which one is the best free anti-virus( avast or avira)?

General Topics
1

is avira better than avast?

2

Welcome to the forum Russell,
That is a very leading question and the best advice I can give you is this,
I’ve used avast! for over 6 years and am very satisfied and prefer avast!

I’m sure that if you asked this question in the Avira forum, someone might disagree with my answer.

They are both good anti virus programs but in my opinion, avast! 5 is the better choice. :slight_smile:

3

No.
avast is better.look at this comparison:
www.topfreeantivirus.net

4

what’s the expected answer when posting that on Avast forums, that Avira is better ??? ::slight_smile:

ps: now ask on Avira forums if Avast is better :smiley:

5

russell,

welcome to the forums,

well thats a loaded question, as Logo’s said, what kind of answers do you expect asking a question like that on the avast boards.

I suggest you research both, and try them both, one at a time of course. It all boils down on what the user likes and is comfortable with.

Sat

6
is avira better than avast?
maybe it is a trick question.......... 8)

if you give the wrong answer you are banned from the forum for 3 years… ;D

7

Avira has a better heuristic/generic detection. So it’s better on zero-day and a lot of vectors (specially executables).
Has an easier registration scheme.
Seems to be more stable, I mean, less conflicts with other security programs.

Has a very poor update scheme and annoying popups.
Has a very poor interface and it’s less configurable in my opinion.
Has a worse email protection and also less protection compared to WebShield.
Has much less languages (if any… don’t remember).
Does not have boot time scanning.

I think we must recognize the pros. I’m not biased or an avast fanboy.
If I have to choose, with closed eyes, avast!

8

Hi folks,

How many times did we have this question, and I never even gave it a thought,

polonus

9

The better program is the one that runs the smoothest on your system configuration.

10

I think it’s a good and valid question. We need to learn from the competition. Oh, at least, from some of the competitors ;D

11

Should be the guillotine . >:(

12

No…!!! ;D 8)
asyn

13

Avira has better detection, so objectively it is a better antivirus.

I did prefer avast but I have seen it fail many users, it has let things through. Sure no av will have 100% detection but time and time again I have witnessed a full scan with avast finding nothing but avira on the same system does.

So I have lost faith in avast.

14

No. This is not true. The detection rate must be looked at the real one, the infections on the real world for the users.
Avira blocks a lot of non-in-the-wild and other vectors present only on crackers/keygens.
They’re not available for all the users.
Has a very poorer detection on pdf, for instance.
Other point is the effectively update scheme, which Avira is much much much poorer.

15

I made that statement reflecting on my own experiences with avast and avira.

So to avoid any further confusion, based on my real world experience I believe avira has better detection than avast.

16

Hi forum friends,

The question is wrongly put and directed, because of lack of insight in the real threat theater of to-day…
The solution sought after should be that one what will make the machine more secure, and that is not this or that resident av solution to choose from, but rather just one resident av solution combined with a non-resident malware scanner like for instance SAS and/or MBAM. This to close the vulnerability window as completely as could be which either of the single solutions could leave slightly open just because of what their signatures are (and they do not protect against anything all the time)

polonus

17

Hi all…

I would agree with the above along with detection rates. :slight_smile:

Regards…

18

+ 1

19

I gave up with avast since v5 when my system ruined twice by two KNOWN malwares though i was using an updated avast (with its 6 different shileds) and Avira could detect them both with its simple software
in my opinion DETECTION is the most important feature in antimalwares and others are in the background
avast has more features and a much nicer software but its virus database is not comparable to avira and thats why their detection rate is somewhat different:(avira personal & premium has the same engine and database):

http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_retro_nov2010.pdf

http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/pua/avc_pua2010.pdf

20

That is an obsolete test!
They did not test avast! V6.0.1000