The best Android antivirus apps in 2026

Google Play Protect comes pre-installed on all of the best Android phones to provide a basic layer of protection against malware, check the safety of apps and warn you about potentially dangerous websites.

But if you want to boost your protection, stop phishing attacks, alert you to potential fraud, and protect your identity, then you'll want to download one of the best Android antivirus apps.

As you'll need to buy most of these, we haven't just recommended some of the most popular options. Instead, we’ve spent weeks installing and uninstalling them, testing their features, swiping through their menus, checking their support options and researching their impact on productivity to see which offer the best overall protection, value, interface and more for your Android smartphone.

Overall, we think the best way to protect your Android phone is Bitdefender Mobile Security because of its excellent malware protection, variety of features and price. However, we also have excellent picks for best value apps, best apps for features and more so you can find one that will work best for your needs and still keep your phone free of malware.

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Best Android antivirus app overall

Bitdefender continues to dominate security software with its powerful Mobile Security app for Android. The software not only yields excellent malware protection but is one of the least expensive defensive apps around.

While its scanning placed a heavy load on the system’s resources, Mobile Security found just about every threat thrown at it and has no shortage of extra defenses, like the App Lock that can turn off apps that might pose a security risk and the App Anomaly detector that uses machine learning techniques to thwart unexpected and potentially dangerous actions. In addition to blocking objectionable online destinations, its Web site protection focuses on phishing attempts.

There’s not only anti-theft protection that includes GPS tracking and an annoying alarm but Mobile Security’s Account Privacy checks for compromised email accounts. While Mobile Security’s VPN blocks malicious websites and ads, its use is limited to 200MB a day; to get unlimited VPN use, you need to upgrade to the Premium Security package.

It's a shame for your money you don't get access to an unlimited VPN, but Bitdefender Mobile Security is one of the least expensive ways to protect a phone or tablet. It’s the best mix of protection, price and performance for keeping your phone yours.

• Read our full Bitdefender Mobile Security review

Best free Android antivirus app

Avast Mobile Security starts with a surprisingly fleshed out free version to protect phones from the most prominent threats while securely storing up to 10 of your favorite photos in the cloud-based Photo Vault. Unfortunately, you’ll need to put up with a flood of ads, popups and banners.

That said, the $20 Premium Mobile Security is an inexpensive way of getting rid of the ads that includes unlimited photo storage and lots of security-conscious extras. In addition to scan scheduling, Avast’s Web Shield helps avoid nasty Web sites and the Secure Browser lets you hide your identity online.

Avast Mobile Security’s Messages section does a good job of putting all outstanding security issues in your face. Should an app go rogue, Mobile Security’s App Lock can shut it down, cutting off its online oxygen.

Need more? Ultimate Mobile Security costs $40 and ups this protection with unlimited use of Avast’s SecureLine VPN for secure online work and play.

Overall, Avast Mobile Security’s protection is good with the ability to stop popular and fresh exploits but at the cost of several false positive readings. Unfortunately, all these defenses add up to Mobile Security absconding with lots of system resources.

• Read our full Avast Mobile Security review

Best Android antivirus app for features

Norton Mobile Security attempts to provide nothing short of the most thorough protection you can get to defend a phone or tablet. It generally succeeds with perfect malware effectiveness scores on AV-Test’s battery of viral assessments but that’s only half the story because there are no results from our other independent malware appraisal lab.

In addition to thorough scanning, Norton Mobile Security’s App Advisor takes a proactive approach by warning of dangerous software before it can be installed on a phone. The app’s Privacy Monitor works with data brokers to keep your personal information (including banking details) off the dark Web while Norton’s Genie AI can warn about artificial intelligence scams.

The app’s VPN access is part and parcel of Norton Mobile Security — not a separate app — making it easier to use. It's the rare Android security app that can safeguard the best Chromebooks along with Android phones and tablets. This makes it a great way to protect computers at home, at work and at school.

• Read our full Norton Mobile Security review

Best Android antivirus app interface

A full-service suite for phones and tablets, McAfee Mobile Security is for more than just getting rid of infections. It’s like having a mini security suite for Android devices. Based on one of the best security interfaces around, everything is visual, simple and straightforward.

The app offers good protection from a variety of threats with AI-based cloud scanning that can be scheduled, while its Safe Browsing feature can alert you to dangerous web destinations and block the installation of unwanted apps. McAfee Mobile Security goes a couple steps further with protection against unsafe email attachments, online identity monitoring and scams.

With unlimited VPN access and an integrated interface, Mobile Security is a bargain at half the cost of comparable protection. It might not be perfect, but McAfee Mobile Security does a lot for a little.

• Read our full McAfee Mobile Security review

The best Android antivirus app for fast scans

Sure, there’s a free version of ESET Mobile Security, but the sweet spot for this phone and tablet security app is the Premium version. It gets rid of the annoying ads and increases the app’s protection profile with quick scans.

Its emphasis is on stopping phishing attempts dead in their tracks while the real-time system behavioral analysis looks for changes that might be due to malware. Any app can be locked and Mobile Security’s secure Payment Protection browser can help keep your identity and credit card info safe, but its unlimited VPN is only available with one of ESET’s security suites.

The app can show the GPS position of a lost or stolen phone, surreptitiously snap a photo of the person using it and lock it remotely. That said, Mobile Security’s Scanning engine goes beyond the expected to look at system software, apps and data for threats. It can even spot Windows and Mac viruses.

In addition to monitoring websites for potential malware exposure, ESET has a built-in security barrier for rogue code on social media apps, like Facebook and Instagram. Overall, its protection was excellent but its lightning fast scans can slow a phone down.

• Read our full ESET Mobile Security review

The best Android antivirus app for banking

The proof of a security app’s usefulness is in its ability to thwart creative and novel threats and Trend Micro Mobile Security punching above its weight class. At $30, it lacks a VPN and several other security enhancing amenities but includes the company’s Secure Guard hardened browser to help make online commerce safer.

The app can not only block ads but its Web Guard warns of dangerous sites. Too bad it can’t schedule scanning and getting the VPN requires subscribing to one of Trend Micro’s security suites. It is capable of removing unused apps on your phone or tablet and Mobile Security is the rare Android app that focuses on the privacy settings for major social media accounts.

Meanwhile, Mobile Security’s Fraud Buster feature warns of potential online scams and a lost or stolen phone can be located and locked. The app includes parental controls and a Wi-Fi network scanner.

Unfortunately, all this adds up to a heavy burden placed on the system’s resources, although Mobile Security was just as good at detecting AV Comparatives’ viral samples. Older tests showed Trend Micro flagged many false positives, but problem has been tamed, and it now has fewer false alerts than its competitors.

• Read our full Trend Micro Mobile Security review

Best Android antivirus app comparison chart

How we test the best Android antivirus apps

To rate these Android security apps and pick the best from the also-rans, we subjected each to a comprehensive round of testing on a OnePlus 11 test phone. It started with the installation process and extended to examining every major feature (and a slew of minor ones) until we had a good idea of how they worked.

To measure each app’s passive impact on performance, we used the Passmark PerformanceTest system benchmark before and after the app was installed. We ran it again with the phone scanning for dangers and compared the three readings.

We also used a stopwatch to time how long it took for each app to fully scan the system for threats. In these tests, smaller numeric results indicate better performance.

To gauge the security protection offered by each of these Android apps, we turned to two independent malware test labs. In addition to AV-TEST we used data from AV-Comparatives on each app’s ability to spot and destroy a variety of threats.

We paid particular attention to false positive readings of safe software that the apps thought was dangerous. Together they give a good idea about the app’s effectiveness at catching malware, new and old.

How to choose the best Android antivirus app for you

Before you install one of the best Android antivirus apps, you want to be sure it'll do everything you need. Start with its effectiveness at detecting malware, and can spot phishing attempts and malicious links.

Look for an app developer with a good reputation for frequent updates, since that will keep you protected from newer virus signatures as well as existing bugs and vulnerabilities.

You’ll also want to make sure the app isn’t a performance hog. You’re more likely to remove or disable an app if it bogs down your phone and makes it a hassle to use. So whichever app you choose should be able to do its job and protect your device without keeping you from using your phone the way you like.

If you don’t already have an antivirus program for your computer that provides additional protection like a password manager or a VPN, you might want to have these bonuses added to your Android antivirus app. If you’ve been a victim to a data breach, maybe you know you want additional identity monitoring.

Before you dive in, look at the interface to see if the app seems neatly laid out and organized, and easy to use. Find out when the customer support hours are, and how customer support is available (email, chat or phone), and then check cost. What is included in the annual fee, and what is available for an additional price.

That sounds like a lot of research which is why reading reviews can be so valuable, as well as looking at results from testing companies like AV-Test to see scores on malware prevention, false positives and performance draws.

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