Best Antivirus Software Australia | Top 10 Free and Paid Tools Reviewed

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The best antivirus software in Australia protects your device against threatening viruses, malware, ransomware, spyware, and other online security threats — with reliable antivirus software you’ll have the liberty to browse through the internet without being concerned about being spied on or having any data breach malware attacks.

That said, finding the best antivirus software in Australia is certainly not an easy task, especially with so many options on the market. Read on to find out how the likes of market leaders like TotalAV, McAfee, and Norton fare against each other as we review the best virus protection software based on essential criteria such as affordability, compatibility, malware detection rates, customer support, and ease of use.

The Best Antivirus Software Australia 2022 | Top 10 Shortlist

TotalAV emerged as the #1 antivirus software in Australia, banking on features like excellent ransomware protection, fast scans, system optimization features, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. We found it to be the best, but here’s the competition:

1. TotalAV — Overall, the Best Antivirus Software in Australia for 360-Degree Protection | Take Advantage of the 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee Now.
2. Norton — Leading Virus Protection Software With the Longest Money-Back Guarantee | Put it to the Test With the 7-Day Free Trial.
3. Nord Threat Protection — Powerful + Cheap VPN and Antivirus Combo with Zero Renewal Hikes | Has a 30-Day Guarantee.
4. Surfshark — Quality Antivirus Software Australia for Solid Anti-Phishing Protection | Offers a Month-Long Guarantee.
5. McAfee — The Best Antivirus Product for Protection Against Malware with Assistance from In-House Experts. Test it Free for a Full Month Before Committing.
6. Avast — The Best Free Antivirus Software in Australia with Real-Time Protection | Paid Plans Also Have a 30-Day Guarantee.
7. Kaspersky — The Best Australia Antivirus Software for Businesses | Try it Risk-Free Now With the 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee.
8. TrendMicro — A Free Antivirus Package to Protect all PC and Mobile Devices On Your Home Network.
9. Intego — The Best Antivirus for Mac + Specialized Solution for Windows too | Put it to the Test Free for a Full Month.
10. Avira — A Free and Lightweight Antivirus Protection Tool to Check for Spyware | Paid Plans Have a Lengthy 60-Day Guarantee.

The Top 10 Australia Antivirus Companies | Reviewed

Here we’ll dive into the details of the best antivirus for Australia, including their best features, pricing, pros, and cons — you’ll have everything you need to make a sound choice. Ready?

1. TotalAV — The Best Overall Antivirus Software in Australia for 360-Degree Protection

TotalAV’s excellent virus detection rate has made it one of the most popular antivirus solutions in Australia and all around the world — it now boasts well over 30 million satisfied customers.

It’s completely safe to use — its virus detection proficiency isn’t just a claim — it’s backed by data from independent testing labs.

For instance, AV-Test’s 2022 report shows that TotalAV successfully blocked 97% of all zero-day attacks. It also had a 100% successful detection rate with no false positives when tested on a 4-week-old widespread malware.

These reports go to show that with TotalAV, you never have to worry about any virus secretly creeping into your device. To detect any issues, TotalAV gives you these 4 scan options — Quick, Smart, System, and Custom.

In short, TotalAV and its multiple scan options give you the flexibility to choose how and when you want your device to be scanned so that you don’t have to free up your schedule just for this.

Apart from routine scans, TotalAV also offers real-time protection to block viruses and malware right at their source.

This, combined with the ‘Rare File Alert’ feature that notifies you of any unknown file types, including spyware, will protect your device from even the slightest risks.

Pricing

At just $29 for the first year (renews at $119/year), you get protection for 3 devices, zero-day cloud scanning, PUA protection, and a lot more.

For additional features such as a VPN, ad blocker, or protection for 5 or 6 devices, upgrade to a higher-end plan — we recommend the Antivirus + Internet Security package.

Try TotalAV risk-free today with the 30-day money-back guarantee. Don’t like it? Get a full refund.

2. Norton — Leading Virus Protection Software With The Longest Money-Back Guarantee of 60 Days

Norton is one of the few antivirus solutions that managed to land a perfect 6-point score in performance, usability, and protection in the 2022 AV-testing period.

One of our favorite features of Norton is just how quick its scans are.

Sure, it only offers basic scanning options — quick, smart, and full but it takes less than a minute for it to scan over 10,000 files under the quick and smart scan options and only 10 to 12 minutes for the full scan.

With such fast scanning speeds, you’ll be able to check your entire device without pausing your work for too long. Nor will you have to keep your system running for a scheduled scan.

What’s more, Norton’s real-time protection is powered by AI and machine learning, which makes it slightly more advanced than other antiviruses — it’s designed to detect all kinds of threats, no matter how advanced it is, your firewall will be fully equipped to fight it off.

In addition to this, Norton also comes with an option to install the Norton toolbar with ‘Norton Safe Web’ on your browsers. This feature will tell you how safe a certain web page is.

With insight into which sites are safe and which aren’t, you won’t be accidentally revisiting potentially harmful sites that could embed malware in your system.

Pricing

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

If you need Norton to do more for you — like cover 5 devices, give you a VPN for better internet security, or use ‘Dark Web Monitoring’ and ‘SafeCam’ functionalities, you’ll have to switch to one of its premium plans.

The best deal here is the Select + LifeLock plan. It costs just $99.99 for the first year or $9.99 for the first month.

Besides a 7-day free trial, Norton sets the bar high with a staggering 60-day money-back guarantee. See if it’s for you. If not, cancel within 60 days and get a full refund.

3. Nord Threat Protection — Powerful & Cheap VPN + Antivirus Combo with Zero Renewal Hikes

Nord, although one of the best VPN services, is in no way less effective as far as its antivirus solution is concerned.

Since one of the most common channels of virus attacks is ad pop-ups, hackers often embed malware links in these seemingly harmless ads.

Once you click on them, the malware is automatically transmitted to your device and you won’t even notice it. Nord Threat Protection takes care of this problem by completely blocking intrusive ads and pop-ups.

You’ll enjoy an uninterrupted browsing experience — and no risk of accidentally clicking on malicious links.  Plus, you get to rid yourself of annoying ads that can spoil your browsing experience at the same time- what’s not to love? Besides this, another way hackers target your device for embedding malware is by tracking your activities through the URLs of your searches.

That’s why Nord Threat Protection offers a unique URL trimming feature that removes the trackable parameters of a URL and gives you complete privacy. Plus, Nord will send you a warning asking if you wish to continue if you’re trying to connect to a potentially dangerous website. All of this put together makes for a smoother, higher-quality browsing experience with fewer interruptions and no viruses.

Even if you do encounter a virus, Nord Threat Protection has a robust virus scanner with an over 99% catch rate and will remove any viruses that might’ve snuck onto your machine. If you’ve got a large system, you can even scan specific drives or folders to cut down on the time it takes to check them.

It’ll also immediately scan all the files you download and delete them as soon as it detects something suspicious so that the hidden virus doesn’t get the opportunity to damage or steal any of your personal info.

Pricing

Nord’s 2-year + 3 free months plans offer the best value for money, the best of which is the Standard plan, starting at just $2.99/month. With this plan, you’ll get a high-quality VPN, 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, upgrade to the Nord Complete plan. The best part? No renewal hikes either.

4. Surfshark — Quality Antivirus Software Australia for Anti-Phishing Protection & Online Security

Surfshark, like Nord, offers a comprehensive cybersecurity bundle consisting of a robust antivirus and what’s arguably one of the best VPNs in the industry.

Speaking of the antivirus, its customizable scanning feature makes it easy for you to scan specific files or folders. Simply select a single folder or drag and drop multiple folders to run a quick checkup of all vulnerable items.

This is a much faster way to dig out vulnerabilities, and it saves you the trouble of scanning the entire device. Furthermore, you’ll be able to protect up to 5 devices, making Surfshark the perfect one-stop-shop for all of your security needs. This is also great for family environments, as you can protect everyone’s devices on a single subscription.

Just like TotalAV and Avast, Surfshark also lets you schedule scans in advance. You can pick the date and time in advance, and it’ll automatically schedule the scan even if you’re not there to activate it manually.

As one of the best spyware removal tools, Surfshark also offers real-time protection — the antivirus will run 24/7 in the background, guarding your device against attacks, even the most subtly executed ones.

On top of all this, you’ll appreciate how lightweight Surfshark is. It won’t cramp up your CPU or take unnecessary RAM space either. This means you’ll be able to have a smooth experience even mid-scan.

Pricing

Priced at $2.05/month with no renewal hikes, Surfshark is easily the cheapest antivirus solution on the market right now.

Plus, you don’t have to worry about Surfshark giving only a handful of features at $2 per month. In fact, Surfshark doesn’t have plans with different features — the plans differ in just their duration.

5. McAfee — The Best Antivirus Product For Protection Against Malware with Assistance From In-House Experts

McAfee is one of the most experienced antivirus solutions and it has found its place on our list on the back of its unique ‘Protection Score’ feature.

It’s perhaps the only antivirus tool to give you an overall score of your device’s health and security level. The score — on a scale of 1 to 1,000 — is served with a list of actions you can take to build up your device’s resistance to threats.

For example, if your email password’s been compromised, changing it (thereby upping your protection), will increase the Protection Score. The Protection Score will save you time by negating the need to run unnecessarily in-depth scans when the solution is to be found in the to-do list below the Protection Score.

Along with the basic quick scan and full Scan options, McAfee also offers a unique vulnerability scan that identifies old apps that put your device at risk and encourages you to update them to reduce the chances of cyber attacks. Plus, McAfee will handle all the necessary security patches on your behalf to fix any device vulnerabilities.

Besides all this, another feature that prevents viruses and malware from entering your device is McAfee’s robust firewall.

It works to filter all potential threats like viruses, spyware, ransomware, and other threats, right at the entry point. This way, you’ll be spared the long scanning sessions or the initial side-effects like system crashes and lags that the threat might cause.

Pricing

McAfee’s Antivirus Plus plan costs just $19.99 for the first year (renews at $64.99/year). Despite being one of the cheapest introductory packages in the industry, it also provides coverage for up to 10 devices.

That said, for premium features such as ‘Identity Monitoring’ and ‘Security Freeze’, and to cover unlimited devices on a single plan, get the McAfee Premium plan at just $44.99 for the first year.

Unsure? McAfee comes with a lengthy 30-day free trial plus a 30-day money-back guarantee — practically giving you a full 60 days without risking any money.

6. Avast — The Best Free Antivirus Software in Australia with Real-Time Protection

Avast is an all-in-one device protection software. In addition to its feature-rich free antivirus solution, it’s also well-known for its webcam protection and VPN service.

Yes, you get all the basic scanning options and they’re all top-notch, but we love Avast for its two unique scanning options — ‘Boot Time Scan’ and ‘Network Inspector’.

A boot time scan, as the name suggests, runs when you boot your device and neutralizes threats that activate when your system starts. The network inspector, on the other hand, looks for potential threats in your network.

Together, these two features seal all points of entry to your device. And, on top of this, you also have the option to run manual scans or schedule scans in advance if you don’t want the trouble of activating it every time or having a scan interrupt your work.

Besides all this, Avast takes every digital threat seriously, but for the most dangerous of all — ransomware — it has curated a special ‘Ransomware Shield’. With this feature turned on, no unauthorized application would be able to access your sensitive files.

The Ransomware Shield is available in two modes — Smart and Strict.

With Smart mode, Avast will cross-check all new apps with a list of trustworthy ones. If it’s not on the list or it tries to make modifications to your device, you’ll be notified immediately and asked whether you want to give it permission or not.

Pricing

Enjoy features such as data leak alerts, ransomware protection, an advanced firewall, and more without paying a cent, thanks to Avast’s free plan, the Avast One Essential.

The Avast One Essential plan is perfect for a single user, and the Avast Premium Security will suit a family the best. It’ll cost you just $3.33/month and will cover up to 10 devices — no matter their type — plus give you add-ons such as a VPN with access to 55 locations and automatic driver updates.

7. Kaspersky — The Best Australia Antivirus Software For Small, Medium & Large Businesses

Kaspersky is the best antivirus for Australian businesses. No matter your business size — whether it’s less than 50 employees or over 1,000 — Kaspersky has a plan specially designed for you.

Recent tests by AV-Comparatives and AV-Test show that Kaspersky has been 100% successful in capturing all zero-day and widespread malware with no false positives — this means no wasting time over false alarms and reassurance that nothing will slip past Kaspersky’s radar.

The tests performed by SE labs also confirmed that Kaspersky’s 100% malware detection success rate prevents the malware from being installed in your system in the first place instead of tackling it after installation. This gives your personal data 100% protection from theft and leaks.

Besides this, Kaspersky’s most remarkable feature is the two-way firewall that scans both incoming and outgoing traffic. Meaning-

For the same reasons, Kaspersky also provides quick removable drive scans to check USBs, DVDs, and CDs — so you can share data with your friends and family without worrying about virus transmission.

Pricing

For as little as $16.99 for the first year (renews at $55.99/year), you can get protection for 3 devices, a two-way firewall, safe web browsing, and more.

However, if you’d like to cover more devices (up to 20) or enjoy high-end features such as an unlimited VPN, data leak checker, 24/7 remote IT support, and expert PC health check, go for Kaspersky’s Premium package.

8. TrendMicro — A Free Antivirus Package for Protection of all PC and Mobile Devices On Your Home Network

TrendMicro’s antivirus solution is available through a tool called “HouseCall,” which is specifically designed for this purpose and is completely free.

Its dynamic AI technologies help TrendMicro quickly identify hidden viruses and malware at the slightest hint of suspicious activity. Even if the malware is hiding in a seemingly safe file, it won’t be long before TrendMicro sniffs it out.

This ensures that no matter how advanced the virus coverup is, it cannot escape TrendMicro’s radar.

One of our favorite features of TrendMicro is the ‘Folder Shield’. Here, you can keep all your sensitive files and documents in a protected folder, even the ones from USBs, Google Drive, and Dropbox, to protect them in case an attack does take place.

TrendMicro will also keep a secure backup of all your protected files so that even if the original copy is somehow damaged in the process, you’ll still have a copy of it.

This feature is a blessing for those dealing with sensitive information that can’t be lost or damaged. Plus, TrendMicro’s ‘Damage Recovery Engine’ will restore all the files that had been corrupted before the antivirus kicked in.

Despite its tremendous security performance, TrendMicro is lightweight so it’ll help your device keep up its usual performance and speed while protecting it from all threats — online or offline.

Pricing

TrendMicro provides a feature-rich free antivirus solution — HouseCall. Besides free scans, you’ll also get top-tier security features such as threat reports and custom scan options.

As a freemium service, TrendMicro has several paid plans too, the most affordable of which is the Antivirus+ Security plan. It’ll cost you a mere $19.95 for the first year and tags along with premium features such as advanced AI learning and protection from email and internet scams.

However, the Antivirus+ Security plan covers just a single Windows device. If you need coverage for multiple devices at the same time, including Mac, iOS, and Android, get either the Maximum Security plan or the Premium Security plan.

Alternatively, you could also get the $29.95/year plan that covers a single Mac device.

9. Intego — The Best Antivirus for Mac + Specialized Solution for Windows too

Intego is one of the few antivirus solutions that offer an exclusive Mac-only service. While it does have a decent Windows security plan, its expertise lies in securing Mac devices.

The best thing about Intego is that it gives you complete control over your file management.

For instance, if you have a set of trusted files that you don’t want to be scanned or files that have falsely tested positive in previous scans, you can move them to the ‘Trusted Files’ section and exclude them from future scans.

To prevent any new virus from infecting these trusted files, Intego provides a quarantine section that basically quarantines all suspicious files until they’re tested clean.

You’ll have total access to these quarantine sections, where you can check the file name, source, and threat type and see if it can be fixed. This way, all your other files will remain safe from the malware, and you’ll be informed of every update.

Intego’s most unique offering is undoubtedly the ‘Washing Machine’ feature — a system optimizer and cleaner designed to remove all junk from your device and keep it in the best shape possible.

This tool will also help you find duplicate files that are taking up unnecessary space in your device, with a preview of every file to ensure you don’t accidentally delete important files.

Pricing

Intego doesn’t provide a combined package for Windows and Mac, but the individual solutions are affordable and come with all the necessary features.

Mac users will find the best value in the Mac Internet Security X9 plan, but for parental controls and smoother system performance, get the AMC Premium Bundle.

The good news for Windows users is that, unlike Intego’s Mac users, they can cover 1, 3, or 5 devices at the same time, depending on the plan they choose.

Is Intego the one for you? With a 30-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee, you have ample time to find out.

10. Avira — A Free & Lightweight Antivirus Protection to Check For Spyware

Avira has one of the largest customer bases of 500 million users worldwide. This is unsurprising — as a highly-awarded antivirus solution, Avira stands out with its user-friendly interface and a generous free version that’ll be quite apt for an average user.

Avira’s real-time protection scans and checks everything your system interacts with, be it a file, folder, email, or website. If it finds anything suspicious, it’ll first prevent the suspected file from making changes to other files and then notify you about the discovery.

After that, you can run a scan, find the virus and get it removed in just a few clicks. For viruses transmitted through emails, Avira offers a smart email protection feature that scans every attachment you’re sent.

This way, even if a friend accidentally sends you an infected file, the email protection feature will prevent it from entering your system.

Avira’s scan options are pretty basic, including quick, full, and custom scans — however, there is a unique ‘Manage Scan’ section where you get a history of all your scans.

These reports come in very handy to identify areas that are most vulnerable to virus attacks, plus you can also ascertain the overall security level of your device.

Pricing

Avira has a fantastic free plan on offer. Not only does it come with robust security features, but it also has a 500MB/month VPN and an Update Scanner.

That said, for unlimited VPN bandwidth and additional features such as real-time data breach alerts and automatic cleaning and updates, get Avira Antivirus Pro at just $26.99 for the first year.

The Best Antivirus Programs in Australia | Compared

Here’s a crisp table underlining the key differences between the top antivirus software in Australia to help make reaching a decision easier:

Why You Need an Australia Antivirus Solution in 2022

You don’t see the need for an antivirus unless you see how their protection can help you. So here are four reasons why you need an antivirus:

Personal Information Protection

The worst consequence of a virus attack is a personal data leak. You might be able to deal with a slow system or even frequent crashes. But what do you do if a virus attack leaks your personal information, including your identity, contact details, banking information, and other sensitive data on the dark web?

An antivirus is the only way to minimize data leaks, no matter how powerful the virus is.

Better System Performance 

Viruses don’t just steal your data and expose your system to hackers; it also severely hampers your device’s performance. A virus attack can significantly slow down your computer, damage and delete your files and cause frequent computer crashes. The longer the virus stays, the slower your computer gets.

Protection Against Spyware 

A virus isn’t the only thing that can threaten your system.

These days, hackers use malicious software like spyware to secretly record your activities and sensitive data, which can be later used to blackmail or exploit you.

Since spyware records everything you do on your device, it also gets access to your passwords and banking details — with an antivirus, you give hackers nothing to snoop on.

Safe Connection With Removable Devices

Websites and spammy ads are one of the many ways that a virus can enter your device.

However, one of the most common, yet least suspected sources, is removable devices like USBs and Modems. Ever used a friend’s USB to take a new movie or game and immediately saw your computer crash? This could be a sign of a virus attack. A quality antivirus can protect your device even if the USB contains a virus.

Free Antivirus Vs Paid Antivirus Services

If you’re not ready to invest in an antivirus, you can always go for the free plans offered by TotalAV, Avira, and Avast. All of them offer exceptional protection against even the most advanced viruses, along with other basic features like web protection, file protection, and automated scans.

However, there will always be a huge difference between free and paid service providers. Even the best free options cannot compete with the advanced features of paid services like a password manager, cloud backup, security freeze, identity theft coverage, dark web scanning, etc.

A free antivirus is excellent for basic personal device protection, but if you want absolutely zero chances of leaks or damage, paid services are the way to go.

Factors to Consider When Choosing the Best Antivirus Security Software

Here are 4 things you must check for in an antivirus before signing up for it:

Device Compatibility 

Switching from one antivirus software to another every time you need a new device to be protected is no fun.

After all, who has the time to choose and understand a new antivirus every few months? That’s why you need software that’s compatible with multiple device types. For example, TotalAV is the best antivirus for Windows but is equally great for Android, iOS, and Mac devices.

Security Coverage 

A virus is the most common threat to electronic devices, but it isn’t the only one.

Hackers these days are going out of their way to come up with undetectable spyware, malware, Trojans, and ransomware. You need an antivirus that can protect your system from all of them, plus provide immunity against newer viruses and malware.

Usability 

Protecting your devices shouldn’t be a headache. Whether you’re tech-savvy or not, you definitely shouldn’t have to spend hours setting up antivirus software.

To help you out, we’ve only picked services with a simple set-up process with adequate guidelines and resources to help you get started. All our top 10 picks also have a super-friendly customer support wing available to help you with every crisis at the earliest.

4. Performance

No matter how many features an antivirus software has or what it advertises, what matters at the end of the day is its actual performance. So during our testing, we ensured that each software was lightweight, quick, and provided accurate scan results.

Bonus points were given to tools that offered multiple scan types.

How to Get Started with the Best Antivirus Tool

Here’s a step-by-step guide on setting up TotalAV antivirus. This is just an example, but the steps will remain more or less the same for whichever tool you choose:

To enable real-time protection, open the TotalAV and click on its logo on the sidebar. On the page that loads, you will find an option named “Enable Protection” click on it, and your job is done here.

Antivirus Software FAQs