AV-TEST The best Windows antivirus software for home users (February 2022)

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.

Gandalf_The_Grey

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Apr 24, 2016
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During January and February 2022 we continuously evaluated 18 home user security products using their default settings. We always used the most current publicly-available version of all products for the testing. They were allowed to update themselves at any time and query their in-the-cloud services. We focused on realistic test scenarios and challenged the products against real-world threats. Products had to demonstrate their capabilities using all components and protection layers.
Results:
Excel file with more details:
Charts:
avtest_2022-02_homeuser_win10_table_en.pngavtest_2022-02_homeuser_win10_chart_en.png
 
Last edited:

SeriousHoax

Level 47
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Mar 16, 2019
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ESET is strangely missing. Anyone knows why?
ESET participated in the Business test. The home and business test is exactly the same, and ESET provides the same protection in their home and business version in this scenario. So you can check that result instead.
 

Gandalf_The_Grey

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ESET participated in the Business test. The home and business test is exactly the same, and ESET provides the same protection in their home and business version in this scenario. So you can check that result instead.
The only problem with that is the home products are tested on default settings and the business products on settings provided by the vendor.
We don't know what settings were changed.
 

SeriousHoax

Level 47
Well-known
Mar 16, 2019
3,630
The only problem with that is the home products are tested on default settings and the business products on settings provided by the vendor.
We don't know what settings were changed.
Very good point. For ESET, maybe they changed the protection sensitivity to aggressive, like they do in AVC tests. I have tried and used ESET Endpoint trial version for a while last year and basically everything is exactly the same as the home version except it didn't have a Firewall. So it mainly depends on what this aggressive setting does, which doesn't seem to make much or any difference 99% of the time (in my test made no difference).
 
F

ForgottenSeer 94654

The only problem with that is the home products are tested on default settings and the business products on settings provided by the vendor.
We don't know what settings were changed.
Antivirus vendor's really do not want people (home user or business) changing the default settings because they know those people cannot handle the software\security.
 

Anthony Qian

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Apr 17, 2021
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