Avast Premium Security Review 2024: Is It Worth It?

If you're searching for antivirus software, Avast is a good investment. Third-party tester AV-TEST gave it perfect scores across its Windows, macOS, and Android platforms. With competitive pricing, a free version, and a 30-day free trial, we think Avast antivirus is worth checking out.

The Avast Premium Security package includes security features like ransomware protection, website scanning for safer online shopping and banking, and an advanced firewall. These features, test results, and a low cost make Avast one of the best antivirus options you have.

We’ll cover the features in-depth, as well as discuss what we liked and weren’t crazy about in our Avast antivirus review.

Avast Premium Security overview

Price	Free-$119.88/yr (first year only)
# of devices protected	1-30
Malware scans	Manual and scheduled
Real-time protection	Yes
EICAR test results	3/3
Firewall	Yes, Windows only
Phishing protection	Yes
Compatibility	Windows, Mac, Android, iOS
Extras	Webcam protection, driver updater
24/7 customer support	Yes, with paid plans
Details	Get Avast

Our experience

Our experience testing Avast was pleasant. Everything worked seamlessly, and the antivirus was easy and quick to install.

Having tested it right after AVG, the similarities between the two software were striking. It was obvious that both antivirus programs are owned by the same company, but Avast still pulled out as having the better overall user interface. We found it easier to navigate and understand all the options Avast had in store for us.

When you install Avast for the first time, the app will prompt you to run your fist smart scan. This will look at your system settings, search for viruses, and identify any junk you can cleanup from your computer. It only took us about 50 seconds to finish.

The scan found no viruses, but we were able to clear about 4.3 GB of junk off our computer. The scan was pleasant overall, but we would've preferred a better summary at the end that told us things like how many files the program scanned.

We had a similar experience with the deep scan, which is a full system scan that took slightly under six minutes to run. We liked how quick it was, but would've preferred a better summary at the end.

The good part about both scans is we didn't notice much of a slowdown on our computers at all while they were running. 

Other features, such as the Network Inspector and Ransomware Shield, were equally easy to use because there was no setup for the operation. These options are already on when the product gets installed, so there’s nothing extra to do, which is good for users who don’t want to troubleshoot issues with complicated installations.

One of our favorite extra features was the driver updater, which automatically checks for updates to drivers on your computer. Avast actually found 20 for us to update and was able to install them for us easily.

Overall, navigating the "Explore" tab was like a treasure hunt, uncovering all the cool extra tools that the Avast Premium plan had in store for us. We enjoyed our experience with Avast and would continue using it.

Who is Avast best for?

• Best for the user who wants affordable antivirus protection for multiple devices, but isn’t concerned about family protection features such as parental controls.

Avast impressed us in multiple aspects. It consistently receives high third-party test scores, even with its free service. It also has a variety of plans to suit any budget, including Avast Free for basic antivirus software and Avast Premium Security, starting at $35.88/first yr.

In 2020, Avast was reported to have shared and sold user data. According to the company, the data was stripped of personally identifiable information. That would make it difficult, but not impossible, for hackers to decrypt.^[1]

Following the reports, Avast's CEO announced plans to shut down operations at Jumpsot, which was the third party in charge of selling browser history data.^[2] Its since created links that read "Do Not Sell or Share My Info" to comply with the CCPA, but it may also be a relief for privacy-concerned users.

Avast is still a good option if you want antivirus protection while shopping or working online, and desire protection from ransomware and phishing. This is especially true if you want more straightforward software without some of the bells and whistles other products may offer.

Because Avast Premium doesn’t offer parental controls, you won’t get comprehensive family protection for children. That means you won’t be able to monitor what your kids do online in most cases, so it may not be the best antivirus software for families. 

Avast cost

Avast pricing ranges from free to $83.88/first yr, with lots of different option in between those two price points.

Avast's price range is very comparable to other big antivirus names on the market. For instance, McAfee's three main plans are $39.99/first 2 yrs, $49.99/first yr, or $89.99/first yr — depending on how many extra features you want.

	Avast One Basic	Avast Premium	Avast One Gold	Avast One Platinum
Price for first year	Free	Starts at $50.28/first yr	Starts at $83.88/first yr	Starts at $119.88/yr (first year only)
# devices supported	1	Up to 10	Up to 30	30
Manual and auto scan
Phishing protection
Firewall
Real-time protection
Ransomware protection
Performance optimization tools
Unlimited VPN
Identity protection features
Details	View plan	View plan	View plan	View plan

Avast features

We like that Avast offers more than fundamental protection when you get a premium subscription. Additional security tools, like a virtual private network (VPN) and identity protection, can further help protect your sensitive data and device privacy.

Malware and antivirus scan

Avast Premium Security offers manual and automatic scans you can schedule for the most convenient times to check your device vulnerabilities. Avast’s quick scan and full scan are named Smart Scan and Deep Scan, respectively.

We ran several scans while reviewing the software and were impressed at how fast even the Deep Scan checked through the files. From start to finish, it took fewer than six minutes to scan our computer, though there was no mention of how many files it scanned. Still, that’s pretty fast considering some scans can take a few hours to run.

The Smart Scan ran in about 40 seconds and looked at our system settings as well as our junk files.

For more specific scanning, Avast offers a Targeted Scan where you can select only the files or folders you want to check. It also offers a Boot-Time Scan, which will scan your device during the next system startup.

Using the scanning features was easy, and there were no issues with any of the scans we tried.

Phishing protection

One of the most common methods of phishing is through email. In an email, a scammer will send links or attachments that lead you to malicious websites and attempt to steal your information. Avast's paid plans include the Email Guardian feature, which scans your direct emails and flags anything suspicious.

Avast also scans websites to verify you’re visiting legitimate sites and not fake scam sites meant to look genuine. That makes using your financial credentials safer when shopping and banking online, often working better than the default protections offered by Chrome and Firefox.

This protection is amplified by the Avast Online Security & Privacy browser extension.

Firewall

Avast Premium Security offers a firewall, but only for devices using Microsoft Windows. It monitors network traffic between your device and outside networks to keep unauthorized users from invading your security.

According to the support information page on Avast’s website, you don’t have to do much to use the firewall except keep the option enabled. With Avast Premium Security, you’ll also get alerts if someone attempts to scan your network port or intercept your network traffic. These features are called Port Scan Alerts and ARP Spoofing Alerts.

Real-time protection

The real-time protection feature runs in the background while you’re online. The software blocks malicious threats without being intrusive. It also quarantines unsafe downloads, which helps reduce the chance of malware on your device.

There's nothing to set up with Avast’s real-time protection. You get the Core Shields feature that includes the File Shield, Web Shield, and Real Site options toggled on by default. These all help protect you while online, providing you with malware protection and keeping your device free of computer viruses.

Ransomware protection

All Avast plans offer ransomware protection options for various file types, including videos, photos, and documents. You can tailor these preferences as you like, but all are turned on by default, except for the System option.

Avast also protects against hackers gaining remote control of your device. The Ransomware Shield is on by default, so there’s nothing to do to set up the feature. It protects documents and pictures, and you can add a new folder for protection if needed. You can also stop protecting a folder at any time by selecting the box beside it.

Anti-fraud protection

You won't get any fraud-specific features with Avast until the Avast One Platinum plan. You'll be able to monitor for changes to your credit with all three major bureaus and be alerted of these changes. Other than that, Avast doesn't offer anti-fraud features.

Bonus features

You'll get a few add-ons with this software. One is the Stay Safe Virus Guarantee if you auto-renew your subscription. If your device is infected with a virus that Avast can’t remove, you'll get your money back.

With Avast Premium Security, you also get help remotely for malware or other malicious programs. That could help if your device is infected with a nasty virus, and you can’t remove it just by using the software. You also get a file shredder to help you permanently delete sensitive files so they can't be recovered.

The Network Inspector (formerly Wi-Fi inspector) is helpful for reminding users to run a scan when joining a network for the first time. That could prevent users from downloading malware from an unsecured network.

Avast SecureLine VPN comes with all Avast One tiers, so you can encrypt your internet connection and stay safe online. It also comes with data breach monitoring, which alerts you if any of your passwords are leaked online, 

Finally, Avast Secure Browser is a free download that aims to protect users when online. It blocks malicious websites and downloads, hides what you type online so others cannot intercept your communications, and comes with a banking mode, designed to keep your financial data safe.

Avast test results

While Avast boasts an impressive array of features, its test results might be the most impressive part of our review. Avast scores very highly on all third-party test results we found, and also performed well during our in-house tests.

Scan speed

• Result: Fast

While some antiviruses can take over an hour to scan your computer, Avast came through with incredibly fast results.

Scan type	Time spent
Smart scan	40 seconds
Deep scan	5 minutes and 43 seconds

This may beg the question of whether or not its doing a good job, which is fair. Luckily, its performance-based testing also came out with high grades.

EICAR test results

• Result: 3/3

We test the antivirus products we review by running an EICAR test. EICAR stands for the European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research, which provides a safe and legal framework to test antivirus software for malware detection and phishing detection capabilities.

Based on our EICAR testing, Avast Premium Security successfully passed everything we threw at it.

Test	Avast score
Malware detection	Pass
Drive-by malware downloads	Pass
Phishing pages detection	Pass

Test results as of 08/12/2024.

Both malware downloads were immediately quarantined once they reached our device, and from there we were able to permanently delete or submit it as a false report.

Avast didn't detect the fake phishing page until we downloaded its browser extension, but this has been the case with all antivirus software we tested. They need the additional permissions offered by browser extensions in order to properly detect phishing attempts.

AV-TEST results

• Result: Perfect score for each platform

AV-TEST is an independent organization that tests and rates antivirus software in realistic scenarios against real-world threats. It tests antivirus for protection, performance and usability with a maximum of 6.0 points in each category.

We were impressed to see that Avast scored perfect AV-TEST scores across Windows, macOS, and Android devices. We were especially impressed that Avast received a perfect score while testing the Avast Free Antivirus for Windows. No matter the Avast plan you choose, you can rest assured that you're receiving top-notch antivirus protection.

Test type	Windows 11 score	macOS Monterey score	Android 11 score
Protection	6/6	6/6	6/6
Performance	6/6	6/6	6/6
Usability	6/6	6/6	6/6
Date	October 2024	September 2024	September 2024
Link to test	Link	Link	Link

Avast gained perfect 100% protection scores on all three platforms, with only one false positive coming up during the Windows test.

It saw some small impacts in the performance category for Windows, but not enough to knock it down a point. Mac and Android were basically unphased by the software.

AV-Comparatives test results

• Result: High scores for protection, with a middling score for performance

AV-Comparatives is another trusted independent review of antivirus software, and Avast was able to pull out ahead with some seriously impressive scores.

Test type	Mobile security	Real-world protection	Malware protection	Performance impact (Lower is better)	Mac security
Score	99.9%	99.6%	99.93%	7.4	100%
Platform	Android	Windows	Windows	Windows	macOS
Date	May 2024	July-October 2024	September 2024	September-October 2024	May 2024
Link	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link

In fact, Avast was toward the top in every category here except malware protection. Avast came in 11th place with a protection rate of 99.93%. However, Avast still fell under the green category of antiviruses with its safe score. Bitdefender, which came in first for malware protection, had a protection rate of 99.98% so Avast wasn't far off.

Other than that, Avast crushed it:

• Mobile security: Tied for first place (along with AVG, Bitdefender, and Kaspersky). Each of them had 99.9% protection rate with zero false positives.
• Performance: Came in fourth place after ESET, Kaspersky, and McAfee. The winner, McAfee, only had a 2.6 impact score.
• Malware protection: Came in second place (tying with AVG and Avira), only 0.02% lower than the first place pair who earned a 99.97% rate (F-Secure and Norton).
• Mac security: Avast's free plan tied for first place along with AVG Free and Bitdefender, all coming in with a 100% score.

SE Labs results

• Result: 100%

SE Labs is the final independent tester on our list. The U.K.-based company publishes quarterly reviews of antiviruses for both consumers and enterprises.

Continuing its trend, Avast was able to come out with a perfect 100% score.

Test type	Home Anti-Malware Protection
Total accuracy rating	100%
Date	2024 Q3
Link	Link

Avast Premium Security compatibility

Avast Premium works with the following operating systems and devices:

• Microsoft Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, and 7 (both the 32 and 64-bit versions)
• macOS 10.11.x or later
• Android phones or tablets with OS Google Android 8.0 (Oreo) or higher
• iPhones or iPads with iOS 13.0 or higher

Avast Premium Security customer support

Avast Premium Security has an impressive customer support system in place. You can contact them via live chat support, phone support, and email support so long as you have a paid version of Avast. Unfortunately, it's unclear if any of these options are 24/7.

We decided to call and ask why the firewall feature was not available for Mac users. After a lengthy discussion and remote access was granted to the rep, we were not given a reason. The support rep told us that he thought it should work, but he was unable to find access to the firewall either.

There’s also a knowledge base that offers help for technical and nontechnical Avast issues and there's a forum to chat with other Avast users. If you’d rather contact someone directly, you can use the contact page.

Top alternatives

Some of Avast's weaknesses may be deal breakers for you, like its lack of parental controls and limited features for macOS. Here are other antivirus programs that may better suit your needs:

Avast Premium Security FAQs

Bottom line: Is Avast Premium Security good?

Avast Premium Security is one of the best antivirus software we tested. There are some drawbacks, such as the lackluster customer support we experienced and limited features for macOS.

Still, if you want an antivirus that won’t break the bank and has outstanding security ratings, Avast is a reputable option that will work for many people who want a security suite that provides great ease of use.

Want to see how it compares versus some of the other best antivirus options you have? Check out our deep dive comparisons:

• Norton 360 vs. Avast
• AVG vs. Avast
• TotalAV vs. Avast
• Malwarebytes vs. Avast