Effectiveness

Your antivirus should be capable of protecting you from the vast majority of existing malware, with regular updates to combat the new viruses created every day. You can determine this by looking at third-party lab tests, with the best antivirus software showing online detection rates of at least 97% from AV-Comparatives and consistent protection scores of at least 5.5 out of 6 on AV-Test.

System resource use

To keep you safe, antivirus software must be active any time your computer is — which makes it important to consider the potential impact on your system resources. Generally, I think CPU usage of less than 5% during background operation and less than 40% during scans is ideal, though it may be difficult to achieve this if you’re using an old or under-resourced machine.

During my tests, the best antivirus software for Mac used less than 5% of my CPU during background operation, with some using less than 1%. Scans used more power, with most antivirus tools I tested using between 8% and 40% of my CPU. However, your results will vary based on your device. I recommend running each type of scan offered by your antivirus to determine how much strain it puts on your computer. This lets you take advantage of money-back guarantees to switch software until you find one that works for your setup.

Privacy

Your antivirus company’s privacy policies should clearly detail what data it collects and how it uses that data, including provisions for when data will be shared with third parties and what entities it will be shared with. Ideally, this should only include data that’s absolutely required for your account, antivirus software and related tools to function properly. These policies should also state that pseudo-anonymization protocols are used to separate your identity from your data.

Additionally, the privacy policies need to state whether the company will share your data with government authorities and, if so, when it will do so. The best antivirus companies state that data will be shared with law enforcement authorities only when legally required. 

In the case of VPNs, no-logs policies should be in place to communicate to users that no browsing session information is recorded while connected to a VPN, with third-party audits and transparency reports to back up the company’s commitment to privacy. Unfortunately, some antivirus-first companies’ VPNs lack these audits and reports, as well as advanced privacy features like obfuscation, which tries to mask the fact that you’re using a VPN. As such, we recommend separately buying one of CNET’s recommended VPNs to maximize your privacy.

Device coverage

Most antivirus companies restrict the number of devices you can protect on any given plan, with limits ranging from one to 25. Pay close attention to the number of devices allowed on the plan you’re considering.

Furthermore, while most antivirus companies offer protective software for multiple operating systems, some features may be limited to specific OS’s. Malwarebytes, for example, offers Windows optimization tools but has no comparable tools for MacOS. Take note of these differences when selecting your antivirus software.

Bundled services

One of the main benefits of third-party antivirus software is that it often comes bundled with other cybersecurity and privacy tools. These typically include anti-tracker browser extensions, privacy monitoring, dark web monitoring and identity theft protection (including identity theft insurance). You can also get more niche tools, like parental controls, from some antivirus companies. This simplifies things by letting you pay for all of the cybersecurity tools you need in one package.

While bundling can be beneficial, it’s important to remember that there can also be downsides. Antivirus companies’ primary focus is antivirus software, so these companies’ other tools aren’t always best-in-class. Specifically, most antivirus-first companies’ VPNs fell short of our expectations during testing, so we recommend separately purchasing a dedicated VPN like ExpressVPN, NordVPN or Surfshark.

Value

Antivirus plans tend to range from around $30 per year for basic antivirus software to around $300 annually for full-blown cybersecurity suites. More expensive plans typically provide additional cybersecurity tools and greater device protection allowances, though the exact tools available vary from one company to the next. Create a list of the cybersecurity tools you need and know the number of devices you want coverage for, so you can compare prices to find the best value package for your needs.