For example, the paid editions of Adaware and ZoneAlarm add protection against malicious and fraudulent websites the free versions lack. After all, it's your business's security on the line.Įven for personal use, most for-pay antivirus tools offer more than their free counterparts-sometimes a lot more. At that point, you should probably consider upgrading to a full security suite. If you want to protect your business, you must pony up for the paid edition. If free antivirus tools are so good, why should anybody pay? For one thing, many of these products are free only for noncommercial use. But at least for now, we're removing Kaspersky products from our 'Best for' lists. We've left the reviews in place, with a warning, since they provide useful information.

The FCC labeled Kaspersky a national security risk.Īfter consideration, we can no longer recommend you purchase Kaspersky security products, or even use them for free. Governments and third parties are cutting ties with Kaspersky. However, the current war in Ukraine has raised the stakes. We at PCMag always focused on the capabilities of the products, not on the brouhaha around the company. Here's why.įor years, Kaspersky has faced accusations and censure based on its Russian origins, though none of the accusations have come backed by hard evidence of malicious behavior. Unfortunately, we can't recommend it anymore. Kaspersky's antivirus prowess generally awes the independent testing labs, who routinely assign it perfect or near-perfect ratings. Kaspersky Free is the free anchor for the new Kaspersky line the not-free Kaspersky Standard, Plus, and Premium all build on the same antivirus engine.

Read on for thumbnails of our full reviews, followed by details how we evaluate free antivirus software and how to choose the right one. And since they’re free, you can try several before settling on your favorite. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus - was £39.99, now £24.99īelieve it or not, some of these freebies even beat all but the best for-pay equivalents.McAfee® Total Protection - was £99.99/year, now £39.99/year.Bitdefender Total Security - was £74.99, now £34.99.Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security Software.

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