AVG AntiVirus Free review: Great malware protection, though the upsell is a turn-off

AVG is owned by Avast, so it is no surprise to come across that this free of charge antivirus answer has some similarities to the absolutely free Avast A single Crucial package. In simple fact, it evidently works by using the exact fundamental security motor: in their most the latest tests, impartial security testing labs AV-Comparatives.org and AV-Examination.org equally described equivalent security success for the two deals.

That’s a great thing. In AV-Comparatives’ on the internet defense exam, AVG’s reached a exceptional score of 99.8%, nosing ahead of Microsoft Defender on 99.6%. And when AV-Exam pitted the application against an array of each zero-day and popular threats, AVG cleaned up with a excellent 100% score.

Not almost everything is the exact same, on the other hand. AVG has a really distinct interface, with a sombre grey topic. Frankly we’re not admirers: the controls are break up among major card-kind buttons in the centre of the window and various buttons and menus on the periphery. It is not noticeable what is offered, nor exactly where to find it. 

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It is also hard to neglect the reality that, of the five primary buttons, only two relate to capabilities that are essentially involved in the package deal. The other a few just deliver up webpages inviting you to enhance to the entire AVG Internet Security suite. At £24 for the first year this may well appear like a fair deal, but that only addresses a one Windows computer. A ten-unit licence expenditures £36, and as with Avast 1, the price tag doubles immediately after the initially yr, which feels like a somewhat slimy way to make money.

The attributes that are here overlap substantially with Avast One particular. The quick-to-use anti-ransomware module is pleasingly familiar, and though the firewall is not installed by default, you can put in it as a independent part from in just the AVG software. The protected browser is an optional additional as well – despite the fact that beware, if you simply click via the pre-ticked boxes it’ll be not only put in but set as your default web browser.

1 variance concerning the Avast and AVG deals is that AVG does not involve the absolutely free VPN. In its location, you get a network scanner that probes all the devices on your network for security vulnerabilities. Whilst you will not use this aspect each and every working day, it is a great factor to run from time to time, and there’s also a useful function that alerts you to any new clients that have joined considering the fact that your past scan, to support spot any burglars.

The other noteworthy change is not so good for AVG. Any antivirus suite that attempts to actively block malicious web information will have an affect on your searching practical experience, but AV-Check.org identified that AVG had the worst influence of any absolutely free antivirus suite, slowing down web browsing by a whopping 28%. For comparison, Avast One particular Vital had an influence of 17% on a typical Computer, whilst Microsoft Defender only slowed matters down by 15%. 

We’re left with not a great deal reason to suggest AVG AntiVirus Free of charge. Absolutely sure, it does an outstanding occupation of malware protection, and has some good add-on characteristics. Apart from the network scanner, although, Avast A single Essential presents all the very same rewards in a slicker package.