Do I need a paid security app on my phone?

Play Protect comes with a Google Play-certified device

On a Google Play-certified Android phone, Play Protect checks apps during installation and scans the device regularly. It can warn about, disable or remove a harmful app.

Play Protect also checks apps installed outside Google Play. No scan makes an unknown app risk-free, however.

Do not assume that an uncertified Android device includes genuine Google apps or Play Protect. You can check certification under About in the Play Store settings.

An iPhone security app is not Windows antivirus

iOS verifies the source and signature of apps. It also isolates apps from one another and from the operating system.

That isolation prevents a third-party security app from scanning every other app and the whole phone like Windows antivirus. A product may still offer web filtering, password management or identity alerts.

Judge the named feature, not the word “antivirus” on the package. A paid app cannot replace operating system updates or a careful check when a message asks for credentials.