Immunet Antivirus Review 2024: How Well Did It Perform?

Immunet antivirus was a simple and effective antivirus program. It only worked with Microsoft Windows and helped protect against viruses, Trojans, and malware. 

There weren’t any real features other than the virus scan. However, we found it was strong enough to protect against our test viruses.

Immunet was also free and community-based. It was created to be used alone or stacked with your current antivirus. 

Learn about why Immunet was discontinued and some of our recommended alternatives to replace it.

Immunet review at a glance

Price	Free
# of devices protected	1
Malware scans	Manual and scheduled
Real-time protection	No
EICAR test results	2/3
Firewall	No
Phishing protection	No
Compatibility	Windows
Extras	None
Learn more	Get Immunet Antivirus

Top alternatives

Since Immunet has been discontinued, consider these options. The best antivirus doesn’t have to be the most expensive or robust, sometimes all you need is reliable protection.

Avast, McAfee, and Bitdefender have all undergone recent third-party testing and are proven effective against viruses, Trojans, and malware, including spyware, adware, and ransomware.

What happened to Immunet?

Immunet Antivirus was discontinued on January 1, 2024, and its forums were shut down on February 1, 2024. It had been in operation for over 10 years.

Immunet's parent company Cisco has been committed to contributing to global security defense through Talos threat intelligence. According to Immunet's homepage, "Immunet is not aligned with how Chisco is pursuing that goal."

Our Immunet experience

Since Immunet was only available on Windows machines, we tested it on our old Windows 10 laptop from 2017. Installation was a breeze, and there was no setup required.

Once Immunet was installed, the dashboard appeared, and we could instantly scan our computer. It took about a minute to scan, which was impressive, and came back with no issues. We changed some of the configurations in the settings, turning on the scan archive files and scan packed files settings.

After scheduling a custom scan for Sunday mornings, we didn’t have much else to do. The EICAR testing was easy and informative. Since there weren’t any additional features with Immunet, we mostly just looked around at everything we could click.

There was a gaming mode in settings, but all that does is stop the notifications you’ve enabled. If you don’t enable any notifications, you don’t need this feature. 

Overall it’s a nice, simple, effective antivirus. If you're looking for an antivirus alternative for Windows, consider Norton antivirus. 

 

Who was Immunet Antivirus best for?

• Recommended for low-maintenance protection

Immunet was a free antivirus program that marketed itself both as an antivirus product and as a stackable solution to be added as an extra layer of protection to existing antivirus installed on your computer. 

There weren’t a lot of features, but it did have some basic functionality like scheduling scans and choosing scan locations. It also didn't require a lot of maintenance, so it was a good choice for someone looking for set-and-forget protection.

For a free alternative to Immunet, consider Avast antivirus. It's free plan works just as well as Immunet did, with the ability to schedule or manually run scans.

 

Was Immunet Antivirus free?

Yes, Immunet Antivirus was a free antivirus with no upsells, additional commitments, or time limits. You could use the product by itself or with other cybersecurity products. It was stackable and community-based for comprehensive protection.

Unlike other free antivirus solutions, Immunet didn't have paid tiers for additional features. The biggest downside was that Immunet only operated on Windows.

If you’re looking for a free antivirus that works on macOS or Linux, ClamAV is an open-source free antivirus that works on multiple platforms.

Immunet Antivirus security features

Immunet didn't have a ton of extra features, but the protection features offered are lightweight and easy to use. 

It offered community-based protection, which means that it analyzed the malicious files encountered by its users and then deployed protection across the entire network to all users. This helped identify new threats early and enables protection quickly to keep you safe.

Malware and antivirus scan

Immunet offered the ability to manually scan your computer as well as set scan times. In fact, you could choose if you wanted to scan archived or packed files as well. This could come in handy if you think you have a virus, Trojan, or malware hiding somewhere in your system that you haven’t found yet.

A full scan took around a minute, which was incredibly fast since some of the more well-known antivirus brands can take upwards of an hour on the initial scan.

Real-time protection

The real-time protection aspect of Immunet was simple. There wasn't much to it as far as configuration, but when we ran our EICAR tests, it was active in the background.

There was no slowdown or issues on our device with the protection running, but there also wasn’t really a way to pause it. Given that Immunet advertised itself as a stackable security option that could complement your current antivirus, it’s interesting that it lacked the ability to temporarily disable the protection.

Immunet noted that its ability to protect you so completely and without leaving a massive footprint on your machine was because of its cloud computing capabilities. This means two things.

One, you needed to be online for it to work, which is fine because malware tends to come from online interactions. And two, you needed to be connected to Immunet’s cloud. 

There’s no configuration for this — if you were using the product, then you were in the cloud. This allowed Immunet to recognize threats from all across the web and protect all users before that same threat attacks them.

Immunet test results

When we review antivirus programs, we always review results from independent research organizations like AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives. Third-party testing is the best way to make sure an antivirus works the way it claims. 

Our EICAR tests showed Immunet is an effective antivirus, but since EICAR doesn’t go as deep as independent testers, we couldn't confirm if Immunet would protect you from everything.

EICAR test results

• Result: 2/3

The European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research (EICAR) provides testing tools so individuals can challenge their own antivirus programs at home. These tests include manually downloaded malware, potentially unwanted programs (PUPs), and phishing detection.

Phishing is the most difficult to protect against because it can look innocent. Here are some examples of phishing behavior:

• A text message from USPS asking you to verify your information for package delivery
• An email from Amazon informing you that you’re locked out of your account, so you need to click the provided link and re-enter your information

Test	Immunet score
Malware detection	Pass
Potentially unwanted apps (PUAs) detection	Pass
Phishing detection	Fail

Immunet did well in all areas of malware detection and quarantine. We were actually surprised at how much it protected against. The only area it failed was in detecting phishing behavior. Since it doesn’t claim to stop phishing attempts, it’s reasonable that it failed this test.

While phishing attempts can be extremely detrimental to your identity and finances as well as your account safety, it’s easier to stop them when you know what you’re looking for. 

Even if your antivirus doesn’t protect you from phishing, you can learn to recognize and ignore phishing attempts. Norton 360 and Bitdefender offer phishing protection, and you can learn more about phishing in our guide.

 

Immunet compatibility

Immunet was compatible only with Windows PCs and Windows servers. The company clearly stated this information on the front page of the website.

Often you’ll pay for an antivirus for Mac only to find out you get protection and little to no features for the same price Windows users are paying for a feature-rich product. Immunet didn't waste your time.

Immunet customer support

Immunet support wasn’t robust. You were offered an FAQ, the forums to connect with other Immunet users, or Immunet’s X, formerly known as Twitter, page. The FAQ was organized and informative, as was the forum section.

FAQs

Bottom line: Was Immunet Antivirus good?

Immunet Antivirus was good — unfortunately, it was discontinued in January 2024. It passed our EICAR malware tests and was easy to install. We also appreciated that it was made to be a part of your security stack, both as a standalone antivirus or as a complementary service to another antivirus program.

Remember, there’s a lot on the internet that can infect your computer with long-term repercussions. Make sure you’re always using the best antivirus software and performing regular scans.