Avast antivirus provides a full range of features packaged in a simple package. Its malware engine earned an outstanding score in my tests and its web security was effective at catching sites that were phishing that slipped through Chrome and Firefox’s default detection systems. Its performance scanner performed well in keeping its impact on system performance to a minimum. In fact, Avast’s performance scanning was more effective at cutting down on the CPU use than any other program I tested.

Avast also provides a range of other tools. These include a password manager, an VPN (exclusive to Avast One), a photo vault as well as a breach monitoring feature. Its security toolkit is also quite extensive, with the ability to run programs within and a security scanner to check for vulnerabilities that could be present.

If you encounter issues, the Avast support website provides a complete knowledge base. The search function makes finding the answers to frequently-asked questions easy. If you are unable to find the answer, Avast’s forums is a great resource to seek help from other users.

Avast might claim that it no longer sells data about its users, but the history of this practice is still popular in many people’s minds. In January of 2020, PCMag and Motherboard revealed that Avast sold the location and other personal information of its users to third party companies through its Jumpshot subsidiary. Avast has recently stopped this how to cyber proof your business data practice, and now asks users to opt-in when they download new installations of its desktop AV software. Its privacy policy states that the data of consumers is “stripped and removed from identification” before being shared with third party.