Best Antivirus for Gaming PCs 2024 | Top 10 Reviewed and Compared

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The best antivirus for gaming PCs protects your system from malicious malware, spyware, viruses, and other emerging online threats. With the support of trusted antivirus software, you can be fully involved in your gaming, whether online or offline, without being concerned about being attacked, having data breaches, or being spied on with hidden spy apps.

However, with numerous options, choosing the best antivirus for PC gaming can be difficult. We’ve reviewed the top antivirus solutions for gamers based on criteria such as affordability, compatibility, ease of use, impact on the system, customer support, and others. Read on to see how top software like TotalAV, McAfee, and Norton fare against each other to find the one best suited for you.

The Best Antivirus for PC Gaming 2024 | Top 10 Shortlist

TotalAV stood out as the #1 antivirus for gaming PCs owing to features like excellent real-time malware protection, a high detection rate, ease of installation and use, system optimization, and the 30-day long money-back guarantee. But, there’s no doubt that the competition is tough:

1. TotalAV — Overall, the Best Antivirus Software for Gaming PC | Take Advantage of the 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee Now.
2. Norton — Leading Gaming Antivirus With the Longest Money-Back Guarantee of 60 Days | Try it Free for 7 Days.
3. Nord Threat Protection — A Trusted VPN and Antivirus with Zero Renewal Hikes | Offers a 30-Day Guarantee.
4. Surfshark — A Quality Gaming Antivirus + VPN for Complete PC Security | Risk-Free 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee.
5. McAfee — The Best Virus Protection for PCs for Expert Assistance | Put it to the Test With the 30-Day Free Trial.
6. Avast — The Best Free Antivirus for Gaming PC | Also Offers a Month-Long Guarantee on Paid Plans.
7. Kaspersky — The Best Antivirus Software for Gamers with a Smart Two-Way Firewall | Has a 30-Day Guarantee.
8. TrendMicro — One of the Best Free Gaming Antiviruses for Protection on All Devices On Your Home Network.
9. Intego — Popular Antivirus with Specialized Solutions for Windows and Mac | Test it With a 30-Day Free Trial.
10. Avira — A Free and Lightweight Gaming Antivirus Software with a Password Manager | Also Has a 60-Day Guarantee on Paid Plans.

Best Antivirus for Gamers | Top 10 Compared

Eager to learn more? Here we’ll dive into the details of the best antivirus for gamers, including their best features, pricing, pros, and cons. You’ll have everything you need to make a sound choice. Buckle up.

1. TotalAV — The Best Overall Antivirus Software for Gaming PC

TotalAV emerged as the best antivirus software for PC gaming in our research and testing. It’s extremely lightweight, which makes it perfect for gamers who want to run heavy games without lag or any vulnerability at the same time.

It goes without saying that if you’re someone who loves multiplayer games and you’re always connected to the internet, you’re leaving your devices exposed to viruses and spyware.

However, with TotalAV’s intuitive firewall, you’ll be shielded against all incoming attacks. Plus, what’s also impressive is that you’ll be able to manage the firewall’s settings remotely — so your system will be protected even when you’re away.

What’s more, TotalAV also offers real-time protection which is indispensable for gamers who hop from one website to another, looking for cheat codes or buying assets for their game. These websites are often unsafe and require robust security.

With TotalAV’s real-time protection, you’ll be able to ward off all kinds of threats before they steal your data or damage your system. Instead of waiting around for the virus or spyware to attack, TotalAV will block them right in their tracks.

We also love TotalAV’s unique disk cleaner feature, which locates and removes junk files, duplicate folders, and other unimportant things that could be hogging up your hard drive and slowing down your games for no reason.

Thanks to this, you’ll no longer have to bear the pain of your games lagging. This single feature provides so much utility — it’ll clean your system, make space for new files and leave enough hard drive space for your games to run smoothly.

Pricing

TotalAV starts at just $29 for the first year, and it renews at $119/year. On the whole, you’ll be able to cover as many as 3 devices with this plan, which should be enough for a small family.

If you’d also like a VPN for added internet security, plus support for more devices, we recommend TotalAV’s Antivirus + Internet Security plan for the best value for money.

If you find that for whatever reason, you don’t like TotalAV, just ask for your money back within 30 days and you’ll receive a full refund. Try it risk-free today for complete peace of mind when you’re gaming.

2. McAfee — The Best Virus Protection for PCs for Expert Assistance

McAfee is one of the most experienced players in the game that stands out for its lightweight design and its ability to protect your device without obstructing your internet activity.

The world knows McAfee for its scans because, unlike other tools that take over 45 minutes to a few hours to run scans, McAfee’s Quick Scan takes only 5 to 10 minutes, and 30 minutes for the Full Scan, depending on the amount of data and files it has to go through.

As a gamer, you’ll surely appreciate an antivirus that doesn’t take up too much of your gaming time. However, our favorite feature of McAfee is its versatile firewall.

The firewall not only protects your device from all kinds of digital attacks but also lets you selectively choose which website, device, or IP address can connect to you.

Since most firewalls block all suspicious activity, gamers often have trouble connecting to online gaming platforms, but with McAfee, your connection will remain in your hands.

To keep your online gaming experience uninterrupted, McAfee’s ‘Ransom Guard’ tool — that’s designed to protect your system from ransomware — works quietly in the background, backing up vulnerable files and amping up your security when required.

Plus, you’ll never feel its presence unless you go exclusively looking for it. This way, you can enjoy your online games to the fullest without sweating over your device’s security.

Pricing

Although limited in features, McAfee’s cheapest plan — the Antivirus Plus plan, covers up to 10 devices. So, if you’re a large family with basic security needs, this is the one for you. It’ll cost just $19.99 for the first year.

Need protection for unlimited devices, identity monitoring, one of the best parental control apps, or ‘Security Freeze’ functions? Get the McAfee Premium plan at just $44.99 for the first year.

Enjoy all that McAfee has to offer free of cost, thanks to the 30-day free trial — plus, rest easy that even after the trial, you have a solid 30-day money-back guarantee on top of that.

3. Nord Threat Protection — A Trusted VPN and Antivirus Solution with Zero Renewal Hikes

Nord is widely popular for being one of the best VPN services, but did you know that its antivirus feature is equally competent? You do now.

Although you can’t get Nord Threat Protection without their VPN service, on the brighter side, the powerful combination of their VPN and ‘Threat Protection’ feature will make your device immune to most types of digital threats, no matter how advanced they are.

Gamers often visit many suspicious sites to find cheaper versions of an expensive game or assets and cheat codes to win a level. While these websites are a goldmine for gamers, they might house dangerous, malicious software like malware, spyware, ransomware, etc.

With Nord’s security, you can browse the internet carefree and visit whatever site your game is on, plus, you can spoof your location and appear anywhere in the world for better ping and online deals. If a site you’re downloading off of is malicious, Nord Threat Protection will stop you from accessing it. If you choose to access it anyway, you’ll still get a smooth, ad-free experience with the tool’s in-built adblock.

Besides all this, to prevent device tracking, Nord also offers a unique URL trimmer feature that basically shortens your URLs to get rid of the tracking parameters, which contain codes about the site you’re visiting.

The more time you spend online, the more footprints you leave, which can later be used by tracking companies and hackers to reach you, but not if you let Nord snip off the URL’s end.

In addition to that, Nord ensures you have an uninterrupted gaming experience with its ad-blocking feature — no more intrusive ads popping over your game.

Enjoy seamless gameplay and minimize the risk of accidentally clicking on malware links from shady ads at the same time — all for less than $3 a month.

Pricing

You’ll get the best value for your money with Nord’s 2-year + 3 free months plans, the best of which is the Standard plan, starting at just $2.99/month. It’ll fetch you Nord’s high-quality VPN, of course, but also malware protection and an ad blocker.

For more features, such as a data breach scanner, a cross-platform password manager, and around 1 TB of cloud storage, get the Nord Complete plan at just $5.29/month — and rest assured that you won’t have any renewal hikes either.

Try Nord for a full month without risking any money, thanks to its generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

4. Surfshark — A Quality Gaming Antivirus + VPN for Complete PC Security

Surfshark is the perfect solution for those looking for a beginner-friendly interface with simple, yet effective security features.

One of the best features of Surfshark is its ‘Custom Scan’. It lets you drag and drop whatever files you find suspicious one by one or all at once, giving you full control over customized scans.

This way, you’ll save time on unnecessary scans and have the virus detected a lot faster so that you can go back to your game. Or, say you don’t want the scans to interrupt your gaming sessions at all.

Here comes the value of scheduled scans (both quick and full scheduled scans are available). Schedule scans in advance to take place during your busy hours when you’re away from your system.

Besides this, Surfshark is incredibly lightweight. It runs in the background without eating up too much CPU space or RAM, preventing game lags or screen freezes.

Plus, Surfshark’s compatible with mobile devices, too, meaning you can switch to a different game on a different device and still enjoy the same protection.

Like TotalAV, McAfee, and other popular antivirus solutions, Surfshark, too, offers real-time protection. The antivirus will remain omnipresent to neutralize any potential attacks and prevent you from accidentally clicking on malware links.

Notably, Surfshark comes bundled with a dark web scanner. This utility scours the dark web for any leaks of your credentials. If it finds a leak, it’ll immediately notify you to change your credentials. If you’re concerned about your valuable gaming accounts getting breached, then Surfshark might be the perfect antivirus for you.

This feature is especially helpful for gamers who are constantly downloading game add-ons and assets from unofficial sites or joining new game chat rooms. For more, read our in-depth Surfshark review here.

Pricing

Surfshark’s 2-year + 2 free months subscription costs a mere $2.05/month, and the best part is that there are no renewal hikes.

Also, the three plans on offer are different in just their duration — their features remain the same, which makes it simple for the average user.

Try Surfshark risk-free today, thanks to the 30-day money-back guarantee. If it doesn’t impress you, get a full refund.

5. Norton — Leading Gaming Antivirus With the Longest Money-Back Guarantee

Norton Antivirus is widely popular for its ability to flag down most types of malware and viruses, but what makes it perfect for gamers is that it can do all that without affecting your game’s FPS or making it lag.

Norton GO, an optimization feature designed especially for gamers, automatically delays scans, suspends background processes, and optimizes CPU performance during your gaming hours.

This tool is empowered to automatically detect when you’re gaming and redirects most of the CPU power toward your game to minimize lag.

You’d agree that quality games these days are always hard on the CPU, requiring too much space and RAM. The Norton GO feature does its best to keep your device secure without interrupting or hampering your gaming experience in any way.

For gamers who like to live stream their game or connect their video and audio in a multi-player setting, Norton’s PC ‘SafeCam’ feature is a godsend.

It prevents hackers from planting spyware or taking control of your webcam to record you without consent. This will save you from any potential embarrassment or emotional distress in case the attacker decides to blackmail you.

Besides all this, another remarkable Norton feature is the ‘Notification Optimizer’ which reduces the number of notifications you get.

You’ll be alerted only when there’s a serious concern, like an exposed vulnerability or malware attack, to ensure that your gaming time isn’t compromised by unnecessary notifications.

Pricing

Norton matches McAfee’s most affordable plan with its Antivirus Plus plan. At just $19.99 for the first year (renews at $59.99/year), you get a PC cloud backup of 2GB, a password manager, online threat protection, and a lot more.

That said, the Plus plan covers just a single device. For protection for up to 5 devices, one of the best parental control apps, a VPN, and dark web monitoring, upgrade to Norton’s Select + LifeLock plan — the crop of all its premium plans.

The best part? You’ll have a 7-day free trial to try Norton before committing, plus a whopping 60-day money-back guarantee.

6. Avast — The Best Free Antivirus for Gaming PC

Avast’s multiple scanning options make it a great option for gamers. If you don’t have the time for long full scans, you can always go for a quick custom scan or target scan.

For additional protection, Avast will inspect your network for viruses with its ‘Network Inspector’ tool, and its boot-time scan will check if your device is infected by any malware that activates during system startups.

Together, these multiple scan options seamlessly wrap around your gaming schedule, giving you much-needed protection without asking you to sacrifice your gaming time.

Since gamers are most vulnerable to virus attacks, Avast also offers thorough scans for external devices like CDs, USBs, and DVDs as well. So, in case you’re bringing home a new game from a friend, you won’t run the risk of infesting your system with a new virus or spyware.

As one of the best antivirus software UK, Avast will inform you any time there’s a security concern. That said, this wouldn’t require pausing the game.

Avast’s real-time protection and security update feature will intuitively sense the extent of the danger and update your device’s security automatically.

This feature is also available in their free plan, which makes it quite the grab. A free service that quietly deals with the malware in the background so that it doesn’t hinder your game? Get it now.

Pricing

With the Avast One Essential — Avast’s free offering, you get data leak alerts, ransomware protection, an advanced firewall, and more than you’d have hoped for in a free service — however, it does protect only a single device.

See Avast in all its glory with the Avast Premium Security that covers as many as 10 devices, plus lets you enjoy a VPN with access to 55 locations, and it’ll update your drivers automatically — all for just $3.33/month.

What’s more, Avast comes with a generous 30-day money-back guarantee on all its paid plans. Try it risk-free before committing to it long-term.

7. Kaspersky — The Best Antivirus Software for Gamers with a Smart Two-Way Firewall

Kaspersky has a wide range of features, such as quick scans, two-way firewalls, and real-time protection, that provides you with seamless gameplay and top-notch security.

Gamers visit whatever site offers the best options and deals. Needless to say, not all are reliable. While most antiviruses offer a regular firewall, Kaspersky offers a smart two-way firewall that monitors both incoming and outgoing traffic.

This ensures that there are zero vulnerabilities or possible entry points in your system.

Also, to prevent routine scans from interrupting your gaming time, Kaspersky offers multiple scan options — both scheduled and automated.

If you don’t have the time for a quick or full scan, you can run a selective scan on specific items that you find suspicious or a vulnerability scan to only look for areas susceptible to attacks.

If you’re worried about your device’s safety, you’ll be glad to know that these scans will run quick, but thorough checks, and seal every potential attack point so that you can get back to your game as soon as possible.

Kaspersky’s removable drive scans, although not specifically designed for gaming PCs, are one of the best scanning tools for gaming enthusiasts.

It’ll run real-time checks on external drives such as USBs or hard drives, and since most games need a lot of space and gamers often use USBs to transfer games to and from additional hard drives — Kaspersky ensures that you don’t open up your system to viruses in the process.

Pricing

The Kaspersky Standard plan costs just $16.99 for the first year (renews at $56.99/year) and is a great value-for-money option for those looking to cover multiple devices (3) without spending too much money.

With this plan, you’ll get Kaspersky’s prized two-way firewall and safe web browsing, amongst other useful features.

For advanced features such as a data leak checker, 24/7 remote IT support, and expert PC health check, the Kaspersky Premium plan ($19.99 for 3 devices for the first year) will suit you well.

It’s also worth noting that Kaspersky also has different pricing tiers for businesses, so check those out if you’re looking for the best antivirus solution for your company.

You can try Kaspersky now without putting any money on the line, thanks to its 30-day money-back guarantee.

8. TrendMicro — One of the Best Gaming Antiviruses with Free Virus Protection For All The Devices On Your Home Network

TrendMicro’s antivirus services are available under a free service called HouseCall. Powered by dynamic AI technology, TrendMicro will find any hidden threat in just a few minutes without damaging your files.

Thanks to TrendMicro’s latest ‘URL Detection’ feature, any malicious links are automatically detected, and you’re warned beforehand — a warning will pop up on the website page.

For when you accidentally start downloading a file (potentially malware), TrendMicro will intervene on time and sabotage the download. And there’s more …

During our testing, we found that TrendMicro’s alerting system works phenomenally well to offer adequate protection against phishing websites that trick you into sharing your personal information with the promise of providing you with game downloads.

These two features are a blessing for gamers who wander around many unknown websites in an attempt to find cheaper alternatives or cracked versions of their games.

And on top of all of this, to protect your files and folders during a virus attack, TrendMicro has a special ‘Folder Shield’ feature, where you can add all your important files, (even the ones on your Google Drive, Dropbox, and USBs), and prevent unauthorized programs from making changes to them.

Plus, TrendMicro will also create backups of these protected files so that you don’t lose them even if malware or viruses manage to break in, although it’s highly unlikely they will.

Pricing

TrendMicro’s free offering, HouseCall, will serve an average user well. You get free scans, threat reports, custom scan options, and a lot more for a single Mac or Windows device.

TrendMicro’s paid plans start with its Antivirus+ Security package at $19.95 for the first year. While this plan covers just one Windows device, TrendMicro has a different plan for Mac users — priced at $29.95.

If you need protection for multiple devices at a time, including Android and iOS, upgrade to either the Maximum Security or the Premium Security plan.

Try TrendMicro now with the 30-day free trial and see if it’s for you.

9. Intego — Popular Antivirus with Specialized Solutions for Windows and Mac

Intego is one of the few antivirus solutions to specialize in protecting Mac and Windows devices, and it certainly offers phenomenal protection for both.

Virus attacks can make your system freeze, lag, or even crash — something you certainly don’t want to happen during your gaming sessions. To prevent this, Intego quarantines all suspicious files and informs you of these through a simple pop-up notification.

Any time you’re free, simply head over to the Quarantine section and see whether the file is actually a threat or not.

What’s more, you won’t have to leave your game midway because Intego will keep the suspicious file from infecting other assets on your system, letting you enjoy a lag-free game for as long as you want.

Besides this, Intego’s ‘Web Shield’ feature is particularly beneficial to gamers who play online or frequently visit shady gaming sites. It’ll immediately warn you of potentially harmful websites that may inject malware, spyware, or viruses into your system, as well as phishing websites that try to steal your data.

Intego understands that gamers often have to visit unreliable sites to look for better gaming resources, secret codes, walkthroughs, or cracked versions of an expensive game.

Thanks to its web shield protection, you can browse confidently and unrestricted, knowing that Intego won’t just warn you of dangers but also step in at the right moment to protect your device from attacks.

Pricing

Intego has different pricing tiers for Windows and Mac users. Mac users will find the best bang for their buck with the Mac Internet Security X9 plan as it costs just $19.99/year.

Sadly, all Mac plans cover just a single device, which isn’t the case with Windows plans. Apart from the Personal plan — the cheapest Intego Windows plan, both Family and Extended plans protect multiple devices simultaneously.

In addition to a 30-day free trial, Intego also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you’ll have ample time to try the service risk-free.

10. Avira — A Free & Lightweight Gaming Antivirus Software with a Password Manager

Avira is amongst the best free antivirus solutions for PC gaming, probably second to only Avast. Its generous free plan loaded with intuitive security features and a user-friendly interface makes it a solid must-have.

One of our favorite features of Avira is its comprehensive website and email protection. It’ll not only shield your device from shady websites that might contain malware but also thoroughly scan your emails to look for signs of danger.

Gamers often sign up on multiple online platforms that keep sending regular emails with links to their site or products. How do you know if these emails are safe to open? Avira will tell you right away.

The only issue with Avira is that it doesn’t offer any additional firewall. All it does is simply help you manage the Windows firewall. However, this isn’t something to be bogged down about — navigating the Windows security tab can be pretty confusing, whereas Avira’s user-friendly interface simplifies managing the firewall settings.

Sometimes firewalls can block certain online games over security concerns. In a situation like this, you need simple access to the firewall settings — just as Avira provides.

In addition to the basic free plan, you can also get multiple paid add-ons to further strengthen your security and Avira’s functionality. Our favorite add-on is the file shredder that keeps unnecessary junk from clogging up your hard drive and slowing down your game.

Pricing

Avira’s free plan will fetch you all the necessary security features, plus a 500MB/month VPN and an ‘Update Scanner’.

Unlock advanced features, such as real-time data breach alerts and automatic cleaning and updates, with Avira’s most affordable paid service — Avira Antivirus Pro, at $26.99 for the first year (renews at $44.99/year).

The best part? Avira comes with a whopping 60-day money-back guarantee. Try it risk-free and cancel anytime if you don’t like it.

Best Antivirus Software for Gaming PC | Top 10 Reviewed

If you’d like a faster approach to comparing the top gaming antiviruses, the table here is for you. It outlines all the major differences between all our picks:

Why Do PC Gamers Need an Antivirus?

Do you need an antivirus as a gamer? There are ample reasons that prove that every gamer should have solid protection online. Here are the mains reasons why:

Security During Online Gaming 

If you’re a fan of online gaming, antiviruses are a must-have for you. The longer your device is connected to the internet, the greater the chances of a virus attack.

Also, online gaming takes you to many websites, most of which are unreliable. If you don’t want security concerns to mar your gaming experience, pick an antivirus with web protection. Ideally, you’ll want a solution with a robust real-time protection suite. In online games, it’s not uncommon for people to spam the chat with phishing sites in hopes someone will accidentally hand over their information.

Better Gaming Experience 

The best gaming experience comes from adequate CPU power and device space, especially if it’s a graphically demanding game. A virus attack — while damaging your files — can also tremendously slow down your system and lead to frequent lag and device crashes. A simple antivirus can avert all these hassles.

Also, many antivirus platforms offer additional system cleaners that remove junk files and duplicate items to make more space on your device, making your games run smoother.

Protected Downloads 

As a gamer, you might download new games or addons from unreliable websites just to get a free or cheaper deal, or you might take new games from your friends through USBs.

All these actions are a medium for viruses to make their way into your system. To avoid that, get an antivirus that scans every new download item and external device for potential threats before establishing a connection.

Data Protection 

This benefit extends to both gamers and non-gamers. Our PCs contain too much confidential information to be exposed to hackers. A virus attack doesn’t just damage your documents, but can also plant spyware in your system, which then records every move you make.

Spyware can steal your data and blackmail you, release your private information into the dark web, and steal your identity or banking credentials to rob you of all your savings.

A virus attack is never good news. And if you’re a gamer, your device will be 10 times more susceptible to these problems. But with an antivirus, your data remains protected even if a virus manages to slip in.

Data Leak Protection

Sometimes your credentials are lost through no fault of your own. Whether the game server got hacked, or a brute-force attack managed to get to your credentials, it’s possible for hackers to log into your gaming accounts. In order to stop this, you’ll want your antivirus to constantly scour for data leaks and alert you if one happens. This way, you can change your credentials before hackers are able to make changes to your valuable accounts.

What to Consider When Choosing the Best Antivirus for PC Gaming

We don’t recommend getting an antivirus that doesn’t have these four things:

Lightweight 

Most popular video games these days are heavily loaded with graphics, making them heavier on your hard drive and CPU. Thus, if your antivirus takes up too much space or power, it’ll affect the gameplay and might make it lag.

That’s why we’ve only picked lightweight antiviruses that run smoothly in the background. Except for scans, all your CPU will be available for your games.

Scan Options

If you don’t want scanning sessions to interrupt your gaming time, look for an antivirus that offers multiple scan options. For example, TotalAV offers a quick scan and custom scan option when you need a fast checkup before starting your game. And when you’re done gaming and have time for a more detailed scanning, you can do a full scan.

Some antivirus solutions like Kaspersky and Avast also offer a ‘Removal Drive Scan’ feature which looks for potential threats in USBs and DVDs to ensure you don’t accidentally expose your device to a virus while taking a new game.

Security Coverage 

Viruses can find out a million ways to enter your system.

Sometimes they make their way in through emails, shady websites, ad pop-ups, or even through external devices like USBs and CDs. No matter what way they come in, your antivirus should be ready to fight and prevent the invasion.

A quality antivirus will offer extensive security coverage, protecting you from multiple digital threats from multiple sources, all in real time.

Real-time Protection 

A virus or malware will only take a moment to damage your files and steal data from your system. Simply visiting a malicious website, opening the wrong email, or clicking on an advert can lead to you getting infected.

So don’t settle for a platform that only helps you find the virus after it’s entered your system. Instead, pick a solution with real-time protection and secure firewalls that can stop the virus right at the source. Real-time protection will stop you from accessing malicious sites or emails, with more advanced forms even detecting attacks like phishing automatically.

Optimization Features

Antiviruses can actually help your gaming performance if they’re equipped with the right peripherals. Utilities like disk cleaners, minimizing the impact of non-gaming background apps, and similar can provide a boost to your FPS.

Besides this, an antivirus can clear virus-related internet issues, and will scan each Wi-Fi network you connect to in order to ensure you get the best ping possible in-game.

Gaming Antivirus FAQs