ESET Antivirus Review 2025: Is It Any Good?

ESET is a secure antivirus suite with excellent malware detection rates, but it’s not as good as the best internet security suites in 2025. It supports Windows, Android, and macOS. However, many of its features are only compatible with Windows and Android, making it a basic option for Mac users. It also doesn’t offer a single security app for iOS (just lots of smaller apps).

ESET’s virus scanner performed better than most I’ve tested. It caught almost all the malware samples I downloaded onto my test devices, including several I hid in locations other antivirus scanners often miss.

ESET offers various additional features, including a firewall, anti-phishing tools, a network monitor, a VPN, diagnostics tools, and a password manager. It also has some advanced dark web monitoring features, but unlike Norton, setting these up is a painful experience. The parental controls are easy to use and work well — except for content filtering. I liked the no-frills password manager, which has perfect auto-save and auto-fill functionalities.

Overall, ESET is a decent choice, but if you want system optimization tools, top-notch parental controls, or comprehensive protection for Mac, there are better options on the market. However, one big positive is that ESET offers a 30-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it out risk-free.

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ESET Full Review — Extensive Security + Some of the Best Anti-Theft Tools Around

ESET has a powerful anti-malware scanner, a highly customizable Windows firewall, really good anti-theft tools, and a decent range of additional features — all in an intuitive user interface.

However, ESET isn’t as good as many competitor antiviruses available for a similar price. ESET’s macOS version, system clean-up tools, and secure browser are inferior to those of top competitors such as Norton or Bitdefender.

That said, ESET scored a near-perfect malware detection rate in my tests, so if your priority is protecting your device against malware, it’s a decent option. ESET offers several plans, a free 30-day trial, and a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.

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ESET Plans & Pricing (For Personal Use) — Good Value Plans for up to 25 Devices

ESET has 3 main pricing plans for individuals and families, and you can choose whether you want to be protected for 1, 2, or 3 years. The plans are categorized under Essential, Premium, and Ultimate. There’s also a free online scanner that requires a small download and can detect and remove malware from a Windows device (but offers no real-time protection).

The Essential and Premium plans cover between 1 and 25 devices. With Ultimate, you have to pay for at least 5 devices. All plans offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, and Essential and Premium offer a 30-day free trial.

Here’s a quick overview of ESET’s plans:

ESET Plans & Pricing (For Business Use) — Options for Any Business Size

ESET’s business plans are available on 1-, 2-, or 3-year subscriptions. How the plans are designed, with practically all features available as add-ons, allows businesses to choose the level of protection that matches their specific needs and budgets — from basic endpoint protection to advanced threat detection and response.

All plans are available for a 30-day trial and can cover 5 to 100 devices. You can contact ESET’s sales team to get a quote if you need more than that. Remember, when counting the seats you need, you don’t have to count mobile devices — you can protect them for free on all plans except for Protect Entry, the lowest-tier plan.

Here’s a quick overview of ESET’s business plans:

ESET Security Features — Thorough Malware Scans, Highly Customizable Firewall & More

Malware Scanner — Near-Perfect Malware Detection Rates + Lightweight Scanning

ESET offers a powerful malware scanner with various scanning options, all of which performed really well in my tests. The scan options on Windows include:

• System Scan. Scans every single file on your computer, including running processes, program files, system files, and cached files.
• Custom Scan. Scans individual files or folders.
• Removable Device Scan. Scans flash drives, external hard drives, phones, or other removable devices.

The System Scan detected almost all of my 1,000 test malware samples, which I’d hidden on my PC and removable devices. This is impressive and puts ESET in the same league as our top-ranked antiviruses, such as Norton and Bitdefender. The Custom Scan also found nearly every malware sample in the folders I specified, and the Removable Device Scan discovered all malware threats hidden on my USB drive.

All 3 of ESET’s scans were lightweight, and I didn’t notice any system slowdown during scanning. The full system scan took about 40 minutes, which is on par with Norton. And the Custom and Removable Device scans only took a few minutes to complete.

ESET’s system scan looks at areas that most competitor antiviruses skip, including your operating memory, UEFI, system registry, and WMI Repository (Windows only) — basically, the most back-end areas of your device and its firmware. Windows and macOS already include pretty good protections for these areas, but users looking for the most comprehensive threat detection will appreciate ESET’s deep system scanning.

That said, I was disappointed that ESET doesn’t have a quick scan option. Most antiviruses offer a quick scan — McAfee even has a quick scan that can check critical locations in under 2 minutes. On Mac, the scanning options are even more limited since the Removable Device Scan is missing.

It’s also not easy to schedule scans in ESET. You have to navigate through multiple windows, which is pretty confusing and unintuitive. On Mac, the scheduling is done outside the main app UI from the menu bar, which seems needlessly complicated. Most premium antiviruses allow you to schedule scans with just a few clicks straight from the dashboard, and this is an area that ESET could improve on.

ESET also contains a Host-based Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS) that constantly scans your computer for ransomware and rootkits. The HIPS was really effective in my testing. I ran a ransomware simulator, and it failed to encrypt any files before ESET blocked it. I then tried installing multiple rootkit samples, which ESET quickly discovered and blocked.

Overall, ESET is excellent at protecting your device against malware, and its full scans are incredibly effective. However, it lacks a quick-scan option and includes a tedious scheduling process. Nonetheless, ESET provides one of the most thorough scans available from any antivirus. It has near-perfect malware detection, and its real-time prevention system can block ransomware and rootkits before they cause any damage.

Web Protection — Protects Against Dangerous Websites on Windows

ESET offers 3 tools to protect you from web-based threats. The first functions from within ESET to alert you to suspicious websites. On Windows, it was generally effective in my tests, but it sometimes flagged websites that were safe. On Mac, however, it failed to block access to several phishing sites. Also, it’s clunkier than I’d like — especially when whitelisting false positives.

The second tool is a secure browser extension (Windows only). ESET Browser Privacy & Security scans websites before you can click on them, comparing them against a massive list of known suspicious sites. If it flags the website, it alerts you before you can connect. Similar to Norton and McAfee, it also adds a green tick next to safe sites on Google. I compared the results of browsing sketchy sites with a regular Edge browser versus using Edge with Browser Privacy & Security added, and I was able to connect to significantly fewer malware-ridden sites with the extension enabled.

Depending on your subscription, additional features are available, too. With the Ultimate plan, you can use the extension to easily manage your website permissions, clear your browser data, and remove metadata from your browser. While you can do most of that from your browser, I found ESET’s extension made it considerably more convenient, but you need to have the ESET app installed for the extension to work and an adequate subscription active.

Finally, the Safe Banking & Browsing feature opens a secure, green-rimmed version of your default browser when launched from the ESET dashboard. It offers an additional layer of security when you’re banking or shopping online, protecting you from keyloggers. ESET will also automatically launch Safe Banking once it detects you’re on a banking website.

Overall, ESET’s web protection features are comprehensive and well-functioning on Windows but seriously lacking on Mac.

Firewall — Highly Customizable (With Multiple Protections)

ESET’s firewall performed really well in my tests. It protected my computer by blocking and alerting me to unauthorized network activity. The Windows firewall includes various filtering options, but to be honest, most aren’t very useful. You can choose between:

• Automatic mode. Requires no user interaction and blocks most inbound traffic while allowing most outbound traffic.
• Interactive mode. Allows you to choose whether to block or allow unrecognized connections.
• Policy-based mode. Blocks all connections unless the user has created a rule allowing them.
• Learning mode. Automatically creates and saves rules based on user activity.

Most users will just want to stick to the Automatic mode. However, ESET’s Learning mode is a great option for users who wish to train the firewall on their particular network preferences. It uses machine learning to create firewall rules based on your choices, which is pretty cool (although it can be problematic for users who don’t have a strong understanding of network mechanics).

I found the interactive mode annoying. I was constantly getting pop-ups asking whether I should allow a connection. These pop-ups were displayed above everything else on my computer and appeared at least 10 times in 10 minutes. In comparison, when Bitdefender’s firewall detects an unrecognized connection, an unobtrusive notification appears at the bottom corner of your screen, which you can safely ignore if you’re busy.

ESET also has customizable botnet protection, brute-force attack protection with customizable rules, and advanced intrusion detection options. While the firewall works great on its default settings, there are plenty of aspects you can tailor to suit your needs.

The Mac firewall is much simpler: you can set it to block all connections and enable stealth mode (which will make your device less visible to threat actors). Additional settings are (again!) only available from the menu bar: you can set application and fallback rules and adjust firewall logging.

Overall, ESET’s firewall performed well in my tests and can protect your computer from network attacks.

Network Inspector (Windows only) — Effective Tool to Monitor for Vulnerabilities

ESET’s Network Inspector scans all devices currently connected to your home network for vulnerabilities. It can also help you identify open ports and weak router passwords.

The Network Inspector only took a couple of minutes to scan my entire network. It showed all connected devices and listed ports on my router running services. It also said whether any of those services were vulnerable. Finally, the network scanner showed a notification every time a new device connected to my network — which is helpful to identify if others are trying to use your Wi-Fi without your permission.

Overall, ESET’s Network Inspector is a simple but effective tool. While it doesn’t allow you to put your ports in stealth mode, making them invisible to malicious actors (like Norton does), it can monitor your home network and keep it free from vulnerabilities.

Diagnostics Tools — Monitor & Troubleshoot Your Computer

ESET’s Tools offer a few ways to monitor and troubleshoot your Windows PC. The macOS version includes some of these tools but is limited to logs, quarantine, and info about your installed applications.

The most helpful tool in the Windows version is SysInspector, which details every file, driver, scheduled task, network connection, and registry entry in your system. When I tested it, creating and saving a full report took a few minutes. This is a really useful feature for troubleshooting computer issues.

Tools also include ESET’s log files, security reports, the quarantine folder, a list of all apps on your device connected to the internet, and Running Processes, which cross-references running programs on your PC with applications listed on ESET’s cloud database. Advanced users might find the insights provided by Running Processes helpful for identifying risks on their systems, but most other users won’t have much use for it.

There’s also a System Cleaner feature that, at first, I thought was ESET’s system optimization tool. However, upon closer inspection, I discovered its only capability was detecting and reverting changes in Windows’s default settings. In my case, it “warned” me that my desktop wallpaper had been changed.

Overall, I was pretty disappointed by ESET’s Tools module. I wish ESET would include proper system optimization tools for Windows and Mac. Competitor antiviruses such as Norton 360 and TotalAV include a wide range of tools to help clean up your devices and improve performance, such as scanning for junk files, clearing out your temporary folders, identifying duplicates, and removing unused apps. If you’re in the market for a fully featured system cleanup tool, check out the best PC cleanup and system optimization tools in 2025.

Virtual Private Network (VPN) — Fast With Plenty of Servers (But It’s Not Perfect)

ESET’s VPN is pretty good, but it could use improvement. Honestly, my feelings about it are pretty mixed. On the one hand, it has good speeds and lots of servers. But its kill switch isn’t 100% reliable, and its streaming support is a mixed bag.

ESET’s VPN comes with the following features:

• 256-bit AES encryption. All data is protected by unbreakable encryption.
• DNS leak protection. Prevents your real IP address from leaking.
• P2P file sharing. ESET’s VPN supports smooth torrenting.
• Split-tunneling. Lets you choose which apps use the VPN.
• Kill switch. Automatically drops your internet connection if the VPN fails, preventing your real IP from being leaked.
• Multiple connection protocols. Choose between the WireGuard, IKEv2, UDP, TCP, Stealth, and WStunnel protocols.

I was happy that ESET’s VPN operates under privacy-friendly logging policies. It only stores the data needed for paying customers to connect. No information about your actual IP address or the sites you visit is stored on ESET’s servers.

That said, I’d like to see ESET undergo regular audits to prove the robustness of its no-logs policy. RAM-only servers, which wipe all data every time they are reset, would also be a great addition. This could make ESET more competitive with standalone products like ExpressVPN.

Also, while the kill switch performed well after establishing a connection, I experienced an issue when initially connecting to a new server. The VPN indicated an established connection, but I discovered my IP leaked after connecting. I connected to different servers over 100 times, and this only happened twice, but it’s still concerning. I recommend checking your IP independently once you connect.

Despite this, my colleagues and I enjoyed good speeds while testing ESET’s VPN. I tested several servers and could browse the web and stream without interruptions. HD videos took a few seconds to load on distant servers, but that’s hardly unusual. I first ran speed tests without a VPN, then connected to a local server, and then connected to a server in Serbia. Here are the results:

My download speeds dropped by about 20% when connected to a local server and 50% when connected to a server in Serbia. Even on distant servers, my ping never exceeded 200, which is good (though not ideal for online gaming).

ESET’s VPN fully supports torrenting on all servers (though a few have a tag next to them saying that file sharing is frowned upon). I had no issues with P2P file sharing, downloading a 1 GB file in under 10 minutes while connected to a local server.

I was pretty impressed with ESET’s server selection. You get access to servers in 65+ countries. Included in that number are several countries that many VPNs (including some of the best) don’t cover, like Bosnia, Kenya, Cambodia, and Azerbaijan. There’s even a virtual server for Antarctica. Most countries have servers in multiple locations (there are servers in 24 different US cities), which is great. ESET also displays server load next to each server, making it easy to find a server where your speeds won’t be reduced by other users connecting. This isn’t turned on by default, however.

However, while testing ESET’s many servers, I encountered some oddities. When I connected to one of the four servers supposedly in Seattle, my IP address was associated with Ontario, Canada. Similarly, one of the Dallas servers gave me a Virginia address.

Streaming support is rather mixed. ESET’s VPN can reliably access Netflix, but its support for other services, like Amazon Prime Video, Max, and Paramount+, is inconsistent.

While I’m very pleased that ESET has added a VPN to its antivirus package, the tool itself could certainly be improved. I also don’t like that ESET’s VPN is only included in the highest-tier plan. In comparison, Norton includes its VPN in all but the most basic plan.

Anti-Theft Protections (Windows & Android only) — Track + Lock a Lost or Stolen Device (Good Range of Options)

ESET’s anti-theft protection offers tools for Windows and Android users, helping them to track and secure their lost or stolen devices. Here’s what you can do with ESET’s anti-theft tools:

• Messages. Send a message to a lost device.
• Remote screen capture/camera access. See what’s happening on a lost or stolen laptop/phone from any device with an internet connection.
• Phantom account (Windows). Forces thieves into a fake account that keeps them from accessing sensitive files.
• Auto-lock (Android). Set your device to lock automatically if the SIM is removed or after a certain number of unsuccessful unlock attempts.
• Browsing history and IP address. See what thieves are searching for and track your device’s location.
• Run a test. Make sure all the tools are working properly.
• Overall optimization score. Find out how well-protected you are.

I really like that ESET offers anti-theft features for computers (which most competitors don’t do). I logged into the anti-theft dashboard from my mobile phone and marked my computer as missing. ESET then reset my computer and forced it into a phantom account, which made it impossible to access the files on my computer. It also allowed the computer to receive and display messages sent from my phone.

ESET also regularly took webcam photos and screenshots of my screen, posting them on the online anti-theft dashboard and emailing them to me. It could also very accurately pinpoint the location of my test laptop (down to the correct side of the building I was in).

Overall, anti-theft protections for laptops and mobiles are very useful. They let you completely lock down a stolen device, send messages to it, track its location, and take pictures of the user, all of which will be extremely useful if your device is stolen.

Identity Protection — Monitor for Leaks on the Dark Web + Insurance for US Users

ESET’s identity protection is available to US users on the Ultimate plan. Alongside dark web monitoring of various PII, it comes with a decent range of features:

• Credit monitoring.
• Fraud and identity threat alerts.
• Social media identity monitoring.
• Up to $1M identity theft insurance.
• Identity restoration service.
• Breach IQ.

Identity Protection needs to be set up from your ESET Home account and requires setting up 2FA first. It should have been simple, but it was a bit of a hassle.

I encountered an error code that told me my information didn’t match ESET’s files. When I provided the correct information, it said it was wrong; when I provided incorrect information, it gave me an internal error message. As a skilled cybersecurity professional, I developed an expert solution: close the browser for an hour and try again. It worked perfectly.

Once I set it up, I was impressed by its intuitive interface. You can create an identity vault with unlimited information you want to be monitored, including your address, phone number, full name, social media accounts, gamer tags, and more. For example, I set it up to monitor my Facebook account, phone number, and home address. If it finds any of your information online, it immediately emails you and provides tools to fix the problem through its Action Plan menu.

You can also view an overall security score affected by data breaches, targeted scams, fraudulent activity, and other factors.

US customers get a slew of extra features. If you’re in the US, you get up to $1 million in identity theft insurance. It may not be as much as Bitdefender, which offers up to $2 million, but it’s better than what most antiviruses offer. In case of identity theft, you can also get help from ESET’s identity restoration specialists.

Parental Controls — Separate Android App With a Free Version Available

ESET also offers parental controls on Android. This app is not part of any ESET antivirus plan; it has to be downloaded and installed separately, and if your kids use any device other than Android, you’ll have to look for an alternative.

That said, the basic version of ESET’s parental controls is 100% free, easy to set up via your ESET Home dashboard or on your kid’s Android, feature-rich, and comes with a 30-day free trial of all premium features.

It includes:

• App filtering.
• Time limits.
• Activity reports.
• Content filtering (premium feature).
• Geofencing and location tracking (premium feature).

ESET’s parental controls can block your child’s access to certain websites, including the obvious choices like adult, alcohol, tobacco, violence, etc., but also some rather amusing categories such as real estate. However, the content filtering doesn’t work that well. I turned on the parental controls and entered a fake birthdate so that the screening would filter content for a 7-year-old. In the Google app, the parental controls failed to filter Google Image searches, but at least it blocked YouTube videos. In Brave, however, they failed to block any type of inappropriate content I searched for.

Other features, such as geofencing & location tracking and time limits, work well and are very easy to set up. I also like the layout of the activity reports, which makes reviewing your kid’s phone usage quick. I also like how ESET supports transparency through its app design. When I opened the app on my fictitious child’s phone, it gave me a clear overview of what it does:

Overall, ESET’s parental controls are super easy to set up and use and are generally effective — except when it comes to content filtering. The parental controls from top competitors like Norton and Bitdefender perform far better when it comes to protecting kids from harmful content online.

Password Manager — Core Password Management Features (But Not Much Else)

ESET’s password manager is decent but fairly basic. It’s available across all main operating systems as a browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari and as an app for Android and iOS. It secures your passwords using 256-bit encryption (the industry standard) and includes:

• Multi-device sync.
• Auto-save and auto-fill.
• Password auditing and breach monitoring.
• Password generator.
• Secure notes.
• Secure online sessions.
• Credit card and identity storage.
• Basic 2FA.
• Biometric login on mobile.

With ESET, you can add unlimited logins, notes, credit cards, and identities. The process to do this is pretty straightforward, and if you want to import multiple logins from another password manager or your browser, you can do this with a .csv file.

However, I found the identity template to be pretty basic — the fields only include standard info like address, email, and phone number. There are no advanced templates for driver’s license, passport etc. like you get with RoboForm, and no custom fields either. You can save that type of data in secure notes, but you won’t be able to use those for auto-filling forms, and there’s no option to add attachments, such as images or PDF files, to your notes.

That said, I was pretty impressed with ESET’s auto-fill and auto-save capabilities. It auto-filled my details on various sites without issues and offered to save my login details whenever I visited a new site.

The password generator is nothing to write home about, but it gets the job done. It has a limit of 32 characters, which isn’t very high, and it doesn’t generate passphrases (in comparison, RoboForm generates passwords of up to 512 characters and can generate passphrases, too). It includes an ‘easy to type’ option, but I didn’t find those passwords any easier to type than regular ones. But then again, if your password manager’s auto-fill is working correctly, you won’t have to type in your passwords manually anyway. And I like that it provides a password history feature.

The feature I liked the most is Secure Me. It lets you remotely clear your download history, bookmarks, browser history, current tabs, and cookies, and it automatically logs you out of all websites. I think this is a really cool feature to include in a password manager. Of all the password managers I tested, only Total Password provides a similar feature.

Finally, ESET’s password manager also includes a password auditing feature that checks for old, duplicate, weak, or leaked passwords (the latter by using the HaveIBeenPwned database). It’ll also warn you if 2FA isn’t enabled.

Overall, ESET Password Manager works well but lacks certain features that some users might need. If you’re looking for an antivirus with a more full-featured password manager, I recommend checking out our list of the best antiviruses with password managers in 2025.

Additional Features — Gaming Mode, Device Control, Folder Guard & More

ESET’s Windows plans come with quite a few additional features, including:

• Gaming mode.
• Folder Guard.
• Device control.
• Webcam protection.
• Secure Data.

ESET’s gaming mode is pretty basic but still useful. It automatically suspends scans and notifications when using full-screen programs, so you can play games or watch movies without interruptions. However, there are better antiviruses for gaming, like Norton.

Secure Data is a simple feature that enables you to create encrypted, password-protected virtual drives on your device or encrypted folders on USB or other removable devices. Creating a virtual drive is a quick and painless process, and once you set it up, all data in that drive is encrypted using 256-bit AES encryption.

The device control feature allows you to prevent certain users from accessing data on USB devices, CD/DVD drives, SD card readers, and more. Unfortunately, it’s pretty frustrating to set up (it took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to lock my test account from accessing an external hard drive). However, once it’s set up, it works well.

Folder Guard is a feature that works similarly to Secure Data, but instead of protecting the selected folders from people who have access to your computer, it protects them from potentially malicious apps, such as ransomware. To protect folders in this way, all you need to do is drag and drop them into the appropriate field in the ESET app.

The webcam protection feature is useful. It asks for permission whenever an app or website tries to access your webcam. Norton and McAfee have similar tools, although they also provide microphone protection, which ESET doesn’t.

Overall, ESET’s additional features are good features to have, but they’re far more basic versions than those available in many other top antivirus packages.

ESET Ease of Use & Setup — Intuitive Interface (Better for Advanced Users)

ESET is very simple to navigate, but some of its features are difficult to use or understand. Its user interface is laid out simply, with features listed in a menu on the left — simply select a feature, and it’s displayed in the middle of the dashboard. I also like the web dashboard, which lets you review your subscription and protected devices, download apps, set up parental controls, and other extras. It also provides access to the knowledge base, and more.

However, not all features are clearly explained or intuitive to use, and a lot of things take far longer to set up than they need to.

For example, ESET’s real-time protection is set to run automatically, but there are various customization options — and honestly, the customization process is crazy. To do something as simple as schedule scans, I had to go through 15 rather confusing steps. It’s a lot for a simple scheduling task, especially when competitors like Avira allow you to schedule scans in just a few clicks.

Overall, ESET is a reliable antivirus, but some of its features are annoying to set up, and many less tech-savvy users will have difficulty understanding its more advanced features.

ESET Mobile App — Excellent Android App (But No iOS Protection)

ESET’s mobile app is really good, but it’s only available for Android. It comes under another plan name, Mobile Security, which can be bought completely independently or as an “extra device” to add to your main plan. iOS users can download ESET’s VPN and password manager, an authenticator app, and an app that gives you an overview of devices that have ESET installed, but that can’t compare to the best iOS apps currently on the market.

Mobile Security for Android has many of ESET’s key features, including some mobile-only ones. It offers:

• Malware scanner.
• Anti-phishing protection.
• App lock.
• Payment protection.
• Wi-Fi security.
• Anti-theft protection.
• Call filter.
• Security audit/report.

The malware scanner detected and blocked 100% of the malware samples I installed on my phone, including ransomware and spyware.

I was also impressed with the anti-theft tools — once I had them set up, I could log into the online anti-theft dashboard from my computer and locate my phone in minutes. What’s more, if your phone is stolen, ESET allows you to take photos from the back and front camera and locate your phone on a map. You can also set your phone to lock automatically if the SIM is removed or after a certain number of unsuccessful unlock attempts. If you believe your phone is lost, not stolen, you can send a message to it so that the finder can contact you. This is a pretty comprehensive set of anti-theft protections.

I also really like how ESET’s call filter lets you block unknown or hidden numbers and even manually block specific numbers for specific periods (for example, Monday through Friday from 8 pm to 7 am). While many mobile phones can do this by default, ESET makes finding these settings easy.

Overall, ESET’s mobile app is good. However, I don’t like that you need a separate app for the VPN. ESET also completely lacks iOS support (outside of a few smaller apps). Still, it’s a decent, low-cost option for Android protection.

ESET Customer Support — Decent Live Chat & Email Support + Comprehensive Knowledge Base

ESET also has a comprehensive knowledge base that includes:

• Product guides.
• Troubleshooting guides.
• YouTube videos.
• Forums.

I was really impressed by ESET’s knowledge base. The product guides are detailed, informative, and available in various languages, including English, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, and more.

ESET’s forums have an active and engaged community. Within hours, an expert user replied to my post with an insightful comment. I also like its YouTube channel, which includes many videos explaining how many of ESET’s features work.

However, I was less impressed with ESET’s email support. When I sent an email, my inquiry was met with a reply that ESET had clearly copied and pasted (and it didn’t really answer my question). I sent it after business hours and received my reply early the following day. This is a pretty good response time, but I would have liked my email to get a more personal and helpful response.

My interaction with the live chat team was more positive. They assisted me with numerous inquiries and even guided me through removing the software — a task many users find challenging.

Overall, ESET’s customer service is pretty good. It offers live chat, phone, and email support, and I found the live chat representatives well-informed. I also really like the comprehensive knowledge base, which helped me find answers to most of my questions.

Is ESET Worth Trying in 2025?

ESET is a pretty good antivirus program, but it’s not as good as many of its competitors. Antivirus suites like Norton, TotalAV, and Bitdefender provide equally good malware protection, plus a wider and more useful range of additional features — including better parental controls and decent clean-up tools — all for a similar price.

Some of ESET’s extra features are lacking. Its parental controls allowed me to access violent content on YouTube. If you want a feature-packed antivirus that provides a great value, you should check out our top 10 best antivirus list.

However, ESET is a decent option if you’re mainly looking for a powerful anti-malware scanner. Its antivirus engine is one of the best on the market, scoring a near-perfect protection rating against all types of malware in my tests. Its web protection and firewall are great, too.

ESET offers a range of plans, but the best deal is Premium, the middle-tier plan. It provides a decent variety of security features for a reasonably good value. There’s also a 30-day free trial, followed by a 30-day money-back guarantee, so it’s worth a try if you want to test it out and see if it works for you.

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