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Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs McAfee Total Protection

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
McAfee Total Protection logo

McAfee Total Protection

Cybersecurity

Award-winning antivirus trusted by millions

From
$29.99/year
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Earthly has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Earthly pricing model not published; requires sales contact; McAfee Total Protection significant renewal price increase after first year (from $29.99 to $84.99/year)
  • They diverge on capability: Earthly covers Policy as code, McAfee Total Protection covers Real-time antivirus.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and McAfee Total Protection actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and McAfee Total Protection differ
AttributeEarthlyMcAfee Total Protection
Starting priceFree$29.99/year
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websiteUnknown
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, CLIWindows, macOS, iOS, Android
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity
Founded20201987

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Earthly

  • Policy as code
  • Multi-stage enforcement
  • AI agent governance
  • Repository-wide policies
  • Incident response automation
  • Compliance management
  • Earthfiles build tool
  • Satellites

Only in McAfee Total Protection

  • Real-time antivirus
  • Firewall
  • Safe browsing
  • Password manager
  • Secure VPN
  • Identity monitoring
  • Protection Score
  • Parental controls

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Earthly

  • Enforcing engineering standards across AI and human developersnot McAfee Total Protection
  • Automating incident response procedures across all repositoriesnot McAfee Total Protection
  • Embedding compliance requirements into development workflowsnot McAfee Total Protection
  • Standardizing build processes with Earthfilesnot McAfee Total Protection

McAfee Total Protection

  • Antivirusnot Earthly
  • Internet Securitynot Earthly
  • Identity Protectionnot Earthly

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Earthly

  • Pricing model not published; requires sales contact
  • Earthly Lunar is a recent launch (2025) with limited track record
  • Primarily GitHub-focused; limited integration with other platforms
  • No public documentation on pricing or feature tiers

McAfee Total Protection

  • Significant renewal price increase after first year (from $29.99 to $84.99/year)
  • Customer support responsiveness issues reported as reason for switching
  • Renewal billing can be aggressive with auto-renewal defaults

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

McAfee Total Protection

$29.99/year
  • Basic$29.99/year
    • Antivirus
    • Firewall
    • 1 device
  • Plus$39.99/year
    • Antivirus
    • Firewall
    • 5 devices
  • Premium$49.99/year
    • Antivirus
    • Firewall
    • VPN
  • Advanced$74.99/year
    • Antivirus
    • Firewall
    • VPN

Which should you pick?

Choose Earthly if

  • You need policy as code.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, CLI.
  • You also want multi-stage enforcement.
Earthly review

Choose McAfee Total Protection if

  • You need real-time antivirus.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android.
  • You also want firewall.
McAfee Total Protection review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or McAfee Total Protection better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and McAfee Total Protection at $29.99/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or McAfee Total Protection?
Earthly has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Earthly and $29.99/year for McAfee Total Protection.
Does Earthly or McAfee Total Protection run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. McAfee Total Protection runs on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Yes. Earthly has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. McAfee Total Protection starts at $29.99/year.
What is Earthly best used for?
Earthly is most often used for enforcing engineering standards across ai and human developers, automating incident response procedures across all repositories, embedding compliance requirements into development workflows, standardizing build processes with earthfiles. Of those, enforcing engineering standards across ai and human developers and automating incident response procedures across all repositories are not what McAfee Total Protection is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that McAfee Total Protection cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. McAfee Total Protection covers Real-time antivirus, Firewall, Safe browsing, Password manager.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Earthly: What is the difference between Earthfiles and Earthly Lunar?

Earthfiles is an open-source build tool that reached 12,000 GitHub stars and is used by companies like NVIDIA, Intel, and Databricks. Earthly Lunar is a separate governance platform launched in 2025 for enforcing standards across development workflows.

Source
McAfee Total Protection: How much does McAfee Total Protection cost?

McAfee Total Protection introductory pricing ranges from $29.99/year (Basic) to $74.99/year (Advanced), but renewal costs jump to $84.99/year after the first year.

Source
Earthly: How does Earthly Lunar enforce standards?

Lunar converts engineering standards, compliance requirements, and processes documented in AGENTS.md files, wikis, and incident postmortems into enforceable guardrails that apply consistently across repositories and development stages.

Source
McAfee Total Protection: What is the trial period for McAfee Total Protection?

McAfee offers a 60-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to try the service risk-free for two months.

Source
Earthly: What is the pricing for Earthly Lunar?

Pricing is not published on the website. Interested customers should contact Earthly's sales team for current pricing and feature tiers.

Source
McAfee Total Protection: How many devices can I protect with one McAfee Total Protection subscription?

Device coverage varies by plan: Basic covers 1 device, while other plans protect 5 to unlimited devices depending on the tier selected.

Source
McAfee Total Protection: Does McAfee Total Protection include VPN?

VPN is included in higher-tier McAfee plans if you opt for auto-renewal.

Source
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