Surfshark One antivirus review 2025

Surfshark is best known for its top VPN service, which we always rank highly at VPNpro due to its security, privacy, speed, and usability. However, we also wanted to know whether the Surfshark One antivirus is just as good as its VPN, so we set out to test it and see if it lives up to the name.

To give you a thorough review, we put Surfshark One through rigorous in-house testing on its malware detection capabilities, overall performance, functionality, and usability. Then, we compared our findings with independent AV testing lab results, researched facts, and ultimately put together this in-depth Surfshark One review. Continue reading to learn more about this antivirus software and if it is as excellent as the popular Surfshak VPN.

How we test and rate antivirus software

To test out any antivirus software, we rate and trial it based on our in-house testing methods on malware detection accuracy and the results we find on AV-Test and AV-Comparatives independent AV testing labs. Additionally, we trial and evaluate various performance benchmarks, including system performance impact, compatibility, offered features, price, and more. This way, our antivirus testing process touches on every possible aspect of the software, leaving no stone unturned for an in-depth, unbiased analysis.

We download and run each software in real-life scenarios, so our results are as close to home use as possible. Thus, our final rating reflects not only the software's use in a controlled lab-like environment but also casual everyday use with real-world cyber threats. Ultimately, this should make it easy to decide whether our tested AV software is good for you.

We tested Surfshark Antivirus On February 1, 2025, giving a score of 8.8/10.

Surfshark has one of the best-rated VPNs in the industry. If your primary concern is reliable coverage in that aspect, plus some additional AV features, then we recommend getting the Surfshark One suite. However, if you’re looking for high-security, lightweight AV software as a standalone product, there are better options than Surfshark One.

Surfshark One vs One+ antivirus pricing

• Surfshark One costs $67.23 for the first two years + 3 months free of use, covering 5 devices. After the first two years, the subscription renews for $404.65 for the next two years.
• Surfshark One+ costs $115.83 for the first two years + 3 months of free use, covering 5 devices. After the first two years, the subscription renews for $557.55 for the next two years.

Surfshark Antivirus is not available as a standalone product but is paired in bundles, called Surfshark One and Surfshark One+, with other cybersecurity tools, such as a VPN. The Surfshark One package is cheaper than the Surfshark One+, which includes a few more additional features. All Surfshark bundles can be purchased as a 1-month, 1-year, and 2-year subscription.

The cheapest Surfshark AV plan is the Surfshark One 2-year subscription. It costs $67.23 for the period, plus you get 3 months of free use, totaling 27 months of AV subscription. With this subscription, you’ll only pay $6.05/month for a bundle including an AV and a top-rated VPN. The most expensive plan is the Surfshark One+, costing $115.83 with the 2-year subscription, $91.35 with the 1-year subscription, and a steep $20.65 for a 1-month use.

The main difference between Surfshark One and Surfshark One+ is the Incogni feature set, only available with Surfshark One+. The Incogni includes data removal from company bases and people search sites. Otherwise, both include an unlimited VPN, antivirus, Alternative ID, Alert, and Search features, cover 5 devices at the same time, and come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

I used the Surfshark One+ plan to test out all available features and functionalities, and I purchased the one-month subscription for $20.65. Subscriptions can be paid for using credit or debit cards, PayPal, Google Pay, and even cryptocurrencies for extra anonymity.

Surfshark does not offer a free version of its antivirus software. However, you can use the 30-day money-back guarantee to test it out.

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Does Surfshark protect against viruses: in-house testing results

• Surfshark scored 100% in malware detection and protection from zero-day threats in independent lab tests conducted by AV-Test.

Surfshark is legitimate and trustworthy antivirus software that protects users' devices against online threats. The software offers Real-Time Protections and Scheduled Scans, a secure VPN to protect against online threats, and more. However, the Surfshark AV is only available for Windows, Android, and macOS systems, with iPhone users limited to the Surfshark VPN only.

I tested every Surfshark antivirus security feature mentioned above and was very pleased to find that the software can protect devices against malware, ransomware, and phishing attempts. Surfshark AV was 100% accurate during my tests, which is even above the industry average.

Malware scan results

• Surfshark AV is a trustworthy antivirus software, capable of 100% accuracy detecting malware and viruses.
• It offers 2 different scans - scheduled and quick.
• Your device is protected at all times with the Real-Time Protection feature.

Surfshark Antivirus scans can take from a couple of minutes to around half an hour, depending on the scan you choose and the number of files it has to scan. Overall, the scans are quite speedy and efficient, but let’s take a look at them in more detail:

• Quick scan: quick scan checks all the common places on your device where malware usually hides. However, it does not scan all the files and folders on your device. The Surfshark quick scan ran for around a minute, scanned 13,000 files and 56 folders, and proved to be 100% accurate by finding 10 out of 10 malware samples I downloaded from EICAR beforehand.
• Scheduled scan: A scheduled scan, or a full scan, checks all the files and folders on your device. You can schedule them to run daily, weekly, monthly, or even yearly, depending on your preferences. Surfshark’s Scheduled scan ran through 280,000 files and 12,000 folders and took around 30 minutes to complete. Again, this scan also showed 100% accuracy, uncovering 15 out of 15 pre-planted malware samples. The detected samples were moved to quarantine and then I had to delete them from the system manually.

To test out the scans, 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. Before running the tests, I downloaded malware samples from the EICAR page and hid them in various places on the devices. Then, I simply ran the scans, sat back, and relaxed until they were finished. Lastly, I took a look at the results and compared my own with those of the AV-Test lab, and drew my conclusions.

Surfshark AV scans caught all the pre-planted malware samples from EICAR, including .zip files, .com files, and .text files. Although the scans were quick and highly accurate, my issue with them was that my device did slow down quite significantly while they were running. For instance, the Scheduled scan used up to 80% of the CPU to scan for malware. Needless to say, it impacted the speed of the system quite tangibly. However, when the software is running in the background, it is quite lightweight, taking around 400MB of memory and 0-3% of CPU.

Testing Real-Time Protection

The Real-Time Protection feature continuously scans your device for any potential threats. That means that Surfshark AV is monitoring your device even when you’re not running a scan. This feature can be toggled on or off in the Surfshark AV app features window. However, I do recommend always keeping it on to protect your device from potentially downloading malware.

To test the accuracy of the Real-Time Protection feature, I once again used malware samples from the EICAR site. Like the AV-Test evaluated Surfshark, I also got a 100% score as Surfshark identified 10 out of 10 samples I tried it with. Overall, I really liked that I got no false alerts whatsoever, which can be very annoying during daily activities, and that Surfshark did not even allow me to download the corrupted files. Based on these results, I can safely recommend using Surfshark AV to protect your device against ransomware, malware, spyware, and viruses.

Testing Webcam protection

The Surfshark Webcam protection feature is quite unique and is available on Windows and macOS apps. Its main function is to stop apps and websites from accessing your camera unless you whitelist them or disable the feature.

You don’t have to look that far for websites that might try to access your webcam, as both Google and Safari browsers are known to do so. So, when I tested the feature, I simply browsed around online and checked if I kept getting the Webcam Protection notification asking me if it should continue blocking access to my webcam or allow it.

I had no issue whatsoever with this feature, and I think it is also quite useful in ensuring higher online privacy. So, if this is something you’re looking for, then I can definitely recommend getting Surfshark Antivirus and using the Webcam Protection feature. To toggle the feature on, go to the AV app, look for settings, and select the Webcam Protection feature. Toggle it on and adjust the app and website whitelist as you wish.

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

• Surfshark AV scored a perfect 6/6 for protection and usability and 5.5/6 for performance on the most recent AV-Test trial in June 2024.
• Importantly, the malware detection rate gained 100% in accuracy.

AV-Test and AV-Comparatives are independent AV software testing labs that yearly test the most available software. After the tests, the software is given a protection, performance, and usability score and ranked among the providers. I always use these independent labs as a reference point to my in-house testing for an unbiased and thorough look into each software.

Interestingly enough, Surfshark AV has only been ranked by the AV-Test lab, while there’s no information about it on AV-Comparatives. Be as it may, AV-Test is as highly regarded as its counterpart.

First off, I found the AV-Test lab results and score on Surfshark AV protection capabilities:

As you can see, Surfshark got a nice round 100% accuracy rate both in protection against zero-day threats and detection of widespread malware. I got the same results during my in-house tests.

I found the same 6/6 score for Surfshark AV usability. This field checks how many false alarms you get while using the software, and all the subcategories get nice round zeroes for Surfshark. In a nutshell, this means the software won’t bother you with constant, unwarranted alerts that might disturb your daily activities.

Lastly, Surfshark got a slightly lower 5.5/6 score for performance; take a look:

As you can see, Surfshark’s performance rate does deviate a bit from the industry’s average and I experienced the same thing during my tests. Although Surfshark AV is advertised as lightweight software, it actually did slow down my computer performance in certain cases. That said, I could still comfortably use it while the scans were running, but there is more efficient software in this regard.

Choose well-rounded protection with Surfshark One

Additional features

Besides the main security features, Surfshark One and One+ offer several additional features. For instance, both bundles include a secure and top-rated VPN to enhance the security of your online activities. Then, there’s the Alternative ID feature, which can create a secure email and new persona to maintain anonymity. With Surfshark Alert, you can scan online databases for leaked personal information, while Surfshark Search ensures that data brokers track none of your search data. Lastly, the Surfshark One+ bundle also offers Incogni, which can remove your personal information from data brokers’ lists.

Below, you will find detailed descriptions of these features, how to use them, and whether they are worth your money.

Surfshark VPN - encrypts your traffic and hides your IP

Surfshark VPN is included in the Surfshark One and Surfshark One+ bundles and is also available as a standalone product with the Surfshark Starter plan. The main idea of using a VPN is to encrypt your network traffic to make it imperceptible to onlookers and to mask your true IP address which is often used to track your location and device. Additionally, a VPN can help bypass internet censorship and unlock geo-restricted content.

My Surfshark VPN tests included verifying its no-logs policy, checking the sturdiness of IP and DNS leak protection, testing the functionality of its kill switch, testing connection speeds, and examining encryption and tunneling protocols.

Ultimately, I found Surfshark VPN to be a very secure and reliable service with no IP leaks and no issues unblocking restricted content. With it, your traffic is encrypted with AES-256, and you can use the secure and speedy WireGuard tunneling protocol. Additionally, my speed tests showed an average of 466 Mbps with a 93% initial speed retention rate. This means Surfshark can be used for streaming, downloading, or browsing and won’t slow down your original speeds. Lastly, the provider has a third-party verified no-logs policy, meaning none of your data is ever tracked or logged.

All in all, Surfshark VPN is one of the top VPN services in the industry, and there’s not much else I can say about it except to praise its well-designed, intuitive apps. You can get it as a standalone service or as a part of the Surfshark One and Surfshark One+ bundles. Interestingly, while the AV can only be used for 5 devices at the same time, the VPN comes with unlimited connections.

Alternative ID - generates secure alternative email address and personal details

Surfshark’s Alternative ID generator provides you with an alternative email address and a new persona with a physical address, name, and birthday. This is a very useful feature if you’re looking to stay anonymous online or do not want to register on websites with your real email. The best part is that all the emails you get to this alternative email address will be forwarded to your real email address. Lastly, you can delete or change the alternative email and persona whenever you want. The feature is included in Surfshark One and Surfshark One+ bundles.

You can set up the alternative persona and email on the Surfshark browser extension, web app, or iOS and Android mobile apps. Simply launch one of the two, log in, and look for the alt ID icon. Click on it, and you’ll see a field requiring you to fill in the details of your alter persona. If you like, the system can generate the data from scratch. Once the persona is created, you can instantly use the email address or log into websites with the information.

I found the whole procedure to be quite seamless and easy to activate. It also has several benefits compared to burner emails. One of them is a clear privacy policy, the longevity of the alternative ID email, and wider compatibility across platforms. You can also get an alternative phone number for SMS messaging via the Surfshark VPN app on your phone.

Surfshark Search - eliminates ads from your search results and protects your data

Surfshark One and Surfshark One+ bundles include a safe search engine, which allows you to browse the internet without any ads, with only organic results showing up in your searches. However, that’s not even the best part. This sort of secure browsing minimizes all possible footprints you leave with your searches, which means it’s almost impossible to track you or bombard you with targeted ads.

You might already know this, but big tech companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook, and others collect your data, sometimes including your phone number, physical address, and payment information. However, when you use a secure search engine, like the one offered by Surfshark, none of this data is visible to trackers, and your data is generally much safer than browsing in a normal way. I think this feature is a must-have if you’re worried about the safety of your data online.

Using Surfshark’s Search engine gives a pretty smooth experience and is compatible with Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. However, some pages on the search results failed to launch the first time I tried, but the issue usually solved itself by simply reloading the site.

Surfshark Alert - notifies users of possible data breaches

The Surfshark Alert, available in the Surfshark One and Surfshark One+ bundles, continuously monitors data breach databases for any of your information, including email, credit card, and ID. If it finds any of your information on these data breach databases, it immediately alerts you and helps you take action to neutralize the leak and recover your lost data. By the way, data leak monitoring also includes malware attacks, not only online sources.

While the Surfshark Alert is quite a nice addition to the package, I feel it’s a bit rudimentary at this stage. This is mostly because it does not monitor the dark web, which, as you might know, is the place where most leaked data is exploited and readily available for bad actors. So, while it’s still a useful tool if you’re looking for something a bit more robust and thorough, I recommend taking a look at an Identity Theft Protection suite from NordSecurity, NordStellar.

Incogni - protects against data brokers, phishing attempts, and identity theft

The Incogni feature is only available in the Surfshark One+ bundle and is meant to remove your data from company databases and people search sites. Removing data from people search sites ensures your identity is well hidden from prying eyes while eliminating data from company databases safeguards you from targeted ads and spam emails.

To use the Incogni, you must first subscribe to the Surfshark One+ plan. Once you do, you’ll find the Incogni included in your app and profile. To start using it, you will have to enter your details, including name and email address, confirm it, and it’ll give an attorney the power to contact a list of data brokers. Incogni uses the GDPR, CCPA, and other relevant privacy laws to ensure data brokers delete your personal information from their databases. The whole process is automatic; you don’t have to do anything manually. However, you can always track the process and monitor its completion stage.

If you’d like to use Incogni, remember that the data removal is not instantaneous. The data brokers must remove your data from their list within 30 to 45 days, so you’ll have to wait until your anonymity online is restored and your information is removed. The initial scan of online databases usually takes up to 38 hours. Once the process is complete, you’ll get a list of brokers from which your data was removed.

Overall, it’s quite an efficient tool by Surfshark, and it is still cheaper to get it with the Surfshark One+ bundle than purchasing a similar tool as a standalone product. That is if you do not mind some Incogni shortcomings, like no details on what exact data was found and no concrete verification of its removal.

What you don’t get with Surfshark AV

Although Surfshark is pretty well-rounded when it comes to basic antivirus features, there are some things you won’t be getting with it:

• Firewall. Surfshark antivirus does not have a firewall, which is used to block incoming and outgoing traffic to your device and system based on your pre-set security settings. Instead of a firewall, Surfshark offers a secure VPN that will protect your traffic from malicious interception. However, a VPN is not as capable of detecting malware as the firewall is. If you rather get an AV with this feature, I recommend taking a look at Bitdefender AV.
• Parental controls. This feature set is meant to control access to certain websites and monitor your kids’ activities online. While most of these things can be done by simply configuring your browser, the same set in antivirus software makes the job easier. If that’s what you want, I recommend checking out Norton Antivirus, which offers a well-rounded parental control suite.
• Vulnerability scanner. This feature scans your device system and identifies any weak spots that might allow someone to hack into it. However, this feature is mostly used by big businesses and is not necessarily that important for home use antivirus software.
• System tune-up tools. This feature scans the files and folders on your device and looks for ways to improve its performance. I’d say that it’s 50/50 with antivirus software that has or doesn’t have this feature. However, since Surfshark is not as lightweight as I expected, maybe this is a good thing this feature was left out.
• Cloud backup. Surfshark does not offer secure cloud storage. While this is a nice feature, you can get it as an additional product from, for instance, Proton VPN developers.
• Password manager. It’s always a good idea to ensure your password safety, and while plenty of antivirus software comes with this feature, Surfshark lacks it. Instead, the software offers an Alternative ID suite that generates masked emails and bogus personal details.

My insights on using the Surfshark One app on different devices

According to Surfshark, the antivirus app works with Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS and can protect up to 5 devices simultaneously. However, the iOS app does not actually have the antivirus feature, leaving iPhone users with a VPN and the rest of the functionalities instead. I contacted a Surfshark representative about it and was informed they do not plan to change the situation anytime soon.

Be as it may, I still installed the app on all available OSs, including iOS, using laptops and smartphones. I documented the time it took to install the software, how easy it was to set up the app, and how well it worked on my selected devices. Then, I ran the software and checked the impact it had on my PC and smartphone performance.

How to install Surfshark antivirus

Step 1: Head to the official Surfshark website and subscribe to your chosen plan and bundle.

Step 2: Download and install the app onto your preferred device.

Step 3: In the app, access the Antivirus tab and click Install.

It took me less than 10 minutes to complete the process, including setting up the antivirus. I’d say this is the average time it usually takes to install such software, so no deviations there.

When I finally opened the app, I was pleasantly surprised with the design. The layout was very clear, it was easy to navigate, and the whole experience felt very intuitive. I’d say that this is a very beginner-friendly app, and even those using an AV for the first time will get the hang of it instantly.

Surfshark antivirus on iPhone and Android

• Surfshark Antivirus is available on Android running Android 6.0 or later and on iPhone devices running iOS 13 or later.

The process of installing Surfshark Antivirus on Android and iPhone devices is virtually the same and very straightforward. To do it, I went to the Google App Store for Android and Apple App Store for iOS devices, and got the Surfshark app. Then, I logged into my account, and activated the antivirus feature.

However, the antivirus feature is only available for Android. iOS users can use all the rest the app has to offer, including VPN, Alternative ID, and others, while iPhone and iPad antivirus apps might have to be downloaded separately.

The virus scan on the Android phone took around a couple of minutes. And, even though I’d like to say it did not affect the device’s performance, I felt a significant slowing down during the scan. Afterwards, all went back to normal and when I kept the app simply running in the background, my smartphone functioned as usual and I did not experience faster battery draining. Overall, I think that due to its usability, Surfshark is one of the best AVs for Android.

Surfshark antivirus on Mac and Windows

• Surfshark Antivirus is available on Mac devices running macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later and Windows 10 or later.

Installing Surfshark Antivirus on Windows and Mac is very simple. I went to the official Surfshark site, subscribed, and downloaded the app. Then, I installed it, logged in to my account, and activated the antivirus feature. The process took less than 10 minutes and was easy to follow.

Both Mac and Windows apps look the same, which is very refreshing, knowing that sometimes they can be wildly different. Same as on mobile, they are well-designed and easy to understand due to their clean, modern design.

When I ran the quick scan, it only took a couple of minutes, while a full system scan went on for around 15 minutes. Remember that its length also highly depends on the number of files the software has to scan. The quick scan did not impede any of my daily laptop activities, but the full scan did. I advise scheduling these scans when you’re unlikely to need your computer, as you might not be able to use your device properly while the scan is running.

Surfshark customer support

• You can contact Surfshark AV customer support via a 24/7 live chat, email, or browse the knowledge base.

The live chat is the fastest way to contact the Surfshark AV support team. At first, you’ll be greeted by a bot, but a representative takes over the task in around a minute or two. To get a response via email, you might have to wait for up to 24 hours; however, if you get lucky, you might get a solution even within the first ten minutes. If you feel you can find an answer to your question in the knowledge base, then you might want to browse there – I found the base to be well-structured and full of useful information.

I tested both the 24/7 live chat and the email and found that the chat was the most convenient way to contact a Surfshark AV representative. Overall, I really liked the experience of this chat – the Surfshark representative was very polite, straight to the point, knowledgeable, and capable of answering even more complex technical queries.

As for the email, I got lucky and got my answer within an hour. The tone was also very polite, and the representative proved to be very knowledgeable. I think it is very important for an AV company to have good customer service. After all, antivirus software is complex software, and you might run into issues while using it. So, to know that well-educated customer care professionals cover your back is always a nice thing.

User complaints about Surfshark antivirus

Surfshark is mostly reviewed very positively by its users, with a score on Trustpilot of 4.4/5 at the time of this review.

However, I wasn’t interested in praise and looked for less positive reviews on Surfshark to try identifying some of the more common issues users experience with the software. For instance, I found a user with a problem where the sites won’t open or download:

It looks like the user configured the privacy and security settings incorrectly. Alternatively, the real-time protection feature may be simply protecting the user from malicious downloads.

However, the main 2-star review issues seem to touch on the subscription auto-renewal and the slowing down of the system while using Surfshark AV:

As for auto-renewal, this is the most common complaint among all the services that offer such a feature. Auto-renewal is automatically toggled on in Surfshark apps, and you have to toggle it off manually in the settings if you do not plan to renew your subscription. However, when I tried canceling my plan and asked Surfshark for a refund, I had no issue getting my money back. Remember that refunds do not happen the moment you ask for them, and you might have to wait for your money for up to 30 days.

As for the slowing down the system, I mentioned a few times in this review that Surfshark is not a very lightweight software. Additionally, the slowing down highly depends on your machine – if you have an old laptop with little available memory, you will feel the impact much more.

Be as it may, the less positive reviews only take up a fraction of the total, with an overwhelming majority of users rating Surfshark as a top cybersecurity tool.

Final verdict: Is Surfshark Antivirus good?

Overall, Surfshark Antivirus is a mid-tier software that is good for casual use, offering 100% accuracy at detecting malware and well-designed apps. However, while the program is lightweight while running in the background with 0-3% CPU use and 400 MB of memory use, it can take up to 80% CPU while running the scans. If that’s not an issue for you, then I can safely recommend Surfshark AV for protecting your device against malware and viruses.

Surfshark AV offers several additional features I found to be quite useful, such as the Alternative ID and Surfshark Search, which greatly improve online anonymity. Plus, the AV is bundled with Surfshark VPN – one of the top services in the industry. At the same time, you will be getting neither a firewall nor parental controls with the software. Lastly, Surfshark customer support is one of the best I’ve ever tried, quickly responding and solving even complex technical issues. If you’d like to try put this antivirus software, you can use one of our Surfshark coupon codes and subscribe to it for just $2.69/month.

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FAQ

Do I need an antivirus if I have a Surfshark VPN?

Yes, you do need antivirus even if you have a Surfshark VPN. A VPN alone is not capable of protecting your device from ransomware and phishing attacks, and it also lacks any sort of system scans to locate and exterminate malware from the device.

Does Surfshark have good antivirus protection?

Yes, Surfshark has a good antivirus protection. Both our in-house tests and those from independent antivirus software testing labs show that Surfshark antivirus is 100% accurate at detecting malware.

Can I trust Surfshark Antivirus?

Yes, you can trust Surfshark antivirus as it is a reliable software from a renowned brand. Surfshark is 100% accurate in detecting malware and offers valuable additional features such as a secure VPN, Webcam Protection, and Incogni to remove any exposed data from the web.

What's the difference between Surfshark and Surfshark One?

Surfshark is only a VPN service, while Surfshark One bundle includes an antivirus, which cannot be purchased as a standalone product. You can get the Surfshark One bundle for just $2.69/month if you choose the 2-year plan and enjoy a well-rounded protection against cyber threats for the price of a coffee.

Is Surfshark OnePlus worth it?

Yes, Surfshark One+ is worth it if your main concern is preventing data leaks and keeping total online anonymity. The One+ bundle includes the Incogni feature, which is capable of removing all of your personal data from company databases or people search pages. However, if you simply want a reliable VPN and antivirus protection, the Surfshark One bundle is more than enough.