The Best Antivirus Software of 2023

1. TotalAV Antivirus - The Best Antivirus Software for Malware Protection

Editors Rating:

9.7 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Virus Detection	Yes
Malware Detection	Yes
Firewall	Yes
On-demand Scanning	Yes
On-access Scanning	Yes
Behavior-based monitoring	Yes

All-Around Digital Security Protection

TotalAV is the Swiss Army knife of antivirus software. In its most basic configuration, it protects your devices from a wide variety of viruses and malware, optimizes your devices’ performance, and makes sure your browser isn’t compromised. With the most advanced subscription, TotalAV will also protect your privacy using a VPN, block intrusive ads, and save your passwords in a secure vault.

Let’s focus on the antivirus software itself, however. TotalAV is deserving of its name because it offers total protection against malware. During our tests, it detected all the malware we hid in our computer, even those that we put several folders deep and inside .zip archives (one of the sneakiest hiding places of malware). That shows that TotalAV is highly-capable of scanning devices and detecting malware.

TotalAV also offers convenient and easy ways to protect your devices. It offers real-time protection (which isn’t perfect as you can see in our TotalAV review), it lets you schedule full and quick scans, and it has options for custom scans. We recommend utilizing all three scan features for best protection, but even just running a scan regularly gets you the protection you need against viruses and malware.

2. Kaspersky Antivirus - The Best Free Antivirus Software

Editors Rating:

9.6 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Virus Detection	Yes
Malware Detection	Yes
Firewall	No
On-demand Scanning	Yes
On-access Scanning	Yes
Behavior-based monitoring	Yes

Editor’s Note: The German cybersecurity agency BSI put out a warning that the anti-virus software developed by Moscow-based Kaspersky poses a threat of “a serious hacking attack.” This warning comes as Russia’s invasion and attacks on Ukraine escalate.

Kaspersky responded that it is a privately-managed company with no ties to the Russian government and that the BSI warning was politically motivated. We will keep you updated on this development as new information comes forward.

Free Antivirus Software, Premium Protection

With most free antivirus software, the protection you receive isn’t as good as that from premium software, but Kaspersky wasn’t like most free software we tested. Their free antivirus software provided us with malware detection that was just as good as their premium software.

As part of our testing process, we released five viruses into our test computer and let Kaspersky hunt them down. The premium Kaspersky software found all five of them; that wasn’t surprising. What surprised us was that even the free software found them all. Even premium software from well-known brands like McAfee managed to find just four of the viruses, which led us to believe that Kasperksy has the best free antivirus software overall.

That said, the premium antivirus software from Kaspersky offers valuable additional features, such as a VPN, identity protection, online payment security, and more. We like to call these features “useful extras” because while they may be additional, they go a long way in enhancing your digital security.

Whether you stick to the free version or get a premium subscription, you’ll get top-quality virus protection from Kaspersky.

3. Surfshark Antivirus - The Best Antivirus Software For Digital Security

Editors Rating:

8.9 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Virus Detection	Yes
Malware Detection	Yes
Firewall	No
On-demand Scanning	Yes
On-access Scanning	Yes
Behavior-based monitoring	No

Surfshark is new to the antivirus game, and frankly, it isn’t the most well-developed antivirus software yet. What we like about it, though, is the inclusion of other cybersecurity tools in its ultra-affordable subscriptions.

Surfshark calls its antivirus subscription Surfshark One, and it’s not a simple antivirus software. Within the subscription, it includes access to a password manager, secure search engine, and even Surfshark’s world-famous VPN, which is Surfshark’s flagship product. You can read about our experience with the VPN in our Surfshark VPN review.

You’re probably wondering how much all that costs, and the answer is “not a lot.” Being a bundle deal, Surfshark One costs as low as $2.94 if you factor in all the on-going deals. To get that rate, you’ll need to pay for a two-year subscription, but the perks include all the features mentioned above, two free extra months of subscription, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. The total for two years is $76.56. That’s only about $17 more than the two-year VPN subscription, and considering what it includes, it’s a pretty sweet deal.

4. Norton Antivirus - The Best Cross-Platform Antivirus Software

Editors Rating:

9.5 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Virus Detection	Yes
Malware Detection	Yes
Firewall	Yes
On-demand Scanning	Yes
On-access Scanning	Yes
Behavior-based monitoring	Yes

Mobile Device Protection At Its Finest

It’s not enough to protect just your laptop or computer. Most people spend a considerable amount of time on their mobile devices, and because of that, smartphones have become a prime target of malware. What’s worse, a lot of people store valuable personal information on their phones. Malware infection can lead to nasty consequences like identity theft or fraud.

In our experience, Norton’s mobile protection provides the best protection against malware. It’s easy to navigate and use, with its scan function available in just a press of a button. If you’re an Android user, there are also widgets that you can use to quickly execute actions.

Norton is also quite thorough. In an audit by AV-Test in May 2023, Norton detected 99.9-percent of the latest and most prevalent Android malware at the time. That’s above the 97.3-percent average score.

It’s also worth noting that Norton’s smartphone apps provide more than just malware protection. Depending on your subscription, you can gain additional features to boost your device’s performance or protect you or family members from other online threats. You can, for example, blacklist websites frequented by online predators to safeguard your kids.

5. McAfee Antivirus - The Most Complete Cybersecurity Software

Editors Rating:

8.8 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Virus Detection	Yes
Malware Detection	Yes
Firewall	Yes
On-demand Scanning	Yes
On-access Scanning	Yes
Behavior-based monitoring	Yes

Multiple Digital Safety Tools In One App

We’re seeing more and more antivirus brands that offer a full-suite of digital safety tools, but before that became the norm, McAfee was one of the first to offer multi-tool digital safety and security subscriptions.

With McAfee’s most comprehensive subscriptions, you’ll get malware protection, a VPN, a password manager, identity monitoring, a secure browser add-on, three-bureau credit monitoring, ID theft insurance, and many more. And while that seems a lot, McAfee was able to consolidate all those features into one, easy-to-use app.

This long list of digital and identity safety features doesn’t come cheap, as McAfee subscriptions can cost as much as $199.99 during the first year, but you’ll get premium protection way beyond just malware detection. And if we do the math, paying an average of $17 per month isn’t bad at all considering that a VPN subscription alone can cost up to $15 per month.

You can find out more about McAfee subscriptions in our McAfee pricing page, but here’s a quick rundown if you’re interested.

6. Bitdefender Antivirus - The Best Antivirus Software for Malware Detection

Editors Rating:

8.7 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Virus Detection	Yes
Malware Detection	Yes
Firewall	Yes
On-demand Scanning	Yes
On-access Scanning	Yes
Behavior-based monitoring	Yes

Impressive Malware Detection

Bitdefender’s impressive malware detection is a result of its thorough scanning ability. We’ve proven that when we put Bitdefender through our malware detection test. We hid five sneaky malware in our computers and performed a quick scan. Bitdefender found all of them.

That was impressive, because out of the dozens of antivirus software we tested, Bitdefender was one of the only two to achieve a perfect score. Other software averaged a score of three out of five.

Granted, our sample size of five pieces of malware was small, but the fact that Bitdefender detected those that other software didn’t catch puts it ahead of the competition in terms of malware detection.

7. Trend Micro Antivirus - The Best Antivirus Software for Web Protection

Editors Rating:

8.6 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Virus Detection	Yes
Malware Detection	Yes
Firewall	Yes
On-demand Scanning	Yes
On-access Scanning	Yes
Behavior-based monitoring	Yes

“Oversharer Protection”

Antiviruses protect us from malware, but there are other threats lurking on the internet. Many of these threats aim to invade our privacy to obtain personal information that can be used in identity theft. That’s why we appreciated Trend Micro’s Privacy Scanner feature.

Basically, it looked at the social media profiles we linked, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, to check for potential privacy concerns. That’s a nice little feature that goes a long way in making sure your online data is safe. And of course, Trend Micro offered that feature on top of its malware protection features.

8. Avast Antivirus - The Best Antivirus Software for Mac

Editors Rating:

8.5 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Virus Detection	Yes
Malware Detection	Yes
Firewall	Yes
On-demand Scanning	Yes
On-access Scanning	Yes
Behavior-based monitoring	Yes

Broad Virus and Malware Protection

We tested both the free and premium versions of Avast, and to our delight, both editions offered protection against viruses, malware, adware, spyware, and ransomware. Now, it’s pretty run-of-the-mill for Windows antivirus tools to offer protection against those types of threats. But for Apple computers, which are more secure than Windows (but still vulnerable to a growing number of attacks), that level of protection is just right. That’s why Avast is the best antivirus software for Mac.

9. ESET Antivirus - The Best Antivirus Software for Windows

Editors Rating:

8.4 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Virus Detection	Yes
Malware Detection	Yes
Firewall	Yes
On-demand Scanning	Yes
On-access Scanning	Yes
Behavior-based monitoring	Yes

Best Protection for Windows

ESET NOD32 and its trademark picture of a human-like robot has been a common sight in Windows computers for decades. And there’s a reason why it’s a preferred Windows antivirus for many (including ourselves). Although NOD32’s features were basic compared to the other security suites offered by ESET, it’s a sturdy and trustworthy antivirus that reliably detected malware, adware, spyware, and ransomware. In fact, in our virus detection test, NOD32 scored a solid four out of five. That’s better than more than half of the other antivirus software we tested. Aside from that, ESET directly integrated a scanning feature into our Windows email apps, namely Live Mail and Outlook. The scan looked for suspicious attachments and prevented us from opening them. Being on the receiving end of countless email chains from co-workers and friends, this was a feature we really appreciated.

10. Vipre Antivirus - The Best Antivirus Software for Android

Editors Rating:

8.3 /10

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How We Review

Product Specs

Virus Detection	Yes
Malware Detection	Yes
Firewall	With Advanced Security and Ultimate Security versions
On-demand Scanning	Yes
On-access Scanning	Yes
Behavior-based monitoring	Yes

Android Security Like No Other

Vipre offers antivirus and device security solutions for Windows, Mac, and iOS, but its Android security solution really stood out. Aside from the usual virus protection that Android antivirus apps provide, the Vipre Android Security app included features we typically don’t see in other Android antivirus apps. For starters, the Autopilot feature acted as our security advisor, letting us know of potential weaknesses in our Android settings. The app also allowed us to lock some apps, like our photo gallery, so that only we can access them using our fingerprints. And aside from digital security, Vipre provided our Android phones physical security. The Snap Photo feature, in particular, snapped a front camera picture of anyone who tried and failed to unlock our phones.