The Best Free Antivirus Software for 2024

Free Antivirus vs. Paid Antivirus

If free antivirus tools are so good at protecting internet security, why should anybody pay? For one thing, many of these are free only for noncommercial use. If you want to protect your business, you must pony up for the paid edition. You should probably consider upgrading to a full security suite at that point. After all, it’s your business’s security on the line.

Even for personal use, most for-pay antivirus tools offer more than their free counterparts—sometimes a lot more. For example, the paid edition of ZoneAlarm adds protection against malicious and fraudulent websites, which the free version lacks. And Panda reserves quite a few features for paying customers: firewall protection, application control, cross-platform support, and detection of insecure Wi-Fi connections.

In addition, many companies don’t offer full-scale tech support for users of their free editions. The first time you need extra help digging a particularly stubborn piece of malware out of your system, you might regret the lack of support.

Independent Antivirus Lab Test Results

Around the world, researchers at independent antivirus testing labs spend their days putting antivirus tools to the test. Some of these labs regularly release public reports on their findings. We follow four such labs closely: AV-Comparatives, MRG-Effitas, SE Labs, and AV-Test Institute.

Security companies typically pay for the privilege of being included in testing. In return, the labs supply detailed reports that can help improve their antiviruses. The number of labs that include a particular vendor serves as a measure of significance. In each case, the lab considered the program important enough to test, and the vendor felt the price was worthwhile. The labs don’t necessarily test a vendor’s free edition, but most vendors pack full protection into the free offering, enhancing premium versions with additional features.

The Best Free Malware Protection

In addition to carefully perusing results from the independent labs, we also run our own hands-on malware protection test. We expose each antivirus to a collection of malware samples, including a variety of different malware types, and note its reaction. Typically, the antivirus will wipe out most of the samples on sight and detect some of the remaining ones when we try to launch them. We derive a malware-blocking score from 0 to 10 points based on how thoroughly the antivirus protects the test system from these samples.

Since we use the same samples month after month, the malware-blocking test doesn’t measure an antivirus tool’s ability to detect brand-new threats. In a separate test, we attempt to download malware from 100 very new malicious URLs supplied by London-based testing lab MRG-Effitas, typically less than a few days old. We note whether the antivirus blocked all access to the URL, wiped out the malicious payload during download, or did nothing.

If you’re interested in learning more about our testing techniques, you’re welcome to read more about how we test security software.

Useful Features

Just about every antivirus scans files on access to make sure malware can’t launch, and it also scans the entire system on demand or on a schedule you set. Once cleaning and scheduling are done, blocking all access to malware-hosting URLs is another good way to avoid trouble. Many extend that protection to steer users away from fraudulent websites and phishing sites that try to steal login credentials for financial sites and other sensitive sites. A few rate links in search results, flagging any dangerous or iffy ones.

Behavior-based detection, a feature of some antiviruses, is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it can detect malware that’s never been seen before. On the other hand, if it’s not done right, it can baffle the user with messages about perfectly legitimate programs.

Any antivirus should eliminate spyware along with other types of malware, but some include features designed specifically for spyware protection. Features like encryption to protect your sensitive data and webcam control to prevent remote peeping show up in commercial editions, not free ones. But some free editions include features like a simple on-screen keyboard to foil keyloggers.

One easy way to keep your PC protected is to install all security updates, both for Windows and for browsers and other popular applications. Windows 11 makes it easier than ever to stay up to date, but there are plenty of security holes in older Windows versions, in popular apps, and in add-ons. Scanning for vulnerabilities in the form of missing updates is a feature most often found in commercial antivirus tools, but it does turn up in some free ones. In the list below, you can see which programs include these useful features.

What’s Not Here?

Numerous free utilities devoted entirely to ransomware protection have come on the scene in the last few years. Alas, many of those have fallen by the wayside, among them Bitdefender Anti-Ransomware, Cybereason RansomFree, CyberSight RansomStopper, and Heilig Defense RansomOff. In any case, these are useful companion utilities, but they don’t do the job of a full-scale antivirus utility.

There are also numerous free antivirus utilities that work solely to clean up existing malware infestations. You bring out these cleanup-only tools when you have a nasty malware problem. When the malware’s gone, they have no further use since they offer no ongoing protection. Our favorite in this category is Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, and it’s one you should try if you’ve got a malware problem. But since they’re free, you can keep trying others if the first one doesn’t do the job. When the scare is over, you’ll need a full-blown antivirus for ongoing protection.

The Top Free Antivirus Software

Avast One Essential takes the place once held by Avast Free Antivirus as Editors’ Choice for free antivirus utility. It appears in lab reports from all four labs we follow with almost universally perfect scores, and it includes many suite-level features. AVG Antivirus Free uses the same antivirus engine as Avast and provides its own collection of useful bonus features—it, too, is an Editors’ Choice. If you do have a little cash in your budget for security, the best paid antivirus software does offer more and better protection. If not, try a few of these free tools and see which one you like best.

Worried you might already be infected? Check out our article on the signs you have malware.

Editors’ Note: Based on the increasing censure and criticism of Kaspersky by US government agencies, foreign agencies, and informed third parties, we can no longer recommend Kaspersky’s products. We continue to evaluate these products on their merits and report on them for those who wish to decide for themselves.