AVG Antivirus Review

Pricing

In addition to its free version, AVG offers two levels of paid antivirus security for a yearly fee. Each level provides a variety of different tools, and all three are available on the AVG homepage.

It was easy to start with the free version and simply step up to the level of protection we felt was right for us. It was also nice to know, though, that when we did buy a year subscription it came with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

If that’s not enough, you can also get a 60-day free trial from the AVG app. That’s a really generous offer, especially since antivirus brands don’t normally offer free trials, or if they do, it’s only good for 30 days. Just take a look below.

There are also a few tangential services AVG offers like identity theft protection, anti-tracking software that prevents data harvesting, data breach protections, and a secure browser option. You can learn more about these services in our guide to AVG’s pricing.

The Experience of Using AVG

Like we said before, we took the time to see what came in the free package before we went all in. Below, we outline both experiences.

Free Package

As soon as we opened the software, the main page laid our options out in clear, easy-to-understand terms. At the bottom of the screen, a button offered us an on-demand Smart Scan. Of course, we pushed that before we bothered checking out the other tools, and to our great relief discovered in under five minutes that we were virus-free.

We liked the Smart Scan feature as opposed to an initial full scan of drives, memory, and rootkits (or Deep Scan in AVG’s terms). It was quick and it immediately gave us an overview of our computer’s health. As we detailed earlier, it looked at not just malware and viruses, but also potential operating system and advanced issues (like our webcam being potentially vulnerable to spying).

That said, it may make sense to do a Deep Scan as well. The Smart Scan may cover a wider scope of potential issues, but the Deep Scan looks for malware in more areas, not just the ones where viruses normally hide. We did end up doing a Deep Scan later on, which took 34 minutes.

Other scan features include scheduled scans, wherein the app scans your computer at a scheduled time, and file scans, wherein AVG scans a specific file of your choosing. The latter comes in handy after downloading an email attachment or a file off the internet. Although the File Shield feature (more on this below) can detect potentially malicious incoming files, the file scan feature is a nice additional layer of protection.

Above the Scan button, the page displayed our additional options. To the left were our two primary tools, those that came with the free version. On the right, AVG reminded us of the three tools that were unlocked when we put in our credit card. The free tools included:

• Computer protection: Computer protection essentially means what it says. AVG kept a constant eye on the health of our computer, ensuring it was fine now and that it stayed that way. Selecting this icon opened another, equally user-friendly page detailing the various functions within computer protection, which we could turn off and on individually.
  • File Shield: This shield scanned every file either added to or opened on our computer. It made sure we didn’t download any nasty files in the first place, but just in case something did sneak past, it scanned all these files again each and every time we opened them.
  • Behavior Shield: This shield monitored all our applications, looking for any suspicious behaviors that might indicate something malicious at work.
  • Ransomware Protection: This tool walled off all of our files, ensuring they weren’t vulnerable to attacks from ransomware.
  • Network Inspector: Last, but not least, this tool scanned our entire Wi-Fi network and provided useful information about all our connected devices. Turns out we’d forgotten to shut down our Kindle after getting caught up in a mystery one night!
• Web and email protection: Web and email protection is designed to make sure we’re safe while we’re surfing and includes two more specific functions.
• • Web shield: AVG’s web shield kept us from logging onto any suspicious websites and blocked any potentially unsafe downloads.
  • Email shield: Meanwhile, the email shield kept an eye on our emails, making sure we weren’t exposed to unsafe attachments. Web and email protection: Web and email protection is designed to make sure we’re safe while we’re surfing and includes two more specific functions.

At the top of the main page, we discovered a drop-down menu with a couple of more tools, including a data shredder and a quarantine folder. The data shredder allowed us to permanently and irreversibly remove a file, a folder, or an entire disc from our computer. The quarantine folder, on the other hand, provided a safe place to store any suspicious files, completely isolating them from the rest of the system.

One of our favorite tools, though, was the Do Not Disturb mode. We gave AVG a list of which programs require our absolute uninterrupted attention: spreadsheets, for example, and solitaire. AVG made sure that when those programs were running full-screen nothing and nobody could bother us. No pop-ups: none. Not even, incidentally, from AVG itself.

Finally, the drop-down menu included a list of other AVG services to check out.

For free software, AVG is quite comprehensive. Notably, it includes ransomware protection and a sort of a real-time protection feature in File Shield, which are features often reserved for premium software. For example, Kaspersky’s free antivirus, one of the best free antivirus software, limits its features to just on-demand scans.

Of course, you have to consider how effective the free software is at detecting malware – here, Kaspersky really stands out, scoring 100-percent on our virus detection test – but if you want free antivirus with lots of useful features, then AVG is a strong choice.

Paid Package

In the end, we liked our free experience with AVG so much that we decided to go with its Internet Security package (there is also an Ultimate package). Once we keyed in the activation code, three more functions, located on the right-hand side of the main page, magically lit up as well, including more protection modes:

• Hacker attack protection: The three functions here made sure we were safe not merely from random viruses, but also from specific attacks from hackers.
  • Enhanced firewall: While the free version of the software offered us some basic protection against hackers, the enhanced firewall looked for more targeted attacks.
  • Password protection: This feature kept our saved passwords nice and secure, allowing us to autofill forms when we wanted but only when we wanted.
  • Remote access shield: This shield made sure we were impervious to unwanted remote connections.
• Privacy protection: We’re sort of rabid about maintaining our privacy, and these functions meant we had no worries on that score.
  • Webcam protection: This feature ensured no one could use spyware to access our webcam.
  • Sensitive data shield: This shield prevented snooping on our most sensitive documents.
• Payment protection: Finally, the paid version of AVG provided complete protection for all our online purchases.
  • Fake website shield: As part of maintaining our safety, the fake web shield made certain we weren’t taken in by any fake websites phishing for our credit card data.

We installed the package on 10 different devices; we have a lot of devices, okay? And as a bonus, it came with a VPN, a virtual private network that routes your online surfing through a third party server so that your browsing and even your IP address are shielded from prying eyes. If you’re interested in comparing AVG’s VPN to others on the market, check out our list of the best VPNs.

Putting AVG’s Virus Detection to the Test

Any antivirus software is only as good as its ability to do its job: stop viruses. That’s why we took the time and effort to download (but not open!) five files that we knew contained viruses. Of course, we made sure to check out a variety, from adware to Trojan malware. In the end, AVG managed to detect three of the five, a 60 percent success rate. We were alarmed at first, until we discovered that this is actually a pretty standard percentage for antivirus software. We tested over 40 different programs and found only two that managed to catch 100 percent of what we threw at them, believe it or not.

Our Tests

• XLSX file: First up, we tested AVG’s prowess with a spreadsheet file, Order.XLSX, a tricky little virus that would have tried to convince us to turn off our AVG protections so it could steal our browser histories, passwords, and email credentials. Only 34 percent of antivirus programs detected this one, so we weren’t terribly surprised that AVG failed as well.
• EXE file: Next we checked out whether AVG could spot RsBvabnsg1, a virus that frequently appears in the form of an exe. RsBvabnsg1 is better known as AgentTelsa, a remote access tool (RAT) that allows bad guys to completely take over a computer. Luckily, the majority of programs manage to catch this one, 66 percent, and AVG managed to also.
• DOC file: We find doc files to be especially pernicious since we do a lot of writing and files can sort of just blend together. We tested Reservation.doc, and AVG did manage to detect it. This was an impressive result given that only around 36 percent of all programs spotted it.
• XLSM file: AVG let us down again on this one, 97655499.xlsm, which usually shows up as an email attachment. Only 35 percent of antivirus software programs managed to detect it though.
• XLS file: Finally, we ran a check for BDO-1218.xls, an xls file that about half of antivirus programs manage to find. Here AVG performed well, detecting it with ease.

In the end, here’s how AVG measured up.

Lab Tests

Just to set our minds completely at ease, we also checked out how AVG performed in independent tests run by AV Test.3 In terms of protection, AVG received a six out of six. Under performance, AVG was also rated six out of six. And in terms of usability, they were awarded six out of six as well. Those are pretty good scores overall, but how about AVG’s virus detection?

We were more excited to discover that when it came to detecting the most recent viruses, malware released over the last month, AVG had a strong 99.9 percent success rate.

AVG’s Available Apps

We downloaded the Windows version of the software, but the AVG homepage offers a Mac version as well. In addition, our software came with extensions for both Chrome and Edge browsers.

In addition to its PC products, AVG also offers mobile apps. The Apple Store offers AVG Mobile Security, which we noticed has a 4.8 rating out of 5. Meanwhile, Google Play offers AVG Antivirus Free and Mobile Security, Photo Vault, which despite its lengthy name is highly rated at 4.7 out of 5.0. We tested Google Play’s version and saw right away why it’s rated so highly. The interface is just as easy to use as the PC version. Also, it doesn’t take up a lot of space, which is good since most of our phone space is taken up with cat pictures.

AVG’s Customer Support

We were pleased to discover that AVG not only offers solid customer support, but it offers a number of different options for support. First, there is a help file integrated into the program itself, which managed to solve most of our basic problems, explaining the software and how to make the most of its capabilities. In addition, AVG offers 24/7 phone support for its products, where we found the representatives to be knowledgeable and friendly. Finally, AVG has an extensive searchable database of community troubleshooting posts and a blog that provides useful tips on their own software and malware protection in general.

We were a little disappointed that there was no live chat online support option, but with all these other options, we never had a problem we couldn’t get an answer for. Even when we made that call at two in the morning just so they’d explain the difference between Smart Scans and Deep Scans, everyone was quite pleasant.

AVG’s Privacy Policy

Recently, Avast, which merged with AVG in 2016, was thrust into the spotlight due to their privacy policy, which we read ourselves. Certainly it is true that AVG does collect data on its users, something it makes clear in its privacy policy.4 That information includes:

• Name
• Email
• Phone number
• Username
• Password
• Card number
• IP address
• Billing data
• Subscription information
• Operating system
• City or country of device
• Browser type
• Network
• Service data like malware samples and detections
• URLs and referrers
• Usage statistic

Data collection of this type is actually pretty standard in the industry, and AVG maintains that it needs this information as a means of constantly improving its service. In addition, AVG does provide a means of turning off data-sharing, though this is not the default setting.

Overall, AVG itself hasn’t been in any serious controversies regarding privacy, and that’s certainly a good sign. We hope it can keep its relatively clean reputation.