Best Antivirus for Android

Antivirus software is like a hazmat suit for your phone: it protects against malware and allows you to download new apps confidently. Many antivirus apps can also help protect your privacy, find your phone if it gets lost, and keep your device safe from hacking and theft.

We chose Bitdefender because it does all of these tasks for a reasonable price. It also boasts excellent scores in independent testing from AV-TEST. Read on to learn why we recommend this antivirus app for most people.

Its reliance on cloud-based services means there's little to no impact on your device during scans, but you'll need a reliable, ongoing Wi-Fi connection for the antivirus to keep working in the background. When we looked at the latest independent test results from AT-TEST, Bitdefender earned a perfect score. It didn't miss a single virus sample or flag any safe files as false positives.

Because Bitdefender Antivirus Free is so simple, there's nothing to configure, so setup is a breeze. Suppose you decide later on that you want additional features, like anti-theft, app locking, Android Wear security, and real-time scanning as you browse. In that case, you can upgrade to Bitdefender Mobile Security.

Most antivirus software sell annual subscriptions, and Bitdefender is no different at $14.99 a year—the same as ESET. But we like that Bitdefender also includes a mobile-friendly option for $1.49 a month. In the long term, you'll technically spend more with a monthly plan, but you don't need to track when an annual plan renews.

Whether you pay yearly or monthly, Bitdefender offers a 14-day trial that you can access without entering a credit card number. Although our other top picks offer trial options, Bitdefender's the only one where you can preview every feature without sharing your payment info.

Learn more in our full Bitdefender antivirus review.

The app is easy to use and has clear menu selections and commands. Its Android malware detection is top-notch when it comes to anticipating threats. And unlike some antivirus programs that run silently in the background, if Norton detects an issue, it will alert you and ask how to proceed.

Our favorite Norton features are safe browsing, Wi-Fi scanning, and a security audit that tells which apps have specific access permissions. These are great for protecting sensitive data and spotting potential scams.

Unfortunately, Norton Security doesn't offer an app lock to restrict access to apps with private info like banking apps and messaging apps. There's also no anti-theft tool to help you find a lost phone or wipe the data after someone steals it.

While Norton offers a seven-day trial, it's the only brand on our list without a free version. This means you need to enter your payment info to see what the app looks like. Norton's price doubles after the first year from $14.99 to $29.99, so we don't recommend subscribing via Google Play. Instead, a Norton360 plan is a better value since its cross-platform support means you can protect other phones and computers.

Learn more in our full Norton antivirus review.

The free version of the app includes many ads, which are a small annoyance when testing features. But most folks won’t notice ads since you’re not spending all our free time on antivirus apps. The main drawback of the free app is that it won't run automatic scans or scam protection, so you'll need a Pro plan to use those. There's also no VPN unless you upgrade to the Ultimate plan.

As a paid app, AVG is less impressive. At $12, your first year is $3 cheaper than Bitdefender, but AVG's renewal price of $19.99 saves less money. It's still inexpensive enough that you might go for the ad-free experience and automatic scanning anyway.

As for the Ultimate plan, it starts at $24 a year but jumps to $40 upon renewal. That's a lot to spend for an extra VPN but still more affordable than the 10-device plan on AVG's website.

Learn more in our full AVG antivirus review.

We love the security auditing options in Kaspersky. It can show you weak settings on your phone and social media. Plus, it helps you track devices on your home network. You can also tell the app to activate the VPN when you're on an unsecured public Wi-Fi network.

Kaspersky mobile antivirus is one of the more expensive options on our list—it costs about $28 a year. Still, it's worth the money, especially if you bundle your mobile devices and computers under a single plan.

While the free version has fewer security features, its detailed activity log and security report help you keep up with the latest scan results. You need a paid plan for anti-theft, app lock, and call blocking. Our biggest beef with ESET is that there's no VPN like our other top picks.

We also like the ability to schedule scans when your device is charging. ESET's latest AV-TEST result comes from 2021, so its performance in real-world tests isn't as recent as with rivals. Still, it's one of the highest-rated antivirus apps on Google Play. You'll pay about $7 for your first year with ESET, though the renewal price is approximately $15 a year.

Learn more in our full ESET antivirus review.

Lookout is one of the most popular free antivirus apps on Google Play and an excellent option for a quick virus scan. But there's a drought of independent testing data—its most recent result from AV-TEST dates back to 2016. Without a way to compare it to the competition, it's hard to recommend Lookout. Still, you might consider Lookout's top-tier plan for another reason: it includes affordable identity theft protection for about $100 a year.

We like Malwarebytes for its simplified approach, but its paid plan—about $12 a year—boasts fewer features than the similarly-priced AVG. This is a strength for folks who won't use features like app lock and anti-theft, but it keeps Malwarebytes from claiming our budget spot.

Learn more in our full Malwarebytes antivirus review.

Like Norton, McAfee Mobile Security has all the scanning, browsing, and Wi-Fi vulnerability-checking features of other top antivirus apps. But it offers even fewer features than Malwarebytes for more than twice the price—about $30 a year. It's a nice bonus for folks buying the cross-platform McAfee Total Protection plan, but it falls flat as a standalone service for Android.

Trend Micro checks almost all the boxes for an excellent Android antivirus app: virus scanning, app lock, anti-theft, safe browsing, and solid AV-TEST scores. But we can't see ourselves paying $30 a year unless there's an integrated VPN in the app like Bitdefender, Norton, AVG, and Kaspersky offer.

Bitdefender claims our top spot because it offers an excellent suite of anti-malware features on a monthly or annual plan. Unlike most competitors, it doesn't raise the price upon renewal, which is especially helpful for keeping your annual payments predictable.

It's also our top pick for antivirus software on any platform, so head over to our review of the best antivirus software to learn how it handles the competition in a larger arena.

To determine the best antivirus service for Android devices, we downloaded each antivirus app on a Google Pixel 5. Although all these apps are available for other platforms, we looked at features and pricing unique to the Google Play store. In-app purchase pricing usually covers a single Android phone, so buying multi-device plans that cover other platforms like iOS, PC, and macOS is often cheaper.

We examined each app to study features that you can use for free and those that require a subscription. To balance out our brief time with each app, we read user reviews to learn more about how well each performs in real-world situations. We also checked test results from the independent testing lab AV-TEST.

Check out our methodology to learn more about how we evaluate and review products.

• Understanding Malware and Other Malicious Software
• Best Anti-malware and Antivirus for Android
• Best Password Managers for All Your Devices
• Best VPN Services