Best Antivirus for Mobile: Top 10 Free and Paid Software Reviewed

The best antivirus for mobile ensures you’re protected against common online threats, including spyware, malware, phishing, and more. Although mobile users are targeted by viruses less frequently than Windows, there’s a sea of mobile-specific threats out there. However, finding the best antivirus for mobile that ticks all of your boxes can be difficult.

Today, we’ve assembled the best antivirus software for mobile in 2024. We’ve put the cream of the crop against each other and will review them while comparing their pros, cons, and features. Read on to learn more about how providers like TotalAV, Nord Threat Protection, and Norton Antivirus can keep your phone safe.

Top 10 Shortlist of the Best Antivirus for Mobile Phones in 2024

Finding the best antivirus for Android and iOS needed us to look at features like real-time protection, low-impact scans, malware removal quality, and more. Our testing found TotalAV to be the best antivirus for mobile users. Here’s our top 10 ranked:

1. TotalAV — The best antivirus for mobile overall, complete with device tune-up and VPN
2. ​​Nord Threat Protection — Phenomenal VPN and one of the best mobile antivirus solutions
3. Norton Antivirus — Best mobile antivirus for android in terms of parental control
4. Surfshark Antivirus — Full security software package for mobile with a month-long free trial
5. TrendMicro — Lightweight and easy-to-use mobile antivirus with AI-assisted learning
6. Eset Smart Security – Reliable antivirus with excellent malware detection results
7. Avast — Best free antivirus for Android and iPhone
8. Intego – Top choice for iOS thanks to NetBarrier
9. Avira — Free antivirus for mobile with comprehensive scans
10. Panda Dome – User-friendly, no-frills antivirus that’s good for beginners

Best Antivirus for Mobile Devices – Top 10 Reviewed

Eager to learn more? Read on as we review and compare the market’s best mobile antivirus solutions, including their capabilities, pricing, pros and cons, and more.

1. TotalAV — The Best Overall Antivirus for Mobile

TotalAV is an easy-to-use, high-performance antivirus for mobile devices. It focuses on providing a plethora of powerful features, including real-time protection, device tune-up, Wi-Fi checker, and more.

The antivirus is an excellent choice for anyone looking to protect multiple platforms. Being the best antivirus for Mac, in addition to supporting Windows and Linux, TotalAV is the only antivirus you need to cover all of your devices.

The mobile version features incredibly robust antivirus scans, easily finding even the most sophisticated mobile threats. Plus, with a 100% iOS threat detection rate, TotalAV has the most powerful iPhone virus scan out there.

However, although the scan is powerful, it can recognize the intensity of your mobile activities and will slow down when you’re doing a performance-intensive task like gaming. With that said, you’ll barely notice the scan running in the background while using your phone.

The app also comes with Device Tune-Up and VPN features. The VPN ensures you stay completely anonymous online, while the Device Tune-Up feature removes junk from your phone and frees up memory to get better performance.

Together, these two features enhance your privacy (or enable you to reach sites you otherwise couldn’t), all the while boosting your performance. You’ll also get a PC and macOS password manager, making TotalAV’s peripherals difficult to beat.

The most devastating impact of cyberattacks and viruses occurs when specific apps are targeted. These are usually banking or payment apps like PayPal or Skrill. TotalAV allows you to set a PIN on these apps to ensure that even if hackers access your phone, they can’t open them.

However, even if hackers access your password and other data, TotalAV’s data breach protection will immediately alert you. This lets you change your passwords before hackers can abuse them.

Pricing

TotalAV has three pricing plans. The Pro plan is just $29 for your first year and gives you access to most of TotalAV’s features. However, with the Total Security plan, you get some useful peripherals like device tracking, Total Adblock, a VPN, and more.

If you’re still on the fence, take advantage of TotalAV’s 30-day money-back guarantee now to try it risk-free.

2. Nord Threat Protection — Great Antivirus for Mobile Security + it Comes With a VPN

Nord Threat Protection is an antivirus made by NordVPN, one of the top VPN services on the market. In essence, the antivirus ensures your security by combining one of the fastest VPN services on the market with a robust antivirus.

The software offers real-time protection, scanning all the files you download and websites you enter before they can infect you. On top of this, it’ll scan the Wi-Fi networks you connect to in order to ensure they’re secure.

This can give you peace of mind and let you browse online with impunity. Even if you do decide to visit a dangerous site or one that was wrongly flagged, Nord Threat Protection will immediately alert you of its potential dangers but allow you to proceed if you decide to do so.

Another interesting aspect lies in the fact it’ll block ads if you want it to, and we found this feature to work seamlessly across multiple websites.

For example, with YouTube and other platforms that have increased the ads on their websites, we found this feature worked wonders by cutting out a ton of annoying popups or side banner ads.

However, sometimes you’ll want to leave ads on to support creators you believe in, but even these ads can have viruses in them.

Even if the ads have viruses, Nord Threat Protection lets you run scans on specific sections of your device, as well as deep scans that, while they take a while, will eradicate all viruses on your device.

Finally, NordVPN is one of, if not the best VPNs on the market. It’ll encrypt all of your traffic, allowing you to discreetly browse any part of the internet. It’s also one of the few VPN services that has shown consistent performance at unlocking Netflix and similar streaming sites.

Grouped together, Nord offers a powerful network that lets you browse the internet safely, and it even offers a password manager, NordPass, to further improve your security.

Whilst NordPass is a standalone product at the time of writing, the antivirus and VPN work in tandem to keep you safe under one affordable subscription.

Pricing

Nord Threat Protection, or NordVPN, comes in 3 packages, each one adding more services. The Complete edition adds a data breach scanner, cross-platform password manager, and a whopping 1TB of secure cloud storage for just $5.29/month.

You can put Nord Threat Protection to the test for free using its 30-day free trial.

3. Norton Antivirus — Best Mobile Antivirus for Android in Terms of Parental Control

Norton Antivirus is one of the biggest names in the antivirus industry. With over a decade of experience in the field, it’s no surprise Norton’s antivirus for mobile makes this list. This mobile antivirus provides robust protection and various parental control options to protect your kids online.

Norton’s mobile version — Norton Mobile Security is one of the best spyware detectors on mobile. It provides 360-degree protection against many cyber threats. Even if your device gets infected, Norton will immediately warn you of the infection and remove it if you give the tool permission.

Of course, it features real-time protection and scans all websites, Wi-Fi networks, files, and app downloads on your phone. If you try to access an infected website or Wi-Fi network, it’ll immediately alert you of this through an on-screen message and block the site.

This lets you browse the internet and download apps with impunity, knowing you’re safe from all threats. Besides this, one of Norton’s more interesting features is its parental control.

This antivirus for mobile phones will allow you to monitor your child’s:

This helps parents ensure their kids aren’t looking at content that, while not malicious to their devices, can damage their development. Outside of this, you can set screen time limits, restrict access to apps, and access other features to ensure your child is distraction-free.

Norton also filters out all spam messages, emails, and adware. This means you won’t waste time dealing with bothersome messages or ads constantly popping up on your screen.

Lifting the mental load of being on the lookout for phishing attacks or cleaning your email/SMS from spam can help you spend your time more productively.

Pricing

Norton offers four different pricing plans: Plus, Standard, Deluxe, and Select. While the cheapest Plus plan covers everything we’ve discussed here, other plans will provide you with things like a password manager, cloud storage, a smart firewall, LifeLock, and more.

You can try Norton Mobile Security free of charge today using its 60-day free trial.

4. Surfshark Antivirus — Full Security Software Package for Mobile

Surfshark One is a full software package that comes with one of the best VPN services, an antivirus, a dark web monitor, and a safe search engine.

The antivirus portion of Surfshark One (Surfshark Antivirus) is a multi-platform antivirus with real-time protection. It has rock-solid virus detection rates and can block out all common attack vectors. Covering up to 5 devices, Surfshark is an excellent choice for you if you’re looking to cover all of your bases with a single solution.

It excels at blocking day-zero threats and offers multiple scan options. This lets you keep peace of mind while optimizing performance as you see fit. It can even scan specific drives on your PC individually if you don’t want to hassle with deep scans. However, it’s this antivirus for mobile is only available on Android.

With that being said, Surfshark also gives you access to an excellent VPN to help you bypass region blocks and ensure anonymity. You’ll even gain access to a dark web monitor and a safe search engine, ensuring your data stays safe and protected.

The dark web monitor constantly scours the dark web for your data and will immediately alert you in case of a leak. This lets you sleep soundly, knowing your passwords are safe.

Even if hackers do get access to your passwords, you’ll be immediately alerted so you can change them before they’re able to get anything out of your accounts.

Finally, Surfshark is very user-friendly, so even if you aren’t particularly tech-savvy, you can get the most out of this antivirus. All it takes to get any part of Surfshark One going is a couple of clicks.

Pricing

Surfshark starts out at a meager $3.48/month and has different pricing plans depending on the duration of your subscription. You can put Surfshark to the test for free today using its 30-day money-back guarantee.

5. TrendMicro — Lightweight and Easy-to-Use Mobile Antivirus

TrendMicro is the perfect choice if you’re looking for an intuitive and lightweight antivirus with anti-phishing capabilities. Like the other antiviruses on this list, TrendMicro offers real-time protection.

It’ll scan all of your downloaded files and visited websites for threats. However, it’s one of the few to offer anti-phishing features alongside this. This makes sure you’ll not only be protected from direct threats but also trickery.

It has extremely powerful scans, catching between 99.5% and 100% of threats. This, alongside its scheduled scans, ensures you’re always protected from even the most elusive attacks. And even if a threat gets under your shields, it’ll be quickly eradicated.

To further bolster its virus-catching capabilities, TrendMicro Mobile Security uses AI-assisted learning to ensure that the software adapts to evolving threats. On top of all this, TrendMicro is extremely user-friendly and intuitive to use, even for not-so-tech-savvy users.

Pricing

TrendMicro pricing is simple; it scales from $19.95 to $59.95 per annum. You can try out one of the simplest antivirus for mobile by taking advantage of its 30-day free trial.

6. Eset Smart Security – Top Choice for Malware Detection

ESET is a Slovakian antivirus provider that may not have the same renowned history as the likes of TotalAV and Norton, but it does a pretty stellar job at keeping you and your devices or files safe. Its virus detection rates are incredibly good, and it can capture any malware looking to infect your devices.

Alongside the strong virus and malware protection rates, you get a bundled-in firewall, powerful anti-phishing tools, a network monitor, and even a useful password manager. All of these are key components we look for with the top antivirus software, as they can be so much more than just malware detectors.

The anti-phishing tools, in particular, are a great addition to an already feature-rich lineup. They work by checking easily missed information like matching email addresses and websites and a database of popular scams that is always updating.

Phishing can lead to major security breaches and sometimes even financial losses, so any tools aimed at combating this are great in our book. With ESET’s offering, we were pleasantly surprised at how adept it was at identifying our scam email tests, and it was quick to flag any suspicious communications immediately.

However, despite all the useful add-ons you get with this provider, we were a little disappointed to see that there was no VPN included like there is with Nord Threat Protection – something we believe is an essential tool for any good antivirus solution.

But that aside, there’s a lot to like here from a provider that doesn’t boast the same riches as leading antivirus solutions like TotalAV. You do still get a password manager for keeping all of your important login details and bank cards safe, and you also benefit from advanced diagnostic tools.

These are aimed at the more tech-savvy people, but they provide a detailed overview of your computer’s running processes and offer valuable insights for IT departments. Coupled with the network inspector (Windows only), which scans for any vulnerabilities, weak router passwords, and much more – you’re in safe hands.

Pricing

In terms of cost, ESET offers a decent range of plans for both home and office usage, with the image above reflecting their coverage for the home. Whilst it’s not the cheapest provider on this list, it does offer a strong feature-to-price ratio, something we love to see.

You can easily select the number of devices and level of coverage you need, how long you want your subscription to last, and rest assured, knowing you’re protected by a 30-day money-back guarantee on all plans.

7. Avast  — Best Free Antivirus for Android and iPhone

Avast is among the most popular antiviruses out there, with over 1.5 billion attacks blocked across 435 million devices each month.

As one of the few legitimate options for a mobile antivirus free download for Android and iOS, many people are highly skeptical of Avast. However, although the pop-ups asking you to go premium can be annoying, the protection on offer is solid.

Avast has real-time protection, scanning all sites you attempt to reach and files you download. With that being said, it does lack the capability to block ads.

However, the antivirus protection it provides is more than enough to put your mind at ease. It also has a Wi-Fi scanner, ensuring you can connect to public networks and browse the internet without worry.

The reason why Avast is the best free antivirus for mobile is that it’s the only one that can match up to paid solutions in sheer power. While Avast’s scans are slower than premium solutions — and it doesn’t have quite as many peripherals — it boasts a 99.6-100% catch rate, according to many tests.

In addition to being one of the best free antiviruses for Android mobile, Avast packs a great security suite. It allows you to protect crucial apps from hackers or thieves by setting a PIN, remotely locking your phone, or sounding an alarm.

This makes protecting your phone from theft much easier, makes any attacks less effective, and its GPS locator will make finding your device easier.

Pricing

Avast is a free solution for Android and iOS, although there are multiple premium versions. The Pro version will set you back $69.48 per year, covering up to 10 devices regardless of the operating system.

If you choose to go with one of Avast’s paid plans, do note you can try them risk-free using their 30-day money-back guarantee.

8. Intego – The Best Antivirus for iOS and MacOS

Intego is the antivirus solution that Mac users have been crying out for – and finally, their prayers have seemingly been answered. Typically speaking, any antivirus software tends to have far more features and suitability for Windows devices, but not with Intego.

With Intego, you get excellent real-time protection and malware scanning as standard across all platforms, not just MacOS. There’s also an excellent VirusBarrier feature, which, as the name suggests, offers a barrier between you and any potential threats.

VirusBarrier also consistently scores highly in AV-Comparatives, so it’s a reliable solution and perhaps the answer Apple fanatics have been seeking for a while. Better still, there’s a useful bonus feature called ‘Quarantine.’ It works by placing any suspicious or potentially infected files into a safe area so it can’t harm your device.

Mac users, in particular, will also be delighted to see an advanced firewall, something usually reserved for Windows users. The feature is adeptly named NetBarrier, and it’s able to secure traffic coming into your device, as well as any going out.

NetBarrier can also detect what network you are connected to and can alter its settings to offer different levels of security. For example, your home network is more trusted and secure, but when you’re connecting to public WiFi, the settings will tighten things up.

One other impressive feature we discovered was the Washing Machine, which is basically a system optimizer that keeps things running to their potential. With it, you can clean any junk files, delete cache that’s still lingering around, and even remove duplicate files.

We found the Washing Machine feature to be really useful to free up memory and improve device performance, even if it can be a little hard to notice the difference.

On a final note, we have to mention that we’re disappointed to find that there’s no Android app for Intego.

Sure, you can share some features to your iPhone, like scans via Bluetooth, but we often stumbled across some connectivity issues – so in the future, we’d like to see a wider net cast on devices.

But overall, this is a strong offering for Mac and iOS users, as well as Windows enthusiasts, as it also includes a built-in VPN for online privacy, an auto-app updater, and parental control features for ensuring your child’s safety.

Pricing

Price wise, Intego is quite expensive for Mac users, but more affordable on Windows. The prices above are for MacOS, and each plan includes extra safety features, with the Premium Bundle including a decent VPN.

There is a 14-day free trial for those who want to try before they buy, as well as a 30-day money-back guarantee for all paid plans.

9. Avira – Free Antivirus for Mobile for Solid Protection

Avira is an online antivirus scan for Android mobile, available completely for free with features that exceed most free antivirus. It’s undoubtedly one of the most powerful free antiviruses and is one of the few to offer real-time protection in its free service.

This means that if you’re just looking for a mobile antivirus free download for Android and iOS, that’ll serve you well without upgrading to a paid plan, Avira might be your best pick.

It boasts solid peripherals, with a VPN and password manager on duty to ensure you stay safe and anonymous online. These can make browsing easier, especially since the VPN can block pesky ads for you.

The password manager, on the other hand, ensures that if your phone is stolen, the thieves will be unable to access your most important apps. This also ensures you’ll remember your passwords for all your online accounts.

Finally, Avira has some innovative features that help it detect phishing and similar scams. This is excellent for older people and children who may not be fully versed in the modern-day internet.

Pricing

Avira has multiple paid versions, each providing either more specialized functions or simply more devices and power. You can try any of Avira’s paid versions for free today by using their 7-day free trial.

10. Panda Dome – User-friendly Antivirus Software

Panda Dome is another of the lesser-known antivirus solutions out there, and whilst it isn’t nearly as powerful as the likes of TotalAV or Nord, it does offer a visually appealing, user-friendly option for the less tech-savvy person.

With that being said, there are still some great features here that appeal, including a useful password manager built-in the software. It’s easy on the eye and can store a range of personal data, files, and card information. It even includes a biometric login and an excellent password generator for creating unique passwords.

Alongside this, you get a safe browsing feature, which does exactly what it says on the tin – it works by blocking harmful URLs recognized in the Panda Dome database or even allows you to include your own suggestions.

There’s even a custom rule setting that allows you to have a little more control over what can pass through.

Other notable features include a built-in VPN that works pretty well, a data shield to protect you from malware and viruses, as well as USB protection. This means any USB that enters your device is scanned and checked first, ensuring it won’t infect your computer.

All of this is great, but it is worth noting that the detection rates for malware and viruses are much lower than the leading contenders on this list, and therefore, it has to rank lower down, as security is the core feature you want with antivirus.

It’s also quite pricey, as we’ll explore in more detail below, so the fact it offers fewer features than the likes of TotalAV and Norton means we can’t justify having it higher on the list. But if you want a user-friendly antivirus with stunning visuals, it’s a decent option.

Pricing

Panda Dome offers one of the leading free plans for Windows and mobile devices that offers malware scans, USB Protection, a secure browser, and a basic VPN plan.

Or, you can choose to upgrade to one of their paid plans, which include more features like a firewall, better customer support, and more.

Best Antivirus for Mobile: Top 10 Compared

How Does an Antivirus App Work?

Antivirus apps scan programs, files, websites, and networks you access and then compare them to known viruses. Alternatively, they might look for suspicious behavior or use AI to determine if an app is malicious.

When they find malicious content, they’ll then remove or quarantine it.

Do I Need an Antivirus for My Phone?

Most phone users feel safe without an antivirus because hackers rarely target phones. However, this is swiftly changing. As more of us hold our precious data and payments on our phones, hackers are leaning more towards attacking iOS and Android.

Although the need for antivirus is apparent, both iOS and Android have native services that can scan phones for viruses. For Android, that’s Google Play Protect, while iOS relies on Apple’s protection measures.

However, few default antivirus solutions are effective when compared to proper antivirus solutions. Phishing attacks can steal your data, while brute force attacks can take your PayPal or banking passwords. The native antivirus measures of your phone only stop 4/5 of such attacks.

This is similar to leaving your house door open 1/5 of the times you go out and expecting everything inside to stay safe. However, getting rid of this isn’t the only benefit of a mobile antivirus, others include:

Real-Time Protection

Viruses can attack your phone anytime you’re browsing the internet or downloading files. Trojans — a virus that pretends to be a legitimate app until you download it — are especially notorious for this.

However, top antivirus software can stop this, as well as other kinds of attacks, in real-time.

Once you’ve downloaded a virus or gone to a malicious website, it might already be too late for your iOS or Android device. However, real-time protection present in the best antivirus for Android mobile can handle these threats as they show up.

It’ll stop you from opening certain websites or downloading malicious files before they ever get the chance to do any real harm.

You Can Scan Your Phone When It Slows

It’s difficult to check for viruses on iPhone, as Apple doesn’t provide a native way to do so. Thankfully, antivirus solutions can let you scan your phone for viruses regardless of your OS.

If they find viruses, they’ll often offer to remove the malicious files, clearing your phone of their influence and speeding up its day-to-day performance.

Less Time Wasted On Phishing/Scams

Some malicious websites aren’t explicitly viruses. Phishing and scam attempts, while not technically viruses, will still harm your phone and your person.

The best mobile antivirus is capable of identifying these and blocking them from appearing on your screen or in your email. This will also help you waste less time clicking through obvious scam attempts when visiting sites.

Peripheral Benefits

Antivirus is only one of multiple security apps offered by most of the best mobile antivirus. With most mobile users not seeking an antivirus, providers have had to put extra effort into making their offers more appealing.

Whether this is protecting your online privacy through a VPN, implementing anti-theft measures to keep your phone safe, or a myriad of other options, most of them will provide peripherals.

Oftentimes, these peripherals can be more than worth the price of the antivirus by themselves.

Free Mobile Antivirus vs Paid Antivirus

There are some robust free antivirus solutions out there. Most of these are unreliable or even outright scams on the lookout to sell your data. However, today we’ve assembled the best free antivirus scan for viruses on iPhone and Android that are legitimate and do work. These include Avira and Avast.

Although their free versions will also let you scan your phone for viruses and might even implement real-time protection, there’s a distinct difference between their free and paid solutions.

On the whole, a paid mobile antivirus will provide you with much more. They’ll be faster than their free counterparts, have lower failure and false-positive rates, as well as come with a variety of features unimaginable for a free solution.

If you’re still uncertain about whether paying for a mobile antivirus is a good idea, know that a free antivirus isn’t the only alternative. You can use free trials or money-back guarantees of antivirus like TotalAV to try it risk-free before deciding if it’s worth your money.

What to Consider When Choosing the Best Antivirus for Mobile

After some thought, we came to this list through which we’ve ranked these mobile antiviruses:

What’s the Best Antivirus for Mobile in 2024?

Choosing the best antivirus for mobile in 2024 was no easy task. We thoroughly tested each provider to identify their core strengths and weaknesses, and we even actively compared them against one another to determine who earned the converted top spot.

In the end, TotalAV prevailed above its competition. With its intricate combination of powerful scans and secure real-time protection, Wi-Fi scanning, data leak protection, performance enhancement, and a boatload of peripherals, few can stand up to it on power alone.

However, power is not all it brings, as TotalAV is incredibly easy to use and doesn’t even come at a particularly hefty price tag. If you’d like to put our number #1 best mobile antivirus to the test risk-free, you can click the button below and take advantage of its 30-day money-back guarantee.

Mobile Antivirus FAQs