similar to the long-term costs of most antivirus companies’ basic plans -- many of which only allow for one device. And this drops to just $45 a year for one device.

Those with advanced concerns about data privacy or identity theft can invest in Ultimate, starting at $140 a year and rising to $280 a year afterwards. Ultimate gives you full access to Malwarebytes’ data monitoring and identity theft protection tools, plus identity theft insurance of up to $2 million. Folks within the US will also get the Personal Data Remover. However, if you’re in the US and want identity theft coverage, I recommend Bitdefender Ultimate Security Plus (Extended) for similar protections with five-device coverage and a slightly lower price tag.

Malwarebytes’ family plans protect for 10 devices, plus the option to extend coverage to 20 devices for an additional fee. The family version of Standard costs $120 a year. The family version of Ultimate, which also lets you set up separate accounts for two adults and 10 kids, costs $200 for the first year and rises to $300 a year on renewal.

Norton is an industry titan with decades in the antivirus space that has now expanded to offer comprehensive security suites. Its antivirus, safe browsing tools and parental controls are highly effective, but Norton’s privacy and identity protection tools are limited, especially for international users.

Who it’s best for

Norton is ideal for anyone seeking parental control software that lets you restrict their screen time and prevent them from accessing unsafe sites. Antivirus coverage for 10-plus devices further increases Norton’s value for parents, as you can make sure your kids’ devices are protected alongside your own. This high device limit also makes Norton a good choice for anyone with more than five devices.

Why we like it

During my tests, I was impressed with Norton’s high security scores from third-party labs, fast scans and unique features, especially for families. While Norton’s antivirus can be more system resource-intensive than competitors, its scans are fast, making the increased resource usage a fair trade for most people. I clocked higher CPU usage while idling and scanning, but blazing-fast deep scans.

Norton’s safe browser offers strong protection and additional tools like a built-in notes app to enhance your browsing experience. Norton Genie (which is actually available for free) effectively identifies scams and shares signs you can use to identify scams in the future. You’ll also get effective device optimization tools for updating software, cleaning up junk files and controlling the apps that launch during your computer’s startup process.

Furthermore, Norton has two tools you won’t get from other antivirus companies on this list: Norton Family and cloud backups. Norton Family can be installed on your children’s devices to control their screen time and the websites they can visit, plus view their online activity to understand what your kids are up to. Cloud backups are used to keep your most sensitive data off-site, though the maximum data offered is just 250GB, so you may need a separate cloud protection service to keep all of your files safe.

Who should look elsewhere

Because of its higher CPU usage, folks with older or underpowered devices may want to consider a provider with lower system resource consumption, like Malwarebytes or Bitdefender. You may also want to skip Norton if you have other reasons to be concerned about resource usage, such as a frequent need to perform high-resource activities like video editing.

Additionally, Norton’s privacy monitoring tools are limited unless you purchase a separate Privacy Monitoring Assistant, and its identity monitoring tools aren’t available outside of the US. I recommend Bitdefender, Malwarebytes or McAfee for better privacy protection tools. International users can also turn to Malwarebytes or McAfee for identity theft protection.

Pricing

A Norton plan runs you anywhere from around $30 a year for basic Antivirus Plus (renewing at $60 annually) to about $300 (renewing at $365 a year) for a comprehensive cybersecurity package like Norton 360 with LifeLock Ultimate Plus. Norton’s plans are generally more expensive than similar plans from companies like Malwarebytes and Bitdefender, though their unique benefits, like parental controls, can make the extra cost worthwhile.

Norton 360 Standard provides the best value for the average person, giving you antivirus protection for three devices, 2GB of cloud backups and dark web monitoring for $40 in the first year and $95 a year afterward. You can combine this with Norton’s free safe browsing tools and Norton Genie for more robust protection.

Parents and guardians will want to invest in Norton 360 Deluxe, which adds basic privacy monitoring and parental controls through Norton Family, plus antivirus protection for up to five devices. Cloud backups also rise to 50GB on this plan. Norton 360 Deluxe costs $50 in the first year and $125 a year afterward.

People in the US with high-level assets and concerns about identity theft can invest in Norton 360 with LifeLock Ultimate Plus for $300 in the first year and $365 a year afterward. While this is more expensive than comprehensive cybersecurity suites from companies like Bitdefender and Malwarebytes, it also comes with a higher level of identity theft insurance -- up to $3 million across different types of payments -- and protection for unlimited devices.

McAfee has been building antivirus software since 1987, and like other early antivirus companies, it has since grown to offer a variety of cybersecurity tools. In fact, those additional tools -- specifically McAfee’s online account cleanup tool -- are compelling reasons to sign up for McAfee despite its antivirus’s atrocious system resource consumption during scans.

Who it’s best for

McAfee is great for people who are concerned about where their personal data is available online, especially folks who’ve been online for a long time and haven’t always been discerning about where they’ve created accounts. You may also want to consider McAfee if you’re outside the US and seeking identity theft protection bundled with your antivirus, or you have more than 10 devices to protect.

Why we like it

McAfee delivers excellent antivirus protection alongside handy privacy features, like an account cleanup app and data removal tool. So, despite its excessive CPU usage during some scans, McAfee is a worthy consideration for privacy- and security-minded folks. 

McAfee’s online account cleanup tool scans the internet for accounts connected to your email address and compiles them all in one place. My scan revealed hundreds of accounts going back almost the entire 20 years I’ve had my current email account, assessed them for risk levels, and created a tiered list to help me clear them out. This is my favorite non-antivirus tool from any company on this list.

Personal Data Cleanup does a separate search for your information on data broker sites so you can request its removal (or, if you’re on the McAfee Plus Ultimate plan, have McAfee request removal for you). Identity monitoring scours the rest of the web, including the dark web, for data breaches, while the social media privacy manager lets you quickly optimize your privacy settings on a variety of social media platforms.

McAfee provides solid identity theft protection tools, including identity theft insurance of up to $2 million. I was especially pleased to see these tools included with Canadian plans, suggesting that international users can turn to McAfee for identity theft protection as well as antivirus protection.

Who should look elsewhere

McAfee’s not great if you want to run scans while actively using your computer, and I found its privacy features underwhelming. By default, McAfee has “Fast scanning” enabled, which means it will use more resources to finish scans faster. And by more resources, it means pretty much all of them: scans run with this feature enabled used between 70% and 90% of my CPU power. Worse, one of my deep scans with fast scanning enabled took a full hour and left my computer functionally unusable for that entire time.

Both quick scans and deep scans with the default settings used between 30% and 70% of CPU power. The low end of that range is much lower than the 70% minimum used during fast scans, but still enough to interfere with high-resource activities like video editing. My first deep scan also took 5 hours, much longer than the deep scans of any other antivirus I tested. My test computer only had around 50GB of data on its hard drive, so I can only imagine how much longer this would take for a computer storing more information.

McAfee may not be a great choice for privacy-focused folks, either. I found no evidence of the WebAdvisor plugin blocking trackers, something both Bitdefender’s and Malwarebytes’ safe browsing extensions did. The VPN caused major speed loss -- an average of 46%, almost double our recommended maximum of 25% -- and lacked advanced privacy features like obfuscated servers (which is why we recommend buying a separate VPN). The privacy policies are also unusually obtuse, making it difficult to understand how McAfee protects user data.

Pricing

McAfee can be a great value for people with a lot of devices to cover, because it protects unlimited devices on almost every plan without paying additional fees. Even family plans from other companies typically restrict you to 20 or 25 devices, so McAfee’s unlimited device coverage can be beneficial for those with large families and numerous devices. By comparison, many competitors restrict you to a handful of devices on individual plans, forcing you to pay more for additional device coverage.

McAfee’s individual plans range in price from $30 to $150 in the first year and $90 to $280 a year after, with almost all of these plans covering unlimited devices. You can purchase a family plan to give up to five additional family members login credentials and, on the higher-tier plans, protections for their identities. Family plans range from $70 to $200 in the first year and $170 to $425 a year afterward.

I recommend McAfee Plus Advanced -- priced at $100 in the first year and $200 a year afterward -- for most people, as this is the most affordable plan that includes the online account cleanup and data removal tools. You’ll also get credit monitoring, identity restoration support and up to $1 million of identity theft protection.

You can invest in McAfee Plus Ultimate to increase your identity theft protection to $2 million and gain investment monitoring features. This plan costs $150 for the first year and $280 per year afterward, and while the prices may vary based on region, the features themselves are available outside of the US. However, you can get a more affordable plan with similar features from Bitdefender if you’re based in the US and have fewer than five devices.

AVG is a freemium antivirus company that’s our pick for the best free antivirus option on the market. The premium plans aren’t as advantageous for most people because they lack identity monitoring tools, but they do include more advanced device optimization tools.

Who it’s best for

AVG is a good choice for budget-conscious folks who want fundamental device protections and tools for improving device performance.

Why we like it

During my testing, I appreciated AVG’s great antivirus protection, but even more so, its safe browsing and device optimization utilities, which set it apart from rivals. I was able to quickly run a scan and return to what I was doing. Plus, lab tests from AV-Comparatives show that AVG is extremely effective.

The safe browser is similar to Norton’s, providing robust protection from ad trackers and other spyware alongside tools like a notes app. You can also set up AntiTrack to block spyware while you’re using other browsers like Chrome and Firefox.

However, the real standout feature of AVG is TuneUp. TuneUp scans your computer for various issues like junk files, corrupted files and unused apps, letting you fix all of these problems with a couple of clicks. There’s also a data recovery section where you can restore lost or corrupted files, plus a data shredder you can use to overwrite sensitive files with meaningless data so your information can’t be accessed even if someone restores your files.

Who should look elsewhere

If you need data monitoring and identity protection, you’ll want to select a different provider with more reliable bundles, or go the a la carte route, using AVG for antivirus, but sourcing data and identity protection services elsewhere. I was also underwhelmed with the responsiveness of customer support; if you expect to regularly need support, I recommend Bitdefender or Malwarebytes.

AVG’s data monitoring and identity protection tools aren’t included with its antivirus bundles, forcing you to purchase them separately -- a minor annoyance for most, but a major annoyance for some. Furthermore, AVG’s identity theft insurance caps out at $1 million, so people with particularly high assets might want to choose a company like Bitdefender or Malwarebytes. These tools are also US-only; we recommend Malwarebytes or McAfee for international users seeking identity protection.

AVG’s VPN had less dramatic speed loss than others from antivirus-first companies, but it still came in at 26%, more than our recommended maximum of 25%. Moreover, AVG’s VPN lacks advanced privacy features like obfuscated servers and there are no third-party audits we can use to confirm its no-logs policy, so we recommend purchasing a separate VPN. 

Pricing

AVG’s core antivirus and safe browser can be accessed for free, giving you more protection than the free version of Bitdefender, which only includes the antivirus. You can purchase an Internet Security one-device antivirus plan for $40 in the first year ($78 per year afterward), with a 10-device option that costs just $60 in the first year (renewing at $100 per year)r

While the company’s 10-device Internet Security plan costs less than comparable plans from competitors, I recommend AVG Ultimate, which is also $60 in the first year (but renews at $150 per year). AVG Ultimate’s long-term cost is high for a plan without data monitoring, but its 10-device coverage and access to AVG TuneUp still make it valuable for some.

People in the US can purchase identity monitoring from AVG for $90 in the first year and $100 per year afterward. If bundled with AVG Ultimate, this brings your total cost to $150 for the first year and $250 per year afterward. This is pretty reasonable when compared to comprehensive cybersecurity suites from other companies -- especially since it’s accompanied by 10-device coverage -- but I’d still recommend Bitdefender or Malwarebytes for most people because they offer better antivirus performance.

A 2026 CNET Editors’ Choice winner, Bitdefender is intuitive, easy to use and has a light footprint on your computer’s operating system. They offer multipronged threat protection using antivirus software and scam detection that analyzes your emails and text for signs of fraud. Bitdefender offers three affordable subscription tiers where you can bundle your antivirus with a VPN, identity theft protection or dark web monitoring. Right now, you can save up to 62% on your first year of Bitdefender when you sign up for an annual plan.