As a Mac user, you’re probably interested in having the best of the best for your computer, and that goes as far as wanting every last program within your computer to be neat and efficient and, simply put, the best choice. Unfortunately, as we all know, choosing an efficient and appropriate program can get confusing, since there are far more home programs and guides and tutorials available for PCs than for their more elusive counterpart, Macs. Since protection from viruses is one of the most crucial requirements in any computer (yes, you need this protection even if you have a Mac), we decided to focus today’s post on the search of the best antivirus for Mac and the options you have in 2014 for it. Without further ado, this is our top recommended suggestions that should get the necessary job done. Any one of them would provide a good level of protection, and they all enjoy favorable reviews.

Avast is one of the most popular antivirus software for both PCs and Macs, and it is also reasonably efficient, considering that you can download it for free. It has proven to be especially useful against malware, but almost every review also suggests that it can slow OS-X considerably just by running in the background. All in all, it’s one of the best antivirus for Mac options you currently have for free. In case you believe the myth that Macs are immune to malware, you should know that as of June 2014, there were 37 different malware signatures released by Apple on their wanted list, corresponding to some of the most annoying Trojan threats to their users.

2. Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac

We would have recommended Kaspersky whole-heartedly in 2013, but ever since then, the program has received some less than content reviews about its stability and an alleged propensity to shut down Macs. Nevertheless, it would still make it to the top 10 software alternatives currently on the market, and my Mac (at least) never suffered from any shut down because of it. It can provide the needed protection against malware in less time than other anti-viruses (a regular scan doesn’t usually take more than 5 minutes), and it doesn’t tend to slow down your computer as much as other free versions.