Top 10 Most Effective Antivirus Software of 2022

TotalAV offers an excellent virus scanner along with some really great additional features, all housed in an intuitive dashboard, making it a fantastic choice for beginners and non-techies. The antivirus scanner of TotalAV is mainly powered by Avira's virus protection technology, so TotalAV provides fast, reliable virus protection with a nearly perfect malware detection rate. It managed to catch 99% of all malware, from viruses and trojans to ransomware, missing only a few complex files (which Norton and Bitdefender managed to catch).

TotalAV also includes a full range of additional internet security features, such as:

• Anti-phishing protection.
• Performance optimization.
• Password manager.

Most of TotalAV's security features are excellent, except for the password manager. On the other hand, TotalAV’s performance optimizer clears up more space on your computer than most competitors. TotalAV provides a powerful antivirus tool along with a variety of features inside a user-friendly dashboard. All of TotalAV’s packages come with multiple features, and all are designed to be as easy to use as possible. Plus, all TotalAV purchases come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Website: https://www.totalav.com/

McAfee Total Protection offers almost every essential internet security feature you could need – malware protection, anti-phishing, password manager, VPN, and encrypted storage. Its excellent virus protection alone makes Total Protection a top choice, achieving a perfect 100% detection rate for all malware samples in my tests. McAfee detected, blocked, and removed both simple and advanced threats, including viruses, trojans, spyware, keyloggers, and rootkits.

McAfee does slow down your computer slightly during a full system scan – while browsing the web, using Microsoft Office, and watching YouTube videos are fine (with some buffering), playing CPU-intensive games is not ideal due to the screen freezing while gaming. McAfee’s anti-phishing protection is excellent, blocking access to known malicious and phishing websites.

McAfee’s parental controls are also among the best in the market – in addition to blocking inappropriate content and apps, it includes advanced location tracking features that allow you to monitor your child's device with near-perfect accuracy (this feature works far better than Google or Apple’s device locator tools).

Website: https://www.mcafee.com/

Avira offers one of the most powerful and effective antivirus tools available, consistently scoring high in independent tests. The technology behind Avira's malware protection is so good that it's been licensed to competitors, including TotalAV. As Avira's antivirus runs entirely in the cloud, it doesn't slow down your device like many other antivirus solutions that load bulky software packages onto your system.

Avira Prime also comes with a wide array of excellent features, such as:

• Malware protection
• Advanced ransomware protection
• Privacy optimization
• System optimization
• VPN
• Password manager
• Premium apps for Android and iOS

While many antivirus products include tools designed to help your device run smoothly and free up hard drive space, Avira's system optimization tools are among the best on the market. Avira Prime is an especially good choice if you have an older, slower PC with limited hard drive space. The optimization tools helped bring a Windows 7 machine back to life, making it feel like new.

Website: https://campaigns.avira.com/

Kaspersky Internet Security utilizes Kaspersky's renowned virus protection and adds a range of additional features to keep you safe while browsing. Kaspersky’s antivirus consistently delivers some of the best results in the industry, effectively combating all types of malware with a 100% success rate in every malware test.

Internet Security is Kaspersky’s best value package, offering malware scanning, web protection, and Safe Money browser security for up to 5 users. Kaspersky also includes several robust cybersecurity features, such as:

• Anti-phishing protection
• Safe Money browser
• VPN (200MB/day)
• Webcam protection

Kaspersky's Safe Money feature detects when you're about to make an online payment or access banking websites, launching a secure browser window that isolates malicious software and spyware. Kaspersky also enables the use of a virtual keyboard during online transactions to prevent keyloggers from capturing sensitive information. Kaspersky offers a well-rounded antivirus solution with an excellent malware scanner and useful additional features like a secure browser for online banking.

Website: https://www.kaspersky.com.vn/

Panda offers an advanced antivirus scanner and a user-friendly interface across 5 different pricing tiers. Panda's malware scanner performs well, with a malware detection rate of 95% and 100% detection for ransomware. Panda’s Rescue Kit, a bootable version of Panda, can run from a USB drive if your computer becomes heavily infected with malware. Panda offers flexible pricing options, including:

• Free Plan: Real-time antivirus protection for Windows, app scanner for Android, Rescue Kit, and VPN.
• Essential Plan: Adds real-time malware protection for Android and macOS, Windows firewall, and Wi-Fi protection.
• Advanced Plan: Includes parental controls for Windows, ransomware protection, and safe browsing features.
• Complete Plan: Adds parental controls for Windows, ransomware protection, and safe browsing.
• Premium Plan: Includes unlimited VPN access, update manager, and 24/7 priority tech support.

If you’re looking for a free malware scanner with real-time protection or a fully-featured internet security suite, Panda offers a great solution. Panda comes with numerous additional features like advanced ransomware protection, Rescue Kit for rescuing infected PCs, a password manager, parental controls, file encryption, and a shredder. All of Panda's premium plans are backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Website: https://www.pandasecurity.com/

Trend Micro offers a solid malware protection tool along with an excellent browser extension that monitors security risks, blocks phishing attempts, and checks websites for unsafe content. What truly impresses about Trend Micro's browser extension is its ability to detect phishing links, unsafe content, malware, and even misinformation sources. Trend Micro also blocks ads and scans browsing history to identify any potentially harmful websites you may have accidentally visited.

While browsers like Chrome and Firefox have built-in phishing protection, Trend Micro's browser extension identified more phishing websites in tests than Chrome, Firefox, and Safari combined. Additionally, Trend Micro offers a service where users can send suspicious WhatsApp and Messenger messages, links, or screenshots to Trend Micro for threat analysis to check if there’s any danger to your device.

Trend Micro provides a comprehensive set of internet security features and malware protection for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Chromebook users. It's especially effective in web protection, with its browser extension helping you avoid malicious sites, virus-infected links, phishing scams, and suspicious content.

Website: https://www.trendmicro.com/

BullGuard offers robust malware protection along with additional features such as an excellent gaming booster tool, customizable firewall, performance optimizer, intuitive parental controls, and identity theft protection. One of BullGuard’s strongest points is its excellent anti-phishing protection. A particularly popular feature is the Game Booster, which frees up system resources to improve CPU performance while gaming.

The identity theft protection features of BullGuard include direct credit monitoring and identity theft insurance for users in the U.S., Canada, and much of Western Europe (unlike Norton and TotalAV, which only offer identity theft protection for U.S. users). BullGuard Antivirus provides malware and phishing protection, enhanced gaming support, and device protection for one device. BullGuard Internet Security expands this with multi-device coverage, performance optimization, and parental controls.

BullGuard Premium Protection adds a home network scanner and further identity theft protection. BullGuard delivers solid malware scanning, a range of added features, and specialized tools to improve performance for PC gamers. BullGuard’s plans are a great mid-range choice for both regular users and gamers.

Website: https://www.bullguard.com/

Norton 360 offers unbeatable antivirus and malware protection. This well-rounded security suite is designed to keep your data safe, private, and secure across all operating systems, particularly on Windows and Android. Norton delivers one of the most comprehensive internet security packages, fully safeguarding you from all types of online threats and providing a wealth of extra features, such as unlimited data VPN, password manager, secure cloud storage, parental controls, and much more. You can try Norton risk-free with a 60-day money-back guarantee.

Norton 360 comes with features like:

• Safe firewall
• Password manager
• Webcam protection
• Unlimited data VPN
• Dark web monitoring
• Cloud storage
• Ransomware protection

Norton’s antivirus engine uses a unique scanner powered by heuristic analysis and machine learning, enabling it to detect and eliminate the latest and most advanced malware. It consistently achieves 100% protection scores in all independent tests and outperforms built-in antivirus solutions like Windows Defender in threat detection and prevention. One of my favorite things about Norton 360, especially the Windows version, is its user-friendly interface, while still offering advanced settings for power users who want to customize their security measures.

Website: https://us.norton.com/

Bitdefender offers an exceptionally advanced antivirus tool, using a vast malware database combined with machine learning and artificial intelligence to detect and protect against malware more effectively than most competitors. Bitdefender successfully identified and removed all threats from my system. Since its malware detection engine operates on the cloud, all scanning processes occur on Bitdefender’s cloud servers, easing the load on your device.

Bitdefender includes features such as:

• Web protection
• System optimizer
• VPN (200MB/day)
• Parental controls
• Password manager
• Webcam protection
• Ransomware protection

Bitdefender has minimal system impact on both Windows and Mac laptops, even during full, thorough scans. It also provides advanced settings for users who wish to customize their antivirus protection. You can set custom scanning options for specific areas of your computer, such as scripts, network shares, boot sectors, and even newly modified files. These advanced settings enhance Bitdefender's reputation as one of the most powerful and customizable malware scanners available.

Website: https://www.bitdefender.com/

Intego is the best antivirus software available for macOS. While most antivirus brands primarily focus on protecting Windows PCs, even competitors like Norton and Bitdefender offer fewer features for their macOS versions compared to their Windows counterparts. Intego’s antivirus packages for Mac are specifically designed to deliver high-quality internet security and optimization tools, significantly enhancing Apple’s built-in safety features with offerings such as:

• Software protection
• Cleaning and optimization
• Advanced backup options
• Network security options
• Parental controls

Intego’s antivirus tool boasts a perfect detection rate against all tested malware, including both macOS and PC threats. Its scanning process is incredibly fast, able to scan over 800,000 files in under two hours, with subsequent scans taking just minutes, thanks to Intego’s file caching system that skips previously scanned files. Intego significantly boosts and improves Apple’s integrated security and optimization tools, all at a fantastic price. Plus, it comes with a 30-day risk-free money-back guarantee, so you can try it out and see if it provides the best protection for you.

Website: https://offer.intego.com/