Best Antivirus 2026: A Tight Race, but Two Providers Lead the Pack

Your entire life depends on the security of your devices, which makes it important to choose the right antivirus. If you choose antivirus software bundled with other services like identity monitoring, it is even more crucial to ensure that you are signing up for quality services. When choosing the right software, consider things like effectiveness, efficiency, user-friendliness, and the quality of other cybersecurity tools you can get with your antivirus. You’ll also want to select an antivirus that offers protection for all the devices you use.

Efficiency

Every antivirus company will tell you that their software can block viruses, ransomware, and other forms of malware, but that doesn’t mean you should take their word for it. The best antivirus companies subject their programs to regular testing by third-party laboratories like AV-Test or AV Comparatives.

You should be able to find tests conducted within the last six months, and the company you’re considering should have high rankings for protection and performance in these tests. The antivirus companies on our main list have very strong tests performed by at least two third-party labs going back two years or more.

System resource usage

Your antivirus is constantly running in the background, so you want to make sure it won’t interfere with your ability to use your device. The percentage of CPU power used by any program will depend on the resources available on your computer, but you can get a rough idea of ​​resource usage by reading how-to reviews. I looked for CPU usage of 5% or less when compiling this list, with most programs accounting for less than 1% CPU usage.

Scanning your device will use more resources, but some antivirus tools, like Bitdefender, use less than 10% of CPU power for scans. Others, like Norton, can use up to 40% of CPU power to ensure fast scans. I generally don’t recommend antivirus software that uses more than 40% of CPU power during scans, especially if they take more than 10 minutes to run. That’s why I recommended McAfee for its online data management tools rather than its antivirus, which used up to 80% of my CPU power during scans.

Protection for all your devices

Most of us own multiple devices using different operating systems. You can have a Windows PC and an Android phone, or an iPhone and a MacOS computer. You might even have devices using all of these operating systems if you need one ecosystem for work and prefer another for personal use. Make sure your antivirus supports all operating systems you plan to install it on.

Additionally, you’ll need to be careful about the number of devices covered by the antivirus you’re considering, as there are often strict limits. Some providers, like McAfee, offer unlimited device allowances, while others offer coverage of three to 10 devices on individual plans and 20 to 25 devices on family plans.

Bundled Services

Many antivirus companies now offer cybersecurity suites with additional tools like browser security extensions, dark web monitoring, and privacy monitoring. Some, like Bitdefender and Malwarebytes, offer plans with identity theft protection and insurance. Look for a plan that includes all the privacy and security tools (or as many of them as possible) you need to feel comfortable using the Internet, without having to keep track of multiple accounts and bills.

Note: Most antivirus companies also offer VPNs, but it’s a feature we don’t recommend considering in the plan you choose. VPNs from antivirus-focused companies typically lack important privacy features and result in significant speed loss. In other words, these tools not only fail to hide your identity, but they also make it difficult to take action online.

As an alternative to groupingyou can go the a la carte route, getting antivirus from one company, then get your VPN, password manager, identity theft protection and data deletion services separately.

Confidentiality

To be effective, antivirus tools must track a considerable amount of data about your device activity. So you will have to trust the company to protect your data. Ideally, this involves taking steps to anonymize your information. The company should also have detailed privacy policies explaining when it will share your data, what data it will share, and what types of companies it will share your data with. Additionally, how antivirus companies cooperate with legal requests from government agencies should be clearly stated in the privacy policy.

Notably, one area where most antivirus vendors fail to respect privacy is their VPN policies. Almost every antivirus VPN I’ve tested claims to have a no-logging policy, but most of them lack transparency reports or public audits, key trust signals we look for to prove the effectiveness of a VPN’s no-logging policy. We recommend purchasing one of our Trusted VPNs for stronger privacy protections.

Customer service

Your antivirus company should have a large, self-service knowledge base where you can find tutorials for performing basic tasks and solving simple problems. If you’re a visual learner, you may want to look for a company that includes lots of images and videos in its knowledge base, like Bitdefender or Norton.

You’ll also need 24/7 access to customer support representatives via your preferred method of communication. Every antivirus company I tested offers it via live chat, with some companies (including Bitdefender) also providing 24/7 phone support.

Cost and discounts

Many antivirus companies offer introductory discounts on some or all of their packages, with some saving you $100 or more in the first year. These savings are significant, but it’s important to take note of the renewal cost so you don’t experience shock when you receive your bill at the end of that first year.

If you have multiple devices, you will also need to factor that into your cost. Companies like Malwarebytes charge extra to cover additional devices (with Malwarebytes specifically having a default limit of three devices for most of its plans), while companies like Norton force you to pay for the more expensive plans if you own more than five devices. Of all the antivirus tools I tested, McAfee is the only one that offers no device limits or additional fees for exceeding a specific number of devices.

Problems with Avast

Avast Antivirus has been the gold standard in antivirus tools for many years and still receives high protection scores from AV-Test. Unfortunately, the Federal Trade Commission fined Avast $16.5 million in 2024, settling accusations that Avast sold customer data to more than 100 third parties between 2014 and 2020. This data was allegedly collected through its Safe Browsing extensions and antivirus software and then sold through Jumpshot, an Avast subsidiary.

Avast shut down Jumpshot in 2020 after comments from then-CEO Ondřej Vlček about how these actions led to a loss of trust. It’s been a few years now, and we believe in it and hope that the FTC’s actions will mean that there will be no more Jumpshot-like activities and that Avast will return to glory as one of the best antivirus software options. But we haven’t retested Avast in recent years, so we recommend using one of the many other solid choices we’ve reviewed.

Problems with Kaspersky

Kaspersky Lab is a Moscow-based cybersecurity company that produces popular antivirus software for businesses and individuals. However, in June 2024, the federal government banned Kaspersky from directly or indirectly selling cybersecurity software or services in the United States or to American citizens.

Gina Raimondo, the Commerce Secretary at the time this decision was made, said that “Russia has repeatedly shown that it has the capability and intent to exploit Russian companies, like Kaspersky Lab, to collect and use sensitive U.S. information, and we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to protect U.S. national security and the American people.” »

Kaspersky released its own statement that it “does not engage in activities that threaten the national security of the United States and, in fact, has made significant contributions in reporting and protecting against a variety of threat actors that targeted U.S. interests and allies.” Despite this, the ban remains in force. Although our antivirus reviewer is Canadian, most of our audience resides in the United States. Therefore, reviewing Kaspersky is not an efficient use of our resources.