There is a constant debate about if the Mac may or may not have a virus. If I still ask you: "Do I need better antivirus for my Mac?" The answer is yes.
Although Macs are less likely to become victims of a virus, it is important to keep them safe. You do not have to exaggerate with the antivirus tool you choose. In fact, you have many free options to consider. And for this reason, we have for you some of the best free antivirus for Mac. And no, they don't come with hidden tricks.
1.- Avast Security
This free antivirus for Mac is considered one of the best options for users. It comes loaded with features that work constantly to block any ransomware, viruses or malware that compromises the security of your computer.
When surfing the web, Avast Security will inform you when you encounter a potentially dangerous site and will also keep web crawlers away. Avast even avoids malicious emails and lets you know if there are security breaches in your Wi-Fi connection.
Since Avast Security is completely free on its own, it retains some additional features for the Premium plan, which is paid. You should only be careful when installing the free plan. Avast will try to add some expensive additional features during installation that you probably don't want.
2.- Bitdefender Virus Scanner
Bitdefender does not come with many details, but it is still a viable option as a free antivirus software for Mac. This antivirus is especially good for scanning specific files or applications.
It also allows you to skip files, which will give you a quick scan process. If it finds a threat, Bitdefender will quarantine it or delete it.
Bitdefender does not run alone, so you must manually request the software to perform scans. Fortunately, virus signatures are updated automatically every hour to ensure you have the latest protection.
The only drawback of Bitdefender is that it lacks the tools to protect your Mac online. To protect against dangerous websites or phishing emails, you should look for more complete antivirus software.
3.- Avira Free Antivirus
Avira not only thinks about the security of your Mac, but also considers the security of Windows users. Which makes it one of the best free antivirus programs for these two operating systems. It detects malware that can damage a computer, and in this way, you do not accidentally transmit any malware to any friend who uses a PC.
Although Avira is free, it still has tons of useful features. The real-time scanner is capable of scanning your entire computer or only specific files. If you want a more direct approach, you can even program the scanner to run at certain times.
Full system scanning can take a long time and tends to slow down your computer. So you will have to perform quick scans less complicated if you want to maintain the performance of your Mac.
4.- Sophos Home Free
By default, the Sophos Home Free plan comes with a 30-day trial of its premium version. You don't have to buy the premium version once the trial version ends, but you will lose a couple of features that you might have become accustomed to. Either way, you can still survive only with the free plan.
Sophos Home constantly monitors the status of your Mac. In addition, it searches for and detects any ransomware, malware, viruses, Trojans, worms, bots and more; That could damage your computer.
The Sophos Home antivirus also comes equipped with parental controls that allow you to prevent your children from accessing certain websites. You can have up to three devices (Mac or Windows) in the free plan, ensuring that everyone in your family has protection.
5.- AVG Antivirus
AVG's free protection is powerful enough to protect your Mac from malware and protect it when you're online. It can also prevent you from acquiring and transmitting PC or Android viruses. AVG automatically updates its virus database, so you will always have the most effective security.
That said, you won't need to open AVG daily. But it runs in the background and deflects any threat; like malicious emails, websites and downloads.
If you are looking for parental controls or webcam blockers, the free version of AVG will not have it. It simply offers scanning and detection functions, which is good enough for your basic security needs.
Unfortunately, full system scanning makes your computer run slowly, and you can expect it to take several minutes or hours to complete.
6.- Malwarebytes
Malwarebytes promises to scan a typical Mac in just under 30 seconds. If it finds something suspicious, it will provide you with a list of possible threats. So you can choose to have Malwarebytes ignore it or quarantine the files and delete them.
The free version of Malwarebytes can help you detect malware threats quickly, but it doesn't offer enough protection to use on its own.
Also, you will get a 14-day trial of Malwarebytes Premium, so you will have to pay if you want to have all its features in the future. On its own, the free plan is just a basic antivirus software: it simply identifies and eliminates any threat that endangers your PC.
7.- Comodo Antivirus
This antivirus software offers an easy-to-use interface and free protection for Your Mac. Verifying a file or application for viruses is as simple as dragging and dropping it in Comodo. It comes with a quick scan that ends in minutes and a total system scan that can take an hour or two to complete.
The programmer allows you to choose the hours you want to perform scans so that your computer does not stop working at the wrong time.
Like some of the other antivirus on this list, Comodo also keeps up to date with the latest virus signatures to protect you from all types of viruses.
Just remember that Comodo does not automatically protect you online. You will have to download the free Comodo Online Security browser extension if you wish to block any dangerous website.
Find one of the best free antivirus for Mac
Many Mac users think that their device is resistant to viruses, however, that is not the case. Even when your Mac is less likely to get a virus.
It is also possible that your Mac transmits malware to Windows and Android users. It does not hurt to install a free antivirus for your Mac, to avoid security breaches.