McAfee vs Webroot
A full household suite against the lightest antivirus in this list. The right answer depends mostly on the age of your computer.
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McAfee+
One subscription, every device in the house, identity included.
Webroot Essentials
Almost weightless protection for aging hardware.
Prices last checked on
| Feature | McAfee+ | Webroot Essentials |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 4.0 / 5 | 3.9 / 5 |
| Price | n/a | From $3.50/mo |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Best for | Big households, many devices | Old or low-power PCs |
| Category | Identity protection | Specialists |
| Provider | McAfee | OpenText |
| Visit McAfee+ | Visit Webroot Essentials |
What year two costs
On the vendors’ own pages, read October 6, 2026: McAfee+'s page could not be verified on October 6, 2026, so no amount is quoted for it; Webroot Essentials prints $41.99 for the first year and no renewal amount. Across the 7 vendors that print a renewal price, the median increase is 33.3% and the average 42.2%; every vendor with its source is in the Renewal Price Index, and the entry prices of both sit side by side in the Price Index.
Our verdict
McAfee wins on breadth and Webroot wins on old hardware. McAfee Premium scores 4.0 and covers phones, tablets and Macs alongside Windows, with identity monitoring and a VPN. Webroot Essentials scores 3.9 and does one thing. Webroot's first-year price is in the table above, read on Webroot's page in September 2026.
com rather than in the table. That one thing is the point. Webroot is unusually small and does most of its analysis in the cloud, so it barely touches the machine. On a PC that already struggles, that difference is felt every day, and it is the main reason to choose it.
The honest downside of Webroot is the narrow feature set. No meaningful extras, thinner independent lab coverage than the big names, a single plan with nowhere to grow, and no renewal price printed on its pricing page. The honest downside of McAfee is weight and noise.
It runs its own services, it asks for attention, and its first-year price is an introductory rate that rises at renewal. A busy household with devices on several platforms should take McAfee. One older or low powered PC where every bit of memory counts calls for Webroot, whatever the two prices say on the day.
“Unlimited devices on one plan is McAfee’s trump card, and the identity pivot is real. Credit monitoring and identity insurance are now the core product. The scanner is solid, but the constant upsells and a renewal price that triples make this a deal only at first-year prices.”Editorial team, on McAfee+
“The featherweight. A cloud-based scanner that installs in seconds and uses almost no disk or memory. Perfect for old laptops and minimalists. Independent labs test it less often than the big names, which keeps our score modest.”Editorial team, on Webroot Essentials
Frequently asked questions
Which is lighter on an old computer?
Webroot, and it is not close. It keeps most of its analysis in the cloud, so the installed part stays small and startup barely changes. McAfee runs its own services locally and is noticeably heavier during scans. On a low powered PC that is the deciding factor rather than the feature list.
What does McAfee include that Webroot does not?
Cover for phones, tablets and Macs under one subscription, identity monitoring and a VPN. Webroot Essentials is a single plan focused on antivirus alone, priced in the table above. If you only need to protect one Windows PC, most of what McAfee adds goes unused.
How much cheaper is Webroot?
We cannot say from our own reading. Webroot Essentials' first-year price is in the table above, read on Webroot's page in September 2026. McAfee's site blocks our price checks, so there is no McAfee amount to set against it, and the current one is on mcafee.com. Webroot prints no renewal price on its pricing page, so read that in your account. With the scores almost level at 3.9 against 4.0, the choice is about weight on the machine rather than price.