The best antivirus in 2023

The best antivirus software can keep your laptop free from malware, viruses, ransomware, and other cyber threats. Although Mac devices are incredibly secure from the get-go, cyber criminals are getting smarter by the day, and their deployed tactics are being tailor-made to target Mac devices. 

If you’re a Windows owner, Microsoft’s Windows Defender may be enough to keep your laptop free from basic threats, but a dedicated antivirus program offers a much more robust solution, especially as antivirus often comes bundled with password managers, VPNs and parental controls.

On there note, here are our top three recommendations:

How to pick an antivirus to secure your laptop

First and foremost would be to choose an antivirus with a high malware-detection rate; some of the best options in the industry include Bitdefender, Kaspersky Lab, Norton, and Trend Micro. Ideally, the service you choose should stop more than 95 percent of malware and shouldn’t come with a high rate of false positives.

The kind of security you should choose would depend on your particular use case and expertise, and this will also help you avoid unnecessary costs.

For example, if you’re tech-savvy and know a thing or two about operating the internet securely, a budget antivirus with basic features will do the job for you.

However, if you’re looking to rely on your chosen antivirus software heavily – or you’re picking one out for your kids, an all-purpose security toolkit that includes password managers, identity theft protection, backup software, and more may be a better option. 

If you need antivirus protection for all of the devices in your house, opt for bundles that cover multiple devices and device types in a single subscription. Our favorites include McAfee LiveSafe and Bitdefender Family Pack, which both protect an unlimited number of devices. Check out the other options in our list of the best internet security suites. 

Ease of use is another important consideration. You can either go for a plug-and-play tool like Trend Micro that lets you scan right from the home screen or a more customizable antivirus like Avast. Irrespective of what you choose, it should be a tool that doesn’t slow down your system – whether that’s in the background or during running scans.

How we test antivirus software

Our testing process begins by ascertaining an antivirus’s performance and its impact on the system. For this, we take a Lenovo ThinkPad T470 with a 2.5GHz Core i5-7200U processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of solid-state storage containing 43.3GB of files and run a custom-made Excel test that measures the time taken by the device to sort through a database of 20,000 names and addresses.

The longer it takes the processor to complete the test with a program running in the background, the heavier the antivirus solution’s impact on the system. 

We also note how long it takes to install the antivirus and whether its mere installation leads to any increase in the benchmark time of our Excel-based test. We then compare the time taken by various antivirus software to perform both full and quick scans. 

We don’t stop after a single scan – at least three or more scans of each of those categories to chalk out results that are accurate and eliminate any anomalies. 

For malware detection scores, we rely on three independent testing labs: AV-Comparatives in Austria, AV-TEST in Germany, and SE Labs in England, all of which throw thousands of pieces of malware, including hundreds of new ones, at each major antivirus brand to judge its efficacy.

In addition to trying out a program’s app to understand its ability to show notifications and roll back ransomware changes, we also test other tools and utilities that come bundled with antivirus protection. These may include a VPN, a password manager, parental controls, and file encryption and shredding.

Using antivirus FAQs

The best password manager in 2023

A password manager is an essential tool for your laptop and other devices if you want to improve your productivity and, of course, your security. The best password managers not only simplify storing passwords and personal details to allow you to fill online forms at blazing speeds, but they also offer strong password generators, anti-phishing features, data recovery, and robust protection from identity theft. 

Of the dozens and hundreds of password managers on the market, these are our top three:

How to choose a password manager to secure your laptop

If you’re looking through the options on our list of the best password managers, you can rest assured that all of them perform the basic functions excellently well, so the real consideration when choosing the best password manager for your needs becomes the extra features on offer.

Would you like your password manager to also store your credit card numbers, personal details, and other frequently used information to allow you to fill out online forms quickly? Maybe you’re after a password manager like Keeper or Dashlane that provides extra security in the form of data breach alerts?

One of the most important factors to consider is the storage options offered by a password manager. Do you want your information to be stored locally on your device or on the cloud or on someone else’s servers? 

It’s worth noting that cloud-based services are generally more convenient and flexible, but for those who want total control over their passwords, local storage of passwords is a far better option.

Multi-device compatibility cannot be overlooked, either. Do you want your password management solution to cover both Android and iOS devices? In that case, opt for a password manager that syncs your account on multiple devices in real time. 

Although you don’t have to be a techie to use a password manager, make sure its apps are simple, with every option clearly laid out and easy to understand. At the same time, you shouldn’t compromise with customizability, either – such as the option to create multiple folders and sort them any way you prefer. 

Last but not least, the price of the password manager is an important factor as well. Although privacy has no price, you wouldn’t want it to cost you a fortune, especially when there are budget options like Bitdefender and password managers with excellent free tiers like Bitwarden. 

How we test password managers

As is the case with any tech product we review, our experts put the 30-odd top password managers under the scanner to test the accuracy of their claims, ease of use, design, and how they compare with other products on the market. 

We try out the program’s mobile apps, desktop apps, and even browser extensions on a variety of devices, including a Samsung Note 20 smartphone, a ThinkPad T470 running Windows 10, and an iPad Pro. The browsers we used include Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. 

We then put each password manager’s support options to the test and strive to find out whether its help agents are prompt, friendly, and able to come up with accurate solutions to whatever questions we throw at them.

After loading up the password managers with our login credentials to multiple sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, we test their autofill accuracy and speed – in addition to stress-testing them in all kinds of scenarios.

For more on our testing procedures, check out our how we test page for Tom’s Guide. 

Password managers FAQs

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