Top free security suites

Seth Rosenblatt Seth Rosenblatt, Senior associate editor April 29, 2010

You don't need to pay for your PC's security, and there are currently six excellent free security programs on CNET Download.com that are rated 4 stars or higher. These include the three most popular programs on the site: AVG, Avira AntiVir, and Avast, as well as ThreatFire from PC Tools. There are also two cloud-based security solutions in the group, Microsoft Security Essentials, which replaced the company's OneCare paid suite, and Panda Cloud AntiVirus.


None of them will replace smart browsing habits. For example, Google announced earlier this week that fake antivirus scams account for 15 percent of all malware. So if you get a pop-up trying to get you to download another antivirus program, ignore it. One of these six security will be more than enough to protect most users, although there's nothing wrong with paying for a security program if you feel you'll get better protection.

Product Name Avast Free Antivirus AVG AntiVirus Free 2013 Avira Free Antivirus 2013 Microsoft Security Essentials Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Edition ThreatFire AntiVirus Free Edition
Date Added May 09, 2013 May 20, 2013 May 08, 2013 February 20, 2013 February 19, 2013 October 11, 2011
Editor's Rating
Average User Rating
Review Date March 05, 2013 September 07, 2012 October 23, 2012 December 22, 2010 July 20, 2012 September 11, 2012
Summary Looking to compete with both paid and free security suites, Avast wants to create a unified approach to your computer security. Long gone are the ... Read more Review: AVG's updates for 2013 look to the future while struggling to overcome the problems of the past. There's a new interface optimized ... Read more Review: Avira returns to the security field with a second major revamp in as many years of its flagship free antivirus and paid upgrades. Whereas ... Read more The bottom line: Microsoft Security Essentials 2 will protect you, and it will generally do it well. However, its impact on system performance could be ... Read more The bottom line: Panda Cloud Antivirus Free 2.0 gets impressive marks for its detection rates, making it a solid dark-horse candidate even though it ... Read more Let's get one thing clear: PC Tools' ThreatFire Antivirus Free isn't supposed to be your system's primary antivirus solution. This behavior-based virus ... Read more
License Free Free Free Free Free Free
Limitations No limitations No limitations No limitations No limitations No limitations No limitations
Downloads Last Week 1115228 720815 36913 7706 4704 77
Total Downloads 253395559 470962460 143975495 3232623 3437698 3630007
File Size 112.04MB 4.26MB 2MB 10.58MB 789.28K 9.42MB
Operating Systems Windows 7
Windows 8
Windows XP
Windows
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 8
Windows XP
Windows
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows XP
Windows
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows XP
Windows
Windows Vista
Windows 7 32-bit
Windows 7 64-bit
Windows Vista 64-bit
Windows
Windows XP 32-bit
Windows Vista 32-bit
Windows 7
Windows XP
Windows
Windows 2003
Windows Vista
Windows Server 2008
Additional Requirements No additional requirements No additional requirements No additional requirements No additional requirements No additional requirements No additional requirements
Publisher AVAST Software AVG Technologies USA Avira Microsoft Panda Security PC Tools