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Best for Robust Security
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Best for Families
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Best for Enhanced Firewall
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Our top pick for antivirus with firewall protection is Norton, which includes advanced features that protect against malware, viruses, and other threats. McAfee and AVG also offer solid antivirus solutions for home users interested in an antivirus plus firewall solution.
Antivirus software with a firewall is a great solution that adds more than one layer of security to your home network. Read on to find out which is the best for your home.
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Backed by a 100% Virus Protection Promise
Tested protection against hackers, viruses, malware, and ransomware
Includes VPN, parental controls, and more
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Premium antivirus, scam, and web protection, plus a VPN, identity monitoring, and secure password manager
Extremely low performance impact on devices in third-party tests
Top plans include protection for unlimited devices, a very rare perk
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Award-winning antivirus, malware, and ransomware protection for up to 10 devices
Includes webcam protection, safe browsing and email, automatic updates, and 24/7 protection
Suite of protection benefits including a secure VPN, anti-tracking capabilities, safeguards against phishing sites, and more
| Antivirus |
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| Best for | Robust security | Families | Enhanced firewall |
| Star rating | |||
| Starting price | Starts at $29.99/first yr | Starts at $39.99/first yr | Free or $31.20/first yr |
| Max number of protected devices | Unlimited | Unlimited | 10 |
| EICAR test results | 3/3 | 3/3 | 3/3 |
| Malware scans | Manual and scheduled | Manual and scheduled | Manual and scheduled |
| Real-time protection | |||
| Firewall | |||
| 24/7 customer support | |||
| Extras | Parental controls, dark web monitoring, cloud backup, software updater, and more | VPN, password manager, identity theft protection, data removal services | Sensitive Data Shield, Webcam protection, AntiTrack, WiFi scanner |
| Compatibility | Windows, macOS, Android, iOS | Windows, macOS, Android, iOS | Windows, macOS, Android, iOS |
| Learn more | Get Norton 360 |
Get McAfee |
Get AVG |
Backed by a 100% Virus Protection Promise
Tested protection against hackers, viruses, malware, and ransomware
Includes VPN, parental controls, and more
Performance: We like how thorough Norton 360 is regarding your security needs. It’s powerful, trusted, and has great third-party testing scores. That means that not only does it claim to be a great security product, but it can back those claims up with solid proof.
Third-party testing is important because it ensures that products do what they claim, and Norton always gets top scores.
Robust cybersecurity suite: Norton is a security suite that has something for everyone. If you’re single, there’s a Norton product for you. If you’re a multi-generational family, Norton 360 has you covered.
If you add LifeLock, you’ll have even more security, not just online but for your identity as well. That includes identity monitoring, credit monitoring, restoration services, and identity theft insurance.
Anywhere you fall with your needs, Norton has thought of a way to cover them. We can really appreciate a company with that much consideration of its users.
Pricey: All of that power and convenience comes at a cost. Norton’s not cheap, and renewal pricing can actually cost more than your initial annual price. That’s why it’s important to lock in Norton’s new customer pricing by choosing a multi-year plan. We know not everyone can afford that, however, which is something we wish Norton would change.
Confusing plans: Because there’s something for everyone, it can be easy to get confused about which product to purchase. Norton’s advanced firewall is included with every Norton 360 product, although it’s not always listed on the features page. Confusing language like this could definitely be fixed.
| Starting price | $29.99/first yr |
| Free version | No |
| Money-back guarantee | Yes — 60 days for annual plan and 14 days for monthly plan |
| Firewall | Yes |
| Phishing protection | Yes |
| Ransomware protection | Yes |
| Webcam protection | Yes |
| Network protection | Yes |
| Parental controls | Yes |
| Extras | Password manager, VPN, identity theft protection, dark web monitoring, and more |
| Learn more | Get Norton 360 |
To see if Norton 360 is really as good as it claims, we also looked at test results from other independent testers. This gave us a better idea of how well Norton detects malware. We checked with AV-Test, AV-Comparatives, and SE Labs.
Norton received perfect scores across almost all of the third-party tests and with our in-house tests as well. It only received a less-than-perfect score in the AV-Comparatives malware protection test.
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| AV-TEST Windows score | 18/18 |
| AV-TEST macOS score | 18/18 |
| AV-TEST Android score | 18/18 |
| AV-Comparatives malware protection score | 99.98% |
| SE Labs results | 100% |
| EICAR score | 3/3 |
| Learn more | Get Norton 360 |
There’s no question that Norton is one of the best antivirus solutions, so its perfect scores across all categories are no surprise. With Norton, you'll receive a user-friendly dashboard, a wide range of pricing for any budget, and comprehensive features for antivirus and other cybersecurity needs.
| Decision factor | Weight | Verdict |
| Our experience | 20% | 5.0 |
| Prices & value | 3% | 5.0 |
| Features | 22% | 5.0 |
| Test results | 40% | 5.0 |
| Compatibility | 3% | 5.0 |
| Customer service | 3% | 5.0 |
Premium antivirus, scam, and web protection, plus a VPN, identity monitoring, and secure password manager
Extremely low performance impact on devices in third-party tests
Top plans include protection for unlimited devices, a very rare perk
Usability: McAfee has a clean dashboard and aesthetic design that makes it easy for anyone to use. We really like that you can install the software on unlimited devices and monitor them all from your dashboard. Plus, it has a lower annual price than Norton for unlimited devices.
You may think that might be overkill, but we recently counted our own devices and found we have over 30 in our home that connect to the internet. That’s a lot of ways into our home network. By enabling the firewall on McAfee’s antivirus, we can boost our overall protection.
Value: We do like McAfee’s pricing. Even the family plan is pretty reasonable and includes bonuses like identity theft protection. It’s not the least expensive product on the market, but at least you know you’re getting solid protection at a reasonable price.
Confusing plans and renewal prices: Like Norton, McAfee has a lot of options. It’s great for customization but can get confusing. Also, like Norton, the initial price isn’t guaranteed on renewal.
Features cost extra: McAfee offers other products like parental controls, but they come at an additional fee. Since McAfee offers a family plan, we hoped they’d be included. It would be nice if they’d consider additional, reasonably priced bundles with everything you need.
| Starting price | $39.99/first yr |
| Free version | No |
| Money-back guarantee | Yes — 60 days for annual plan |
| Firewall | Yes |
| Phishing protection | Yes |
| Ransomware protection | Yes |
| Webcam protection | Yes |
| Network protection | Yes |
| Parental controls | Yes |
| Extras | VPN, identity theft protection, password manager, data cleanup |
| Learn more | Get McAfee |
When we tested McAfee, we also looked at test results from other independent antivirus testers. This gives us a better idea of how the antivirus copes with malware detection and prevention. We looked at test scores from AV-TEST, AV-Comparatives, and SE Labs.
McAfee received perfect scores in both third-party and in-house testing.
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| AV-TEST Windows score | 18/18 |
| AV-TEST macOS score | N/A |
| AV-TEST Android score | 18/18 |
| AV-Comparatives malware protection score | 100% |
| SE Labs results | 100% |
| EICAR score | 3/3 |
| Learn more | Get McAfee |
During our testing, it was no surprise that McAfee earned nearly perfect scores across the board. The only thing that held it back was its long scan times, which made it a less convenient choice over other available options.
McAfee still did its job well, so that wait may be worth it for you.
| Decision factor | Weight | Verdict |
| Our experience | 20% | 4.5 |
| Prices & value | 3% | 5.0 |
| Features | 22% | 5.0 |
| Test results | 49% | 5.0 |
| Compatibility | 3% | 5.0 |
| Customer service | 3% | 5.0 |
Award-winning antivirus, malware, and ransomware protection for up to 10 devices
Includes webcam protection, safe browsing and email, automatic updates, and 24/7 protection
Suite of protection benefits including a secure VPN, anti-tracking capabilities, safeguards against phishing sites, and more
Comprehensive firewall: AVG offers four categories of firewall protection: Apps, Networks, Logs, and Premium. Apps track active and inactive apps. With Networks, you have the power to trust or not trust connected internet networks.
The Logs feature keeps a record of your computer's actions and allows you to see which processes are running or have run so you can identify possible malware and block it. With Premium, you have increased security against data leaks, remote desktop protocol (RDP) attacks, and address resolution protocol (ARP) attacks.
Real-time alerts: Although AVG has a higher price point for premium coverage, the paid plans offer robust, easy-to-use firewall security features. Plus, AVG sends security alerts to let you know what's happening in real-time.
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Easy-to-understand subscriptions: We also love how uncomplicated AVG is with its subscription plans. There are three options. That’s it. You won’t have to worry if you’re getting the right thing because it’s all right there for you to see.
Limited free plan: AVG has a free product for security, but if you want an enhanced firewall, you’ll need to upgrade. Because AVG Antivirus Free is good for a budget, it doesn’t include a lot of extra features and only offers limited firewall protection.
Limited customer support options: Also, AVG’s customer support isn’t the most robust. There’s no phone number to call, and you either need to use their guides to troubleshoot or wait for an email response from a technician after submitting a ticket. It’s not the most convenient.
| Starting price | $31.20/first yr |
| Free version | Yes |
| Money-back guarantee | Yes — 30 days |
| Firewall | Yes |
| Phishing protection | Yes |
| Ransomware protection | Yes |
| Webcam protection | Yes |
| Network protection | Yes |
| Parental controls | No |
| Extras | Ransomware protection, safe shopping and banking, phishing protection |
| Learn more | Get AVG |
To assess AVG's malware detection abilities, we reviewed scores from independent testers AV-TEST, AV-Comparatives, and SE Labs. We also tested AVG's ability to detect EICAR dummy files.
AVG received perfect scores across platforms for AV-TEST and almost perfect scores in the most recent AV-Comparatives and SE Labs tests. It also passed our in-house testing.
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| AV-TEST Windows score | 18/18 |
| AV-TEST macOS score | 18/18 |
| AV-TEST Android score | 18/18 |
| AV-Comparatives malware protection score | 99.98% |
| SE Labs results | 99% |
| EICAR score | 3/3 |
| Learn more | Get AVG |
AVG has a solid star rating of 5.0 and was deemed the best performance speed antivirus program. It received a perfect score in several categories because you can select a budget-friendly plan with a wide range of features or opt for its free antivirus program.
| Decision factor | Weight | Verdict |
| Our experience | 20% | 5.0 |
| Prices & value | 3% | 5.0 |
| Features | 22% | 5.0 |
| Test results | 49% | 5.0 |
| Compatibility | 3% | 5.0 |
| Customer service | 3% | 5.0 |
When looking at what antivirus programs would be the best for a firewall, we looked at compatibility, price, ease of use, and reputation. We wanted to make sure to give you software that is easy for anyone to use and can be configured with little to no advanced technical knowledge.
We also wanted it to work for a variety of operating systems and have several price points for any budget.
Finally, we only wanted to recommend software that is reputable and has third-party testing behind it. We want security providers who both know the history of the industry and are making strides forward in the next generation of protection.
We use our proprietary grading rubric in all of our testing, which considers ease-of-use, third-party testing scores, internal testing scores, price, compatibility, and features offered, among other metrics.
This means that our testing process is designed to ensure that the product isn't too confusing, protects as promised, and offers you a lot for a reasonable price. We download and run each program on our own computers on home networks, just like you would.
Our ratings reflect the real-world performance of the antivirus product. This ensures that we can recreate a similar experience for you and give our best advice on whether or not it's worthwhile.
To learn more about how we test, check out our full antivirus testing methodology here.
We suggest choosing a firewall that’s included with the best antivirus software. You won’t have to worry about configuring it yourself while having additional protections in place. Also, you can feel confident knowing that it’s compatible with your security software.
If you do decide to purchase a separate firewall, whether it’s hardware or software, ensure it’s compatible with your current software and hardware. Also, make sure you know how to properly install and configure it so you can get the most benefit.
There are three main types of firewalls: packet-filtering, stateful inspection, and proxy. The earliest firewalls, which are still in use today, were application-specific proxy systems.
Newer next-generation firewalls are mostly used to protect users from computer viruses, malware, and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. They can even help with filtering geo-locations.
While the old proxies do provide solid protection, next-generation firewalls offer more variety and a wider breadth of coverage for a variety of systems, networks, and other devices.
The best antivirus software with firewall protection is one that's easy to use, affordable on any budget, and comes equipped with coverage for all of the people in your network. Whatever your situation, making sure you have security software that fits your needs is essential.
That’s why we chose Norton 360, McAfee, and AVG. While each of these programs provides you with a variety of different tools and price points, they’re all trusted and worthwhile programs you can feel good about using.
Proxy servers are considered the most secure firewall. A proxy server is essentially a secure tunnel to access the internet. It has its own IP address, which allows it to hide yours.
They also work to balance internet traffic, which can help with lagging, buffering, and connectivity. While this likely won’t come into play in the average home, it means that you can use one to keep your traffic from getting all jammed up by regulating the flow.
Yes, there are free firewalls. As with many free products, you’ll need to make sure it has excellent ratings and third-party testing results to check the effectiveness and validity of the product.
Most will come with restrictions like they only work on Windows or are preinstalled on your router. It’s a good idea to research the best practices for your particular free firewall so you’re using it effectively.
A firewall and a router are two completely different things. A firewall, whether it’s hardware or software, is a security feature meant to filter your internet traffic and keep it secure based on a certain set of rules.
A router is a piece of equipment that distributes the internet from your modem to all of the connected devices in your space. Some routers may have cybersecurity features, including firewalls, installed on them, but they don’t require that to function properly.
The disadvantages of traditional firewalls definitely don’t outweigh the benefits, but they can cause issues. They have less flexibility when it comes to specifics within applications, can slow down your network, require a lot of management, and lack upgrade abilities to keep up with emerging threats.
Real-time protection from viruses, malware, and malicious websites
Includes the #1 ad blocker and monitors for data breaches
Comes with a full suite of performance optimization tools to keep your device fast
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