TotalAV Antivirus Review 2026: Is It Legit?

If you’re searching for a reliable antivirus program that balances strong protection with an easy-to-use interface, TotalAV is one of the most popular options available. It also repeatedly scores high with third-party testers like AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives as well as our own in-house testing.

TotalAV combines several essential cybersecurity tools into one platform, including real-time malware protection, phishing detection, a VPN, an ad blocker, and a password manager. It’s designed to protect your devices from viruses, ransomware, and malicious websites while also improving system performance with built-in cleanup and optimization tools.

Below, you’ll find our full hands-on experience with TotalAV, including its desktop and mobile performance, security features, pricing tiers, and how it compares to other antivirus software on the market.

Overview

Price	Starts at $19.00/first yr
Free plan	Yes
# of devices protected	4-8
Malware scans	Manual and scheduled
Real-time protection	Yes
EICAR test results	3/3
Firewall	No
Phishing protection	Yes
Compatibility	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Chrome, Edge, Opera
Extras	Password manager, ad blocker, VPN
24/7 customer support	Yes
Learn more	Get TotalAV

We last tested TotalAV on March 12, 2026.

Our experience

Our experience testing TotalAV was smooth and came with few complaints. From the start, TotalAV's interface was intuitive. All of its features are clearly listed on the left-hand sidebar and categorized by feature type (malware protection, internet security, and system tune-up). 

We started by running a Quick Scan, which took just over a minute. It also detected dummy malware files we had on our computer prior to installing TotalAV, which is reassuring if you're hoping to catch any pre-existing malware. 

When TotalAV did find malware, we were always notified with a desktop notification. From there, it was easy to choose to either quarantine or delete the file.

Overall, TotalAV is one of the easiest-to-use antivirus programs out there. Its scans were fast and detected exactly what we expected it to, even going above and beyond to recommend some space optimization steps.

Mobile experience

To get the full experience, we downloaded the TotalAV app on our Android device. The app walked us through all the permissions and settings we needed to enable to get full protection. 

There are so many features wrapped up into this app. For instance, WebShield blocks malicious sites, QR Check scans QR codes safely, and App Lock restricts access to sensitive apps.

We were largely disappointed because the TotalAV app failed to detect any of the fake virus files we downloaded or the fake phishing site we accessed. TotalAV mobile may be focused on detecting malicious apps, so you should look elsewhere if you're concerned about downloading malware. 

Who is TotalAV best for?

• Recommended for anyone concerned with online privacy and eradicating computer viruses — but with a budget in mind. It's ideal for one or two people who each have one to three devices.

TotalAV is perfect for anyone ranging from first-time antivirus users to seasoned pros. The product offers an intuitive user experience that makes accessing its features simple and pleasant.

Its useful security features, such as real-time antivirus protection, anti-phishing protection, malware scanning, and a virtual private network (VPN), put it on par with any competitive antivirus program available today. And at $19.00/first yr, that’s hard to beat.

You can use TotalAV for anything, from ridding your device of malicious files to ensuring constant protection while you browse the web. Features such as Password Vault make managing passwords across every login easy, and Total Adblock allows you to turn off pesky advertisements to make your online experiences better.

If you want no-frills software, you can opt for the most foundational antivirus subscription, Antivirus Pro, for $19.00/first yr and forgo some of the more advanced features, such as a VPN.

TotalAV prices and subscriptions

TotalAV costs between $19.00–$49.00/first yr, depending on your subscription. There are three plans: Antivirus Pro, Internet Security, and Total Security.

We had a subscription to Total Security for this review — the product’s most expensive and comprehensive option. With 100% online protection and security, Total Security comes with every premium feature available on TotalAV, including the browser cleanup tool, data breach protection, and thorough malware scans.

TotalAV also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee in case you aren’t happy with its product.

	Antivirus Pro	Internet Security	Total Security
Price per year	$19.00/first yr	$39.00/first yr	$49.00/first yr
# devices supported	4	6	8
Manual and auto scan
Real-time protection
Phishing protection
Ransomware protection
Disk cleaner
Browser cleaner
Performance optimization tools
Ad blocker
VPN
Password manager
Learn more	View plan	View plan	View plan

TotalAV security features

TotalAV boasts standout features, including its scans, VPN, password manager, and real-time protection offering called WebShield. All of these tools are quick to set up, intuitive to navigate, and start working right away. There is very little friction between the user and understanding what the service is delivering.

The main downside is the lack of a firewall feature.

Malware and antivirus scan

TotalAV offers two types of manual malware scans: a Quick Scan and a System Scan. We first opted for the Quick Scan, which typically takes anywhere from less than a minute to complete. 

TotalAV let us know it had detected malware even though the scan was still running.

Once the Quick Scan was complete, TotalAV displayed the threats it detected on our device. Then, we were given the option to “Take Action,” which can include quarantining, removing, whitelisting, or skipping the malware. 

Under Malware Scan in the left-hand menu is the Quarantine tab. We navigated to that feature to see what to do about the offending piece of malware TotalAV discovered. 

The system gives you the option to select your quarantined items and remove them — warning you that this action cannot be undone before you confirm you want to delete them from your device. Once you confirm the clean, TotalAV says your quarantine is empty.

Real-time protection

TotalAV offers real-time protection by default when you download it, which means any file you download is automatically scanned for malicious intent and blocked if necessary. This is extremely helpful as you don't need to run a scan every day to feel like you're protected.

During our tests, the real-time protection was able to block all the malicious test files from downloading automatically.

WebShield phishing protection

Another real-time protection feature is WebShield. This blocks or warns you whenever you're opening a suspicious or low-trust website, helping stop the malware before you even go to download it.

You can whitelist websites that you believe are incorrectly blocked, or even submit suspicious websites that you think should be blocked in the future.

Ransomware protection

TotalAV's real-time protection, WebShield, helps prevent ransomware; however, it's still recommended you back up your files regularly.

Additionally, TotalAV’s real-time protection secures you against spyware and adware.

Total VPN

If you’re subscribed to the Internet Security or Total Security plan with TotalAV, you can turn on Total VPN to connect to a secure server when you go online.

A VPN hides your browsing activity, IP address, and personal data while you’re using a Wi-Fi network by employing an encrypted connection. While this is especially important to use if you are accessing public Wi-Fi, it’s still a good idea to use it on your home network. 

You’ll want to use a VPN if you are concerned with your online privacy because the VPN makes it more difficult for your web traffic to be tracked. When you use a VPN, your traffic is routed through a specific server. In this case, when we turned on TotalAV’s VPN, it connected us to a server in Seattle, Washington.

Total Adblock

The Total Security plan includes Total Adblock, which helps block ads while you browse the internet. Ad blockers integrate with your web browser and use filters to block certain content for a safe browsing experience.

How does the ad blocker decide what you see and don’t see? It typically includes a set of rules to block traditional ads, but they offer a way to change the categories of ads you see, so you can activate or deactivate what you want to alter what is blocked.

Using an ad blocker provides a variety of benefits, including:

• Speeding up your browsing experience. Ads can dramatically slow down your load time on certain webpages. Pop-up ads are one of the worst offenders.
• Boosting security. Some ads are actually more harmful than they appear and might contain malware. Clicking on these ads leads you to websites that can put your devices and data at risk.

TotalAV’s ad blocker is dubbed Total Adblock. It promises to block pop-ups, banner ads, video ads, and third-party trackers that follow you across the internet.

We chose to install Total Adblock for Chrome and it immediately got to work. We visited YouTube and Total Adblock blocked 93 ads and trackers. 

Additionally, Total Adblock will add green checkmarks next to the shield icons in Google search results. These signify that TotalAV views the website as no threat:

Password Vault

The Total Security plan comes with a password manager called Password Vault. It says it provides a safe location to securely store your passwords, which you can then access by setting up a master password. 

It also promises to “easily generate secure and unique passwords for your accounts”, auto-fill your credentials, and save login details using Chrome and Firefox web browsers.

Once you’ve set your Master Password, the system tells you how many passwords it has detected are stored in your browser and asks if you’d like to import them into the Password Vault. If you select to do this, you’ll need to input your device’s login password. 

Additional features

The TotalAV Total Security plan comes with a set of bonus features, including:

• Junk Cleaner: This feature scans your system for junk files that are taking up disk space.
• Duplicate File Finder: The feature identifies any duplicate images, videos, music, or other files that can be quickly and easily deleted.
• Large & Old Files: The system locates large files that can be removed, as well as seldom-used ones that might be taking up disk space unnecessarily.
• Disk Usage: You get a summary of disk usage to see where you might be wasting space. The scan takes several minutes to complete, and offers you a summary in a clear format:

• Browser Cleaner: This feature finds the browser history of every website you have visited and helps you view and manage your cookies.
• Startup Programs: A startup program is an application that launches when you log into your device. This feature finds them and helps you control which ones start when your computer starts.
• Uninstaller: Scan your device for software that's installed and remove any unwanted applications safely. The user interface presents your list of applications and easily allows you to clean selected ones: 

TotalAV test results

We put TotalAV to the test ourselves using EICAR tests, and we consolidated the results from trusted third-party testers. Overall, the program did well in its tests, with at least 90% performance on most categories.

Scan efficiency

• Result: Found all EICAR files during the Quick Scan.

We test all antivirus programs by downloading malware dummy files on our device prior to install. Then, we run a scan to determine if the antivirus program can flag these preexisting files, which we placed in our downloads folder, screenshots folder, and desktop. 

Previously, TotalAV only detected these files with a Full System Scan. This time, TotalAV's Quick Scan caught the malware files in just over a minute. 

	Quick Scan
Time spent	1 minute, 2 seconds
# of files scanned	Not disclosed
Did it find preexisting malware files?

EICAR test results

• Result: 3/3

One of the best ways to test antivirus software yourself safely is available thanks to the EICAR (European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research) test. You can download specific types of files that mimic malware to test if your antivirus will catch it.

The best part is the files aren't actually unsafe, so you can test your program without worry.

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

When we tested TotalAV against the malware tests, it passed with flying colors when it came to malware detection. When we tried downloading dummy malware files onto our laptop, TotalAV would either block the file from being downloaded or completely block us from accessing the page. 

TotalAV has struggled with the phishing protection test in our past few retests, but this time it blocked us from accessing the webpage. So you can expect comprehensive malware and phishing protection. 

AV-TEST results

• Result: TotalAV had perfect scores for Windows and macOS, but struggled with the protection tests on Android.

AV-TEST is a popular third-party testing site that evaluates antivirus software for businesses and home users. It uses the most current, publicly available version of the products to test and focuses on realistic test scenarios. 

Below are the test results for TotalAV in AV-TEST’s three categories: protection, performance, and usability. The evaluation is based on a point system where all products can achieve a maximum of six points in each of the three categories, so 18 total points is the best possible test result. 

Test type	Windows score	macOS score	Android score
Protection	6/6	6/6	5.5/6
Performance	6/6	6/6	6/6
Usability	6/6	6/6	6/6
Total	18/18	18/18	17.5/18
Date	December 2025	December 2025	January 2025
Link to test	Link	Link	Link

TotalAV achieved perfect scores in all three categories on Windows and macOS. But TotalAV for Android received a lower score in the protection category. 

TotalAV received a 99.7% protection rate against the latest Android malware attacks in real time, but the industry average protection rate was 99.9%. However, it wasn't far behind the industry average and it still received perfect performance and usability scores for Android. 

AV-Comparatives test results

• Result: Top protection rates, high performance impact

Like AV-TEST, AV-Comparatives is a trusted third-party tester that provides certification for antivirus software. It puts the product through vigorous tests in mobile security, real-world protection, and malware protection, with a final score out of 100% based on how many malicious files the software blocked.

AV-Comparatives also tests the impact the software has on your system, with higher numbers in this category indicating higher impact.

Test type	Mobile security	Real-world protection	Malware protection	Performance impact (Lower is better)
Score	N/A	99.5%	99.99%	22.8
Platform	N/A	Windows	Windows	Windows
Date	N/A	July-October 2025	September 2025	September 2025
Link	N/A	Link	Link	Link

TotalAV has not yet been tested for mobile security, but its other protection tests show promising results. 

• Real-world protection: TotalAV earned a near-perfect real-world protection rate. Avast, AVG, and Norton all tied for first with a 100% protection rate. 
• Malware protection: TotalAV tied for second with several antivirus programs, including Avira, ESET, and McAfee. Three antivirus programs received a perfect malware protection rate: Avast, AVG, and Norton. 

However, TotalAV had a significantly higher performance impact than most antivirus software, coming in as the 13th most impactful. For comparison, Kaspersky won this round with an impact score of 3.0.

SE Labs test results

• Result: 99%

SE Labs is a third-party tester specializing in all things cybersecurity. Its quarterly reports dig into the software's overall accuracy. So the higher the score, the more accurate the software was.

Test type	Home Anti-Malware Protection
Protection accuracy rating	97%
Legitimate accuracy rating	100%
Total accuracy rating	99%
Date	2025 Q4
Link	Link

As of 2025, TotalAV has started submitting its program to SE Labs for testing again. In this quarter, TotalAV came in seventh out of 10 antivirus programs. Although this appears low, TotalAV still achieved a 100% legitimate accuracy rating and earned a high 97% protection accuracy rating. 

TotalAV compatibility

TotalAV works with both Windows and macOS, and it offers mobile apps for Android and iOS devices. Here’s the complete list of devices and platforms that TotalAV works on:

• Windows 7 Service Pack+
• macOS X 10.15 Catalina+
  
• Android 6.0+
  
• iOS 13.0+

Total WebShield is compatible with the following browsers:

• Google Chrome
• Microsoft Edge
  
• Opera
• Safari

TotalAV customer support

TotalAV offers 24/7 technical support and customer service through phone, email, or live chat. The service also has a support help center section on its website, which includes video tutorials and FAQs. You can submit a support ticket through the FAQ section.

Our experience with their customer service live chat was mixed, and we even received conflicting information about whether it offers a firewall. For more basic questions, the service is okay, but there's room for improvement.

Top alternatives

Want to see how TotalAV stacks up to the top competition? See how TotalAV compares to these top alternatives:

TotalAV FAQs

Bottom line: Is TotalAV legit?

TotalAV is an award-winning antivirus software for good reason. We were delighted by how easy the program is to use. We anticipated a clunky and complicated experience based on possible misconceptions of modern antivirus software.

The top benefits include both its ease of use and its efficacy, so we would even recommend TotalAV to those who are technology-averse. Its main drawback is the lack of a firewall. 

Overall, anyone concerned with their online privacy and device security is a great candidate for TotalAV, especially if budget is a concern. 

Want to take a deep dive into how TotalAV compares against other popular antivirus? Check out our series of comparisons:

• TotalAV vs. Avast
• TotalAV vs. Malwarebytes
• TotalAV vs. AVG
• TotalAV vs. Bitdefender
• TotalAV vs. McAfee
• TotalAV vs. Aura Antivirus
• TotalAV Alternatives