Avira Review: Is It the Best Antivirus in 2024?

Our Score
9.0
GREAT
Ranked 6th from 75 antivirus companies
Ranked 6th from 75 antivirus companies
Updated on: February 8, 2024
Fact Checked by Katarina Glamoslija
Kate Davidson
Kate Davidson
Published on: February 8, 2024

Avira Review: Quick Expert Summary

Avira provides a powerful cloud-based antivirus scanner, plus a range of really good additional security tools for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS users, all for an excellent value. Its anti-malware engine performed extremely well in all of my tests, blocking and removing 100% of my malware samples, including all viruses, spyware, and ransomware. In fact, the anti-malware scanner is so good that it’s even been licensed out to numerous antivirus competitors, like TotalAV.

Avira also includes the following features:

  • Web protection.
  • Firewall.
  • Performance optimization tools.
  • Virtual private network (VPN).
  • Password manager.
  • Game booster.
  • And a lot more…

Most of Avira’s features are top-notch — the performance optimization tools are excellent at cleaning and speeding up a device, the password manager is comparable to the best standalone programs, and the web protection is better than Chrome or Firefox’s built-in web protections. However, the VPN doesn’t consistently work with popular streaming sites, and I would like to see Avira offer comprehensive parental controls like Norton and McAfee do.

Avira also offers one of the better free plans on the market, with real-time protection, ransomware protection, a password manager, and other features that no other antivirus offers for free in 2024. And Avira’s paid plans are among the cheapest on the market — plus they all come with a risk-free 60-day money-back guarantee.

🏅 Overall Rank #6 out of 75 antiviruses
🔥 Firewall
👤 VPN
(with unlimited data)
🎁 Free Plan
💸 Pricing Starting at $15.99/year
💰 Money-Back Guarantee 60 days
📀 Operating Systems Windows, Android, Mac, iOS

RISK-FREE FOR 60 DAYS — TRY AVIRA NOW

Avira Full Review

Avira Full Review

Avira offers excellent malware protection, a wide range of useful extras, and an intuitive dashboard, all for a really good price.

Its malware scanner has perfect 100% malware detection rates, its web protection is excellent at detecting and blocking online threats, and its password manager is as good as most standalone password managers.

Avira also has one of the best free plans on the market, as well as competitively priced premium plans that offer more value than most other antiviruses.

Limited time offer! Take 65% off Avira right now.
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Avira Security Features

Antivirus Scanner

Avira Security Features

Avira has a powerful cloud-based antivirus scanner that compares files against a large malware directory and also uses heuristics to detect zero-day threats. The cloud-based scanner offloads the CPU-intensive process of analyzing your files to a server in the cloud, allowing Avira to use the most advanced scanning tools without slowing down user devices. Because of its effectiveness against all types of malware, Avira’s scanning technology has also been licensed out to numerous antivirus vendors, including TotalAV and Systweak.

Avira Security Features

Avira detected 100% of malware files in my tests, which is very impressive — this included ransomware, trojans, spyware, keylogging malware, rootkits, and more. Only a few competitors, like Norton, Bitdefender, and McAfee, earned perfect scores in our malware testing. The full system scan took just over an hour and I didn’t experience any noticeable slowdown on my device — even McAfee slowed down my device a bit during a full disk antivirus scan!

I really like the variety of scans Avira offers, which allows users to schedule shorter scans for specific areas of interest. In addition to a full system scan and quick scan, Avira includes the following scans:

  • Smart Scan.
  • Rootkit.
  • Local drive.
  • External device.
  • My documents.
  • Hard drive.

Avira’s Smart Scan is really useful, searching for malware, network security issues, out-of-date software, privacy vulnerabilities, and device performance concerns — it’s basically an all-in-one malware scanner, system optimizer, and network security monitor.

Avira Security Features

I was really impressed with Avira’s Smart Scan. Within a few minutes, it found 17 privacy settings that could be compromising my data security, including location sharing and app permissions that were giving apps unnecessary access to all of my data. The Smart Scan also found almost 1 GB of junk files to clean up, 4 outdated apps needing updates, and 3 apps that were slowing down my computer’s startup. Avira also makes it really easy to resolve any issues that the Smart Scan finds. By clicking on “Fix issues”, Avira updates apps, clears junk files, and reconfigures settings to address privacy concerns.

The other specialized scans could come in handy for a variety of issues — especially for tech-savvy users that think they know which part of their system is infected. Offering specialized scans like a rootkit scan, external device scan, or local drive scan can be a real time-saver for knowledgeable users. However, most users will want to simply use the full disk scan or Smart Scan tools to scan all of these areas at once (especially because many advanced malware files can duplicate themselves and hide in different parts of a user’s system).

Overall, Avira’s anti-malware scanner is one of the best on the market — it’s fast, it doesn’t cause system slowdown, and it’s excellent at detecting and blocking all types of malware. Avira also offers a number of system scans, including very specific options like a rootkit scan. And there’s a Smart Scan that checks for system vulnerabilities and performance issues, making sure everything on your device works as it should.

Web Protection

Avira Security Features

Avira’s Browser Safety extension blocked the majority of phishing sites, ads, and trackers in my testing, but it wasn’t an effective defense against exploit attacks. The extension is available on Google Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. First, I tested Avira’s Browser Safety extension against a dozen known phishing websites and it blocked almost all of them — yielding much better results than Chrome or Firefox’s built-in protections.

Avira Security Features

Browser Safety is great for blocking ads and online trackers, as well. I compared Browser Safety to uBlock Origin and visited 5 websites that are heavy on ads. As you can see, Browser Safety outperformed uBlock Origin on most sites:

# of Ads Blocked By Browser Safety # of Ads Blocked By uBlock Origin Browser Safety Success Rate (as compared to uBlock Origin)
https://www.msn.com 46 30 153%
https://www.yahoo.com 109 936 12%
https://www.aol.com 116 117 99%
https://www.wired.com 134 62 216%
https://www.tmz.com 147 107 137%

However, I was really disappointed by Avira Browser Safety’s exploit protection. Exploits are web-based tools that take advantage of a software vulnerability to gain access to user devices and even install malware. Most of these exploit attacks are well known and many browsers and web shields can detect them and block websites that contain exploits. However, in my testing, Avira Browser Safety only detected around 10% of the exploit attacks I tested it against (by comparison, Bitdefender’s web protection feature detected 100% of the exploit attacks in my testing).

Overall, the web protection from Avira is pretty good, but its exploit attack protection is pretty bad. I would love to see Avira improve its anti-exploit capabilities, especially since Avira Browser Safety has an exceptional ad and tracker blocker that also blocks phishing websites more accurately than Chrome or Firefox.

Firewall

Avira’s firewall is simple but effective. It uses a unique algorithm to prevent network intrusions and notifies you if an attempt is made. Its exploit protection was able to consistently block network intrusions during my tests, even catching a few that my Windows firewall missed.

It was easy to set rules for each app on my computer. It displayed a list of my apps alongside trust levels for each app and let me toggle which apps I wanted to block or unblock. I could also use the Intruder Protection section to allow some IP addresses to connect to my network, while still blocking most.

Avira Security Features

It’s not bad, but it’s lacking in terms of customization options. With Norton, for example, you can toggle SSL protection, security protocols, ARP and DNS spoofing protection, and a lot more. I also wish Avira provided more information about how the firewall works. I found myself wondering why its algorithm blocks certain apps and couldn’t find answers to simple questions about its security protocol.

Overall, though, it’s a simple firewall with an intuitive interface. It’s easy to set unique rules or allow a specific IP address to connect to your network.

Device Optimization Tools

Avira Security Features

Avira’s system optimization tools are really good — they’re easy to use, they can clear up space on your system, and they include useful metrics to help users chart their system’s performance over time. Avira’s main device optimization tools include:

  • PC junk file cleaner.
  • Duplicate file finder.
  • Startup optimizer.
  • Driver updater.
  • Battery usage manager.
  • Game booster.

The PC junk file cleaner detects junk and unused files and folders. During my tests, Avira found over 26 GB of junk files clogging up my hard drive. It also flagged certain files and folders that I may have wanted to keep, allowing me to choose whether or not I wanted to delete them. Avira’s junk file cleaner is really good — only TotalAV and Norton were able to detect and remove as much junk from my PC.

I checked out the duplicate file finder, and it was able to clear up about 100 MB worth of duplicate documents and downloads on my computer. You can choose which files and drives you want to scan, and it only took a few minutes to scan through my whole system.

The startup optimizer shows which programs are slowing down your PC’s boot time, allowing you to stop the programs from booting on startup or remove them completely. Users with significantly slower boot times can then opt for a Hyper Boost, where Avira asks you to reboot your device 5 times in order to analyze and optimize your boot sequence. This Hyper Boost feature is a little time-consuming, but it could be a really useful tool for anybody struggling with a buggy boot sequence. Another thing I really like about the startup optimizer is that it keeps track of a PC’s load time and displays the data on an easy-to-read graph.

Avira Security Features

I was also pretty impressed with Avira’s driver updater, which scanned all of my software and notified me which programs were out of date. Keeping software updated isn’t just a matter of performance or quality — software updates frequently contain security patches that close up security vulnerabilities. Avira’s driver updater is a really useful security feature that can ensure your device is protected from the majority of known exploit attacks.

The battery usage manager isn’t very impressive, though — it can put your system into a low power mode, which dims your screen and prevents automatic updates, but it doesn’t track which apps or processes are taking up your battery life, like Android and iOS do for mobile users.

The game booster is a neat tool that closes background applications, stops unnecessary services, and optimizes network settings to improve CPU performance during high-performance gaming. In my testing, I experienced a noticeable difference in performance when using Avira’s game booster, especially with online games like Destiny 2 that can often experience slowdown due to network connectivity issues. I had less lag and none of the intermittent slowdown that I frequently see when playing games online.

While I really like Avira’s game booster, I still think Norton’s game booster is better, because of the way it reallocates system processes so that games can run more efficiently. Norton’s game booster is the only tool on the market that has actually allowed me to increase my graphic settings and frame rates while gaming.

But overall, I’m really happy with Avira’s device optimization features — they’re some of the most advanced of any system tune-up tools that I’ve tested.

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

Avira Security Features

Avira’s Phantom VPN provides good security, a decent server network, fast speeds, and a no-logs policy — but I couldn’t get it to consistently work with streaming sites available in my location. Phantom VPN Pro with unlimited data is bundled with Avira’s premium Prime package, whereas lower-tier plans are limited to only 500 MB of browsing data per month (which is not very much at all). That said, you can get the unlimited VPN as a separate purchase for $36.99 / year — but considering that a Prime subscription doesn’t cost much more than this, most users are better off just buying Prime.

Phantom VPN also has:

  • 256-bit AES encryption. All user info is protected with unbreakable encryption.
  • A strict no-logging policy. Avira doesn’t keep logs of the sites that you visit or the files that you download.
  • DNS leak protection. Phantom VPN supports IPv4 and IPv6 traffic.
  • Multiple server locations. 1,400 server locations in 35+ countries, including state-specific locations in the USA. Keep in mind that Pro users have access to all 1,400 servers, but the free version only allows access to one virtual server.
  • P2P file sharing. Phantom VPN supports torrenting.
  • Kill switch. Automatically blocks internet connection when the VPN is disconnected (Windows only and only comes with the Pro version).

Avira Security Features

Avira’s VPN is pretty fast — during my tests, my speeds decreased by 25–30% on average, which is comparable to some of the best standalone VPNs on the market, like ProtonVPN. Using Avira’s VPN, I was able to browse the web, watch videos, download files, and play games with minimal or no slowdown at all. I did experience some slowdown while connected to very distant servers, but all VPNs cause some decrease in speeds, especially on distant servers.

Phantom VPN supports unlimited simultaneous connections, which is great (the industry average is 5–7 devices at once). However, Avira’s VPN can’t be installed on routers, game consoles, or smart TVs, which can be a downside for people looking to protect all of the devices in their household. Standalone competitors like ExpressVPN can be installed on all devices.

Unfortunately, Avira’s VPN didn’t work with popular streaming sites in my tests — I wasn’t able to watch my local Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney+ libraries. If you’re looking for a fast VPN with good streaming capabilities, I recommend standalone VPNs like ExpressVPN or ProtonVPN.

However, Phantom VPN supports P2P traffic and works with top torrenting clients. Other VPNs included with antiviruses, like Malwarebytes VPN, don’t allow torrenting.

Overall, Phantom VPN is a pretty decent VPN, and it’s a good value as part of the Avira Prime package, but there are better standalone options out there. That said, for users that are looking for a simple, secure, and fast VPN with a good number of international server locations, Avira’s Phantom VPN is a great option.

Password Manager

Avira Security Features

Avira’s password manager provides secure password storage, an intuitive interface, and some excellent security features.It’s one of my favorite antivirus-bundled password managers in 2024 (although Norton Password Manager is also surprisingly good). Avira is also one of the only password managers that offers unlimited password storage and syncing across mobile and desktop devices in its free version (Avira’s free antivirus plan and super-cheap Antivirus Pro plans both include Avira’s free password manager, while the more expensive Internet Security and Prime plans include Avira Password Manager Pro).

Some key features Avira includes in its password manager are:

  • 256-bit AES encryption.
  • Biometric mobile login.
  • Two-factor authentication (2FA).
  • Password generator.
  • Auto-save and auto-fill.
  • Data breach monitoring (Pro version).
  • Password vault auditing (Pro version).

Avira’s password manager dashboard is really clean and easy to navigate. It also includes a browser extension that can auto-save and auto-fill login information and is available on Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Opera. One glaring feature that’s missing from the browser extension is a password generator. There is a password generator within the desktop application, but it’d be really helpful to have one in the browser extension to use when creating new accounts.

Avira Security Features

Avira’s password manager also has a really good mobile app that’s available on Android and iOS devices. It integrates well with Android and iOS’s auto-fill and biometric login features, and it automatically syncs logins that are saved in your vault on other devices.

Avira’s vault auditing tool is pretty good — it organized all of my unsafe (weak, repeated, or old) logins so I could simply go down the list changing my passwords to improve my overall vault health. The data breach monitor also provides live updates if your logins are detected in any publicly available data breaches, which is pretty helpful.

Avira’s password manager is lacking some additional features — it’s not compatible with 2FA USB tokens like YubiKey, and it doesn’t provide family password vault sharing like 1Password does, or live dark web monitoring like Dashlane does — but it’s still a solid password manager.

Avira Password Manager is a great option if you’re looking for an easy-to-use, secure password manager with some helpful additional features. Plus, most of its features are completely free!

Additional Features

Avira has a lot more features, including:

  • File encryption. Protects files and folders with passwords.
  • File shredding. Deletes files completely so they can’t be recovered by hackers.
  • Network traffic manager. Shows which applications are connected to the internet and gives the option to stop certain connections if necessary.
  • Process manager. Monitors all running processes and stops unnecessary ones.
  • Disk defragmenter. Improves the organization and speed of hard drives.
  • File recovery. Restores accidentally deleted files.
  • Safe Shopping. Browser extension which recommends better deals when shopping online.

I really like the file shredder — I was able to completely erase files from my disk with just a few clicks. Features like the process manager and disk defragmenter are already available on Windows and Mac, but having them all together and easy to access in Avira is useful, particularly for people unaware of these tools.

I wasn’t very impressed with the Safe Shopping browser extension, though — it rarely notified me of better deals, and frequently offered hilarious alternatives, such as notifying me of a low-price terrarium on Amazon when I was shopping for Animorphs books!

Avira Plans and Pricing

Avira has 4 plans available:

  • Free Security.
  • Antivirus Pro.
  • Internet Security.
  • Prime.

The best plan is Prime, a feature-rich plan that covers up to 5 devices for a very reasonable price. I’m not a big fan of the Antivirus Pro and Internet Security plans, especially because they only cover a single device each by default (you can get plans covering up to 5 devices, but these cost a lot more). All of Avira’s plans come with a 60-day money-back guarantee.

Here’s a quick overview of all of Avira’s plans:

Free Security Antivirus Pro Internet Security Prime
Platforms Windows, Mac Windows, Mac Windows Windows, Mac, Android, iOS
Price Free $15.99 / year $19.99 / year $36.99 / year
Number of device licenses 1 1, 3, or 5 1, 3, or 5 5 or 25
Malware scanning & removal
Real-time protection
Ransomware protection
Web protections
Email protection
Firewall
Password manager (basic)
Password manager Pro
VPN (500 MB/month)
VPN (unlimited data)
Software and driver updater ✅ (basic version) ✅ (basic version)
Device optimization
Junk file cleanup
PC optimizer
Gaming mode
Email & phone support
VIP customer support

Avira Free Security — Excellent Free Antivirus

Avira Plans and Pricing

Avira’s free plan includes:

  • Antivirus scanner.
  • Real-time protection.
  • Ransomware protection.
  • Phantom VPN (with 500 MB of free data per month).
  • Password manager (separate download).
  • Device optimization (basic).
  • Software and driver updater (basic).
  • Safe Shopping and Browser Safety extensions.
  • File shredder.

Avira’s free plan offers the same powerful antivirus engine as the premium version — including Avira’s real-time anti-malware scanning. It protects against all malware, including ransomware, unlike some other free antiviruses that make you pay for the premium version to get ransomware protection.

The VPN is very limited in terms of data — 500 MB of free data per month is barely enough to do a few Google searches every day. Plus, it only allows access to the nearest server location, meaning you can’t choose other server options. There are a lot of better low-cost standalone VPNs on the market (ProtonVPN for example provides unlimited data with its free plan).

Avira Free Security is one of the best free antivirus offerings on the market, but it lacks a lot of features that Avira’s paid plans include, like unlimited VPN data and password manager data protection tools. Avira Free users don’t get access to email or phone customer support, either.

Avira Antivirus Pro — Decent, But Not Worth the Money

Avira Plans and Pricing

Avira Antivirus Pro costs $15.99 / year, and subscribers get access to all the features of the free plan, plus:

  • Email protection.
  • Web protection.
  • Firewall.
  • Email and phone customer support.
  • More advanced ransomware protection.

The ransomware protection in the Pro plan uses behavior-based analysis, whereas the ransomware protection included in the free plan uses signature analysis only.

Personally, I don’t think Antivirus Pro offers enough extra features to be worth the money. New users that think they won’t need a lot of technical assistance can give Avira Antivirus Pro a chance — but they’ll probably end up wanting to upgrade to Avira Prime for the VIP customer support.

Avira Internet Security — More Features for a Good Price

Avira Plans and Pricing

Avira’s Internet Security package includes all the tools of Antivirus Pro, but it also has:

  • Password Manager Pro.
  • Software and driver updater (advanced).

I like Avira’s premium password manager, which includes data breach monitoring and password vault auditing features — but it’s not as good as premium password managers like Dashlane and Keeper. I also think Avira’s updater tool is a useful internet security feature, and this package includes customer support by phone and email as well.

But I don’t think these two features make Avira Internet Security worth $19.99 / year, especially as it’s not compatible with Mac. You could easily just download Avira’s free plan and get a good password manager for a better price. However, Windows users that want to have an all-in-one antivirus and premium password manager with some good additional security features can give Avira Internet Security a look.

Avira Prime — The Best Avira Package Available

Avira Plans and Pricing

Avira’s Prime package includes all of the previously mentioned features, but it also has:

  • Phantom VPN Pro.
  • Junk file cleanup.
  • PC performance optimizer.
  • VIP customer support.
  • Gaming mode.
  • Coverage across 5 devices.

This package is a really good value at $36.99 / year. It covers 5 devices by default for a little bit less than Norton 360, although Norton’s premium plans provide features like live dark web monitoring, comprehensive parental controls, and identity theft protections, which make it a more full-featured internet security program. That said, Avira does let you extend coverage to up to 25 devices for an additional cost, making it a good choice for larger families.

Overall, Avira Prime is Avira’s best value plan —  you get a ton of great features for a very competitive price.

Avira Ease of Use and Setup

How to Install Avira (Just 3 Simple Steps)

  • Step 1: Purchase an Avira plan. Make sure you’re visiting the official Avira website or checking out the official Avira app on your phone’s app store. Pick the plan you want, enter your payment information, and finalize the purchase.
  • Step 2: Download your Avira app. If you bought it for your computer, the download will automatically happen after purchasing the product — simply open up File Explorer and double-click the download to begin the installation. For mobile simply use your phone’s app store.
  • Step 3: Follow the installation wizard. You’ll be walked through the installation process. All you’ll have to do is answer a few prompts and set up your initial settings and you’re good to go.

Out of all of the antiviruses I’ve tested, Avira is one of the easiest to set up and use. The installation took less than 10 minutes. While other antiviruses I’ve tested installed slightly faster than Avira, like TotalAV, Avira’s entire installation process was very easy — only requiring a couple of clicks to complete.

Avira’s features are really intuitive and easy to use. Running an antivirus scan and using the device optimization features will be simple for most non-tech-savvy users.

Avira Ease of Use and Setup

I was able to schedule scans in a few seconds by simply clicking on the calendar icon and setting the frequency of each scan.

One of the great perks of Avira is the many scan options it offers. This could potentially be overwhelming for people who don’t have much technical knowledge, but Avira’s interface makes it really easy to navigate scanning and scheduling.

Avira Ease of Use and Setup

Avira’s full scan barely affected my CPU compared to other antiviruses. It only took up around 20–25% of my CPU power, which is nothing compared to when I tested Panda on my PC — which took up over 50% of my CPU when running a virus scan. With Avira, I was able to use my PC as normal when the scan was running, so I could edit videos and browse YouTube without any system slowdown.

Avira Ease of Use and Setup

Overall, Avira is easy to install and simple to use. Even beginner users will find it easy to access all of the security and device optimization features. It’s also extremely lightweight, and the scanning engine won’t affect PC performance while using CPU-intensive programs.

Avira Mobile App

Avira’s mobile app provides a ton of good features in an intuitive interface, and it’s compatible with Android and iOS. I tested the Android app out on my Nokia 6.1 smartphone and the iOS app on my iPad.

The antivirus scanner on Android was very quick — it took less than 5 minutes and I didn’t experience any noticeable slowdown on my phone. I downloaded a huge Android-specific malware database to my device, and I was impressed to see that the mobile app returned the same result as the desktop app: 100% of my test files were either removed completely from my phone or placed in quarantine.

Avira Mobile App

Avira’s mobile apps include these features:

  • Web protection.
  • Anti-theft device finder.
  • Camera and microphone protection.
  • Permissions manager.
  • App locker.
  • Call blocker.
  • VPN.
  • Password manager (separate download).
  • Performance optimizer.
  • Identity breach alerts.
  • Siri protection (iOS only).
  • iOS updater (iOS only).

Avira Mobile App

I particularly like the permissions manager and microphone protection — it can be difficult to keep track of which apps are granted which permissions and having some prompts on my phone to manage them is very helpful.

The performance optimizer is great, too. I have an external microSD card on my phone and Avira cleaned that storage up as well as my internal storage. My phone was working a lot more smoothly after I used the optimizer tool.

The anti-theft feature is probably the weakest feature, although it still works pretty well. The accuracy is okay — it located my device at my neighbor’s place across the street — and it definitely works better than Google and Apple’s device locator apps, which I’ve always found a bit cumbersome. However, when compared to Norton, which can locate a device within 65 feet, Avira’s anti-theft feature isn’t so great.

But overall, Avira’s mobile apps are incredibly feature-rich — they provide advanced app and malware scanning for your device, monitor privacy violations, optimize device performance, and offer a suite of good anti-theft tools.

Avira Customer Support

Avira’s customer support is pretty good. The telephone support and online knowledge base in particular are excellent. Avira’s customer support options include:

  • Email support.
  • Telephone support.
  • Online knowledge base.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a live chat option, which is my preferred customer support option.

For free Avira users, the knowledge base section is the sole customer support option available. I personally found it to be helpful when I encountered antivirus setup problems, as it provides comprehensive answers that can resolve various issues. The detailed information offered in the knowledge base can effectively address most concerns.

Avira Customer Support

There is a toll-free number for premium users, which offers customer support between 9am–11pm Central European Time for 30+ countries, including the US and Canada as well as many European and Asian nations. Countries that can’t access the toll-free number have the option to call another number, but they will be charged their local phone rates.

I was really impressed with Avira’s phone support when I made contact for help with installation — my hold time was minimal, and the agent was extremely courteous, offering straightforward solutions for troubleshooting.

Premium users have the additional benefit of being able to contact support through email. When I reached out to Avira regarding a billing inquiry, I received a response within 24 hours. However, it’s worth mentioning that Norton’s email support team typically provides faster response times, usually within a couple of hours.

It also has a live chat, but in my experience, it wasn’t the most helpful. It’s a simple chatbot with only a few built-in questions — it directs you to a live representative if you need anything else, but I found the queue time to be pretty long.

Overall, Avira’s customer support is decent. The knowledge base is very detailed, the telephone support is great, and while the email support could be a bit quicker, the support reps are very helpful.

What Avira Can Do Better

Avira may be one of my favorite antiviruses, but it isn’t my top choice. The fundamental security tools like the virus scanner are great, but there are a few things I’d like to see changed when it comes to Avira’s extra features.

First of all, I’m a little bit disappointed with Avira’s VPN. It has great features, but I really wish it worked better when it comes to streaming. When I connected to a local server, I was unable to watch Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney+.

What’s more, the data limits are pretty frustrating. Unless you get the Prime plan (Avira’s most expensive offering), you’ll only be able to use 500 MB of data per month. That’s not even enough to watch an entire HD movie. Even if you don’t use the VPN to stream, you’re liable to run out of data after just a few hours of regular browsing. This data cap is laughably low. I want Avira to raise it, or provide unlimited data on all plans that include a VPN, like Norton does.

It’s also a shame that Avira doesn’t offer any parental control tools. For a security suite to be truly all-encompassing, I think parental controls are a must. If you do want parental controls, consider looking at Bitdefender.

Aside from all this, my complaints are minor. I wish Avira had live chat support and a more customizable firewall. It’d also be great to see web protections that can better deal with exploit attacks.

All things considered, Avira is one of the best antiviruses out there, but it could benefit from some changes.

Is Avira a Good Antivirus in 2024?

Avira is definitely one of the best antiviruses on the market today — a claim supported by its high malware detection rates, wide range of excellent internet security features, and user-friendly interface.

Overall, Avira is really easy to use, making it a great choice for non-tech-savvy users. For such an advanced antivirus scanner, Avira is also really lightweight — taking up less CPU power than most other antiviruses I’ve tested.

I was also impressed by the range of additional features, including the comprehensive device optimization tools, secure password manager, and automatic software updater. The VPN is also pretty good, but there are better standalone VPN options out there.

I’d like to see Avira offer parental controls, more customization to the firewall, and more robust mobile anti-theft features like Norton does, but Avira is still a great value antivirus with some really good additional features.

Overall, Avira is an excellent, low-cost antivirus suite, and it comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee so you can try it out risk-free.


Frequently Asked Questions

Is Avira’s antivirus protection good?

Avira scored a perfect 100% malware detection rate in my tests. Both its antivirus scanner and real-time scanning engine managed to detect and block viruses, ransomware, spyware, rootkits, and more.

Avira has combined its scanning engine with cloud-based technology to provide fast, lightweight, and thorough malware detection — it’s just as good for anti-malware protection as premium competitors like Norton.

Does Avira have a free version?

Yes. Avira does offer a free version of its antivirus, which uses the same powerful scanning engine as the premium version. Avira’s free version even includes real-time protection, which is pretty rare for a free antivirus!

Avira Free Security is one of my favorite free internet security programs for Windows in 2024. That said, the free version is limited in terms of additional features.

The Avira Prime package offers all of Avira’s premium features, including an excellent password manager, comprehensive system optimization tools, and a decent VPN for a pretty good price.

Will Avira slow down my computer?

Avira won’t slow down most devices. It’s an extremely lightweight antivirus software, and as shown in my test results, it only took up a fraction of my computer’s processing power when compared to other antivirus brands.

One of the reasons why Avira is so lightweight is because it uses cloud-based technology as part of its scanning engine — meaning files are securely scanned using Avira’s servers (competitors like Bitdefender also use cloud-based scanning technology to deliver high-performance antivirus scanning without CPU drain).

Is Avira’s VPN safe to use?

Yes, Avira’s VPN is safe to use. It uses 256-bit AES encryption, has a strict no-logs policy, and offers a kill switch on Windows.

Avira’s VPN is a pretty decent VPN, and it’s great for general web browsing, torrenting, and gaming — but it’s not a good option for streaming.

If you’re looking for a reliable VPN with excellent streaming capabilities, take a look at ExpressVPN.

What is Avira Safe Shopping?

Avira Safe Shopping is a browser extension that is supposed to help you find better prices and deals when you shop online. However, in my tests, it wasn’t very good at doing this, and its recommendations were a bit random. For example, it told me about a terrarium on Amazon when I was shopping for Animorphs books. However, Avira’s Browser Safety extension offers good protection against malicious sites, so at least you know you can avoid shopping scams with Avira.

Is Avira compatible with my operating system?

In most cases, the answer is yes. If you’re a Windows user, you’ll need Windows 7 Service Pack 1 or higher to use Avira. Mac users will need to be running macOS 10.15 Catalina or higher. On mobile, Avira works with Android 6.0 and higher and iOS 11.0 and higher.

To get Avira’s premium features across all the main operating systems, the best plan to choose is Avira Prime.

Avira Products & Pricing

Free Antivirus
$0.00 / year
Avira Internet Security
$19.99 / year
Avira Prime
$36.99 / year
Bottom Line

Avira is an affordable internet security suite with an excellent anti-malware engine, a wide range of helpful extra features, and intuitive apps across all devices and operating systems. Avira detected 100% of the malware in my testing without slowing my computer down, and its system optimization tools are some of the best I’ve ever tested. I also really like Avira’s secure password manager and I think the VPN is pretty decent, but Avira’s web protection isn’t as good as Norton or Bitdefender’s. Avira has one of the best free plans on the market, and its low-cost Avira Prime package provides comprehensive cybersecurity protection for up to 5 devices. Avira backs each purchase with a risk-free 60-day money-back guarantee.

The listings featured on this site are from companies from which this site receives compensation and some are co-owned by our parent company. This influence: Rank and manner in which listings are presented. 
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About the Author
Kate Davidson
Kate Davidson
Chief Editor

About the Author

Kate Davidson is a Chief Editor at SafetyDetectives. She has many years of experience as a journalist and communications professional, and has worked for media organizations, government agencies, and NGOs in multiple countries. Kate has always had a deep interest in cybersecurity, which has — together with her passion for crafting quality content — allowed her to bring complex topics about antiviruses, password managers, and overall online security closer to our readers. In her spare time, Kate enjoys spending time with her family, cooking Italian food, and doing yoga by the sea.

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9.8
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Avira User Reviews

*User reviews are not verified

131 121
Based on 252 reviews in 29 languages 6.4
Language
You can trust the Community! Companies can't ask us to delete or change user reviews.
Marina
Marina
United States
5.0
I am not sure
Windows User
Avira did not find any viruses, but Norton tells that computer is infected with 5 viruses. Whom should I trust?
United States
9.0
little slow but good
Windows User
Avira takes time to do things such as fixing problems. other than that it is good.
Sam
Sam
United Kingdom
1.0
Avira is SCAM
Windows User
I used Free Avira for years and everything was fine but lately, it just doesn't work. Real-time protection is always disabled and when I click on fix issues it always takes ages and doesn't show anything. I tried to reinstall Avira 4 times over the course of a few months on my new laptop, but no longer. I am going to use Windows Defender now. Any idea why this might be? Can I have a virus that disables Avira? When I try to uninstall it, it says that Avira Antivirus is using it but I cannot uninstall that one either. I deleted all the Avira files from the computer but Avira made sure that it will remain on my laptop forever I guess :D
user avatar
Luiz Marques Sam
I used to feel like you, but I realized that the problem is not Avira. The real problem is Windows 10. Did you notice the privacy protection offered by Avira AGAINST Windows? Avira is an antivirus, while Windows acts almost like a virus. Think about it. Avira does not sell your data, for example.
user avatar
SA Luiz Marques
Is Avira a VIRUS?? I installed the free version and even without my consent it continuously runs, hogging all resources and slowing the system to a dead halt, finding 'threats' left and right. Try as I might, I couldn't make it st...Show More
avira hater
avira hater
Pakistan
2.0
Horrible way to push all products in Antivirus
Windows User
So It not only uses all of resources but also installs spam softwares without uses permission also few browser extensions. They are problem now not the solution.
EFJ
EFJ
United States
1.0
Credit charges
iOS User
Avira is terrible they rob you behind your back using your credit card number to process automated payments leaving your bank account negative. Never again! It’s a scan EFJ
Prince Matema
Prince Matema
Zimbabwe
9.0
Avira with more than 10 years Experience
Windows User
Avira is very good at preventing and recognizing malware attacks and provides several additional security features like a VPN and system vulnerability detection. When you try to visit a site that is known to be dangerous, Avira displays a warning message in the browser. Sometimes the site has links or downloads that have malware hidden on them. Other sites are phishing schemes that try to trick you into giving personal information to steal your identity. Avira recognizes both.
Karina
Karina
Czech Republic
7.0
Kéž by to bylo rychlejší
Mac User
Velmi dobrý antivirus. Byl jediný, který detekoval virus, zobrazující neustále reklamy. Analýza je pomalá, ale účinná.

 

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Tato recenze byla přeložena z naší anglické stránky ve prospěch české mluvících čtenářů
Tony
Tony
Canada
9.0
Works well
Windows User
It took a very long time to do the first analysis, otherwise works well.
Kobus
Kobus
Netherlands
10.0
So Smart
Windows User
It is very good, especially when analyzing files, because it detected 2 hidden viruses. I don’t understand how this antivirus is so smart. Avira is the only antivirus that analyzes files that I know of.
Karina
Karina
United Kingdom
7.0
Wish it were faster
Windows User
Very good antivirus. It was the only one that detected a virus that opened ads to me constantly. The analysis is slow but efficient.
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