The 17 best free and paid antivirus programs for your PC, laptop or Windows 10 tablet in the UK in 2016. Best Antivirus reviews, tests and ratings. Best Windows antivirus for PC, laptop or tablet.
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 21 April 16
- Buy for £49.99
Avast produces an excellent free AV offering, giving nobody an excuse to lack protection on a PC. This commercial product is not quite such good value, lacking some of the features we've come to expect of premium suites. Backup and PC tune-up are missing or require an extra purchase.
Read our Avast Premier 2015 review.
16. ESET Smart Security 8
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 19 February 16
- Buy for £50 inc VAT (3 PCs, 1 year licence)
ESET Smart Security 8 is an efficient IS suite, though it doesn't have many of the extras which are now often standard issue. It's good at what it does and from our tests has a fairly light touch.
Read our ESET Smart Security 8 review.
15. Avira Internet Security Suite 2016
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 19 February 16
- Buy for £38.99
Avira Internet Security Suite 2015 is a good, solid IS suite with useful extras in the System Speedup app. Technically excellent, it loses a little for lack of any form of backup, but is still a good choice.
Read our Avira Internet Security Suite 2015 review.
14. ESET NOD32 Antivirus 8
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 28 May 16
- Buy for £45 inc VAT (3PCs, 1 year licence)
ESET NOD32 Antivirus is a sound antivirus product with some useful extras, though it’s a bit surprising anti-spam isn't included in the product. The software is easy to use and doesn't disrupt the normal function of a PC it’s running on. Technically, it's a strong contender, without being in the front rank.
Read our ESET NOD32 Antivirus 8 review.
13. Webroot Internet Security Plus 2016
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 25 February 16
- Buy for £37.49
It’s not possible to compare Webroot’s offering with the others in terms of AV efficacy, as we have no test results, but the company’s claim to scan fast and leave a light impression looks fair.
Read our Webroot Internet Security Plus 2015 review.
12. G Data Internet Security 2016
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 20 February 16
- Buy for £34.95
G-Data Internet Security 2015 is relatively inexpensive for a full-featured security suite. It's not the most successful at beating out web threats, but it is sufficiently good to be worth installing. A decent purchase, if not the best.
Read our G Data Internet Security 2015 review.
11. McAfee LiveSafe 2016
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 31 October 15
- Buy for £80 inc VAT (unlimited, personally owned devices, 1 year subscription)
If you run a couple of home Windows PCs, a Mac, a tablet and a smartphone, or a similar combination, McAfee LiveSafe 2015 is an economical way of protecting them all and providing anti-theft facilities on the mobile devices. While the feature set of the IS component of the package may lack back-up and PC tune-up, the power of its AV protection can't be denied.
Read our McAfee LiveSafe 2016 review.
10. AVG Free Antivirus 2016
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 5 October 15
- Buy for Free
AVG Free continues to be one of the best free antivirus programs you can download. It offers a good selection of key protections, though you do have to be careful to install the right product.
Read our AVG Free Antivirus 2016 review.
9. Avast Free Antivirus 2016
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 5 October 15
- Buy for Free
Avast Free Antivirus 2015 is one of the best free security products you can install. It offers a surprising range of free goodies, including application and browser app analysis and, separately, an excellent Android suite, covering AV and anti-theft. A better than average AV-Test rating completes a very impressive picture.
Read our Avast Free Antivirus 2015 review.
8. Panda Free Antivirus 2016
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 13 October 15
- Buy for Free
Panda is one of the leading antivirus providers and this free offering includes a couple of interesting extras. We were surprised at the time it took for both the initial and follow-up test scans, but its protection levels are sound and it’s very easy software to set up and forget.
Read our Panda Free Antivirus 2016 review.
7. Qihoo 360 Total Security 2016
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 26 November 15
- Buy for Free
If you want the extra features that Total Security 2016 offers over and above a plain free antivirus product, then Qihoo isn't a bad choice. And if you do install it, you should head straight into the settings and enable the Bitdefender scanner.
Read our Qihoo 360 Total Security 2016 review.
6. Trend Micro Internet Security 2015
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 24 February 15
- Buy for £42
With such a good performance and the lower asking price, Trend Internet Security 2015 represents very good value, even though it misses out on certain extras offered by some of its competition.
Read our Trend Micro Internet Security 2015 review.
5. BitDefender Antivirus Free Edition 2016
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 7 October 15
- Buy for Free
BitDefender Free Edition will suit a certain kind of user, one who just wants to install the software and let it do its job, without recourse to setup changes or manually scans. Since it has such a high protection score, it’s safe to do this, but if you prefer to have more hands-on control, you may find this approach frustrating.
Read our BitDefender Antivirus Free Edition 2016 review.
4. Avira Free Antivirus 2015
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 6 October 15
- Buy for Free
Overall, this is one of the best free AV applications you’re going to find. With perfect scores from AV-Test, a good range of facilities for a zero-cost suite and a well-designed interface which is easy to use and direct, Avira Free Antivirus 2015 is a great choice to protect your PCs.
Read our Avira Free Antivirus 2015 review.
3. Kaspersky Total Security 2015
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 16 December 14
- Buy for £42 inc VAT (3 PCs, 1 year)
A three-device, full protection IS suite for under £50 is good value and when that includes cover on all the major platforms, it should be flexible enough for most. Kaspersky Total Security 2015’s technical strength can’t be faulted, with only Avira Anti Virus Pro matching it in the AV-Test group.
Read our Kaspersky Total Security 2015 review.
2. Bitdefender Internet Security 2015
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 7 April 15
- Buy for £40 inc VAT (3 PC, 1 year licence)
This is one of the very best AV suites available, in terms of outright protection against malware. It's also very good at not throwing up false warnings, but there are other products offering more auxiliary modules for the money.
Read our Bitdefender Internet Security 2015 review.
1. Symantec Norton Security with Backup
- Rating:
- Reviewed on: 23 February 15
- Buy for £60
Offering excellent value with 10 licences to cover all your devices, Norton Security with Backup also offers a strong feature set and very good protection from viruses and other malware. Recommended.
Read our Symantec Norton Security with Backup review.
Source PCADVISOR