Search

For most people, we recommend sticking with your operating system’s built-in antivirus. Both Microsoft Defender and XProtect provide effective real-time malware protection. Combined with some common-sense strategies for staying safe online, these tools can protect you from most malware and some other online threats. We recommend AVG for free, multilayered cybersecurity protection. AVG Free Antivirus includes real-time malware protection, easy scan scheduling and helpful device optimization tools. You can also get the AVG Secure Browser for free, which blocks various types of trackers to protec

In our 2026 testing, we were impressed with how the competition improved, making it a tight race.  Bitdefender earned an Editors’ Choice award as the best antivirus for the second year in a row, thanks to its consistently low resource usage and excellent security scores from third-party testing labs. But in 2026, the competition heated up thanks to Malwarebytes making major strides since our 2025 tests. The biggest difference for most people is the better value of Bitdefender’s family plans, which cover 25 devices instead of Malwarebytes’ 20 devices. Malwarebytes impressed me with its low reso

Microsoft Defender is the best Windows antivirus software for most folks, offering all of the basics you need -- strong real-time protection, manual scans and automated scans. Furthermore, Microsoft Defender is free and automatically enabled, so you don’t need to install or configure anything. Bitdefender is the most intuitive antivirus software for Windows. Its straightforward interface lets you easily perform various cybersecurity tasks, including scheduling scans. Bitdefender’s other cybersecurity tools, like its browser safety extension, are equally simple and can keep you safe from many d