App Review Avast One Free Antivirus 2026

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Shadowra
Parkinsond said:
Most prabably all steal; the only difference is where the stolen goods are going.
Unless they are going to steal my credentials, I have no problem if the product is free.
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Kaspersky had opened its code to independent review. US companies are constantly accessing my information. I'm not angry that Russia is accessing my information without my permission. I wish I had a really good antivirus program in my own country (Turkey) so I wouldn't have to share my information with other countries.
 
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Harputlu said:
Kaspersky had opened its code to independent review. US companies are constantly accessing my information. I'm not angry that Russia is accessing my information without my permission. I wish I had a really good antivirus program in my own country (Turkey) so I wouldn't have to share my information with other countries.
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Everybody access data; it is the "new gold".
Israeli companies do it heavily and they utilize it successfully for intelligence (hats off).
Egyptian companies would do the same, if they have similar apps (unfortunately they are not competent enough to do so).
 
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Many thanks for the review. What bothers me about Avast is that, following acquisition, the company shut down the release notes forum pertaining to the Avast announcement. Did they not have enough staff to keep it up to date, or what? The test results now indicate that they do not have staff to work on the engine as well.
 
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Here we go again...

I know I keep saying it. But it bears repeating. Whenever you sell your invention, your passion, your creation, your baby, to a conglomerate, or even another company, it always gets ruined and never retains its former glory.

Just consider the times we have seen this before, in the last 15 years. Someone sells their product, and in a short time, it's kaput.

And it's not just AV's, it applies to all kinds of software.

Sad thing is there are several, and we can all remember some of them right off the top of our head.
 
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lokamoka820 said:
Many thanks for the review. What bothers me about Avast is that, following acquisition, the company shut down the release notes forum pertaining to the Avast announcement. Did they not have enough staff to keep it up to date, or what? The test results now indicate that they do not have staff to work on the engine as well.
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You can still access changelogs over at the Avast Antivirus Beta category of the forum. Avast Premium also shows a "What's New" window after updating for me.

Having personally adjusted Core Shields to high sensitivity, I was under the impression that Avast was tough on low-prevalence and low-reputation files, even without hardened mode skipping prompts and quietly blocking them.

There's room for improvement, but that's always true. Gen Threat Labs (Avast + AVG + Norton + Avira) should still catch up with signatures before an inordinate amount of time seeing that they boast telemetry from ~500 million monthly active users. They're quick enough to add new malicious URLs.

At least Avast meets my requirement of being very light. Now that AI scam protection is fully rolled out, hopefully Gen engineers have some more antivirus improvements in the pipeline.
 
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Shadowra said:
Avast is an antivirus program based in Prague, Czech Republic.
As part of the Gen Digital cybersecurity group (alongside Norton, AVG, and Avira), it has been offering antivirus protection for several years and is highly regarded by beginners for its user-friendly interface.
In this version, Avast has been further improved with a few tweaks, particularly to the interface.
Let’s see how Avast performs.



Interface :

In this 2026 release, Avast has revamped its interface with a new look. I like it—it looks more professional.
There are still a few prompts to upgrade to the paid version (especially during AutoScan), but we’ll let that slide: Avast offers a free version, and you can disable the “nagging.”
I also like Avast’s explanatory and educational approach, where it uses a pop-up to explain the different menus: what each one does, the shields, etc., without confusing the user.

Web protection: 9/10
Avast blocks all links except one, which is a Rozena/CobaltStrike Trojan. It won't run and will display an error message.

Fake crack : N/A
The sample is too old and the site that distributed it was down.
Skipped.

Malware Pack : 25 out of 101 threats remain
Although Avast has a good antimalware scanner and its IDS can catch some infections, it unfortunately falls short.
During the test, Avast had some bad luck with a few scripts and allowed a system process to become infected by a RAT without issuing an alert.
Even though it managed to stop a few launches, block payloads, and prevent various connections, the machine became infected fairly quickly.
Even during the cleanup, Avast displayed a detection of a blocked IP address belonging to a botnet, understand that the PC is being controlled by a cybercriminal through a botnet (hence the term "botnet").
Its firewall never reacted, even though it was enabled.
Too bad—Avast is falling behind when it comes to unknown malware!

Final scan :
Avast : 1 - IP blocked => Botnet
NPE : 5
KVRT : 10 - Memory infected

View attachment 296324

Final opinion:

Overall, Avast remains a reliable antivirus with solid protection features.
However, if it’s pushed to its limits, its proactive defenses fall short and won’t be able to protect you effectively.
If you browse the web cautiously or securely, Avast is a good choice.
But if you engage in risky browsing, you’re better off looking elsewhere.
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Expected results by Avast like Norton which u tested recently. Gen digital consumer products' poor protection against unknown zero day malware is a known fact. As @rashmi pointed out for advanced protection one has to either use the king of BB, or the king of containment. For free BD free is best or K free if it is available. Avast should be avoided.
 
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Nautilus said:
thanks again for taking the time to do a test. atleast avast one got rid of the scribbly / cartoonish gui from the previous release and it looks nicer , it has some elements of AVG and norton across the bord. the main problem is the bloat it comes with and the nagging advertisments to upgrade.
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This is the first time to see Avast One in a black tuxedo.
 
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annaegorov said:
Here we go again...

I know I keep saying it. But it bears repeating. Whenever you sell your invention, your passion, your creation, your baby, to a conglomerate, or even another company, it always gets ruined and never retains its former glory.

Just consider the times we have seen this before, in the last 15 years. Someone sells their product, and in a short time, it's kaput.

And it's not just AV's, it applies to all kinds of software.

Sad thing is there are several, and we can all remember some of them right off the top of our head.
Click to expand...
Exactly !! Thats why my advice is , stay away from any Gen Digital product.
I dumped all the big players, like McAfee, Norton, Avast, ESET and went for a smaller company.
 
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