AV-Comparatives Consumer Real-World Protection Test Factsheet Feb-Mar 2026

Disclaimer

  1. This test shows how an antivirus behaves with certain threats, in a specific environment and under certain conditions.
    We encourage you to compare these results with others and take informed decisions on what security products to use.
    Before buying an antivirus you should consider factors such as price, ease of use, compatibility, and support. Installing a free trial version allows an antivirus to be tested in everyday use before purchase.

Minimalist

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Why Kaspersky Premium and Malwarebytes Premium yet ESET Essential? If they want to test a full capability of the antimalware package then they should have tested the Ultimate vesrion.

Yes I understand that ESET got 100% but that's not the problem, the problem is picking and choosing malware solution level's for example: Panda was FREE version yet Malwererebytes was Premium.
 
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cartaphilus said:
Why Kaspersky Premium and Malwarebytes Premium yet ESET Essential? If they want to test a full capability of the antimalware package then they should have tested the Ultimate vesrion.

Yes I understand that ESET got 100% but that's not the problem, the problem is picking and choosing malware solution level's for example: Panda was FREE version yet Malwererebytes was Premium.
Click to expand...
Panda scored equal to Norton/Avast/AVG; I am seriously thinking about installing.
 
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cartaphilus said:
Why Kaspersky Premium and Malwarebytes Premium yet ESET Essential? If they want to test a full capability of the antimalware package then they should have tested the Ultimate vesrion.

Yes I understand that ESET got 100% but that's not the problem, the problem is picking and choosing malware solution level's for example: Panda was FREE version yet Malwererebytes was Premium.
Click to expand...
As I understand vendor decides which solution will be tested and not Av-Comparatives.
 
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Parkinsond said:
Panda scored equal to Norton/Avast/AVG; I am seriously thinking about installing.
Click to expand...
Seems to be a new version, 23. On the previous test it was 22.03.

So it looks like they are actively working as it stayed for long time 22.0something.

I see that WatchGuard is going through a rebranding, UI redesign and rewrite and they are increasing their horizons.

But how good everything is, not sure.

Haven’t played with it.

However, they need to sort out their forum, website, documentation and other user-facing parts.

This kind of old and abandoned forum and website make the entire product feel abandoned.
 
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Trident said:
Seems to be a new version, 23. On the previous test it was 22.03.

So it looks like they are actively working as it stayed for long time 22.0something.

I see that WatchGuard is going through a rebranding, UI redesign and rewrite and they are increasing their horizons.

But how good everything is, not sure.

Haven’t played with it.

However, they need to sort out their forum, website, documentation and other user-facing parts.

This kind of old and abandoned forum and website make the entire product feel abandoned.
Click to expand...
I might keep a eye on this if they intend to really "right their ship" as they would say

Playing off a bit of nostalgia, but I remember the late 2007/early 2008 era where panda free was a force to be reconned with.
 
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Antimalware18 said:
I might keep a eye on this if they intend to really "right their ship" as they would say

Playing off a bit of nostalgia, but I remember the late 2007/early 2008 era where panda free was a force to be reconned with.
Click to expand...
It needs a lot of work, so not sure what WatchGuard has done.

For their endpoint protection, the notes are here (Panda is just a rebrand)


 
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Who is Fortect antivirus ? i see it has a free version too

Fortect Your PCwith Free Antivirus​

Fortect's Free Antivirus shields against the latest threats with real-time security and performance optimization

www.fortect.com

Fortect | All-in-One Security, Privacy & OS Health Suite

Fortect is your all-in-one suite for cybersecurity, privacy, and system health. Shield your data with an integrated VPN, block malware in real-time, and stay secure on every device.
www.fortect.com www.fortect.com
 
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Pat MacKnife said:
Who is Fortect antivirus ? i see it has a free version too

Fortect Your PCwith Free Antivirus​

Fortect's Free Antivirus shields against the latest threats with real-time security and performance optimization

www.fortect.com

Fortect | All-in-One Security, Privacy & OS Health Suite

Fortect is your all-in-one suite for cybersecurity, privacy, and system health. Shield your data with an integrated VPN, block malware in real-time, and stay secure on every device.
www.fortect.com www.fortect.com
Click to expand...
But it lacks several essential components!

brave_screenshot_www.fortect.com.png
 
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Antimalware18 said:
So the actual "real panda" (not a re-brand) is done for?
Click to expand...
WatchGuard acquired them and all the watchguard products are based on Panda Adaptive Defence (which was absolutely the same home product coupled to a poor management console).

WatchGuard makes changes to the console pretty much weekly so it now hasn’t got anything to do with what they acquired from Panda.

The Panda product architecturally was a huge mess, based on outdated and long phased out versions of the .Net framework.

For long time the changes in the client were negligible (neglected is the right word). But as of one year or two, WatchGuard has been very actively working on them too.

As they have rewritten the UI, I would assume other portions of the software have been modernised and are no longer the same Panda, but I haven’t installed it.
 
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Pat MacKnife said:
Seems indeed very limited :) another Panda !!
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Panda omits web blocking in free version, the paid one can be purchased usually for a few euro.

But yeah, extremely limited compared to what others offer.

Fortex also has interesting offices. Israel, Germany.

I won’t be surprised if it’s one or two ex-Check Point guys (like Deep Instinct) behind it.

The technology section doesn’t reveal any technicalities of the protection. It just discusses optimisations and so on.

So there is nothing to discuss really. Another OEM antivirus most likely.
 
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Fortect has very conflicting information.

Here, they mention clearly that they use Avira SDK:

We use Avira SDK, which makes use of Avira Protection Cloud (https://query-api.eu1.apc.avira.com) to improve detection of previously unknown threats using machine learning. When needed and decided by the SDK, hashes and names of files and applications are sent anonymously to the cloud service for processing

www.fortect.com

Fortect | Speed Up & Protect your PC - Free Download & Scan

www.fortect.com www.fortect.com

On the technology section, they make it look as if they run their own AI-based engine

Unified AI and Cloud-Based Solutions​

Fortect’s AI-powered technology scans and repairs in real-time, leveraging cloud-based intelligence to stay updated with the latest threats and system vulnerabilities. Whether it's protecting you from cyber threats or optimizing system performance, our core technology adapts to various environments seamlessly.

www.fortect.com

Fortect | Speed Up & Protect your PC - Free Download & Scan

www.fortect.com www.fortect.com

Avira as we know does use AI but it uses it for a limited number of files submitted to the cloud and only on the cloud.

The local engine is extreme amount of signatures that Avira spits out around 5 times a day and aggressive heuristics.
It is not exactly the static analysis, CrowdStrike Falcon/SentinelOne sort of engine.
 
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