Is Malwarebytes Free?
Yes. Malwarebytes offers a free version for Windows 10 and Windows 11 that scans the PC on demand and removes what it finds. It is not a time-limited demo that stops working: after the introductory trial of the paid features expires, the manual scanner keeps running for as long as you want to use it.
What the free version does not do is guard the machine continuously. That distinction — free manual cleanup versus paid always-on protection — is the whole answer to this question, and the rest of this page explains what it means in practice.
Is Malwarebytes free?
There is a free tier and a paid tier of the same Windows application. You install one program; which features are active depends on whether a licence is applied. The free tier gives you unlimited manual scans and removal of detected threats. The paid tier adds real-time layers that watch the system while you work.
Pricing and packaging are set by the vendor and change from time to time. Treat any figure you read on a third-party site, including ours, as background rather than a quote — the current tiers and prices are listed on the official product pages, and our pricing overview explains how the tiers are usually structured.
What does the free version do?
It is a scanner and a cleaner. You start a scan, review the detections, and quarantine or restore them. That covers the situation most people are in when they search for this software: something is already wrong with the PC and they want a second opinion.
- On-demand scans of memory, startup items, the registry and local drives
- Detection of trojans, spyware, adware, browser hijackers and potentially unwanted programs
- Removal into quarantine, with the option to restore a false positive
- A scan report you can read before anything is deleted
It does not include web protection, exploit mitigation, ransomware behavior monitoring or scheduled automatic scans once the trial period is over. Our scan walkthrough shows how to run and read a scan step by step.
Can you scan Windows for malware for free?
You can, and you have more than one free option. The manual Malwarebytes scanner is one. Windows Security, which is built into Windows 10 and Windows 11, is another — it includes an offline scan mode that runs before Windows fully loads and catches some threats a normal scan misses.
Running a second on-demand scanner alongside the resident protection is a reasonable habit, because no single detection engine sees everything. See Malwarebytes vs Windows Security for how the two overlap.
Free vs Premium
| Capability | Free tier | Paid tier |
|---|---|---|
| Manual on-demand scan | Yes | Yes |
| Remove and quarantine detections | Yes | Yes |
| Real-time malware protection | No (after trial) | Yes |
| Malicious website blocking | No | Yes |
| Ransomware behavior monitoring | No | Yes |
| Exploit mitigation for browsers and Office | No | Yes |
| Scheduled automatic scans | No | Yes |
Feature names and bundle contents shift between releases and regions; check the official documentation before you buy on the strength of one line in a table.
Is Malwarebytes free on Windows 10?
Yes, the free scanner runs on 64-bit Windows 10 builds that still receive Microsoft updates. Because Windows 10 support has wound down, an unpatched Windows 10 machine remains exposed to vulnerabilities no scanner can close — patching matters at least as much as scanning. Our Windows 10 page covers the specifics.
Is Malwarebytes free on Windows 11?
Yes, and Windows 11 is the platform the current build targets. It coexists with Windows Security: Windows 11 keeps its own resident protection active while an on-demand scanner is installed alongside it. See the Windows 11 guide for setup notes.
What happens after the trial ends?
A fresh installation usually enables the paid features for a trial period. When it lapses, the real-time shields switch off and the application drops back to the free manual scanner. Nothing is uninstalled, existing quarantine entries stay, and you can keep scanning.
If the PC is used for banking, remote work or shared family browsing, that is the point to decide honestly whether an always-on layer is worth paying for, or whether Windows Security plus careful habits plus occasional manual scans is enough for how you actually use the machine.
Malwarebytes Free vs Windows Security
They are not competitors in the same slot. Windows Security is the resident antivirus that is already running; the free Malwarebytes tier is an on-demand second opinion with no resident component. Keeping both is normal and does not require disabling anything.
Where a genuine choice appears is at the paid tier, because that is where real-time protection overlaps. The full comparison works through that decision.
Frequently asked questions
Does the free version remove malware, or only detect it?
It removes what it detects. Detections go to quarantine, where you can restore anything you believe is a false positive.
Do I need to uninstall my antivirus first?
No. The on-demand scanner is designed to run alongside a resident antivirus such as Windows Security.
Is the free scanner enough on its own?
For cleanup, often yes. For prevention, no — a manual scanner only helps when you remember to run it, so pair it with the resident protection Windows already provides.
Where should I download it from?
Only from the official Malwarebytes website. This site does not host installers and third-party download portals frequently bundle unwanted extras.
Malware-Bytes.net is an independent information resource about malware protection for Windows. We are not Malwarebytes, and this site is not the official Malwarebytes website or support channel. Malwarebytes is a trademark of Malwarebytes Inc.