Avast - Great for Beginners (With a Good Free Plan)
Avast offers excellent malware protection, a beginner-friendly interface, and a robust free plan. Its scanner achieved a perfect 100% detection rate in my tests, blocking all viruses, ransomware, spyware, and more. Real-time protection was equally strong, preventing threats before they could execute. However, full scans took around 1 hour, and I noticed minor slowdowns during intensive tasks.
Pros
- Perfect malware detection
- Great free version
- Intuitive apps
Cons
- Limited VPN features
- Basic breach monitoring
Avast comes with a lot of extras, including:
- Web protections.
- Firewall.
- VPN (with data limits).
- Optimization tools.
- Data breach monitoring.
- Identity theft protections (US only).
- Rescue Disk.
- Secure Browser.
- Webcam shield.
- Sandbox.
The extras are solid for the price, though not as polished as Norton’s. The VPN provides good speeds but caps data at 5 GB/week on bottom-tier plans and lacks split-tunneling on desktop. The optimization tools effectively cleared junk and updated drivers in my tests, freeing up space quickly.
Avast’s password manager generates, stores, and autofills passwords securely, though it lacks advanced features like password sharing included in all top standalone password managers. While Avast offers parental controls, it’s a completely separate product and not included in any of the antivirus plans.
Breach monitoring covers up to 5 emails (or 30 on the family plans), with helpful alerts and clear instructions on how to resolve issues. That said, the feature is still very basic compared to Norton’s Privacy Monitor, which also checks related info like your physical address, birthdate, gamertags, and more.
Avast’s plans are slightly confusing but affordable. The free Avast One Basic includes core scanning, web protection, and limited VPN. Premium Security $31.20 / year adds an advanced firewall, webcam protection, and covers up to 10 devices. Avast One Gold $83.88 / year includes an unlimited-data VPN, full optimization, and supports up to 30 devices, while Avast One Platinum $119.88 / year (US only), offers identity theft insurance up to $2 million. All paid plans have a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
Avast provides strong antivirus protection with a user-friendly design, excellent free tier, and useful extras like VPN, optimization tools, breach monitoring, and a password manager. Parental controls are available as a separate purchase. You can try Avast risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee.