AV-Comparatives gave six consumer antivirus products its highest Advanced+ award in a September 2026 malware protection test. The results matter to home users comparing security software, but they cover malicious-file protection and false alarms rather than every feature in each product.
The tested field included free products such as Avast One Free Antivirus and AVG Antivirus Free, as well as Microsoft Defender Antivirus and paid security suites from several vendors.
AV-Comparatives says the complete public report is available free of charge without registration.
Six products receive Advanced+
Bitdefender, ESET, G Data, Kaspersky, Total Defense and VIPRE earned the top rating. AV-Comparatives said these products combined strong protection with low false-positive rates, meaning they were less likely to incorrectly flag legitimate files as malicious.- Bitdefender Total Security
- ESET HOME Security Essential
- G Data Total Security
- Kaspersky Premium
- Total Defense Essential Anti-Virus
- VIPRE Advanced Security
What the test covered
The lab evaluated 20 consumer anti-malware products using about 10,000 malware samples. It looked beyond basic detection to whether products could prevent malware from compromising a system, while also measuring false positives that may interrupt users.The tested field included free products such as Avast One Free Antivirus and AVG Antivirus Free, as well as Microsoft Defender Antivirus and paid security suites from several vendors.
How readers should use the results
A top award is a useful comparison point, not a reason to switch immediately. Check the full report for detailed results, then weigh protection, false alarms, price, device support and whether your current product remains updated.AV-Comparatives says the complete public report is available free of charge without registration.
@Andy Ful ’s tools turn those on to prevent newbies from installing downloaded files. It might also have something to do with the protection level increasing from 82.2% offline to 95.5% or 99.89% online. But holy Batman, 28 FPs! In real life, I only get the FPs for unsigned files and files with newly issued certificates, though.
