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McAfee

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5.4

Overall Score

Author: Jenna Vasquez

LAST UPDATED: April 7th, 2022

McAfee, founded in 1987, is a well-known cybersecurity solutions company that offers award-winning antivirus software to individuals, families, and enterprises. 

McAfee® Total Protection is the company’s premium antivirus product. This product is designed to help consumers secure and protect their personal devices and information from various cyber criminals and threats. 

he company offers the following three consumer-based McAfee® Total Protection subscription packages: 

  • The Single Device package  
  • The Individual and Couples (up to 5 devices) package
  • The Family (up to 10 devices) package 

Each package that is listed above includes a one-year subscription and offers many different features in addition to antivirus software including home network security, safe web browsing, encrypted storage, secure VPN, and more. 
Read on to learn more about McAfee® Total Protection and to see real customer McAfee reviews.

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The Good

  • Multiple Service Options
  • 30-Day Free Trial 
  • 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee 
  • 24/7 Customer Support 

Multiple Service Options

McAfee offers extensive security software for a variety of devices, including PCs, Macs, tablets, and smartphones. 
As previously mentioned, the company offers three consumer-based McAfee® Total Protection subscription packages.

These packages include: 

  • Single Device — This package costs $29.99 for one device for the first year subscription. This package involves antivirus software, secure VPN, performance optimization, home network security, access to security experts and online support, access to a secure password manager and McAfee® Shredder™, safe web browsing, and encrypted storage. 
  • Individual and Couples — This package costs $34.99 for five devices for the first year subscription. In addition to what is offered in the Single Device package, this package also offers multi-device compatibility and identity theft protection. 
  • Family — This package costs $39.99 for 10 devices for the first year subscription. This package includes everything from the Individuals and Couples subscription and is designed to help consumers protect their entire families on just one subscription plan. 

Each subscription package that the company offers lasts for one year. 

Consumers should note that some of the features within the packages mentioned above are only available if customers are enrolled in the company’s auto-renewal service. 

30-Day Free Trial 

Those interested in McAfee® Total Protection can try the service for free for 30 days. According to the company’s corporate website, with this 30-day free trial, consumers can obtain antivirus scans and can get threats removed before they pay for a yearly subscription service.

Additionally, the company’s free trial lets consumers protect up to 10 devices including devices that are Windows, Mac OS, iOS, or Android. 

McAfee’s website also states that the company does not require credit card information from consumers who wish to obtain a free service trial. 

30-Day Money-Back Guarantee 

McAfee offers a 30-day money-back guarantee to customers who are not satisfied with the company’s services. 
In order to obtain a full refund, customers can contact the company’s customer support team and request a refund or they can fill out and submit a “request a refund” form that can be found on the company’s website. 

It’s important to remember that customers can only request and receive a refund within 30 days of purchasing a McAfee product. 

24/7 Customer Support 

In addition to a 30-day money-back guarantee, McAfee provides around-the-clock customer support services. 
Consumers can get in contact with a security expert at any time. These security experts can help consumers who are in need of technical assistance, who want to request a refund, who need help with their account, and more.

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The Bad

  • Second-Year Subscription Price Increase 
  • Renewal System Inconvenience 

Second-Year Subscription Price Increase 

In terms of subscription pricing for McAfee® Total Protection, the company appears to charge a higher rate for the second-year subscription. 

These second-year subscription price increases may be more than what some consumers are willing to pay in comparison to the prices that are set for the first-year subscription. 

Consumers who are signed up for auto-renewal may want to pay close attention to the second-year subscription prices before their subscription is automatically renewed. 

Renewal System Inconvenience

There have been complaints about McAfee's default subscription auto-renewal system, which automatically re-subscribes customers for another year of service once the subscription is over. 

It appears to be a simple-enough process to turn the auto-renewal system off, but some might consider that an inconvenience. 

According to the company’s website, customers can take the following steps to turn off the auto-renewal system: 

  • Log into their McAfee account 
  • Select “My Account” at the top of the page 
  • Click “Auto-Renewal Settings” 
  • Follow the instructions on the page 

Consumers may also find it inconvenient that some service features are only provided if they are part of the company’s renewal subscription system.

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The Bottom Line

McAfee is a well-known, trusted brand to consider for computer protection. The software performance measures up to that of competitors, and protection is available for most operating systems and devices.

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Star Rating

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3.7

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194 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

39%

4 grade

23%

3 grade

16%

2 grade

8%

1 grade

13%

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Lesa Burgess Pleasant Grove, UT

McAfee does a good job for windows as an anti virus solution. Using this product didn't cause too much slowdown towards a Windows computer, while effectively blocking any internet threats. I like the options of being able to have a personal firewall, a password manager as well as parental controls. McAfee will also scan your social media pages for any threats, which is great when you have young kids like I do!

8 years ago

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Brad Evansville, IN

Overall I like it. It can really bog memory down when it is doing updates or scanning. I think the price is getting ridulous especislly since I have been using it for so many yrs. It would be great if they had a customer loyalty discount for the yearly subscriptions. I think its a geat product tho and has kept my computers virus free.

12 years ago

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Brian Cowley Riverton, UT

I have used them multiple times, however, I don't love them. I concede I am not the most tech-savvy individual, however, I definitely know my way around a computer and computer software. The interface seems outdated and I wish I could get them off the computer easier when I buy a stock computer. Don't like that they are the default with Windows. I have tried them multiple times over the years, and have never renewed a product in consecutive years.

4 years ago

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Cam Hall Palmyra, VA

McAfee is a comprehensive product - it is constantly updating and trying to make itself more valuable, but it is absolutely a resource HOG. Constant updates requesting restart, resource usage mean you have to dedicate RAM to scanning constantly, and even space for the constant updates are required. If you’re a professional who maintains private data or otherwise is in need of a dedicated protection option go with this, but for most this is overkill.

4 years ago

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The Bean Spiller Provo, UT

The popups and notifications were excessively annoying for McAfee--always asking if I wanted to purchase the product or change my subscription, despite never purchasing the product in the first place or even using it much. And when I did use it, I don't think it did a very thorough scan. I haven't gotten any viruses yet so that could be due to McAfee but I seriously doubt that.

5 years ago

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enelson3903 Bowie, MD

I have used McAfee and it works fair. The biggest problem I have seen is the software runs too much in the background causing performce issue with your computer. It also can sometime be difficult to uninstall.

4 years ago

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Andrea Thomas Richland, WA

The service McAfee offers seem great. But we had issues getting locked out of it, even though passwords were correct. It took customer service almost 2 weeks with daily calls to get it fixed. Although it does a good job at its services, the other issues make it one I don’t want to deal with or recommend.

4 years ago

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Jared Robinson Provo, UT

McAfee is fairly simple, but also rather pricey. It's nice to have the extra protection in our digital age, but it's really hard to really tell how much they're doing, and we also know that no security service is perfect.

4 years ago

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Noureddine Lalami Brentwood, CA

McAfee used to be a great Anti-Virus company but it got a bit complacent and dropped the ball on customer service and good products. Other companies like Norton took the lead and are now better.

4 years ago

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Ryan Harpenau Fayetteville, AR

McAfee is a great for my windows software and I have yet to get a virus on my computer thanks to them. My biggest complaint is that it always switches my default browser to yahoo rather than google which is very annoying.

5 years ago

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Jack Dean Norcross, GA

The overall security is good. However, it constantly ask you to restart your computer. If you let it expire or come close to expiring, it will send you a stream of notifications until you solve the issue.

6 years ago

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Boston Whipple Provo, UT

McAfee pops up every time I restart my laptop and slows the start time significantly. It frequently wants me to update or upgrade. I haven't had any issues with viruses but I have multiple sets of anti-virus software.

8 years ago

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Jeff Martin Layton, UT

Had a free one month trial it went smoothly. Good antivirus protection but I think it is a little pricey compared to its competitors. I would suggest looking elsewhere before settling on McAfee.

8 years ago

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Cole Bailey Houston, TX

McAfee was good while I had it, but after I stopped paying for the subscription occasionally I would get pop up adds to renew it

6 years ago

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Joseph rex Herriman, UT

Used your software on my last computer. It was fine. It came pre loaded so it was fine. Never really had any issues with it.

6 years ago

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Nicholas Genes Eagle Mountain, UT

My computer slowed down and started freezing even after downloading this software. Very disappointed in the quality of product

6 years ago

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Audrey Mitchell Managua, MN

Used McAfee on the computers at my work. It worked great and kept my computer safe from any viruses or harmful software that tried to be downloaded.

6 years ago

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Amy Boren American Fork, UT

We have this on all of computers and laptops. It does an ok job, we still have pop ups but our computers have been protected enough for our family.

7 years ago

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Lindsey Haight Logan, UT

It seems to work great as I'm using it. However when you're submission expires you will get countless reminders to renew unless you do so or delete it.

4 years ago

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Gayle Jorgensen American Fork, UT

It has protected me fairly well. I feel like it is too expensive and it seems like they are always trying to get me to sign up for another one of their programs.

4 years ago

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Basil48 Southport, NC

GOOD ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE FOR THE $$. HOWEVER, THERE ARE LIMITATIONS ON VPN DILIGENCE AND IN-DEPTH SCANNING TAKES WAY TOO LONG. CUSTOMER SERVICE IS DECENT ONCE YOU GET THRU.

4 years ago

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Hailey Burt Riverton, UT

I had the software installed and it worked well, never got any viruses. However i keep getting notifications for me to upgrade, at least once a day and it’s very annoying.

5 years ago

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Grayden Larson Riverton, UT

McAfee is a decent antivirus program. It did the job well but it was annoying because it would constantly spam my laptop with ads and “danger warnings”.

6 years ago

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Amberly Pack Magna, UT

I like that someone is looking out for my safety on my computer! But I don't love the pop-ups that frequently try to get me to upgrade.

4 years ago Edited February 8, 2022

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LeAnn Baytown, TX

I feel like there is too many pop-ups. And they are constantly asking you to upgrade the software.

5 years ago

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Skip T Lima, OH

I think it does ok but it slows my PC. And they also pop up a lot when it’s time to renew.

8 years ago

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Marilyn Greer Saint George, UT

I hated that they bugged me all the time. They still do even though I don't have the service anymore.

8 years ago

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LBurr96 Salt Lake City, UT

It came free with my new system and was good, but not worth the cost once you have to pay for it.

4 years ago

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Noah Provo, UT

It works okay, but it comes up with several popups and is nearly impossible to cancel.

5 years ago

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Kjirstin Peterson West Jordan, UT

This did its job and protected my computer, but was so annoying after it expired!

6 years ago

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DONNA SUMMERS

Pretty basic, and easy to use, but nothing special.

12 years ago

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Doug Foerch Vernon Hills, IL

McAfee seems to get in the way with other programs and downloads.

4 years ago