1. LuLu is the free, open-source firewall that aims to block unknown outgoing connections, protecting your privacy and your Mac! Supported OS: macOS 10.15+ Current version: 2.3.2 ( change log ).
2. Comodo Free Firewall for Windows. This premium Windows software can be used to manage the traffic on the PC and block all the internet attacks. It will be able to secure all the connections when you are online and monitor what data goes in.

• Mac Free Firewall Service
• Mac Os X Firewall
• Mac Free Firewall Protection
• What Is The Best Firewall For Mac

Firewalls are software programs or hardware devices that filter and examine the information coming through your Internet connection. They represent a first line of defense because they can stop a malicious program or attacker from gaining access to your network and information before any potential damage is done.

Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac

Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac's top-shelf malware detection and barely there system impact make it the best antivirus solution.

Avast Free Mac Security

Jun 07, 2018 You may not need a firewall, but you do need a VPN. And there's no need to pay for a firewall. ZoneAlarm Free Firewall retains its title as Editors' Choice for free personal firewall. Free Antivirus 2018 License key + Activation Code For [ Windows + MAC ] services and products Free Antivirus 2018 License key + Activation Code For [ Windows + MAC ] is a household that of security applications developed by Avast Software for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. If you’re a new Mac user (or even if you’re not), you might be confused about what kind of security software you do and don’t need. The truth is, for most people, OS X is fairly secure out of the box. And there are a number of programs out there that potentially do more harm than good.

Avast Free Mac Security's malware-squashing proficiency, negligible performance impact and included password manager make it the best free option.

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac offers top-shelf malware detection and protects files from ransomware.

After evaluating eight free and paid antivirus products, we've chosen Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac ($40 per year) as the best antivirus for Mac. It had a nearly invisible impact on system performance, and it caught all malware.

/avast-get-assistance-for-mac/. Avast Free Mac Security is our favorite free option, as it provided nearly perfect malware protection and an easy-to-use interface with an imperceptible performance hit.

You do need an antivirus program on your Mac. Recent years have seen more Mac malware and adware than ever before, from Trojans to targeted attacks, supply-chain attacks like the XcodeGhost attack and even encrypting ransomware.

MORE: Best Antivirus Software and Apps

Latest Security Alerts and Threats

— Google pushed out an emergency patch for its Chrome browser for Windows, macOS and Linux after a vulnerability was found that could let a malicious website take over a computer. ADVICE: Copy and paste 'chrome://settings/help' into your Chrome address bar to make sure your browser is updated to version 76.0.3809.132.

— Apple patched a security hole that let you -- or a malicious website -- jailbreak an iPhone and install any kind of app, including potential malware. (This is not among the flaws that let several websites infect any iPhone.) ADVICE: Make sure your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch is updated to iOS 12.4.1.

— Spammers have been sending emails to inject scam or malicious messages in regular people's Google Calendar pages. ADVICE: Follow our instructions to stop phony Google Calendar notifications from happening to you.

How We Tested

/avira-vs-avast-antivirus-for-mac/. To find the best antivirus for Mac desktops and laptops, we evaluate ease of use, interface and performance impact, we installed each AV program on the same Late 2013 MacBook Pro with Retina Display running macOS 10.12 Sierra. It was powered by a 2.6-GHz Intel Core i7 processor and had 8GB of RAM and 70GB of data stored on a 512GB SSD.

We conducted our own tests in July and August 2017 based on how much each antivirus product affected our laptop's performance. To do this, we used our custom OpenOffice benchmark, which matches 20,000 names and addresses in a spreadsheet. We measured how long it took to run a quick scan and a full scan while the laptop crunched numbers in the background.

We assessed how easy each program was to use and the number of useful extra features it offered (including free add-on software). To gauge how effective each package was at stopping malware, we used the results of evaluations conducted in May 2017 by AV-TEST, a well-regarded independent product-testing lab in Germany, and results from other tests conducted in July 2017 by AV-Comparatives, a similarly well-respected firm in Austria.

Best Mac Antivirus

Reasons to Buy

Kaspersky Internet Security is the best antivirus for Macs because it offers both the lowest system impact and some of the best malware-detection rates recorded. It even provides extra security features, including parental controls and options to lock down your webcam and stop websites from tracking your browsing activity. If you're willing to pay to protect your Mac from malware, Kaspersky Internet Security is the best option available.

Best Free Mac Antivirus

Reasons to Buy

Avast Free Mac Security caught 99.9 percent of all malware, packs in a password manager, barely leaves a smudge on system impact and doesn't charge a dime. If only it caught 100 percent of malware, as Kaspersky did.

Reasons to Buy

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac is one of only a few solutions we tested that offers perfect malware detection. Further, its modern, streamlined interface places on-demand scans front and center. Bitdefender has dropped from first place, though, because its system-impact scores don't match the flawless marks posted by Kaspersky.

Reasons to Avoid

Norton 360 Deluxe may offer excellent protection, but it charges more (after the first year) than its competitors do, without offering as many perks. Norton AntiVirus Plus offers similar protection for a single Mac, but with fewer perks. Still, both have always-on-call customer support.

Do I Need A Firewall With Free Avast

Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid

If you're looking for the best antivirus for Mac without having to pay, AVG AntiVirus for Mac is not too shabby, with its 99.9 percent detection rate and easy-to-use design. Unfortunately, other free competitors provide extras (Sophos with parental controls, Avast's password manager) that AVG does not.

Best for Families

Reasons to Buy

With Sophos Home for Mac's simple interface and low system-performance impact, you'll barely realize the program is shielding you until you need it. Anyone with young children at home will find Sophos' parental controls useful, as they allow for remote scans and checks, and let you block sites by category. Sophos even keeps a log of when users try to reach banned pages. This program's major drawback, though, is its lackluster malware-detection rate.

Reasons to Buy

Free Firewall For My Computer

Mac Free Firewall Service

Once our favorite, Avira Free Antivirus for Mac is no longer the best antivirus for Mac. That's because it is a hair shy of perfection in its malware detection, and fell behind in system-performance testing, earning some of the higher performance impacts recorded.

Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid

Firewall Software For Mac

While McAfee's unlimited licenses mean you can support a whole family of Macs (and PCs and Android devices, too), this program's lack of special features (for a paid version) make it hard to recommend. Further, we don't have malware-detection testing scores for McAfee, so its protection powers are unproven.

15 June 2021

Best overall: Little Snitch
Best value: Lulu
Easiest to use: Radio Silence
Most powerful: Murus
Best balance of cost and features: Vallum

Before buying a firewall for your Mac, you first have to decide whether you actually need one. Instinctively, you might think so. But macOS comes with a firewall built in - and by default, it’s turned off. Has Apple lost its mind or something?

The answer is ‘something’. Specifically the fact that Mac users generally don’t need any extra firewall software to be enabled. That’s partly due to the fact macOS doesn’t run services that listen for network connections. On top of that, your router will also have its own firewall, so in most cases you don’t need any extra protection. The combination of these factors is why Apple doesn’t make a big deal about the macOS firewall.

But there are times when a firewall app can be a handy thing to have on your Mac. One such case is when you’re connected to a public network - for example, if you hook your MacBook up to wi-fi in a hotel. In that scenario, you might be at risk of poor security or even a fake network.

Another good reason to use a firewall is to control which Mac apps can connect to the internet. That includes malware, which may try to send your data to hackers. The macOS firewall isn’t built to do this, but it is possible with PF (Packet Filter), macOS’s more advanced firewall that can only be controlled via the Terminal command line. If you want something more user friendly, you’ll need a third-party firewall.

Install Little Snitch, and whenever an app tries to connect to the internet, you’ll get a notification. You can then choose whether to allow the connection or to block it. And you can apply that decision once, or until you restart your Mac, quit the app or log out. You can also set it for a certain period of time or permanently.

When you choose to block or allow an app access to the internet, Little Snitch creates a rule. You can then edit these rules in the Little Snitch client. These rules are based not only on the app that’s trying to connect to the internet but also the domain it’s trying to connect to. So you could allow an app to connect to certain servers but not others.

Using Little Snitch’s built-in Network Monitor, you can view and analyze any processes that are showing network activity. And you want to avoid notifications, you can run Little Snitch in Silent Mode, which will allow or deny all connections. Although the focus is very much on outgoing connections, Little Snitch can also control incoming connections to a lesser degree.

The only snag is the price. It’s a little expensive but worth it if you need total control.

Little Snitch at a glance:

Pros: Lots of options that put you in control
Cons: A bit pricey and maybe too advanced for beginners
Price: From $45 for a single license
Trial: 30-day demo
Developer: Objective Development
Official website:obdev.at

Lulu works in pretty much the same way as Little Snitch. When it’s enabled, you receive notifications whenever an app tries to connect to the internet. You can then block or allow the connection, either temporarily or permanently. Lulu can either apply the rules based on processes or on the domain level.

After that, you can head into the app to edit your rules. As well as changing the block or allow status, you can delete rules altogether or add domains or ports to the rules. You also get a network monitor, so you can keep an eye on what Mac apps are doing what in real-time

Mac Os X Firewall

Make no mistake: Lulu doesn’t offer the same level of control as in Little Snitch. But it also doesn’t cost $45. In fact, it costs nothing at all. It’s a completely free, open-source app.

Lulu is only meant to block outgoing connections, but you could pair it with the macOS firewall if you’re worried about incoming connections. It can run in a few different modes: Passive, Block and no icon. Block stops all traffic, while passive applies only existing rules.

Lulu at a glance:

Pros: Does a good job and is completely free
Cons: Not much control over temporary rule
Price: Free
Trial: N/A
Developer: Objective-See
Official website: objective-see.com

As its name implies, Radio Silence doesn’t make a big fuss. There are no notifications, prompting you to block or allow apps to access the internet. Instead, this stripped-back app does two things: it enables you to see what apps and processes are running on your Mac, and it lets you block them.

Once you’ve blocked an app, you go into the settings and delete the rule. But that’s pretty much it. You can’t edit the rules in any way, and you can’t apply them under set conditions. Apps are either allowed to go online or they’re not.

Although limited, Radio Silence is ideal if you only want to block one or two apps and allow everything else through. Plus it’s cheap, with a single licence costing just $9. Pay $49 for the team licence, and there’s no limit on users.

Radio Silence at a glance:

Pros: Simple and cheap
Cons: Very basic blocking features
Price: From $9
Trial: 24 hours
Developer: Juuso Salonen
Official website: radiosilenceapp.com'

Just like Little Snitch and Lulu, Vallum intercepts outgoing connections from your Mac’s various apps. But you can also set rules for inbound activity too.

When an app tries to connect to the internet, you get a notification. As with Little Snitch, you can apply rules once, forever or for preset times, like five minutes, the rest of the day or until reboot You can also configure elements of your rule, like target hostname or IP, port, protocol, and even the user. Once a rule has been created, you can edit and apply more advanced criteria. Stick to the basics, though, and it’s not difficult to use Vallum effectively.

Vallum’s interface is a little confusing, but it’s a powerful app, and it comes at a great price. Starting from $15 for a single licence, it’s much cheaper than Little Snitch, despite sharing many of the same features. It can also be bundled with its sister app, Murus, a powerful front-end for macOS’s built-in firewall and Packet filter.

Vallum at a glance:

Pros: Powerful despite the relatively low price
Cons: A bit confusing to get set up
Price: From $15
Trial: Unlimited trial, with popup reminder every four hours
Developer: Murus.it
Official website:vallumfirewall.com

Murus is much more than just a simple connection blocker. The free Lite version only deals with inbound connections, but upgrade to Murus Basic or Pro, and it’s a completely different ball game. Not only can you configure rules for inbound and outbound connections, you have access to advanced filtering, port management, bandwidth management and much more.

If anything, Murus Pro is too powerful. The number of features and settings in the pro version is dizzying. While some users may benefit from features like port knocking, adaptive firewall, NAT and so on, most ordinary uses risk being overwhelmed. The Network Filter Configuration wizard helps a bit, though. And to be fair to Murus, it’s much easier to use than typing commands into Terminal.

Provided you know what you’re doing, though, Murus Pro is definitely worth checking out - especially as it comes with Vallum bundled in with it. It’s certainly not for the light-hearted, but if you want serious control over your Mac’s inbound and outbound connections, Murus Pro could be right for you.

Before you buy either Murus Pro or Vallum, though, you should know Murus.it has also released a hybrid firewall app called Scudo. This is designed as an alternative to both Muros and Vallum. At the moment, it’s in beta, so you might want to wait for a full release before buying it.

Murus Pro at a glance:

Pros: A rich feature set at a good price
Cons: Possibly too complicated for beginners
Price: From $10
Trial: Unlimited trial, with saving disabled
Developer: Murus.it
Official website: murusfirewall.com

What to look for in a Mac firewall

Mac Free Firewall Protection

When choosing a Mac firewall, one of the first things you should consider is what you need it for. Key things to think about include:

• Whether you want to control inbound, outbound, or both types of connection. The macOS firewall is focused on inbound connections, and you need to use Terminal commands or a third-party app if you want to do more.
• Ease of use. If you can set up new rules without digging through tons of different menus, that’s ideal. More advanced software is great, but if you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s only likely to confuse you.
• How much control you get over rules. Some apps only let you block apps, with no more options than that. Others enable you to see more specific rules, like particular domains that are blocked or allowed.
• Cost. If you’re happy with the features in a free or low-cost firewall for your Mac, why spend more?

Which Mac firewall is the best in 2021?

Because Mac users don’t usually need firewalls to protect them from inbound connections, application-level firewalls that stop outbound connections are generally the best choice. Little Snitch is excellent but expensive. Radio Silence, meanwhile, is cheap and easy to use but offers limited control. Vallum does a good job too, and it’s substantially cheaper than Little Snitch. For many people, however, Lulu is more than good enough, and it’s completely free.

That said, none of these Mac firewalls are overly expensive, and they’re all great in their own particular ways. They all have free trials, and we strongly recommend trying them out before making a purchase.

What Is The Best Firewall For Mac

FAQ

Do Mac owners need to use a firewall?

Usually, no. That’s why the built-in one is turned off by default. macOS isn’t generally vulnerable to rogue incoming connections, and most people have a firewall enabled on their router anyway.

How do you enable the macOS firewall?

To turn on the macOS firewall, head to System Preferences, and select Security & Privacy. Click the Firewall tab, then click the padlock near the bottom. Enter your username and password, so you can make changes in System Preferences. Now click Turn On Firewall. You can configure it by clicking the Firewall Options and Advanced buttons. You can also control Packet Filtering using text commands in Terminal.