Antivirus for Home

The Best Antivirus for Home Use in 2021

By now you know how important the best antivirus for a home computer is. Especially if you have children, you want to keep them from being targeted by cybercriminals.

Written by Ria du Plessis - Web Developer

Updated on September 2, 2021

To protect your children and family from online threats you need the best antivirus for a home pc. There are a lot of best antivirus solutions for home use out there, but finding the right one is crucial. You want to have good malware protection and parental control. This is important for families. Antivirus software for home PCs shouldn't have to be difficult to understand and install. 

It is easy to miss the essentials and buy the wrong antivirus software for your home. Make sure it includes the essential family-friendly features like parental controls, remote access, and system cleanup tools! To make this easier for you, we have selected the best antivirus software providers for home and family use, so you can choose one fast and easily. See our recommendations to make the right decision.

Top 5 Antivirus Solutions for Home and Family - Quick Look

  • AI technology for scanning and data protection
  • Remote access to the system
  • 30+ years of experience
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  • Complete Protection For All Devices With a single License
  • Configurable Firewall
  • Virus Protection Pledge Or Full Refund Guarantee
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  • Multi-layered ransomware protection
  • Protection from spam
  • Anti-phishing protection
  • Efficient online security
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  • Multi-layered malware protection
  • Fast system scans
  • Secure web browsing
  • Enhanced security suite and advanced features
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  • Real-time malware protection
  • Around-the-clock support
  • Strong privacy protection
  • Safe web browsing
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What Should A Good Antivirus For Home Be Like

When looking at Good Antivirus protection for Home users, there are a few things one should consider:

  • Strong protection - How good is the protection that is offered? Will your devices be protected against malware, viruses, spyware, ransomware, rootkits, and trojans, and more? 
  • Ease of use - Is this antivirus software easy to use? Good Antivirus for home needs to be simple, so that everyone can easily access all of its important features. 
  • Family-friendly features - You need to ask yourself if the antivirus offers family-friendly features. Does it offer useful features for families, like parental controls to keep kids safe online, remote access, and secure virtual private networks (VPNs) to keep everyone’s internet activity private?
  • Excellent customer support - It's important that good antivirus software has great customer support.
  • Price - You need to compare the value of what you will get for the price you will pay for the antivirus software. 

To see if the antivirus solution is good enough, you can compare it to other antivirus solutions for home users on the market.

Antivirus for Home

How To Choose The Right Antivirus For Home And Family Use

The type of antivirus software you choose for your home can have significant effects on your ability to successfully keep your data safe from threats. There are several crucial features that you should look for in any antivirus solution for home use before buying it.

Before choosing an antivirus solution for your home devices, you need to check the features offered. There are certain features that the best antivirus for home use should include:

  • 100% malware detection and removal
  • Anti-phishing protection
  • Parental controls
  • VPN (virtual private network)
  • Password manager
  • Data breach monitoring
  • Automatic Updates
  • Ability to fight against all types of malware

These are some of the most important features. The antivirus programs on our list provide excellent protection along with intuitive user interfaces that will keep everyone safe online — from kids to adults.

The 5 Best Antivirus Solutions For Home Use in 2021

#1 Sophos Home

Sophos Antivirus

Sophos Home Premium goes far beyond traditional antivirus to deliver advanced, real-time protection from the latest ransomware, malicious software, hacking attempts, and more.

Top Features:

  • Always-on antivirus
  • Parental web filtering
  • Remote management
  • Identity Protection
  • Ransom Security
  • Banking Protection
ProsCons
  • Inexpensive
  • Protects against ransomware, keyloggers, exploits
  • Parental control and webcam protection limited

Sophos Specifications

Operating SystemsWindows, Mac, iOS, Android
Pricing PlanFrom $29.99/yr, Free version available
Subscription Options1, 2, 3 Years

Sophos Home brings business-grade protection to consumers, complete with remote management at home.

Visit our Sophos Review for insights on all packages, pricing and features offered by this provider.

Sophos Antivirus

#2 McAfee Home

McAfee Antivirus

McAfee is a good and well-known antivirus program. It is mostly known for being a mid-range, but effective protection solution. This antivirus software is packed with many features and extra add-ons.

Top Features:

  • Offers secure VPN
  • Performance Optimization
  • Home Network Security
  • Multi-device Compatibility
  • Password Manager
  • Safe Web Browsing
  • Encrypted Storage
  • Identity Theft Protection
ProsCons
  • Quick installation and easy set up
  • Inexpensive multi-user plans
  • Big range of features
  • Customer support is great
  • Limited password manager
  • Unwanted notifications and pop-ups

McAfee Specifications

Operating SystemsWindows, Mac, iOS, Android
Pricing Plan$34.99 - $119.99
Subscription Options1-year or 2-years

McAfee is a good antivirus program that offers the necessary protection solution to its users. It is a familiar name and is quite popular with its competitors. It's an effective protection solution that is not that expensive.

More info needed? Read our expert McAfee Review and get an honest overview of what this leading software provider has to offer.  

                                                          

MacAfee

 Read our McAfee Product Review for Home Use

#3 Trend Micro

Trend Micro

Top Features:

  • Malware Protection
  • Anti-Phishing
  • Online transaction Protection
  • Ransomware Protection
ProsCons
  • Very good scores in our anti-phishing and malicious URL blocking tests
  • Multilayered ransomware protection
  • Pay Guard protects online transactions
  • Poor score in our hands-on malware protection test
  • Some poor scores in independent lab tests

Trend Micro Specifications

Operating SystemsWindows, Mac, iOS, Android
Pricing PlanFrom $39.95/yr  - $59.90/2-years, Free Trial
Subscription Options1-year or 2-years

In addition to malware protection for a single Windows computer, Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security offers layered protection against ransomware, a firewall booster, protection for online banking, and more.

Want more info? Read our expert Trend Micro Review and find out what else this provider has to offer for home and family use.  

Trend Micro

Read our Trend Micro Product Review for Home Use

#4 Bitdefender Home

Bitdefender Antivirus

With Bitdefender, you get the most innovative technologies that predict, prevent, detect and the latest cyber-threats, anywhere in the world.

Top Features:

  • Web protections
  • System optimizer
  • Parental controls
  • Password manager
  • Webcam protection
ProsCons
  • Bitdefender offers great web protection
  • The software has ransomware protection
  • You get banking protection, so you can use internet banking with peace of mind
  • You get a virtual private network, or VPN that can be added as an add-on
  • The unlimited VPN access requires you to purchase a separate subscription

Bitdefender Specifications

Operating SystemsWindows, Mac, iOS, Android
Pricing Plan$39.99 - $79.99
Subscription Options1- year protection

Bitdefender is a very reliable antivirus solution and very easy to use.

For more info, visit our Bitdefender Review and find out how we reviewed and rated this software.

Bitdefender

#5 Norton Home

Norton for Home pic

Norton provides a full suite of internet security tools that can help keep families safe online. 

Top Features:

  • Built-in password manager
  • VPN
  • Smart Firewall
  • SafeCam
  • Dark Web Monitoring
  • Anti-Spyware, Antivirus, Malware, and Ransomware Protection
ProsCons
  • Easy to use Password Manager
  • SafeCam to block unauthorized access to the webcam
  • Customer service is not immediate

Norton Specifications

Operating SystemsWindows, Mac, iOS, Android
Pricing Plan

From $39.99 /year - $299.88 /year

Subscription Options 1, 2 - years

Norton has exceptional malware protection, advanced internet security tools, and comprehensive parental controls.

Check out our detailed Norton Review for full overview, test result and rating of this software provider.

Try Norton Now!

Bottom Line

There you have it! You can now make the perfect choice for your family and choose the best home antivirus software. Make sure to keep our recommendations in mind and check all the necessary features. There are a lot of great antivirus solutions for home use.

FAQ

1. Do I really need an antivirus for my home PC?

Yes, you do. Cybercriminals are becoming more common. People are trying to infiltrate our digital world every day. This is why it is so important to have an antivirus for home to protect your personal data.

2.  Are there any free antiviruses for family use?

Yes, some antivirus packages do offer Free versions but their features will be limited.

3. Isn't my built-in antivirus protection on my laptop good enough?

If you’re using a Windows laptop, for example, you should install a third-party antivirus solution. Windows Defender is getting better, but it’s not up to the best competitors, even the best free ones.

4. Why doesn’t my home computer have a good enough built-in antivirus solution?

Most of our home computers offer some security features, but they are definitely not enough. Malware and hackers are getting more clever with their cybercrime methods. It's important to have extra security to protect your personal data.

5. Are antivirus parental controls good enough?

Parental control antivirus software helps you protect your children's devices from viruses and malicious websites. It will block harmful or inappropriate content and monitor their social media and web activities. You can have parental control software as a feature in a bigger antivirus package, but it will not be enough as alone standing software.

6. Can I use the same antivirus on several home computers?

Yes, you can if your package allows it.