But they charge a fee to focus on protecting your devices, which has its perks. You may think of them as non-essential third parties if you do not want to spend on antivirus protection. And they all offer things not present in Windows Defender or XProtect. While it's true that you get most of the essential protection from the default antivirus apps on Windows or macOS, there are better options.Ĭybersecurity companies like Sophos, Malwarebytes, McAfee, Norton, and many others specialize in developing technologies that help protect your devices. You probably already use Windows Defender or Apple's XProtect. If you don't have any specific requirements but want the basic protections a security suite should afford you, you may continue using a free antivirus app.īut if you want the best security for your devices, you need to invest in a paid antivirus application. You do not get all the functionalities in the free edition. However, they either come with limitations or some catch when it comes to their usage. There are thousands of services available for free.
