Emsisoft Antivirus Review (2026): Is it the right choice?

Full Review

Emsisoft offers a strong malware scanner with standout real-time protection, featuring a customizable, multi-layered defense that detects threats without requiring manual scans.

However, it lacks many additional features commonly found in top-tier antivirus solutions, such as a VPN, firewall, or dark web monitoring.

While its pricing is reasonable for a scanner, the absence of these extras makes it less competitive. That said, Emsisoft provides reliable protection against all types of malware and most dangerous websites.

Anti-Malware

Emsisoft delivers an exceptionally strong anti-malware defense powered by two engines: its proprietary scanner and Bitdefender’s detection system. Together, these engines provide layered protection against trojans, ransomware, worms, and rootkits. This dual approach ensures thorough detection of both known and emerging threats, while maintaining minimal system disruption. Emsisoft also enables users to create an emergency kit for removing malware from other infected systems, adding further versatility to its toolkit.

Users can select from three scanning modes—full, quick, and custom—depending on their needs. The full scan thoroughly examines every file in roughly an hour, aligning with industry averages, while quick and custom scans offer speed and flexibility for routine checks. Detected threats are labeled to indicate whether they were found by Emsisoft’s or Bitdefender’s engine, providing transparency and control over detection sources. Additionally, Emsisoft supports scheduled scans, allowing automatic system sweeps to maintain ongoing protection without user intervention.

Anti-Phishing

Emsisoft’s anti-phishing component is integrated directly into the main application, eliminating the need for browser extensions. This system actively blocks malicious or deceptive websites before they can compromise user data. During testing, the feature demonstrated moderate strength—outperforming Chrome’s built-in protections but lagging behind top competitors such as Norton and Bitdefender. While it successfully identified a range of phishing attempts, it occasionally failed to catch more sophisticated threats.

The program provides a user-friendly method for managing exceptions, allowing trusted websites to be whitelisted easily within the interface. Although the protection level may not match the industry’s strongest performers, the convenience and integration of Emsisoft’s web defense make it suitable for general-purpose use. For users seeking lightweight yet functional web protection, Emsisoft offers a balanced, though not flawless, solution.

Other Security Features

Emsisoft includes several additional utilities designed to enhance both transparency and control. The activity log records every detection and scan outcome, allowing users to review their system’s protection history. A built-in toggle lets users manage the Windows firewall directly from within the software, simplifying system security configuration.

Mobile users benefit from a set of anti-theft functions, such as remote locking, data wiping, and device erasure. These features help safeguard sensitive information in the event of device loss or theft. A captcha requirement before disabling the antivirus prevents malicious software from tampering with Emsisoft’s defenses, a thoughtful layer of self-protection often overlooked by competitors.

Furthermore, the platform’s online management console provides remote access to detailed reports and settings, enabling centralized control of the antivirus from any location. However, despite these valuable capabilities, Emsisoft lacks several advanced tools found in premium suites, including a VPN, dark web monitoring, parental controls, a password manager, and a dedicated firewall. Even so, its focus on strong malware detection and behavioral monitoring offers users a reliable and efficient foundation for system protection.

Test score comparison

We conduct in-house anti-malware tests and review the results from AV-Test, a German lab renowned for its objective evaluations. Below is the average of the last 10 AV-Test results for Windows. Their scoring criteria are:

• Protection (1-6): Effectiveness in blocking malware.
• Performance (1-6): Impact on system speed.
• Usability (1-6): Frequency of errors like false alarms.

We calculate a final score using this formula:

Final Score = 60% Protection + 20% Performance + 20% Usability.

While these results influence our choice of the best antivirus for Windows 11, other factors like privacy and identity protection also play a key role. For a similar analysis for Android or macOS, visit our other comparisons:

• The best antivirus for Android.
• The best antivirus for Mac.

Note: Brands not listed in the table either do not participate in AV-Test trials or are tested too infrequently, such as Surfshark Antivirus.

Source: AV-Test (Last updated: November 2025).

Price comparison

We’ve compared the prices of the top antivirus products for Windows. To make it a fair comparison, we looked at what it would cost us, to protect a  single Windows PC with the most essential features:

• Anti-malware
• Anti-phishing (web protection)
• Firewall
• Password manager
• Unlimited VPN (no data limit)

A few notes:

• Some brands are missing features, lowering their value for money.
• Prices are second-year prices in the USA, without first-year discounts.
• Prices are rounded up for readability (e.g., $99.99 becomes $100).

Brands have different prices outside the USA. See those on their website.

User reviews

We’ve compared the user reviews of all antivirus brands. We’ve used the scores and review count of TrustPilot, a leading user review platform. 

We consider scores above 4.0 very good. Lower scores indicate that the brand might have a poor product or customer service. McAfee’s scores, for instance, are worrying.

Source: TrustPilot. Last Update: November 2025.