- Written by: Enemali Okwoli Cybersecurity & Tech Writer
Intego Overview
After testing almost all the Mac antiviruses out there, I can confidently say that Intego remains the best Mac antivirus on the market . Every antivirus claims to have the best protection, but Intego caters to the specific security needs of Mac users.
Intego is the leading Mac antivirus because of the outstanding performance of 2 key features — VirusBarrier and NetBarrier. The near-perfect malware detection rates and 2-way network firewall made Intego stand out. In addition, there’s the Mac Washing Machine for removing junk and organizing your files, and a very functional parental controls tool (ContentBarrier).
In my opinion, Intego offers good value for money as most of its features work perfectly. You can try Intego risk-free for 30 days with its money-back guarantee. It’s easy to get a refund if you change your mind. I tested it myself and got my money back in 10 days.
Try Intego risk-free for 30 days
In a Rush? Here’s a 1-Minute Summary
- Powerful real-time malware scanner — guards your Mac 24/7 against threats in real-time. Click here to find out Intego’s real-time score on my tests .
- Extra security and optimization features — offers secure browsing, advanced parental controls, and Mac optimization tools. See how its features fared in my tests .
- Easy to use apps — works on macOS and Windows with user-friendly apps on both platforms. Check out Intego’s user interface here .
- Fast and helpful customer support — easily accessible over live chat, email, or phone. Find out how each support option fared in my test .
- 30-day free trial — lets you try out Intego risk-free. Here’s how you can use Intego for an extra 30 days .
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ Lab-certified for Mac malware protection | ❌ Free trial has limited features |
| ✅ Includes full-featured firewall | ❌ No detection of malicious or fraudulent websites |
| ✅ Detects Mac, Windows, and Linux malware |
Security
Intego’s malware protection significantly exceeds those of most of its competitors. In rigorous testing, it successfully blocked every malware variant. This included phishing attacks, spyware, and even zero-day threats. Beyond virus protection, Intego also has bonus features like network and web browsing protection to ensure perfect security for your Mac.
Virus Barrier — Powerful Anti-malware Engine That Blocks of Novel Threats
Intego’s powerful malware detection engine detected of the 300 malware samples planted on my MacBook with zero false positives.
Additionally, Intego’s VirusBarrier can detect Windows-specific viruses present on your Mac . Although these types of malware pose no direct threat to Mac, they can potentially be transmitted to PCs on the same network via your Mac. Intego provides 2 scanning options for detecting all types of malware:
- Full scan — analyzes every file on your Mac. I recommend you run a full scan after installing and once every 2 weeks after that.
- Quick scan — inspects just the critical areas on your Mac, so it’s much faster. You can schedule it to run automatically once every few days.
I performed a full scan of my Mac, which took about 35 minutes to scan more than 1.7 million files — that’s much faster than other antiviruses. For example, Avast took about an hour to perform the same scan. Intego’s quick scan is even faster, taking only 2 minutes to scan over 50,000 files.
