Kaspersky Antivirus Protection

What do you need to keep yourself safe online, and how much should you be spending on it? On this page, we’re taking a look at the antivirus software from Kaspersky as well as its other digital security products, focusing on cost and cost-performance ratio. We discovered a ton of information, and we’re happy to share it with you today.

Kaspersky Antivirus Pros

We’re not going to tell you absolutely everything about our experience testing out Kaspersky’s antivirus software; that’s what our Kaspersky antivirus review is for, of course! But we are going to tell you why we think it’s worth its prices.

Detected 100 Percent of Viruses

When we tested Kaspersky, it detected all the five viruses we hid on our computer. Kaspersky was one of the only two antivirus software that was able to do that.

Detected 99.9 to 100 Percent of Android Malware

In the most recent lab tests from AV Test, Kaspersky detected 100 percent of the latest and most prevalent Android, Windows, and Mac malware. Again, when it comes to their actual digital security scanning, Kaspersky is at the top of the heap.

Free Antivirus Software

Not to spoil anything for you, but you don’t have to pay anything for Kaspersky on an iOS, Windows or Android device, as they have free antivirus apps for these platforms.

Highly-Rated iOS and Android Apps

On the Google Play store, the Kaspersky Mobile Antivirus: AppLock & Web Security app has a 4.8, while the Kaspersky Security Cloud & VPN has a 4.7 on the Apple store.

Discounts for Two or Three Year Contracts

Commitment pays! We unlocked lower prices when we signed up for long periods of time.

Free Antivirus?

After a considerable amount of poking around on their website and various apps, we found that Kaspersky does have a free antivirus app for Windows, Android and iOS devices. If you’re okay with just having protection against viruses and malware and not the other digital security features of premium Kaspersky antivirus, like VPNs, password managers, and parental controls, then the Kaspersky Security Cloud – Free will work for you. Otherwise, read on to learn more about Kaspersky’s premium solutions.

Pricing

Kaspersky bundles its antivirus service with other digital protections like VPNs, firewalls, payment protection, and more. They also offer a number of add-on products for personal use, which we’ll cover below, as well as antivirus for business, which we won’t get into. First, let’s start with those package options.

Antivirus vs. Internet Security vs. Total Security

Essentially, Kaspersky has four plans to choose from that include antivirus software plus a bunch of other services. Total Security provides the most protection, but there’s nothing wrong with signing up for their free service to test it out before diving in fully. You can protect anywhere from one to five devices for one, two or three years, with more savings as the term length increases.

Security Cloud Personal

Kaspersky has what they call a Security Cloud which combines all of their apps into one package. It comes in Personal (for personal use) and Plus (for commercial use) variants, but here, we’ll focus on Security Cloud Personal. The package includes:

• Data leak monitoring
• Wi-Fi network monitoring
• Device optimization
• VPN with a daily data limit of 500 MB
• Encrypted browser
• Anti-phishing
• Authentication
• Hard drive health monitor
• GPS tracking and alerts for kids
• Monitoring of Facebook
• Website filters
• Screen time and application usage control

There’s no doubt that the Security Cloud offers the most protection of any packages on this list, making it one of the best digital security products for families.

VPN Secure

If you want to buy a VPN separately, that’s also an option, although Kaspersky’s VPN only covers five devices maximum. Many VPNs cover unlimited devices, so this deal won’t be for everybody, especially considering that the average adult in America has more than 10 IoT devices in their own homes.1

Safe Kids

There are a ton of risks for kids online, from child identity theft to general inappropriate content. We love that Kaspersky has a free app that lets parents control what online content their kids are seeing, and we think that this is sufficient, as many of the features in Premium, like child locator and Youtube search history, can be obtained in other ways for free, like through their phones’ GPS or in your browser’s search history.

Password Manager

Kaspersky also has a password manager, available for 15 usernames and passwords for free and an unlimited number of usernames and passwords for $14.99 a year. This is a pretty reasonable price, considering the fact that popular password managers like Dashlane charge $59.88 for a year of the exact same service. If you’re one of the 45 percent of Americans who use passwords of eight characters or less, as we found out in our password habit research, password managers can generate more complicated passwords for you, making your accounts more secure.

Student Discounts: How To Save

Want an extra 10 percent off of anything on Kaspersky’s website, and we do mean anything? Just verify that you’re a student with UNiDAYS2 to unlock that discount. However, the student discount is only one of the several ways you can save with your antivirus purchase. If you’re not in a hurry, for example, you can wait for holidays to come around before shopping. Kaspersky often offers significant price-offs around Thanksgiving and especially on Cyber Monday.

Ways to Pay

To pay for Kaspersky’s products, you can use Visa, Mastercard or PayPal. Sadly, they don’t take American Express or Discover, but if you only have those cards, we recommend making a PayPal account. PayPal has another distinct advantage in that your bank won’t be able to see what you purchased, if you want to keep it a secret for whatever reason.

Canceling

From the day you click purchase, you have 30 days to return any Kaspersky product for a full refund; simply look up your order3 and request a refund, and you’ll get reimbursed within five to seven business days. After that 30 days, you won’t be able to get reimbursed, though.

Business Background

Want to learn more about the company behind the software? Kaspersky was founded in 1997 and now has more than 400 million users as well as 270,000 business clients. Clearly, they’re a very recognizable name in the cyber security industry, but the company is not without its hardships.

For example, in 2019, a German journalist found a security flaw in their antivirus software that would have allowed hackers to spy on users online.4 Since, the company has issued a patch, but this is more than a little disheartening for a company whose aim is to protect users against hackers, not expose them more. However, these sorts of vulnerabilities are incredibly common, so we can’t knock Kaspersky for something that literally all major tech companies have experienced.

The other biggest media story surrounding Kaspersky is its rumored ties to the Russian government, being a company founded in Russia. In fact, government computers are banned from using Kaspersky on their computers since 2017,5 but if you’re not concerned about Russian hacking, or you aren’t dealing with sensitive national security data, it shouldn’t be too big of a concern.

Recap

That does it for Kaspersky’s pricing! Overall, we think their rates are reasonable, and they offer comprehensive coverage for all of your digital security needs. We recommend buying packages rather than individual products to save money, and going with the longer term-length, if possible; but, if you don’t want to spend a dime, Kaspersky has a decent amount of free apps to offer, as well. Our advice? Spend as much or as little as you want with Kaspersky, or, for that matter, nothing at all!