Malwarebytes review: anti-malware and antivirus software with VPN and identity protection add-ons. Consumer pricing plans, features, and alternatives.
Malwarebytes is a cybersecurity company offering anti-malware, antivirus, VPN, and identity protection software for consumers, alongside a separately branded enterprise product line called ThreatDown. Its roots trace back to 2004, when founder Marcin Kleczynski began building malware-removal tools as a teenager, with the company formally founded in 2008 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California.
The brand built its reputation on a free malware-removal scanner that was downloaded onto hundreds of millions of computers, becoming a widely trusted second-opinion scanning tool used alongside traditional antivirus software before the company expanded into full real-time protection suites, VPN, and identity protection.
Malwarebytes provides real-time malware and ransomware protection, on-demand scanning, and behavior-based threat detection designed to catch threats that traditional signature-based antivirus tools can miss. Higher tiers add a Privacy VPN, now running on infrastructure from its 2024 AzireVPN acquisition.
The top consumer tier, Ultimate, bundles identity protection features including credit monitoring, dark web alerts, and personal data removal services. On the business side, the ThreatDown product line offers centralized endpoint detection and response for IT teams managing many devices.
Malwarebytes offers a free on-demand malware scanner alongside three paid consumer tiers: Standard (real-time protection, from around 59.99 dollars per year), Plus (adds Privacy VPN, from around 79.99 dollars per year), and Ultimate (adds identity protection and credit monitoring, from around 139.99 dollars for the first year).
Advertised prices are typically first-year promotional rates that renew at a higher standard price. All annual consumer plans include a 60-day money-back guarantee. Business customers use the separately branded ThreatDown pricing, with per-endpoint annual plans starting around 69 dollars per endpoint.
Malwarebytes is used to detect and remove malware, ransomware, and other threats from computers and mobile devices, with paid tiers adding VPN and identity protection.
Malwarebytes offers a free on-demand malware scanner, while real-time protection, VPN, and identity protection require a paid Standard, Plus, or Ultimate subscription.
Malwarebytes was founded in 2008 by Marcin Kleczynski, who began developing malware-removal tools as a teenager in 2004, and the company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.
ThreatDown is the rebranded business security division of Malwarebytes, launched in 2023, offering separate per-endpoint pricing and enterprise endpoint detection and response tools.
Yes, the Plus and Ultimate consumer tiers include Malwarebytes Privacy VPN, which runs on infrastructure from the company's 2024 acquisition of AzireVPN.
Malwarebytes Standard and higher tiers provide real-time protection intended to work as a full antivirus replacement, though many users historically also ran it alongside another antivirus as a second-opinion scanner.