Hai un PC Windows? Quindi è necessario eseguire uno dei migliori programmi antivirus. Non ci vuoi spendere nulla? Abbiamo un elenco dei migliori programmi antivirus gratuiti.
Windows 10 ha un programma antivirus integrato chiamato Windows Defender e regge più che altro contro altri rivali gratuiti. Ma non può eguagliare le funzionalità e la praticità della migliore protezione antivirus a pagamento.
Le migliori suite antivirus a pagamento offrono anche funzionalità che vanno ben oltre la protezione antimalware di base.
Puoi ottenere difese dedicate contro ransomware e dirottamento della webcam, funzioni extra come la distruzione dei file o l’ottimizzazione del sistema e funzionalità che competono con servizi autonomi come gestori di password, soluzioni di backup su cloud, VPN o identità-protezione dai furti.
I migliori produttori di antivirus offrono normalmente più prodotti Windows a pagamento che hanno una protezione antimalware identica ma più funzionalità extra man mano che i prezzi salgono.
Ad esempio, c’è il Kaspersky Anti di base-Virus, Kaspersky Internet Security di fascia media e Kaspersky Total Security di fascia alta. I loro diversi set di funzionalità sono rivolti a clienti diversi e lo spiegheremo ulteriormente alla fine di questa guida all’acquisto.
Non dimenticare di dare un’occhiata al nostro elenco dei migliori software antivirus gratuiti a metà pagina.
Il le 3 migliori marche di antivirus
Qual è il miglior software antivirus?
Miglior antivirus: i 7 migliori
La nostra scelta migliore per il miglior software antivirus è Kaspersky Total Security, che offre un’eccellente protezione dal malware, una serie completa di funzionalità extra e un facile-to-use interface.
Subito dietro ci sono Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, un programma a pagamento entry-level che è forse il miglior affare nel software antivirus, e Norton 360 Deluxe, che offre un’eccellente protezione con un servizio VPN illimitato e un sacco di funzioni extra, inclusa l’opzione per aggiungere la protezione dell’identità LifeLock.
Ognuno di questi tre ti andrebbe bene, ma la scelta ideale dipenderebbe da ciò che meglio si adatta alle tue circostanze. Per ulteriori informazioni, vedere la nostra sezione su come scegliere il miglior software antivirus di seguito o la nostra guida all’acquisto di antivirus.
Per la migliore protezione antivirus gratuita, ci è piaciuto Kaspersky Security Cloud Free, che ha superato Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition per il primo posto.
Entrambi offrivano un’eccellente protezione contro il malware senza rallentare il sistema, ma il programma gratuito di Kaspersky ti consente di pianificare le scansioni, ha un’opzione di scansione rapida, aggiunge un sacco di utili funzionalità extra e ha avuto il minimo impatto sulle prestazioni del sistema abbiamo mai visto.
Le nostre classifiche gratuite seguono immediatamente le nostre classifiche a pagamento di seguito.
Il miglior software antivirus che puoi acquistare oggi
I prodotti Windows di Kaspersky hanno eccellenti punteggi di rilevamento del malware e un impatto sulle prestazioni del sistema da leggero a moderato, i due criteri più importanti nelle nostre classifiche.
Il programma entry-level, Kaspersky Anti-Virus (a partire da £ 12,49 UK/$ 29,99 US), ha una protezione ransomware dedicata, una tastiera virtuale e un comodo portale di account online. Ma è battuto da Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, che ha ancora più funzionalità.
Kaspersky Internet Security (£ 17,49 UK/$ 39,99 US) è la nostra prima scelta tra i pacchetti di fascia media. Ha un browser sicuro, protezione antifurto per laptop, protezione webcam e un client VPN a uso limitato che si attiva quando ti connetti a una rete Wi-Fi aperta. Include anche software per macOS, Android e iOS.
La suite antivirus premium, Kaspersky Total Security (£ 19,99 UK/$ 44,99 US), aggiunge software di backup, controllo genitori, crittografia dei file, un distruggidocumenti e un gestore di password illimitato. Riteniamo che sia il miglior software antivirus che puoi acquistare oggi.
Leggi la nostra versione completa Revisione di Kaspersky Total Security.
Bitdefender Antivirus Plus è il nostro top scelta tra i prodotti antivirus entry-level. Ha punteggi di rilevamento malware molto buoni, se non perfetti. Le sue scansioni attive non aggiungono molto all’impatto del sistema in background, ma quel carico in background è un po’pesante.
Offre anche il massimo valore, con un gestore di password illimitato, un browser sicuro con una tastiera virtuale, uno scanner di rete Wi-Fi, un distruggidocumenti, protezione contro il ransomware crittografato e il nuovo software di privacy web di Bitdefender–funzionalità che spesso si trovano solo con pacchetti antivirus più costosi.
Il Bitdefender Internet Security di fascia media aggiunge il controllo genitori, la protezione della webcam e un firewall bidirezionale, mentre Bitdefender Total Security completa la gamma con una funzione antifurto per laptop, un ottimizzatore di sistema e licenze per Bitdefender Antivirus per Mac e Bitdefender Mobile Security per Android.
Un quarto prodotto, Bitdefender Premium Security, è fondamentalmente Total Security con utilizzo VPN illimitato e supporto tecnico prioritario. (Gli altri programmi ti limitano a 200 MB di utilizzo di Bitdefender VPN al giorno.)
Ma l’offerta migliore è il Bitdefender Family Pack, che mette Total Security su un massimo di 15 dispositivi per (uno spesso scontato) $ 120 per anno.
Leggi la nostra recensione su Bitdefender Antivirus Plus .
Tutti e nove i prodotti antivirus di Norton offrono un’eccellente protezione dal malware e il carico di prestazioni del sistema un tempo pesante è molto più leggero. Il numero di funzionalità extra di ogni programma varia in base al prezzo, ma il punto debole della gamma è Norton 360 Deluxe.
Include un gestore di password, servizio VPN illimitato, monitoraggio dei dati personali del dark web, controllo genitori e fino a 50 GB di spazio di archiviazione online. Due offerte solo al dettaglio, Norton 360 Premium e Norton 360 Platinum, ti offrono più spazio di archiviazione online ed espandono la copertura antivirus e VPN rispettivamente a 10 e 20 dispositivi.
Se desideri una protezione completa dell’identità, Norton offre tre pacchetti con vari gradi di servizio LifeLock e ancora più spazio di archiviazione online. I loro prezzi di abbonamento annuale raggiungono le tre cifre, ma costano comunque meno che se dovessi acquistare separatamente la protezione dell’identità, il gestore di password, l’archiviazione di backup su cloud e il software antivirus.
A differenza di altri migliori produttori di software antivirus, Norton non offre un distruggidocumenti, crittografia dei file o browser Web sicuro con nessuno dei suoi prodotti. Eppure ogni altro servizio di protezione digitale che potresti chiedere è incluso in almeno alcuni dei suoi pacchetti.
Leggi il nostro Recensione Norton 360 Deluxe.
McAfee’s malware il rilevamento è migliorato notevolmente negli ultimi due anni, ma non è ancora il massimo.
Nonostante ciò, il McAfee AntiVirus Plus entry-level è un affare: $ 60 all’anno acquistano software per un massimo di 10 dispositivi (in pratica, illimitati), indipendentemente dal fatto che eseguano Windows, macOS, iOS o Android e il software viene fornito con un distruggi file e un firewall a due vie.
McAfee Internet Security aggiunge uno dei migliori gestori di password del settore, ma per ottenere il controllo genitori dovrai ricorrere a McAfee Total Protection o al suo fratello McAfee LiveSafe, che viene preinstallato su molti nuovi PC.
Le licenze multi-dispositivo di queste due suite di sicurezza includono anche un servizio di protezione dell’identità. Ma nessuno dei prodotti McAfee dispone di un browser sicuro o di una protezione webcam, che spesso si ottiene con altri programmi antivirus premium.
In cima c’è McAfee Total Protection Ultimate, che aggiunge un servizio VPN illimitato senza alcun vincolo. I giocatori di PC più accaniti possono prendere in considerazione McAfee Gamer Security, che per $ 60 all’anno offre una protezione a basso costo per un singolo impianto.
Leggi il nostro Recensione McAfee Internet Security.
Trend Micro offers very good protection, but its malware-detection engine creates a heavy system load during scans and returns a fair number of false-positive results.
The brand’s entry-level program, Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security, has basic tools but does have a secure web browser. Parental controls, a system optimizer and a file shredder are bundled into the mid-range Trend Micro Internet Security.
Trend Micro Maximum Security adds a password manager, a secure browser and file encryption, while the new Trend Micro Premium Security adds a VPN and dark-web monitoring of personal data.
However, none of Trend Micro’s programs include a two-way firewall or webcam protection, standard with other brands’midrange offerings. Nor does the premium product have the cloud storage or backup software that some of the best antivirus brands add as enticements to their flagship packages.
Read our full Trend Micro Maximum Security review.
ESET is one of the biggest antivirus names in Europe, with a very small system-performance load and fast scans. Its malware-detection rate used to be kind of meh, but has improved markedly in recent lab tests.
The entry-level ESET NOD32 Antivirus is easy to use, but has few useful extra tools. ESET Internet Security adds webcam protection, parental controls and a browser-hardening extension, as well as ESET security-software licenses for Mac, Android and Linux devices.
The top-billed ESET Smart Security Premium tosses in file encryption and a password manager. However, there’s no VPN client, backup software or file shredder.
ESET’s pricing is per device, which is optimal for users who might have more than a few devices to protect. But if your device count gets into double digits, ESET’s costs can add up.
Read our full ESET Smart Security Premium review.
Sophos Home Premium does its job economically, offering reasonable protection from malware at an affordable price.
Because it’s spun off from Sophos’enterprise software for business clients, Sophos Home Premium lacks many of the bells and whistles other security suites offer, such as a password manager, identity theft protection service or VPN service.
What Sophos Home Premium does have is the essentials: ransomware rollbacks, webcam defenses and protection against keyloggers, malicious websites and boot-sector and fileless malware. It also has a web-filter system for parents and an online management console from which you can tweak most of the settings.
Some people might demand more from an antivirus suite, but anyone who would rather buy only what they need will appreciate Sophos Home Premium’s just-the-basics approach.
Read our full Sophos Home Premium review.
Best antivirus: News and updates
— A new twist on malware infection involves a fake streaming site that wants to charge you $40 a month.
— The latest version of Chrome brings fixes for 32 security flaws, so update your browser now.
— A new malware strain steals passwords while pretending to be ransomware.
The best free antivirus software
The best paid antivirus suites can do all sorts of things: shield your children from online unpleasantness, protect your personal details from identity thieves, optimize your system performance, manage your passwords and mobile devices, back up your files to the cloud and monitor your computer’s firewall.
But many PC users don’t want, or can’t afford, to pay for all those extra features. They just want to have their computers protected from malware and other threats without having to pay for it.
Free antivirus protection used to be a trade-off. You’d either have to tolerate a lot of ads or allow your personal data to be collected to get malware defenses that nonetheless fell short of the best paid programs.
That’s changed as of the past few years. Two of the best paid antivirus makers, Bitdefender and Kaspersky, now offer free programs. The two leading free-antivirus makers, Avast and AVG, have merged, and their now-combined malware-detection engine does a better job than either of its predecessors. And the rapid improvement of Windows Defender Antivirus has been astonishing.
The upshot is that it’s now possible to get free malware protection that’s just as good as anything you can pay for. So here are what we think the best free antivirus programs based on their malware protection, system impact, ease of use and useful extra features.
What are the best free antivirus programs?
Best Free Antivirus: Top 5
There’s no question: Kaspersky Security Cloud Free Antivirus may be the best free antivirus program we’ve ever seen.
It has excellent malware protection, a good number of extra functions and features, and a system-performance impact so small that our computer actually got a bit faster. It also lets you schedule scans and has a quick-scan option.
Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition, once our favorite, is still the best”set it and forget it”free antivirus option. It takes care of itself and doesn’t need user intervention. If you need to put antivirus software on your grandparents’PC, or you’d rather not have to think about antivirus software at all, this is the perfect solution.
The sleeper here is Windows Defender, aka Windows Defender Antivirus, which is built into Windows 8.1 and 10. It used to be a joke, but has rapidly improved to become one of the best antivirus programs out there.
Defender is still fairly short on features compared to paid antivirus programs, or even a few free ones, but its malware-detection rates beat those of many paid brands.
If you want features such as an unlimited password manager or a hardened web browser, then Avast Free Antivirus might be for you. But its malware protection isn’t as good as the previous three, and its performance impact is heavier.
Its stepsister AVG has the same malware-detection engine, but lacks Avast’s full slate of useful extra features. All AVG really has going for it is a file shredder and system optimizer.
We have to mention one thing that’s not even an antivirus program, but which we recommend anyway: Malwarebytes Free.
While antivirus programs try to stop your machine from becoming infected by malware, Malwarebytes is the cleanup crew, brushing out any adware or potentially unwanted programs. It works well alongside any antivirus program.
The best free antivirus software you can get today
Kaspersky doesn’t talk much about its free antivirus product, and you might have a hard time finding the free Kaspersky software download page on the company’s website.
That’s too bad, because Kaspersky Security Cloud Free is the best free antivirus product we’ve ever tested. We’ve never seen such a combination of excellent protection and extra features in a free antivirus program.
It’s got a bright, comprehensible interface, a lot of customization potential and Kaspersky’s unbeatable malware protection. The program also lets you schedule scans, and its performance impact was so small that it actually sped up our test machine a bit.
Kaspersky’s useful extra features include a file shredder, an on-screen keyboard and an email scanner. The password manager and VPN service are fairly limited, however, unless you pay.
Read our full Kaspersky Security Cloud Free review.
Compared to premium paid antivirus programs that are big, heavy and loaded with extra bells and whistles, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition is like a mid-’60’s sports car, stripped to the essentials but still providing plenty of power.
Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition offers nothing but the basics. There’s no password manager, no gaming mode, no quick scans and no scan scheduling. You can manage the software from the program’s System Tray icon, but you don’t really need to interact with Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition after installation.
Yet Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition has the excellent Bitdefender malware-detection engine, which sits just below Kaspersky and Norton in the lab-test rankings.
It’s the best free antivirus software if you want a security solution that you can set up and then forget about. It’s also perfect if you need to protect the computer of an elderly relative but don’t have time to manage antivirus software from afar.
Read our full Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition review.
Microsoft’s built-in antivirus software is now a heavy hitter. While Windows Defender doesn’t quite beat Bitdefender or Kaspersky in malware-protection lab tests, it comes out ahead of Avast, AVG and most other free antivirus products while operating almost entirely behind the scenes.
You won’t be getting many extra features with Windows Defender itself, yet Windows 10 does have parental controls, a gaming mode and protections for its own Edge and Internet Explorer browsers. There’s no built-in password manager or VPN, but you also won’t be bothered by pop-ups trying to upsell you to paid antivirus software.
We still recommend going for Kaspersky Security Cloud Free, which has even less of a system impact, better malware protection and more useful extras, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using Windows Defender as your primary antivirus solution.
Read our full Windows Defender review.
Avast Free Antivirus has the best assortment of extra goodies of any free antivirus program, including an unlimited password manager, a hardened browser, a gaming mode, a Wi-Fi network scanner and a recently added ransomware shield.
The program is also very customizable, letting you tweak its appearance and functions to suit your style. It even offers limited access to Avast’s VPN service.
However, Avast Free Antivirus caused a pretty heavy system load in our testing and its scans took a long time. It also kept nagging us to upgrade to Avast’s paid antivirus protection, and played bait-and-switch with features that looked like they were free but weren’t.
Most significant of all, the malware protection in Avast Free Antivirus is a peg down from Kaspersky’s or Bitdefender’s, whose free programs also bothered us less about paid upgrades and had lighter system loads.
Read our full Avast Free Antivirus review.
AVG shares a decent, if unspectacular, malware-detection engine with its corporate sibling Avast while having a much lighter system-performance impact.
But AVG AntiVirus Free also has far fewer useful extra features than Avast Free Antivirus. While the latter is almost a free security suite with lots of bells and whistles, AVG AntiVirus Free is the quiet, neglected child that gets the hand-me-downs.
The good news is that AVG’s wide range of customization options and its file shredder and system optimizer are still available, and its interface is open and easy to use. The bad news is that like Avast Free Antivirus, AVG AntiVirus Free constantly bugs you to upgrade to paid antivirus software.
Worst of all, given its middling malware detection and dearth of extra features, there’s no convincing reason to choose AVG AntiVirus Free over the built-in and overall better Microsoft Defender.
Read our full AVG AntiVirus Free review.
Honorable Mention
Malwarebytes Free, formerly called Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, is not antivirus software. Instead, it’s a very useful malware-removal tool.
What’s the difference? Unlike antivirus software, Malwarebytes Free can’t prevent a PC from being infected. But it does an excellent job of cleaning out malware that’s already on your system, as well as removing (legal) adware and potentially unwanted programs that antivirus software often ignores.
Malwarebytes Free doesn’t interfere with any antivirus software that’s already installed, so it’s perfectly safe to install it alongside one of our recommended brands. (Just don’t upgrade to the paid Malwarebytes Premium, true antivirus software that does poorly in lab tests and which will conflict with other AV programs.)
We recommend Malwarebytes Free as a complement to any of the best antivirus programs, free or paid.
Read our full Malwarebytes Free review.
How to choose the best antivirus software for you
Before you buy antivirus protection, figure out what you need it for. If you have young children, then consider midrange antivirus products, most of which include parental controls.
Do you want an all-encompassing security solution? Many of the top-priced premium products include identity-theft protection, password managers, backup software and VPN service. Are you a techie who understands the risks of using the internet? A low-priced basic program might be all you need.
MORE: How to buy antivirus software
Then determine how many machines you’ll need to protect. Most vendors offer single-device licenses for Windows PCs. But multi-device, multi-platform licenses for five, 10 or more desktops, laptops and mobile devices, whether they run Windows, macOS, Android, iOS or sometimes even Linux, are available in midrange and premium antivirus packages. Some vendors offer plans that cover an unlimited number of devices.
Gone are the days when you could walk into a store and pay a one-time fee for an antivirus product that came in a box off a shelf. All the vendors now sell their software licenses as yearly (or multiyear) subscriptions. The upside is that you’ll always get the latest software, which you can download and install straight from the internet.
Antivirus pricing and features
Many antivirus products are sold online for much less than their list prices. But each brand offers basic, midrange and premium configurations of features and pricing, with every step up adding more features.
Think of autos at a dealership. You can get a base-model car that will get you from place to place just fine. For a few grand more, you can buy a car with satellite radio, but no heated side-view mirrors, alloy wheels or in-car Wi-Fi hotspot. Or you can spend a lot more to get a loaded car with all the fixin’s.
Antivirus makers also hope you’ll spring for extra options, whether you need them or not. The one thing you can’t trade up to is a bigger engine: All the Windows antivirus products in a given brand’s lineup will use the same malware-detection engine and provide the same level of essential protection.
Basic paid antivirus software is usually just called”Antivirus”or similar, and yearly subscriptions start at $40-$60. The software will have essential malware protection and maybe a password manager or a two-way firewall.
Midrange antivirus software packages are frequently nameplated as”Internet Security”and start at $60-$80 yearly. They generally add parental controls, some of which are very good, plus a few other features such as webcam protection. They often include multi-device licenses and antivirus software for Mac and Android devices.
At the top are the premium”security suites,”which toss in all the extra security tools an antivirus brand can offer, such as password managers, VPN client software, backup software, online storage and even identity-protection services.
List prices start at $80-$100 per year, but make sure you really need those extra tools you’re paying for. The password managers are often quite good, but the online storage can be paltry and the VPN services often don’t give you unlimited data.
We’ve collected the best premium antivirus packages on this list of the best internet security suites.
How we test the best antivirus software
Our evaluations were based on an antivirus product’s interface, performance, protection and extra features. Was the interface intuitive and user-friendly? How badly did malware scans slow performance? How well did the program detect and remove malware? Does the program have any useful additional tools?
Most of our tests were performed on the same Asus X555LA laptop running 64-bit Windows 8.1 (later upgraded to Windows 10), with an Intel Core i3-4005U processor, 6GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive containing 36GB of files.
Some of our newer performance tests were done on a Lenovo ThinkPad T470 with a 2.5GHz Core i5-7200U processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of solid-state storage containing 43.3GB of files.
To assess a program’s impact on system speed on both Windows and macOS, we used our own custom tests, which measure how long a CPU takes to match 20,000 names and addresses on an OpenOffice or Excel spreadsheet. The longer it took the laptop to finish either test, the heavier the performance impact.
For malware-detection scores, we use the results of three independent testing labs: AV-TEST in Germany, AV-Comparatives in Austria and SE Labs in England. Each lab subjects the major antivirus brands’products to stress tests involving thousands of pieces of malware, including hundreds of previously unseen samples.
Editors’note: Why we still recommend Kaspersky
Kaspersky antivirus products have been banned from U.S. government agencies and U.S. defense contractors. Because the company is Russian and antivirus software can peer deep into a PC, using Kaspersky software would create an unacceptable risk for persons and organizations involved in national security and critical infrastructure.
However, we think Kaspersky software is perfectly safe for home users. We’ve seen no evidence to convince us otherwise. Kaspersky researchers are well respected throughout the antivirus industry, and the company has publicly exposed Russian cyberespionage campaigns as well as American ones.
