Definitive Best FREE Antivirus 2021

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello, 
  
This is the 2021 poll for best free anti-virus (aka anti-malware aka internet security aka endpoint security) security software.  
  
The poll for paid products is located here.  The poll for 2020's best free antivirus is located here. 
  
If your choice is not listed, please choose "other" and reply below with its name. 

 

This year the poll is multiple choice, so that you can select two (or more) choices.  If you do choose multiple options, please leave a comment with the ones you chose and why.  
  
Regards, 
  
Aryeh Goretsky 

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

 

It has been added.  Thanks for the suggestion!

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

  

14 hours ago, SnoopZ said:

Surely Bitdefender Free should be on the main list rather than classed as other considering it is well known compared to lots on the list I've never heard of?

 

Well I know not technically Free I use a Free 3 month trial of Bitdefender Total Security and just renew it every 3 months.

 

[SnoopZ]

Surely Bitdefender Free should be on the main list rather than classed as other considering it is well known compared to lots on the list I've never heard of?

 

Well I know not technically Free I use a Free 3 month trial of Bitdefender Total Security and just renew it every 3 months.

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

I don't use AV's anymore, but I did like Avast, AVG, and Malwarebytes.

[cork1958]

Used to like Bitdefender, when I did use an AV, but just stick with Defender now a days.

[TDT]

Why is Malwarebytes on this list? The free version is not real-time, only scan on demand, it really doesn't count as a true antivirus solutions in my opinion...

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

The free version of Malwarebytes Anti Malware is listed because it is regularly mentioned here on Neowin.  ClamWin does not have a real-time scanning component, either.

Keep in mind that none of the twenty applications listed in the poll—including the seven with the word "antivirus" in their name—are technically anti-virus applications.  Something like 93-97% of malicious computer programs encountered on a daily basis by security software are computer viruses (e.g., recursively-self-replicating programs whose children are also self-replicating and possibly evolved copies of that original program [the "classic" definition of a computer virus]). 

 

Most of the malicious software seen by security firms is non-replicating in nature and takes the form of agents, bots, multi-stage downloaders, trojan horses and all sorts of other things that if you knew what they did you wouldn't want them on your computer.

 

The use of terms like "antivirus" and "computer virus" are used solely because that is what the public is familiar with, and using the correct terms helps ensure that your product gets installed and/or purchased instead of one of your competitors' products.  So, the use of those two terms is specifically for marketing purposes only, and not meant to be an accurate description of what the product does or the types of threats it protects against.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

On 02/01/2021 at 21:34, TDT said:

Why is Malwarebytes on this list? The free version is not real-time, only scan on demand, it really doesn't count as a true antivirus solutions in my opinion...

 

[lissi88]

Pure malware and ransomware attacks, I've seen the BlackBerry protect solution work quite well - particular in air-gaped environment. The price can be quite steep and it needs a bit of configuration, but it successfully address zero days pre-execution.