5 Best iOS Antivirus Apps for iPhones & iPads in 2025

Sam Boyd
Updated on: April 25, 2025 Chief Editor

Apple doesn’t allow iOS security apps to perform “virus scans,” so there aren’t any iOS apps that offer traditional malware protection. iOS is designed to be very secure, with each app executed in its own “sandbox.” This means even if you were to download a malicious app, it wouldn’t be able to do major damage to your system.

But this doesn’t mean iOS devices are immune to threats. iOS devices are still vulnerable to network attacks, phishing links, apps with unauthorized access to data, fake websites, adware, phone theft, and more. In fact, there’s been an escalation in iOS malware attacks — with the number of data breaches rising by more than 100% in the last year.

I’ve tested dozens of internet security apps to find the ones that can protect your device. I’ve identified 5 excellent ones that add to Apple’s built-in protection.

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Quick Summary of the Best iOS Antivirus Apps for 2025

Editor’s Choice

🥇 Norton

Best iOS security app with the most tools to protect against active threats in 2025.

Most of our readers choose Norton

🥈 TotalAV

Simple and secure antivirus, great for users who’ve never used an iOS antivirus before.

🥉 McAfee

Excellent web & phishing protections, plus a VPN and other extras tailored to iOS.

Bitdefender

Good scam protection & vulnerability scanner to identify iPhone weak spots.

Avira

Good free plan with great privacy protections, plus a fast and secure VPN.

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🥇1. Norton Mobile Security — Best iOS Security App in 2025

Norton Mobile Security provides an intuitive security app for iOS devices that has all of the essentials for keeping your device safe.

Its wide range of features for iPhone and iPad includes:

• Web protection — Detects malicious and phishing sites in browsers, apps, text messages, and emails.
• Dark web monitoring — Continuously scans the dark web for leaked or stolen personal details, including breached online accounts.
• Genie Scam Protection — AI-powered filtering for scam SMS messages and online threats.
• VPN (virtual private network) — Encrypts your browsing traffic and hides your IP address location.
• Wi-Fi scanner — Alerts you when you connect to an unsecure Wi-Fi network.
• Device security — Notifies you when your operating system is out of date and needs to be updated.
• Secure Calendar — Flags risky links in iOS calendar invites.
• Device Report Card — Shows a 30-day analysis of scanned Wi-Fi networks, malicious websites, and detected vulnerabilities.

I really like Norton’s web protection — during my tests, it caught phishing sites that Safari failed to detect. Norton’s Secure Calendar also offers protection against suspicious iOS calendar invites, which could contain phishing links or links to other malicious websites.

Norton’s dark web monitoring tools are the best on the market — Norton can continuously scan the dark web for your personal information, including your email address, bank account details, address, gamer tag, driver’s license, insurance documents, and even your mother’s maiden name (commonly used as a form of identity verification).

Norton’s VPN is an improvement over Apple’s iCloud Private Relay, which only works with Safari. In addition to hiding your identity online, it supports streaming and torrenting, and it turns on automatically when it detects you’re using a public Wi-Fi network. Also, its impact on your browsing speed is much lower than iCloud Private Relay.

I also like Norton’s device security feature. Often, Apple doesn’t issue alerts about updates, and you have to check manually or enable automatic updates. With Norton, I could clearly see if I had outstanding updates, and I’d be taken to the settings menu with just a couple of taps to apply them.

Norton’s Mobile Security iOS app is intuitive — it’s a good choice for users looking for a simple solution that they can use on 1 iOS device. It didn’t use much battery in my tests either. When I checked the battery usage statistics, it suggested it was using tons — but I didn’t notice any drain.

However, Norton 360 Deluxe ($49.99 / year*) is great for users with multiple devices (including PCs, Macs, and Androids) and users looking for additional protections. It adds coverage for up to 5 devices, excellent parental controls, and a password manager. And if you’re running low on your iCloud storage, this plan also adds 50 GB of secure cloud backup.

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🥈2. TotalAV Mobile Security — Intuitive + Easy-to-Use iPhone Antivirus

TotalAV provides an intuitive security app for iOS users — it’s a particularly good choice for beginners or non-tech-savvy users looking for a simple, user-friendly iOS antivirus with all the essentials and a couple of really useful extras.

TotalAV’s iOS app includes:

• Smart Scan.
• WebShield (anti-phishing protection).
• VPN (with unlimited data).
• Photo & video clean-up.
• Data breach monitoring.
• Duplicate contact finder.
• QR Code Check (blocks phishing QR codes).

TotalAV’s Smart Scan notifies you of pending iOS security updates, reminds you to set up your Touch or Face ID, and gives you security tips and suggestions. Basically, it helps you make the most out of Apple’s built-in protections.

TotalAV’s other features are good, too. In my tests, its anti-phishing protection performed impressively, catching nearly all phishing sites and accurately blocking a couple of fake iCloud pages I attempted to visit.

I was also impressed with TotalAV’s VPN, which provided me with encrypted access to servers around the globe. It allowed me to watch HD videos with no noticeable slowdown. TotalAV’s VPN is the best antivirus-bundled VPN in 2025, and it’s comparable to some of the best standalone VPNs out there.

I like TotalAV’s photo clean-up feature, too. It finds and deletes duplicate photos, helping to free up storage space and keep your gallery organized. Additionally, it scans for duplicate videos and contacts and lets you check each flagged file before removing it — which is great, as there’s no risk of accidentally deleting a file you don’t want to.

I should also mention that TotalAV didn’t drain my phone’s battery in my tests, and I liked that I could keep it running in the background without many notifications.

TotalAV has cloud storage for iOS, too (Total Drive Unlimited), but it requires downloading a separate app. It only provides 2 GB of free storage with the option to purchase unlimited storage for $99.00 / year. While it’s disappointing that TotalAV only includes 2 GB for free (matching Norton’s entry-level offering), I like that you can upgrade for unlimited storage.

TotalAV Mobile Security is a simple security app with a good VPN — it’ll keep your device safe from hackers and web-based threats. You can also get TotalAV’s web protection with TotalAV Internet Security at $39.00 / year which covers up to 6 devices, including Macs, PCs, and Androids.

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🥉3. McAfee Mobile Security – Great Phishing Protection for iPhones + iPads

McAfee Mobile Security combines great web protection with a decent VPN. It also gives an overall security score and tips on improving your score. Initially, my security score was low, but once I’d activated all of McAfee’s features and ran various scans (including the data breach scan), I was able to increase it significantly.

During my tests, McAfee performed exceptionally well — it found security issues with my device, like outdated iOS software and anti-phishing protections that were switched off, which put my iCloud at risk.

McAfee’s app didn’t drain my battery or slow down my iPhone (unlike some competitors), even though I kept the web protections permanently switched on. I also like how easy it was for me to use McAfee — the app is very intuitive, and all the features are easy to access.

McAfee also comes with:

• Anti-phishing monitor.
• VPN (with unlimited data).
• Wi-Fi network scanner.
• Data breach alerts.
• Text scam detector.
• Online account cleanup.
• Social privacy manager.

I think McAfee’s VPN is decent — it keeps you safe when you’re browsing the internet on unsecured Wi-Fi hotspots, it has a strict no-logs policy, and it works with most major streaming sites, like Netflix and Amazon Prime.

I like how most of McAfee’s tools complement Apple’s security features. For example, the Text Scam Detector scans your SMS messages for phishing links, and Online Account Cleanup helps you delete old Outlook accounts and assists you in removing data collected by brokers. It can also monitor up to 10 email addresses, credit cards, phone numbers, and your credit score.

McAfee Mobile Security is available for a single device for a yearly subscription, but if you want to protect multiple devices, you should consider McAfee Total Protection (starting at $39.99 / year) — it offers excellent security for either 5 or unlimited devices, including Windows, Android, and macOS devices.

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4. Bitdefender Mobile Security – Excellent Scam Protection for iPhones

Bitdefender Mobile Security offers a good number of protective tools for iOS. It’s easy to use and didn’t slow down my iPhone in any of my tests.

Bitdefender’s iOS app includes:

• Security scanner.
• Web protection (blocks threats across browsing and apps).
• Scam alert.
• VPN.
• Account Privacy (checks email breaches).

The security scanner identifies past data breaches and highlights websites where you need to change your password. It works well — I could easily navigate onto a breached website, change my password, and mark the breach resolved in Bitdefender. I also like how it checks whether you’re running the latest iOS version, as well as reviewing your Wi-Fi security, account privacy, and more — all without draining your battery.

The scam alert feature scanned over 600 events in my Apple Calendar in less than a minute, flagging those containing suspicious links. It also checked my SMS/MMS inbox for dangerous messages and automatically moved any it found into my junk folder. It does the job well, though it was a little difficult to set up.

Bitdefender’s VPN, powered by Hotspot Shield, comes in two forms: a barebones version integrated into the antivirus app with a 200 MB daily data limit on most plans and a fully featured version that requires downloading a separate app. Unlike iCloud Private Relay, which only masks your IP address, the dedicated Bitdefender VPN offers a solid set of features, including a kill switch, split tunneling, multiple protocols, and a wide selection of servers. In my tests, both versions worked smoothly, but the 200 MB daily limit on most plans can be a bit restrictive when compared to Norton’s unlimited-data VPN.

Another interesting feature is Autopilot, which gives you personalized security recommendations based on your iPhone’s usage, letting you make the most of Bitdefender without having to learn its various functions.

Bitdefender Mobile Security, priced at $14.99 / year, covers 1 device and features everything listed above for iOS. For coverage across various platforms and access to the parental controls and password manager on iOS, Bitdefender Total Security costs $54.99 / year and protects up to 5 devices. The Premium Security option at $64.99 / year also covers 5 devices and adds the unlimited-data VPN. All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read the full Bitdefender review here >

5. Avira Security Pro – Keep Your Siri Searches Private

Avira Security Pro comes with good features, including excellent privacy protections that ensure your private data doesn’t end up compromised.

I was impressed with Avira’s unique Privacy Manager feature, which uses a specially designed downloadable “iOS Profile” to prevent Apple from saving your Siri conversations on its servers.

Avira also has additional iOS security protections like:

• VPN.
• Photo clean-up.
• Call blocker.
• Device Analyzer (tracks storage/memory usage).
• Breach monitor (Pro only).
• Anti-phishing (Pro only).

Avira also makes backing up and restoring your contacts super easy, letting you send all of your contacts to your email address, Dropbox account, or Google Drive. In comparison, Apple offers contact backup and recovery in iCloud, but you can’t send your contacts outside of iCloud or restore your contacts onto an Android device (although Windows is supported).

I like Avira’s VPN — it’s one of the fastest VPNs I’ve used, enabling me to securely browse the web and stream video without noticeable speed drops. However, Avira’s free plan comes with a limited version of the VPN (100 MB per day). Also, I couldn’t get it to work with many popular streaming sites, which I was consistently able to do with TotalAV.

Avira Mobile Security Pro adds a VPN with unlimited browsing data as well as anti-phishing protections and data breach monitoring, all of which provide an extra layer of security online. You can get it as a standalone app, but it also comes bundled with Avira’s best-value internet security package, Avira Prime, which starts at $26.99 / year and covers up to 5 devices across all operating systems.

Read the full Avira review here >

Quick Comparison Table

Testing Methodology: Comparison & Ranking Criteria

In analyzing and ranking these antiviruses, I relied on our standard methodology. This involved extensive tests looking into every aspect of each product. Here’s an outline of what I did:

• I tested the web protections. I purposely visited dozens of sketchy websites, tapping on pop-ups and downloading suspicious files. As I went through each product, I kept diligent notes on how many threats were blocked and how many got through. Only the antiviruses that blocked most threats made it onto this list. Norton was particularly good in this area.
• I considered pricing. I looked up how much each antivirus costs, noting international price variations. Then, I compared the price with other similar antiviruses to see whether it was reasonable. Naturally, I also considered extra features that might justify a higher price. I only included reasonably priced iOS antiviruses on this list.
• I analyzed each antivirus app for user-friendliness. I ensured that core features and extras were easy to set-up, tinker with, and use. I’m pleased to report that every tool on this list is easy to use, even for new users.
• I evaluated the extra features. The inclusion of features like VPNs, dark web monitoring, duplicate file finders, and Wi-Fi scanners earned outstanding antiviruses extra points. I particularly like TotalAV’s photo cleanup tool, but every entry on this list has at least a couple of useful features that go beyond your basic security needs.
• I considered the customer support options. Each antivirus program listed provides multiple contact methods to ensure you can easily reach a support agent if you have questions about the application.

Do iOS Devices Need an Antivirus?

The short answer is yes. However, iPhones and iPads don’t get viruses like a computer or Android device does. The iOS operating system is built in a way that doesn’t allow traditional malware to spread throughout the system. iOS devices are vulnerable to a lot of other security threats, though, including:

• Scam SMS and iMessage messages. These sometimes appear in your inbox and can trick you into revealing personal information or tapping on malicious links that cause further damage to your device.
• Email phishing attacks. Fraudulent emails that appear legitimate and attempt to steal sensitive information. Often, they’re from scammers posing as businesses you’ve dealt with in the past, so always look closely at who is sending the email you receive.
• Malicious iOS calendar invites. Unsolicited calendar invites containing links to harmful websites. Usually, these come from an account added to your iPhone’s settings that you need to delete.
• Phishing websites. Unlike email phishing attacks, these are entire sites designed to deceive you into providing personal data. They’re where you’ll likely end up after tapping on a link in a phishing email.
• Zero-day attacks. Exploits targeting unknown vulnerabilities in iOS. This is a huge reason why having outdated software on your iPhone is risky. Developers often release updates to patch zero-day threats.
• Device theft. Physical loss or theft of your device, which can lead to data breaches. Some antivirus programs provide anti-theft features to help you track down or lock a stolen device.
• And more…

Apple frequently releases updates to patch vulnerabilities in iOS devices. Despite these prompt updates, installing third-party antivirus protection is a wise move, as it can complement Apple’s built-in defenses.

How Apple Protects iOS Devices

While I believe Apple’s built-in security isn’t enough to fully protect your iPhone, Apple does take security seriously. Here are some key measures they use:

• Device Access Protection. Apple lets you unlock your iPhone with a passcode, fingerprint, or face ID. It also offers “Find My iPhone” to locate, lock, or erase your device if it’s lost. You can even track other people’s iPhones with their consent.
• Password Management. iCloud Keychain stores and manages your passwords, generates strong ones, and supports two-factor authentication. Apple’s Passwords app builds on this by making password handling even easier with a dedicated interface for secure storage, autofill, and credential management across devices. The best standalone iOS password managers offer better cross-platform compatibility and extras like dark web monitoring.
• Email and Web Protection. Mail Privacy Protection hides your IP from senders, and “Hide My Email” generates random addresses. However, Apple’s email protection and Safari’s basic phishing filters do little to safeguard you against phishing scams delivered via email. That’s why it’s important to complement it with a reliable antivirus app like Norton, which can scan your email for malicious content.
• VPN. Apple offers iCloud Private Relay, which functions like a basic VPN, but the top antivirus-bundled VPNs offer more features.
• Software Security. iOS apps must be approved by Apple; all software is code-signed to prevent malicious code. All apps on the App Store undergo a rigorous review process to ensure they meet Apple’s security and privacy guidelines.
• Operating System Protection. iOS uses strong encryption for data, including hardware-based encryption for data stored on the device and secure transmission protocols for data sent over the internet, and isolates apps through sandboxing, limiting damage from compromised apps.
• Security Updates. Apple regularly releases security updates for all devices at once. Additionally, iOS devices can automatically install security updates, ensuring that users are protected without requiring manual intervention. Some antiviruses, like TotalAV, can help you keep up with security updates, too, as they issue notifications about any pending iOS patches.
• User Privacy. iOS gives users control over app permissions, requires apps to request tracking consent for cross-app and website activity (like ad tracking), and includes privacy labels on apps, helping users make informed choices. It also monitors specific data collection, like issuing pop-ups when an app pings location too often, reinforcing user control over sensitive information such as location tracking.

How to Install an Antivirus on iOS

• Pick your antivirus and purchase a subscription using our links above. When you use our links, you’ll get a better money-back guarantee (like Norton’s 60-day money-back guarantee). Apple app store purchases will be subject to Apple’s refund process.
• Open the App Store on your iOS device, find the icon on your home screen, and tap it. Search for your chosen antivirus (I recommend Norton, as it offers the best iOS features, but TotalAV and McAfee are good choices, too). Tap the cloud icon or Get to download it. You might need Face ID, a password, or a quick double-tap on the side button to confirm; listen for the chime!
• Activate Your Subscription. Launch the app, then tap Redeem or Sign In (wording varies, Norton uses “Sign In,” TotalAV has “Redeem Code”). Enter the activation code from your email to unlock your pre-purchased plan. Follow the prompts to finish setup, and you’re protected.
• Start using your antivirus. That’s it! You’re now ready to start using your antivirus. Explore some of the available features and enable any permissions needed for them to run correctly. Most antiviruses, including Norton, will instruct you on how to enable the proper permissions when necessary.

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