However, when competitors offer better antivirus protection along with more features (and for a similar price), it’s hard for me to wholeheartedly recommend Malwarebytes. Unfortunately, Malwarebytes lacks many of the essential features of a premium antivirus, including a firewall, data breach monitor, device optimization tools, parental controls, and a password manager - but it’s a decent choice for users who want a simple antivirus without a lot of extras. It’s a decent option for hiding online activity, but it’s missing a lot of the features and functionalities found in standalone VPN competitors. You also get a secure VPN if you upgrade to the Malwarebytes Premium + Privacy VPN plan. I really like Browser Guard, a free web security browser extension that blocks trackers, pop-up ads, phishing sites, and exploit attacks. Malwarebytes also offers a couple of additional features. In terms of real-time protection, it successfully blocked 98% of the malware files, which is also excellent. Malwarebytes is a minimalistic, easy-to-use antivirus program that provides good protection against malware, but it doesn’t have a lot of the important protections that the best antiviruses of 2023 include in their plans.ĭuring my testing, it detected 95% of the malware files I had previously downloaded to my device, which is a pretty good result.