Best Antivirus Software for 2020
Did you know that the global cybercrime damages are predicted to cost up to $6 trillion dollars annually by 2021?
Having an excellent antivirus software is the only way to guarantee complete digital protection. We reviewed and ranked 50+ premium antivirus suites from the biggest names in cybersecurity, so you can get the very best antivirus protection for yourself and those you love.
Overall Rating: 4.9/5
5/5
#1 Bitdefender
- Trusted by 500M+ users around the world
- Biggest security infrastructure on the globe
- Award-winning malware protection
- Zero system slowdowns
- 32 Times Editors’ Choice Award Winner – PC Mag
- User-friendly interface
- Automatic real-time updates
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Temporary Discount ends soon (60% off)
Editors’ Choice
“Excellent”
50% OFF
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Overall Rating: 4.8/5
4.6/5
#2 McAfee
- Trusted by millions of users worldwide
- Flawless malware detection
- Minimal impact on system
- Identity Theft Protection
- Automatic real-time updates
- 30-day money-back guarantee
“Very Good”
40% OFF
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Overall Rating: 4.6/5
4.6/5
#3 Kaspersky
- Protects 400 million users worldwide
- Popular cybersecurity company
- Good malware detection
- Little impact on system
- 30-day money-back guarantee
“Very Good”
30% OFF
30-day money-back guarantee
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
4.5/5
#4 BullGuard
- Trusted by 53M+ users around the world
- Good anti-malware protection
- Very little impact on system
- Complete identity protection
- Money-back guarantee
“Very Good”
40% OFF
30-day money-back guarantee
Overall Rating: 4.4/5
4.5/5
#5 Avast
- Trusted and well-known brand
- Solid anti-malware protection
- Good malware detection
- Comprehensive feature-set
- 30-day mMoney-back guarantee
“Good”
20% OFF
30-day money-back guarantee
Why is Bitdefender the best antivirus software for 2020?
Bitdefender is a global cybersecurity leader protecting over 500 million systems in more than 150 countries.
Bitdefender routinely gets perfect or near-perfect scores on all the independent labs evaluations and is currently the top antivirus software recommendation on all the big tech magazines, including Toms Guide, PCMag and TechRadar.
Also, Bitdefender owns the biggest security infrastructure on the globe and has had the best malware detection rate in the industry for the past 5 years, which is an incredible feat.
In the recent AV-Test evaluations, Bitdefender demonstrated 100% protection rate against both zero-day and widespread malware, getting a full 6/6 score by the experts in the Protection category.
Due to its minimal impact on system performance, it did exceptionally well on the AV-Test performance test as well, bagging another perfect score.
Besides protection and performance, Bitdefender offers some of the most advanced features as part of its premium security suites, such as:
- Advanced parental controls to keep your kids safe online
- Multi-layered ransomware protection to keep your files safe
- Complete web protection for online banking / shopping activities
- Excellent firewall to protect your network
- File encryption tool
- Home network protection
- Complete online privacy through a Secure VPN
- Webcam & Microphone protection
- Full-blown password manager
- Anti-Theft utility
How Well Did McAfee Perform?
McAfee scored a 5.5/6 score in the recent AV-Test protection tests, which is a good score but not perfect.
In the performance test, however, McAfee also scored a full 6 out of 6 rating.
How Well Did Kaspersky Do?
Kaspersky’s protection score was 5.5/6, which is a good score but not quite as good as Bitdefender’s.
In the performance test, Kaspersky fared exceptionally well and got a perfect score.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How we test antivirus products?
We make sure that you make a well-informed decision in choosing the most suitable antivirus software for yourself and your family. That’s why we comprehensively assess each antivirus product using thorough investigation and test evaluations from renowned independent organizations.Our expert comparison guides are detailed, extensively researched, and evaluate different antivirus products (2 in each comparison) on six essential metrics:
- Features
Product features such as malware protection technologies such, system performance and enhancement utilities, cloud data storage options and devices protected per license.
- Malware Protection
We use evaluations from popular independent testing organizations to compare which antivirus has better antivirus protection capabilities such as AV-TEST Institute and AV-Comparatives.
- System Performance
Here as well, we use independent test evaluations from the AV-TEST Institute and AV-Comparatives, to assess an antivirus software’s effect on a system’s performance considering launch, download, and installation of standard software as well as frequently used applications and download of popular websites.
- User Friendliness
This is a test where we examine what antivirus brand has a better user interface. This comparison takes into account factors like design, intuitiveness, user-friendliness, customization features, and ease of navigation.
- Pricing
Pricing is an important factor and we compare the pricing plans of different antivirus suites to see which company offers more value for your money.
- Customer Satisfaction
We believe that, in our comparisons, it isn’t fair to leave out what the current customer base of a company thinks. So we compare customer feedback ratings to gauge which company provides better customer support. we obtain these ratings from independent customer feedback collecting websites including the Better Business Bureau, Consumeraffairs.com and G2.
What is an antivirus (or anti-malware) software?
Antivirus (or anti-malware) software is a program (one tool) or a set of applications (multi-layered) specifically designed to search for, detect, prevent and remove virus infection or malicious software from individual devices, networks, and IT systems.
Malicious software or malware comes in many forms, such as key-loggers, Trojan horses, worms, spyware, adware, ransomware, browser hijackers, rootkits, and botnets.
Antivirus software use different functionalities and tools to protect your computers these threats through the following processes:
- Scan specific files or directories for any signs of malware or known malicious patterns.
- Allow customs scheduling for scans to run automatically at your preferred time.
- Allow you to start a scan of a particular file, removable media or your entire system, any time you want.
- Remove any malicious codes detected on your system – automatically or with your consent depending upon the type of file or program.
- Alert you to any suspicious websites or programs trying to make changes to other applications’ settings
- Keep you notified about the overall health of your computer
Who needs antivirus software?
Anyone who uses removable media (USB keys, CDs, DVDs, Memory cards) or connects to the internet regularly needs to have proper antivirus protection.
We have referred to this information in our guides, and we quote it here as well because this is important to understand. Most modern-day malware can frequently change code to avoid detection by antivirus software. Only premium antivirus products come equipped with advanced tools to identify this type of coding.
Where such threats exist, protection becomes necessary for anybody who’s exposed to them.
Why should I pay for antivirus software?
The antivirus technology has become so advanced that it can provide security against the types of malware that haven’t even been discovered. This does not happen without extensive research and development costs, expert heads bending over their desks to create genius solutions and millions of hours’ worth of time.
When such software is designed, it comes packed with the most advanced features, top-of-the-line protection mechanisms, real-time monitoring, multilayered protection, and – hear this – constantly evolving detection algorithms.
Isn’t this the kind of protection you’d like for yourself and your loved ones? Compare all that to the cost you have to pay on a monthly or yearly basis, and you won’t question the excellent value for money you get in return.
How does an antivirus software work?
There are three main malware detection methods, and most advanced antivirus software use a combination of two or all of them.
Signature-based Detection – “Signatures” are strings of data that are typical of known malware samples, also called “malware definitions.” The antivirus software stores these signatures on your device or cloud and uses them to identify and block malicious programs that have already been discovered and analyzed by security experts.
Heuristic-based Detection – This method uses algorithms to compare and analyze known malware signatures against potential threats. This technique enables antivirus software to identify disguised, modified, and even undiscovered viruses.
Behavior-based Detection – This detection method analyzes a program’s behavior for suspicious activity to gauge its malicious intent. For instance, if an application attempts to execute unauthorized actions such as deleting large amounts of data, monitoring keystrokes, changing settings of other programs, establishing a remote connection to another computer.
Best Antivirus Suite for 2020
1) Bitdefender Total Security 2020 (new)
Bitdefender Total Security 2019 is a high-end security suite that includes all the advanced security-related features and utilities you can expect to find in a full-fledged antivirus package. Plus, independent lab tests prove that it offers top-of-the-line malware protection with very minimal impact on system performance.
You can protect up to five devices (PCs, Macs, Android or iOS) with a single license of the suite.
Editors’ Choice
“Excellent”
5/5
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