In the modern digital landscape, a strong antivirus solution can keep your PC protected from harmful cyber threats. McAfee and Microsoft Defender Antivirus (formerly Windows Defender) are two highly trusted antivirus solutions optimized with features and capabilities to enhance users’ security. But with today’s ever-evolving cyberattacks, making the right choice between these options is essential.
So join me in this article, where I compare the offerings of each of these antivirus solutions, so that you can select the best option to meet your security needs.
ManageEngine Log360
Employees per Company Size
Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+)
Micro (0-49 Employees), Small (50-249 Employees), Medium (250-999 Employees), Large (1,000-4,999 Employees), Enterprise (5,000+ Employees)
Micro, Small, Medium, Large, Enterprise
Features
Activity Monitoring, Blacklisting, Dashboard, and more
Dashlane
Employees per Company Size
Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+)
Micro (0-49 Employees), Small (50-249 Employees), Medium (250-999 Employees), Large (1,000-4,999 Employees), Enterprise (5,000+ Employees)
Micro, Small, Medium, Large, Enterprise
Features
Automated Provisioning
Microsoft Defender Antivirus vs McAfee: Comparison table
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Microsoft Defender Antivirus vs McAfee: Pricing
Microsoft Defender Antivirus pricing
Microsoft Defender Antivirus, is a free add-on Windows antivirus software available exclusively to Windows users with a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription. If the prices I’ve listed below seem pricey, remember that buyers also get to enjoy the other features included with their Microsoft 365 plans, and each comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
| Plan | Microsoft 365 Personal | Microsoft 365 Family |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $99.99 per year | $129.99 per year |
| Number of devices covered | Antivirus protection for 1 person, and up to 5 devices at the same time | Antivirus protection for up to 6 people, and up to 5 devices per person at the same time |
| Noteworthy features | Identity theft monitoring, anti-phishing, credit protection, 1 TB of cloud storage | Individual identity theft monitoring per member, up to 6 TB of cloud storage |
Although it doesn’t support macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS systems, Microsoft does offer an entirely separate product geared toward enterprises called Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, that does support Linux, Android. macOS. and iOS.
McAfee pricing
McAfee provides five subscription plans for its antivirus software service, that are all billed annually. At the time of writing this, the price information provided on the vendor’s site reflects their “Introductory Pricing for New Customers” offer. The following prices were gathered accordingly, and per the offer are exclusive only to new buyers through the initial year of their plans.
| Plan | Basic | Essential | Premium | Advanced | Ultimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $29.99 per year | $39.99 per year | $49.99 per year | $89.99 per year | $199.99 per year |
| Number of devices covered | 1 | 5 | Unlimited devices | Unlimited devices | Unlimited devices |
| Noteworthy features | Identity alerts, VPN, and protection scoring | VPN, password manager, scam protection, and protection score | Essential plan offerings plus social privacy manager and personal data clean-up tool. | Premium plan offerings plus identity theft coverage and security freeze. | Advance plan offerings plus 401(k) transaction monitoring ransomware coverage. |
McAfee’s antivirus subscription plans differ in terms of how many devices they protect, but fortunately there is a plan out there for each of your device needs, whether they be to cover a single PC or an organization’s entire device inventory.
McAfee also provides a 30-day money-back guarantee to annual subscription customers.
Microsoft Defender Antivirus vs McAfee: Feature comparison
VPN
Winner: McAfee
McAfee protects customers personal and sensitive data with the McAfee Secure VPN, and is an included feature within the majority of their offered plans. It uses AES-256 encryption to protect internet traffic, and can even help you bypass geographical restrictions to access blocked websites and content. The VPN is especially helpful on the go, as it allows users to connect online from a secure server even on public Wi-Fi.
Now, let’s talk about Microsoft Defender Antivirus. I couldn’t help but mention VPNs in this feature comparison, especially considering Microsoft’s recent changes to its offerings. In February 2025 Microsoft removed the free VPN that had come with Microsoft Defender Antivirus and customers lost access to the privacy protection feature, although it had been a part of the vendor’s offerings since 2023.
Although Microsoft Defender Antivirus has many other protective security features, this was definitely a disappointing change.
SEE: Cybersecurity: Benefits and Best Practices (TechRepublic Premium)
Performance efficiency
Winner: Tie
McAfee has a few features up its sleeve to optimize performance efficiency and minimize the impact on resources. A couple ways it achieves this is through Cloud-Based Scanning, which offloads a portion of the threat analysis to the cloud to avoid having to perform constant local scanning, and File Cleanup to remove any digital clutter slowing down your system.
Alternatively, Microsoft Defender Antivirus can be a great choice to enhance your performance efficiency. This is true when it is run on Windows, of course, as Microsoft Defender Antivirus is built directly into the Windows system, causing less impact on the device.
Microsoft Defender Antivirus outperforms McAfee in efficiency on Windows, thanks to its built-in architecture. But if you’re looking to protect your privacy on another operating system,
Windows system integration
Winner: Microsoft Defender Antivirus
I really value the native optimization aspect of Microsoft Defender Antivirus for its easy integration with other Windows features and Microsoft 365 tools. And if you’re not a Windows user like me, you likely won’t be using Microsoft Defender Antivirus for personal use on any alternative system. It is only available on others as an alternate solution tailored to enterprise use called Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, which is part of their suite of enterprise security solutions.
Seeing as how McAfee is not a Windows product and Microsoft Defender Antivirus is, it came as no surprise to learn that McAfee offers less integration options with Windows products. That said, for personal use on a Windows system, Microsoft Defender Antivirus takes the cake.
Independent test results on threat detection
Winner: Tie
To analyze the threat protection of these two products, I decided to see what the experts had to say about how each one compared. I gained these insights based on the scores from AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives, two highly trusted AV testing firms that analyze antivirus software.
Below are the scores that each vendor received on the AV-TEST antivirus product evaluations conducted from January and February 2025, on a Windows 10 Professional platform.
| Protection rating | Malware detection | Protection against 0-day malware (January) | Protection against 0-day malware (February) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Defender Antivirus | 6/6 | 100% | 99.5% | 100% |
| McAfee | 6/6 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
While Microsoft Defender Antivirus’s protection against 0-day malware took a minor dip in January, overall both antivirus solutions earned satisfactory scores on the AV-TEST for their abilities to detect and process malware threats.
The AV-Comparatives real-world protection test conducted in March 2025 evaluated each product on up-to-date 64-Bit Microsoft Windows 11 systems. The results shown below were scored by each solution, based on its protection rate percentage.
| Protection rate | |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Defender Antivirus | 99.94% |
| McAfee | 99.96% |
While Microsoft Defender Antivirus may be lagging slightly behind McAfee, they both had impressive test results, so I won’t hold the 0.02% difference against them. Each vendor’s products scored well, reflecting their ability to protect users against infections by malicious files.
Microsoft Defender Antivirus pros and cons
Pros of Microsoft Defender Antivirus
- Seamless integration with Microsoft and Windows tools.
- Microsoft Defender Antivirus itself does not show ads or push upgrades onto users.
- Comes pre-installed on the latest Windows operating systems at no additional cost.
Cons of Microsoft Defender Antivirus
- Full antivirus capabilities are limited to Windows operating systems for personal use.
- Lacks several common antivirus solutions features, like a password manager and a VPN.
- Scored slightly lower than McAfee on independent test results analysing threat detection.
McAfee pros and cons
Pros of McAfee
- Provides real-time threat detection and intelligence.
- Offers plans for individuals as well as multi-device licenses.
- Many plans come bundles with a VPN for secure browsing.
Cons of McAfee
- More resource intensive on Windows systems than Microsoft Defender Antivirus.
- Frequently displays advertisements to upsell to consumers.
- High energy requirements for system scans can slow down lower-powered devices.
Microsoft Defender Antivirus vs McAfee on Reddit
The folks on the forums had a few things to say about these two solutions. While some praised Microsoft Defender Antivirus, others were displeased with it for its high CPU usage while performing scans. On the flip side, many members of Reddit’s antivirus community seem satisfied with McAfee offerings, but others aren’t as impressed, as they complained about its ads and debated its overall necessity.
Still, each of these solutions are popular, and many commenters even recommend that users expand their security by utilizing both solutions at once.
Should you use Microsoft Defender Antivirus or McAfee?
Choose Microsoft Defender Antivirus if:
- You want a tool that is optimized for Windows systems.
- You want an antivirus to function on your device for personal use.
- You value a lightweight solution over extra features and fluff.
Choose McAfee if:
- You want your antivirus to protect multiple devices across different platforms.
- You value user-friendliness in your antivirus solution.
- You want your solution with to come with richer tool and capabilities built-in.
Methodology
I conducted this review of these solutions by assessing compiled literature researched from relevant databases. The information I have included within this article is gathered from vendor websites or based on an aggregate of user feedback, to provide a high-quality review.
