Safest free antivirus protection

The tool also goes through startup programs, finds junk and duplicate files that are clogging your system, even evaluates browser safety. To compensate for the lack of real-time protection, they're offering Safe Site extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browsers. It blocks known harmful URLs, which should prevent malware from even appearing on your device — limiting the necessity of a real-time scan altogether!

Independent malware labs widely praise the service. So, you can be sure that you're getting the best possible performance. With the free version, you can even take a peek into the paid version. After installing the free edition, you can try the Pro version for free. This unlocks all the features you need in your antivirus, including real-time, ransomware protection, and many other additions. Visit Avira. Successor of previous Avira Free Security Suite, the current tool combines the features that it used to have and sprinkles new additions keeping the service capable and competitive.

It feels like a slightly limited, but still excellent version of their paid software. Although you'll find many great antiviruses regardless of your device type, support is a key area that distinguishes this service from all the others.

So it covers all the bases and delivers comparable performance across the board. On independent tests, Avira gets the highest grade score for macOS protection, which is very impressive.

It's an industry staple to overlook Apple users because they traditionally have been safer when it comes to malware. Meanwhile, Avira even has real-world test data to back up its strength.

As a free user, you get system, web, and ransomware protection. However, the latter will be available separately via the Browser Safety add-on. Even the free version will detect all known ransomware threats, so you're getting the full suite.

More details on all the features this software has to offer — in our Avira Antivirus review. Overall, addons like Browser Safety and Safe Shopping do contribute to your safer browsing. Visit Kaspersky. Kaspersky has one of the longest track records when it comes to free services for malware removal. Yet although there's an everlasting sense that the suite is somewhat held back to keep more features in the paid edition, the package you get does bring value.

You get the usual features like system scans, but there are additional bonuses. There's a System Watcher feature, which uses machine learning to identify malware that it has had no prior knowledge of. Not all threats will come in malicious software, sometimes leaving an unpatched software component that can be exploited by hackers.

For that, Kaspersky offers a vulnerability scan that analyses programs that need security patches. There are some nice extra features as well. For example, you'll find a password manager.

It's not as good as the dedicated ones, but it surely beats keeping your credentials in a. Plus, the installer automatically installs add-ons for Firefox and Chrome. Primarily the add-ons highlight dangerous URL links when you're browsing the web and includes an on-screen keyboard if you suspect that your system has been infected with a keylogger. Kaspersky offers a fine free antivirus alternative, but you'll have to deal with the attempts to get you to pay for a subscription.

Want to know more of what this antivirus has to offer? Read our in-depth Kaspersky Antivirus review. Visit Bitdefender. It's hardly a surprise that Bitdefender is on this list. One of our top overall best antivirus services also offers a very solid array of free features. On Windows, it has Bitdefender Shield — real-time protection against a broad scope of cybersecurity threats. It ensures file and email protection in real time with minimal impact on system performance. However, the service doesn't only rely on database data.

Their Advanced Threat Defense uses machine learning to detect behavioral threat-like indications. Suppose a software is accessing too much data, making background data changes or uploads. In that case, it will get flagged well before the database entry as a new form of malware. Bitdefender also has measures against various phishing websites. Every website you visit is thoroughly checked for phishing indications, ensuring your data doesn't end up on dark web marketplaces. To learn more, read our Bitdefender review.

Bitdefender offers the best customer support for non-paying customers. If you run into any issues, you can contact their support agents via live chat, phone, email, or community forums. When it comes to free antiviruses, almost no services have as many options. It only has a separate Virus Scanner for malware removal. The iOS app offers minimal features, too. The base version is free forever, but if you'd like to test the premium ones, you can try all versions including the most expensive ones that include better features for macOS for free for 30 days without providing your card information.

Visit Sophos Home. The main reason you may not have heard of Sophos is that they mostly cater to businesses. Naturally, Sophos Home Free edition retains some of the features that seem directly ported from their business version. Even as a free service, you can manage three devices remotely from a single console. This is perfect for small groups of friends or families.

You won't get any tools against ransomware or real-time monitoring, so you should be extra careful about downloading a suspicious file or email attachment. The good news is, all our picks offer a free trial to let you try out the antivirus program, so if your system feels sluggish after installation, you may want to keep looking. Cost and discounts. Don't just pay the sticker price for antivirus protection. Before you buy, check for discounts on a company's website. Another way to save: The prices we list above are for 10 devices -- if the company offered that package -- but you can trim your cost with antivirus packages if you need to cover three or five devices.

You may also find discounts on an app's Amazon page. To be effective, antivirus software needs to monitor what's going on with your PC, check in with company servers about unusual behavior and should provide sound banking protection.

The companies say they anonymize this technical data as much as possible to protect your privacy. But if you want to know more, the security companies on our list post privacy policies on their websites, so read their privacy statements to learn what the companies do with the information you share. Protection for other platforms. Microsoft is by far the biggest target for viruses and malware. While the Mac does come under attack via side-loaded apps, it's rare, and if you download apps only from the Mac and iOS app stores and keep your guard up when clicking links and download files, you should be OK without an antivirus app on Apple devices.

CNET editors pick the products and services we write about. When you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Best free Windows antivirus Microsoft Defender. Jump to details. See at Microsoft. See at NortonLifeLock. See at Bitdefender. Best on-demand Windows malware removal Malwarebytes.

See at Malwarebytes. Solid subscription antivirus alternative McAfee Total Protection. See at McAfee. Another good subscription option Trend Micro Maximum Security.

See at Trend Micro. See at ESET. Alternative free Windows antivirus Sophos Home. See at Sophos. Our recommendations Looking for free antivirus protection, malware protection or virus detection, willing to pay for an antivirus program that offers broad internet security coverage across all your devices, including from ransomware and phishing, or need to remove a computer virus or malware from your PC right now?

Best free Windows antivirus. Microsoft Defender. Best antivirus subscription for Windows. Entirely free, it offers up plenty of features and a highly competent virus detection score. Another well-established name in the cybersecurity space is AVG. And just like Avast, AVG maintains support for Windows 7 computers, despite Microsoft no longer offering security updates to that older operating system OS.

Instead, it offers a stripped-down antivirus program with minimal options instead of the full interface of Bitdefender Total Security. You can click the System Scan button to initiate a scan, or you can drag-and-drop particular files in need of scanning. If you like, you can exclude certain files or folders to speed up scan times. Well, almost it. Times have changed, however, and Windows Security is equaling the competition in terms of results from third-party testing houses.

Windows Security is very good. There are third-party options that have better detection capabilities based on independent tests, but the improved performance is often marginal. For a detailed look at Windows Security, check out our review.