Security experts and consumers alike consider a variety of factors when choosing an antivirus program, apart from its protection capabilities. Cost impacts on systems compatibility, usability, and personal opinion regarding the practices of a company can all be important factors that influence the choice of an antivirus software.

Germany-based Avira is a great option for anyone looking for an antivirus suite with solid test results and the option of monthly billing. Avira’s antivirus program is renowned for its high scores across all categories. It also provides a number useful extras such as a password management tool. Avira’s scans have a light background effect and aren’t extremely resource-intensive. However, the speed decrease is quite significant at 53%, which is one of the heaviest in our tests.

Some of our top picks aren’t perfect. Kaspersky can slow down your system by as much as 53% thanks to its powerful background effect, while Avast is only slightly slower at 44%. Bitdefender, in contrast, comes with a great free version and an AV subscription solution that has excellent independent testing lab ratings. Its feature set is very extensive and includes an VPN, which helps it stand out from the rest of the pack.

F-Secure is the best-rated paid antivirus program. McAfee Total Protection and Trend Micro Internet Security are also highly reviewed. While Microsoft Defender, which is integrated into Windows 10 and 11, has a comparatively light post-installation background impact of 9 percent, it’s vulnerable to avast antivirus screensaver slowdowns that are severe during full system scans.