Full Avast Antivirus Review: Is it Good & Safe?

In an era of artificial intelligence and sophisticated virus attacks, protecting your data from ever-evolving digital threats has never been more critical. These threats have been adjusting their attack strategies, becoming more frequent, attacking individuals, ruining corporations, and causing billions of dollars in damages.

Fortunately, cybersecurity solutions have also been evolving, introducing features that can stop even the latest and most advanced computer viruses and protect your precious files from harm. Today, we'll dive deeper into one such cybersecurity solution, creating a thorough Avast Antivirus review. Stick with us to learn more about Avast's home security solutions.

The Scope of Our Avast Antivirus Review

Picking a reliable antivirus tool is a challenging task. There are so many great options nowadays, and the features they include can be overwhelming for the standard computer user. Yet, the safety of your data depends on it, making the choice more meaningful and creating the need for detailed antivirus reviews.

Our Avast Antivirus review will focus on Avast's home user products, diving deeper into safety and security features, pricing plans, customer support, and user reviews, giving you a complete overview of the tool and answering the question of "Is Avast a good antivirus?"

About Avast Antivirus

Avast is a name you've undoubtedly heard of if you've ever peeked into top antivirus software. The company behind the tool is headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, and was founded in 1988. It has been making security solutions for more than three decades.

Its cybersecurity software, the Avast Antivirus, was first released for Windows in 1995 and is among users' top choices for guarding data and networks from online threats. Since then, the tool has been adjusted to work with macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS.

Avast Security Features

Over the years, Avast's security features have massively improved, while many new ones have been added for complete PC protection and data security. Let's immediately dive into these features and see what Avast offers.

• Malware Protection – As the name suggests, this feature is about spotting and stopping malware on your PC.
• Real-Time Protection – The always-on protection acts as a shield and constantly monitors computers for infections.
• Ransomware Shield – The tool protects from ransomware, a notorious digital threat that encrypts user data, asking for ransom in exchange for a decryption key.
• Webcam Protection – Hackers are known to turn on users' webcams, spying on compromised victims and looking for something to blackmail them with, but this feature can prevent that.
• Wi-Fi Protection – Your network's security will skyrocket with this feature, and malicious users won't be able to breach it.
• App Monitoring – This feature looks for odd behavior and quarantines any suspiciously behaving app.
• Firewall – Avast's Firewall controls incoming and outgoing app connections, monitoring data packets that come in or leave your PC.
• Malicious Website – This safety feature will warn you whenever you mistakenly click on a suspicious Image name or visit an unsafe website that might steal your data.
• VPN – Short for Virtual Private Network, Avast offers state-of-the-art SecureLine VPN that encrypts your connection and increases your online safety.
• Data Breach Monitoring – The security feature will let you safely check the integrity of your login credentials, comparing them to those found in recent data breaches and ensuring your data wasn't part of one.
• Tracker Blocker – Websites are known to save your browser's fingerprints, essentially tracking your location and habits, but Avast can block these, significantly increasing your privacy.
• Disk Cleaner – Avast's security solutions do far more than protect your PC. They can also clean your computer's disk drives, quickly removing junk files.
• Optimization Tools – These tools can speed up your system, update your apps, and let you game in peace with Avast's Do Not Disturb mode.
• Automatic Driver Updates – Outdated drivers are known security vulnerabilities, letting hackers breach your system. Still, you won't have anything to worry about as this Avast feature takes care of your PC's drivers.

The abovementioned security features are available depending on the product version you go for, with Avast Free Antivirus getting only the necessary ones and Avast Ultimate including everything. You can look into a detailed table to determine which features you need and what product to choose.

Pros & Cons

With an excellent free antivirus app, numerous aforementioned features, outstanding antivirus tool performance, and an intuitive user interface, Avast's products make a compelling choice.

However, it's not all rainbows and sunshine with Avast, as the premium security solutions and the exclusive features they offer can be pretty expensive, coming primarily as one-year subscriptions. On top of that, Avast has admitted to selling user data in 2020.

Pricing Plans

With four packages for the home user, Avast offers a wide range of products with different features for anyone's security budget and needs. Here's what they currently offer:

Note: It's worth noting that these are the current prices as of January 2024, but they're prone to changes. Avast's prices differ between countries, with US customers having it far better than UK ones.

Smaller teams needing protection for up to ten devices can benefit from Avast's Small Office plan. It includes 24-hour customer support, a remote access shield, Wi-Fi weakness inspections, suspicious website warnings, a sensitive data shield, phishing nets, and a confidential data shredder.

Suppose you need protection for more than ten devices. In that case, Avast also has three Business Security plans: Essential, Premium, and Ultimate. The plans include an online management platform, an antivirus tool, data protection features, identity protection, and 24/5 IT support.

The MSSPs and Resellers Advanced Protection Plan From Avast:

Enterprises, larger companies, and resellers can use Avast's all-in-one CloudCare solution, a comprehensive antivirus tool deployed through the cloud. With it, you can patch security vulnerabilities, manage multiple company networks, keep your costs steady, grow your MSSP, and scale your business.

Customer Support

Avast's customer support is one of the best in the security industry. Experts are available 24/7 and ready to assist you with every inquiry regarding the company's products or services. You can contact them via phone, email, or the ticket system. Remote assistance is also available, but the feature is only available if you've paid for a premium product.

The antivirus company's webpage also has a dedicated FAQ section where you can find answers to some of the common questions users ask. We suggest starting there if you need help with Avast's products, including installation, scan modes, features, or pricing.

User Ratings & Comments

If you're looking into Avast's products, you're likely already a security-conscious person and know the importance of user reviews and ratings. Platforms with user ratings can massively help your decision, and we've scoured a few trustworthy ones to find out what the public thinks of Avast.

Most comments are positive, with many users loving the antivirus tool's interface and quick and easy installation setup. Others liked Avast's security features and its protection of both desktop and mobile devices. Forbes also rated the antivirus 4.3/5 stars, stating that Avast is one of the top protection tools they've tested.

On the other hand, no piece of software is perfect, and you'll encounter a few negative reviews here and there. Some users have stated that PCs with weaker hardware capabilities are struggling with the Avast Antivirus, as it's putting a lot of strain on system resources.

However, most negative comments are related to Avast as a company and not the antivirus tool itself. For example, the company's decision to sell user data in 2020 disappointed the public. Many users also said they're getting constant marketing messages.

Final Verdict

After thoroughly testing and reviewing Avast's home security products, we can conclude that Avast offers a complete antivirus package worth considering. Even the free antivirus tool is decent; the premium versions include everything you might need to safeguard your data and protect your networks.

Bonus 1: How to install Avast Antivirus

If these security features convince you to go with Avast, you'll be pleased to learn that its installation is quick and effortless, only requiring a few clicks here and there. Here's what you'll need to do to install the Avast Antivirus on your computer:

1. Download the Avast version that fits your security needs and double-click the installation file.
2. Hit the Install button and let Avast handle the rest. You can also choose whether to install Avast's Secure Browser in the bottom left corner.

   

3. The installation app will move to the bottom right corner of your screen, letting you track the installation's progress.

   

4. Once it installs, Avast will automatically launch on your PC.
5. If you're installing the free version, you'll once again have the option to upgrade to a premium security solution.

   

Installing Avast is incredibly straightforward, and while there's usually a 30-day free trial, you may also get a notification with a 60-day free trial offer for Avast Premium Security once you've installed the free version.

Bonus 2: How to Restore Files Deleted by Avast

Although Avast is one of the best antivirus tools on the market, false positives can still happen, and you might lose vital files that Avast mistakenly deleted. However, this data is retrievable – all you need is a reliable data recovery tool like Wondershare Recoverit.

Whether you've lost photos, videos, documents, or music, Recoverit can help, as it supports more than 1,000 file types. On top of accidentally deleted data, the potent recovery tool can also handle over 500 other data loss situations like corrupted files, malware or virus attacks, system crashes, failing disk drives, and more.

Using it is extremely simple, but we've also included a detailed step-by-step guide.

1. Download and launch the Wondershare Recoverit app. Then, choose Hard Drives and Locations.

   

2. Select a disk drive that has lost data, and Recoverit will immediately begin scanning the drive for lost files.

   

3. You can then use the numerous file filters to help the app search for particular files.

   

4. You can also add keywords to look for specific data.

   

5. Once it finds files, Recoverit will let you preview the discovered data, helping you ensure those are the files you're looking for.

   

6. If you're satisfied with the preview, you can pause or stop the scan and tap Recover to save the discovered files to your PC.

   

That's all there is to it. Having Wondershare Recoverit by your side ensures you never again lose data from viruses or false antivirus positives. On top of that, it'll protect your files in various other situations, keeping your vital data safe and secure.

Conclusion

If you've wondered whether Avast is a good antivirus, this review hopefully answers your question. In this detailed overview, we examined Avast's home security products, the security software's advantages and disadvantages, and the company's pricing plans.

It's safe to say that, despite leaking user data in the past, Avast's lineup of antivirus tools and security products remains an excellent choice for any security-conscious individual or a company looking to tighten up its defenses and protect its networks.

With reliable data recovery tools like Wondershare Recoverit, the Avast Antivirus can effortlessly make your files significantly safer and more secure.