Avast review

Avast is best known for its free antivirus, and for a single, well-maintained PC the free tier — or the protection already built into Windows — may be all you need. Paying makes sense when you’ll use what the paid tiers add, such as scam protection, a VPN and clean-up tools, or want the same suite across your devices.

Expect some upgrade prompts, especially in lower tiers. If that would bother you, factor it in alongside the renewal price.

Avast is long-established security software, now part of Gen Digital alongside Norton, and the antivirus itself is legitimate. Download it only from Avast’s official site.

Its privacy record deserves a mention. In 2024 the US Federal Trade Commission finalized an order requiring Avast to pay $16.5 million and banning it from selling, disclosing or licensing web browsing data for advertising, over browsing data its subsidiary Jumpshot sold between 2014 and 2020. Security software sees a lot of your activity, so read the current privacy policy and review the data-sharing settings — good practice for any suite, free or paid.

Avast's US support pages describe Avast Free Antivirus, Avast Premium Security — for one device or up to ten across Windows, Mac, Android and iOS — and Avast Ultimate, which can be activated on up to ten devices.

Avast One Secure Identity and Avast Privacy Control are available only in the United States, on Windows and Mac. Secure Identity monitors the dark web for your details, and its Premium tier adds credit and financial monitoring, identity restoration specialists and reimbursement of certain identity-theft costs under the plan terms; Privacy Control scans data-broker sites, and its Premium tier removes your details automatically.

Avast’s range runs from a free tier to paid tiers that differ in extras and device count. Plan names and prices change, so check on the official plan page:

Avast sells continuous subscriptions that renew at the end of each period unless the renewal is cancelled before the next billing date, and it says it emails before charging a renewal. Its money-back guarantee gives a full refund within 30 days of payment for purchases from Avast's website, its Windows or Mac app or Google Play — not for retail, reseller or App Store purchases.

Avast lists Windows 11 (including ARM), 10, 8.1 and 7 SP1, macOS 10.14 and later, Android 10 and later and iOS 17 and later. On a Mac, Real Site, Ransomware Shield and Email Guard are paid features; SMS Guard doesn't cover iMessage.

Avast documents apps for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. As with most suites, feature depth is typically greatest on Windows, and specific extras can differ by platform — confirm the ones you care about for each device.

On iPhone, Apple’s app sandboxing means no security app can scan your other apps; mobile protection focuses on web protection and bundled extras rather than a classic virus scan.