Most Popular Antivirus Windows 10 PCs That

For example, ZoneAlarms paid edition adds protection against malicious and fraudulent websites that the free version lacks.

We may earn affiliate commissions from buying links, which help support our testing.

Many free third-party security apps are more effective at keeping you safe.

Weve tested 17 no-cost services to help you find the best free antivirus for protecting your PC.

Kaspersky Security Cloud Free offers full-scale malware protection along with some suite-level features.

It gets superb scores from the independent labs, and it wont cost you a penny.

Avast Free Antivirus combines an antivirus engine that scores very well in testing with a surprisingly extensive collection of bonus features.

AVG AntiVirus Free offers precisely the same antivirus protection engine as Avast Free Antivirus, but lacks the impressive collection of bonus features that you get with Avast.

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition includes the same core antivirus technology found in the commercial Bitdefender Antivirus, focusing on the essential task of antivirus protection with minimal add-ons.

Sophos Home Free gives consumers antivirus protection built for business, including remote management, and it gets great scores in lab tests and our own tests.

The free Avira Antivirus gets excellent ratings from the independent labs, but it doesnt fare as well in our antiphishing test, and its browser protection only works with Chrome and Firefox.

Most Popular Antivirus Windows 10 PCs That

Microsoft Windows Defender Security Center protects Windows 10 PCs that have no other antivirus protection, and it has significantly improved in lab test results and our own hands-on tests.

In a complete makeover, adaware antivirus free 12 has a new name and a new look.

Under the hood, though, its test results arent the best, and competing free products have much more to offer.

The free Qihoo 360 Total Security 8.6 comes with a ton of bonus tools, but its core antivirus protection doesnt measure up to the best free antivirus tools.

Maybe youre not working right now, instead living from your savingsbut what if a banking Trojan siphons off your cash to a money launderer across the world Perhaps youre taking advantage of sheltering in place to finally finish that novel.

Youll scream with anguish if ransomware turns your brilliant prose into gibberish.

Whether youre fine working from home or are an essential worker whos scrimping to make rent, you can still protect yourself by installing a free antivirus utility.

Weve evaluated plenty of them to help you choose the one thats best for you.

Your antivirus should definitely have the ability to root out existing malware, but its ongoing task is to prevent ransomware, botnets, Trojans, and other types of nasty programs from getting a foothold.

All of the antivirus programs in this collection offer real-time malware protection.

Some take the fight to the browser, working hard to ensure you never even browse to a malware-hosting site, or get fooled into turning over your credentials to a phishing site.

Free Antivirus vs.

Paid Antivirus If free antivirus tools are so great, why should anybody pay For one thing, quite a few of these products are free only for noncommercial use; if you want to protect your business, you must pony up for the paid edition.

At that point, you should probably consider upgrading to a full security suite.

Most Popular Free Antivirus For Mac