10/08/2024

The Best Freeware Antivirus Software To Keep Your Data Safe

3 min read

Ah, imagine getting a pesky virus that you cannot just kill with antibiotics? It sucks, right? Well, it also sucks when your PC gets viruses and you have to sweat day and night to protect your data. Or, as a new customer, you pay a specialist to take care of everything for you. But just like going to the doctor after you get sick costs more, both financially and physically, so does taking care of your PC and data after you get it infected with a virus. In this day and age, it is so easy to protect yourself from unwanted malware and other forms of digital infections, that it would be really bad if you still haven’t taken any steps to do so.

Here are the best freeware antivirus programs you can download today.

Windows Defender

Given that you have it with Windows 10, which is the operating system most people use due to it simply being better than other versions of Windows, it is the obvious choice if you leave it on. It isn’t as comprehensive as other tools, for example, it lacks some features like website rating, vulnerability scans and behavior-based detection. This software only works if you have Windows 10, meaning a computer, in other words. For other devices, you’d need other software.

Avast Antivirus

Avast has been around for a while and has been one of the best free antivirus programs on the market. It is butting heads with Kaspersky, which is a very good thing. Two fierce competitors in a very saturated market make each other better on a daily basis.

Avast offers a plethora of tools to protect you, which comes in one package called the Avast Free Antivirus. You get anything from malware scans, to trojan and ransomware protection, not to mention a network security scan and a password manager. The last one is lacking a bit on the free version, but that is also understandable. Avast also offers products for mobile devices, so you don’t have to worry about those separately.

Kaspersky Antivirus

Coming from often wrongly accused Kaspersky’ Labs, this software destroyed recent tests scoring perfectly from four independent antivirus testing labs. It is one of the best tools on the market, but it is often tied to Russian government, with somewhat malicious claims from various people. This has never proven to be true, however, and Kaspersky remains one of the best free tools you can download to protect all of your devices, and not just your PC. While it lacks a password manager in the free version, it has everything you need to protect your devices from unwanted software.

There are plenty more free antivirus programs you can download like AVG Antivirus, BitDefender, Avira, or even MalwareBytes if you want to get specific about malware, but these 3 are the best ones, Windows Defender being a special case if you have Windows 10. Avast and Kaspersky remain the top two antivirus programs as they have been for a while now.