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

Full Review

Avira is ranked #7 of the 28 best antivirus of 2026.

Avira provides top-tier malware protection, useful features, and an easy-to-use interface at an affordable price. Its malware scanner consistently achieves 100% detection rates, and its web protection effectively blocks online threats.

The included password manager is comparable to dedicated services. Avira’s free plan is among the best available, while its premium options offer great value compared to other antivirus providers.

Anti-malware

Avira employs a cloud-based malware detection system that combines signature matching with heuristic analysis to identify both known and zero-day threats. The scanning process is performed remotely, reducing CPU load on user devices and ensuring rapid, unobtrusive performance. During testing, Avira achieved a perfect 100% malware detection rate across all major threat types, including ransomware, spyware, rootkits, and trojans.

The software offers several scan types, including full, quick, rootkit, and targeted scans for specific drives and documents. The Smart Scan function extends beyond malware detection by identifying privacy vulnerabilities, outdated applications, and system inefficiencies. This unified diagnostic approach allows users to address multiple performance and security issues with a single scan.

Avira’s scanner efficiently resolved over 1 GB of junk files and several software vulnerabilities during testing, showing its strong utility for system maintenance. The cloud infrastructure ensures real-time threat intelligence updates, enhancing resilience against emerging malware.

Overall, Avira’s anti-malware module provides exceptional protection, fast scanning, and minimal system impact, placing it among the most capable antivirus solutions available today.

Anti-phishing

Avira’s web protection system safeguards users against malicious and deceptive websites through both integrated antivirus tools and the free Browser Safety extension. These components effectively block phishing attempts and online trackers that may collect user data. In testing, they outperformed built-in browser protections from Chrome and Firefox by identifying a greater number of fraudulent sites.

The Browser Safety extension is compatible with Chrome and Firefox and includes anti-tracking capabilities, though it lacks integrated ad blocking. Users can install Avira’s Safe Shopping extension to handle that functionality, which blocks ads and trackers effectively. However, Browser Safety has shown occasional compatibility issues, including browser crashes and false security readings.

Avira’s secure browser combines all these features into a single platform, adding exploit protection and integrated ad blocking. Although it lacks support for Microsoft Edge and can occasionally miss advanced exploits, its overall phishing defense is strong and reliable.

In summary, Avira’s web protection provides solid online safety, with the desktop suite outperforming its browser extensions in consistency and exploit detection.

Firewall

Avira’s firewall is designed to prevent unauthorized network access with a balance of simplicity and effectiveness. It continuously monitors incoming and outgoing traffic using a proprietary algorithm that identifies and blocks suspicious network behavior. In performance tests, it successfully intercepted multiple intrusion attempts, outperforming the default Windows firewall in several scenarios.

The user interface allows easy rule creation for applications and IP addresses. Users can view a list of all programs connected to the network and assign trust levels or manually configure access permissions. The Intruder Protection feature adds flexibility by allowing specific IPs to connect while restricting others.

While Avira’s firewall delivers reliable protection, it lacks advanced configuration controls found in competitors like Norton, such as SSL and DNS spoofing protection toggles. Additionally, Avira provides limited transparency about its filtering logic, which may leave advanced users seeking more information.

Overall, Avira’s firewall offers dependable network security and user-friendly configuration, making it ideal for users seeking straightforward protection without extensive customization.

Password manager

Avira’s password manager combines strong encryption, user-friendly operation, and excellent accessibility across devices. It uses 256-bit AES encryption to secure all stored credentials and supports two-factor authentication and biometric logins on mobile devices. Even in its free version, Avira offers unlimited password storage and synchronization between desktop and mobile platforms.

The manager includes automatic password capture and form-filling, supported by browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera. A built-in password generator ensures the creation of unique and complex credentials for each account. The Pro version adds auditing features to evaluate password strength and detect weak or reused logins.

A notable advantage is Avira’s data breach monitoring tool, which alerts users when their credentials appear in known public breaches. However, the password manager lacks certain advanced features like hardware-based 2FA token support or family sharing options offered by competitors.

Overall, Avira’s password manager provides a secure, accessible, and efficient solution for managing digital credentials, suitable for both individual and professional use.

VPN

Avira Phantom VPN offers secure and private internet access supported by AES 256-bit encryption and a strict no-logs policy. With over 1,400 servers in more than 35 countries, it provides a wide global reach and supports both IPv4 and IPv6 protocols with DNS leak protection. The VPN also includes a kill switch on Windows systems to maintain security during disconnections.

In performance tests, Phantom VPN maintained fast and stable connections suitable for browsing, downloading, and gaming, with minimal latency on nearby servers. It also supports P2P traffic and allows unlimited simultaneous connections across multiple devices. However, it cannot be installed on routers, smart TVs, or consoles, which limits its flexibility for household-wide protection.

Although Phantom VPN performs well for privacy and speed, it struggles with unblocking major streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime and Disney+. Its value is strongest when bundled within Avira’s Prime package, as it includes unlimited data and the full feature set.

Overall, Avira Phantom VPN delivers secure, high-speed browsing for everyday use, combining robust encryption and ease of use at a competitive price point.

Other security features

Avira supplements its core protection suite with a wide range of additional tools aimed at both security and system optimization. These include file encryption and shredding utilities, which ensure confidential data is either protected or permanently deleted beyond recovery. The network traffic manager provides visibility into which applications access the internet, giving users control over active connections.

Additional tools like the process manager, disk defragmenter, and file recovery utility enhance system performance and stability. Avira also includes Safe Shopping, a browser extension that helps identify potential online deals while blocking intrusive ads and trackers, though its deal-finding performance is inconsistent.

Avira’s optimization suite is among the best in its class, offering junk and duplicate file removal, startup and driver management, and a game booster that reallocates system resources for improved gaming performance. Its updater utility automatically patches outdated software, reducing vulnerabilities to exploit attacks.

Together, these features establish Avira as a comprehensive digital protection and performance enhancement suite, suitable for users seeking both robust security and efficient system management.

Plans and pricing

In the table below are the core products with their features and prices.

The prices shown are from the USA. However, most brands have different prices (and currencies) in other regions. So visit the brand’s website to see the price in our country.

Plan description

We evaluated Avira’s four plans—Free Security, Antivirus Pro, Internet Security, and Prime. Each comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee. Here’s the quick rundown:

Free Security: Best in the free category, offering robust antivirus and ransomware protection. Includes a limited VPN with 500 MB data per month. No email or phone support. Great for basic protection.

Antivirus Pro: Priced at $26.99/year, this plan offers a few more features like email protection and advanced ransomware safeguards. We don’t find it adds enough value for the money, especially when you have access to only limited customer support.

Internet Security: Costs $34.99/year, adding a premium password manager and a software updater to the Pro features. While good, we believe users can find better deals by combining Avira Free with standalone password managers.

Prime: At $59.99/year, this is Avira’s best value. It covers up to 5 devices, includes all previous features plus a full-fledged VPN, PC optimization tools, and VIP support. However, it doesn’t offer as many features as Norton 360‘s premium plans.

Our take: Avira Free is excellent for no-cost protection, but for comprehensive coverage, Avira Prime offers the best value. It’s competitively priced and covers multiple devices, although it lacks some features like parental controls found in other suites like Norton 360.

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.

Company Profile

Avira is owned by Gen (NASDAQ: GEN).

Norton is part of the Gen Digital family (NASDAQ: GEN), a global leader in Cyber Safety with a mission to make the digital world safer and more private for everyone.

Gen is a collection of renowned cybersecurity brands that serve over 500 million users in 150 countries. Its portfolio includes Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, and AVG.

Operating from dual headquarters in Tempe, Arizona, and Prague, Czech Republic, Gen brings together cutting-edge AI technology and data analytics to tackle today’s most pressing cybersecurity challenges. 

By consolidating these brands, Gen combines expertise and innovation to address both current and future cybersecurity threats.

How we test antivirus software

At SoftwareLab, we provide thorough and unbiased antivirus reviews to help you make informed cybersecurity decisions. Our comprehensive testing covers all critical aspects of antivirus performance. We assess each product in six key categories, weighted by importance:

For even more details, visit our blog posts on how we test antivirus software.