Question & answer

What is the best cheap antivirus?

Cheapest on the vendors' own pages, September 8, 2026

Lowest first-year prices in US dollars: Intego Mac Internet Security $29.99 (Intego ONE Essential (Antivirus + Firewall), 1 Mac, 1-year), ESET HOME Security $34.99 (ESET HOME Security Essential (1 device, 1 year)), Avast One $49.08 (Premium Security, 1 Windows PC + 1 mobile device).

Cheapest over three years at the prices read, counting one first year and two renewals: Intego Mac Internet Security $109.97, G Data Total Security $119.85, Avast One $205.06. That order differs from the first-year order because the renewal decides the total; the 9 vendors with a printed renewal price charge 64.3% more from year two on average.

Figures from the vendors’ own pages, read September 8, 2026, in the currency each vendor bills in. Every vendor with its source link is in the Renewal Price Index; the entry prices per month are in the Price Index.

The short answer

For pure value, Surfshark One is the standout. Antivirus, an excellent unlimited VPN, and breach alerts under one bundle price on a long plan. The cheapest first-year prices and the cheapest three-year totals, read from the vendors’ own pages, are in the block at the top of this page. Malwarebytes Premium plus the free Microsoft Defender is the smart budget combo.

In detail

Cheap antivirus is a minefield of teaser pricing, so judge on what you pay in year two, not year one. The block at the top of this page does that arithmetic from the vendors’ own pages: the lowest first-year prices, and the lowest totals over three years counting one first year and two renewals. Through that lens, three strategies stand out. Surfshark One bundles a top-tier VPN with antivirus and data-breach alerts at a bundle price; Surfshark sells it as a long prepaid plan, so read the total for the term on surfshark.com rather than a monthly figure. The catch is that the antivirus is decent, not lab-leading.

Strategy two is the honest-renewal vendor. The Renewal Price Index shows which vendors renew at or below their first-year price on the latest reading of their pages. ESET, long the example here, starts low for one device but prints no renewal amount on its plan page, so for ESET the second year is something to read in your own account before you count on it.

Strategy three costs the least of all. Keep the free Microsoft Defender as your engine and add Malwarebytes Premium as the specialist second layer; its price is on malwarebytes.com, where no figure could be read at the September 2026 check. That combination covers a careful user remarkably well. Whichever route you take, calendar the renewal date at purchase. In this market, that reminder is worth more than any discount code.

Calculate your true multi-year costSee the total over the years you keep it, the real average, and the renewal jump the teaser year hides.