AVG vs. Malwarebytes 2024: AVG Comes Out on Top

Malwarebytes and AVG regularly top the best antivirus lists, but which one is best for you depends on the features you need. AVG antivirus is a good option if you want an antivirus program that won’t interrupt your flow. It boasts a near-perfect protection rating in third-party testing, which makes it a top contender when you want security protection you can trust.

While Malwarebytes is also a top-tier antivirus, you won’t get as much of a benefit if you’re an Apple user, as some features aren’t available for Macs or iPhones. Windows users will also miss out on a firewall with Malwarebytes — but we do like its 60-day money-back guarantee.

Both have free antivirus plans, so you can try out the product before you commit, giving you a chance to make sure your antivirus app of choice works with your operating system and provides the security you need.

Let’s look at the features and prices for Malwarebytes vs. AVG to help you narrow down your choice of the best cybersecurity product for you. Let’s get this dueling software party started.

Overview

Although we think both of these products are exceptional antivirus programs, there are some differences right out of the box.

For one, Malwarebytes doesn’t come with a firewall. AVG has a firewall, but only for Windows users. Also of note, Malwarebytes reports that it can coexist with other antivirus programs, which is not always the case with antivirus software. Both provide excellent protection from cyber threats like phishing, adware, and ransomware.

As pricing goes, you’ll find both AVG Internet Security and AVG Ultimate reasonable — both come in at under $100 for the first year. The Internet Security subscription has fewer features but costs $46.68/yr (first year only) for one device, or almost $20.00 less per year than Ultimate, which costs $34.99/first yr for 10 devices.

Malwarebytes has various options if you want more of an ala carte selection. For example, the most affordable plan, Premium, covers one device for $44.99/yr, while the Premium + Privacy VPN option covers five devices and runs you $119.99/yr.

• AVG: Best full kit of security features
• Malwarebytes: Best for no-frills security

AVG vs. Malwarebytes compared

Another big difference is that with Malwarebytes, you can only get security protection for up to five devices. AVG doubles that, allowing coverage for ten. That may not mean much if you only have a few devices needing antivirus protection. But if your entire household needs antivirus protection on more than one device, AVG starts to look like a better fit.

AVG also offers 24/7 customer support, which many people want in case there’s technical trouble during off-peak hours. You won’t have that option with Malwarebytes, but it does have a chat feature where you can get automated replies to basic questions and a ticketing system.

	AVG	Malwarebytes
Starting price	$46.68/yr (first year only)	$44.99/yr
Free version
Max number of protected devices	10	5
Real-time protection
Phishing protection		Yes, for Windows
Ransomware protection
Compatibility	Windows, Android, macOS, iOS	Windows, Android, macOS, iOS
24/7 customer support	Yes, with premium tech support
Learn more	Get AVG	Get Malwarebytes

Prices

At a glance, the lowest prices don’t seem much different between these two products. For those prices, you get some of the things you’d expect the best antivirus programs to have, like real-time protection, ransomware, and phishing protection. Keep in mind these are the prices to protect one device. Also, Malwarebytes doesn’t include phishing protection for macOS, which is unfortunate for Apple users.

As you move up to multiple device protection and features, the products begin to differ. Currently, you can get AVG’s Internet Security plan that protects 10 devices for $59.88/yr (first year only). What you won’t get for that cost is the AVG Secure VPN, but you could also easily buy VPN service from NordVPN, Surfshark, or ExpressVPN if you don’t want all the extras that come with upgrading to AVG Ultimate.

If you want privacy and device clean-up tools alongside your antivirus and VPN, AVG Ultimate costs about $20.00 extra each year.

You could also go with Malwarebytes since it includes a VPN app with the Premium + Privacy VPN plan for $239.99/2 yrs.

Malwarebytes also gives you a longer money-back guarantee than AVG. With the 60-day timeframe, you get twice the time to try the product. AVG only gives you 30 days to test the water.

	AVG	Malwarebytes
Price range	Free–$34.99/first yr	Free–$99.99/yr
Best value plan	Internet Security (10 devices) for $59.88/yr (first year only)	Premium + Privacy VPN for $239.99/2 yrs
Money-back guarantee	Yes, 30 days	Yes, 60 days
Learn more	Get AVG	Get Malwarebytes

Features

When searching for the best anti-malware tools, you want software that guards your data from malicious threats. That means the product you choose should protect against phishing, ransomware, spyware, and adware — and have real-time protection to secure your device at all times.

As you look at the features both AVG and Malwarebytes include, there are a few differences you should know. For one, AVG comes with a firewall, but it’s only accessible to Windows users. Malwarebytes doesn’t include a firewall at all.

Also, the phishing protection Malwarebytes includes is only for Windows users. The same is true for its ransomware and zero-day exploit protection. These are some of the main reasons people buy antivirus software, so we’re disappointed to see them excluded from other operating systems.

AVG includes optimization tools with the Ultimate plan, but Malwarebytes doesn’t offer device optimization tools. This isn’t necessarily a make-or-break difference between these two, but device optimization tools can come in handy if you need to speed up your system performance.

Feature	AVG	Malwarebytes
Manual and scheduled scans
Real-time protection
Phishing protection		Yes, for Windows
Ransomware protection		Yes, for Windows
Firewall	Yes, for Windows
VPN
Wi-Fi security		Yes, with Privacy VPN
Browser security
Ad blocker
Device optimization tools	Yes, with Ultimate plan
Learn more	Get AVG	Get Malwarebytes

AVG vs. Malwarebytes: test results

We don’t take our antivirus reviews lightly because we know data security is crucial. Not only do we test the products we write about, but we also look at third-party testing scores to get a clear picture of how an antivirus program performs under a microscope. For this review, we relied on AV-TEST to give us a bird’s eye view of each product under rigorous testing pressure.

AVG vs. Malwarebytes malware protection scores

	AVG	Malwarebytes
AV-TEST Windows score	18/18	17.5/18
AV-TEST macOS score	18/18	N/A
AV-TEST Android score	18/18	N/A
Learn more	Get AVG	Get Malwarebytes

For testing, Malwarebytes did not have any scores for Android or macOS systems. It did, however, score slightly less than AVG on Windows.[1] Meanwhile, AVG earned perfect scores across the board on all systems.[2,3,4]

When checking Malwarebytes for protection against malware infections, it scored less than the industry average for zero-day malware attacks. The industry average is a 99.6% detection rate, but Malwarebytes only scored a 98.5% detection rate in May 2023 and 98.6% in June 2023.

Malwarebytes also scored less than the industry average when tested for the detection of recently discovered widespread malware. The industry average is a perfect 100%, and Malwarebytes fell short with a detection rate of 99.9% for both May and June.

In contrast, AVG scored 100% protection against zero-day malware attacks, which is higher than the industry average of 99.6%. AVG had one false blockage while installing and using legitimate software, but that’s also the industry standard, so it shouldn’t be too concerning.

Compatibility and customer support

The compatibility of the two antivirus programs is similar. They work for any type of device and with most browser extensions. We didn’t see Opera listed for Malwarebytes and AVG does work with that browser, so if Opera is your browser of choice you may want to opt for AVG.

The interfaces for both were easy to use, and the scanning worked without any issues. With Malwarebytes, the full scan option only works for Windows, so we had to use the quick scan on our Mac.

We ran a deep scan using AVG on our MacBook and were pleased with the speed, which had no noticeable impact on the device’s performance. It scanned over one million files in just over 13 minutes.

The customer support options couldn’t be further apart, though. AVG gives you a host of options to pursue if you need assistance. The chat feature is live, so you can communicate with a person, not an automated chatbot like the one Malwarebytes offers. You can also choose to purchase Premium Tech Support that covers both AVG and non-AVG issues and costs $79.00–$119.00/per call or $199/yr.

The other option AVG has for customer support is social media. If you’d like, you can reach out to its customer service team on Facebook or Twitter. The caveat we’d like to mention is when we used the customer support phone number, we didn’t have great success with the representative. She was friendly and tried to be helpful, but couldn’t explain why we were missing a firewall.

	AVG	Malwarebytes
Windows
macOS
Android
iOS
Browser extensions	Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, Opera	Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari
24/7 customer support	Yes, with Premium Tech Support
Customer support options	Knowledge base articles, support tickets, phone support, social media, live chat	Knowledge base articles, support tickets, product guides, automated chat
Learn more	Get AVG	Get Malwarebytes

AVG vs. Malwarebytes alternatives

If neither of these antivirus programs scratches that security itch, we have some alternatives. These are all good options when optimal data security is what you need.

• Avast: With a premium package that includes ransomware protection, website scanning, and phishing protection, Avast packs a lot for your money. It also offers one of the best free antivirus plans we’ve seen.
  
  Get Avast
• McAfee: This antivirus provides excellent security protection with fair pricing options. We also like that some of its plans come with parental controls and even identity protection.
  
  Get McAfee
• Norton: One of the most popular names in antivirus security, Norton comes with plenty of features like parental controls and a secure VPN. You can also pair it with LifeLock identity theft protection.
  
  Get Norton

FAQs

AVG vs. Malwarebytes: which is better?

It’s sometimes difficult to call one product better than another when they are both good for different reasons. Depending on your situation, one antivirus program may work for you over the other.

Malwarebytes is more for those who don’t want overwhelming features and need a straightforward product to keep data secure when using Windows. It’s not the best program for Apple users, as the features of MacOS are severely lacking.

When you want the most security features, we think AVG is the best antivirus between the two because of the numerous options. These include fair prices, excellent third-party test scores, and numerous customer support choices.