Avast antivirus review 2025

Avast Antivirus offers malware protection, WiFi security scanning, a firewall, webcam protection, anti-phishing and ransomware protection, and a secure VPN, just to name a few. This efficient antivirus software is compatible with Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS. However, it took a huge reputational blow in 2024 for tracking and selling user data to third-party advertisers, which raises a question of whether Avast Antivirus is really safe to use.

Of course, I had to test out Avast Antivirus myself, so I first downloaded the Free Antivirus version and then upgraded to the fullest paid version, Avast Ultimate. I performed in-house tests on both versions, including using malware samples and checking the software’s efficiency with them. I also tested CPU and RAM load while engaged in high-demand activities, like streaming. I performed these tests on several devices, like an Alienware PC running Windows 11, a Macbook using macOS Sonoma 14.1, and both an iPhone and Android smartphone, for my tests to be comprehensive. Below, you’ll find a brief summary of my findings and for more – continue reading this article.

How we test and rate antivirus software

Over the years of testing antivirus software, we’ve come up with our own in-house antivirus testing methodology which aligns with strict industry standards. Our antivirus testing process includes malware detection accuracy, third-party results comparison, system performance, impact, ease of use, offered features, price, compatibility, and other performance benchmarks.

Our process is aimed to discern if the antivirus software is not overly complex and can be comfortably used by beginners as well as more experienced users and if it does what it claims to do in protecting devices and data against malware, viruses, and phishing attacks. Lastly, we evaluate the price-to-feature ratio and share our findings in our reviews. To check how well the antivirus performs in real-life situations, we download the software on our home computers and use them just as you would. Then, we compare our findings with those from independent test labs, like AV-Comparatives and AV-Test, to paint a broader picture of performance and efficiency. That way, we can give you a comprehensive review of every software that we test.

*We tested Avast Antivirus On February 7, 2025, and gave it a score of 7.6/10.

Our verdict: Avast Antivirus is a highly efficient anti-malware software, keeping high positions in independent lab tests. It was just as efficient during our in-house tests, detecting 10 out of 10 pre-planted malware samples during the Full Scan. However, Avast’s reputation has seen better times. If you prefer your antivirus to have a rock-solid privacy policy and clear transparency on data handling, then we’d recommend choosing some other AV, such as TotalAV, instead.

Avast antivirus cost and plan pricing

• Avast subscriptions range from free to over $299.99 per year, depending on the plan and the number of devices covered.
• The cheapest Avast antivirus plan is the "Avast One Silver," which starts at $2.99 per month, covering up to 3 devices on a single account.

The price of Avast Antivirus depends on the plan you choose and the devices you want to protect with one subscription. It varies from completely free to $2.99 and up to $119.88 for the first year. However, it's worth noting that Avast isn't the cheapest antivirus option available. After your first year of subscribing, the prices rise significantly and reach up to $99.99/year for Avast Premium, $139.99/year for Avast Ultimate, and $299.99/year for Avast One Platinum.

Although Avast Antivirus offers a free version, it only covers basic cybersecurity needs with malware and virus protection and a WiFi security scanner. If you’d rather try out Avast Antivirus at its full potential, I recommend getting one of the premium paid plans and testing them during a 60-day free trial, which comes with the Avast Premium Security, or the 30-day money-back guarantee offered with all the Avast One choices. Additionally, you can find many better free antivirus alternatives in our tested guide.

The cheapest Avast Antivirus plan is the Avast One Silver, which costs $2.99 for the first year and $79.99 upon renewal. Compared to the most extensive plan, the Avast One Platinum, the Silver lacks an Identity Protection suite and features like SecureLine VPN, AntiTrack, and Cleanup Premium, which must be purchased separately.

The most popular Avast plan choices, the Ultimate and the Premium, have similar feature sets. However, the Premium lacks the SecureLine VPN, Cleanup Premium, and AntiTrack features. Both plans also lack Data Breach Monitoring and Driver Updater, which are included in the most expansive pack, the Avast One Platinum.

I purchased the most comprehensive pack for my tests, the Avast One Platinum, which costs $119.88 for the first year. Avast only accepts credit or debit cards and PayPal as payment options, so I was slightly disappointed with the limited choices.

Avast offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for all its plans, but only the Avast Premium comes with a 60-day free trial. If you’d like to test out the software extensively before committing to it, I recommend choosing this plan. It's important to mention that only Norton Antivirus offers comparable trials, with a 60-day money-back guarantee and a 30-day free trial.

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Avast free vs Premium antivirus

• Avast Free Antivirus is a basic antivirus program, while Avast Premium Antivirus is a paid subscription service with more features.
• Avast Free Antivirus protects only one device, while Avast Premium Antivirus protects up to 10 devices.

Before purchasing a paid Avast subscription, I tried the Avast Free Antivirus. This version provided me with malware and virus protection and a WiFi Security scanner. While the results of malware scans with the free version were excellent, having caught 10 out of 10 malware samples I had pre-planted on my computer, the highly limited feature selection meant my device was not well-protected from phishing attacks or hacking. Additionally, the free version lacks an Advanced Firewall, which meant my computer was in danger of interruptions from malicious actors. On the other hand, the paid subscriptions, including Premium, Ultimate, and One, offer a much more well-rounded approach to cybersecurity with Advanced Firewall, Webcam protection, anti-phishing measures, and SecureLine VPN.

Overall, I did not find the Avast Free Antivirus to be a particularly useful tool, except for downloading it and seeing if you like how it looks and acts. Instead, I recommend getting a paid version and using the 30-day money-back guarantee it comes with before committing to it full-time. This way, at least, you’ll be sure your device is actually protected against malware, viruses, and other cyber threats.

Is Avast antivirus safe: in-house testing results

• Avast Antivirus got a 7.6 score from us. Despite performing exceedingly well in malware detection during our in-house tests, we couldn’t give it a better score due to privacy concerns.
• Avast was found to be selling user browsing data to third parties through its subsidiary "Jumpshot." Ultimately, Avast had to pay a $16.5 million settlement.

Currently, Avast Antivirus is not a safe software to use. Although the software performs exceedingly well at detecting viruses and malware, as confirmed by independent testing labs, the data collecting and selling scandal tarnished its reputation. Of course, that does not mean Avast stopped performing well at catching malware because of this, but if you’re a privacy-conscious user, the recent turmoil might make you look for more robust alternatives.

Avast Antivirus offers 4 different malware scans: a Smart scan, which scans for malware, outdated software, suspicious browser extensions, network threats, and performance issues; a Full scan; a Targeted scan for specific folders and drives; a Boot-time scan, which runs before Windows starts up, and a Custom scan which you configure based on your own parameters. Additionally, Avast offers a Ransomware Shield, an Advanced Firewall, and a SecureLine VPN, among other features. Let’s take a look at them, how they work, and how well they performed during our tests:

I tested all of these features myself while using the Avast One Platinum plan. Avast Antivirus scans, such as the Full Scan and Targeted scan, were performed with 100% effectiveness and caught 10/10 malware samples I had previously downloaded from EICAR. Thus, I can attest to its efficiency against malware, ransomware, and phishing prevention. However, the Smart Scan (the quickest one available), did not catch any of the samples, but that’s usually the case with these scans, as they only check limited a limited number of directories.

Malware scan results

• Avast Antivirus offer 4 types of scans – Smart Scan, Full Scan, Targeted Scan, and Boot Scan.
• While the Smart Scan proved to be inefficient, the other scans caught 10/10 of pre-planted malware samples.

The Full Avast antivirus scan took around 31 minutes to complete, while the Smart Scan ran in under a minute. I ran all of the 4 available Avast Antivirus scans and checked how well they managed to identify the pre-planted malware sample I got from EICAR.

• Smart Scan – Avast Antivirus Smart Scan checked 9,000 files and 65+ folders on my computer, focusing on directories that are the most likely to be infected with malware. This scan, which ran for under a minute, caught none of the malware I had pre-planted. Even though this is common with antivirus software, there are some, like TotalAV, that manage to identify malware files even during a quick scan.
• Full Scan – this is the most comprehensive scan offered by Avast Antivirus, and it went through all the files and folders on my device. It ran for 23 minutes, but the duration might vary depending on the amount of files you have on your device. The Full Scan successfully caught all 10 of the pre-planted malware samples, proving 100% efficiency. The CPU load averaged at around 50-60% during this scan but sometimes shot up to 100%. Thus, I recommend running this scan only while you aren’t doing anything important on your device.
• Targeted Scan – you can customize this one as much as you like and select specific places for the scan to check. I found it very simple to set up and quite useful when you have suspicions about some of the directories becoming vulnerable.
• Boot scan – this scan runs while your device is booting up, which is very convenient since your work won’t be interrupted by CPU usage once you use it. However, I can’t say it’s very efficient at removing malware and is better suited to enhance your device’s performance, rather than to secure it.

In addition to testing these scans, I also tested the Real-Time Protection feature with samples from EICAR, checked the efficiency of Real-Site anti-phishing measures, explored the capabilities of Ransomware Shields, and evaluated the performance of the Advanced Firewall and Cleanup Premium. I used Windows - Lenovo Thinkpad T14s Gen2 device (AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5650U processor, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Windows 11 Pro), MacOS - Apple M2 Pro, 10 Cores, 16 GB RAM with Sonoma 14.2.1 (or newest available), almost 500 GB SSD of storage available, and Android - Nothing Phone 2a running Nothing OS 3 (Android 15), 128GB storage, 8GB+2GB RAM devices.

As you can see from the image above, the Avast Antivirus Full Scan ran for 23 minutes. Due to varying CPU load, I was not able to use my device comfortably and would suggest running the scan while you won’t be needing yours for anything of importance. Be as it may, it did catch all 10 out of 10 pre-planted malware samples. Below, you’ll see an image showcasing how long it took to run the Smart Scan. While it was very fast, it only caught one of the malware samples, so it’s not of great use.

Overall, I was quite pleased with Avast Antivirus Full Scan's efficiency, as it easily caught all .zip files, .com files, and .text files. I got from EICAR. However, I did get one false alert, as the scan identified a legitimate VPN app as a PUP. Even so, the results are definitely good enough to ensure the security of your device.

Testing Web Shield and Real-Time Protection

Avast’s Web Shield feature is designed to block malicious websites and unsafe downloads. To assess its effectiveness, I have accessed 10 malicious URLs. Half of them were based on IPv4 addresses, and the rest used domain names. The Web Shield detected and blocked access to all 10 malicious websites, and the feature worked with 100% accuracy. I liked that Avast provided some details about the malware the blocked websites contain – it might not mean much to a beginner user, but it’s still a nice additional touch.

The Real-Time Protection feature also enhances the Web Shield’s efficiency. Ideally, this feature should always be toggled on to ensure your device’s safety as a preventative measure against malicious downloads and malware attacks. I tested Real-Time Protection capabilities by using another 10 malware samples and storing them in a local environment. Then, I downloaded them onto my device with the Real-Time Protection turned on. Ultimately, this way, I was able to test if the Real-Time Protection is capable of finding malware in downloaded files in real-time, and it was – it caught 10/10 of the downloaded malicious files.

Testing Network Inspector

The Avast Network Inspector is a security feature that checks the device for security issues and vulnerabilities and scans the WiFi network to identify issues. These issues might include an infected router or DNS hijack, an insecure network with weak or no encryption, and weak passwords.

To test it, I ran the Network Inspector scan. It took around 2 minutes to run, and the results showed that my device and network were secure. Then, I ran the same test with Real-Time Protection, turned off the VPN, and was notified that my connection was unencrypted. Thus, I can say that the Network Inspector can identify such vulnerabilities.

Testing results by independent experts: AV-Test and AV-Comparatives

• Reports from AV-Test and AV-Comparatives show Avast’s accuracy at detecting malware.
• AV-Comparatives test from September 2024 showed Avast’s offline detection rate is 94.3%, the online detection rate is 95.8%, and the online protection rate is 99.93%.

To ensure a thorough Avast Antivirus review, I checked the results from independent AV testing labs, such as AV-Test and AV-Comparatives. Both sites evaluated Avast with excellent scores for malware detection both online and offline and near-perfect scores for online protection.

The latest Avast Antivirus evaluation at AV-Test took place in December 2024 and showed great results. For instance, Avast got a 99.8% score for detecting zero-day malware, which is 0.3% better than the industry average. As for well-spread malware detection, Avast proved to be 100% accurate, gaining a 6.0/6.0 score in Protection.

As for performance, AV-Test did not find any discrepancies compared to the industry average with Avast Antivirus, ultimately giving it an excellent score of 6.0/6.0.

Lastly, AV-Test also gave a perfect 6.0/6.0 to Avast Antivirus for usability; you can see the results in the image below.

After checking the AV-Test scores, I headed to the AV-Comparatives site and checked Avast’s results there. The latest tests were performed in September 2024, with Avast performing really well. For instance, I found it got a 100% score in efficiency of protecting devices from real-world threats.

In addition to this excellent score, Avast showed a 94.3% accuracy at offline detection and 95.8% at online detection. However, even with such excellent detection scores from independent labs and in-house testing, we couldn’t give Avast a better overall score than 7.6/10 due to its dubious privacy policy and mishandling of user data.

Secure your device with Avast Antivirus

Additional Avast antivirus features

Besides the core security features, Avast offers additional ones, such as the SecureLine VPN to encrypt your network traffic and a Cleanup Premium to optimize your device’s system. There’s also a Secure Browser that blocks ads and minimizes your digital fingerprint, as well as a secure identity that protects you from identity theft. Below, you’ll find more detailed descriptions of these additional Avast features.

SecureLine VPN - encrypts your network connections and ensures anonymity

Avast’s SecureLine VPN is included in the Ultimate and One packages, while other plan holders would have to purchase this Virtual Private Network service additionally. The VPN encrypts your network traffic and hides your real IP address, enhancing your overall security online. While a VPN has numerous benefits, like unlocking geo-blocked content and bypassing ISP bandwidth throttling, its main attraction is securing all your online activities, from browsing to banking. So, I primarily checked SecureLine VPN’s capabilities of keeping your IP address hidden, overviewed encryption and tunneling protocols, and how well the kill switch works.

I performed IP and DNS leak tests with well-known tools such as ipleak.net and dnsleaktest.com and found that SecureLine VPN does keep your IP address well hidden. However, the kill switch wasn’t as realiable and sometimes failed to act when the VPN connection was interrupted. As for encryption, SecureLine VPN uses the industry-standard AES-256 and you can choose from OpenVPN and IPSec tunneling protocols.

Although the security parameters of SecureLine VPN seem great, I was not satisfied with the result of my speed test. My baseline connection during testing was 500 Mbps download and 500 Mbps upload, but once I connected to SecureLine’s US server, I only got a 155 Mbps download speed and an even slower speed of 139 Mbps when connected to the UK server. Such slow connection speeds mean that you won’t be able to stream, game, or torrent while using this VPN and might even feel a significant slowing down when simply browsing. If you're in the market for a truly well-rounded, secure, and fast VPN to complement your antivirus software, I recommend opting for NordVPN or Surfshark One antivirus, which includes a top-rated VPN. Both options provide superior performance and security features that make them suitable for a range of online activities.

Cleanup Premium - tunes up your system and removes unnecessary files to free up space

Avast’s Cleanup Premium is a system optimization tool available in the Ultimate and One package. The tool is designed to remove unnecessary files, like duplicated files and photos, and resolving various issues, such as apps loading while your device is booting up.

Cleanup Premium works as a scan, and to test its capabilities, I simply had to run it. Once it was on, the scan went through all my files, identifying clutter, such as junk files, browser caches, and residual data from uninstalled apps. Once Cleanup Premium identified such files, it prompted me to delete them, so remember that you’ll still have to approve the procedure manually.

I also quite liked that Cleanup Premium is capable of managing startup programs, and it did successfully prevent several apps from loading while my device was booting. Overall, this made the process much faster and smoother. Lastly, the feature is also capable of cleaning up browser history and cookies to maintain privacy, but since Avast is ill-reputed for its privacy policy, I wouldn’t trust the Cleanup Premium near my browsing history.

AntiTrack - blocks tracking attempts and minimizes your digital footprint

Avast AntiTrack is an interesting online security tool available in the Ultimate and One package. It’s made to protect your online identity from tracking used by websites and advertisers. The AntiTrack does this by injecting fake info into the data that makes up your digital footprint, altering your details that trackers realy on to profile you. In a nutshell, it generates fake info to confuse those who might attempts to track you.

Once turned, the AntiTrack continuously monitor your network connection and provides alerts when tracking attempts are detected. I really liked the time-sensitive prompts and liked even more the fact that I could always see who exactly was trying to collect my data. Of course, Avast not only alerts, but also blocks such attempts.

Lastly, the AntiTrack also regularly clears tracking cookies and other tracking data from your browser to enhance the feature’s effectiveness even more. However, this also means that Avast once again has a clear path to your browsing history and may use the tool not only to prevent tracking attemps, but also perform them, too.

Secure Identity - monitors online databases and the dark web for data leaks

The Avast Secure Identity feature, available in the Ultimate and One package, monitors online databases and the dark web for unauthorized use of your data. This includes all sorts of personal data, such as banking and credit card details and passwords. If the Secure Identity tool finds your data online, you’ll be able to connect to a team of specialists who’ll then assist you in resolving any identity theft issues. Lastly, in some cases, you’re granted a reimbursement of up to $1 million for expenses arising from identity theft.

The Secure Identity feature set actually has its own centralized hub, and I easily found it on the features list. Once on the hub, I was able to easily manage various aspects of Secure Identity, including the Identity Vault, which stores personal information, alerts to notify me if a breach occurs, and transactions, which show financial accounts flagged for suspicious activity. Of course, I had to try this feature for myself, and when I fired it up, Secure Identity easily found my fake email data, which I used for the experiment, located in a data broker’s list. Then, it alerted me of the breach and advised me to contact the support team for an action plan.

Overall, I liked how customizable the Secure Identity tool is and how quick it was to act. Yet, at the same time, I couldn’t trust it entirely, since Avast’s data-logging scandal proved the company itself was tracking and logging users’ data.

Secure Browser PRO - secure browser to block ads and protect your identity from tracking attempts

The Avast Secure Bowser PRO is available in all paid Avast plans, including Premium, Ultimate, and One. This browser comes with the SecureLine VPN integrated into it to encrypt your traffic and hide your IP address, as well as an ad blocker for a smoother browsing experience with minimized tracking for targeted ads. Lastly, the Secure Browser PRO also has the AntiTrack feature inside to prevent from trackers profiling you and a Bank Mode to be used for sensitive financial websites to protect your data.

The Secure Browser PRO is compatible with Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android platforms, so I checked its capabilities on multiple devices by downloading it both on a Windows laptop and an iPhone. So, when I tried it, I found several issues. One of them was my connection slowing down quite significantly, but that was to be expected since I knew the SecureLine VPN connection speeds were not very good. Additionally, I found the security alerts to be quite intrusive, and I was constantly distracted by them, which interrupted my browsing instead of providing me with a smoother experience.

Overall, while the Secure Browser PRO might be a truly secure browser, using it takes patience, and that’s not exactly what I like to see with such security tools.

What information does Avast Antivirus collect?

In 2024, it was confirmed that Avast not only tracked and logged user data but also sold it to third-party advertisers. This resulted in a Federal Trade Commission fine of $16.5 million and a $15 million fine from the Czech Data Protection Authority. During the investigation, it was found that Avast’s tracking and logging concerned around 100 million users and included pseudonymized internet browsing histories linked to unique identifiers.

However, currently, Avast’s privacy policy has been updated and follows pretty standard guidelines with the software collecting data, including:

• Billing data like name, email, phone number, payment information, etc.
• Account data like name, email, username, subscription details, etc.
• Device information, service data, and usage statistics
• Communication information like name, contact information, and message contents

The freshly updated privacy policy now also states clearly which data is shared with third parties and also follows a typical antivirus software conduct:

• Device and service information, product usage statistics, error reports
• Anonymized threat detection information
• Consensual and anonymized user data sharing for targeted advertising
• Non-personally identifiable data for statistical and research purposes

So, the 2024 data collecting scandal did crush Avast’s reputation quite a bit, which prompted the company to cardinally change its privacy policy. And, although it’s now up to date with the industry standard, it’ll take some time for Avast to regain its reputation.

How to install Avast antivirus

Step 1: Head to the official Avast and either subscribe to a paid premium package or opt for Avast Free Antivirus.

Step 2: Download the installer from the official site.

Step 3: Install the program onto your device and log in to your account.

The Avast Antivirus software installation process took me only a couple of minutes. Before starting the process, I was shown a Customize option. You can skip that altogether or you can use it to deselect some of the features you’re sure you won’t be using. After the installation was done, I launched the program and found a very user-friendly, well-designed interface with features nicely laid out and easy to find. Then, I was prompted to perform a Smart scan, and so I did.

If you get the Avast Free Antivirus, you’ll see a prompt offering you to try the full-featured version for free during a 60-day free trial. However, to use this option, you’ll need to fill in your payment details in the antivirus software app.

Overall, I found the installation process to be very smooth and quick and did not find anything I disliked with it.

Avast on Android and iPhone review

• Avast Antivirus is available on Android and iPhone devices running Android 9.0 (Pie, API 28) or later and iOS 15.0 or later.

I first tried installing and running Avast Antivirus on an Android phone, and the whole process was very straightforward and simple. To get the app, I went to Google Play Store and downloaded the app. Upon launching it, I was guided through a quick setup process and urged to do a virus scan. From my experience, the scans usually took anywhere between 30 seconds to a minute, without any significant slowdowns to my device while in progress.

The installation process was very similar for an iPhone – I got the app from the Apple App Store and installed it momentarily on my device. However, the iPhone app is a bit different than the Android app, due to iOS restrictions limiting deep system scanning. So, while I could still take advantage of features like anti-hising protection, secure VPN, and other things, I couldn’t scan my device's system. Be as it may, because of the limited features, the app ran very smoothly, and I did not experience any slowing down on my device while using Avast.

For those in search of a truly effective antivirus for their phone, I recommend checking out our tested antivirus solutions specifically for iPhone, which provide excellent protection without compromising performance.

Avast for Mac and Windows review

• Avast Antivirus is available on Windows and Mac devices running Windows 7 or later and Apple macOS 10.13.x (High Sierra) or later.

Installing Avast on Mac and Windows devices is very simple and begins with heading to Avast official site and choosing the plan you want to get. After subscribing, you can then download the Avast installer onto your device. The process is similar no matter your preferred platform, and once you have the installer on your device, you can install the software itself. The process takes around a couple of minutes; once it’s done, you can launch the software and begin using it.

I must say that the Avast Windows and Mac apps are very well-designed and intuitive and can be easily understood even by people who have never used such a tool before. The main screen provides information on the device's security status, and you can easily navigate through categories like Protection, Privacy, and Performance from the main screen. The software offers a good level of customization, making it easy to enable or disable various features or shields. And, if you’re an advanced antivirus software user, you’ll have some fun fine-tuning the software’s behavior.

Naturally, after checking out the interface, I ran the scans. The CPU load during the full scans usually held around 50% - 60%, which meant I could still use my device for non-demanding tasks. While running in the background, Avast only used up to 3% CPU. The scans, depending on the type I chose, ran from a couple of seconds to around 20 minutes; however, Windows antivirus scans were a bit faster than macOS, all because the latter has a bit more complex architecture compared to Windows.

Overall, I liked the feel and the behavior of the software on Windows and on Mac, and did not find any parts that were irritating or poorly functioning.

Avast customer support

Avast customer support is only available for premium customers, who can be reached via live chat or phone. Avast Free Antivirus users can only rely on answers to their issues in the Knowledge base or the forum.

To get through to customer support, you first need to fill in a questionnaire. Then, based on your answers, you’re redirected to either the phone call option or the customer support option. I got the option of the live chat and was immediately informed that there were 18 people in the queue before me and that I would have to wait. After around 20 minutes, I was connected to a customer care professional who had a hard time understanding my request, and the whole Q&A session with them took almost an hour. This is absolutely not an ideal situation, especially when I can compare this customer support to the one I got with Surfshark Antivirus, where questions were answered in matter of seconds.

Overall, I was quite dissatisfied with the experience. So, remember that if you run into some issues while using Avast, it might take a while to get them solved.

User complaints about Avast antivirus

It is always a good thing to check reviews from actual people who have used certain antivirus software to see what are their likes and dislikes with that particular application. So, I looked for Avast reviews on Trustpilot and found that it has an excellent score of 4.2/5, which was given to it by its users.

Things looked very promising, but to reveal what people mostly had issues with, I filtered the reviews to only show the 1- to 3-star reviews. Interestingly enough, while most other antivirus software users complained about auto-renewals and poor customer support, Avast was primarily scolded for spamming its users about its paid features and upgrades. Take a look at this complaint, for instance:

And even those who liked Avast otherwise and gave it a 3-star review still complained about the amount of ads masked as security alerts and how intrusive they are:

Similarly to the first complaint, this user was irritated by the constant peddling of Avast's own products and the fact that you had to manually opt out of your data being sold to third parties, which is, in no way, a normal practice with premium antivirus software. Hopefully, Avast has solved this issue as of 2025.

In a nutshell, people generally like the Avast Antivirus software itself and find it to be quite useful in securing their devices and data. That said, most are very irritated by the amount of ads and pop-ups while using it. If you don’t mind being bombarded by various prompts during all hours of the day, then you’ll find nothing wrong at all with Avast.

Final verdict: Is Avast a good antivirus?

Avast Antivirus, both its free version and the premium, offers comprehensive protection against malware, viruses, ransomware, and phishing attacks. It keeps your devices and your data safe with 100% accuracy in scanning and real-time protection, and this is confirmed both by our in-house tests and by independent antivirus software testing labs, such as AV-Test and AV-Comparatives. However, due to its unclear privacy policy and the data logging and selling scandal that took place in 2024, I cannot recommend Avast as a trustworthy antivirus software.

Avast subscriptions start from $2.99 and go as high as $119.88 for the first year. Even with the cheapest subscription, you can get a very comprehensive feature set, including Real-Time Protection, malware scans, Advanced Firewall, WiFi Security Scanning, and much more. So, in this aspect, Avast offers a great price-to-feature ratio. Yet again, its poor reputation regarding handling user data stops me from recommending Avas as one of the top antivirus software. And, if you’d rather get software with an untarnished reputation and a transparent privacy policy but still just as capable, then I recommend TotalAV as the best alternative.

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Avast antivirus FAQ

Can Avast antivirus be trusted?

No, currently, Avast Antivirus cannot be trusted. Although the software performs well at identifying and eliminating malware, the 2024 scandal of Avast logging and selling user data to third-party advertisers makes it untrustworthy. If you’d rather get antivirus software that does not compromise your data, I recommend checking out TotalAV.

What are the downsides of Avast?

The main downside of Avast is its unclear privacy policy and recent mishandling of user data. Apart from that, its a well-rounded cybersecurity tool that is very capable of protecting your device against malware. However, even that does not outweigh the recent misconduct considering data of millions of its users.

What is the disadvantage of Avast Free Antivirus?

The main disadvantage of Avast Free Antivirus is its pushy and aggressive marketing urging users to upgrade to paid Avast plans. Other than that, the free version, despite lacking some advanced feature like more comprehensive malware scans, work good at protecting your devices against viruses.

Does Avast collect personal data?

Yes, Avast collects user data, such as billing and account data and device information. However, all antivirus software do this as to give their users the best possible protection and experience. That said, unlike Avast, other software don’t sell this data to third parties for profit.