Updated 16 October 2026 · Edited by the Benchmark Buyer team · How we review
We do the homework you'd do before buying, so you don't have to. Like any careful buyer, we read the independent lab tests, the expert reviews and what users say, then sum up where they agree and where they don't. We don't run our own tests. This guide draws on 4 independent lab tests from 3 testing labs and 6 expert reviews published between June and October 2026. It covers antivirus for Windows PCs, because that is what the labs test.
The short answer
Norton 360 is the clearest consensus pick. Every expert source we read ranks it first or second, and it is among the best in all four lab tests. Bitdefender is a close second. If you want something free, Avast scores best.
Stars show the consensus score out of 10, turned into a 5-star scale and rounded to the nearest half star; the exact score is in each product's section. Lab results sum up 4 independent lab tests. Popularity (●●●● very high to ●○○○ lower) is based on how many people have rated each brand's app on Google Play: very high (5m+ ratings), high (1m+), medium (500k+) or lower. It shows how widely used a product is, not how good it is, so it doesn't affect the score.
1. Norton 360: the product everyone agrees on
★★★★★Consensus score: 9.8
Norton is the only product that all six expert sources rank first or second. Tom's Guide, PCWorld, Security.org and All About Cookies all put it first; TechRadar and Cybernews put it second. In the labs it scored 18/18 at AV-TEST, earned a perfect rating from SE Labs and was among the leaders in both AV-Comparatives tests. It falls just short of 10 because, in AV-Comparatives' real-world test, two products let fewer attacks through.
"Norton 360 Deluxe is still one of the most dependable and feature-rich antivirus software suites on the market." (Tom's Guide)
Reviewers mostly praise how much it includes for the price. TechRadar names it best for families.
Who it suits: anyone who wants one subscription that covers protection and extras, and doesn't mind paying for it.
What users say: people like its strong protection and easy setup. The most common complaints are slowdowns during scans, the renewal price, pop-ups and upsells, and difficulty cancelling. (Capterra)
2. Bitdefender: the protection specialists' favourite
★★★★½Consensus score: 9.3
Bitdefender is TechRadar's and Cybernews' top pick, and third at Tom's Guide and All About Cookies. It scored 18/18 at AV-TEST and let only 2 of 400 attacks through in AV-Comparatives' real-world test, one of the best results. It wasn't part of SE Labs' latest test.
"Bitdefender tops our list and ticks every box." (TechRadar)
Security.org singles out how little it slows a PC down: "We barely noticed Bitdefender was running in the background." (Security.org)
Where opinions differ: Security.org ranks it seventh, and PCWorld leaves it out of its list.
Who it suits: people who want the strongest protection with the least fuss. The VPN in Total Security is limited to 200 MB a day.
What users say: people like its strong detection, clear interface and light footprint. The most common complaints are slowdowns during full scans, the renewal price, false alarms and the limited VPN. (Capterra)
Avast Free Antivirus matched Norton in every lab test: 18/18 at AV-TEST, a perfect SE Labs rating and near the top in both AV-Comparatives tests. TechRadar and Tom's Guide both name it the best free antivirus, and PCWorld ranks it second overall.
"Avast makes staying on top of security dead simple, whether you're a novice or a security veteran." (PCWorld)
Who it suits: anyone who wants solid protection without paying. The free version covers one Windows PC; paid tiers add more devices and extras.
4. McAfee: popular everywhere, rarely the top pick
★★★★½Consensus score: 9.1
McAfee appears in all six expert lists, but usually in the middle: third at TechRadar, fifth at Tom's Guide and PCWorld, sixth to ninth elsewhere. It scored 18/18 at AV-TEST and a perfect SE Labs rating, but let 6 of 400 attacks through in AV-Comparatives' real-world test, more than most products here.
"McAfee+ Premium is a great option if you have a lot of devices you want to cover." (Tom's Guide)
TechRadar names it best for mobile.
Who it suits: households with many phones, tablets and computers to cover.
What users say: people like its reliable protection, ease of use and multi-device cover. The most common complaints are pushy upsells, steep renewal prices and heavy scans. (Capterra)
5. TotalAV: good lab results, split expert opinion
★★★★½Consensus score: 8.9
TotalAV did well in all four lab tests, though it raised more false alarms than most in AV-Comparatives' malware test and lost half a point on performance at AV-TEST. Three review sites rank it in their top three: Cybernews, Security.org and All About Cookies.
"TotalAV is a well-rounded choice for users seeking both security and performance enhancement." (Cybernews)
Where opinions differ: TechRadar, Tom's Guide and PCWorld don't include it in their lists at all. That is the biggest split in this guide.
Who it suits: people who want lab-tested protection with extras such as a VPN.
AVG's lab results match Avast's, which comes from the same company. PCWorld names AVG Internet Security its best budget suite, but fewer reviewers cover it, which lowers its score.
Who it suits: people who want a low-cost paid suite. It doesn't include a VPN; that needs AVG Ultimate.
7. ESET: light and fast, but some reviewers find it dated
★★★★☆Consensus score: 7.7
ESET scored 18/18 at AV-TEST and raised very few false alarms in AV-Comparatives' real-world test, but let 6 of 400 attacks through. Reviewers are split on it. Cybernews praises its "fast scanning, efficient resource usage" (Cybernews). TechRadar calls it "okay for basic protection, but feels outdated and falls behind better options" (TechRadar).
Who it suits: experienced users who value a light footprint over extras. ESET doesn't offer antivirus for iPhone.
8. Malwarebytes: best at cleaning up, weaker at prevention
★★★½☆Consensus score: 7.4
Tom's Guide ranks Malwarebytes second overall and names it best budget pick. It scored 18/18 at AV-TEST, but had the weakest results of the eight at AV-Comparatives: it caught 99.59% of malware samples (the others caught 99.93% or more) and raised 39 false alarms in the real-world test, where AV-Comparatives downgraded its award.
"Malwarebytes Premium does a particularly good job of removing existing malware infections." (TechRadar)
Who it suits: anyone who suspects their PC is already infected, or wants a second opinion alongside another antivirus.
Windows' built-in antivirus is free and already on your PC. It did as well in the labs as most paid products here: a perfect SE Labs rating, the top ADVANCED+ award in both AV-Comparatives tests with almost no false alarms, and 17.5/18 at AV-TEST. PCWorld calls it "an excellent free antivirus option". We haven't ranked it because only one of our six expert sources lists it.
Not ranked, and why
Kaspersky had the best real-world result of all (1 of 400 attacks got through), but none of our six expert sources ranks it. Since 2024 its antivirus has been banned from sale in the US on national security grounds (US Bureau of Industry and Security), and most of our expert sources are US-based.
Avira scored 18/18 at AV-TEST but wasn't in the other labs' latest tests. We need at least two lab tests to rank a product.
F-Secure did well at AV-TEST, but AV-Comparatives downgraded it for false alarms and only one expert source lists it.
Aura, Surfshark Antivirus, Sophos, Trend Micro and others appear in some expert lists but have no result in the lab tests we use.
How we score
We don't run our own tests. Each product's consensus score combines three things:
Independent lab results (50%): each lab test is turned into a score out of 100, then averaged. Attacks that get through cost more than false alarms, because a missed threat can do real damage.
AV-TEST (August 2026): protection, performance and usability points out of 18.
AV-Comparatives Real-World Protection (February to May 2026, 400 live attacks): minus 2 points per attack that got through, minus 0.5 per false alarm.
AV-Comparatives Malware Protection (March 2026, about 10,000 samples): minus 1 point per 0.01% of samples missed, minus 0.5 per false alarm.
SE Labs Home Anti-Malware (September to November 2025): its total accuracy rating.
Expert rankings (35%): each product's position in 6 expert "best antivirus" lists, from TechRadar, Tom's Guide, PCWorld, Cybernews, Security.org and All About Cookies.
Breadth of agreement (15%): how many of those 6 lists include the product.
To be ranked, a product needs results from at least two lab tests and a place in at least three expert lists. We leave out evidence older than 18 months; for example, Expert Reviews' antivirus guide was last updated in 2023, so it isn't counted. Affiliate commission plays no part in the score.
Evidence last checked: 16 October 2026. Full details on how we review.