What is the best antivirus? Sophos vs Malwarebytes Mac? Malware and viruses are not resistant to Mac users; however, this is not the case. In fact, according to a recent study, Macs are 2.5 times more likely than Windows PCs to become infected with malware. If you use a Mac, installing antivirus software on your computer is essential.
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Do Macs Need Antivirus?
Many Mac fans will tell you that Apple machines are secure by default and don’t need to be protected. We believe they are incorrect – or, at the very least, overconfident.
Sophos Antivirus
Sophos is a well-known cyber security firm that specializes in business security software. It does, however, offer antivirus software to the general public, claiming “business-grade cybersecurity” for home use.
The Sophos’s additional features include:
- Web protection.
- Remote management of the device.
- Parental controls.
One of my favorite aspects of Sophos is managing its features remotely across up to ten devices. If you want to modify security settings, run malware scans, and manage parental control settings on numerous devices simultaneously, this is the tool for you.
Malwarebytes Antivirus
Malwarebytes is a simple, easy-to-use antivirus program that offers good malware protection. Still, it lacks many crucial features that the best antiviruses of 2022 include in their plans.
The Malwarebytes Security Features
- Virus Scanner
- VPN (Virtual Private Network)
- Real-Time Protection
- Browser Guard
Sophos vs Malwarebytes Mac: Which Is Best?
Features
Sophos provides two services:
- Sophos Home Free is a free version.
- Sophos Home Premium is a paid premium product.
Like most free programs, Sophos Home Free only offers rudimentary malware protection. It doesn’t have any of the advanced features seen in paid programs. Sophos Home Premium, on the other hand, is a comprehensive security solution that includes some advanced features:
- This solution defends you against all types of viruses and cyber-attacks. It protects against sophisticated viruses, exploits, and ransomware threats with Real-Time Threat Prevention.
- Sophos employs AI-assisted Threat Detection, allowing it to provide adequate protection even against undiscovered malware kinds.
- The Web Security function, which protects against phishing attempts and harmful websites, is also included.
- Because Sophos provides thorough privacy protection, you may have complete peace of mind regarding your family’s security. This function disables all outside access to your webcam, microphone, and typing activity, making it impossible for hackers to track you.
- This package also includes identity protection. The software encrypts usernames, passwords, and bank account numbers to secure your personal information from hackers.
- Parents can also use a Web Filtering Tool to block any content they don’t want their children to see online.
- For Secure Online Banking, Sophos protects all your banking and credit card information from third parties.
- Finally, Remote Security Management allows you to manage your devices remotely.
- This solution provides security for up to ten devices, including your Macs, with a single subscription.
Malwarebytes offers three different products:
- Malwarebytes Free
- Malwarebytes Premium
- Malwarebytes Premium for Home
Like Sophos’ freeware, Malwarebytes Free is a basic protection program that lacks many of the advanced capabilities found in commercial solutions.
Malwarebytes Premium for You, on the other hand, is the company’s first premium service and includes some sophisticated features:
- A real-time firewall safeguards your devices and blocks viruses and cyber-attacks.
- The company provides regular upgrades to the firewall, ensuring that it is always up to speed on the latest malware definitions.
- The Remediation Tool completely examines your system for any pre-existing infections and effectively removes them once the software is installed on your device.
- If you come across a bad website, your Windows and Android devices will have complete Anti-Phishing and Identity Protection.
- You’ll also get plenty of defense against severe hacking, including botnet and spyware protection, among other things. This feature, however, is only applicable to Windows devices.
- For both Android and Chrome devices, there is an ongoing Threat Detection utility. This feature stops harmful programs from interacting with your device in any way. Even if a virus manages to get through, the additional layers of security destroy it immediately before it can cause damage to your machine.
- You can use automatic scans or schedule them around your schedule.
- Unlike many entry-level programs, this package protects Windows, Android, and Chrome OS devices across many platforms.
- Malwarebytes Premium for Home is the company’s family edition. This plan includes the same benefits as the previous one, including coverage for up to ten devices.
Malware Protection
Any antivirus program must include malware protection. Everything else becomes meaningless if this area is weak. We’ll look at some independent testing from AV-Test and AV-Comparatives to determine our products’ protection ratings. We’ll start with the AV-Test Protection Test results. Sophos was unavailable for this and AV-Comparatives’ tests, while Malwarebytes obtained a mediocre 4/6 rating from AV-Test. Malwarebytes were likewise excluded from the AV-Comparatives protection test.
System Performance
Malware security is just as crucial as system performance. Nobody likes to use software that makes their computer run slower. Let’s look at how Sophos and Malwarebytes affect the performance of a system. Because we rely on the same companies for performance as we did for malware protection. The only results available for Malwarebytes are from AV-Test. It garnered a better 5/6 rating here.
User-Friendliness
A user-friendly design is desirable because it appeals to a larger audience of casual users. Let’s take a look at the user interfaces of Sophos and Malwarebytes to evaluate how user-friendly they are. Sophos has two user interfaces: one for your device and one for online use. The installed version only provides current information about your device’s security state.
The entire functional interface is available online. It displays all of the features and functionalities on the home page, just like a website, such as Antivirus Protection, Web Protection, History, Web Filtering, etc. To access other settings, click on various features. This interface is simple to use and does not present any difficulties to the user.
Let’s take a look at Malwarebytes’ user interface next.
This company has a user interface that is vastly superior to Sophos in terms of functionality. It is, however, well-organized and becomes pretty simple to use once you become acquainted with it. On the Home screen of Malwarebytes, practically all of the important updates and information are displayed. From here, you may access all of the features and functions. You can do a rapid scan from this screen if necessary by clicking the “Scan Now” option.
Pricing
Pricing is quite important. People want to get their money’s worth, and if that doesn’t happen, they won’t stick around for long. As a result, a sensible price approach is always successful.
Sophos charges $36 for a one-year subscription and $72 for a two-year subscription, covering 10 devices. This is a rather reasonable price for a high-end solution that safeguards many devices.
Let’s see how it compares to Malwarebytes’ product pricing.
Malwarebytes Premium for You costs $39.99 per year and covers one device (PC, Mac, Chromebook, or Android), significantly more expensive than the $59.99 per year Premium for Home suite, which covers up to ten devices.
For up to 10 devices, Malwarebytes Premium for Home costs $59.99 per year.
Conclusion
On separate parameters, both products performed admirably. On the other hand, Malwarebytes is the winner today, having defeated Sophos in three categories. Sophos competed well, winning two categories and tying once with Malwarebytes. The outcome could have been very different if Sophos had presented in the independent evaluations with no ratings.