Malwarebytes
Malwarebytes helps consumers and businesses prevent and remove advanced malware threats.
Malwarebytes is a cybersecurity company that detects, prevents, and remediates malware, ransomware, spyware, and other cyber threats using AI-powered behavioral analysis and heuristics. The company serves both individual consumers and businesses through a freemium consumer model and a tiered enterprise offering (rebranded as ThreatDown). Unlike traditional antivirus software, Malwarebytes combines signature-based detection with behavioral analysis to catch threats competitors miss, earning recognition from The New York Times for its hybrid detection approach.
Problem solved
Organizations and consumers lack effective detection of advanced malware and ransomware that traditional antivirus solutions fail to identify.
Target customer
Individual consumers and businesses (3,000+ companies) seeking specialized anti-malware and ransomware protection beyond traditional antivirus; Enterprise teams requiring endpoint security across organizational networks.
Founders
M
Marcin Kleczynski
Co-founder & CEO
Polish-American entrepreneur who created the first prototype at age 14 after infecting his family computer; graduated from University of Illinois with degree in computer science; launched Malwarebytes from college dorm in 2008.
B
Bruce Harrison
Co-founder, VP of Research
Joined Kleczynski to formally launch Malwarebytes in 2008; led research division.
Funding history
Series A
$30M
July 2014
Led by Highland Capital Partners
· Unknown
Series B
$50M
January 2016
Led by Fidelity Management and Research Company
· Unknown
Series C / Private Equity
$100M
September 2022
Led by Vector Capital, Highland Capital Partners
· Unknown
Total raised:
$180M
Industries
Pricing
Freemium model. Consumer plans: Free (manual scans), $44.99/year single device, $59.99/year for 3 devices. Business plans (ThreatDown): Core/Advanced/Elite/Ultimate tiers starting at $49.99-$52.49 per endpoint/year. All plans include free support and 60-day money-back guarantee.
Notable customers
3,000,000+ consumers, 60,000+ businesses. Named partnership: eero (eero Plus subscription)
Integrations
eero (eero Plus partnership for user protection at scale)
Tech stack
web-vitals (JavaScript libraries)
jQuery (JavaScript libraries)
core-js (JavaScript libraries)
AOS (JavaScript libraries)
Microsoft ASP.NET (Web frameworks)
Bootstrap (UI frameworks)
Drift (Live chat)
Popper
DocuSign
Microsoft Clarity (Analytics)
Linkedin Insight Tag (Analytics)
Google Analytics (Analytics)
Facebook Pixel (Analytics)
Dreamdata (Marketing automation)
Crazy Egg (Analytics)
Font Awesome (Font scripts)
IIS (Web servers)
Windows Server (Operating systems)
Unpkg (CDN)
Amazon Cloudfront (CDN)
Marketo (Marketing automation)
Twitter Ads (Advertising)
Microsoft Advertising (Advertising)
Google Tag Manager (Tag managers)
Amazon Web Services (PaaS)
AWS Certificate Manager (SSL/TLS certificate authorities)
Website
Competitors
McAfee
Broader consumer antivirus suite; Malwarebytes specializes in advanced malware detection that traditional antivirus misses.
Avast
Full-featured antivirus with broader protection; Malwarebytes focuses on specialized anti-malware heritage and behavioral detection.
Jamf
Mac-focused endpoint management; Malwarebytes is platform-agnostic anti-malware specialist.
Why this matters: Malwarebytes built a $180M+ company by solving a specific problem—detecting malware that competitors miss—rather than competing on feature breadth. The founder's origin story (infecting his family computer at 14) mirrors the authenticity of great security companies, and the company's recent $100M Series C signals strong enterprise traction in a crowded market.
Best for: Organizations and consumers who need detection of advanced threats that traditional antivirus tools fail to catch; businesses seeking specialized ransomware and malware protection alongside standard endpoint security.
Use cases
Ransomware Detection and Prevention
Enterprise IT teams use Malwarebytes to detect and block ransomware attacks through behavioral analysis before encryption spreads. The real-time monitoring catches suspicious file encryption patterns that signature-based tools miss, minimizing data loss and downtime.
Consumer Malware Remediation
Individual users leverage the free version to manually scan and remove malware infections, then upgrade to paid for real-time protection. The freemium model allows risk-free evaluation before committing to subscription protection.
Multi-Device Business Security
Mid-market companies deploy ThreatDown (Endpoint Protection tier) across 500+ devices for consolidated threat management. Per-endpoint pricing scales with organization size while maintaining behavioral threat detection across all devices.
Alternatives
CrowdStrike Falcon
Enterprise-focused endpoint detection and response (EDR) platform with broader visibility; Malwarebytes specializes in malware detection at consumer and mid-market price points.
Norton LifeLock
Full-featured consumer antivirus with identity theft protection; Malwarebytes focuses purely on malware and ransomware detection without bundled identity services.
Kaspersky
Comprehensive antivirus with global threat intelligence; Malwarebytes differentiates on behavioral analysis and catching threats traditional antivirus misses.
FAQ
What does Malwarebytes do? +
Malwarebytes detects, prevents, and removes malware, ransomware, spyware, adware, and viruses using AI-powered behavioral analysis and heuristics. Unlike traditional antivirus, it catches advanced threats through signature-less detection methods. It serves both individual consumers (freemium model) and businesses (enterprise ThreatDown platform).
How much does Malwarebytes cost? +
Consumer plans: Free (manual scans only), $44.99/year for 1 device, $59.99/year for 3 devices. Business plans (ThreatDown): Start at $49.99-$52.49 per endpoint per year depending on tier (Core through Ultimate). All plans include 60-day money-back guarantee and free customer support.
What are alternatives to Malwarebytes? +
CrowdStrike Falcon (enterprise EDR platform), Norton LifeLock (consumer antivirus with identity protection), Kaspersky (comprehensive antivirus), McAfee (broader consumer suite), Avast (full-featured antivirus).
Who uses Malwarebytes? +
3 million individual consumers and 60,000+ businesses worldwide. Notable partnership includes eero for subscriber protection. Target customers range from individual users needing malware removal to mid-market and enterprise organizations requiring specialized ransomware and advanced threat detection.
How does Malwarebytes compare to McAfee? +
Malwarebytes specializes in advanced malware detection that traditional antivirus tools miss, using behavioral analysis and heuristics rather than signatures alone. McAfee offers a broader consumer antivirus suite with additional features. Malwarebytes is better for catching sophisticated threats; McAfee is better for comprehensive protection coverage.
Tags
cybersecurity
malware detection
ransomware protection
behavioral analysis
endpoint security
anti-malware
threat detection