Microsoft Security Essentials vs Avira vs avast! vs AVG: Best free anti-virus/anti-malware program for Windows [3rd Edition]
December 18, 2011 402
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Without a doubt one of the most popular questions I am asked is “which security software should I use for my computer?” Often times the person asking me the question is looking for a free security solution as opposed to a paid one. To address this question, I have already created a post on best security software. However, now – in this article – I am going to directly address the issue of “should I use Avira, avast!, or AVG?” Of course there are many other free anti-virus/anti-malware software. However, I feel these three are the most popular and most commonly inquired about, hence why I picked them.
Update on December 3, 2010: Because of its growing popularity, and requests made to me by many people, Microsoft Security Essentials is now included in this comparison.
When evaluating security software and trying to decide which one you want to use, there are two main areas which you should look at: Features and performance. So, lets get started.
This review is part of our Best Free Windows Software section. Check out more articles on the best free Windows programs from here.
Table of Contents
Summary of Update
Features Comparison
Performance Comparison
Detection Rates
Malware Removal Effectiveness
Computer Impact
In the 3rd edition of dotTech’s guide on Best Free Windows Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware the following changes have been made:
- Features Comparisonsection has been updated to reflect new features added to Avira Free, avast! Free, AVG Free, and Microsoft Security Essentials since the 2nd edition of this article was written. All four made tweaks and modifications to their existing features; the major new features are:
- Avira Free – “WebGuard”
- avast! Free – Behavior blocker, “Auto Sandbox”, “Script Shield”, “WebRep”
- AVG Free – Largely unchanged
- Microsoft Security Essentials – Behavior blocker, “Network Inspection System”
- Performance Comparison section has been updated to reflect new on-demand and retrospective detection rates for Avira Free, avast! Free, and Microsoft Security Essentials. AVG Free did not participate in the latest retrospective tests so AVG Free’s detection rates have been updated only for on-demand tests.
- Performance Comparison’s sub-section Speed and Computer Usage has been rewritten with a new source and renamed to Computer Impact.
- Performance Comparison now includes a new sub-section, Malware Removal Effectiveness.
(Click on the chart to view it in full size.)
In terms of features, as you can see in the chart above, all four programs provide the necessary fundamental protection. However, it is worth noting that neither of the programs provide full/advanced phishing protection; you will have to cough up money for paid versions to get full/advanced phishing protection. Or, you could just be careful about what links you click; and double-check to make sure the website you are at is who it claims to be since phishing success heavily depends on social engineering and user ambivalence.
Furthermore, while all four programs provide the fundamentals, avast! is the most notable one for going “above and beyond” the basics and providing a little extra bang for the buck (or lack thereof). In other words, avast! provides more “extra” features than the other three, although AVG Free also has some nice extras. It also should be noted Avira Free’s “WebGuard” requires users to install Avira Toolbar, which is powered by Ask.com; and Microsoft Security Essentials has an interesting feature called “Network Inspection System” — a guard against network-based exploits.
Lastly, even though Microsoft Security Essentials is the only one to not prompt users with advertisements it must be noted that the ads in avast! Free are non-intrusive and embedded within the main console window – they are not the popup ads Avira Free is notorious for and AVG Free sometimes displays.
(Click on the chart to view it in full size.)
(Click on the chart to view it in full size.)
When viewing the above test results, keep a few things in mind:
- The On-Demand Anti-Malware Tests are tests done on the security software with all their features enabled (with all settings set to the highest possible). The Retrospective/Proactive Anti-Malware Tests are tests done specifically on the security softwares’ heuristics capabilities; their capabilities to protect against unknown/new malware that have no signatures. It needs to be mentioned that heuristics is not the only feature that security software use against unknown/new malware. Other feature, such as behavior blocking, also help detect unknown/new malware; however only the heuristics feature (and no other features, such as behavior blocking) was tested in the Retrospective/Proactive Anti-Malware Tests.
- For the The On-Demand Anti-Malware Tests
- Microsoft Security Essentials had “very few” false positives; Avira had “few” false positives; avast! had “few” false positives; and AVG had “many” false positives.
- Avira scanned at “fast” speed; avast! scanned at “fast” speed; AVG scanned at “average” speed; and Microsoft Security Essentials scanned at “slow” speed.
- The tests were conducted 1-5 months ago. In other words, Avira, avast!, AVG, and MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) may have improved (or degraded) their performance since these tests were conducted. These are the versions of each program used for both of the above tests:
- The tests were conducted using the free version of Avira (“Avira AntiVir Personal” is another name for Avira Free); free and paid version of AVG, respectively for each test; and free version of avast!. Microsoft Security Essentials, of course, is free by definition.
Because of the above mentioned points,
- The performance of each software today may be different than when the tests were conducted.
- The performance of the free edition AVG may perform slightly differ than what is shown above since paid version for AVG was used for one test.
However, keeping that in mind, for the purposes of a simple comparison these test results work just fine because they give general indications, which is what we are looking for.
That being said, the results are a clear indication of Avira’s detection superiority. Not only does Avira have the highest on-demand detection rates, but it also tops the chart for retrospective tests; all with fast scanning and few false positives. avast! comes in a close second with healthy on-demand and retrospective rates, fast scanning, and few false positives. MSE is fourth in on-demand detection but does very well in retrospective tests and comes out on top when it comes to false positives. (It should be noted MSE’s lower on-demand rates help it do better in terms of false positives: It detects less so there is less chance of it to have false positives.) AVG, in my opinion, is the most disappointing of the lot. It doesn’t do too badly in on-demand but does terrible for retrospective and has many false positives.
Based off just these test results, Avira and avast! are definitely my two top picks, with MSE a close third. However, the tests were conducted in a lab setting for benchmark purposes. In other words, they don’t exactly reflect “real life”. In real-life usage the protection between all four program will be similar because most user activity will fall within areas covered by all four. I may be a bit bold when I say this but the differences between all four software will typically only be felt when conducting benchmarks or tests.
(Click on the chart to view it in full size.)
Being able to detect malware has value in of itself; simply knowing you are infected is worthwhile. However, an anti-virus/anti-malware program that cannot remove malware is probably one you don’t want to have. Hence in the 3rd edition of dotTech’s guide on Best Free Windows Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware we look at the results of a malware removal effectiveness test.
Before we discuss the results it must be noted this malware removal effectiveness test had limited scope — it only used ten samples. It is hard, and frankly not fair or logical, to draw authoritative conclusions based on a test that only used ten samples. However, for the purposes of a non-authoritative indicator, this test will do just fine… as long as you keep in mind the limited scope.
That said, Avira once again tops the charts. MSE comes in a close second with AVG and avast! lagging as distant third and fourth, respectively. As I said, this test used only ten samples so we can’t say avast! or AVG are incompetent at removing malware while Avira or MSE are the best. The results very well could have been different if different ten malware samples were picked. (That is why having a large, randomized sample size is important in any test.) However, I believe it is fair to say with its combined stellar performance on-demand and retrospective detection rates and malware removal effectiveness, Avira more than makes up in performance what it lacks in features.
(Click on the chart to view it in full size.)
(Click on the chart to view it in full size.)
(Click on the chart to view it in full size.)
NOTE: Avira Free 2012, avast! Free v6, AVG AntiVirus 2012, and Microsoft Security Essentials v2.1 were used for the above tests.
Generally speaking, the computer impact of all four software is about the same. True, avast! does come out on top but only by a small margin; and this small margin will only be noticed when benchmarking — not in real-life usage. Really the only test worth noting is opening Word and opening PDF. In this test avast! out shines the other three on the first run (subsequent run they all perform the same). All other aspects of the Computer Impact test end up with results that are too close to draw lines between.
(For those that don’t know, PC Mark is a professional, industry-recognized benchmarking tool. The higher PC Mark score, the better. However, when it comes to PC Mark, few points here and there have no significant meaning. If PC Mark scores were drastically different, such as 50 or more, then it would be worth looking at.)
Note: All tests referenced in all Performance Comparison sub-sections of this article were not conducted by dotTech. They (the tests) were conducted by AV-Comparatives.org, an authority on security software testing. I attained permission to re-publish AV-Comparatives’ results on dotTech when I originally wrote this article.
While there are some noteworthy aspects – such as Microsoft Security Essential’s low false positive count or avast!’s lowest computer impact or Avira’s best detection and removal performance – there is no one “winner” between Microsoft Security Essentials, Avira Free, avast! Free, and AVG Free. To try to determine which one is the “best” is like trying to split hairs; it is hard to do and it hurts. In real-life situations, all four programs will provide users with excellent protection.
However, with that being said, if I were to rank these four I would rank Avira and avast! as my top two picks; Avira for its detection and malware removal and avast! for its features and lowest computer impact. Microsoft Security Essentials and AVG come after Avira and avast!, with each providing one or two unique features that have potential to win over users.
Now, what program you should use comes down to your specific needs and desires. Want the most features? avast! Free is the way to go. Are you looking for the best detection rates and don’t care about anything else? Avira Free is for you. Want a simple anti-malware program that provides great protection without nagging ads? Microsoft Security Essentials beckons you. Worried about network security? Microsoft Security Essentials’ “Network Inspection System” may serve you well. Are you a social network addict? Go with AVG Free for it has “Social Network Protection”. Hate false positives? Avoid AVG and consider Microsoft Security Essentials. Dislike slow scan times? Don’t get Microsoft Security Essentials. Surf the web a lot, besides your frequent websites? avast! Free’s “Web Shield” provides better specialized protection in that area than the other three programs. Download lots of software? avast! Free’s “Auto Sandbox” may be your next best friend.
I have provided you with the facts; now the choice of Microsoft Security Essentials, Avira Free, avast! Free, or AVG free is in your hands. Whichever one you pick, rest assured all four will serve you well.
Avira Free AntiVirus
Supported OS: Windows 2000+
Avira AntiVir Personal homepage [download link]
avast! Free Antivirus
Supported OS: Windows XP+
avast! Free Antivirus homepage [download link]
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
Supported OS: Windows 2000+
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition homepage [download link]
Microsoft Security Essentials
Supported OS: Windows XP and higher
Microsoft Security Essentials homepage
Originally written on February 14, 2010. 2nd edition posted on December 3, 2010. 3rd edition posted on December 18, 2011.
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i have used Avira now for years and find it the best. haven’t had an infection since it has been on my system.however….. when i tried to uninstall it to try out their security suite it removed a .dll file that windows needed.no big deal but a little scary at the time. does not slow computer like avg. well worth the download.
asraf.. no offense buddy (i love ur site) but ur data is in conclusive. my reason is that this was between avast 5.0 and the other anti viruses, right?
however the detection scan came ended up using Avast 4.8 which is not proper data.
but i love the review.. and im not sure how many people check this out (but this helped me decid on avast
If you really care try Eset, –not free, but you can make free “on-line scan” of your PC. This one checked viruses on my PC those 3 craps above ignored..
WOT does nicely as a link scanner for Firefox and Chrome if your AV doesn’t include one. No need to install AVG to get it.
@radek: Back in the day, Nod32 used to be very good. Now, not so much IMHO. It rarely does as well as even the free AV’s in the tests and it is noticeably heavy in my system.
Kaspersky (heavy but better protection), Norton (light and much better protection) or Trend (very very heavy but good protection) are good alternatives.
avst 5 scan 9 gigs and a half in almost 7 minutes..also don’t forget the problem of updating in avira…
however thanks to all 3,,becuse is free..
@blue: 100% agreed. I am no longer a fan of ESET. I’m afraid of ESET! I’m sticking with McAfee, orr maybe MSE.
@Lascannon: McAfee?! >.>
@blue: Just an FYI- AVG Linkscanner can be installed as a stand alone and separate addon for FF.
You do not need to D/l and install the entire AVG prgm.
I also use WOT in addition to the stand alone AVG Linkscanner.. they work well together.
I have been using Avast for years and I find v5 is much better, polished and intuitive than the older versions. I recommend this to all my friends and co workers.
Many thanks Ashraf for your review and to everyone for your comments. I’ve found AVG draggy – slowed things down on my desktop computer. For my PC tablet, I’m mulling over avast vs antivir. However, I’m going to try antivir and if those ‘orrible pop- up ads appear, I will go to that link you advised – thank you, Potanin. And thanks again for this website.
I’ve been using AVG free for a while and it has worked for me.
But a note of caution though: The other day AVG did an auto update and it updated to the newest version, requiring a system reboot.
However, after restarting, I began getting BIOS problems (an errant BIOS code on the LCD readout, beeping indicating that the CPU fan supposedly not working but it was). Rebooting did not solve the problem. I was scratching my head as to what to do.
Then I decided to go into the BIOS. Seeing nothing amiss, I did a reload of the BIOS (my ABIT IP35 Pro mobo easily allows this via the F7 key).
After doing this and rebooting, no more problems!
I have used all of these three anti-virus programs- first I had Avira, but it’s pop-ups just discouraged me to go on relying on it. Then I switched to AVG, but I ran across problems removing a trojan, then I moved to Avast and I keep it to this day (version 4.8, I didn’t bother to update it to version 5 because I am contented with what its old version provides- 7 shields, scheduled boot-time virus removal, good set of skins. It is the less obtrusive of these three products, it does not slow down my system, its scanner is not among the fastest ones, but there is no perfect anti-virus application. Avast plus Outpost (optional spyware cleaner- SpyBot – Search & Destroy) is the perfect security combination for me.
P.S.
I cannot say which is the best anti-virus, but I am certain which one is the worst, and this, by far, is Norton, the most horrible application I have ever had on my machine (I bought my laptop with it installed on it).
Be interesting to hear the experiences of MSE users, seeing as how this is now earning a lot of kudos for Microsoft.
Me, I’m still continuing on with Avast: not a single false positive in 8 months, superb email detection and flagging, easy on resources and not a single update problem — unlike the horrendous experience of Avira, where insult was added to injury by its appalling splash screens.
Avast Rules OK.
In my experience the memory usage stats for AVG are way out. Raymonds graph doesn’t seem to take into account that AVG stores a copy of it’s database under the ‘SYSTEM’ process. On all PC’s I have seen with AVG on the system process always consumes around 80-100MB (it should be <1MB) and never drops.
Anyone else notice this?
My Main concern is High detection that is why i have chosen avira.
Thanks a lot to all of those who recommended Avast, I’ll give it a try!
I’ve been using Avast! for about 2 years now. I switched to Avira when AVG had an upgrade and it slowed my machine to a crawl! I liked Avira until I noticed it didn’t scan my incoming email. I promptly looked for another good free antivirus program and came across Avast! It did everything I wanted and it didn’t slow down my PC like AVG did. I’m very happy with Avast!
MY Computer Security Defense currently consist of the Free Version of AVAST Ant-Virus 5.0 (Mad Good); OUTPOST Fire Wall (The BEST) and the paid version of MALWAREBYTES Anti-Malware (Better Than Any Other in its league)!
I also have the paid version of ZEMANA Anti-Logger.
I can sleep comfortably at night Knowing Full Well that my computer is highly protected!
Thanks All,
TheRube.
Hi all:
I loved the article, very thorough and informative. Thank you.
I have used AVG in the past. My machines ended up with viruses. I went to a paid for anti virus for 2 years. Bit Defender. I thought it was good the first year but the second year was shear hell.
I then went to Avast which I am still using today with out any problems.
I’m always looking for something better. You know, the grass is always greener on the other side. lol
I had checked into Avira and almost changed until I notice all the false positives. I don’t have time for false positives. I think the only reason they are rating a wee bit higher on the testing results is do to this false positive problem. Take that away and Avira would fall short of Avast, which I feel they do anyway.
For now and probably a long time, I will stick with Avast
@Diana: You make a lot of sense in your comments (as I have also tried BIT DEFENDER)
I also had AVIRA at one point until they had the difficulty with supplying the FREE users with timely updates or none at all.
I switched back to AVAST and have NOT looked back since.
TheRube
Actually, I have used all three. My first AV was AVG. I had it
for a while and it seemed as if it was working pretty decently
for a really long stretch. No complaints really. It was unobtrusive
and the PC was just hummin’ along so to speak. Up until… a rather
wicked, heinous, insidious malware named “Antivirus Live” took
over my machine. Well – my system was now infected. And now
it was time to see what tools, what line of defense(s), just exactly what
capabilities AVG had in its arsenal to combat this “evil presence,”
this “foreign body” if you will, that which was now making its
home – on my computer. To be honest, this event took place a
fairly long time ago, so exact specifics are somewhat hazy.
However, I still remember the futile feeling I had as I had lost control
of my PC. Web pages were opening without any actions taken by me.
Homepages were changing. All I actually could do was watch as
AVG was being, well, AVG (average). In other words, perhaps AVG is
a first-rate Anti-Virus, but it was NOT with THIS virus (“Antivirus Live”).
And NOT on MY computer at THIS point-and-time. So – what is my
next step? What do I do now? Well…enter Avira.
I had heard a lot of good things about Avira. Not the least of which,
was a VERY favorable review given by that “leading consumer
magazine.” I won’t divulge its name here as they may file a lawsuit
against me for using them as a reference, and making their name
public (Hey. ya never know, Ashraf might dime me out) :) But I’ll
give you a hint: The first name is Consumer and the second name
starts with an “R.” (Do we have any Wheel of Fortune
afficinados in the house?). Okay, good, now they can’t get
me *HaHa*
At any rate, I turned to Avira because of word of mouth and
the CR mag review. Aw, who am I kidding, I was frigging
desperate! So, I downloaded and installed Avira. I turned to
religion, clutched the rosary beads and cut loose this highly
acclaimed AV prog on this dreadful intruder which by this
time was quite comfortably nestled in BOB ( Buckets O’
Bolts, aka my PC). Long story; short! Wow! Avira to the
rescue! It found “Antivirus Live” really fast. It sprayed its
pixie dust (OK, I embellished this part of the story. No pixie
dust was used or harmed during the eradication of the
virus) and wiped Antivirus Live right out! My PC was no
longer in ITS hands anymore. I was now my computer’s
ruler, king and sovereign leader! (I know, I know, I need
to cut back on the caffeine). Alright, so Avira was good.
I was darn good. But do we always need to be reminded
how good it is and how even better it would be, if we were
to only dip into our collective and respective wallets or
purses and fork over the greenbacks to them once a year?
In other words, to say Avira has nag screens would be as
accurate as saying what a lousy economy
we currently find ourselves in. Avira constantly
was flashing their nag screens and trying
to get me to “upgrade” to their paid version. And
y’know what? That’s fine. It’s their company, they can
choose to run it as they see fit. But conversely, I, too,
have a choice. I can choose to look elsewhere, and seek
out a AV program that will fit my needs. And I did.
Enter avast!
So – I have used avast! for a good long stretch now, and I
am currently using it today. I have to register it once a year.
But in the interim, unlike Avira, I don’t even know it’s there.
Except of course, when it automatically updates its anti-virus
definitions and tells me so by way of both a visual cue (a
dialog box) and / or an audio cue (a female voice announces
“database has been updated”). Oh and it also has
“blocked” a number of malware from penetrating and
doing harm to my machine. As this too, is also
“announced” (visually and audibly) by avast!. So I say,
all-in-all, Avast! is well… a vast improvement over what
I had.
Hey look, I understand Avira may be somewhat better than
avast! at malware detection. But I don’t think it actually is
that much better. And I happen to think that avast!, overall,
is more comprehensive, with more features that have swayed
me over to their side.
Now, having said that, I do realize things in the computer
world can change very quickly. So, I will try to stay on top
of things and rely on knowledgeable people such as Ashraf
to tell me otherwise. Or to give me a heads-up about
how another product or products have now surpassed
what I’m using at the moment. But until that time
comes…I’m hanging my hat with avast!
Oh, one last thing. I think a lot of people are taking avast!
more seriously as well because when I last checked over at
download.com, avast! had leapfrogged Avira and is closing
in on AVG as the most downloaded app.
Bottom line ( I lied. One OTHER thing): They’re all very worthy.
I guess it just comes down to what’s best for your particular
situation / computer at a certain given time.
Joe M.
avira’s major problem is very slow updates.sometimes it took hours, so i stopped updating. then windows will say a-v is out of date.they say their servers are busy and could cater only paid users.this is a pressure tactic to sell pro version.
its false+ forced me out of ssuite office, otherwise a feature-rich office suite. and horror of horror,it wiped out downloaded movies, after a scan. after an year, i returned to my tested avast ,which nicely updates on net connection.
and lastly ,the a-v comparative study was criticized on ethical grounds,for accepting funds from participants. and avira was a major sponsor.
I’m always dumbfounded when people complain about Avira updates! I have the free version, and it updates quietly in the background whenever I boot up, and then lets me know in an unobtrusive window bottom right of screen saying that my system has been successfully updated and that it has installed x number of files…Yes, it first flashes the nag screen which I automatically click on, and then it updates with no problems ever….I consider the nag screen an alert to the fact that Avira wants to update and will be busy doing just that if I click to continue (as opposed to closing the window). By the way, I seem to recall that the nag screen is the “Notifier”, and that if you disable it , you will also be disabling the automatic updates…. And Avira will often update more than once a day. They always notify me when I need to update (asking me if I want to do it now or later), so there is never any issue of my not being able to reach them…..
I have in an earlier post addressed the issue of the myth of not being protected from bad emails with Avira. I am always alerted to dangerous emails, and you get several options of how you want to deal with them. I always check ‘Deny access’. Yes, this is in the FREE version! This issue is dealt with at length in the Avira Antivir Free forum. It also alerts me to dangerous websites.
Well. Janet, you certainly raise good points. But it’s not so much
complaining as it is pointing out facts. Even though, avast! would
like you to buy their products, you’ll have to admit they aren’t
telling you on a daily basis that you would be better served
purchasing their products rather than running their free
version on your computer. And avast! is versatile and configurable
enough, that you can set it up so that they will ask you if you
would like to update (as opposed to just aurtomatically
updating). I mean, why does it have to be everyday that Avira
does this? Couldn’t they just “nag” you once a month, or something
in that time frame? Surely, we don’t have to be reminded day-after-day
that they have a paid version available, do we?. Is our collective
attention spans that short?
At any rate, although Avira is a phenomenally good free
product. I think it could and would be even better and
more popular if the folks over there would just rethink
a few things.
Either way, in all seriousness, I must say you have a heckuva
great product on your computer in Avira. (But avast! is good
as well. To each his/her own, I guess.) And btw, don’t forget
Avira has a paid version available also. But I’m sure they’ll
tell you about that shortly themselves:)
@Joe M.:
1. With Avira you can choose either to update automatically or just be notified when new updates are available. In either case, you can choose to update Now or Later. They also let you know if you haven’t updated in two days, which I think is very helpful.
2. I was only commenting on the fact that many folks seem to have trouble updating with Avira while I (lucky for me!) never have found this to be a problem….So perhaps it has to do with settings….