When choosing an antivirus software security experts and users alike consider many factors besides the program’s capabilities to protect. Cost and system impact, compatibility, usability and personal judgement regarding a company’s policies can all be significant factors that affect a person’s choice of an antivirus tool.
Avira located in Germany is a great choice for those looking for an antivirus suite that provides good test results. They also offer an option to pay monthly. The AV program boasts impressive laboratory scores across all categories. It also offers a number of useful extras including a password manager. Avira’s scans have a light background effect, and aren’t particularly resource-heavy. However, the full-scan speed drop is quite substantial at 53 percent which is among the largest in our tests.
Some of our top picks aren’t perfect. Kaspersky can slow down your system by as much as 53% due to its hefty background effect, while Avast is only slightly slower at 44%. On the other hand, Bitdefender has an excellent free version, as well as a dependable subscription-based antivirus solution that has excellent independent lab scores. Its features include an VPN and is vast, which makes it stand out among the competition.
F-Secure is the top-rated paid antivirus program. McAfee Total Protection and Trend Micro Internet Security are also highly valued. While Microsoft Defender, which is integrated into Windows 10 and 11, has a comparatively light post-installation background effect of 9%, it’s also vulnerable to slowdowns that are severe during full system scans.