Good antivirus for gaming

Or they might ask for your payment details and then use this information to attack your bank account. Smartphones — both iOS and Android — offer a range of new opportunities for hackers.

They can use mobile malware to harvest data such as passwords and payment details. They can also use malware to intercept confirmation messages required for Two-Factor Authentication. Most of us are familiar with desktop viruses, but the mobile ecosystem seems pretty safe, especially if you stick to verified apps from the Appstore.

However, mobile threats are growing all the time. Data from Kaspersky shows that in there were over , new trojans that attack mobile banking apps and over 20, new ransomware modules. Gaming service providers are themselves a potential risk. These services are constantly fighting to prevent breaches, malware infections, and DDoS attacks. When they get things wrong, it could expose you to real risk. For example, if you have accounts that use the same password, hackers only need to breach one of them, and then they will have access to the other Even if you do have good password hygiene, data breaches can still expose your email address, date of birth, and payment information.

Antivirus can play a big part in keeping you safe online when you face these threats. But there are a few things that are absolute must-haves. Keep an eye out for the following:. The best antivirus for gamers will offer a dedicated Gamer Mode. Antivirus will use some of your resources, which could slow down your PC. You can find some useful performance benchmarks on the Kaspersky website.

Your antivirus suite should have powerful protection against most phishing attacks. Usually, this will mean that the antivirus flags up any suspicious links before you enter your password. The best antivirus for gaming will offer a safe payments service. When activated, this verifies any payment system that you use to ensure that it is authentic.

Look for a solution that works on iOS and Android as well as it does on desktop. Ideally, you should look for a service that covers all of your devices with a single subscription.

Look for a solution that offers a straightforward interface that allows you to control every aspect of your online safety. Look for a trusted service that offers up-to-the-second threat preparedness. Hackers try out new techniques every day, so your antivirus provider needs to be at the top of their game. It might be tempting to go for the cheapest option.

People in gaming forums might recommend that you go a step further and have no antivirus protection at all. But good antivirus software can be a bargain in the long run.

Think about how much it would cost if someone hacked your account on your favorite game. Worse still, imagine if they gained access to your PayPal or bank account. For a few dollars a year, you can have peace of mind while you play. There are some other factors that you should consider when trying to find the best antivirus for your gaming needs.

It protects your gaming PC from malware that could prove disastrous. For additional features, you should consider the Bitdefender Box 2. Avast Free Antivirus for your gaming PC will offer you virus protection, password management and threat-detection features.

Once installed, you are assured of protection from viruses as well as a gaming PC that runs at its optimal. Avast Free Antivirus is cloud-light and does not slow down your PC. This makes it enticing for a gamer because most gaming experiences highly depend on the speed and efficiency of your processor. Once installed, Avast will ensure you enjoy your gaming experience by blocking any ads or popups.

At no cost at all, you cannot go wrong with Avast antivirus. It even has a specific feature for uninterrupted gaming sessions. As is with free antivirus programs, Kaspersky free antivirus is a minimized version of the paid Kaspersky anti-virus program.

Therefore, there are a few additional features you might miss with the free version. For example, paid Kaspersky offers you privacy protection while the free version does not.

Nonetheless, this does not take away from the fact that free Kaspersky antivirus is still a good enough program to protect your gaming PC from viruses and malware. Compared to the paid-for Kaspersky antivirus , the free version is powerful as well. With no frills, it gets the job of protecting your gaming PC done.

The frequent ads even while gaming might make this software less appealing but it is good at detecting and blocking out viruses. For virus and phishing protection on your gaming PC, Avira free antivirus is up to task. In fact, on the AV- testing program, Avira free antivirus detects and deals with This makes it stand out.

While Avira Free antivirus is guaranteed to protect your gaming PC, it has a few downsides. For instance, it will constantly nag you into upgrading and buying the full Avira antivirus program. If you are looking for quiet enjoyment of a free antivirus service, this might not be the product for you. It is still one of the best free antivirus programs for it simply does the job of adequately protecting your PC.

Other additional features only sweeten the deal. Broadly, there are free and paid for antivirus packages. While free antivirus packages protect your PC from malware, investing in an antivirus program is always recommended. This is because free anti-virus programs are only compressed versions of the full program. I used Norton to ensure that my daughter was working during school hours, unlocking all of her games only after dinner on school nights.

Norton for Gamers is the best internet security suite on the market — its antivirus engine detected all of my test malware and its game booster feature noticeably improved my system performance during gameplay. And with great family protections, dark web monitoring, and a lot of other useful features, Norton is one of the most full-featured programs on this list. Visit Norton. The scanner uses a combination of signature-based scanning, advanced heuristics, and machine learning to detect virtually all threats — and because all the scanning is performed in the cloud, Bitdefender will barely slow your system down, even during full system scans.

Bitdefender also includes an automatic gaming mode that detects when your device enters full screen mode and automatically suspends scans and notifications. In my testing, Bitdefender automatically suspended scans and notifications whenever I was gaming, and its powerful real-time malware detection kept my device safe without affecting my framerate at all.

Visit Bitdefender. McAfee Gamer Security is a streamlined, easy-to-use gaming antivirus that does a great job at optimizing CPU performance. That said, less die-hard gamers will be satisfied with McAfee Total Protection , which provides more security features and still includes an automatic game mode. McAfee Gamer Security provides a streamlined cloud-based antivirus scanner, plus performance monitoring and optimization tools tailored for high-end PCs. I really like how detailed the performance monitoring features are, and I also like how easy it makes tracking and monitoring different factors like GPU usage, frame rate, and RAM.

While McAfee Gamer Security is a really good choice for avid gamers, users looking for a full-featured antivirus should go with McAfee Total Protection. All McAfee purchases come with a day money-back guarantee.

Visit McAfee. Avira Free Security is a secure, cloud-based antivirus with a simple game mode. Avira is the only antivirus on this list that has a gaming mode in its free plan. Users looking for a VPN with unlimited data, multi-device coverage, and game booster should upgrade to Avira Prime, which also comes with a day money back guarantee.

Visit Avira. Kaspersky has everything I expect to see in a premium antivirus suite for gamers — it has a good anti-malware scanner, an automatic game mode, and a variety of internet security protections.

Kaspersky is a comprehensive antivirus suite with a built-in gaming mode. And what if you can't afford to pay for antivirus software? One of the best free antivirus programs might be exactly what you need. Free antivirus software used to be a step down from the paid software and involved trade-offs.

The protection wasn't as good and you'd either have to put up with ads filling your screen or with constant nags to upgrade to a paid program. That's all changed. One of the best antivirus makers, Kaspersky, offers a free version with the same excellent malware protections as its paid offerings. Its top rival, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition, has been officially discontinued, although Tom's Guide readers can still download it with this link.

A merger between the biggest names in free antivirus, Avast and AVG, created a combined malware-detection engine that's much better than the sum of its parts.

Meanwhile, Microsoft's built-in antivirus software, Windows Defender, aka Microsoft Defender Antivirus, has gone from being a joke to being one of the best antivirus programs out there, free or paid. You can now get free antivirus protection that's as good as anything you pay for. So here are the best free antivirus programs based on their protection, system impact, ease of use and extra features. Kaspersky Security Cloud Free 2. Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition 3.

Windows Defender Antivirus 4. Avast Free Antivirus 5. Kaspersky Security Cloud Free Antivirus may be the best free antivirus program we've ever seen. It has excellent malware protection, a decent set of extra functions and features, and a system-performance impact so small that our computer actually sped up after we installed the program.

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition has been officially discontinued, and we're not sure how long Tom's Guide readers can still download it. It's the best "set it and forget it" free antivirus option.

It's now one of the best antivirus programs altogether. You don't have to install or download it — it's already on your PC.

If you want an unlimited password manager or a hardened web browser, Avast Free Antivirus might be for you. Its malware protection is much better than it once was, although its performance impact is fairly heavy.

Avast's stepsister AVG has the same malware-detection engine, but lacks Avast's full slate of useful extra features. But it does have a file shredder and system optimizer. We have to mention one program that's not antivirus software, but which we recommend anyway: Malwarebytes Free.

While antivirus tries to stop malware from infecting your machine, Malwarebytes functions as the cleanup crew, sweeping out less-harmful adware or potentially unwanted programs that the antivirus software ignores. It works well alongside any antivirus program. Kaspersky doesn't talk much about its free antivirus product, and you might have a hard time finding the free Kaspersky software download page on the company's website. That's too bad, because Kaspersky Security Cloud Free is the best free antivirus product we've ever tested.

We've never seen such a combination of excellent protection and extra features in a free antivirus program. It's got a bright, comprehensible interface, a lot of customization potential and Kaspersky's unbeatable malware protection. The program also lets you schedule scans, and its performance impact was so small that it actually sped up our test machine a bit. Kaspersky's useful extra features include a file shredder, an on-screen keyboard and an email scanner.

The password manager and VPN service are fairly limited, however, unless you pay. Read our full Kaspersky Security Cloud Free review. Bitdefender has officially discontinued Antivirus Free Edition, and it will be supported only until June 30, We still love it and you can still get it , but proceed at your own risk.

Compared to premium paid antivirus programs that are big, heavy and loaded with extra bells and whistles, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition is like a '60's sports car, stripped to the essentials but still providing plenty of power.

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition offers nothing but the basics. There's no password manager, no gaming mode, no quick scans and no scan scheduling. You can manage the software from the program's System Tray icon, but you don't really need to interact with Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition after its installation. Yet Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition has the excellent Bitdefender malware-detection engine, which sits just below Kaspersky and Norton in the lab-test rankings.

It's the best free antivirus software if you want a security solution that you can set up and then forget about. It's also perfect if you need to protect the computer of an elderly relative but don't have time to manage antivirus software from afar. Read our full Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition review. Microsoft's built-in antivirus software is now a heavy hitter. While Windows Defender, aka Microsoft Defender Antivirus, doesn't quite beat Norton or Kaspersky in malware-protection lab tests, it comes out ahead of Avast, AVG and most other free antivirus products while operating almost entirely behind the scenes.

You won't be getting many extra features with Windows Defender itself, yet Windows 10 does have parental controls, a gaming mode and protections for its own Edge and Internet Explorer browsers.

There's no built-in VPN, but you also won't be bothered by pop-ups trying to upsell you to paid antivirus software. As for a password manager, there's a stealth one built into the Microsoft Authenticator app for Android and iOS that syncs with the Edge browser, as long as you're signed into your Microsoft account on all devices. We still recommend going for Kaspersky Security Cloud Free, which has even less of a system impact, better malware protection and more useful extras, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with using Windows Defender as your primary antivirus solution.

Read our full Windows Defender review. Avast Free Antivirus has the best assortment of extra goodies of any free antivirus program, including a hardened browser, a gaming mode, a Wi-Fi network scanner and a recently added ransomware shield.

Unfortunately, the unlimited password manager has been discontinued. The program is also very customizable, letting you tweak its appearance and functions to suit your style. It even offers limited access to Avast's VPN service.

However, Avast Free Antivirus caused a pretty heavy system load in our testing and its scans took a long time. It also kept nagging us to upgrade to Avast's paid antivirus protection, and played bait-and-switch with features that looked like they were free but weren't. Most significant of all, the malware protection in Avast Free Antivirus is a peg down from Kaspersky's or Bitdefender's, whose free programs also bothered us less about paid upgrades and had lighter system loads.

Read our full Avast Free Antivirus review. AVG shares a decent, if unspectacular, malware-detection engine with its corporate sibling Avast while having a much lighter system-performance impact.

While the latter is almost a free security suite with lots of bells and whistles, AVG AntiVirus Free is the quiet, neglected child that gets the hand-me-downs. The good news is that AVG's wide range of customization options and its file shredder and system optimizer are still available, and its interface is open and easy to use. Worst of all, given its middling malware detection and dearth of extra features, there's no convincing reason to choose AVG AntiVirus Free over the built-in and overall better Microsoft Defender.

Malwarebytes Free, formerly called Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, is not antivirus software. Instead, it's a very useful malware-removal tool.

What's the difference?