Pros & Cons
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- Includes no-limits VPN protection
- Near-perfect score in malware blocking test
- Very good protection against malicious and fraudulent sites
- Priority support with scheduling
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- No remote management of company devices
- Lacks some expected security suite features
- Few business-specific features
Malwarebytes for Teams Specs
| Behavior-Based Detection | |
| Malicious URL Blocking | |
| Number of Devices Supported | 20 |
| On-Access Malware Scan | |
| On-Demand Malware Scan | |
| Phishing Protection | |
| Priority Support | |
| Supports Android | |
| Supports macOS | |
| Tune-Up | |
| VPN | Full |
When your business graduates from tiny to small, you can sometimes find yourself in a gray area, security-wise. Continuing to add business computers to your personal security suite isn’t sustainable, yet big business security systems often require a full IT department to support. Malwarebytes for Teams is designed to help you out in that awkward stage. It includes an effective antivirus and integrated VPN, along with priority support and some business-centered features. That said, Editors' Choice Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security does everything Malwarebytes does, as well as being built on top of a full security suite with options for multiple employee devices, identity protection for employees, and even asset exposure warnings for your business. Malwarebytes also doesn't offer the powerful remote management capabilities found in our other Editors' Choice, Avast Premium Business Security.
How Much Does Malwarebytes for Teams Cost?
You can select a Malwarebytes for Teams subscription covering one to 20 devices. That’s a common range—Norton Small Business Premium also tops out at 20. With Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security and ESET Small Business Security, the maximum is 25. Note, though, that with Bitdefender, that number refers to 25 employees, with support for twice that many devices.
Pricing for Malwarebytes is simple. A yearly subscription costs $29.99 plus $30 per device for up to three devices. If you’re protecting four to twenty devices, you pay $40 per device per year, minus one cent. So, for example, for five devices, you pay $199.99, while coverage for 20 runs $799.99 per year.
That same $799.99 gets you Bitdefender protection for 25 employees and 50 devices. With ESET, the yearly cost for 5 to 10 devices is $154.99 plus $5 per device, while pricing for 10 to 25 devices is $20.50 per device. So, a 20-pack with ESET costs $410 while a 25-pack goes for $512.50.
Avast Premium Business Security and AVG Internet Security Business Edition both officially support up to 999 devices, though I’d be surprised if many installations go higher than 25. In both cases, a subscription covering 25 devices costs more than $1,000 per year.
Getting Started With Malwarebytes for Teams
As with other Malwarebytes products, you start by activating your subscription in the online secure hub. You can now download and install protection on the current device, or invite someone else to join the team. The latter is accomplished either by sending a link or by using the unusual quick access code system. The quick access code is valid for only 90 seconds and allows your new team member to join simply by entering a six-character code.
(Credit: Malwarebytes/PCMag)On each platform, Malwarebytes includes a component called Trusted Advisor, which displays a protection score from 0 to 100. If you’re anywhere short of a perfect 100 score, you can click for advice on what steps will raise your score. Smart users will work through all the advised activities, because you don’t get full protection from this app until you’ve taken care of those tasks.
(Credit: Malwarebytes/PCMag)Features Shared With Premium Antivirus
When you install Malwarebytes for Teams on Windows, the result looks almost (but not quite) identical to an installation of Malwarebytes Premium Security.
(Credit: Malwarebytes/PCMag)I’ve mentioned the Trusted Advisor panel, which is located at the top right of the main window. Below it is a panel that encourages adding more devices, with links. In the middle, three wide panels represent Scanner, Detection History, and Real-Time Protection. Under them is a large rectangle devoted to the VPN. In Malwarebytes Premium, the VPN is visible but not available. I’ll discuss VPN protection below.
(Credit: Malwarebytes/PCMag)There’s a simple menu down the left side that differs slightly between the two versions. Malwarebytes Premium features a Dashboard, Identity, Privacy Controls, and Tools, whereas the Teams edition omits Identity, citing that the Digital Footprint scan is too personal. The Privacy Controls page serves to disable four Windows settings that could compromise your privacy. It wasn’t present when I last reviewed Malwarebytes Premium, but it appears to be part of that app now.
Antivirus Performs Well in Testing
Historically, Malwarebytes hasn’t always collaborated well with independent antivirus testing labs, but the company is now making an effort to work more closely with these labs. Malwarebytes currently holds perfect scores from Poland-based AVLab Cybersecurity Foundation and from MRG-Effitas.
My aggregate score algorithm maps test results from five labs onto a scale from 0 to 10. With two perfect scores, Malwarebytes naturally scores 10. AVG also has a 10-point aggregate score based on scores from two labs. Having more scores is even better, though. ESET’s 10-point aggregate score derives from four lab reports. Avast and Norton appear in the latest results from all five, both with an aggregate score of 9.6.
Challenged to protect against real-world malware, Malwarebytes detected and blocked all but one of my samples before it could even launch. With 99% detection and 9.9 of 10 possible points, it’s near the top, beaten only by McAfee and UltraAV, both of which scored a perfect 10 in this test.
My malicious URL blocking test uses hundreds of recently discovered malware-hosting URLs. I go down the list trying to launch the sample URLs, noting whether the antivirus blocked all access to the dangerous page, wiped out the malware download, or did nothing. Malwarebytes scored 83% in this test, not its best showing. Avira, Bitdefender, Guardio, and Sophos all managed 100% when subjected to this test.
The same browser protection that detects dangerous URLs also steers the browser away from phishing websites, which are fraudulent sites that mimic legitimate websites to steal login credentials. With a 96% detection rate, Malwarebytes performed significantly better in this test. But then, so did quite a few of its competitors. AVG, Avira, McAfee, and Webroot, among others, scored a perfect 100% in my antiphishing test.
Similar Products
Our Current Picks for The Best Small Business Cybersecurity Suites for 2026
After installing a new antivirus, it is recommended to run a full scan. Most of the time, that scan will come up empty. In testing, the basic threat scan by Malwarebytes took from four to nine minutes, which is quite speedy. If that scan turned up problems, Malwarebytes offered a deep scan, which took closer to the current average of almost two hours.
(Credit: Malwarebytes/PCMag)In a ransomware-specific test, with non-ransomware detection components disabled, Malwarebytes successfully handled a dozen file-encrypting ransomware attacks. Two did nothing, but it caught all the rest. In most cases, a few files got encrypted before the behavior-based detection kicked in; one sample managed to encrypt thousands. However, do remember that I couldn’t even perform this test without disabling numerous other protective components.
VPN Protection Shared With Malwarebytes Ultimate
If you’re just idly consuming social media videos in a coffee shop, you may not be too worried about the security of your connection. But if you’re working remotely, opening sensitive company documents or personnel files, you need a connection that’s perfectly secure. You need a VPN.
(Credit: Malwarebytes/PCMag)Malwarebytes offers a bundle for home use that combines Premium with the VPN. Called Premium Plus, this package naturally costs more than just Premium. For a subscription for five to 20 devices, the yearly price is $34.99 plus $13 per device. I haven’t performed a separate evaluation of this bundle, but I’ve reviewed Malwarebytes Ultimate, which combines the features of Plus with a full identity theft remediation system supplied by partner TransUnion. Please read that review for my full report on the VPN; I’ll summarize here.
Malwarebytes maintains server locations in over 60 cities scattered across 34 countries. The country mix skews strongly toward Europe and North America. If you just want the encryption and anonymity of a VPN connection, any nearby server will do. However, things can become awkward if you’re traveling and find that there are no nearby servers.
(Credit: Malwarebytes/PCMag)This VPN defaults to using the WireGuard protocol, but you should probably switch to its proprietary WireGuard variant, MBtun, which enables the VPN’s split tunneling feature. Split tunneling lets you run specific connections outside the VPN, either because they’re unimportant or because you can’t afford even a minor connection slowdown. Regardless of which protocol you choose, you should enable the kill switch feature, so your device can’t leak unencrypted traffic.
(Credit: Malwarebytes/PCMag)Having VPN protection integrated right into this security suite should keep it top of mind for your employees, and enabling protection is as simple as flipping the switch to ON.
Priority Support and Business Support
If your personal antivirus goes wonky, you may be OK with listening to bad music on hold until tech support can sort out the problem. However, if your business relies on that security app, you want it fixed as soon as possible. The priority support that comes with Malwarebytes for Teams begins with the option to schedule your support call, rather than waiting.
(Credit: Malwarebytes/PCMag)Once you connect with support, you get priority treatment. I can’t view that for testing purposes, but I find it encouraging that the scheduler sets up a Zoom call, not just a skinny chat window.
The Malwarebytes Small Business Hub compiles articles and advice tailored specifically to small business owners. This hub is also where users can gain access to Office Hours events. These are live webinars that bring together small business owners and cybersecurity experts. You don’t have to wait for the next event, as the previous webinar is available for streaming.
What’s Not Here?
Malwarebytes for Teams combines a top-notch antivirus with an easy-to-use VPN, but it lacks many components that we’ve come to expect in a comprehensive security suite. There’s no firewall, although the suite presents a friendly interface for configuring the built-in Windows Firewall. Parental control would make no sense in a business app, and most business-level email systems already perform their own spam filtering, so the absence of these two components is no big deal.
With Bitdefender’s small business suite, you can log in to a central console and check the status of all the devices that have protection installed. You can even remotely correct configuration errors or launch a scan. The Malwarebytes online console displays all the devices in your subscription, but it does not offer remote management.
(Credit: Malwarebytes/PCMag)I noted earlier that Malwarebytes for Teams omits the Identity menu item, which is found in Malwarebytes Premium. That page offers a Digital Footprint scan to determine if your personal data has been exposed in a breach. My Malwarebytes contact explained, “We don't include Identity functionality in our Teams product as Identity is more personal.”
Bitdefender, on the other hand, does include its equivalent digital footprint check in the business edition. It also adds similar exposure tracking for business-specific assets such as company credit cards.
Final Thoughts
(Credit: Malewarebytes/PCMag)
Malwarebytes for Teams
Malwarebytes for Teams combines an effective antivirus, a VPN with no bandwidth limits, and priority business-focused support, but it omits many typical suite components.