Protection for other platforms. Microsoft is by far the biggest target for viruses and malware. While the Mac does come under attack via side-loaded apps, it's rare, and if you download apps only from the Mac and iOS app stores and keep your guard up when clicking links and download files, you should be OK without an antivirus app on Apple devices.
CNET editors pick the products and services we write about. When you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Best free Windows antivirus Microsoft Defender. Jump to details. See at Microsoft. See at NortonLifeLock. See at Bitdefender. Best on-demand Windows malware removal Malwarebytes. See at Malwarebytes. Solid subscription antivirus alternative McAfee Total Protection.
See at McAfee. Another good subscription option Trend Micro Maximum Security. See at Trend Micro. See at ESET. Alternative free Windows antivirus Sophos Home.
See at Sophos. Our recommendations Looking for free antivirus protection, malware protection or virus detection, willing to pay for an antivirus program that offers broad internet security coverage across all your devices, including from ransomware and phishing, or need to remove a computer virus or malware from your PC right now? Best free Windows antivirus. Microsoft Defender. Best antivirus subscription for Windows. Norton with LifeLock Select. Best free antivirus alternative for Windows.
Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition. Best on-demand Windows malware removal. Solid subscription antivirus alternative. McAfee Total Protection. Another good subscription option. Trend Micro Maximum Security. Worthwhile subscription alternative.
Among the other three brands, Microsoft's malware engine may have been a bit too aggressive, as its Windows Defender had a decent Microsoft told us that the high false-positive counts were a result of its Smart Screen feature flagging anything unknown as potential malware, and AV-Comparatives chalking up a false positive every time that happened.
For its February-March tests, AV-Comparatives reportedly turned Smart Screen off, and Defender came away with only five false positives and an overall detection store of Avast and AVG had the opposite problem: only five false positives each but underwhelming In February-March , they each scored We normally use test results from Britain's SE Labs , but Bitdefender stopped being tested in mid after it got mediocre scores for neutralizing some malware rather than completely removing it.
Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition's minimalist features range from anti-phishing defenses to warnings of known malicious websites. That's all that comes with the software. Bitdefender's free Traffic Light browser add-ons for Chrome, Firefox and Safari need to be downloaded separately, as does the Home Scanner tool that looks for insecure devices on a home network. Bitdefender Antivirus Free had a moderate impact on system performance as measured by our custom benchmark test, which clocks how long a CPU takes to match 20, names and addresses in an Excel spreadsheet.
It used Windows 10 with the latest updates. Before we installed Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition, we ran the benchmark to provide a baseline for comparison. The CPU took an average of The time rose to The 2. Bitdefender Antivirus Free was slow to complete its first full scan, which took 1 hour, 4 minutes and 47 seconds.
That improved dramatically after the first go-round, because the program had learned what to ignore and what to examine. On subsequent scans it averaged 3 minutes and 38 seconds, which was so quick that it doesn't matter if Bitdefender Free lacks a quick-scan option.
However, active scanning slowed system performance considerably. Our data-matching benchmark took an average of Avira Free includes antivirus protection, a basic password manager, file shredder, and a free VPN with an allowance of MB per month.
The free version scans your PC, and offers real-time protection for your desktop. But it lacks protection from web threats and email threats. It also lacks the improved PC cleanup feature for clearing out old files in the Pro version. Installation with Avira is easy, with no attempts to sneak in other software, and no requirement for creating an account.
Plus, you only have to uninstall one application instead of the multiple uninstalls required with something like Kaspersky. Most antivirus suites use the same desktop interface as their pro versions. Instead, it offers a stripped-down antivirus program with minimal options instead of the full interface of Bitdefender Total Security.
Each brand's antivirus programs share one Windows malware-detection "engine," but more features get added as subscription prices rise.
Norton LifeLock has even more plans mixing in various levels of protection. The more expensive plans also bundle in antivirus software for Macs and Android devices and offer limited security programs for iOS devices as well. There are no true antivirus apps for iPhones and iPads. Here's our list of the best paid antivirus programs. Don't forget to check out our list of the best free antivirus software halfway down this page.
Kaspersky provides the best antivirus protection overall Kaspersky Total Security combines one of the world's top-rated malware-detection engines with a ton of useful features. It's the best antivirus software you can buy today. Click here if you're in the U. Bitdefender offers the best value in antivirus software Bitdefender Antivirus Plus combines great malware protection with an assortment of useful features and an easy-to-use interface, all at a very affordable price.
Norton packs in everything but the kitchen sink Norton's antivirus products offer a password manager, unlimited VPN data, identity theft protection, parental controls and even online storage. If you're willing to pay full freight, you'll get almost every kind of digital security you could ever need. Kaspersky Total Security 2. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 3. Norton Deluxe 4.
McAfee Internet Security 5. Trend Micro Maximum Security 6. Sophos Home Premium. Our top choice is Kaspersky Total Security, which delivers excellent malware protection, a full complement of extra features and an easy-to-use interface. Right behind that are the entry-level Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, the best bargain in antivirus software, and Norton Deluxe, which offers a ton of extra features, including unlimited VPN service and LifeLock identity protection.
Any of these three would serve you well, but the ideal choice depends on your circumstances. See our section on how to choose the best antivirus software below, or our stand-alone antivirus buying guide. Both offered excellent protection without system slowdowns, but Kaspersky's free program lets you schedule scans, adds a ton of useful extras and had the smallest system impact we've ever seen. Kaspersky's Windows products have excellent malware-detection scores and a light-to-moderate system-performance impact, the two most important criteria in our rankings.
But it's beaten by Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, which has even more features. It has a secure browser, anti-theft protection for laptops, webcam protection and a limited-use VPN client that kicks in when you connect to an open Wi-Fi network. We think it's the best antivirus software you can buy today.
Read our full Kaspersky Total Security review. The best antivirus software you can buy Kaspersky offers excellent malware protection, lots of useful extra features and a light system impact with an easy-to-use interface. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus is our top choice among entry-level antivirus products. It has very good, if not perfect, malware-detection scores. Its active scans don't add much to the background system impact, but that background load is a bit heavy.
It also offers the most value, with an unlimited password manager, a secure browser with a virtual keyboard, a Wi-Fi network scanner, a file shredder, protection against encrypting ransomware and Bitdefender's new web-privacy software -- features often found only with pricier antivirus packages. The midrange Bitdefender Internet Security adds parental controls, webcam protection and a two-way firewall, while Bitdefender Total Security tops off the lineup with an anti-theft feature for laptops, a system optimizer and licenses for Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac and Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android.
Read our full Bitdefender Antivirus Plus review. All of Norton's antivirus products offer excellent malware protection, and the once-heavy system-performance load is much lighter. The number of extra features each program has varies, but the sweet spot in the lineup is Norton Deluxe.
It includes a password manager that works on all major platforms, unlimited VPN service, dark-web personal-data monitoring, parental controls and up to 50GB of online storage space. Two other offerings, Norton Premium and Norton Platinum, give you more online storage and expand the antivirus and VPN coverage to 10 and 20 devices, respectively.
If you want full-on identity protection, Norton offers three bundles with varying degrees of LifeLock service and even more online storage. Their subscription prices run well into the triple digits, but still cost less than if you were to buy the identity protection, password manager, cloud-backup storage and antivirus software separately. Unlike some of the other best antivirus software makers, Norton doesn't offer a file shredder, file encryption or secure web browser with any of its products.
Yet every other digital-protection service you could possibly ask for is included with at least some of its bundles. Read our full Norton Deluxe review. McAfee's malware detection has improved greatly in the past couple of years, but it's still not quite top-of-the-line. To get parental controls or one of the best password managers in the business, you'll have to spring for McAfee Total Protection or its sibling McAfee LiveSafe, which comes pre-installed on many new PCs.
The multi-device licenses of those two security suites also come with an identity-protection service. But none of the McAfee products have a secure browser or webcam protection, which you often get with other premium antivirus programs. Read our full McAfee Internet Security review. Trend Micro offers very good protection, but its malware-detection engine creates a heavy system load during scans and returns a fair number of false-positive results.
Parental controls, a system optimizer and a file shredder are bundled into the mid-range Trend Micro Internet Security. Trend Micro Maximum Security adds a password manager, a secure browser and file encryption, while the new Trend Micro Premium Security adds a VPN and dark-web monitoring of personal data. However, none of Trend Micro's programs include a two-way firewall or webcam protection, standard with other brands' midrange offerings.
Nor does the premium product have the cloud storage or backup software that some of the best antivirus brands add as enticements to their flagship packages. Read our full Trend Micro Maximum Security review.
ESET is one of the biggest antivirus names in Europe, with a very small system-performance load and fast scans. Its malware-detection rate used to be kind of meh, but has improved markedly in recent lab tests. However, there's no VPN client, backup software or file shredder. ESET's pricing is per device, which is optimal for users who might have more than a few devices to protect.
But if your device count gets into double digits, ESET's costs can add up. Sophos Home Premium does its job economically, offering reasonable protection from malware at an affordable price. Because it's spun off from Sophos' enterprise software for business clients, Sophos Home Premium lacks many of the bells and whistles other security suites offer, such as a password manager, identity theft protection service or VPN service.
What Sophos Home Premium does have is the essentials: ransomware rollbacks, webcam defenses and protection against keyloggers, malicious websites and boot-sector and fileless malware. It also has a web-filter system for parents and an online management console from which you can tweak most of the settings. Some people might demand more from an antivirus suite, but anyone who would rather buy only what they need will appreciate Sophos Home Premium's just-the-basics approach. Read our full Sophos Home Premium review.
A good paid antivirus suite is a digital-protection jackknife, often bundling in parental controls, identity theft protection, a password manager, backup software, cloud storage, a firewall, a system optimizer and software for Mac, Android and iOS as well as Windows. But what if you just want Windows antivirus software without all of those pricey extras?
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