Malwarebytes is known as one of the best second-opinion malware scanner and virus removal tools.
Sometimes your favorite real-time antivirus may fail to detect a threat that is very new and is not identified as a malware yet.
Malwarebytes will deal with this kind of zero-day threats much better than a standard antivirus. You can use this program to scan your infected machine and allow Malwarebytes to remove all the threats it finds.
While it’s a good malware scanner and remover, it is a bit inconvenient for having to always run it manually only after the threat is already in your machine and may already have caused damage to your data.
So, why would anyone even consider using Malwarebytes alone?
Previously, we have published an article about the best real-time antiviruses that you can use along with Malwarebytes. But, what if you don’t like to install multiple security programs?
Can you rely on Malwarebytes alone to protect your PC against viruses?
In this article, we are going to find out if it’s possible to use Malwarebytes as your one and only malware-protection solution.
After releasing Malwarebytes 4 – this program has become much more than just a malware scanner.
As of August 2020, Malwarebytes Premium – is offered with advanced real-time malware protection.
In fact, they’ve released the Premium edition in 2019, and now there are much more users that start to use Malwarebytes Premium only, without having to install a separate antivirus program.
Before we start talking about the Premium product, let’s have a brief intro about Malwarebytes in general.
What is Malwarebytes?
Initially released in 2006, Malwarebytes is focused on removing the newest online threats that have sneaked through a real-time antivirus program. The free version of Malwarebytes needs to be run manually whenever you want to scan your machine.
This software is using advanced behavior-based detection mechanisms to make sure even the zero-day threats are recognized and cleaned-up.
The threats can be one of the following:
- spyware
- adware
- Rogue security software
- ransomware
- exploits
When you run a scan, Malwarebytes starts by checking for updates first, then it scans your machine’s memory. The next steps are to scan the startup items and registry. The last stage of a manual scan is to check the file system.
The best part about manual scan when using both free and premium versions – is it’s really fast.
On average, antivirus software takes about 1 hour and more to completely scan your system. Malwarebytes does this in under 20 minutes.
Another amazing thing about the scan process – is it’s not going to slow your computer down too much. You’ll still be able to keep doing whatever you want, while the scanner is running in the background.
Is Malwarebytes alone going to be enough?
If you’re planning to get a free version of Malwarebytes, you may start to worry if this tool is enough to protect you against all kinds of cyber threats.
The thing is, the standard edition of Malwarebytes is not meant to operate in real-time like you’d expect it with a standard antivirus program.
Malwarebytes free edition does not provide you with real-time protection. It also lacks the Web threat protection layer.
While this may sound bad, Malwarebytes can still be used in conjunction with any of the best free or paid antivirus solutions of your choice.
In case you are interested in Malwarebytes Premium specifically, and want to know if you can completely rely on it – kindly keep reading.
Why should you use Malwarebytes Premium?
Quite recently, in the year 2019, Malwarebytes has released the advanced all-in-one real-time antivirus and a malware removal tool in their version 4.0. This product is called Malwarebytes Premium, and it is aimed to completely replace your free or paid antivirus.
The real-time protection from Malwarebytes Premium provides 4 layers:
- Web protection (blocks dangerous and phishing URLs)
- Malware & PUP protection (PUP stands for Potentially Unwanted Programs)
- Exploit protection (makes sure your system is always up-to-date with the latest security patches)
- Ransomware protection (the worst nightmare in a world of malware that encrypts or deletes your data)
The Web protection is particularly outstanding in Malwarebytes Premium. Unlike with other antimalware programs and antiviruses, you don’t need to install a browser extension for phishing URLs blocking to work. This feature works out-of-the-box with any web browser without any special plug-in.
Malwarebytes Premium now works like any other antivirus (or even better) with its fast and reliable Katana engine for behavioral scan, real-time ransomware protection, and Web protection.
It is considered one of the fastest antiviruses and is very light-weight. This means you can install and use it on an old computer without downgrading the performance.
Malwarebytes Premium is also small and does not occupy a lot of space on the disk.
What additional features are provided by Malwarebytes Premium?
Malwarebytes Premium is focused on ease of use while offering a cutting-edge detection ratio.
You won’t find a plethora of bells and whistles in this product compared to other famous antiviruses. However, there is still some extra stuff here.
USB Scanner
Checks and cleans-up any USB stick that you plug into your machine. This feature is useful if you often exchange files from one computer to another. It’s a standard and must-have feature found on other antiviruses and it’s good that Malwarebytes included it in their new product.
Gamer Mode
This feature suspends all the Malwarebytes’ popups and notifications while you are in the middle of a game. Everyone would agree, having your game’s window minimized during gameplay is extremely annoying.
Malwarebytes Premium makes sure it works as autonomously as possible, without requiring a user action often.
Self-Protection Module
This feature protects Malwarebytes’ files and folders from being modified by antivirus-targeted malware. Some threats will try and attack Malwarebytes’ folder before trying to infect the rest of your system. Having a self-guard mechanism will reduce the chances of your machine left unprotected.
Three types of scans
Malwarebytes Premium comes with 3 different types of manual scan:
- You can choose to scan RAM only by running the Hyper Scan. This scan is the fastest of the 3.
- Threat Scan performs a much deeper scan of the areas in your machine that are most likely to become infected. It does check the registry, startup settings, and a file-system. It takes significantly more time to complete, so it is not recommended to run it often.
- Custom Scan allows you to specify which files and folders you want to scan. It can be slower or faster than the Threat Scan, depending on how many places you wish to check.
Scan Scheduler
If you want a certain type of scan to run regularly – you can always schedule it to run automatically in the background. This is the best option for saving your time.
Also, Malwarebytes Premium will always keep track of what’s happening in your system and neutralize the threats without you having to perform a deep scan manually.
Malwarebytes Premium User Interface
The latest version comes with a much more intuitive UI than you’d expect from an advanced antimalware software.
On the home screen, you can find just a few items for quick access, and they are big and pretty much self-explanatory.
There are only 3 main elements on the home screen:
- Detection history (shows how Malwarebytes performed in the past)
- Scanner (allows performing a manual scan)
- Real-Time Protection (allows choosing which features should be on in the real-time protection layer)
Malwarebytes Free with 14-days of Premium Trial included
You can either start a manual scan or modify the real-time protection settings.
As long as you don’t want to play around with all the advanced options, the home screen is everything you are going to ever need.
In most cases, you won’t even have to open the Malwarebytes window, as it works in a complete autopilot mode.
The scanning process looks nice and easy to follow
You can track the progress and see how many items have been scanned, and how many threats have been found. You can also see what stage your scanning is running at the moment.
Malwarebytes Premium allows setting a few other options like:
- Detection of potentially-unwanted software
- Notifications display duration
- Play (or game) mode applications (Malwarebytes would stop showing the notifications when those apps are in full screen)
- Allowed list (manually-whitelisted threats that are detected due to false positive)
- Exploit protection
- Update check frequency
- UI theme and background
If you prefer having more granular control over the antivirus software – Malwarebytes is probably not going to suffice. This antivirus is designed with simplicity in mind. You can try Kaspersky or ESET if you want to be able to change more settings. Having said that, you can be sure, Malwarebytes Premium would offer one of the best virus protection you can get.
What pricing plans are offered in Malwarebytes Premium
Malwarebytes Premium offers a very simple pricing model. You can either download a free version that includes a 14-day trial of Premium features, or you can choose one of 3 pricing options:
- Premium protection for 1 device for 1 year for $39.99
- 5 devices Premium protection for 1 year for $79.99
- Premium + Privacy (includes a secured VPN) for 1 year for 5 devices for just $89.99
In most cases, you’d be ok with the first option that provides you with the all-in-one malware scanner and real-time antivirus for 1 device for 1 year.
Some of you may reasonably complain that $39.99 is a bit too expensive way of protecting just one device.
Indeed, compared to some other options like Kaspersky or Bitdefender, this may sound like not the best deal.
However, if you want to just use Malwarebytes and don’t want to install additional antivirus – your best and cheapest option is the first one.
The medium plan is good if you want to protect up to 5 devices. In this case – you are getting a very good price for Malwarebytes.
The last pricing plan is best if you were also thinking about getting a VPN and don’t really care which VPN provider is the best. However, we recommend using a separate VPN application offered by a VPN-specialized company.
Conclusion. Is Malwarebytes Premium worth the money?
Malwarebytes is one of the best and the most trustworthy second-opinion threat scanner and remover. With their latest release of real-time protection – we are having another good option when it comes to choosing the best antivirus.
Is Malwarebytes going to withstand the industry leaders like Bitdefender, Sophos, Kaspersky, and others? The time will tell.
At the moment, we strongly recommend trying the free version first as they include a 14-day free trial for Premium protection. After 2 weeks you will most likely understand if you want to purchase a one year plan or not.
