McAfee Antivirus Alternatives

Although McAfee is a great product, many security solutions in the market could be an alternative to this antivirus software. Let’s find some of the best McAfee Antivirus Alternatives and what they can do for you.

The flagship product comes in three versions: Avast One Essential, Premium Security, and Avast One. All three include the antivirus. Avast One is the most comprehensive bundle, including the first five products listed below and priced at $0–69.48 for the first year of holiday sale. Available for Windows, Mac, Android, and iPhone/iPad. There is a 30-day free trial.

There is a 7-day free trial for the VPN, with no payment method required. In addition, all products are covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee. And the one-time call service is Simple Fix and is only available for Windows. It costs $79 per call. Finally, total Care covers 3 Windows devices and costs $199 yearly as a subscription service.

I used Avast for a long time. Unfortunately, it has a habit of sending nagging notifications on the desktop. They can be turned off, which also means turning off potentially important notifications. For example, Avast will attach an ad for itself as a signature in some e-mails you send, which users can turn off in its options.

Kaspersky flagship bundles include Anti-Virus, Internet Security, and Total Security. The price is $27.99–55.99, covering up to 5 devices for up to 2 years. The latter two also contain an adblocker, a must-have for web surfing these days. Dark Web Monitoring products across all platforms are:

The prices range from $14.95–62.99 a year, except for the last four, which are free. The Rescue Disk tool caught my attention. It is a free 615MB. ISO file. After downloading, store it on a USB or burn it to a CD/DVD. If malware takes over your PC, it might lock you out, in which case you scan the PC using the Rescue Disk. Next, enter your PC’s BIOS, boot the device using Rescue Disk, update the definitions, and start cleaning your machine.

Which is better — Kaspersky or McAfee?

Kaspersky’s feature set is on par with McAfee’s. However, Kaspersky has done a great job on localization. I found a Kaspersky version in my language, and you can likely find one in yours too, which helps with live support. This gives it a slight edge over McAfee.

Four flagship product plans exist: AntiVirus Plus, Deluxe, Select, and Ultimate Plus. Prices range from $14.99–299.88 for the first year. In addition, the plans include 2–500GB of cloud storage for backup. The high-end price seems ludicrous until you see the feature package, which focuses on preventing and undoing identity theft.

Home Title Monitoring checks at the county clerk for unauthorized loans and liens on your home and other real estates where you have ownership. Dark Web Monitoring watches hacker markets for your info, such as gamer tags, mother’s maiden name, etc. If your data pops up, you are notified. Identity Restoration Specialists are US-based legal and paralegal experts who will guide you through the post-identity theft period. Finally, stolen Wallet Protection helps you cancel your stolen documents and get new ones immediately.

Court Records Scanning checks the court records for signs you’ve been falsely tied to criminal activity. 401(k) & Investment Activity Alerts alerts you of money transfers related to your investment and retirement accounts. SSN & Credit Alerts keeps track of your social security number regarding new cell phone plans, car loans, etc.

It’s a decidedly US-oriented service with a truckload of fine print, but the idea is phenomenal. In this regard, nothing is like Norton, essentially serving as your legal/cyber-security team focused on preventing and undoing identity theft. I’m impressed.

Other products in the plans are standard fare, such as parental controls, gamer tune-up tools, etc. One-time service calls are $49.99; a subscription covers three devices for $19.99 monthly.

What’s better — McAfee or Norton?

Norton provides the same anti-malware features as McAfee. But, it has kick-ass identity protection. In my opinion, Norton is much better — it is the high-end cyber security a layman needs.

ESET offers customized plans, scaling up the price according to device count. For example, home users can protect up to 10 devices for three years at $49.99–279.98. For businesses, protecting 5–100 devices for up to 3 years is $248.40–7,560. The forte of ESET is cyber-security compliance for enterprises dealing with sensitive data. Various groups get a 25% discount on ESET products — students, teachers, doctors, nurses, etc. Unfortunately, ESET has no iOS support.

30-day free trial for all home products, no payment method required. There are free tools as well. For example, ESET Online Scanner allows cloud-based antivirus without installation, using only the browser.