Sophos Antivirus Review 2025: Is It Any Good?

Sophos is best known for its security software for businesses. However, it also provides antivirus software for general consumers, promising “business-grade cybersecurity” for home use.

I wanted to find out whether Sophos Home Premium really is as good as advertised and whether its advanced malware scanner could actually stop all of the latest and most sophisticated malware.

During my tests, I was extremely impressed with Sophos’s scanning capabilities — the antivirus blocked and removed almost all of my downloaded malware samples, including spyware, ransomware, trojans, rootkits, and viruses.

I also tested all of Sophos’s additional features, including:

• Web protection.
• Parental controls.
• Remote device management.

The remote management tool is a cool feature. Being able to run scans and adjust your antivirus settings from any device, regardless of your location, is a big plus in my book. That said, I wish Sophos’ settings were also accessible within the app itself, rather than being limited to the remote (web-based) dashboard. The fact that they aren’t feels like an oversight, especially when Norton offers a web dashboard and in-app access to most settings.

I’d also like Sophos to include some additional features that almost all of 2025’s best antiviruses have, such as device optimization and a VPN.

That said, Sophos is a pretty good choice for users looking for a simple antivirus that offers reliable protection against known and emerging malware and internet security threats. Sophos offers a 30-day free trial (no credit card required), and it has a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.

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Sophos Full Review — Minimalistic Antivirus App (Great for Both Beginners & Advanced Users)

Sophos Home Premium is an effective and easy-to-use antivirus that can protect up to 10 Macs or PCs (and unlimited mobile devices). It’s relatively minimalistic in terms of both design and features, making it a good choice for non-technical users. But Sophos is also a decent option for tech-savvy users because of its advanced settings and the remote management feature.

Most of its features and settings are managed on an online dashboard that you access via a web browser. There is a desktop app, but it’s super limited, essentially acting as a shortcut panel that redirects you to specific features in Sophos’s online dashboard. Both the desktop app and online dashboard are very easy to navigate — even for beginners.

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Sophos Plans & Pricing — Great Value (1 Plan for Home Users With All Features)

Sophos only offers 1 plan for home users on a 1-, 2-, or 3- year subscription. Priced at $44.99 / year to cover up to 10 devices on the 1-year plan, Sophos Home Premium is a no-frills antivirus with a few useful features, including:

• Malware scanning and removal.
• Real-time protection.
• Web protection.
• Webcam protection (Windows only).
• Keylogger protection.
• Basic parental controls.
• Remote device management.

Honestly, I think Sophos offers a good value, as it provides great antivirus protection, regardless of whether your PCs or Macs are in your home, office, or even in another country! It also covers unlimited Android or iOS devices. That said, if you’re looking for a more all-inclusive product with device cleanup tools, a password manager, a VPN, and secure cloud storage, Norton 360 is a better choice.

Sophos has a free plan on mobile and a Scan & Clean AI-powered antivirus tool available as a free download. Sophos also offers a 30-day free trial of its Home Premium package (that doesn’t require a credit card), and there is also a 30-day money-back guarantee. So, you can try Sophos Home Premium free for 60 days before paying anything!

Sophos Security Features — Essential Malware Protection + Intuitive Online Dashboard

Malware Scanner — Detects a Wide Range of Malware (Including the Latest Threats)

Sophos’s malware scanner is very easy to use, and I think it’s great that you can run scans through the app or using the web dashboard. Sophos even lets you schedule scans remotely, which makes it pretty unique among antiviruses.

Sophos claims that its malware scanner can detect a wide range of malware and cyber threats, so I spent a lot of time testing it to see if this was true. Before testing, I downloaded hundreds of malware samples onto my PC, including spyware, ransomware, viruses, trojans, and rootkit samples. Some of these were older, well-known viruses, and some were recently discovered malware threats.

It immediately detected 97% of my downloaded malware samples, including some of the latest threats. This isn’t quite on par with top brands like Bitdefender and Norton, both of which scored a 100% detection rate during testing, but it’s still pretty great. I was genuinely impressed by these results.

That said, the scanner is slower than top competitors, with my first scan taking about 90 minutes, which is more than twice as long as Norton’s.

Sophos’s real-time protection is also great. After Sophos completed its initial scan, I reloaded the malware samples on my computer and launched them all one by one. This was to test the program’s real-time anti-malware engine, which uses AI. When I launched each malware program, Sophos’s real-time anti-malware engine immediately detected and blocked all of them. It even stopped a few advanced ransomware programs that are generally really hard to block.

I was very impressed by Sophos’s malware scanning and detection capabilities. However, the malware scanner lacks some functionality that other antiviruses include. For example, unlike virtually all competitors, Sophos does not offer quick scans that check sensitive areas of your hard drive commonly targeted by malware. That said, Sophos does offer protection for USB devices, and you can scan individual files and folders by right-clicking them and selecting Scan with Sophos Home.

Overall, Sophos Home Premium has an excellent malware scanner that detected almost all of the malware samples I downloaded, including advanced ransomware, spyware, trojans, viruses, and rootkits. And Sophos’s real-time protection identified 100% of the test malware, blocking even the latest threats that many competitors had trouble detecting.

Web Protection — Blocks 100% of Dangerous Websites + Online Banking Protection

Sophos’s web protection claims to keep your computer safe from malicious websites. These include malware sites and fake phishing pages disguised as legitimate websites to steal your personal information, like social media logins and bank account details.

In my tests, Sophos blocked about half of the dangerous sites I visited. This is certainly better than nothing (and better than the default protections included with the Chrome browser), but I was still disappointed with its performance.

Whitelisting blocked sites with Sophos can get a bit tedious, though. You have to click on the Protection tab in the online dashboard and enter the domain name of the site in the Website Exceptions tab. This is easy to do, but I prefer it when antiviruses allow you to whitelist sites as they’re blocked.

Many competitors, such as Bitdefender, have a one-click ‘Proceed anyway’ option on their dangerous website alerts. That said, I didn’t experience any false positives during my tests.

I also think it’s great that Sophos has a setting to ensure safe online banking. Essentially, this feature stops hackers from spying on or stealing your online bank details. The Download Reputation setting is pretty neat too — it provides a reputation score for all of your downloads based on other users’ feedback.

I really like that you don’t have to install a separate browser extension to get access to the web protections. Most antiviruses, like Norton, require you to install a browser security extension to protect yourself online. On the other hand, most anti-phishing extensions are free. Bear in mind that Sophos only works on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, so if you prefer using a less popular browser, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

Remote Management — Easy-To-Use Tool for Managing Your Devices

Sophos’s remote management feature is remarkably easy to use. It lets you manage the program’s security features on all of your computers via the Sophos online dashboard.

The feature worked remarkably well during testing. To access it, simply click Dashboard within the desktop app. Once there, click the Add new device button to add up to 10 different PCs or Macs for remote management. From there, follow the link you receive in your email to install Sophos on any other computer. Just keep in mind that you can’t manage mobile devices through the dashboard.

The dashboard is also the place to go if you want to play around with Sophos’s settings. These are spread across several tabs, each of which presents you with various toggles. For example, the Protection tab lets you enable or disable AI-based detection, real-time protection, and the gaming mode (it’s also where you can schedule scans). It’s a little unusual not to include settings within the antivirus app, but I didn’t mind.

Lastly, the dashboard allows you to run scans remotely and provides a log of every piece of malware and dangerous website that Sophos has blocked.

Overall, I really like the Sophos Home Premium remote management feature — it’s a great tool both for beginners and advanced users, it’s easy to use, and it’s not something that most antiviruses have. Even top competitors like Avira don’t offer this feature.

Parental Controls/Content Filtering — Basic Parental Controls

Sophos Home Premium comes with a basic parental content filtering system. Using this feature, you can block sites within various categories. These types of sites can be unblocked with one click of the mouse.

Once I set up the parental controls, I put them to the test by attempting to visit several sites of a few different categories while using the Chrome browser. I was impressed with how effective these controls were. I tested about 30 sites in various categories, and only once was I able to slip past Sophos’s content filter.

On the other hand, I was disappointed that I couldn’t blacklist specific sites. However, there is a Website Exceptions field where users can whitelist specific sites from the blocked categories.

Sophos’s content filter worked on every browser I tested, bar one: Norton Private Browser. I was impressed that it worked even on fairly obscure options, like Opera and Vivaldi.

Overall, Sophos’s parental controls are very limited in terms of functionality — you can only block categories of sites and whitelist specific sites from the blocked categories. There are no usage limitations or location tracking, which are included in top antivirus brands with parental controls. That said, if you only need the basics, Sophos’s parental controls work as advertised.

Additional Features — Webcam & Keylogger Protection (Competitors Include More Extras)

Sophos Home Premium offers a very small list of security features when compared to complete antivirus suites like Norton 360 or Bitdefender. But it does have a couple of really useful extras, including:

• Webcam protection. Provides a notification when an app tries to access a user’s webcam.
• Protection against keyloggers. Encrypts keystrokes so keylogging malware and hackers can’t track keystrokes and steal important information.

The keystroke encryption feature worked really well. I downloaded a keylogging malware sample onto my PC and visited various websites where I input my login details. I was pleased to see that the keylogging malware only recorded “gibberish” and not my actual keystrokes.

However, I think the webcam feature could use some improvement — it only provides a passing alert on the screen that an application is accessing your webcam. Additionally, the lack of a similar feature for microphones is just odd.

Sophos Home Premium doesn’t include the huge range of additional features that our top antiviruses offer, such as a VPN, PC optimization tools, or dark web monitoring. However, if you’re looking for a basic antivirus with a couple of extras for securing your webcam (on Windows), and keystrokes, Sophos is a decent choice.

Sophos Ease of Use & Setup — Easier to Use Than Most Antiviruses (Uses Little CPU Power)

Sophos is one of the easiest antiviruses to download and use. The installation process only took around 10 minutes.

Sophos’s full scan had a minimal effect on my computer’s CPU power — it used up around 15%–20% of it. This is not so bad when compared to McAfee, which used up more than 50% of my CPU.

While the scan was ongoing, I couldn’t use other parts of the app until the scan was either finished or canceled, which was a bit frustrating. But given that the only real purpose of the app is to run scans and link to the web dashboard, this isn’t a big issue.

Sophos’s desktop apps and online dashboard are both streamlined and simple to use. While you can run malware scans via the Mac and Windows apps, all of the other buttons on the app will open your web browser to show the online dashboard.

I did encounter one bug in the desktop app, however. It warned me that I needed to uninstall Kaspersky and various other antiviruses to ensure my device was protected. This is good advice, as having more than one antivirus can cause all kinds of problems. The issue is that I didn’t have any other antiviruses installed!

The online dashboard has a simple labeling system that makes it easy to configure settings and run scans. It’s subdivided into areas for Antivirus Protection, Web Protection, Ransomware Protection, Privacy Protection, and Malicious Traffic Detection.

Overall, Sophos’s simple design makes it extremely easy to use, and I had no trouble operating any of the features. All of the features come with a simple on/off toggle button, so you can easily ensure that all necessary protections are turned on. I recommend Sophos for both advanced and non-technical users who are looking for a straightforward and intuitive antivirus that’s very simple to use.

Sophos Antivirus Mobile App — Solid Protection for Android & iOS (It’s Free!)

Sophos provides security apps for Android and iOS. They’re intended for enterprise environments, but they also provide home users with added security. Plus, they’re free.

The Sophos Intercept X Android app features include:

• Malware protection — Scans apps and media for malware.
• Web filters — Blocks malicious or undesirable web pages.
• Wi-Fi security scanner — Checks for man-in-the-middle attacks and other security risks associated with unsecured networks.
• Link checker — Checks links in non-browser apps for malicious content.
• App lock — Protects apps with a password.
• QR code scanner — Runs security checks on QR codes before opening web pages linked to the QR codes.
• Authenticator — Generates time-based one-time passwords for multi-factor authentication.
• Password Safe — Stores passwords and login details.
• Security advisor — Improves internet security.
• Privacy Advisor — Displays apps that can access personal information.

The Android app’s user interface is intuitive, but it’s not as user-friendly as some other Android mobile antivirus apps, including Norton Mobile Security. While testing Sophos’s Android app, it took me a couple of minutes to find all of the features and figure out what some of them are supposed to do. But once I got familiar with the tools, I found them pretty easy to use.

I really like that Sophos’s mobile app has a lot of additional features, including an authenticator and a password vault. But it is disappointing that Sophos doesn’t include some of these extras, such as the password vault and the Wi-Fi scanner, in the desktop version as well.

The full malware scan on my Android phone was pretty slow, lasting about 7 minutes (although it didn’t drain my cellphone’s battery at all).

The iOS app offers a decent range of internet security features, though not as many as the Android version because iPhones don’t require the same kind of protection as Android devices. Sophos Intercept X for iOS includes:

• Wi-Fi network scanner.
• Password vault.
• Authenticator.
• Secure QR code scanner.

Again, like the Android version, I really like the iOS app’s simple and streamlined interface. I also like that the app didn’t noticeably affect my iPhone’s battery life, unlike some other iOS security apps that I’ve downloaded previously. That said, there are better antivirus apps for iOS users (my favorite is Norton).

Sophos’s Intercept X mobile app isn’t my favorite antivirus app — I think Norton’s mobile offering is better, for example. However, Intercept X is a solid choice for users who want a good security app for their Android or iOS phone. And the best part is that it’s completely free!

Sophos Customer Support — Email Support, Live Chat, Knowledge Base & More

Sophos’s customer support options include:

• Email support.
• Live chat support.
• Knowledge base.
• Twitter/X support.

I used Sophos’s knowledge base to learn more about its features and find answers to some setup-related questions. I was pleasantly surprised by the detailed and informative content, particularly the section on getting started with the program.

There’s technically a community forum where staff members and expert users regularly answer questions. However, it’s meant for users of Sophos’s various business products, not Home Premium customers. But if you have questions about the mobile apps, you may find answers there.

Sophos’s live chat is available weekdays from 8am to 8pm Eastern Standard Time. I tested the live chat support, and I waited exactly 2 seconds to talk to a customer support team member. The person I chatted with was very friendly and offered knowledgeable and quick responses to my questions. I also like how Sophos has a chatbot, Sofia, available 24/7 to help with basic questions.

On weekdays from 8am to 8pm Eastern Standard Time, Sophos offers prompt email support. I submitted a question concerning the scanning of individual files and got a well-informed and polite reply 6 hours later on the same day, which included a detailed guide on how to scan single files.

Overall, Sophos’s customer service department is very helpful. During my live chat session, I received prompt, friendly, and knowledgeable information from the customer service agent. When I sent an inquiry through the request form, I received an informative and friendly reply in my email inbox on the same business day. Moreover, the knowledge base offers informative resources and quick answers to general questions about the software, and the online community is very active and responsive.

That said, Sophos could enhance its customer service by adding phone support (currently only available for enterprise customers) and ensuring that live chat is available around the clock. Competitors like McAfee offer more comprehensive support avenues.

Is Sophos a Secure & Reliable Antivirus in 2025?

Sophos is a basic antivirus with high malware detection rates, an intuitive dashboard, and a couple of excellent features, including remote management. It’s also very easy to use, but I don’t like that the only way to access and use its features is via the online dashboard. There is a desktop app, but there’s really no reason to actively use it — you can only use it to start a scan and to open the online dashboard.

I was impressed with Sophos’s malware scanner. It detected 97% of my test malware, didn’t slow down my computer during full system scans, and took up less space in my CPU than most top competitors.

Sophos has all of the essential antivirus features — including ransomware protection and advanced web protection — and a few extras, such as remote management, webcam protection, and basic parental controls.

While I love the remote management feature, Sophos is missing a ton of features that competitors include, namely a VPN, identity theft protections, and a password manager. You can get all those and more by going with the likes of Norton, McAfee, or Avira.

That said, the Sophos Home Premium antivirus package is a simple antivirus with near-perfect malware detection rates. It’s one of the more affordable options on the market at $44.99 / year, it’s really easy to use, and it includes a 30-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

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