Antivirus

Kaspersky's 2021 Windows antivirus lineup offers close to complete coverage without slowing down your computer much, although the least expensive program doesn't offer many extra features.

Bitdefender's Windows antivirus software offers excellent protection along with a slew of features meant to secure your family's systems and identities.

ESET's antivirus software barely slows system performance, but it offers middling malware protection and can get expensive if you have a lot of machines to protect.

Sophos Home Premium is inexpensive, easy to use and provides good malware protection, but it can slow system performance.

Norton 360 Standard, Norton 360 Deluxe and Norton 360 with LifeLock include the most complete antivirus-software and identity-protection-service combinations you'll find today.

Trend Micro's heavy scans are trigger-happy and yield many false positives

Avast Free Antivirus offers a ton of features for a free antivirus program but has mediocre malware protection and a heavy system load.

McAfee AntiVirus Plus' generous multi-license pricing makes this product an alluring option for families.

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac is a strong package of security tools worth paying for. It's our Editor's Choice.

Bitdefender Mobile Security is the best overall choice for paid antivirus apps.

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition runs on autopilot and offers no extras or customization options, but it's ideal for anyone who doesn't want to fuss with antivirus software.

AVG AntiVirus Free is beaten in features by its more glamorous sibling Avast Free Antivirus and beaten in malware protection by everything else.

Windows Defender isn't the absolute best antivirus software, but it's easily good enough to be your main malware defense.

Kaspersky Security Cloud Free combines excellent malware protection, plenty of extra features and a very light system-performance impact.

Norton Mobile Security has the best malware detection of all the apps we tested.

Avast Mobile Security offers a lot of features, but performs inconsistently, and its free version is full of ads.

Malwarebytes Free doesn't replace antivirus software, but it works alongside it to keep your system clean.

Google Play Protect may be built into Android and may be totally free, but it can't adequately protect your device.

Kaspersky Mobile Security works well, but its feature set lags behind the times.

McAfee Mobile Security offers a lot of free features, but its malware protection is only average and its paid plan is pricey.

Lookout Security & Antivirus is a decent antivirus app, but its real strength lies in identity protection.

Qihoo 360 Security promises an extensive feature set, but many of the features don't work, and the free version is drowning in ads.

Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac has a strong package of security tools that are well worth paying for.

Norton Security Deluxe offers excellent malware protection for Macs and lots of features, but it's pricey and a little complicated to use.

Sophos Home Premium includes tons of features, but its Mac malware protections are untested.

Avast Free Mac Security is light on your system, but its malware detection is a tale of two report cards.

Unproven and lacking in special features, Malwarebytes for Mac Premium makes it hard to recommend spending money on it.

CM Security Master looks great and has a rich slate of features, but its malware protection can vary.

Panda Free Antivirus looks good and is easy to use, but its malware protection is unreliable.