If you want the best protection and performance, you should choose one of these four antivirus programs.
For many years, one of the biggest problems for people who use computers has been choosing the right antivirus software. This choice shouldn't just be about marketing or special deals, though. The two main things that help us use good antivirus software every day are how well it protects our computers and how it affects their performance.
These two things are what set a computer that is safe and fast apart from one that is not as good in these areas. A key tool for assessing these issues is research conducted by AV-Comparatives, one of the most reputable independent organizations specializing in evaluating security tests under real-world conditions.
In fact, the company published its rigorous September 2025 tests today, October 15th. It evaluated 19 internet-based antivirus programs using nearly 10,000 malware samples. The results are encouraging: only a handful of antivirus programs effectively combine protection rates exceeding 99.9% with outstanding performance. So, if you're looking to protect your computer without sacrificing speed, let's see which ones are the best in their class.
- Antivirus programs with the best and most complete protection
Based on research findings, G-DATA is the leader in providing ultimate protection, thanks to its 100% malware blocking rate. It is rivaled in this area by three other antivirus programs: ESET, McAfee, and Microsoft Defender. However, G-DATA achieves detection rates of up to 99.1%, both online and offline. This puts it ahead of its closest competitors globally.
Furthermore, G-DATA and ESET had the fewest false positives (10 in both cases). This means they are, at least in this area, the most comprehensive antivirus programs. However, other criteria, such as performance, should also be considered.
- The best-performing antivirus program
In terms of performance rating – that is, the program with the least impact on the computer, and therefore the least slowing it down – we have an antivirus program that tops the ranking without question: Kaspersky. It received an impact score of 3.0 (the minimum and well below average), followed closely by Norton and Avast (3.8, 3.9, and 3.9, respectively).
It's important to remember that the lower the score on these tests, the less impact they have on your computer. However, it's crucial to keep in mind that this metric doesn't accurately reflect the effectiveness of the protection. Nevertheless, as shown in the table in the previous section, Kaspersky itself boasts an excellent level of absolute protection at 99.9%.
Antivirus programs you shouldn't install:
According to the latest study by AV-Comparatives, Panda, one of the worst antivirus programs in both tests, is also one of the most established. In fact, it generates the most false positives (85). But it's not the only one. We also have Quick Heal, which, while not the program with the most false positives (23), is the worst protection at 99.48%.
In addition to these programs, VIPRE, Total Defense, Total AV, and Avira all suffer from poor performance and reliability. Therefore, they are far from being the best choice in this category.