McAfee Antivirus Protection

If you’ve heard of one antivirus software, it’s most likely McAfee. But unfortunately, like many of its competitors, McAfee’s website is an overwhelming combination of many different products and prices, so it can be hard to find what you’re actually looking for. Well, we’ve compiled all this seemingly disparate information into one page to help you make your buying decision.

McAfee Antivirus: Is There Such Thing As A Free Lunch?

If you have a Windows PC, an iOS device or an Android device, then you’re in luck; McAfee gives Windows users a 30-day free trial of Total Protection, and there are completely free versions of both mobile apps. However, there’s no free version of the Windows app that lasts forever, so after the first month, you’ll need to pony up and pay.

Subscription Options for McAfee Antivirus

While Total Protection plans apply to Windows and macOS devices as well as browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Microsoft Edge, there are separate plans for iOS and Android, unless of course, you sign up for LiveSafe which covers them all. Confused? Sit down, because we have a ton of data to share with you.

Total Protection

We bought the Total Protection plan for $29.99 a month, but if we wanted to, we could’ve bundled with a VPN, parental controls, identity theft protection and some other premium features. However, note that if you want to buy the VPN, ID theft protection or parental controls on their own without the virus protection, those are options as well and we detail the prices below.

$29.99 for a year of Total Protection seemed like a good deal to us, but to learn more about our testing experience, read our McAfee antivirus review.

Android Mobile Security

With Android, there was a free option that could last indefinitely, but it only covers one device and lacks a VPN, safe web browsing, and some other features. However, for basic antivirus protection, we think the free Android Starter subscription is sufficient.

iOS Mobile Security

The deal worked the same way for iOS devices, with a free Starter subscription that covers one device. Again, if you want a simple scan of your iPhone or iPad, this plan will work for you for free.

LiveSafe

Yet another antivirus bundle is LiveSafe, which combines antivirus protection with a VPN, parental controls, identity theft protection, anti-spam software, a password manager, Web Advisor for safe browsing, optimization for PCs, and more. It covers as many devices as you want for a year, starting at $39.99 for the first year. But note that it only includes a VPN if you enlist in auto-enroll, a relatively new feature.

Sound familiar? Technically, LiveSafe has the same features as Total Protection, but the major difference is that LiveSafe is better for detecting viruses, indicators of identity theft and protecting your privacy; it also has encrypted storage, although it lacks the VPN of Total Protection unless you select auto-enroll, essentially signing up for two years. If you don’t need a VPN, LiveSafe is a much more cost-effective solution than Total Protection, covering all devices for just $39.99 (for the first year, anyway).

Gamer Security

Gamers will appreciate the antivirus software from Gamer Security; aside from detecting viruses, it also optimizes your device so that you minimize lag while gaming.

Small Business Security

To cover five Macs or PCs plus an unlimited amount of Android and iOS devices for your business, go with Small Business Security. Its prices are heavily discounted as compared to the Total Protection plans, although we wish they covered more than five desktops.

Cancelling McAfee Antivirus

You have 30 days from your purchasing date to cancel an annual subscription from McAfee for a full refund; in fact, it’s a money-back guarantee! However, monthly subscribers will not be able to get their money back.

Other McAfee Software and Pricing

But McAfee is more than just the antivirus software with 27 percent of the market share as of 2017.1 They also make a bunch of standalone services that you can use to increase your digital security and data privacy. While we’ve only tested out the antivirus software for ourselves, we still wanted to provide you with clear pricing information for nearly everything they offer.

Safe Connect VPN

We go into this in more detail in our McAfee VPN review, but at first glance, McAfee’s pricing is pretty fair, especially if you sign up for a year. That being said, we’re not thrilled that prices go up the second year, as most VPNs lock in your first-year pricing.

Safe Family

As of 2018, 94 percent of American kids ages three to 18 had access to the Internet in their homes,2 but how can you keep them from viewing unsafe or inappropriate content? Safe Family lets parents set parental controls, block websites or apps, set limits on screen time and track their children’s locations.

Identity Theft Protection

While McAfee’s identity theft protection wasn’t one we tested out, its prices are actually lower than most of its competitors, even the ones on our best identity theft protection list. Of course, we’d have to do a little more digging and testing to find out if it’s worth the prices, but hopefully, we’ll cover that eventually.

Secure Home

Just as there’s more than one way to skin a cat, there’s more than one way to protect your Internet of Things, or IoT devices. One way is to buy a secure router, and while McAfee doesn’t sell them directly, their Secure Home Platform is available on routers from D-Link and Arris. Essentially, these routers put McAfee’s device protection into any devices on these routers’ networks, ideal for someone with an extensive smart home. But if you already have a router that you don’t want to replace, another option is simply to get a VPN that you can configure on your router, protecting any and all devices on its networks. All of the best VPNs for Xbox, for example, can be connected to routers.

Our Favorite Things

We’ve thrown a lot of information your way, so here, we’re going to quickly summarize what we liked about McAfee antivirus:

• Fair prices
• On-demand and on-access malware scans

• Behavior-based detection
• VPN, identity theft protection, safe browser, parental controls and more products available
• Subscriptions for individuals, couples, families and businesses
• Detected 99.9 percent of malware on Android
• Free apps for iOS and Android
• 30-day free trial for Windows PCs
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• McAfee Mobile Security app has a 4.7 rating on the Apple store
• Mobile Security: VPN Proxy & Anti Theft Safe WiFi has a 4.5 on the Google Play store
• Year-long contracts

Recap

That covers all there is to know about McAfee’s pricing, but if you want to explore other options, we recommend checking out our page on the best antivirus software. We test out each software ourselves along with researching its costs so that you can make a highly educated decision.