You’ve come to the wrong place if you’re looking for free antivirus protection. Our list here covers the very best antivirus tools, and they’re not free. On the other hand, the best free antivirus apps beat out many of their commercial counterparts. Consider Avast One Basic or AVG AntiVirus Free if your budget just doesn’t stretch to paying for antivirus protection.

If you're reading this on a Windows machine, you already have it installed. Windows Security is a superb free antivirus option that covers all the basics, including ransomware protection and light parental controls—and it's automatically enabled if no other antivirus software is installed on your PC. Its only downside? You'll must tweak its settings to get the most of it, and also still sign up for other security services like a password manager for well-rounded online protection.

Norton 360 Deluxe is our top pick for antivirus. It's a very comprehensive security suite with a simple app that offers strong antivirus protection and protection against online threats, as well as a whole boatload of features—parental controls, storage for cloud backups, a password manager, VPN, and PC utilities. We like it for how extensive yet affordable the service is—you'll be hard-pressed to find a comparable rival.