Best free antivirus (and more)

Don’t want to pay for a security suite? No problem: here, we round up the best free options and extra tools to keep you safe

We’ve exclusively reviewed paid products in the main group test, but it’s important to recognise that all the results we publish for protection would be identical if we were reviewing the free antivirus offerings. That’s because the malware detection engines used in antivirus products are invariably the same across the entire range, with only extra features – such as firewalls, VPNs, password managers and system cleanup tools – being added as price tiers increase. Here, we round up not only the best free antivirus software choices but also the best free options for on-demand scanning and single file testing. RUNNER-UP Microsoft Defender Antivirus The real-time antivirus that ships with Windows PCs (see p92) provides genuinely effective protection against malware. Test results show that, despite Microsoft’s access to a vast pool…

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PC Pro (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 2025

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