F-Secure Antivirus Review (2025): Is it the right choice?

Full Review

F-Secure provides strong malware detection and robust web protection, effectively blocking phishing and other online threats. It offers two main plans: Internet Security, which includes malware protection, parental controls, and web safety features, and Total, which adds a VPN and identity theft protection with a password manager. The VPN and identity protection tools can also be bought separately. Plans cover 1, 3, or 5 devices, all with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Anti-malware

F-Secure’s cloud-based anti-malware scanner performed impressively during our tests, detecting 98.6% of a variety of malware types, including trojans, ransomware, spyware, and rootkits. The scanner uses a vast malware database and real-time behavior analysis with machine learning to catch known and zero-day threats.

It offers two scan types: a full scan and a quick scan targeting common malware locations. You can customize scan settings to focus on specific file types or exclude certain folders. The initial full scan took 24 minutes, while subsequent scans were significantly faster at under 7 minutes, thanks to F-Secure’s file-marking system. This feature can be disabled for more thorough scans, but it saved considerable time.

System performance remained unaffected during scans, allowing smooth multitasking. F-Secure’s real-time protection effectively blocked all test malware downloads and detected all 1200 ransomware samples in our simulation. DeepGuard, another layer of protection, prevents harmful applications from running and monitors device processes, adding strong defense against advanced threats like trojans. It’s customizable and worked well in default mode.

Overall, F-Secure’s anti-malware features are highly effective, rivaling top-tier competitors like Norton and McAfee.

Anti-phishing

F-Secure offers several online protection tools under its Secure Browsing feature, including Browsing Protection, Banking Protection, Trusted Shopping, and an ad blocker. Browsing Protection effectively blocked most web-based exploits and phishing attempts, stopping access to 17 out of 20 phishing sites during our tests. Its search result color-coding system (green, yellow, red) also helps users easily identify safe or suspicious links.

Banking Protection is a standout feature that activates during online financial transactions, preventing access to unsafe websites and blocking remote access to your computer. Although not as comprehensive as Bitdefender’s isolated browser, it provides solid protection for online banking. Trusted Shopping flags suspicious e-commerce sites but is a minor addition, while the ad blocker was underwhelming, blocking only about half of the ads during our tests.

Overall, F-Secure’s secure browsing tools are strong, with effective phishing and exploit protection, and Banking Protection adds an extra layer of safety for online finances. However, the ad blocker could use improvement.

Password manager

F-Secure’s Password Vault is a well-designed and user-friendly password manager. Setup begins with creating a master password and downloading a QR recovery code, a convenient yet potentially risky option if not stored securely. While effective, this method doesn’t offer the variety of recovery options found in other password managers like LastPass.

F-Secure supports importing passwords from several managers and browsers, including Dashlane, LastPass, KeePass, Firefox, Chrome, and Edge, with clear instructions provided for each. The browser extension enables seamless autofill and auto-save functionality, making it easy to manage credentials across services.

The built-in password generator can create passwords up to 32 characters using a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols. However, it lacks advanced options like passphrases or passkey support, and it requires access to the desktop app rather than being integrated into the browser extension. The 32-character limit, though sufficient for most, falls short compared to more robust managers like RoboForm, which offers up to 512 characters.

Overall, F-Secure’s password manager delivers reliable autofill, simple password importing, and a decent generator. While not as feature-rich as standalone options like 1Password or Dashlane, it provides solid protection for everyday users.

VPN

F-Secure VPN provides access to 30 servers across 24 countries, which is limited compared to competitors like ExpressVPN. Despite the small network, it offers strong security features, including 256-bit AES encryption, secure IKEv2 and OpenVPN protocols, a no-logs policy, a kill switch (on macOS, Windows, and Android), and split-tunneling.

Speed tests showed minimal slowdowns on nearby servers, with only a slight impact on browsing and streaming. Distant servers caused higher latency, but download and upload speeds remained relatively stable. The VPN works well with popular streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+, and supports torrenting, though the kill switch is not enabled by default.

However, F-Secure VPN doesn’t function in heavily restricted countries such as China, Russia, or the UAE. Its interface is user-friendly, with a “Best location” feature that connects you to the fastest server available. While it performs decently overall, the small server network and lack of functionality in censorship-heavy regions make it less competitive than leading VPN services.

Other security features

Parental Controls

F-Secure’s parental controls are simple yet effective, offering features like blocking specific web content categories, setting internet “bedtimes,” restricting daily internet use, and controlling app access. These controls are easy to manage through the web portal, and setting up a child’s profile is quick with an installation link.

On Android, the controls worked well, blocking harmful content and tracking internet usage. However, the bedtime feature is limited—on Android, it only blocks non-system apps, and on iOS, it only affects F-Secure’s SAFE browser. More advanced features, like sending permission requests for blocked sites, are absent. Content filters cover key categories but lack the depth seen in competitors like Norton, which offers 47 categories. App Control allows restriction or blocking of specific apps but is not available for iOS.

One downside is that F-Secure requires device administrator permissions on Android, granting it extensive access, which could raise privacy concerns for some users.

Overall, F-Secure’s parental controls are easy to use but basic compared to competitors. They work well for general content filtering and app management but lack more detailed filtering, location tracking, or geo-fencing offered by solutions like Norton or Bitdefender.

Identity Protection

F-Secure’s ID Monitoring service scans for data breaches and checks the dark web for leaks of sensitive information, including email addresses, usernames, phone numbers, credit cards, bank details, and social security numbers. It’s easy to add personal data for monitoring through the desktop app or web portal, and the interface provides clear information on breaches, along with guidance on how to secure compromised accounts.

While the service effectively detected breaches related to my email addresses and phone number, it’s somewhat basic compared to competitors like Avira and Norton, which offer more robust protections. Nonetheless, F-Secure’s ID Monitoring is a useful tool for basic breach detection and security.

Overall, F-Secure provides a solid identity protection feature, though it lacks the depth and additional safeguards offered by top-tier alternatives.

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.