The 6 Best Antivirus Apps for iPhones in 2024

Best Overall: Lookout

• Cost: $99.99/year (five devices)
  
• Features: Wi-Fi scan and alerts, identity and financial account monitoring, email, text message, and web protection
• Trial version: Free for 90 days (only business emails qualify)

Why We Chose It

This app comes closer to providing actual antivirus protection than any competitor.

Pros & Cons

Overview

Lookout can monitor for malicious processes, keep your system up to date and protected, and even warn you if your OS has been hacked. It is one of the only iPhone apps on this list that monitors other apps for suspicious behavior, using its App Monitor feature to alert you if any apps on your device are running malicious processes.

Lookout also warns you if you’re missing any important security updates that could leave you vulnerable to attack through its System Advisor, uses jailbreak monitoring to warn you if your OS has been hacked, includes a safe browsing feature, and can tell you whether or not a Wi-Fi network is safe to use.

Best Free Antivirus for iPhone: ZoneAlarm Mobile Security

• Cost: $69.95/year (five devices)
• Features: Ransomware prevention, phishing protection, advanced firewall
• Trial version: Free for 7 days

Why We Chose It

ZoneAlarm blocks attempts to access your private data and even monitors for malicious apps.

Pros & Cons

Overview

ZoneAlarm will protect you from attacks, block attempts to access your private data, and even monitors malicious apps. It also features a Wi-Fi monitoring feature.

The best thing about ZoneAlarm Mobile Security is that it monitors your downloaded and installed apps for suspicious activity. If it detects that your phone has downloaded a malicious app, including apps known to initiate ransomware attacks, it will provide you with a warning so that you can take appropriate actions.

ZoneAlarm Mobile Security also blocks any attempts to access your camera, mic, and data such as photos, videos, and messages. So if you are attacked, or you do end up installing a malicious app, ZoneAlarm is still able to keep you safe.

Its Wi-Fi monitoring feature scans available public networks and provides a warning before you can accidentally connect to a fake, malicious, or infected network.

Best for Phishing Protection: Avira

• Cost: $99.99/year (five devices)
• Features: Real-time malware and online threat protection, free VPN, password manager
• Trial version: 60-day money-back guarantee

Why We Chose It

It's great at blocking malicious websites that are designed to phish your personal information.

Pros & Cons

Overview

Avira Mobile Security provides excellent web protection and a suite of other important features. This versatile suite isn’t aimed at viruses, which isn’t a bad thing considering how secure iOS is against traditional infection.

The best thing about Avira Mobile Security is how good it is at blocking malicious websites that are designed to phish your personal information. This is accomplished through the Avira Protection Cloud, which is a cloud-based system that allows the app to effectively identify and block phishing sites without taking up unnecessary memory or processing power on your iPhone.

In addition to protecting you from phishing attacks, this versatile app includes a call blocker, an anti-theft tool that’s capable of sounding an alarm, and a robust contact backup function designed to help you pick up the pieces if your device is stolen.

Avira Mobile Security also includes a fantastic Identity Assistant feature that monitors security breaches and leaks for your e-mail and personally-identifying information.

Best for Anti-theft Tools: McAfee

• Cost: $199.99/year (five devices)
• Features: Identity monitoring, secure VPN, web protection
• Trial version: Free for 30 days

Why We Chose It

McAfee Mobile Security comes packed with a comprehensive suite of features designed to thwart would-be iPhone thieves.

Pros & Cons

Overview

This app does have features designed to protect your device in the digital world, but it shines at protecting you in the case of real-world theft.

The anti-theft tools included with McAfee Mobile Security start with basic features, like options to track your device on a map and sound an alarm even if your stolen device is set to silent mode. If you have an Apple Watch, you can use it to initiate the alarm.

McAfee Mobile Security comes with its fantastic CaptureCam feature. This feature kicks in whenever an unauthorized person tries to access your phone, quickly snapping a photo and then sending it to you via e-mail.

You also get an encrypted storage vault to protect your files that you can open using Touch ID and Face ID, a remote contact backup feature, and even the ability to wipe your device remotely if it looks like you won’t get it back. 

Best for Blocking Web Threats: Trend Micro Mobile Security

• Cost: $89.95/year (five devices)
• Features: Manages and encrypts passwords, guards against identity theft, protects kids online
• Trial version: Free for 30 days

Why We Chose It

This app has a high level of security and a great feature set, including a password manager, identity theft protection, parental controls, and more.

Pros & Cons

Overview

Trend Micro Mobile Security is a subscription-based service that costs about $30 per year, but the price goes down if you pay for multiple years at once. For that investment, you get a host of features that are designed to keep your device safe from online threats.

The top-of-the-line web filtering offered by this app works right in Safari, and other popular browsers, so you aren’t limited to a hamstrung custom browser. Trend Micro does provide its own Safe Surfing browser with a private mode, but you aren’t forced to use it.

You also get social network protection, which monitors your social network accounts for security issues. Other features include anti-theft measures, a password manager, identity theft protection, parental controls, and more.

Best for Parental Controls: F-Secure SAFE

• Cost: Approximately $86/year (five devices)
• Features: Banking protection, browsing protection, protects kids online
• Trial version: Free for 30 days

Why We Chose It

F-Secure SAFE blocks unwanted sites from search results and even sets reasonable browsing time limits.

Pros & Cons

Overview

Parents looking to keep their kids safe online should check out F-Secure SAFE. It includes web filtering to protect you from online attacks and even banking protection.

F-Secure SAFE features great parental controls that allow you to filter content by category based on what you want your child to have access to. You also get the ability to block unwanted sites from search results and even set reasonable browsing time limits. The catch is that iOS doesn’t allow apps to restrict each other, so you have to manually disable Safari and other browsers for this feature to protect your kids.

Excellent web filters also protect you from malicious websites, above and beyond parental controls. This extends to banking protection, which is specifically designed to mark websites as safe for banking or online shopping.