Are you a Windows user who’s wondering what the best antivirus is for Windows OS? It can get confusing there are many options out there. How can you decide which Windows antivirus to use?
We’re going to use data from AV-TEST to help you make your decision.
1. Windows Defender
Windows Defender isn’t the same proposition as it was a few years ago. The suite once had a reputation for hogging system resources and offering a low standard of protection, but that’s all changed.
Microsoft’s security program now offers some of the best protection in the industry. In the most recent tests available on AV-TEST it scored a 100 percent detection rate against zero-day malware attacks and for “widespread and prevalent malware discovered in the last four weeks” in both months.
Of course, one of Windows Defender’s most significant selling points is its tight integration with the Windows operating system. It’s easy to manage the app’s virus protection, firewall protection, device security, and app security directly from the Windows Settings menu.
2. Smadav Antivirus
Smadav is a powerful antivirus program. It protects your system from free viruses and provides excellent results. This program includes all past functional criteria. This is why the countless user is using this product all over the world. It also offers additional protection, particularly for USB drives. Different antivirus programs cannot work in the presence of another antivirus program. But it can work as well as provide assistance to the other programs.
Smadav Antivirus Pros:
Effective USB drives protection.
Removes all-new thumb drive dangerous files.
Stops viruses from spreading to portable devices.
3. Kaspersky Internet Security/Antivirus
Kaspersky is a well-known name in the online security world. The company offers three antivirus suites—Antivirus, Kaspersky Internet Security, and Security Cloud. All three are among the best internet security apps for Windows.
In truth, Kaspersky is another app that’s struggled with performance issues in the past. But, like Windows Defender, those problems are firmly behind it. AV-TEST rated the app as 6/6 across all three of its testing categories.
4. Malwarebytes Premium
Malwarebytes is another of the best antivirus apps on Windows. However, if you want to enjoy 24/7 real-time protection, you need to pay for the premium version. The entry-level plans, which only protects one device, you receive protection against identity theft, ransomware, fraudulent websites, malware, and more.
5. Bitdefender Internet Security/Antivirus
With a perfect 6/6 for protection, performance, and usability on AV-TEST, Bitdefender Internet Security is unquestionably among the best antivirus apps for Windows.
Like Kaspersky Internet Security, only three false positives were found from a sample size of 1.6 million and had a 100 percent record against both zero-day attacks and existing malware.
6. ESET NOD32
NOD32 has some of the lowest false positive rates, is lightweight, and is consistently near the top of performance charts.
Indeed, many power users used to swear by the holy-trinity of NOD32, Malwarebytes, and CCleaner. Unfortunately, CCleaner is no longer a trustworthy app, but it’s still passable for one-off scans.
7. Norton Antivirus Security
The Norton suite has an erratic history. There was a time—around the turn of the millennium—when it had a vice-like stranglehold on the antivirus market. The growth of reliable antimalware products, along with Norton’s ever-growing drain on system resources, saw its popularity decline rapidly over the next decade.
Fast-forward to today, and Norton Security is once again worth considering. AV-TEST gave it 6/6 across all three categories. Amazingly, it only saw an eight percent performance effect on a standard computer when loading popular sites.
Norton Security supports malware scans, real-time website ratings, malicious URL blocking, phishing protection, and behavior-based detection.
8 Panda Antivirus
Panda Antivirus is lightweight, secure, and easy-to-use. Everything is laid out on the dashboard in an attractive and intuitive way. It’s great for beginners who don’t want to worry about a lot of advanced settings just open it up and let it run.
Panda might be one of the lesser-known brands on this list, but its antivirus scanner scored exceptionally well in my tests, with a 100% virus detection rate. The included firewall is also pretty powerful, blocking more intrusions than any other antivirus I tested, including the Windows firewall.
9. Avira Antivirus
Avira Antivirus not only lets us experience Avira’s legendary German-engineered antivirus technology, it also includes Avira Browser Safety an extension for Firefox and Chrome which protects against malicious websites and phishing scams.
Avira’s antivirus engine operates in the cloud, meaning that most of its malware detection and analysis doesn’t actually take place on your PC. This cloud-based technology has two main advantages.
10. Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security
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. The brand’s entry-level product, Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security, is pretty basic in terms of extra tools though it does come with a secure web browser.
Parental controls, a system optimizer and a file shredder are bundled into the mid-range Trend Micro Internet Security. The top-end Trend Micro Maximum Security adds a password manager, a secure browser and file encryption.
11. McAfee Internet Security
McAfee’s malware detection has improved greatly in the past couple of years, but it’s still not top-of-the-line. McAfee Internet Security adds one of the best password managers in the business, but to get parental controls, you’ll have to spring for the 10-device license of McAfee Total Protection or its sibling McAfee LiveSafe, which comes pre-installed on many new PCs.
12. AVG AntiVirus
AVG shares a decent, if unspectacular, malware-detection engine with its corporate sibling Avast while having a much lighter system-performance impact. But AVG AntiVirus also has far fewer useful extra features. While the latter is almost a security suite with lots of bells and whistles, AVG AntiVirus is the quiet, neglected child that gets the hand-me-downs.
13. Avast Internet Security/Antivirus
Avast has the best assortment of extra goodies of any program, including an unlimited password manager, a hardened browser, a gaming mode and a Wi-Fi network scanner. The program is also very customizable, letting you tweak its appearance and functions to suit your style. It even offers limited access to Avast’s VPN service.
What About Free Antivirus Software?
Some of the third-party free antivirus suites on the market are adequate, though their protections scores on AV-TEST are on average not as good as the paid options. Furthermore, the majority use considerably more resources than Windows Defender, not to mention the persistent and annoying nag screens.