Full ProtectionSeven other free products offer full protection, both cleaning up existing threats and using real-time protection to prevent new infestations. Here again a direct comparison is difficult because some were tested using an older set of malware samples. Some vendors of free antivirus products go along with the yearly update cycle typical of commercial products; others don't.
Lab Reports, of SortsI always check test results from the independent antivirus test labs when evaluating antivirus products. Some free products have exactly the same malware-fighting power as their for-pay siblings; others use a limited feature set. That makes interpreting the lab results a bit iffy. Even so, some trends are clear.
Free antivirus lab tests chart
Who's the Best
Comodo Cleaning Essentials is a clear winner for cleanup-only free antivirus; it's our Editors' Choice. Picking an overall winner for full-powered free antivirus was tough, but in the end we chose AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012, with Avira Free Antivirus 2012 a close second.
Possibly the best-known cleanup-only tool is Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Free 1.51 (free, 4 stars). More than once when I've had trouble installing an antivirus product for testing, the vendor's tech support agents have recommended a cleanup with Malwarebytes to solve the problem.
You might think that Norton Power Eraser (free, 4 stars) is only for Symantec customers; you'd be wrong. Anybody can download and use it to clean up stubborn, persistent threats.
Norman Malware Cleaner 2.1 (free, 3.5 stars) differs from the rest in that you burn it to a CD and boot from the CD. In theory this should give it greater power against malware that has infiltrated Windows; in practice, not so much.
Our Editors' Choice for free cleanup-only antivirus is Comodo Cleaning Essentials (free, 4.5 stars). It's a little hard to compare the four directly, as Norton Power Eraser was tested with a different set of malware samples. Still, with 91 percent detection and an overall malware cleanup score of 6.8 points, Comodo seems a clear winner.
Comodo looked especially good against rootkits, the most persistent threat type of all. It scored 8.7 points for rootkit removal, which is the second highest score in all recent products, both paid and free. Norton scored 6.0 against rootkits, which is not too shabby. Malwarebytes turned in a dismal 3.6 points and Norman brought up the rear with 2.4 points.
Avira Free Antivirus 2012 (free, 4 stars) and AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012 (free, 4 stars) both detected 88 percent of the current set of malware threats. Avira scored 6.7 points while AVG scored 6.5. However, Avira committed the faux pas of identifying a PCMag utility as active malware, and AVG scored better against rootkits. The chart below shows malware blocking scores for all the free products. To understand how I derive these scores, see How We Test Malware Removal.
As for blocking new malware attacks, Comodo Antivirus 2012 (free, 3 stars) detected more threats and scored higher than any of the rest, but its endless Defense+ popups also flagged many valid programs as possibly dangerous. AVG detected more threats than Avira, but Avira scored higher overall.
avast! Free version 6.0 (free, 3.5 stars) and Ad-Aware FREE Internet Security 9.0 (free, 4.5 stars) both have updates in the works. Will one of them be the new Editors' Choice? It's certainly possible. To understand the source of the malware blocking scores in the chart below, see How We Test Malware Blocking.
In the chart below you can see that all of the labs tested avast! and AVG, and all but one tested Avira. Avira scored higher in static testing by AV-Comparatives, but AVG beat all the rest in the dynamic whole-product test by AV-Test. For more information about the independent testing labs see How We Interpret Antivirus Lab Tests.
The great thing is, these products are all free. You can try them for yourself and make your own choice, without investing a cent.
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