Malwarebytes vs Webroot – Comparison review

About 50% of Internet users experienced virus attacks on their PCs or mobile devices. In addition, about 50% of websites have cyber vulnerabilities that allow hackers to control them. The most popular ways to receive the virus are downloading something from the Internet, opening a suspicious email from an unknown sender, opening the link on an untrusted website, or using public Wi-Fi. For protection from all threats, all Internet access devices need trustable up-to-date Antivirus software.

Antiviruses are developed to detect and remove all viruses, worms, botnets, spyware, and threats from your PC or mobile devices. They can maintain your computer in optimal performance mode, close unnecessary programs slowing down the CPU, and delete temporary files. The modern antiviruses can also propose a lot of add-ons to improve your Browser security, business network, and personal privacy.

In this article, two popular antiviruses, Malwarebytes and Webroot, will be reviewed in detail to check their best features and determine the best one.

Table comparison – Malwarebytes vs Webroot

Purpose	Antivirus	Antivirus
Free version
Compatibility	Windows, Mac, Android, IOS	Windows, Mac, Android, IOS
Real-time scanning
Scanning	Automatic / Scheduled / Custom	Automatic / Scheduled / Custom
Portable devices scanning
Threats protection	Spyware, worms, trojans, rootkit, phishing, spam	Spyware, worms, trojans, rootkit, phishing, spam
Email protection
Adware protection
Mobile protection	Android	Android, IOS
Webcam protection
Fast scans	Less than a minute	20 seconds
Multi-device protection
Performance optimizer
Firewall
Password manager
Trial-period	14 days / 30 days guaranteed money to return	14 days / 70 days guaranteed money to return
Support	Online, email, phone	24/7 online, email
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Main Differences Between Malwarebytes vs Webroot

First, Antiviruses Malwarebytes and Webroot showed excellent results in PC protection from different threats. But they have different features that are essential when considering which one to choose. Below listed the main ones:

Malwarebytes vs Webroot Face-to-Face

In more detail, the differences will be discussed in the section on face-to-face considerations.

Malwarebytes Features

Malwarebytes is designed as antivirus software. It is available in different packages – free package, premium paid version, premium + privacy guard paid version, a browser guard only, and an advertisement cleaner only. The privacy plan has an add-on of VPN to secure your privacy. Also, it has a version for businesses of different sizes (from 1 device and more). New Malwarebytes versions (4.2.0 and higher) have a lot of positive reviews. Nevertheless, the old versions are not so promising. It received the highest scores for performance tests from independent reviewers on many websites.

The mobile version is also trendy, and it has more than 10 million users. It can scan your mobile for threats, increasing privacy and security settings for all installed apps. A free version is limited in functions, while a premium paid version provides the functionality almost as a PC version.

The paid premium version offers real-time protection without slowing down your computer to check possible threats, including infected websites protection, malware protection, ransomware protection, and exploit protection. Unfortunately, the free version can only detect and remove malware on the infected device; other functions are available in paid versions. Therefore, it is not recommended to rely only on the free version for computer protection; real-time protection is always necessary to protect the PC from cyber threats. The premium version also has a quick scan feature for checking PC memory and start-up objects for infections in less than a minute. The recommended free and premium version scan method is a Threat scan for checking system locations for infections. You can make custom scans for your PC or memorable portable devices.

The installation process is easy and does not require filling in any personal data. The Antivirus should be downloaded from the official home page. You have several options for installation, including the all-in-one package and options for different OS. You need to choose the type of PC before entering Installation Wizard – personal or work – further, you can choose the installation path, type of language, and the necessity to install free Malwarebytes Browser Guard.

After installation, you can choose all necessary actions for your PC scanning (the complete list is available only in the Premium Trial version for 14 days and the premium Paid version):

Webroot Features

Webroot is another reliable Antivirus program that uses cloud-based technologies. This allows you to block all Internet threats before they enter your computer without slowing your CPU performance; this Antivirus keeps significantly less on your hard disc because of that, only 4.4 MB RAM. The recommended package for three devices includes Antivirus and Wi-Fi Security app for constant online protection, even on public Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, there is no free version available.

The Webroot for personal use has three options with different prices: basic, basic plus internet security, and premium protection. All versions have threat, phishing, ransomware protections, fast scans, real-time protection, and a firewall. In addition, the Internet security option protects login details for websites and Antivirus for mobile devices. The premium package also has a system performance optimization feature that hides all traces of Internet activity.

Webroot has some unique proposals:

The installation process is speedy and easy. Based on the official website questionnaire, you can choose the number of desired protected devices and their type (Tablet, PC, smartphone), the necessity of Password Manager installation, the necessity for system optimization, and hide your online activity; the optimal package will be proposed. Further, you can download the required version. If you buy the Webroot in retail, you will have an activation card in the box that you need to indicate before installation starts. Otherwise, you will get it online if you purchase it on the official website. After entering the activation code, all installation processes will be performed automatically within seconds.

After installation, the scan will automatically start; the progress is displayed. Typically, the first scan is performed within 5 minutes or less. It will show you all found threats and files in quarantine and the time of the following scan, which will automatically be scheduled the next day. By default, the Antivirus has turned on real-time, web, phishing, identity shields, and a firewall. In settings, you can customize all features to increase your protection; for example, you can add USB and offline shields or choose the type of scan (quick, full, deep, or custom).

Malwarebytes vs Webroot Pricing and Open Source

As these antiviruses have different features, it is evident that pricing options for Malwarebytes and Webroot are not the same. Nonetheless, the price is not the essential difference; please see the parts of the main difference and face-to-face considerations.

Pricing

So, it is difficult to say which Antivirus is the winner in the comparison of Malwarebytes vs Webroot. Malwarebytes has a free limited version, while a premium version with full functionality for one device costs 45$. In the meantime, the Webroot complete version costs 24$ per year for one device and is twice cheaper.

Malwarebytes and Webroot are not open-source software.

Face-to-face considerations

In addition to main differences, here please find a detailed face-to-face comparison of differences between Malwarebytes vs Webroot.

Supported OS and Browsers

verdict

As we can see from the comparison, Webroot is the winner, as it supports more Browsers. This is convenient when you choose tariff plans with the support of up to 10 devices. Anyway, Malwarebytes also supports a significant amount of OS and Browsers for up to 10 devices, as well as one license of Antivirus.

Secure online storage

verdict

Here again, in comparison, Malwarebytes vs Webroot wins Webroot, as they have cloud-based security storage of your files.

System speed

Both Antiviruses were tested by technical specialists from AV-Test.org for the PC speed in Internet browsing during their work in the background.

verdict

Webroot wins this performance test competition as this Antivirus is cloud-based and does not occupy a lot of CPU memory.

Technical support

verdict

Malwarebytes is definitely the winner here as, in addition to online tickets, you can call the technical specialists and describe your problem.

Conclusion

Most users say that in the comparison of – Malwarebytes vs Webroot, Webroot wins because of a higher number of features (such as password manager, more Browsers for support, scanning of USBs and portable devices, gamers mode, personal firewall, etc.) and more flexible tariff plans. Also, it wins in system performance tests as it is a cloud-based antivirus, where you can also store 25 GB of your files. But Malwarebytes also has a considerable advantage of the availability of a free version to scan and clean PCs, and it works with other antiviruses.

So, if you need only the feature of checking if your device was attacked or not, it wins. On the other hand, the paid version of Malwarebytes has some exciting options: more flexible technical support and a VPN service with 500 servers in more than 30 countries (which can be purchased separately for 40$ per year). Moreover, you can download both antiviruses with full features for free for 14 days to check which one better suits your needs.