8 Best Antivirus Software Of 2025

Bitdefender is one of the better options if you really want to purchase an antivirus program. It scores well in independent testing from websites like av-test.org, which looks at how well the service detects malware. It’s not better than Windows Defender and can be a significant resource drain (as most antiviruses are). However, its notifications aren’t as nagging or full of fearmongering as some of its competitors. Business users are better off looking at the company’s business-focused Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) solutions.

Overall, our direct testing experience with Bitdefender was fine. It was one of the least annoying antiviruses to work with, even though it still slowed us down considerably. Its notifications weren’t irritating, and, as stated above, it scored well enough in independent testing that we felt confident the antivirus would detect at least some malware if we came across it while browsing the web. However, we lack the testing environment to test the service’s malware capabilities ourselves.

Taimur Ijlal, a tech expert and information security leader at Netify, shared his experience with the software: “I think Bitdefender strikes the best balance between security capabilities and minimizing impact on performance. In my testing, it had among the highest detection rates and caught malware very quickly. Yet, the system impact was very low—my machines felt just as fast with it installed. Bitdefender’s feature set is also quite full-featured. It protects beyond just malware to also shield against web and ransomware threats through its various modules.”

Bitdefender’s reputation is typical for companies in this industry, with a somewhat murky standing. The company has done good work uncovering security flaws in tech like the Wyze home security cameras in the past. However, the company’s servers were hacked in 2015, leaking some of its business clients’ passwords. Worst of all, these passwords were unencrypted, meaning the company was just storing this sensitive information without doing anything to protect users in the event of this sort of breach. That was nearly a decade ago, and it’s entirely possible that Bitdefender has taken measures to address this baffling misstep. However, we wouldn’t trust a cybersecurity company that did this with our sensitive data at any point in its history, and we don’t think you should either.

Learn more: Read our full Bitdefender review.

Avira isn’t the worst antivirus by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s far from the best. Its independent testing results from websites like AV TEST and AV-Comparatives were middle-of-the-pack, and its scan speeds during our testing were fairly slow. However, the overall impact on device performance was minimal, though it did crash the first time we tried to scan something. It takes a spot on the list thanks to its affordability and its relatively low drain on system resources when in use. We generally caution readers away from free antiviruses, but Avira’s paid plans are on the cheaper side as far as antiviruses go, and that counts for something if you feel the need to download an antivirus but are on a budget.

George Otte, owner of Geeks On Site, hasn’t had a great experience with Avira: “Out of all the programs listed, I’ve encountered more installation and activation issues with this one. It consistently causes problems when trying to create system restore points using PowerShell scripting and tends to block mrt.exe (MSRT)—the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool—from accessing files, requiring manual exceptions.”

Avira’s reputation as an antivirus isn’t much to look at, however. In the past, some users criticized the company for poor virus detection, which is backed up by its mediocre independent testing scores. On top of that, in December 2023, the software was found to have a major bug that caused Windows users’ devices to freeze after booting up. Then there’s the matter of its ownership. In 2020, Avira was purchased by Gen Digital (fka Norton Lifelock and Symantec), the owners of the popular Norton 360 antivirus platform. We tested Norton 360 for this list but ultimately decided to cut it due to the company’s poor reputation and product. Avira’s product, while uninspiring, does not run off the same technology as Norton Antivirus, as far as we can tell, and Avira itself hasn’t been subject to as many controversies as Norton has over the years. As a result, Avira stays on the list for now.

AVG is one of the most popular antiviruses on the market, thanks in part to its free version. We caution readers against using free antiviruses as a general rule, but the allure of free stuff for most people can be too enticing. AVG also features business-focused plans and add-ons for things like patch management, which are nice, but again, we recommend businesses look for more robust endpoint protection.

Taimur Ijlal, a tech expert and information security leader at Netify, agrees that AVG is for basic needs: “In my view, AVG is suitable only for bare-bones protection when funds are very tight. But as needs become more sophisticated, it may start to feel restricted without the extra security layers. A feature like centralized management alone could be quite valuable for multiple users.

During independent reviews from AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives, it performed exceptionally well, scoring all sixes from AV-TEST and ranking near the top in Malware Protection from AV-Comparatives. When we tested it ourselves, AVG was adequate, offering a heavier performance impact than Avira but nothing spectacular. A full scan took longer than other providers on this list. Its installation process was also on the slower side. It should be mentioned that Avast and AVG use the exact same engine for their antivirus software.

For those who worry about privacy, there are other causes for concern. Thanks to a 2020 joint investigation by PCMag and Vice Motherboard, Avast and AVG were caught collecting user data via browser extensions and the free version of their antivirus software. This by itself is normal, as any antivirus provider with browser protections will do so as a matter of course. However, Avast and AVG were found to be monetizing user data via Avast subsidiary Jumpshot.

In the wake of the investigation, Avast terminated Jumpshot and has not made any moves to suggest it has returned to its data monetizing ways. However, the relative recency of the event coupled with how much sensitive data an antivirus can collect from users makes us unable to trust AVG or Avast with our own data, and we don’t believe you should trust them with yours either.

Learn more: Read our full AVG review.

The world’s first commercial antivirus is still around and has some nice things going for it, namely cheap introductory pricing and plans for unlimited devices. It’s done decently well in recent independent testing, but it’s nothing spectacular. Our testing experience with the software was incredibly poor. The website was a pain to navigate even when purchasing the software, our machine slowed to a crawl when the antivirus was scanning and the scan itself took forever. The only nice thing we can say about our experience is that the UI was clean and easy to navigate. We wish they’d put the same care into their website.

We were also not too pleased with how McAfee operates its Virus Protection Pledge, where the company will offer a refund of your current-term subscription if the antivirus cannot remove a virus from your computer. This refund pledge only works if you have auto-renewal turned on, a detail tucked away at the bottom of its product page in a dropdown box with small text.

McAfee’s antivirus reputation is not great, and it is known for being one of the antivirus programs that require specific tools to be completely removed from your computer, a trait it shares with Norton. It’s on this list due to its popularity and introductory pricing, but also because its popularity does mean that some users might fall into the trap of thinking that name brand recognition is the same as a quality product. We really can’t see a reason why any Windows user would use it over Microsoft Defender, and its offering on other platforms isn’t much better.

George Otte, owner of Geeks On Site, also warns about McAfee’s poor reputation: “McAfee has had a rocky history with me. In the past, it appeared to be bypassed by malware more frequently than other paid protection software (excluding Norton). It also had a reputation for blocking internet access when corrupted, although this issue seems to have improved over time. I attribute this improvement more to changes in the threat landscape rather than inherent improvements in McAfee’s software.”

Learn more: Read our full McAfee review.

Malwarebytes is one of the few antivirus solutions outside of Microsoft Defender that we think is worth your time. Its free version provides minimal drain on device performance and can sometimes pick up threats Windows Defender misses, making it a decent backup option when you’re worried Defender has missed something.

George Otte, owner of Geeks On Site, also likes Malwarebytes: “This tool has proven to be the most effective malware remover I’ve encountered. However, as malware has become less prevalent, its focus has shifted more towards identifying Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs). It seamlessly integrates with other antivirus programs and consistently steps in to clean up when the primary antivirus software is bypassed or fails to detect threats.”

Malwarebytes performed decently in independent tests, though AV-TEST marked it as slightly below the industry average when protecting against zero-day malware threats. In cybersecurity terms, a zero-day is a security vulnerability in a system that has yet to be spotted or patched. Zero-day malware, in turn, is malware that doesn’t have a specific virus signature for antiviruses to detect yet. Traditionally, antiviruses detect malware by checking for these specific signatures when scanning files. Malwarebytes’ below-average results in this category basically mean it could be less likely to catch new malware threats that don’t build off previously known malware.

We aren’t too crazy about Malwarebytes’ recent behavior. In particular, we’re worried about the company’s layoffs in August 2023, which included several key executive roles. This is on top of Malwarebytes cutting 14% of its global workforce the year prior. Anytime a company lays off a large chunk of its employees, we’re concerned about the effects it can have on the quality of its product moving forward. However, it’s still one of the best antiviruses out there in our opinion and one of the few we’d consider using in concert with Microsoft Defender.

Learn more: Read our full Malwarebytes review.

Avast and AVG are more or less the same antivirus, and our experiences with Avast were about the same as with AVG. As such, the two antivirus programs’ performance in independent testing was identical, earning high marks for both antiviruses. In our own testing, we found that Avast had some of the smallest performance impacts of any antivirus we tested, with a lightning-fast Smart Scan. It was nice, but we didn’t really see what the antivirus brought to the table to make it stand out from the competition. Its office management platform could be nice for businesses with remote workers, but we recommend that businesses not look to antiviruses when they need endpoint protection or device management solutions.

Kelly Indah, a tech expert and security analyst at Increditools, shared her experience with Avast: “They’ve been around for ages and do the job of blocking threats, but I’ve found them a bit too invasive at times. Their free version comes with a lot of ads you can’t opt out of. On the plus side, they’re really user-friendly.”

Learn more: Read our full Avast review.

F-Secure is a decent antivirus with a better-than-average reputation among users. Its independent test results were impressive, earning sixes across the board from AV-TEST and racking up zero false alarms during AV-Comparatives’ March 2023 Malware Protection test. When we tested F-Secure, we found the impact on performance to be middle-of-the-pack compared with other antiviruses we tested. We also noted that our first attempt at running a scan resulted in the app crashing. After finally getting scanning to work, we found that the scans took an exceptionally long time to complete, which was quite frustrating.

In terms of pricing, F-Secure is fine but not spectacular. We don’t think its introductory pricing of $49.99 per year for one device is particularly offensive when looking at its competition, but we’d still say it’s too steep, given the existence of effective options like Microsoft Defender at lower price points that can cover a lot of what most users need.

Kelly Indah, a tech expert and security analyst at Increditools, shared her thoughts on the software: “It’s a solid program with smarter detection than most. Their paid tiers are worth it for the improved privacy features alone. My one gripe is it could be slightly more lightweight on older systems.”

F-Secure Antivirus previously used a version of Bitdefender’s virus scan engine with their own heuristics stacked atop called Aquarius but has since switched to licensing Avira’s technology for their current Capricorn engine. This lines up with us encountering the same initial scan crash on both services. We would be more worried about a provider licensing tech from a Norton-owned company, but F-Secure claims not to share any customer data. Whether that’s true or not is unverifiable without an independent, publicly available audit of the company’s data-handling practices, but F-Secure has not been caught up in any severe controversies that would make us not trust them by default. The company is also located in Finland, a country known for strong user privacy regulations.

Soumya Mahapatra, CEO of Essenvia, sees some pros and cons for F-Secure: “We’ve been using F-Secure for the past couple of years, but we’re thinking of upgrading sometime in the near future. While F-Secure is affordable, has an easy-to-use interface and is constantly updated to detect new malware threats, one area where it really falls short is in phishing protection. We had a brief phishing scare earlier this year, and while nothing critical was compromised, it served as an important reminder that this is one of the biggest vulnerabilities in any online system.”

Overall, F-Secure is a fine antivirus, and you could do a lot worse in the space. However, we’re still not sure they’re worth the price for individual use. If you want to use F-Secure for your business, we’d recommend looking at sister company WithSecure, which initially launched out of F-Secure’s corporate security business.

Learn more: Read our full F-Secure review.

In the middle and near the end of the list, we end up with a lot of companies that are fine but not too exciting. G DATA is one of those companies. The German-developed antivirus performed well in independent testing, scoring all sixes from AV-TEST and placing sixth in Malware Protection for AV-Comparatives with few false positives.

During our own testing, G DATA’s performance impact was noticeable, and it might have caused our device to slow down more than any other antivirus we tested. Installation was also kind of a pain, taking a long time and requiring a restart, which isn’t as common as it used to be. That said, its UI was easy to understand, and its scanning features were quick and informative. We appreciated the ability to specifically check removable devices as well. Many of the features one might expect from a paid antivirus, such as a file shredder or firewall, were either part of more expensive plans or not available at all in the standard G DATA antivirus program we tested.

In terms of pricing, G DATA’s standard plan was fine, but if you wanted more features, the service got more and more expensive, which makes sense, but it does mean that the service can take a hefty bite out of your wallet to get everything you might want out of an antivirus. We’re still not convinced its price tag is worth choosing over Microsoft Defender, however.

G DATA’s reputation is fine enough. It’s been around for nearly 40 years and claims to be the creator of the first antivirus. It doesn’t have the same stink on its name that other long-standing antivirus providers do, such as McAfee or Norton. However, it’s a bit challenging to find reliable information about the company in English, and the company’s dedicated subreddit has zero posts, which is both unusual and kind of funny.

Learn more: Check out our full G DATA Antivirus review.