There is a sea of antivirus products vying for your attention. In our increasingly cyber-dependent world, we need to keep our devices protected. While you may think, “I’m not important enough to hack,” you couldn’t be further from the truth. You could become an unwitting soldier in a bot army or a victim of identity theft just as easily as the CEO of a large company.

Trend Micro antivirus wants to keep you from that fate. This security suite is full of useful tools and features that not only keep you safe but also enhance your experience. Whether you’re a gamer who wants to mute notifications while playing or a grandparent wanting to keep your grandkids safe online, Trend Micro has a setting for that.

Trend Micro review at a glance

Who is Trend Micro best for?

• Recommended for anyone looking for comprehensive cybersecurity protection

Trend Micro has a lot going on. It’s a feature-rich antivirus program that not only promises to protect you from viruses and ransomware but also wants to help stop phishing attempts and protect your financial transactions. Add in online child protection, device optimization, and a password manager, and you have a comprehensive protection product. If you aren’t sure how antivirus software works, this is definitely more than what you usually get.

This is a solid choice for anyone wanting their cybersecurity product to work on a variety of levels. The features are enough to keep you protected, and the extras enhance your experience. If you’re looking for something with a lot of bells and whistles, Trend Micro might be for you.

Trend Micro pros and cons

Trend Micro features

Trend Micro Internet Security’s features include malware protection, defense from vulnerabilities, protection for online banking, and privacy settings that bring ease of use to your online browsing experience. From social network monitoring to mobile apps, the virus and malware detection offered can bring you peace of mind while online.

Trend Micro isn’t just a cybersecurity product. It also comes with device optimization, anti-fraud protection, and parental controls in addition to other features like Mute mode, which allows you to work uninterrupted. But don’t worry, the antivirus and anti-malware features are just as robust as the extras.

Malware and antivirus scan

The trojan, malware, and antivirus scans from Trend Micro are pretty standard for security software. You have the ability to run a quick scan, full scan, or custom scan. The first full scan you run will take a while (ours clocked in at over 30 minutes), but subsequent scans shouldn’t need that much time. There were no issues with the scans, and we were comfortable with the antivirus protection results, given Trend Micro uses advanced AI learning to improve its product.

Phishing protection

Phishing protection comes in the form of the Trend Micro toolbar extension on your browser. While we didn’t find any suspicious links while testing, in theory the toolbar will notify you if something looks malicious.

When you’re searching online, it can be frustrating to have a tool like this block the site you’re trying to access. Remember, however, that if the toolbar is flagging it as malicious, it’ll likely cause you more problems than just finding another site.

Firewall

Trend Micro doesn’t include an actual firewall in its product, but it does contain a firewall booster to enhance Windows’ firewall functionality. When you install Trend Micro, the booster is automatically turned on to enhance protection. If you aren’t currently running the Windows firewall, you’ll need to turn it on for Trend Micro’s firewall booster to work. The booster will activate automatically whether or not the Windows firewall is active. To toggle the firewall booster, you can check out Trend Micro’s help webpage.

Real-time protection

It’s important to keep your Trend Micro product running in the background so you get full access to real-time protection. As files execute on your hard drive, Trend Micro analyzes and scans each one for anything potentially dangerous. This allows you to surf the web without file scanners, so you can open attachments, download programs, and install new software without worrying that something is infected with a virus or malware.

This isn’t exclusive to downloads and email; real-time protection means Trend Micro is analyzing every aspect of your browsing experience. If you happen to come across a website with malicious scripting encoded into its content, Trend Micro’s real-time protection will recognize it and block it from executing on your device. This is true for computers, tablets, mobile phones, and anything that can access the internet.

Ransomware protection

Trend Micro boasts 100% blocking of ransomware threats, as recognized by industry experts. While researching independent third-party testing, we found that Trend Micro did block all threats presented. It was docked half a point in the categories of Protection and Usability, but the only complaint was that there were two false positives. That means Trend Micro blocked everything, even two good programs that looked a little fishy.

Anti-fraud protection

The anti-fraud tools are interesting and pretty intuitive. Most come already activated, like the Privacy Scanner, but you have the option to get more granular with Data Theft Prevention. Trend Micro allows you to add parts of account numbers to your financial accounts so its smart tools can recognize an attempt to steal credentials matching them.

You can also list your geographic information, like your city or address, and the intuitive AI will use it to recognize if your child is sharing sensitive information online. Add social media security and Pay Guard, and you have comprehensive anti-fraud tools at your disposal.

Privacy Scanner

This tool scans your social media to help stop you from sharing too much personal information. The scanner also helps you configure the settings on your web browser to optimize privacy.

Social Networking Protection

Whether you’re an authority on LinkedIn or a Facebook meme lord, you’ve probably clicked on a link from your social media account. This feature tells you what’s legit and what to avoid.

Pay Guard

This service aims to give you a secure browser for online purchases. Adding an extra layer of security when it comes to your finances is never a bad idea.

Data Theft Prevention

While it’s great to have a service that scans the internet for your personal information like your address and credit card numbers, the real star of this feature is monitoring kids online. The data theft prevention feature, after a small amount of configuration, can stop your kids from sharing sensitive information.

Bonus features

As previously mentioned, Trend Micro is chock-full of features. In addition to cybersecurity tools, you’ll enjoy a password manager, device optimization, a file shredder, Mute Mode, and other features meant to make your online experience more enjoyable.

• Device optimization: This is integrated with a full scan but can also be run on its own any time you think your computer may be running slowly. There are a few options available to configure for even more optimization options.
• File shredder: This option is integrated into your Trend Micro product. It allows you to delete a file completely so it cannot be recovered.
• Mute Mode: This mode allows you to mute notifications on your desktop so you can work or game undisturbed.
• Password manager: This comes standard on the Maximum Security tier. Like LastPass or 1Password, Trend Micro’s password manager stores your passwords so you don’t risk exposing or forgetting them.
• VPN: Although a virtual private network (VPN) doesn’t come with the antivirus product, Trend Micro does offer a VPN for an additional cost.

Trend Micro test results

AV-TEST is one of the most trusted third-party review sites on the internet. It independently tests security products to make sure they work the way they’re intended.

Trend Micro had great AV-TEST scores. While it was docked half a point in the March 2023 tests for Protection and Usability, that appeared to be due to false positives. Overall, Trend Micro protects the way it claims.

Trend Micro AV-TEST results

Our Trend Micro experience

We tested Trend Micro Maximum Security on an old laptop running Windows 10. While we do test antivirus for Mac and mobile devices, we decided to focus this Trend Micro antivirus review on the Windows product.

We had no issues downloading the free trial and were impressed to see there was no credit card needed to begin the trial. This means we didn’t have to worry about forgetting to cancel and getting charged later for a subscription. After downloading, we were prompted to install the browser extension to protect against phishing. We then dove into a full scan.

The initial scan took a lot longer than other products that we’ve tested. Trend Micro was scanning our system for viruses and malware as well as performance updates. It’s good to know for future scans, although we ran the scan again, and it didn’t take nearly as long. If you want to customize the initial scan by choosing your drives or particular files on those drives, you have the option to do that.

Once we were done scanning our computer, we began testing the rest of the features. There were a lot of different things to play with on Trend Micro’s dashboard. Our favorites were the data theft prevention features. We liked that we could input pieces of our geographic and financial information to allow Trend Micro’s intuitive AI to scan the web for misuse. If you have kids, this feature will help keep them safe by watching to see if they share their home address. This is achieved by entering bits of personal information so the intuitive AI can monitor the data being sent. Overall, there are a lot of nice features we don’t see often when testing antivirus products.

Trend Micro compatibility

Trend Micro is available for a variety of devices and even includes a Chrome browser extension to help protect you from phishing and nefarious sites. While most products tend to forget macOS and iOS, Trend Micro not only includes compatibility for both, but it has also tested well on macOS based on AV-TEST.

Trend Micro is compatible with the following Microsoft Windows, Mac, and mobile operating systems:

• Windows 11
• Windows 10
• Windows 8.1
• Windows 7 SP1
• Ventura
• Monterey
• Big Sur
• Catalina
• Mojave
• Android OS 5.0 or higher for phones or Android tablets
• iOS 11.0 or higher
• iPadOS 13.0 or higher

Trend Micro customer support

We didn’t reach out to Trend Micro’s customer support, but we did visit the Help Center. It might be one of the best tech support centers we’ve seen. You can choose what kind of support you need directly from the dashboard. Once you’re at the Help Center, there is an entire library of helpful information. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, there’s the option to reach out via phone, email, chatbox, and even Messenger.

Trend Micro cost

If you want the most out of your Trend Micro subscription, the Maximum Security product is the one to get. Many of the additional features come standard on Maximum Security but not on the lower tiers. We don’t always advocate purchasing the most expensive option, but in this case, we feel it’s worth it.

While the Antivirus + Security tier is a great pricing option at $19.95/yr, we feel like you get the most value for your money with the Maximum Security for $49.95/yr. Even at that price, Trend Micro comes in at the lower end of pricing when you factor in features. Competitors like McAfee, Kaspersky, and Bitdefender are all comparable but might not be as feature-rich at the same price point.

Trend Micro plans and prices

Trend Micro FAQs

Bottom line: Is Trend Micro good?

Yes, we feel that Trend Micro is a good security product for home users. Whether you’re looking for simple protection or a robust security suite, Trend Micro delivers for a fair price. If you’re still not sure, check out our guide on the best antivirus for Windows. We want to make sure you’re using security software that checks all your boxes.

Learn More

On Trend Micro's website

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• Comprehensive security
• 30-day no-commitment free trial
• Can get pricey

Author Details

Mary James

About the Author

Mary lives in Los Angeles and has been writing about tech for over 5 years. When she's not writing for work or fun, you'll find her in a theatre, at the movies, volunteering, or hiking the gorgeous SoCal landscape.