Marcin’s 2004 family PC and the two addresses on the footer
Malwarebytes still tells its origin on the live homepage: founder Marcin started the company in 2004 after malware landed on a family computer, and the consumer shop now lives at malwarebytes.com. The footer, checked on 19 September 2026, lists 2445 Augustine Drive, Suite 550, Santa Clara, California 95054 and Penrose One, Penrose Dock, 1st Floor, Cork T23 KW81, Ireland. The identity page also prints One Albert Quay, 2nd Floor, Cork T12 X8N6. Homepage badges include 2026 PCMag Best Brands and AVLab Product of the Year 2026. This guide maps free versus paid plans, Teams seats, refunds, and platforms. It is a shopping brief, not a promise that any scan stops every threat.
The same homepage groups the catalog as device security, online privacy, and identity protection. It advertises Premium Security, Browser Guard, Privacy VPN, Identity Theft Protection, and Scam Guard, which accepts shady links or screenshots. Plan tabs are Individual, Family, and Small business. Small-business cards are Sole proprietor for three devices, Boutique business for ten, and Small office for twenty. A 60-day money-back guarantee is advertised on annual plans. Exact dollars did not render in a text fetch of the JavaScript cart, so confirm the live total, tax, and renewal toggle. Existing customers are told to open MyAccount for deals.
Cleanup is free; prevention is the invoice
Malwarebytes Free is not a cheaper twin of Premium Security. The Premium page, checked on 19 September 2026, says the free build is a cleanup tool for damage that has already happened, while Premium Security is meant to run automatically and stop attacks before they land. The Help Center table titled Free vs Paid Malwarebytes Security features draws that line by platform. On Windows and Mac, Quick Scan and Custom Scan stay free. Threat Scan and real-time layers sit on the paid side. Digital Footprint Scan and Scam Guard are listed as free on both desktops. Keep Free for a second opinion. Pay only when Malwarebytes will be the layer that stays awake.
- Windows and Mac free: Quick Scan, Custom Scan, Digital Footprint Scan, and Scam Guard; Windows also lists Privacy Controls, Firewall Control, System Tweaks, and File Shredder
- Windows and Mac paid: Threat Scan, Real-Time Protection, Web Protection, Malware Protection, and VPN; Windows adds paid ransomware and exploit modules; Mac adds paid App Block
- Android free: Scanner, Application Manager, Privacy Checker, Settings Checker, SMS protection, Scam Guard; paid VPN, real-time, ransomware, and safe-browsing scanner
- iOS and iPadOS: no on-device scanner in that table; paid VPN and Web Protection; paid Call Protection on iPhone; free ad blocking and Scam Guard
Windows still ships modules Mac and phones do not copy
A multi-device license is not ten copies of the deepest Windows feature set. The Premium page repeats that exact features vary by operating system. Web Protection is listed for Windows, Mac, and Android. Windows-only utilities on the same page include webcam alerts, remote-desktop monitoring alerts, Firewall Control, a file shredder, and temp-file cleanup. iOS Call Protection is meant to flag spam and scam calls before the phone rings. Android Text Protection flags fraudulent SMS. Count the PCs, Macs, and phones you will activate, then read the OS page for each seat instead of assuming every marketing icon lands on every gadget.
Desktop Security requirements on the Help Center list Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, and 7 SP1, with at least 4 GB of RAM (8 GB preferred) and 1 GB of free disk. ARM-based Windows PCs and Windows on ARM Macs are called supported. macOS versions listed there run from Big Sur 11 through Sequoia 15. An active internet connection is required to install. The Premium FAQ is stricter about old Windows: Microsoft has ended support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1, and those installs keep threat-intelligence updates only for a limited time. New protection needs a supported Windows version. Linux has no desktop client on that grid; Browser Guard is the piece some Linux users still install.
Standard, Plus, and Ultimate are three invoices, not three engines
Consumer packaging is no longer a single Premium versus Premium + Privacy pair. An October 6, 2025 Santa Clara press release said individual plans cover one person with one, three, or five devices, plus optional identity protection. Family plans were described as covering up to two adults and ten children, with ten or twenty devices. Live tabs on 19 September 2026 still show Individual, Family, and Small business, including a one-device Standard route beside three-device cards. All consumer plans on the Premium page include Browser Guard. Higher cards add Privacy VPN and, on Ultimate, identity services. A larger invoice does not mean a different malware engine.
Because the official cart hid list prices in a scripted widget, treat published dollars as dated snapshots. A July 29, 2026 capture of the US storefront showed three-device Individual Standard at 59.99 dollars a year, Plus at 79.99 dollars, and Ultimate at a promotional 139.99 dollars with 279.99 dollars crossed out. Ten-device Family cards that day showed 119.99, 149.99, and a promotional 199.99 dollars. Other campaigns have shown one-device Standard near 44.99 dollars. Strikethroughs are marketing comparisons, not a documented second-year bill. Annual Online Store subscribers receive a reminder thirty days before renewal that includes the amount to be charged.
- Standard: paid real-time device security plus Browser Guard — the clean comparison when you only want the antivirus layer
- Plus: Standard plus unlimited Privacy VPN; worth the increment only if the VPN will be used on the covered devices
- Ultimate: Plus plus identity monitoring, recovery help, credit services, insurance, and Personal Data Remover where the region allows it
- Identity services protect enrolled people, not laptop seats; insurance is described as 1 to 2 million dollars, US-only, and excludes incidents before enrollment
- Personal Data Remover is described as available in the United States only
- Family math only helps when most seats are occupied
Open malwarebytes.com, pick Individual, Family, or Small business, and read the final device count, add-ons, and renewal amount before you subscribe.
Compare live Malwarebytes plans →Sole proprietor, Boutique, Small office — then ThreatDown
Malwarebytes for Teams is the small-business lane on malwarebytes.com/teams for shops that want antivirus, Web Protection, Browser Guard, a personal Privacy VPN, and an admin dashboard without hiring a security team. Live cards on 19 September 2026 still use Sole proprietor for three devices, Boutique business for ten, and Small office for twenty. Teams copy lists Tamper Prevention, monthly security reports, 24/7 priority support, a 60-day money-back guarantee, and the ability to expense the purchase with a business tax ID. The VPN is a personal client for public Wi-Fi, not a site-to-site corporate tunnel. Need more than twenty endpoints? The Teams page sends you to ThreatDown, powered by Malwarebytes.
Scam Guard, Browser Guard, and identity that covers people
Scam Guard is advertised as included in all current plans and as a free feature in the Help Center table. The homepage pitch is to drop in a shady link or screenshot and let the tool assess it. Teams copy narrows the mobile version to iOS and Android. Browser Guard is a separate extension for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Safari. Premium Security says it comes with that subscription; the standalone page also offers it as a free download that blocks ads, trackers, malicious sites, phishing, and credit-card skimmers. You can install the extension without paying for desktop antivirus. Linux users who will never run the Windows or Mac client still have that browser layer.
Identity Theft Protection is the people-shaped add-on, not another antivirus seat. The official page describes dark-web and credential monitoring, Data Breach IQ, live-agent recovery including lost-wallet help, and Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion credit reports with VantageScore 3.0 on a single-bureau or three-bureau basis depending on plan. Ultimate adds enhanced bank alerts, USPS change-of-address, and court-record checks. Insurance is described under a master group policy in the name of Cyberscout Limited and Sontiq, underwritten by Lloyd’s, for 1 million or 2 million dollar US plans. Coverage does not apply to incidents before enrollment. A ten-device Family license does not automatically give every child a full adult credit file.
Direct download, MyAccount, and the store that billed you
Premium Security downloads from malwarebytes.com for Windows and Mac, from the Microsoft Store for Windows, from the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad, and from Google Play for Android. That choice of store is a billing choice. A direct Online Store subscription is managed in MyAccount. Apple and Google purchases must be changed or canceled inside those stores. Online Store annual plans auto-renew by default, with a reminder thirty days before the charge. Reducing devices can require turning off renewal and buying a correctly sized replacement, because consumer bands sit at one, three, five, or ten devices. Deactivating a device frees a seat. It does not uninstall the app and it does not cancel the invoice.
Sixty days, Support tickets, and invoices that are not from Malwarebytes
The homepage and pricing pages advertise a 60-day money-back guarantee on annual plans. The personal-products refund article, updated April 13, 2026, tells buyers to read the Software License Agreement and to contact Support to confirm eligibility. Orders placed through Google Play or the Apple App Store follow those vendors’ refund rules, which are often shorter than a direct 60-day window. Keep the order number, account email, and store receipt. Open the Help Center from a page you typed yourself. Uninstalling the app does not stop a renewal. Turning off auto-renewal leaves the current term active until it expires. Complete the billing action with the merchant that actually charged you.
Pay for Malwarebytes when you want its real-time layer running every day. Keep the free scanner when you only need a second opinion after a scare. Do not treat Ultimate identity insurance, a personal VPN, or Scam Guard as a backup drive or a substitute for two-factor authentication.
— Jordan Blake
Backups, 2FA, and the jobs this license will not do
Malwarebytes does not replace a current operating-system patch cycle, a unique password plus two-factor authentication on email and banking, or an offline backup of photos and tax files. Ransomware protection, where the platform offers it, is a detection layer, not a time machine. Privacy VPN hides a café Wi-Fi hop from local snoopers; it does not make a reused password safe and it is not a company VPN that routes staff through a corporate gateway. Identity monitoring can alert you after data appears in the wrong place; it cannot un-send a number you typed into a fake form. Teams reports help a small office see what is installed. They are not a 24-hour SOC.
Confirm the live Individual, Family, or Teams card, the 60-day annual-plan guarantee, and the store that will bill you on malwarebytes.com before you activate a seat.
Open the official Malwarebytes shop →Frequently asked questions
Is the free scanner enough if Microsoft Defender is already on?
It can be, if Defender is current, you install updates, and you only want Malwarebytes as an on-demand second opinion after a bad download. The official free-versus-paid table leaves real-time malware, web, ransomware, and exploit layers on the paid side for Windows. Running two always-on antivirus engines can duplicate alerts and complicate cleanup, so decide which product is primary before you pay. Keep Free when a one-time scan is all you need. Buy Standard when you want Malwarebytes to stay resident. Skip Plus and Ultimate unless you have a separate reason to want the VPN or the identity bundle.
Did Bitdefender take over the Malwarebytes catalog?
No. The live consumer site on 19 September 2026 still sells Malwarebytes-branded Premium Security, Browser Guard, Privacy VPN, Identity Theft Protection, and Teams cards. Bitdefender publishes its own 2026 consumer lineup under names such as Total Security, Premium Security, and Ultimate Security. Those are a different vendor’s SKUs. Malwarebytes’ documented recent consumer change is the October 2025 people-first plan refresh, which shifted packaging toward people in a household plus device bands, not a merger into Bitdefender. If a reseller page mixes the two brands, open malwarebytes.com yourself and read the plan name and merchant of record.
Which devices can one license cover, and how do I install?
Consumer cards advertise protection for PCs, Macs, Androids, and iPhones, with one-, three-, five-, ten-, or twenty-device bands depending on Individual, Family, or Teams. Activate only the seats you will actually use. Install Windows and Mac builds from the official site or the Microsoft Store, iPhone and iPad builds from the Apple App Store, and Android builds from Google Play. Sign in with the same MyAccount email you used on a direct purchase so the license can attach. If you paid Apple or Google, that store owns the subscription. After install, run an update and complete any Ultimate identity enrollment. Deactivate a retired laptop so the seat returns to the pool; that step does not cancel billing.
How do refunds work if Apple or Google took the payment?
Ask the store that charged you. Malwarebytes’ April 2026 personal refund page says Google Play and Apple App Store subscriptions follow those vendors’ policies. The 60-day money-back line on malwarebytes.com is the direct annual-plan promise, and even then Support must confirm eligibility under the Software License Agreement. App-store windows are often measured in days, not two months. Cancel the auto-renew toggle in Settings or Play before the next bill, then file the refund with that store if you are still inside its rules. A ticket to Malwarebytes Support cannot override an Apple or Google merchant of record. Never call a phone number from an unexpected renewal invoice.
Who should skip this shop, and who is it actually for?
Skip a paid seat if you are happy with a maintained free scanner plus another real-time product you already trust, if you run only Linux desktops and just need Browser Guard, if you need more than twenty managed endpoints (look at ThreatDown instead), or if you live outside the United States and were buying Ultimate mainly for credit bureaus or Lloyd’s-backed identity insurance. Skip Plus if you already pay for a VPN you prefer. This shop fits a household that will occupy most of a one-, three-, five-, or ten-device band, a sole proprietor who wants Teams reporting without an IT staff, and anyone who used the free cleaner and now wants the same engine watching.
