What are the best free antivirus 2023?

If we follow the news, we are aware that not a week goes by without news faults are not discovered. If they were not necessarily all exploited by malicious people, it nevertheless becomes increasingly dangerous and unwise to navigate on Internet without effective protection. There is indeed a number of threats very important and getting infected can happen in many different ways: by wandering on web pages, by opening the attached file of a fraudulent email, by downloading programs from risky sites, etc.

Microsoft understood this well since the last version of his operating system includes directly Windows Defender, which provides adequate protection against a number of threats, but remains insufficient. The informed user must therefore have a anti-virus to have total and complete protection.

Among these anti-virus, some are free and the user can legitimately wonder about their effectiveness. This is why ABSMARTHEALTH offers you a selection of the best free antivirus and presents the main characteristics of each of them.

Free and paid antivirus: what difference?

To answer this question, it is necessary to evoke the economic model of the antivirus publishers. Indeed, in the majority of cases, a free antivirus is a light version of the paid antivirus from the same publisher. Publishers therefore need to balance user satisfaction by providing effective protection and fairly complete, and the incentive to buy their full product afterwards. This balance is often found in the range of essential functions of an antivirus, in the free version, while revealing secondary functions, but all the same useful, which will appear as "To be unlocked" on the interface of the antivirus .

To sum up, the best free antiviruses offer excellent quality protection in the vast majority of domains, but you will need to “upgrade” the free version to access all the functionalities and all the protection domains.

Selection of the best free antivirus to download

AVAST ANTIVIRUS FREE

Avast is one of the market leaders in antivirus and claims 400 million users. As such, it can boast of having received multiple awards in recent years and continues to constantly refine the quality of its services.

The protection offered by Avast Free Antivirus concerns several types of potential dangers:
– it blocks software malicious, including virus and the spyware who are trying to break into your computer when browsing the internet
– it protects the user's e-mail by stopping the sending or receiving of potentially infected emails
– it offers the essential functions of monitoring files and analyzing programs that try to run by blocking those it deems suspicious. On this point, we note, moreover, that it is enriched by a function "Suspicious functions agent". It's not just looking for malware in applications, but also analyzes their behavior to ensure that they do not suddenly become harmful
– it can be configured to block Windows pop-up or installing unwanted add-ons.
– The module " Wireless Inspector ”, on the other hand, allows you to look for possible security vulnerabilities in your Wi-Fi network.

Its use is excessively simple: just one click to launch the Smart Scan analysis which establishes in less than 5 minutes the overall assessment of the state of your computer, and another click to remedy the problems detected. A much deeper, but longer, full scan is also possible and will check the entire contents of the computer.

Experienced users are not left out as many parameters can be configured for more personalized use. Avast Free Antivirus also offers add-ons that improve the overall security of your computer. Thus, Software Updater verifies that the user has the latest version of the software he is using and downloads them automatically if necessary. Indeed, the malware use vulnerabilities in older versions to try to infect the computer.

Finally, the latest version of Avast Free Antivirus also sees its "Do not disturb" function improved (formerly called "Game Mode"). Thanks to this, the user can now be sure of no longer being interrupted by notifications or pop-ups when he spends time on his favorite game, which he watches Netflix or present his PowerPoint in full screen.

If he decides to opt for the paid version, the user then unlocks the following modules:
– "Real Site" to avoid counterfeit sites
– "Sandbox" to Review files virtually
– " Firewall "
– "Anti-ransomware agent", ransomware being malware encrypting the data of a person who will have to pay a ransom to access it again
– "File shredder" to delete files securely
– " VPN SecureLine "for anonymous browsing
– "Agent Webcam »To block access to your webcam
– "AntiTrack Premium" to avoid being tracked for advertising purposes
– "Sensitive data agent".
Avast Free Antivirus is available for Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10.

AVIRA FREE ANTIVIRUS

Avira is another giant in the IT security market. The company says its software blocks an average of 8.4 million attacks daily. Its antivirus has won numerous awards (better real-time protection and better malware protection for 2025).

When it comes to IT security, Avira Free Antivirus acts in several ways:
– Its complete and effective antivirus offers real-time protection against malware and all online threats
– "Brower Safety" prevents the user from accessing dangerous websites, eliminates cookies Navigator and intrusive ads
– "health home Guard" ensures that the user's network does not have a fault, in which case it remedies it
– "Software Updater" allows you to permanently benefit from the latest version of your software and drivers

In addition, it uses cloud protection when it finds itself in front of an unknown file, that is to say it will to scan by comparing it to the files of millions of users in its database. The free antivirus does not contain web and email protection, these protections are part of the paid offer. This is only a problem if the user navigates to dubious sites, or opens the attached files and the links contained in these emails, without being a minimum vigilant.

An excellent point for Avira compared to most of its competitors is that it is not resource intensive, saving your computer from untimely slowdowns. Avira Free Antivirus offers to launch specific scans that can be configured: fast, full scan, scan of disks, folders, removable drives, etc. As for the additional modules, it offers Password Manager which allows you to define a password main. It will serve as a reference for all your other passwords which will become encrypted.

Finally, note the presence of Free Phantom VPN which allows you to browse in an untraceable and anonymous way, but which is limited to 500 MB in the free version.

Avira Free Antivirus is available on PC and on Mac. There is also an app of the same name for mobile devices Android and iOS.

KASPERSKY SECURITY CLOUD FREE

Kaspersky has always been considered one of the best, if not the best antivirus. Until 2017, the publisher did not offer a free version because it could rely on a solid reputation for excellence in the field of computer security. But the Russian publisher, banned from the American market because of suspicion of espionage and against a backdrop of political tensions between Russia and the United States, had to modify its commercial strategy to attract new users.

Kaspersky Security Cloud Free focuses only on the essential functions of an antivirus. But he did it brilliantly since he obtained the maximum score for the three criteria taken into account in the antivirus tests.

Thus, Kaspersky Security Cloud Free presents itself as an antivirus analysis and cleaning software protecting PC and mobile devices against viruses, infected files and dangerous or suspicious applications. As its name suggests, it uses cloud technology to offer real-time protection and the possibility of analyzing the computer to detect malware, but also to serenely browse the internet and monitoring all the services of instant messaging and emails.

Most notable is that it uses few resources to achieve these results, therefore the user never feels the impact of the antivirus on the speed working from his computer. In summary, Kaspersky offers the basic functions that one would expect from an antivirus at an unequaled level of quality.

By choosing the paid version Kaspersky Security Cloud Personal (free 30-day trial), the user then has access to the following functions:
– A secure and anonymous connection via a VPN (the free version is limited to 200 MB)
– Password manager synchronizing across all devices
– An anti-tracking tool that prevents social media and sites to recover the user's personal data
– The possibility of verifying that all the accounts used on the web have not been compromised
– Network monitoring with notification when someone tries to connect to it
– Bank protection to secure online purchases
– Cleaning and optimizing the PC by removing all that is unnecessary.

Kaspersky Cloud Security Free is available on PC (Windows 7 or later) and on mobile devices (Android, iOS).

PANDA FREE ANTIVIRUS

The Spanish publisher, Panda Security, offers a very effective free antivirus with very useful secondary features.

Indeed, in terms of threat detection, Panda Free Antivirus has quite simply obtained the maximum score of 6/6 given by the AV-Review Review center. It's easy, it displays the best detection results among all the free antiviruses, it is the only one that succeeded in the Review to block 100% of threats! Until recently, the downside of this exceptional performance was that it was quite resource intensive and could slow down the computer in certain situations. Now, like some of its competitors, the software performs its analyzes in the cloud. The user therefore no longer feels his presence.

In terms of content, Panda Free Antivirus has the basic functions of any antivirus, that is to say real-time protection against all malware with manual or scheduled analysis as well as an extension for Internet browsers most used and protection USB to prevent infection through a USB stick. To this must be added interesting additional tools, such as the Process monitoring which shows in detail the programs running and displays those which it cannot identify or which are not authorized.

In the event of a large infection, there are also tools like the Rescue Kit to create a USB key used to reset the computer or the Cloud Cleaner which cleans up files that could not have been scanned otherwise. A free VPN is included, but limited to 150 MB per day.

Finally, gamers will be delighted to note the existence of a Multimedia / games mode which prevents the untimely appearance of windows of the antivirus while continuing to provide efficient protection.

Several subscriptions exist for users who want more complete protection: Essential at 2.99 € / month, Advanced at 3.99 € / month, Complete at 5.99 € / month and Premium at 9.99 € / month.

Depending on the formula chosen, the following options will be activated:
– Protection of the Wi-Fi network
– Parental control to manage the use of internet and applications
– Protection of identity and personal data when shopping online
– Protection against ransomware
– Encryption of sensitive files
– Password manager
– Cleanup Tool to optimize device performance
– Unlimited VPN for secure and anonymous browsing.

Panda Free Antivirus is available on PC. On Mac, you must at least subscribe to the Essential offer to benefit from protection.

AVG FREE ANTIVIRUS

AVG, a Czech publisher, was bought in 2016 by Avast and there is no doubt that this structural change quickly benefited it. It now benefits from the same level of quality as its parent company in terms of threat detection and the impact of its operation on computer performance.

AVG had been criticized in the past for its policy of confidentiality deemed too intrusive in terms of the personal data of its users, but it had to comply with the new European legislation of May 2018 (GDPR). There no longer seems to be any reason not to use this excellent free antivirus.

The software uses few resources, its impact on the speed of operation of the computer is not visible. In addition, virus base updates are also done in real time, providing very reactive and proactive protection. Its interface is simple, easy to use and displays the level of user protection on the screen.

Its use is very simple, even for beginners. Once installed, the first analysis is done in one click and reveals threats from browsers, viruses and malware.

Once the pre-existing problems are resolved, AVG Free Antivirus offers effective real-time protection against malware, in particular by scanning all files added to the PC, links, attachments and miscellaneous downloads which are immediately blocked by AVG Resident Shield in case of danger.

In addition, AVG Free Antivirus indicates the presence of other potentially problematic elements such as unprotected sensitive data, a hackable webcam, a firewall too basic to block hackers on public networks or the possibility of manipulating waiters DNS to redirect the user to bogus sites.

If the existence of these problems is reported, the user must opt ​​for the full version of the software (AVG Internet Security) in order to resolve them. In this case, he will also have a complete solution to secure his online purchases, to block type emails spam, scam and phising and will have the possibility of also protecting its mobile devices under Android thanks to the dedicated application.

You now have everything you need to adopt the solution that best suits your situation thanks to ABSMARTHEALTH. Make good use of it and protect yourself from the threats around you!

Also read: How to disinfect your PC with Avast Free Antivirus ?