Kaspersky Antivirus Plus Review (2025): The right choice?

Full Review

Kaspersky is ranked #9 of the 28 best antivirus of 2025.

Kaspersky offers a strong antivirus scanner with a range of extra features to enhance online security. Its anti-phishing tools effectively block dangerous websites, while parental controls and Safe Browsing help protect users across multiple platforms. The Safe Money and on-screen keyboard features provide added protection from keyloggers.

The built-in VPN is secure, fast, and supports torrenting on all servers, though its split-tunneling feature is limited to Windows 10 and later. Kaspersky’s intuitive interface, along with helpful tutorials, ensures a smooth user experience. Installation is quick and straightforward, taking just a few minutes.

Kaspersky offers three packages—Standard, Plus, and Premium—covering up to 20 devices in some regions. A free antivirus version is available, and all paid plans include a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Anti-malware

Kaspersky’s malware scanner combines a virus database with cloud-based machine learning to detect all types of malware. During testing, it achieved a 100% detection rate, matching top competitors like Norton and Bitdefender. When new threats are found, files are sent to Kaspersky’s cloud for machine-learning analysis to determine if they’re harmful.

Kaspersky offers 6 types of scans:

• Quick Scan for startup files, memory, and boot sectors,
• Background Scan during system inactivity,
• Full Scan of all files and folders,
• Selective Scan for specific files or drives,
• Removable Drive Scan, and
• Application Vulnerability Scan for outdated or exposed software.

The real-time protection was also impressive, instantly blocking all malware during tests, including a ransomware simulator. However, the Application Vulnerability Scanner was slow and missed some updates, unlike the app updater feature, which efficiently detected and installed outdated software in 8 minutes.

Kaspersky’s scanning options are thorough, real-time protection is strong, and the system performance remains unaffected even during full scans. However, the Application Vulnerability Scanner could be improved.

Anti-phishing

Kaspersky’s anti-phishing protection is robust, using a multi-layered system to block malicious websites. The Safe Browsing feature works with major browsers and checks URLs against a database of known threats while also using heuristic analysis to detect suspicious behavior. In testing, it blocked most phishing sites, though competitors like Norton and Bitdefender performed slightly better.

Kaspersky’s URL Advisor adds a green symbol next to safe websites in search results, making it easy to identify dangerous sites. The Private Browsing feature blocks trackers from social networks, analytics, and ad agencies, but its default settings allow data collection by Kaspersky and its partners, which users must manually disable.

The on-screen keyboard provides extra protection against keyloggers and works well with Safe Money, Kaspersky’s secure browser for online banking and shopping. Safe Money scans for threats like rootkits and untrusted certificates when accessing financial sites. Although effective, it takes over 10 seconds to load, which is slower than Bitdefender’s Safepay browser.

Overall, Kaspersky’s web protection is solid, offering strong phishing detection, anti-tracking, and useful features like a secure browser and on-screen keyboard, though there’s room for improvement in load times and default privacy settings.

Firewall

Kaspersky’s firewall offers solid protection against network intrusions and exploit attacks, outperforming the default Windows Defender firewall in testing. It provides detailed insights into applications with internet access, allowing users to easily adjust permissions, such as controlling whether an app can start or stop other processes.

Advanced users will appreciate features like port access detection, the ability to modify packet rules, and fine-tuning of connection permissions (e.g., DNS over TCP/UDP). The firewall also includes a network monitor, which shows all active connections and lets users block all network activity with a single click—useful during potential malware infections.

However, the firewall interface is somewhat disorganized, with features scattered across different menus. For example, packet rules are in the firewall settings, but port access detection is hidden under network settings. In contrast, Norton’s firewall interface consolidates everything in one place. Additionally, the Mac version of Kaspersky is limited to a basic network attack blocker, unlike Intego’s feature-rich Mac firewall.

Despite the interface issues, Kaspersky’s firewall is highly effective at preventing intrusions on Windows PCs and requires minimal configuration for strong protection.

Password manager

Kaspersky’s password manager offers strong security with 256-bit AES encryption and a strict zero-knowledge policy. The premium version allows unlimited password storage, but the free version is limited to just 5 passwords, which is restrictive compared to competitors like Norton, which offers unlimited storage for free.

The password manager is easy to set up, requiring users to create a master password (with no recovery options). It includes a browser extension for seamless auto-save and auto-fill of passwords, and these features worked flawlessly during testing. However, auto-fill for bank card details and addresses on mobile must be manually enabled in settings.

Kaspersky’s interface is simple and intuitive, allowing users to store passwords, bank cards, documents, and notes, with the ability to organize passwords into folders. The password generator can create passwords up to 99 characters long, but it lacks options like ‘easy to say’ or ‘easy to read’ passwords, which some competitors offer. The password history feature is useful, allowing access to the last 5 passwords copied to the clipboard.

A notable addition is the built-in authenticator, which generates one-time codes for two-factor authentication (2FA), integrating 2FA directly into the password management process.

While Kaspersky’s password manager is secure and easy to use, it lacks some advanced features found in standalone options like Dashlane or LastPass. It’s a solid choice for basic password management but may not satisfy users looking for more robust functionality.

VPN

Kaspersky’s VPN, included with the Plus and Premium plans, offers a solid feature set, including:

• Unlimited browsing data with no daily caps,
• Kill switch to stop data transfer if the VPN connection drops,
• Full leak protection to safeguard your IP address,
• Smart Protection that automatically activates the VPN on public networks,
• Servers in 70+ countries with an option to connect to the fastest one,
• Split-tunneling for using the VPN with specific apps while maintaining regular internet access for others.

In speed tests, Kaspersky’s VPN maintained solid download speeds, with only a slight increase in ping and a minor decrease in upload speed, making it suitable for regular browsing with little noticeable impact.

It also successfully unblocked popular streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime, outperforming some competitors like Avira’s and Avast’s VPN, which struggles with Amazon.

Overall, Kaspersky’s VPN is a strong offering for a bundled antivirus VPN, with good speeds, robust privacy features, and solid streaming support. However, it can’t match the features of standalone VPN’s like NordVPN and Surfshark.

Other security features

Kaspersky offers a wide range of additional security features that enhance protection and privacy, making it a well-rounded suite for users. Here’s a summary of the key features:

System Cleanup Tools

Kaspersky provides several tools to optimize PC performance, including:

• PC Speed-Up: Identifies and removes temporary files, registry issues, and Kaspersky trace files. It works well but doesn’t bundle similar tools like the duplicate and large file checkers.
• Quick Startup: Lists apps that run at startup and their impact on boot time, allowing you to easily disable unnecessary apps.
• Hard Drive Health Monitor: Alerts you to potential drive issues, though it doesn’t provide solutions for fixing them.
• Unused App Cleaner: Scans for apps not used in 3+ months but occasionally misses some unused programs.
• Weak Settings Scanner: Detects and fixes security settings vulnerabilities.

These tools work well overall, but Kaspersky lacks the convenience of running all scans in one click, as some competitors offer.

Smart Home Monitor

Kaspersky’s Smart Home Monitor shows devices connected to your Wi-Fi, identifying them by device type, OS, and vendor. However, it lacks advanced control features and doesn’t offer vulnerability scanning for these devices, which ESET provides. Kaspersky also doesn’t allow creating security profiles for different networks, unlike Bitdefender.

Data Leak Checker

Kaspersky’s data leak checker monitors the dark web for compromised email addresses, notifying you of breaches involving personal data, banking details, or activity history. It works but found fewer breaches compared to free tools like “Have I Been Pwned,” and it only provides general information on the leaks. Norton’s dark web monitoring is more detailed, tracking specific information like bank account numbers and credit cards.

Parental Controls (Safe Kids)

Kaspersky’s Safe Kids is a comprehensive parental control tool with features like:

• Content filtering, usage limits, and app blocking.
• YouTube monitoring and location tracking (with geofencing for Android and iOS).
• Social network monitoring, although limited to VK.

It’s easy to set up and use, but its iOS functionality is limited compared to Android, and social media monitoring is restricted to VK. Kaspersky provides helpful advice on how to discuss parental controls with children.

Other Security Features

• Webcam and Mic Control: Manages permissions for specific apps.
• Intrusion Prevention: Detects and blocks suspicious network activity.
• Stalkerware Detection: Alerts you to software designed for spying.
• Ad Blocker and Privacy Cleaner: Blocks ads and removes browsing traces.
• Backup and Restore: Facilitates data backups.
• Rescue Disk: Boots your system into a safe environment for malware removal.
• File Shredder: Permanently deletes sensitive files.
• Gaming Mode: Minimizes interruptions during gaming sessions.

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.

Note: Kaspersky has rebranded its products. Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Kaspersky Internet Security, and Kaspersky Total Security are now Standard, Plus, and Premium. The Kaspersky Security Cloud is also no longer available.

Plan description

Kaspersky offers three tiers: Standard, Plus, and Premium. All can protect 3, 5, or 10 devices, and the Premium even goes up to 20 in some locations. If you’re budget-conscious, Kaspersky Free offers just basic antivirus features.

Kaspersky Standard – Basics Covered

Priced at $38.49/year, this plan is a decent entry point. It provides essentials like malware scanning, a firewall, and anti-phishing. For a single device, Norton AntiVirus Plus could be a more budget-friendly alternative with similar features.

Kaspersky Plus – Best Value

For $52.99/year, you get features like an unlimited-data VPN, password manager, and file shredder. We like the inclusion of an unlimited VPN at this price point, as competitors often reserve this for higher-tier plans.

Kaspersky Premium – Extras with Caveats

Costing $74.99/year, it adds identity protection and free parental controls for one year. The parental controls are excellent but limited to the first year, a downside when competitors like Norton offer it indefinitely.

Summary

For most, Kaspersky Plus offers the best bang for your buck, blending robust protection and privacy features. The Premium plan is a good pick for families but could improve by extending the duration of its parental controls feature. Overall, Kaspersky offers reliable, tiered plans that can suit various needs and budgets.

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.

Company Profile

Kaspersky is a leading cybersecurity firm, privately held with its holding company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1997, the company has amassed over 25 years of experience in the industry, and it protects more than 400 million individuals and 240,000 corporations across 200 countries and territories.

The company prides itself on its commitment to quality, regularly participating in independent tests to evaluate the effectiveness of its technologies against evolving threats. This has earned Kaspersky a strong presence in public TOP3 metrics and numerous awards.

At the core of Kaspersky’s operations is a team of 4,000 highly qualified specialists. They focus on developing innovative and user-friendly solutions that allow people to use technology without worrying about cybersecurity risks. The company’s portfolio is diverse, offering various security solutions that cater to a wide range of customer needs.

In terms of corporate values, Kaspersky prioritizes transparency, innovation, simplicity, and a human-centric approach. The company aims to build a safer world by adopting a “Cyber Immune” security model, which focuses on creating systems that are inherently secure. This approach is guided by the philosophy that the cost of launching a successful cyberattack should exceed its potential benefits. Eugene Kaspersky, the CEO, is a key proponent of this forward-thinking strategy.

By consistently delivering high-quality, effective solutions and maintaining a strong set of values, Kaspersky has established itself as a market leader in cybersecurity.

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.