The best antivirus software for Windows 10 in 2024

The best antivirus software for Windows 10 can help protect your PC from cyber attacks while preventing malware from stealing sensitive data stored on your computer.

While Windows Defender has improved a lot over the years, you may still want extra protection for your computer and that’s where the best antivirus software comes into play. In addition to protecting your PC from malware and other viruses, some antivirus programs can “roll back” files that have been encrypted by ransomware. Meanwhile, others include advanced protection to stop phishing emails, malicious links, fileless malware, or boot sector infections. However, these antivirus programs do not offer the same level of protection as best internet security suites which often include a vpn, password manager and other additional security software.

We have extensively tested and reviewed the best Windows 10 antivirus software to see how well these programs can protect your PC. However, we have also examined their impact on system performance and what you should pay for the features contained in each of the programs listed below.

The quick list

Below you’ll find everything you need to know about the best antivirus software for Windows 10 at a glance. Whether you’re looking for the best protection out there or an antivirus program with lots of useful extras, there’s something here for every budget.

The best antivirus for Windows 10 you can buy today

The best antivirus for Windows 10 overall

If you want some extra features with one of the best Windows 10 antivirus programs, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus offers a lot for its low price, which ranges from $40 per year for a single PC to $80 for 10 machines.

There’s an unlimited password manager, a secure browser with an on-screen keyboard for online banking and shopping, a file shredder, and web privacy software.

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus also includes a VPN, but it’s limited to 200MB per day unless you pay more. However, there are no parental controls. Still, the program is easy to use, its malware detection track record is excellent, and it also gets rid of ransomware and protects against rootkits and fileless malware.

Read our fullBitdefender Antivirus Plus Review or save with our Bitdefender Coupon Codes

Best Windows 10 antivirus for protection

If you want the best antivirus protection for Windows 10, Kaspersky Anti-Virus should be your first choice. No other antivirus software brand matches its near-impeccable track record in third-party lab testing.

The company’s basic package, Kaspersky Anti-Virus, covers up to three Windows PCs for $60 per year, or up to five for $80, although you’ll often get half off for the first year.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus doesn’t offer many of you the extra conveniences you’ll find in more expensive security suites. There are no parental controls, the password manager only has 15 entries, and the VPN service is limited to 300 MB per day. (You can pay more to get unlimited versions of them.)

But Kaspersky Anti-Virus gives you exactly what you need: dedicated protection against encrypted ransomware, a filter against phishing emails, browser extensions to strengthen web security, and a security scanner for your home Wi-Fi network.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus also offers protection against “stalkerware” or spyware that the company is implementing in all of its antivirus products.

Read our full Kaspersky Antivirus Review.

The best Windows 10 antivirus for its functions

Norton sells nine different antivirus packages, but here we’ll focus on the two cheapest ones. Norton AntiVirus Plus protects a PC or Mac for $60 a year, but comes with a two-way firewall, an unlimited password manager, backup software, and 2GB of online storage.

The next tier, Norton 360 Standard, puts you in Internet security suite territory by adding an unlimited VPN, webcam protection, dark web scans for your personal information, and 10GB of online storage. However, at $85 per year for a single PC. , may be a little expensive for some customers. Other brands cover up to 10 PCs for that price.

On the plus side, Norton’s track record in finding and removing malware is second only to Kaspersky’s. If you don’t mind paying a premium price for an entry-level antivirus package, or if you were planning on paying for a VPN or password manager separately, you could do a lot worse.

Read our fullNorton AntiVirus Plus Review or save with our Norton Coupon Codes

The best antivirus for Windows 10 in terms of performance

Compared to other Windows 10 antivirus programs, ESET NOD32 Antivirus is like a street racing hot rod: light, cheap, fast and effective, but with a few extra bells and whistles.

It has the least drag on system performance of any paid antivirus product we’ve seen, removes malware like the best of them, and has a unique per-device pricing structure that ensures you don’t pay more than you have to.

Additional ESET features are found under the hood. It scans the boot sector of a PC, searches the memory and Registry for hidden malware and also blocks known malicious websites. But if you’re looking for easy-to-use perks like a password manager, VPN, or firewall, you’d be better off looking elsewhere.

Read our fullESET NOD32 Antivirus Review.

Best Windows 10 antivirus for multiple computers

McAfee AntiVirus Plus is a bargain among Windows 10 antivirus programs if you have a lot of computers and smartphones to protect. For $60 per year, you can cover up to 10 devices running Windows, Mac, Android, or iOS, and McAfee doesn’t mind if you add a few more.

Windows users get a file shredder, ransomware rollback, firewall, and protective browser extensions. McAfee AntiVirus, without the “Plus,” offers the same features to a single Windows PC for $40 a year.

McAfee’s malware protection hasn’t always been the best in lab tests, but it has improved a lot. The only major drawbacks today are a severe system slowdown during active malware scans, plus the fact that you can’t stop the collection of threat data from your PC if you choose not to have it.

Read our fullMcAfee AntiVirus Plus Review.

Best antivirus for Windows 10 on a budget

Trend Micro scores very well in some lab tests, but its Antivirus+ Security suite is even more spartan than ESET’s among Windows 10 antivirus programs. For $40 per year for a PC, you get a game mode, a web browser secure online banking, ransomware rollback, and an email filter to protect against phishing attempts.

The downsides are that you will see quite a bit of system slowdown during the scans, so be sure to run them outside of business hours. You may also get a lot of false positives or benign items marked as suspicious, which may indicate that Trend Micro’s malware detection engine is a little too fine-tuned.

Read our fullTrend Micro Antivirus+ Security Review.

How to choose the best antivirus for Windows 10 for you

As with other types of software, you should choose Windows 10 antivirus programs based on your needs and budget. The best bang for your buck is Bitdefender Antivirus Plus as it’s quite affordable and has an unlimited password manager, file shredder, and its own secure browser.

If you have more money to spend and only one PC to protect, you may want to consider Norton AntiVirus Plus or Norton 360 Standard. Both give you access to an unlimited password manager and Standard adds unlimited VPN and monitoring of personal information on the dark web.

If you need to cover Macs and Android devices in addition to Windows 10 machines, McAfee AntiVirus Plus can meet your needs at an affordable price: $60 covers 10 devices. However, McAfee’s malware defenses are not as good as those of Norton, Bitdefender or Kaspersky.

To get the best antivirus software for Mac or the best antivirus apps for Android as part of a package, you often need to upgrade to mid-range antivirus software, if not premium tiers.

Of course, if you just want to keep your PC free of malware, Kaspersky Anti-Virus is the best option. It doesn’t do much more than block malware, phishing emails, and dodgy websites, but it does these things better than the rest.

How we test the best Windows 10 antivirus programs

We evaluate each Windows 10 antivirus program on this list based on its interface, performance, protection, and additional features.

Was the program intuitive and easy to use? Did malware scans significantly slow down system performance? Was it effective in detecting and removing new and old malware? Does the program come with other useful tools?

Our tests were carried out in a Lenovo ThinkPad T470 with a 2.5 GHz Core i5-7200U processor, 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of solid state storage containing 43.3 GB of files.

To measure the impact of each program on system performance, we use our custom Excel test that measures how long it takes a PC to match 20,000 names and addresses in a spreadsheet. The longer the task takes, the more the system will be affected.

For malware detection performance, we refer to the results of tests carried out by three independent laboratories: AV TEST in Germany, AV Comparatives in Austria and SE Laboratories In England.

Each lab periodically puts leading antivirus programs through stress tests that include thousands of pieces of malware, as well as hundreds of “zero-day” samples that the software has to learn to recognize.

For even more information, see our guide on how we test antivirus software and apps and our more general page on how we test Jugo Mobile.