Best Free Antivirus Software

After hours of hands-on testing and research, we found that Bitdefender is the best free antivirus software for virus protection and so much more. It’s aggravation-free and protects against viruses, malware, ransomware, zero-day exploits, and malicious websites. It’s also reliable.

Don’t miss out on our other picks, though. Each one has great features that may fit your needs.

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The features are great, but how well does it protect your devices? Well, Bitdefender antivirus won independent tester AV Test’s top honors in 2021 for best protection.¹ In a 2022 test, independent testers AV-Comparatives found that Bitdefender caught 99.7% of real-world threats.² Bitdefender more recently was named a Visionary in 2023 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Endpoint Protection Platforms, too.

During our hands-on testing, we found that Bitdefender antivirus ran quickly in the background without causing our test computer to lag. Its initial scan took just over four minutes. The dashboard is also clean, easy to use, and simple.

While this free antivirus software offers a lot, it does have a major drawback. You can use it on your Mac, but not on your iOS phone.

For more protection than the Bitdefender antivirus free edition,  Bitdefender Total Security adds real-time protection and a VPN to the security mix — you can even get it on your Apple phone. Read more in our Bitdefender Total Security review.

AVG antivirus also scans for your information in data breaches and notifies you if it’s found. Another cool feature is that AVG offers email protection. It will scan emails to ensure your computer doesn’t get an infection from contaminated email attachments.

While AVG has great features and blocks 100% of the threats it was tested against by AV-Comparatives, it still has some problems.² First, its parent company, Avast, was caught selling its customers’ anonymized data through its subsidiary Jumpshot in 2019. While Avast cut ties with Jumpshot, it makes you wonder if they may do the same thing again in the future.

Second, AVG antivirus is a little more difficult to use than the other internet security software options on this list. You have to make sure all the settings you want are turned on — many aren’t turned on by default.

Third, I feel misled. AVG is the only free antivirus software we found that offers firewall protection. Heck, some paid versions don’t even offer that. So, I was excited. Imagine my disappointment when the software told me I would need to upgrade to a paid plan to get full firewall protection.

Learn more in our AVG review.

During my years of testing Malwarebytes’ free software on both my computer and phone, I’ve never had a problem. It's so easy to use that even my tech-illiterate daughter can keep her phone malware- and virus-free.

That said, it is bare bones. It doesn’t have some of the extra features like AVG’s data-breach scanning or the anti-phishing and anti-fraud protection that Bitdefender boasts.

If you want easy protection with a few more features, go with Malwarebytes Premium. For just a few dollars a month, it gives you real-time protection, website protection, ransomware protection, and much more. Read about it in our Malwarebytes review.

During our testing, one thing that stood out was the download process. Kaspersky's free antivirus program uses a chatbot to guide you through the installation process and what to expect. It even gives you a QR code so you can easily download the internet security software onto your phone. The initial scan took just over three minutes and didn’t slow down our test computer at all.

Another neat feature is that it includes a data-leak checker that scans to see if your data has been involved in recent security breaches, much like the one AVG offers.

It’s dependable too. Like with Bitdefender, independent testers AV-Comparatives found that Kaspersky caught 99.7% of real-world malicious threats.²

While all of this is great, if it’s going to have an iPhone version, it should also have a version for Mac. They’re missing out on providing protection for the entire Apple experience.

Need more? Kaspersky Premium offers you all the perks of the free version but also adds real-time protection, identity protection, and a VPN.

My particular favorite cleanup tool is the duplicate file search tool. I tend to save the same photos repeatedly, so this tool helped me clear out my computer’s memory quickly.

Another standout feature is that TotalAV checks how many tracking cookies are on your computer and lets you delete them with the click of a button. This feature is great if you don’t want advertisers and websites tracking you.

Like with Kaspersky, you can also check if your email has been involved in a data breach. Unlike Kaspersky, though, it won’t automatically scan for breaches. You have to put in your email address and hit the scan button.

What I didn’t like about TotalAV was that there were constant pop-ups. It repeatedly reminds you every few minutes that it thinks you should upgrade to one of the paid versions. It was an annoying distraction (to say the least).

Bitdefender Antivirus is the most well-rounded free antivirus software in the bunch, making it our top pick. It’s easy to use, dependable, and doesn’t have annoying pop-ups.

To write this best free antivirus review, I tested the software candidates one by one. I tried their features and even timed their scans to ensure they were as quick as advertised. I also studied each one’s testing scores from independent researchers and considered the opinions of other reviewers.

For more on how we review products and services, head over to our methodology page.

• Best Identity Theft Protection
• Best Antivirus for Android Devices
• Best VPN Services
• How Do I Report Online Scams?
• How to Avoid Online Scams
• Keeping Your Computer Safe While Working from Home
• What to Do If Your Identity is Stolen

1. AV-Test, “AV-TEST Award 2021 for Bitdefender,” March 1, 2022. Accessed June 21, 2024.
2. AV-Comparatives, “Real-World Protection Test July-October 2022.” Accessed June 21, 2024.