ESET Antivirus Review (2025): Is it the right choice?

Full Review

ESET offers a robust anti-malware scanner with excellent diagnostics tools and an easy-to-use interface. While it excels in malware detection, matching top competitors like Norton or Bitdefender in this area, its additional features—such as parental controls, system cleanup tools, and a secure browser—are less impressive. ESET offers various plans, a 30-day free trial, and a money-back guarantee, making it a solid choice for malware protection, though it falls short in feature range compared to other antivirus suites.

Anti-malware

ESET offers a powerful malware scanner with multiple scanning options and real-time protection for Windows, Mac, and Android devices. It features a System Scan for full coverage, a Custom Scan for specific files or folders, and a Removable Device Scan for external devices. In our tests, ESET detected nearly all of our 1,200 hidden malware samples, performing on par with top competitors like Norton and Bitdefender.

The scans are lightweight, with the full system scan taking 46 minutes and no noticeable system slowdown. ESET’s deep scanning capabilities extend to areas like operating memory, UEFI, and the system registry, offering thorough detection where many antiviruses fall short.

However, ESET lacks a quick scan option and has a cumbersome scan scheduling process. Despite these drawbacks, its Host-based Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS) effectively blocks ransomware and rootkits in real-time, making ESET a strong choice for comprehensive malware protection.

Anti-phishing

ESET provides two anti-phishing tools to protect against web-based threats. The first is built into the app and alerts users to suspicious websites, though it occasionally flags safe sites and has a cumbersome process for whitelisting false positives. The second tool is the ESET Browser Privacy & Security extension, which scans websites against a large database of known threats. It adds safety indicators in search results and effectively blocks risky sites, similar to Norton and McAfee.

The extension also allows easy management of website permissions, browser data, and metadata, making browsing more convenient. However, it requires the ESET app to be installed, unlike Norton’s standalone Safe Search. While effective at blocking dangerous sites, ESET’s anti-phishing tools can be overly cautious, making false positives a bit tedious to manage.

Firewall

ESET’s firewall performed effectively in our tests, blocking unauthorized network activity and offering various filtering options. These include:

• Automatic mode: Blocks most inbound traffic while allowing outbound traffic with no user interaction.
• Interactive mode: Prompts users to approve or deny connections.
• Policy-based mode: Blocks all connections unless a rule is created.
• Learning mode: Uses machine learning to create rules based on user activity.

Most users will find Automatic mode sufficient, while Learning mode is helpful for those wanting to customize their firewall. However, Interactive mode can be intrusive, with frequent pop-ups that can disrupt workflow. In comparison, competitors like Bitdefender offer more subtle notifications.

ESET also provides advanced features like botnet protection, brute-force attack defense, and intrusion detection, all customizable for added security. Overall, ESET’s firewall is highly capable, though sticking to Automatic mode offers the best balance of protection and convenience.

Password manager

ESET’s password manager is a basic but functional tool available on all major operating systems and browsers, secured with 256-bit encryption. Its key features include multi-device sync, auto-save and auto-fill, a password generator, secure notes, leaked password check, and storage for credit cards and identities. It also supports basic two-factor authentication (2FA) via SMS and offers biometric logins on mobile.

While it provides unlimited logins and an easy import process, the identity template is limited, lacking more advanced fields like passport or driver’s license information seen in competitors like RoboForm. The password generator, capped at 32 characters and missing passphrase options, is fairly average compared to more robust alternatives like Bitwarden.

The Secure Me feature, which clears browsing data and logs you out of websites remotely, is a nice addition but offers limited utility. The leaked password check works but doesn’t provide detailed information or easy access to change compromised passwords.

Overall, ESET’s password manager performs well in basic tasks but lacks the advanced features and customization found in top-tier password managers. It’s a decent option, but users looking for more robust functionality may want to explore other solutions.

VPN

ESET’s VPN offers solid performance with good speeds, a wide server selection, and useful features like 256-bit AES encryption, DNS leak protection, split tunneling, P2P support, and a kill switch. It also supports multiple connection protocols, including WireGuard and IKEv2, and operates under privacy-friendly logging policies.

However, there are areas for improvement. ESET lacks RAM-only servers and hasn’t undergone independent audits of its no-logs policy, both of which are becoming standard with leading VPNs like NordVPN and CyberGhost. Additionally, while the kill switch works well after a connection is established, we experienced occasional IP leaks when initially connecting to new servers.

In our speed tests, ESET’s VPN performed well, with only a 24% speed reduction on local servers and 52% on distant ones. The VPN supports torrenting, and the server list covers 60+ countries, including unique locations like Bosnia and Kenya, with detailed server load information.

However, there were inconsistencies with server locations—some servers listed in the US were routing through Canadian or other IP addresses. Streaming support was hit or miss, with reliable access to Netflix but inconsistent results with platforms like Amazon Prime and Paramount+.

While fast and feature-rich, ESET’s VPN needs improvements in transparency and reliability. Only available with the Ultimate plan, it’s a good addition but falls short of competing with standalone VPN services.

Other security features

ESET offers a variety of security features, some of which are highly effective, while others could use improvement. Here’s a breakdown:

Network Inspector (Windows Only)

ESET’s Network Inspector scans all devices connected to your home network, identifying vulnerabilities such as weak router passwords or open ports. It’s visually appealing, displaying devices in a sonar-like view, and alerts users when new devices connect. However, it lacks the advanced features seen in Bitdefender’s network monitor, such as public Wi-Fi profiles or automatic VPN connections for added security.

Advanced Diagnostics Tools

ESET excels in diagnostics, providing tools like Running Processes, Log Files, Network Connections, and SysInspector. These tools allow advanced users to monitor running processes, cross-check against cloud databases, and export logs. The SysInspector and Network Connections tools are especially useful for troubleshooting and managing bandwidth. However, the Security Report feature is less practical, merely listing scanned objects and threats, without offering any meaningful insights.

System Cleaner (Windows Only)

ESET’s System Cleaner is very basic, primarily offering options to reset Windows settings or restore to a previous point. It doesn’t include comprehensive system optimization tools like junk file cleaners or app removal seen in other antivirus suites like Norton or Avira. For users looking for more robust system cleanup, ESET falls short.

Anti-Theft Protection (Windows and Android)

ESET provides solid anti-theft protection for Windows and Android devices, allowing users to track and secure lost devices. Features include remote screen capture, forced login into a phantom account (Windows), and SIM-based auto-locking (Android). While it offers valuable tools for tracking stolen devices, it lacks anti-theft features for macOS.

Identity Protection

ESET’s identity protection tools monitor the dark web for leaks of personal information. However, the setup process can be frustrating, and the system is prone to errors. Once activated, users can monitor various types of sensitive information (addresses, phone numbers, social media accounts, etc.) and receive alerts if a breach occurs. US customers also benefit from up to $1 million in identity theft insurance and additional monitoring options like social media and credit monitoring.

Parental Controls

ESET’s parental controls are limited and less reliable than those of top competitors. While it offers website filtering, screen time limits, and geofencing, the content filters are weak, allowing inappropriate searches on platforms like YouTube and Google. Norton and Bitdefender offer more robust parental control features for parents concerned about their child’s online safety.

Concluding about the additional security features

ESET’s Network Inspector and advanced diagnostics tools stand out for network monitoring and system troubleshooting. Its anti-theft and identity protection features are decent, particularly for US users, though setup can be tedious. However, the System Cleaner and parental controls are underwhelming, and users seeking full-featured optimization or stronger parental tools should look elsewhere.

If you’re an advanced user looking for network security and deep system diagnostics, ESET is a good choice. But for more comprehensive features like system optimization or parental controls, other antiviruses like Norton or Bitdefender are better options.

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: December 2024).

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: December 2024.