App Review Bitdefender Free Antivirus 2026

It is advised to take all reviews with a grain of salt. In extreme cases some reviews use dramatization for entertainment purposes.
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cartaphilus said:
Wait so the paid version is superfluous since everyone one would want from an AV without any of the other bloat is already in the free version.
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Bot could not decide

Meh Kinda GIF by Cultura
 
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Nunzio_77 said:
In my opinion, Bitdefender Free is the best free antivirus option currently. It's a robust, secure, and complete (for a free antivirus) free antivirus, with no annoying pop-up ads.
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Avast is more robust (according to AVC and the last compartive test by @Shadowra ), as secure as, and more complete (includes additional components missing in B); may be the popups is the only downside.
 
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Nunzio_77 said:
What is the latest comparison test of @Shadowra ?
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Comparing multiple AVs using the same test lab is more informative than testing a solitary AV with no "control" AV.

Shadowra

App Review Thread 'Shadowra's Big Comparative - Episode 1 : Free Antivirus'

In this video, we compare 8 free antivirus programs.
The aim is to see how effective they are, and rank them from worst to best.

Please note:

- the antiviruses are already ranked in the video, I've taken into account Web blocking, the reaction to an attack, my malware pack and how the antivirus will defend itself.
- Please be courteous and respect my ranking. Filming took over 9 hours and 2 hours of preparation.
- the winning antivirus goes straight to the final, episode 3.
- all antivirus are default, I've only activated IF NECESSARY some options that the editor...
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In an effort to be fare, or is it fair...

Anyway. As I stated here before BD slows down my AMD PC.

BUT the free version ran nicely, it wasn't the fastest on my PC, but it wasn't that far behind either.

IF I had to choose a free solution that ran fast on my PC, it would be BD Free or Avast One.
 
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I been running windows defender hardened based on CIS level 2 and some STIGS but I am curious how other solutions perform. I haven't used Bitdefender since 2024 so its nice seeing it ace a test. I would like to see a refresh of Avast one/free to see how it performs since the last test I think Shadowra did was in 2024.
 
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Shiz said:
I been running windows defender hardened based on CIS level 2 and some STIGS but I am curious how other solutions perform. I haven't used Bitdefender since 2024 so its nice seeing it ace a test. I would like to see a refresh of Avast one/free to see how it performs since the last test I think Shadowra did was in 2024.
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I made Norton, which is a clone of Avast, if you're interested :)
But if you really want Avast One, I'll make a note of it.
 
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