List of Companion Antiviruses

[Enju]

For a while now, I have gone between multiple security programs and am sometimes asked for a recommendation for free antivirus software. one of the antivirus programs i am always more than willing to recommend is Comodo Free Antivirus Software.

Comodo Antivirus is horrible, it's underdeveloped since Comodo relies on sandboxing/virtualization, their extremely good outbound firewall and (if you want it) a quite good HIPS.

 

[sinu]

is kingsoft antivirus english version still alive ? because its homepage is not updated for longer time and its AV version is still 2012 !!!!!!

 

[MisterToto]

Some of you knows i like coupling a main AV with a companion AV.

Companion AVs are Antiviruses that can run alongside another AV without conflicts, procuring an added layer of protection & detection.

In my case, Comodo IS + Emsisoft AM or lately Emsisoft IS + Webroot SA.

So there is a non-exhaustive list of available "companion" AVs:

- Emsisoft Anti-Malware

- Webroot SA

- Kingsoft Antivirus

- Immunet (free) / Cellframe Antivirus

- Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Pro)

- Avast Free (compatibility mode)

- Baidu Antivirus 2015

- Celframe free Antivirus

- SecureAPlus (non-local AV engine)


feel free to add the ones you may know that are not listed yet

Can I just choose Webroot SA in order to protect my computer even if you've listed it in "companion" list?

 

[LabZero]

Can I just choose Webroot SA in order to protect my computer even if you've listed it in "companion" list?

Webroot SA is a complete security solution and is more than enough but you can add an on demand scan as MBM or EEK if you want.

 

[MisterToto]

Webroot SA is a complete security solution and is more than enough but you can add an on demand scan as MBM or EEK if you want.

Yes I already have couple of on demand scanners , thanks

 

[Kuttz]

How good is the SecureAPlus as a companion AV with Avira Free ??

 

[jamescv7]

@sinu : The development phase for Kingsoft is totally dead, and the website is still alive may due to longer expiration domain so better not to use as it may pose risk for lacking of protection.

 

[sinu]

@sinu : The development phase for Kingsoft is totally dead, and the website is still alive may due to longer expiration domain so better not to use as it may pose risk for lacking of protection.

thanks for the info

 

[Rebsat]

@Umbra Could you please update the OP with any new Companion Antiviruses? Thank you bro

 

[Andrew999]

How good is the SecureAPlus as a companion AV with Avira Free ??

good in my opinion

 

[conceptualclarity]

@sinu : The development phase for Kingsoft is totally dead, and the website is still alive may due to longer expiration domain so better not to use as it may pose risk for lacking of protection.

It seems like it, but recently Kingsoft has been involved in some major AV testing and has done quite well against the big boys.

 

[Deleted member 178]

If you are aware of new real companion AVs, feel free to mention them here with a link.

 

[conceptualclarity]

More companion antiviruses:
Absolute Antivirus
Kompas Antivirus

Most of the time companion antiviruses don't mention their compatibility on their homepages because they want people to think in terms of their product as a no.1 solution. I'm pretty sure these are compatible:
Advanced SystemCare Ultimate
Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+ (recently in their case)

I believe the whole Clam family is compatible:
ClamAV
Immunos
ClamWin Free Antivirus/Clam Sentinel (adds realtime protection)

According to ccm.net :

Even if you have already installed an anti-virus on your computer, you can install Avast as a second anti-virus software for more safety thanks to compatibility mode.

I welcome correction or particular information in regard to any of these products.

 

[mal1]

I was thinking of replacing Avast free with Avira free (decent signatures protection) AND Panda free (cloud protection). I'm sure I won't find anything on the respective websites about compatibility, but do you think this combination is possible?

Do you think Panda can be a cloud-based companion AV just like Webroot (unlike Panda, Webroot doesn't offer free products)?

 

[jamescv7]

Well its a matter of experimental based which are unofficial and use at own risk.

Windows Defender/MSE works fine with Panda Free however considered as experimental.

Try on an isolated environment and check for possible issues.

 

[hjlbx]

I was thinking of replacing Avast free with Avira free (decent signatures protection) AND Panda free (cloud protection). I'm sure I won't find anything on the respective websites about compatibility, but do you think this combination is possible?

Do you think Panda can be a cloud-based companion AV just like Webroot (unlike Panda, Webroot doesn't offer free products)?

Combining Panda antivirus with Avira is pointless since Panda will add virtually nothing to Avira's signature database. The only two that can supplement Avira are Bitdefender and Kaspersky. Even that is almost a pointless, since Avira's database will include malicious signatures in the Bitdefender or Kaspersky databases within a day or so.

Running Avira and Panda free together will be a waste of system resources.

 

[mal1]

@hjlbx But Webroot would add to Avira? Why?

I did my homework and went through a thread about Webroot vs. Panda Webroot vs Panda, and they said Panda was superior in terms of detection, while Webroot had "rollback" feature, which still doesn't explain why I can't supplement Avira with free Panda instead of paid Webroot?

 

[hjlbx]

@hjlbx But Webroot would add to Avira? Why?

I did my homework and went through a thread about Webroot vs. Panda Webroot vs Panda, and they said Panda was superior in terms of detection, while Webroot had "rollback" feature, which still doesn't explain why I can't supplement Avira with free Panda instead of paid Webroot?

You can do whatever you want, but running two AV engines together on a system is a waste of resources.

Avira detection beats all except Bitdefender and Kaspersky. Panda, Webroot, Trend Micro, etc might do well over short periods of time (months), but over the long term (years) it is well established that the best detection is by Avira, Bitdefender and Kaspersky.

 

[mal1]

Avira detection beats all except Bitdefender and Kaspersky

Yes absolutely! Nobody would think of augmenting Avira's detection by Panda or Webroot. The whole idea is obviously meant to make use of Panda's cloud, and I know that, unlike Webroot, Panda wasn't designed to supplement other AVs. I'm just asking about educated-guess feedback.

Key words in my question are compatibility and cloud (not detection or resources).

 

[hjlbx]

Yes absolutely! Nobody would think of augmenting Avira's detection by Panda or Webroot. The whole idea is obviously meant to make use of Panda's cloud, and I know that, unlike Webroot, Panda wasn't designed to supplement other AVs. I'm just asking about educated-guess feedback.

Key words in my question are compatibility and cloud (not detection or resources).

Well, both are cloud based. However, one has to weigh the impact on system resources and potential for compatibility conflicts versus the incremental increase in security.

The problem with Panda is that it adds other protection modules to the system that might conflict with Avira. Plus there is the potential issue of double alerts.

It just isn't widely accepted practice to run two or more AV softs on one system... although there are users that do it sucessfully.

In order to circumvent potential conflicts you should create monitoring exclusions in Avira for Panda and vice versa.