Comparing Antivirus Software

Due to built-in browser safety features and virus protection pre-configured with Microsoft Windows, internet users are less prone to viruses today than they’ve ever been. Still, this does not mean you’re completely immune. Viruses can still get on your PC if you don’t practice basic internet safety, browse disreputable websites, or download illegal files (software or media piracy). Even if you’re doing everything right, it’s still possible, though much less likely, for a virus to infect your computer.

In this guide, we’ll examine several security products to help determine which is right for you.

Note on Pricing: Basically, all the commercial products on this page offer separate introductory pricing and renewal pricing. It’s usually about half off the first year, then the price shoots up the second year. Some offer discounts for purchasing multiple years at once. The pricing may change depending on current offers. It also might change depending on how many devices you want to cover.

This makes it very difficult to compare pricing and keep the comparisons updated, so I’ve focused primarily on their top-tier offerings when comparing features and prices. Prices could change at any time. So check pricing yourself.

Windows Security

Free & Paid Offerings, 99.6% AV Detection Rate

Windows Security, formerly known as Windows Defender, is Microsoft’s free built-in security suite for Windows. It’s been available with every major release of Windows for the past decade, and is my first suggestion because it’s free, already installed, and works pretty well for most users. It consumes a small amount of system resources, so it won’t slow down your PC.

This is a set-and-forget type of option. It won’t nag you unless it sees something wrong, won’t bug you to do long system scans, and can auto update with Windows Update. It tests among the best (top ten) in the industry for detection rates and has done so for several years.

Windows Security has the following features:

Setup Instructions

If your computer came pre-installed with a different antivirus solution such as McAfee, Norton, Webroot, etc. begin by uninstalling all the programs associated with it. This can be done by navigating to the start menu, go to settings, then apps, and finally installed apps. Alternatively, just open the start menu and search for the word “remove” – this should bring up an option to add/remove programs.

Restart your computer after you’ve uninstalled the old antivirus software, if you’re not already forced to do so. Now you can make sure Windows Security is enabled.

Go to your start menu, search for “security”, and open Windows Security. Make sure everything’s turned on. That’s it!

You can run a scan whenever you’d like from the virus page. It automatically will scan as needed.

Windows Security is easy enough to use. The interface is simple and it’s not too hard to find anything. However, if you’re looking for more advanced features or customization, it may not be the best option.

Other Considerations

Although Windows Security is an excellent, free option, it might not have all the features you require if you’re a power user. Also, its firewall is a little lacking. If you need more functionality out of your security solutions, such as enterprise-grade protection or more advanced configuration options, you may want to consider other alternatives.

Avast

Free & Paid Offerings, 99.5% AV Detection Rate, 99.89% VB Detection Rate

Avast would be my first recommendation if you’re looking to protect more than just Windows PCs, as they support Windows, Mac, iPhone, and Android, all for free.

Avast has been protecting PCs for 30 years and they perform markedly well in tests. In business testing (700+ samples), they scored 99.5%, just slightly lower than Windows Security. However, in consumer testing (~300 samples), they regularly score 100%.

As of 2021, Avast is owned by NortonLifeLock. Avast owns another free antivirus called AVG. If this sounds confusing, that’s because it is! Why does NortonLifeLock need multiple antivirus companies? I guess just to funnel more money in from different users used to the different brands. Anyway, they’re all good antivirus options. You could think of Avast as a simplified, free or cheaper version of Norton if you’d like, with slightly fewer features.

It’s also a great option if you’re looking for an advanced firewall, and it’s included in the free version, too. Notably, this firewall has more features and is easier to use than Windows Firewall.

A minor annoyance I found with the free version is that it is rather pushy about going premium. It’s only something you’ll notice when you’re setting it up or running a manual scan, so not a huge deal. It stays nicely tucked out of the way during regular use.

The interface is clean and easy to use, despite looking a little… childish?

A paid premium version is available, which includes VPN, some system performance optimization tools, and a few extra goodies. Their pricing competes with the other offerings on this page.

Bitdefender

Free & Paid Offerings, 99.9% AV Detection Rate

Bitdefender has been defending computers for over twenty years now. Their offering is arguably the best security suite available in terms of overall protection, with applications for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS.

Their AV Comparatives virus/malware detection rate of 99.9% across 700+ samples puts them at the top of the list, tied with G Data, if your goal is to be as secure as possible.

Bitdefender is available in several packages, starting as low as $30 for the first year. The first year is an introductory price, so keep that in mind. The prices go up after the first year. However, renewal discounts may be available to lower the continued cost.

I liked Bitdefender’s simple, modern interface. It was easy to use and find everything I needed.

As a paid application, it’s easier to get support with Bitdefender if you run into an issue. I also find it easier to configure advanced settings, which may not be available in Windows Security.

The biggest con to Bitdefender is its price. It starts at $30/year, but you’ll probably want to get the $100 option, which protects all your devices. That price increases to $180 after the first year. Yikes! Coupons and sales may significantly lower these prices.

Note that this table focuses on what’s available with their highest-tier premium offer. The free version only has antivirus.

You may view all their products and pricing options here.

If you think the extra security features are valuable, it certainly might be worth it. However, if your primary concern is virus detection, 99.9% is only a 0.301% increase over Microsoft’s 99.6%. I personally the extra cash unless you’re going to use the additional features. For enterprise users or individuals needing to protect many confidential client documents, that 0.301% increase in detection rates might mean a lot more than it does to the average consumer.

If you just want their virus protection without all the extra frills, they offer a free basic virus protection solution. 

G Data Antivirus/Security

Paid Only, 99.9% AV Detection Rate, 100% VB Detection Rate, German Made

G Data’s security offerings are on par with Bitdefender with a 99.9% detection rating. With decades of experience, G Data is well positioned to protect your computer. They offer many of the key features similar to Bitdefender. Options start from $30/yr.

Like Bitdefender, I found G Data very easy to set up and use. It’s easy enough to navigate their program’s interface and quickly see everything at a glance. However, the amount of options spread out across the top might be overwhelming for som

Overall, G Data is a solid choice for protection. However, their feature list is slightly lacking compared to Bitdefender. Their pricing is per-device with offers to protect 1, 3, or 5 devices. This could be a good thing or a bad thing. If you only need to protect a few devices, it could be under $50/yr. However, if you have a family and need to protect multiple devices for multiple people, it could easily end up being over $100. While their introductory pricing is lower than Bitdefender and several other options on this page, their renewal pricing is through the roof, and higher than most offerings on this page. A discount is available if you purchase two years at once.

Norton

Paid Only, 99.7% Consumer AV Detection Rate, Made in USA, Usability & Security Issues

Despite coming pre-installed with millions of PCs as trial ware, they’re not a terrible option. They’re no slouches, with a 99.7% block rating according to AV’s consumer testing.

Update Jan 2023 – Norton LifeLock has been hacked, exposing data from thousands of customers.

Note that the AV’s consumer testing differs from the business ratings used across the other examples. Their consumer testing has fewer samples than their business detection tests, however, they’re not reporting that test for Norton.

Norton offers plans ranging from $20 for one device to $100 for ten devices, for the first year. After that, it goes up substantially. Their top-tier of service includes identity protection, which functions similarly to Bitdefender’s offering. Their pricing is virtually identical to Bitdefender’s for the highest options.

When compared side-by-side, Norton and Bitdefender offer nearly identical options at identical prices. Norton was founded and is headquartered in the United States and Bitdefender was founded and is headquartered in Romania, if that makes a difference to you. Norton’s cloud backups might give it a slight edge over Bitdefender in terms of features.

According to AV Comps, Norton had a 99.7% detection rate across 300+ samples, while Bitdefender had 99.9% detection across 700+ samples.

Norton uses introductory pricing. Their best offering with LifeLock is $99 for the first year, and jumps to $180 the following. Renewal discounts may be available.

Many Usability Issues

There were a few things I noticed when installing and using Norton that were slight issues which I didn’t notice in any of the other installations. First, I encountered an odd error downloading the software, and was redirected to another website to download a different installer. Second, I had difficulty finding the firewall settings at first. Their interface is split into two parts – a standard dashboard, and the “My Norton” screen. They both serve different purposes and offer different tools. Couldn’t they merge this into one dashboard? I don’t want two dashboards.

I couldn’t get the Password Manager to work at first. Clicking the set up button did nothing. I had to go to their website, where I realized you can access the password vault online, or through a separate program which isn’t initially installed with the rest of the suite. These different layers and interfaces made the experience overall kind of confusing.

I experienced several other issues when logging into their web portal and cancelling my subscription. At the end of the day, I’m not willing to pay extra to be annoyed!

For these reasons, I’m not recommending Norton. It gets the job done, and it’s certainly better than nothing, but it’s not the best as far as general usability is concerned and is no better at blocking viruses than other solutions on this page.

Norton Owns Avast, Avira, and AVG

NortonLifeLock owns the nearly all the major freemium antivirus companies including AVG, Avira, and Avast. It surprised me that Norton’s interface was so clunky and annoying compared to their free subsidiaries. I attribute this to the massive number of features squeezed into Norton. It tries to do everything OK rather than doing one thing great.

If you’re considering Norton, but don’t need the extra bloat, I’d highly encourage you to check out any of their subsidiaries and find which one best fits your budget and device count. You could even jump from one to the other every year, taking advantage of the significant introductory pricing discount. Be warned, Norton has a history of shutting down products from the companies they take over. It wouldn’t surprise me if they try to merge these subsidiaries in the future.

McAfee

Paid Only, Consumer AV Score: 99.4%, Made in USA

McAfee is a lot like Norton, but with a more notorious founder (the late John McAfee). It’s a US based company. Like Norton, you’ll usually find it pre-installed on your new PC with a three-month trial, or something of that nature.

In terms of features, McAfee is like Bitdefender and Norton. Their price structure is also nearly identical. They have an introductory price of $99 for their best offering for the first year, then it jumps up to $220 the next year. This is noticeably higher than Norton’s renewal at $180 for the second year, though discounts may be available.

You’re allowed to install McAfee on an unlimited number of devices you use. This differs from most of the other options, which have a set device cap.

Their consumer oriented AV detection test yielded a rate of 99.4% which ranks them lowest on this page. However, it’s still very respectable. This is still effectively 100% in most real-world situations.

Overall, despite scoring slightly lower in virus detection testing, I liked McAfee better than Norton. I didn’t have any user experience issues when downloading, installing, or setting up the app. It was simple to find everything at a glance, and I didn’t have to go hunting for things.

Their Identity protection with credit monitoring is very similar to Norton’s.

Other Mentions

Here are a few other reputable security suites that didn’t make the main list for one reason or another.

• ESET Antivirus, Anti-malware, Security Solutions
  • ESET is good software with a respectable 99.6% detection rate. They feature most of the same things as others on this page. However, they are significantly more pricy, especially if you want to cover many devices.
  • For comparison, to protect 10 devices for a year with ESET, it’s $140. You can get similar features with 10 devices on Bitdefender for $100, or G Data for $110. And both G Data and Bitdefender mark slightly higher in detection results.
  • They do have 2 year pricing, which puts it more in line with the others. However, then you have to pay for two years all at once.
• Vipre – Security
  • For similar reasons to ESET, Vipre isn’t my first choice for home users. They’re roughly the same price as Bitdefender but with a slightly lower detection rate of 99.7%. 
• AVG – Free Antivirus (Owned by Avast/Norton)
  • AVG has been offering free and paid tiers of antivirus software for decades, like Avast. They were acquired by Avast in 2016. My understanding is that they now share the same virus definitions or detection engine. So AVG is a rebranded version of Avast with a different interface. Their features are nearly identical. However, they are priced slightly differently.
  • Ignoring promotional/introductory pricing. AVG is about $130/yr for 10 devices on their top tier offering with the VPN. Avast is $140 for 30 devices with VPN, or $100 for 5 devices with VPN. So if you want the top-tier option, just pick the version that fits best with your device count.
• Avira – Free Antivirus (Owned by Avast/Norton)
  • Avira is yet another AV owned by NortonLifeLock. They offer great free protection with prices comparable to AVG and Avast, which are also owned by NortonLifeLock.

Conclusion

There are many excellent antivirus solutions out there. For most home users on Windows, I’d encourage you to stick with Windows Security. Don’t pay extra for what amounts to be no difference in protection.

• Best Free Options
  • Windows Security, or free versions of Avira, AVG, Avast, Bitdefender.
• Best Comprehensive Mid-budget Paid Options (About $50-$60 for the first year, and $100 thereafter)
  • Kaspersky, if you’re OK with them being Russian owned
  • Premium versions of Avast, Avira, or AVG
• Best Premium Comprehensive Option With Identity/Credit Protection (About $100+/yr)
  • Bitdefender – My first choice
  • McAfee – Second choice, and first choice if you want USA
  • Norton – Only if they have something no one else does or their pricing is cheaper than McAfee for your use case
• One solution for everything
  • Norton is a good option if you really want everything, including cloud storage and identity protection, all in one account. They’re not the best at everything, but they get the job done.
    • Might be a good option if you’re helping Grandma set up a PC and want everything in one place with one password without having to set up five different products.
    • Their LifeLock identity protection service is highly rated
• USA Offerings
  • If you want your software to come from American companies, select McAfee, Windows Security, or Norton. Keep in mind, these are all multinational companies with office worldwide. But they’re headquartered in the USA.

Don’t Get Hung Up On Extra Features

I think the most important thing any of these solutions can offer is virus protection and a firewall. Everything else is just fluff to me. Do you really need a VPN, Cloud Storage, a Password Manager, Parental Controls, and Performance Optimizers all in one? There are other tools out there that do all these things better. You came here looking for antivirus. Get antivirus!

• Monitor Credit?
  • Try CreditKarma. It’s free. They send regular updates, and you can easily check for unexpected inquiries. Note that this doesn’t include insurance/payouts for identity theft instances like the premium options.
• Password Manager?
  • Use Chrome, Edge, or Apple’s built in password managers. If you’re looking for a multi-device password manager with more features, check out BitWarden. It’s free or $20/yr and has far better features than any of these antivirus companies.
• Cloud storage?
  • Store your important files with Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, DropBox, or iCloud. These are all excellent options with free starting tiers, integrate better with other services and hardware, and have better reputations in cloud storage.
  • Check out Backblaze if you’re looking to backup your entire PC to the cloud with virtually unlimited space.
• Performance optimization?
  • Your operating system should optimize itself with no extra tools. You don’t need another program to delete files and run updates for you. You can already do that with the operating system’s tools.
  • If you really think this is necessary, check out CCleaner.
• VPN?
  • Almost all network traffic is encrypted these days with HTTPS. You likely don’t need a private VPN for your personal use.
  • If you really think you need a VPN, PrivateInternetAccess is a good option. They’re fast, have many servers, and have a decent reputation.
• Spam Blockers and Phishing Warnings
  • Use a good email service to begin with, like Gmail or Outlook.com, and this shouldn’t be a huge issue. These services protect you with safe links and attempt to filter spam out for free.

The best antivirus software is the one you’re willing to use. I’ve been getting by just fine with Windows Security/Defender for the past five years, and I have had no issues with viruses, ransomware, or other threats. That said, if you’re not as technically inclined, a paid solution with more browser warnings and tips like Bitdefender or Kaspersky could be a good fit for you. I’m not a doctor or a business executive. There are no sensitive documents on my device. I don’t have any significant assets. I’m not very concerned with identity theft or someone breaking into my computer, because I don’t have much to lose.

If any of the above solutions pique your interest, just try them out. Most of them offer free week or month-long trials or a 30 day guaranteed refund window.

Credits/Sources

My primary source of data came from AV Comparatives – Business Security Report March – June 2022. Detection tests were done on Microsoft Windows. Results for Android, Mac, and iOS may differ.

I opted to mainly focus on AV Comparative’s business test reports, since it tests for more threats (700+ samples) rather than the consumer/real-world test, which tests for 300+ samples. The results are significantly different if you look at their consumer tests. All the key software discussed in this guide (Microsoft, Avast, Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Norton) all scored 99% or 100% in real-world consumer protection tests.

Additional detection testing results from Virus Bulletin. They had more comprehensive testing, however; they did not test all the software on this page. The scores reported here were the latest I could find as of Nov 2022. It’s the diversity metric in their reports.

All trademarked/copyrighted logos on this page are property of their respective owners. I included them for reference and clarification under standard Fair Use policies. I am not directly affiliated with any of these companies and tested these all independently.