Advice Request What antivirus is everyone currently recommending?

[roger_m]

To be honest, i think you point is effective, but please tell me is this website reliable?(https://www.safetydetectives.com/)(https://cybernews.com/)
i also to browse the test but it is from chinese, so i want to enter this forums to see you point

SafetyDetectives is not reliable at all. They rate TotalAV as the best antivirus.

TotalAV is my pick for the best antivirus program in 2025. It offers excellent malware detection rates and a wide range of security features. TotalAV also provides advanced real-time malware protection, strong web security, and comprehensive data privacy tools, all within a user-friendly interface.

TotalAV is not a good antivirus and in addition, it's very expensive. You can buy it very cheaply using coupons, but in a year it auto renews at full price. However they are being very dishonest and claim that it's one of the cheapest antiviruses, which is only true for the first year. They are clearly only recommending it to earn affiliate revenue. Any website that recommends such a bad antivirus, shouldn't be taken seriously.

TotalAV Plans & Pricing — Excellent Value Plans + Wide Range of Features​

TotalAV offers several yearly plans and is one of the cheapest antiviruses on the market.

If you want some objective reviews on antiviruses, take a look at reviews here from @Trident and @Shadowra .

 

[Nunzio_77]

What do you think of 360 Total Security?
It's Chinese, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[roger_m]

What do you think of 360 Total Security?

It is Chinese and has performed badly when tested here, such as in the following review.

App Review - Qihoo 360 Total Security Free 2024

Qihoo 360 is a Chinese antivirus. In China, Qihoo is a behemoth in terms of software, because it's everywhere: antivirus, browser, privacy protection... Internationally, Qihoo is known for its aggressive advertising. In 2024, Qihoo is still a household name, but has changed its business model...

malwaretips.com

It's far from being the worst antivirus, but there are much better alternatives. While 360 TS is one of the lightest antiviruses there is, McAfee and ESET provide much better protection, while also being extremely light.

 

[Moonhorse]

I would go with kaspersky if its not expensive for you, otherwise i personally would go with current McAfee as its most cheap

Personally im using sophos and liking it alot

Its kinda person dependant wich antivirus suite fits for someone best. But i would do my own research , read MalwareTips and see some testing site results to find one suite that fits you

 

[Lintianyun Luo]

I have decided to stay away from Gen Digital products, (see other post as to why)....

After testing for the last year using a clean install, I have opted for the following vendors: Eset, F-Secure, and Emsisoft

FSP now use avira core, and avira has free editon, avira is better than FSP(i think)

 

[Shadowra]

SafetyDetectives is not reliable at all. They rate TotalAV as the best antivirus.

TotalAV is not a good antivirus and in addition, it's very expensive. You can buy it very cheaply using coupons, but in a year it auto renews at full price. However they are being very dishonest and claim that it's one of the cheapest antiviruses, which is only true for the first year. They are clearly only recommending it to earn affiliate revenue. Any website that recommends such a bad antivirus, shouldn't be taken seriously.

If you want some objective reviews on antiviruses, take a look at reviews here from @Trident and @Shadowra .

App Review - TotalAV Antivirus 2025

TotalAV is an all-in-one antivirus: Antivirus, VPN, Web protection, Adblock etc. However, TotalAV has some very dubious practices, such as nagging you to upgrade to the paid version... Let's put it to the test! User interface : The interface is very simple, suitable for novices. Very few...

malwaretips.com

 

[Lintianyun Luo]

I m using kaspersky and windows defender now, not bad, laptop is 15 9300h, 16gb ram, 1660ti, 1tb ssd

Is Kaspersky not usable in the United States? Then you can use McAfee, I really like McAfee.

 

[Lintianyun Luo]

What do you think of 360 Total Security?
It's Chinese, if I'm not mistaken.

yes, but do not use this antivirus, im chinese, i don't know what the international version is like.But the Chinese version is simply a rogue software, very poor, full of ads, and slows down the computer. I uninstalled 360 five years ago and freed up 10GB.if this antivirus is good and light, i wont go there to find foreign antivirus software

 

[roger_m]

i don't know what the international version is like.But the Chinese version is simply a rogue software, very poor, full of ads, and slows down the computer.

The international version is one of the lightest antiviruses there is, but it has ads unless you pay for the Premium version. Also, it has fewer false positives than the Chinese version.

 

[Lintianyun Luo]

The international version is one of the lightest antiviruses there is, but it has ads unless you pay for the Premium version. Also, it has fewer false positives than the Chinese version.

fewer false positives than the Chinese version???the viruses library not same?
all right, to be honest, i was nerver use international 360, i only used 360 chinese editon

 

[roger_m]

fewer false positives than the Chinese version???the viruses library not same?

It's been a while since I've used it and can't remember exactly, but I think it may been due to aggressive heuristics. Other than that, as far as I know, the detections are the same.

 

[lostpass]

Microsoft Defender is enough for experienced HOME users and the cons are more than the pros to justify buying an antivirus.

 

[RoboMan]

you can get it insanely cheap in Chinese sites and I assume it will have better servers to his region then many other products
And yes it's top 5+ (majority one over the years ) meanwhile having very low performance impact and very low false positives and if he prefers something even lighter then ESET is my next recommendations but it's expansive (I use ESET due to its even lower impact )

I own a mid-tier gaming laptop (3050 4GB, 16GB RAM, i5 10th gen) and I can barely feel Kaspersky being installed. Apps are quickly executed, surfing is decent, file managing is fast. I've tried the same PC with no AV (MD disabled) and the response times were almost the same.

Zero performance issues.

 

[Parkinsond]

I own a mid-tier gaming laptop (3050 4GB, 16GB RAM, i5 10th gen) and I can barely feel Kaspersky being installed. Apps are quickly executed, surfing is decent, file managing is fast. I've tried the same PC with no AV (MD disabled) and the response times were almost the same.

Zero performance issues.

Needs much lower specs to feel the difference; yours is considered high-end here.
And yes K is light, especially if scan of encrypted connections is turned off.

 

[annaegorov]

FSP now use avira core, and avira has free editon, avira is better than FSP(i think)

TY I tried it on the same clean install BU, and it gave some problems. I believe they were minor, like changing startup ETC...(and yes I changed the settings first)

 

[annaegorov]

Would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to be able to use Kaspersky again..... Love my country, and those who have gone before me, especially the great generation... Not so sure about my GOV though

 

[Vitali Ortzi]

I own a mid-tier gaming laptop (3050 4GB, 16GB RAM, i5 10th gen) and I can barely feel Kaspersky being installed. Apps are quickly executed, surfing is decent, file managing is fast. I've tried the same PC with no AV (MD disabled) and the response times were almost the same.

Zero performance issues.

On that system any av will be light and Kaspersky in general is lighter then majority

 

[Dave Russo]

Microsoft Defender is enough for experienced HOME users and the cons are more than the pros to justify buying an antivirus.

And if you really want to spend, add Cyberlock, just excellent

 

[RoboMan]

And if you really want to spend, add Cyberlock, just excellent

Alternatively, Defender with H_C is a great option. Although it requires a bit more technical ability, it can deeply exploit Windows built-in security capabilities. My favorite free combo.

 

[Acadia]

I like the trio of Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Pro, and Cyberlock. They play nicely together and everything gets scanned three times instead of just once.
Acadia