FAQs
Does McAfee have a free trial?
Yes. McAfee Total Protection comes with a 30-day free trial, and you don't need to enter card details to start it. It's a great way to try before you buy.
Is there a free version of McAfee?
Not a full free plan no, but McAfee does offer useful free tools. McAfee WebAdvisor is a free browser extension that blocks malicious sites and downloads, and Security Scan Plus checks your system for existing threats.
What is McAfee's refund policy?
McAfee provides a full refund on request if you contact customer service within 30 days of your initial purchase, or within 60 days of an auto-renewal charge.
Does McAfee have a student discount?
Yes! Students can verify through Student Beans to unlock $5 off a McAfee subscription. It's a modest saving compared to McAfee's promotional pricing, and it cannot be stacked with other promotions, so compare it to the current sale price first.
Is there a McAfee military discount?
McAfee has exclusive pricing for military members and first responders through ID.me. Like with the student discounts these offers aren't stackable, so make sure you compare the prices to get the best deal.
What is the McAfee Virus Protection Pledge?
It's McAfee's guarantee that if it can't remove a virus from a supported device, you get your money back. You need to have auto-renewal to be eligible, and the refund covers what you've paid so far.
How many devices does McAfee cover?
It depends on the plan. Total Protection packages cover a set number of devices between one and ten, while McAfee+ Premium, Advanced and Ultimate cover unlimited devices. Family versions of those tiers extend protection to up to six household members, with seperate identity monitoring for all adults on the plan.
Is McAfee worth it?
For multi-device households, McAfee is a good choice. AV-TEST gave McAfee a maximum 6/6 score across protection, performance and usability in February 2026, and AV-Comparatives' April 2026 testing rated McAfee better than both Norton and Bitdefender. Just make sure you switch before your renewal to avoid the pricey renewals!
McAfee Money Saving Tips
Never pay standard price
McAfee discounts new subscriptions almost constantly, with first-year savings reaching 50% or more. If there's no promotion running on the day you shop then grab a code from this page, sign up to newsletters or wait a week or two. No one should pay the full list price for first year.
Add your renewal date to your diary
This is a huge saver that catches so many people out every year. Introductory pricing applies to your first term only, and subscriptions auto-renew at the standard price rate, which is often two to three times what you paid for your first year. Sign into your McAfee account, check the renewal price, and set a calendar reminder for two weeks before its due so you're not caught out.
Remember the 60 days refund
If you get caught out by a renewal, you have 60 days to refund as McAfee's own terms gives you a full refund on requests within 30-days of purchase or 60 days of an auto-renewal charge. This means an unwanted renewal charge is refundable if you act!
Cancel Firs, Uninstall second
Removing the McAfee app does not stop the billing cycle. Turn off auto-renewal in your account settings first, confirm it, and only then uninstall the McAfee apps. Too many people discover this the hard way.
Free Trial and Free Tools
McAfee Total Protection has a 30-day free trial with no card required, and WebAdvisor and Security Scan Plus are free downloads with no purchase needed. So its always worth testing it out for a month free first before you commit, and WebAdvisor and Security Scan are nice bonuses.
Only buy the tier you need
Every tier includes the same fundamental protection and the jump from Premium to Advanced, to Ultimate is mostly about credit monitoring and insurance coverage, not the antivirus itself. So, if you don't need $2 million of identity theft coverage, then the low to mid tier plans are where the value sits for you.
Student and Military Pricing
Students can claim $5 off via Student Beans, and military members get exclusive pricing through ID.me. However, these offers cannot be combined with the current offers on the McAfee first year plans, so you should compare them and use whatever comes out cheaper in your basket.
Seasonal Sales
As with most places, the best time to shop for a McAfee plan is during seasonal sales such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with additional promotions around Labor Day, Presidents' Day and Memorial Day. Sale days are also a great time to start a plan with any subscription for anti-virus because when your first year is ending, you're just in time to get big savings for another competitor.
Ignore unsolicited renewal emails and texts
Because McAfee is one of the most known names in the business, its often used by scammers to trick people. The FTC has warned about scam messages that use the McAfee name, claim you owe a large renewal charge and pressure you to click links or call numbers urgently. Real subscription details are only ever in your McAfee account so if a message like that arrives, don't call the number or click the link. Just sign in directly at McAfee.com and check there instead. It saves you stress and money by being cautious.
How to use a McAfee promo code
- Choose a McAfee coupon code you'd like to use and click "Get Code" to reveal it.
- Copy the code for later, then head over to the McAfee website to start shopping.
- Add the plans you want to your shopping cart, then proceed to the view shopping cart page.
- Directly below the product/service you're buying, you'll see a box labeled Promo Code
- Paste your coupon in the box, and click on "Apply" to activate your coupon code.
- Once you've entered your coupon code, the discount will be immediately shown. Proceed through the rest of the checkout as normal.
How we source coupon codes
Tom’s Hardware has a coupons team dedicated to finding the latest and best codes for each of our pages. Through partnerships with retailers, our affiliate networks, and searching the web, we find the most recent ways to save on online orders, including any exclusive codes our commercial team negotiates. We then upload the latest codes & promotions to our pages, refreshing them twice a week.
How we test coupon codes
Our dedicated coupons team tests each code before they’re uploaded to our pages to ensure they will be accepted at the checkout. Coupons can include the likes of free shipping, student discounts, multibuy offers and more, and you’ll find applicable codes for products & services across all categories. However, we don’t list any one-time use or user-specific codes - this is to make sure each code is available for everyone who visits our site to use
For the sake of clarity, we also include key information about each coupon, such as expiry dates and any terms & conditions, on the page. We update this information whenever we become aware of any changes, with each page updated twice a week. You can read the terms & conditions for an offer by looking for the corresponding text and clicking it to expand the terms section. This text can be found near the ‘Get Code’ button.
What to do if a coupon code doesn’t work
Despite our team regularly refreshing our pages and testing every code before upload, every now and then a coupon may not work as intended. Retailers can change expiry dates or terms & conditions before pages can be updated, offers can expire, or a coupon can no longer be accepted. If you have any issues using one of our codes, our team is on hand to help.
It’s always best to start by double-checking a code’s terms & conditions to make sure your order meets the requirements. Click “View terms and conditions” to expand the code section. Here you’ll find all available information on your chosen offer. Discounts may be product-specific (i.e. 10% off PC cases), have an associated minimum order value (i.e. spend $30 or more), or require verification (i.e. register with a valid student or workplace email address).
If you comply with all listed requirements and your discount is still not being applied, send an email to our team at coupons.tomshardware@futurenet.com and we can help. Let us know which code you are trying to use and which page it’s listed on, and customer support will reply as soon as possible to assist.
How we make money
Tom’s Hardware earns money from coupon pages on a commission basis. For every coupon page on our site, we have negotiated a deal with that retailer. Whenever someone places an order with that brand and applies one of our codes to their cart, we earn a percentage of the final order total back in commission.
The good news? This means that we offer our codes without charging any fees. Redeeming a discount listed on Tom’s Hardware is always free - all you will need to pay is a discounted price for whatever items you want to buy.
If you're looking for more information on Tom's Hardware coupons, you can also read more about How We Source Coupon Codes and How to Use Them on our dedicated page.
