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Best free antivirus for Mac: Avast Free Mac Security Many antivirus suites provide a decent level of protection, but a few rise above all others by providing the very best in performance. Award levels reached in this Mac Security Review. This year, all of the products we have reviewed receive our Approved Security Product award. A summary of the review is shown below. Users should also consider other factors, such as price and support, before choosing a product. Avast Security (for Mac), Avira Free Antivirus for Mac, and Sophos Home Free (for Mac) are totally free for personal use, although Sophos technically limits you to three devices, macOS or Windows. Best Antivirus Software and Apps 2018. Once our favorite, Avira Free Antivirus for Mac isn't in the lead any longer. That's because it is a hair shy of perfection in its malware detection,.

Download Avira For Mac

Avira Free Security for Mac Avira for Mac antivirus was developed by Avira Operations GmbH & Co. KG, a German company that specializes in computer security. The app runs on OS X 10.9 and above, and it is used by more than 100 million people. We test the top contenders to identify those offering the best Mac antivirus protection. The Best Mac Antivirus Protection of 2018. (for Mac), Avira Free Antivirus for.

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Here we present a detailed review of the Avira Free Antivirus. The antivirus market today is flooded with a host of options to choose from. Each antivirus software company offers its own version with a range of features available. To make matters more interesting, consider the fact the most software giants also offer a free version of their software, which makes the market even more competitive, albeit, in favor of the customers. The question we’ll tackle in this article is if the Avira Free Antivirus the perfect solution for your PC.

Before we get down to the nitty-gritty details, let’s see a basic overview of this powerful software suite. Use the table below as a handy introduction to the Avira Free Antivirus:

Overview
Supported Platforms	Windows, Mac, Android, iOS
Antivirus Protection	Artificial Intelligence and Cloud-Based antivirus protection; Real-time scanning; Ransomware protection; Deep levels of customization
AV-TEST Scores	Identifies 100% of the newest threats against the industry average of 99%.
Additional Features	Password Manager; Phantom VPN; Free Software Updater; SafeSearch Plus.
Price	$0 – The antivirus is available free of charge.

Now that you are familiar with the Avira Free Antivirus and its basic offerings, it is time to see the final verdict from our end, including the most important pros and cons of this software:

Final Verdict
Pros	Strong real-time protection; very deep levels of customization; free additional features such as VPN and software updater.
Cons	Requires an upgrade for full functionality of additional features
Final Verdict	If you’re looking out for a complete security suite for your PC, go for it!
Rating	9.1/10

This completes a basic overview of the Avira Free Antivirus. Now, when it comes to the question of whether this is the right antivirus software you’ve been looking for, consider reading our in-depth review that follows, where we pull apart the software, piece by piece, and reveal its strengths and weakness to help you make the final decision.

Avira Free Antivirus Review

We begin our analysis and review of this popular software with a guide to installation, following which we’ll examine each individual feature of this antivirus in detail. Our extensive tests are pretty exhaustive and will help you decide what features make this the right fit for you.

Installation Process

The installation process of the Avira Free Antivirus is pretty straightforward. Each window is self-explanatory and guides the user through the installation phases, which are few in number.Our Score: 10/10.

Proceed to the official website of the Avira Antivirus and click on the ‘Free Download’ button.

A pop-up window will require you to select the version of the software you wish to download. Click on ‘Download antivirus only’ option to download the free version. This will begin downloading the small installation file on your PC. Once it finishes downloading, run the file as an administrator. This is highly recommended to ensure a successful software installation.

Upon running the installer, you’ll see the screen above. Click on ‘Agree and Install’ to begin installing the software. While the installation proceeds to the next phase, you’ll be required to select whether you want to install the Opera browser as well, in addition to the antivirus. While it largely depends on your personal preferences if you’d like to give this software a try, you can click on the ‘Skip’ button on the top right side to skip the download and proceed with the installation of the antivirus only.

The installation would now begin and the software would set-up its protection layers and shields. Updates would also be downloaded at this stage. Click on ‘Open Avira’ button to initiate the software UI.

This is, in fact, a great feature we liked about the Avira Free Antivirus. The User Interface becomes operational very early in the installation phase, unlike most other antivirus software which requires you to wait for the installation to complete until you can actually access the user interface. Here is a software that not only provides you access to the UI during installation but also allows you to explore the various settings and menus in the meantime.

Another great feature of the Avira Free Antivirus is its on-screen tour of the various features as soon as the UI is launched. You’ll see a small blue box that’ll introduce you to the software interface. We highly recommend clicking ‘Next’ through this short tour so you can get up and be running in no time. Should you wish to end the tour, click on the ‘Close’ button. It is important to note that the PC must not be turned off during the time installation is running.

We found that the downloaded files are a bit smaller than those of the competitors and take a few minutes to complete. We highly recommend restarting your PC after the installation is complete to ensure all settings take effect.

Ease of Use

The Avira Free Antivirus has too many options for customization, which is a great thing; however, the software’s UI could have been improved. Some options seem to be hidden and might be difficult to access for the average user.Our Rating: 8/10.

We found that once the installation completes, the system shows a status of ‘Protected’. It also updates the virus database. The UI is overall easy to use, but, has scope for further improvement in that some settings are difficult to access.

On the topmost level of the hierarchy, the UI is organized into 3 main sections as seen in the tabs: ‘This Computer’, ‘My Devices’, and ‘Upgrade’. By default, the software opens in the ‘This Computer’ section, which shows the system status, the tools installed on the PC from amidst the full range of software solutions offered by Avira.

The ‘Settings’ section of the interface lists the PC Protection, Internet Protection, and General settings, that allow you to control the individual controls to match your specific requirements. We’ll discuss these individual sections in detail in the following sections when we go over the respective components.

Antivirus Protection

Avira Free Antivirus provides a strong protection against malware both newer and prevalent viruses. The software offers a range of antivirus functionality and has a number of built-in features.Our Score: 9/10.

On the home screen, click on the ‘Open’ button by the side of the ‘Free Antivirus’ section to enter the core antivirus functionality. Almost all antivirus software offers the user two different levels of protection: automated protection, which ensures the PC is protected in real-time from all possible threats with minimal user intervention and no prior scheduling required, and manual protection wherein the user has the power to schedule scans at the time he so wishes.

Automated Protection

Once inside the core antivirus screen, click on the ‘Modules’ tab on the left navigation pane to enter the modules sub-screen. Click on the ‘Real-Time Protection’ option and ensure that the shield is set to ‘ON’. The Real-time protections shield implements the automated protection mechanism within the software, and it is recommended to leave it active, so it can continuously scan the files on the PC for viruses and other malware.

Click on the small cogwheel icon on the right, and you’ll be taken to the settings screen for the real-time protection shield. This is where you’ll be able to manipulate and fine-tune the controls of the shield.

A nice way to access the main activities and events pertaining to the antivirus is the ‘Activity’ screen. Clicking on this tab inside the core antivirus functionality brings up a list of latest activities and events and is a great way to stay up-to-date on the important system events and occurrences.

The other important feature to keep track of in the Avira Free Antivirus is the ‘Quarantine’ space, which preserves files identified as potential threats by the software. This section can be accessed by clicking on the ‘Quarantine’ tab on the left navigation pane.

Manual Protection

There are a number of options when it comes to Manual Protection in the Avira Free Antivirus. Let’s first have a look at the types of scan functionality available in the software, for which you’ll need to click on the ‘Scan’ tab on the left :

Full Scan

This option should be chosen when you wish to run a comprehensive scan on your PC, scanning all files and folders. Click on ‘Start scan’ option to begin scanning. We recommend running this scan on your PC every once in a while, especially if you use your PC a lot for downloading music and movies from the internet.

Quick Scan

The Quick scan is a smart scan, which scans the most important regions of your PC for malware. If you are short of time but wish to have a malware scan done on your device, this is the way to go. The scan takes a few minutes to complete.

Custom Scan

This is a great feature in the Avira Free Antivirus. Unlike other software, the Avira allows the user a great deal of flexibility when it comes to customizing scan options. You can run a local drive scan, a removable drive scan, a rootkit scan, a Windows system scan, an active process scan, etc. The options are literally limitless with the Avira Free Antivirus.

Scheduler

This utility allows you to schedule scans as per your preferences. You can manage your saved scans or create a new one.

Additional Features

The Avira Free Antivirus software provides a variety of additional features, which can prove useful depending upon your intended use.Our Score: 8/10.

On the main home screen of the software, you’ll find a number of additional features available for installation- which takes a single click and completes from within the app itself. Click on the ‘Install’ option by the side of a feature to complete installing it:

Free System Speedup

We found that this feature installs in a couple of minutes and like the rest of the software, offers a deep level of customization with multiple settings and options.

Performance Optimization

Click on ‘Scan’ button to begin scanning the PC for potential performance lag issues. We found that you can optimize simple problems such as the presence of junk files, issues with registry items, etc. from within the app without requiring an upgrade, which is great.

However, to perform a ‘Full Optimization’ you’ll need to upgrade to the paid version, thus restricting the functionality of the speedup tool.

Boot Optimizer

This functionality helps you reduce the time it takes your PC to boot when you restart or turn it on.

Process and Network Monitoring

This section of System Speedup tool displays system process and network statistics. To be able to manage and analyze the behavior, though, you’ll need to upgrade to the paid version, which restricts the usefulness of this tool. There is also an option to set the ‘Power Mode’, which can only be set to ‘Windows Mode’ by default. The premium software also allows the user to run the system in optimized ‘Energy Saver’ and ‘Power Boost’ modes.

Disk Management

This component of the System Speedup tool indicates the status and health of the system disks. Once again, though, for serious analysis and optimization of disks, you’ll need to upgrade your software to the paid version.

Game Booster

This feature allows you to optimize the system for gaming, so you can enjoy gaming experience to the maximum extent possible with all system settings under control of the Avira.

Tools

These are miscellaneous tools that include a Repair Network feature, Backup,and Recovery tools. These features, though, require an upgrade for use.

Avira Phantom VPN

The Avira Free Antivirus software includes the Avira Phantom VPN tool, which allows the user to use the network securely. You’ll first need to click ‘Install’ to have the feature activated, and then click on the ‘Secure My Connection’ button to activate the VPN (Virtual Private Network). We found that free version users can only use 500 MB of secured traffic per month.

Once you’ve activated the VPN, you can also customize the controls by clicking on the settings cogwheel button. You’ll be able to configure auto-connection of the VPN and turn on/off system restart. In order to block all traffic when the VPN connection drops, you’ll need to upgrade to the paid version.

Password Manager

This is a password management utlility, which remembers all passwords, protecting them with a single password, which makes password management a lot more convenient. Upon installation of this feature, the browser software must be restarted for the settings to take effect.

Free Software Updater

This software tool helps keep all tools and utilities updated on your PC. It cannot be overemphasized that it is crucial to keep all software on your computer updated since updates regularly address security loopholes and help secure the system.

Firewall

This feature can be accessed from the ‘Modules’ section. We recommend keeping the firewall turned on, for it protects the PC from network attacks.

Safe Search

The SafeSearch feature is a one-click install from the home screen and is basically a secure search-engine implemented by Avira themselves, combining their cloud technology for maximum protection.

Antivirus Performance

In our tests, we found that this antivirus runs fast and scans seamlessly with minimal user intervention. The detection ranking is also high when compared to its competitors.Our Score: 9/10.

Software companies, particularly antivirus software are notorious for branding their products as the “best” when actual lab test results might convey otherwise. In this scenario, it is best to rely on independent lab test reports, particularly the ones published by AV-TEST, the well-known German lab. Here’s how the Avira Free Antivirus scores in comparison to its peers in the lab tests:

• The Avira scored 100% in the detection of newer threats (industry average: 99%)
• It scored 99.8% in the detection of widespread, prevalent malware (industry average: 98.5%)
• The software raised 0 false alarms or warnings (industry average: 13)

It is pretty clear from the test results that the Avira Free Antivirus excels in core antivirus functionality.

The software’s performance has been consistent, as is evident on comparing the test reports from September and October.

System Performance

The Avira Free Antivirus doesn’t affect the system performance much, as is also evident from the AV-TEST results.Our Rating: 10/10.

Antivirus software is infamous for bogging down the CPU, slowing down the computer while operating. However, we see a continuous improvement in software performance with newer updates for nearly all antivirus software, and the Avira Free Antivirus is no exception. It runs smoothly without affecting system performance.

• The software slows down file copying operations by about 5% against the average industry rating of 10%)
• The Avira Free Antivirus slows down the installation of common apps by 15% (industry average: 23%)
• It slows down the launch of common apps by 23% (industry average: 17%)
• Slows downloading of websites by 10% (industry average: 13%)

Supported Devices

Avira Free Antivirus is available for download on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. Our Score: 9/10.

Many antivirus software is designed for only the popular OSes out there, but the Avira Free Antivirus is available for all popular OS platforms, except for Linux.

Best Free Antivirus For Mac

The following are the minimum system requirements for the software:

• Windows 7 or higher (SP1 and latest updates)
• RAM (2 GB)
• Hard disk (2 GB)
• Stable internet connection

Pricing

The Avira Free Antivirus is available for download free of charge if you wish to have the basic antivirus functionality in addition to some additional features.Our Rating: 9/10.

Though there are no charges for using the free version of the software, we found that it includes only the basic antivirus core functionality; various additional features are provided, which include performance optimization, VPN, backup, recovery, etc. However, most of these are ‘trailer’ versions of the software and require an upgrade for serious use.

If you need the core antivirus functions, it is best to stay with the Avira Free Antivirus. However, if you’d like to take full advantage of the many additional features offered, you might consider upgrading to the paid version on your favorite OS platform.

Customer Service

We greatly liked the product tour incorporated into the software itself, which begins when the home screen is first opened.Our Score: 10/10.

The Avira Free Antivirus takes a proactive approach as far as customer support is concerned. The product tour inculcated into the design is a great addition and will benefit first-time users trying to find their way around.

The Avira website too compiles useful resources at a single place from where all information can be easily accessed. There are comprehensive video tutorials and FAQ sections too, which you’ll find useful if you need resolutions to your queries regarding software operation or antivirus security in general.

The Bottom Line

The Avira Free Antivirus is a great tool that ensures your PC stays protected, 24 x 7. Its real-time protection shields keep your computer secure, while the comprehensive manual protection options and scans enable the user to schedule scans at his convenience.

The software has a number of additional features, which include a password manager, a VPN tool, SafeSearch, Performance Analyzer, and optimizer, etc, which are great for basic usage but will require you to upgrade for full functionality. In a nutshell, if you need strong overall malware security that is nearly fully customizable with some additional features to try out, the Avira Free Antivirus is the way to go.

PROS: Very deep levels of customization; additional features such as password manager and VPN tool; real-time cloud-based scanning.

CONS: Most additional features require an upgrade for complete functionality; UI is a bit complex with some options hidden within.

Final Score: 9.1 out of 10!

Final Thoughts

With this, we conclude the Avira Free Antivirus Review. Our results are based on comprehensive tests and in-depth analysis of this tool, and we hope you found this yourself. If you’d like to know anything else pertaining to this software, or antivirus software in general, please feel free to leave us a comment, and we’ll get back to you!

You might also consider reading our reviews of the AVG Free antivirus, the COMODO free antivirus, Avast free antivirus, and the Panda free antivirus.

The fun increases when you share the excitement. Why not share this article in your social circles with your dear friends and family so they might benefit and stay protected online too?

Avira Free Mac Security

• Pros

  Certified by AV-Comparatives, with top scores. Full scan ran quickly in our testing. Cleaned most Windows malware in hands-on tests. Free.

• Cons

  Protection against malicious and fraudulent URLs requires separate download. Poor score in antiphishing test.

• Bottom Line

  Avira Free Antivirus for Mac costs nothing, and one lab certifies its macOS protection, but it's not the best free Mac antivirus we've tested.

Though some Mac enthusiasts might argue the contrary, Macs aren't invulnerable. You need antivirus protection on your macOS devices. Sure, Windows and Android are much more popular targets, but Apple machines get hit with malware too, including nasty variants like ransomware. If you don't care to pay for antivirus protection on your Mac, consider Avira Free Antivirus for Mac. It doesn't cost a penny, and it did well in tests by the independent labs.

When you launch Avira's installer, it goes online to get the latest code and malware signatures. The main window features a simple menu down the left, most of which echoes the similar menu in Avira Antivirus and Avira Antivirus Pro. The rest of the window has plenty of whitespace around three main components: a round icon that reflects your security status, a big button to run a full or quick scan, and a drag/drop target so you can quickly scan specific files or folders.

Scanning and Scheduling

On the Apple MacBook Air 13-Inch I use for testing, the quick scan took just a bit over a minute, and the full scan took 25 minutes. That's almost precisely the average among current products for a full scan.

Avg For Mac

Scheduled scanning is enabled by default, once per week. You can add more scheduled quick or full scans, on a daily or weekly basis.

Clicking Modules in the left-side menu displays the status of four security modules: Real-Time Protection, Protection Cloud, Firewall, and USB Scanner (the last is reserved for the Pro edition of this product). Seeing the label Firewall, you might get the impression that Avira includes a firewall component, like Intego, McAfee, and Norton. However, this component simply controls the built-in macOS firewall component.

Pricing and OS Support

There's a big range of prices for Mac-based antivirus support. At the high end, Intego lists at $99.99 per year to protect three Macs, and Symantec Norton Security Deluxe (for Mac) asks $89.99 per year for five cross-platform licenses. Granted, these two are security suites, going beyond what a simple antivirus utility offers.

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The most common pricing plan among products we've reviewed is $39.99 per year for one license and $59.99 for three. As for Avira, you don't pay a thing. Like Sophos Home (for Mac), it's totally free.

You do need a modern operating system to use this antivirus. Avira requires macOS El Capitan (10.11) or better. If you're using an old operating system, you may need to consider a different Mac antivirus. Sophos support runs back to Mountain Lion (10.8), Webroot works on Lion (10.7) or better, and ESET Cyber Security (for Mac) goes all the way back to Snow Leopard (10.6).

Good Malware Protection Lab Scores

When evaluating Windows antivirus utilities for malware protection, I use a wide range of tests that I've developed over the years. I don't have anything similar in hand for the macOS platform, as my many hand-coded testing tools are Windows-only. For Mac antivirus, I necessarily rely more heavily on the independent testing labs to know which products are effective. Fortunately, most of them do just fine.

Two of the independent antivirus testing labs I follow include macOS products in their testing, and both have Avira on their test roster. AV-Comparatives certifies Avira for malware protection, with the best possible scores. It achieved 100 percent protection against Mac-centric malware (to be fair, most of the products in this test reached 100 percent).

The experts at AV-Test Institute rate antivirus utilities, both for Windows and macOS, on three criteria: how well they protect against malware, how little they impact performance, and how carefully they avoid flagging valid programs as malicious. With six points available in each category, the maximum score is 18. Avira earned 5.5, 5.0, and 6.0 points in the three criteria respectively, for a total of 16.5 points. Others have done better. Bitdefender, Intego Mac Internet Security X9, and Trend Micro all earned a perfect 18 from AV-Test, as well as 100 percent from AV-Comparatives.

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Windows malware can't infect Macs, but the Mac could act as a carrier, so AV-Comparatives also checks for detection of Windows-focused malware. Avira also managed 100 percent in this test, as did Avast, Bitdefender, Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac, and Trend Micro.

You may notice that there aren't any results in the table for Sophos, ESET, McAfee, and a few others. These products all earned high marks in past test reports, but the labs vary their product selection, and the latest reports didn't include them.

When I challenged Avira to clean up a USB drive containing the samples from my own Windows-centered testing, it finished quickly, eliminating 82 percent of the samples. That's better than most of the products I've tested in this way, though Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus (for Mac) caught 86 percent and Sophos managed 100 percent. In addition, Sophos jumped right in to scan the USB drive, without waiting for me to request a scan.

Protection Against Phishing and Malicious URLs

Phishing URLs are frauds that attempt to steal your login credentials by imitating sensitive websites. Phishing is a platform-agnostic crime—you can fall victim to fraud using absolutely any device that has a browser. That includes your Mac. Preventing access to such URLs, or to URLs containing malicious code, can be the first line of defense for an antivirus tool, whether it's Mac or Windows antivirus.

Avira Free Antivirus does not in itself protect against malicious or fraudulent URLs, but it does give users easy access to Avira's Browser Safety extensions for Chrome and Firefox. I installed the Chrome extension and proceeded to test Avira's browser-based protection.

For this test, I gather the newest phishing URLs I can find, especially ones that haven't yet been analyzed and blacklisted. I use one of my hand-coded tools to launch each URL and record results in three browsers, Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer, each protected by the browser's own built-in protection. As for the Mac product, my analysis tool works strictly on Windows, so I test by hand on the Mac. I ran this test simultaneously with my test of Avira Antivirus and Avira Antivirus Pro on Windows.

For testing purposes, I discard any URL that causes an error message in any of the browsers, and any URL that doesn't actively attempt to capture login credentials. Analyzing the remaining URLs, the undeniable phishing URLs, I found that Avira's detection rate came at 66 percent, as it did under Windows. That makes sense; the Chrome plug-in that handles phishing protection isn't platform-specific.

That 66 percent score is better than the 47 percent Avira earned last time I put it to the test. However, it's in the bottom half for macOS antivirus utilities that include phishing protection. McAfee AntiVirus Plus (for Mac) recently managed 100 percent protection in this test.

On the plus side, Browser Safety marks up unsafe links in search results, so you can avoid clicking them. It doesn't offer the detailed analysis that you get from Norton, but then, most of the time you don't need to see those details.

Should You Go Pro?

At the bottom of the main screen's left-side menu is a highlighted item titled 'Get Pro.' Clicking it gets you a laundry list of the virtues of the Pro edition. These include scanning USB devices, protecting emails, and full-scale phone support, along with more nebulous benefits such as 'award-winning shields against dangerous threats' and protection enhancement using 'smart learning algorithms.'

As with the free and Pro editions on Windows, perhaps even more so, the added benefits don't seem to merit the price. The free edition's real-time protection scans a file that enters your Mac via USB either when it's copied to the local drive or when it executes. Likewise, when you save or launch a malicious email attachment, real-time protection jumps into the fray. Personal tech support is nice—free users only get FAQs and community support forums—but not $44.99 per year nice. I didn't see a reason to review the Pro edition separately.

Free and Simple

Mac Antivirus

Having heard for years that Macs don't get malware, Mac users may find paying money for antivirus protection hard to justify. It's a false assumption—macOS malware exists—but that still doesn't mean that you must pay. Avira Free Antivirus for Mac does a decent job, and it doesn't cost a dime.

Avira For Mac Review 2018 Chevy

But you should also look at Sophos Home (for Mac). Like Avira, Sophos has certification from two independent labs. It wiped out all our Windows malware samples, beating out even its paid competitors. And in our antiphishing test it does much better than Avira.

If you have a little cash to splash on antivirus for your Mac, take a look at Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac and Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac. Both received certification from both labs, Bitdefender with all perfect scores and Kaspersky with near-perfect scores. Bitdefender includes such advanced features as ransomware protection for your documents and backups. Kaspersky is a full suite, with components including parental control and network protection. These two are our Editors' Choice products for Mac antivirus.

Cnet Best Mac Antivirus 2018

Bottom Line: Avira Free Antivirus for Mac costs nothing, and it gets good scores from the independent labs, but it's not the best free Mac antivirus we've tested.