The overview below lists the various antivirus programs that have passed our tests so far. They are listed by performance rating, starting with the highest-rated software first. We continuously test various providers according to our latest antivirus testing guidelines, so this overview is kept up-to-date.
What Makes a Good Antivirus Program?
To guarantee your privacy and online safety, it is important to purchase a proper virus scanner: one that matches your needs and preferences.
Our reviews detail all the most important information, separating the good antivirus solutions from the bad ones. The final choice, however, is up to you.
So, what are the factors you should pay attention to when buying an antivirus program? We have listed the most important ones for you below.
Features and Price
One of the first things you’ll likely want to consider when choosing your antivirus program, is the features the software offers. Does the virus scanner meet your requirements and preferences? If you want to use your antivirus on both your laptop and your smartphone, you’ll want to find a provider with easy-to-use software for both of those devices.
Of course, price is also a determining factor. As with many other software programs, virus scanners come in paid and free versions. Like VPNs, many free virus scanners may be worth considering. However, the free version will likely not have all the same options and features as the paid package.
When looking for the best antivirus program for you, consider the value for money: what kind of options do you want to have and how much are you willing to spend on those? Our reviews give you all the information you need to make this choice for yourself.
Security
Of course, an antivirus solution should protect you from viruses and malware attacks. Not all virus scanners are equally good at this, however. Some might not flag dangerous files until it’s too late, while others might incorrectly mark harmless files as dangerous.
To assess the various virus scanners, we have tested them ourselves and compared our results with information from AV comparatives’ test results. These tests are of the highest quality and provide additional insight into how antivirus programs compare to one another, so you will get a good indication of what to expect from any provider.
Privacy
You might not think of it right away, but privacy is another important factor to consider when looking for a good antivirus. How does a provider handles your data?
Our reviews analyze privacy policies and lay out information on any privacy breaches or other issues that may have occurred with each provider. If an antivirus provider resold user data in the past, for example, you might want to stay away.
User-Friendliness
The user-friendliness of a virus scanner can be vital, especially for novice users. Downloading and installing the software should be quick and easy. Once installed, the virus scanner should more or less do its job independently. Still, if you want to tweak a few things in your settings, that should be easy to do, too.
Our reviews cover the usability of the antivirus software and customer support, so you can decide for yourself whether you’d like a more beginner-friendly solution or one that offers you more options for customization.
Speed and System Load
Last but not least, the speed of the scans matters. You don’t want to wait hours for your antivirus to finish doing a check. In addition, a virus scanner’s system load should not slow down your PC to the point that it is unusable. On the contrary: you shouldn’t even notice that your virus scanner is running!
Our expert test each antivirus solution’s speed by running the virus scanner in the background during day-to-day work, studying the percentage of working memory, hard drive, and processor capacity the antivirus programs use while working.
