AVG Antivirus Review 2026: Affordable Protection With a Catch

AVG offers freemium antivirus software with an impressive feature set that landed ranked among the best antivirus and best free antivirus programs we tested. I spent several days assessing AVG’s antivirus alongside its premium tools for device optimization, privacy protection and general security. Most of AVG’s tools were easy to set up and effective, with TuneUp being particularly helpful for folks who don’t know much about device cleanup.

AVG AntiTrack was also a standout tool, connecting to popular browsers in an instant and blocking all kinds of spyware. I even enjoyed using AVG Safe Browser, which provides a robust set of privacy-enhancing tools and some bonuses like a built-in notes app.

As for the antivirus itself, AVG’s performance was solidly in the middle of the pack, with resource usage and speed similar to Norton. You can use it if you’re interested in AVG TuneUp or AntiTrack — which other antivirus companies I’ve tested don’t have equivalent tools for — but I’d recommend Bitdefender over AVG for most people, as it uses fewer resources while still having impressive scan speeds. Bitdefender also offers more robust privacy monitoring and identity theft protection.

Furthermore, if you’re more privacy-minded, I recommend buying a separate VPN, as AVG’s VPN privacy is underwhelming. But if you want a free antivirus option, AVG could be a good choice.

AVG antivirus features, plans and pricing: Decent protection for numerous devices

AVG has several plans, ranging from a free antivirus option to comprehensive device security and optimization packages. These tools can keep you safe from various digital threats and help you keep your computer (or phone) in top form. You’ll also get the option to extend these protections to up to 10 devices, twice as many as the five devices allowed on Bitdefender or the three devices on default Malwarebytes plans (though Malwarebytes lets you add extra devices for an additional fee).

Unfortunately, AVG’s antivirus bundles don’t include the privacy, identity monitoring or identity theft insurance benefits offered by top cybersecurity companies such as Bitdefender and Malwarebytes. AVG recently introduced AVG Secure Identity — including up to $1 million of identity theft insurance — but, as of writing this article, AVG Secure Identity must be purchased as a separate subscription (starting at $90 for the first year and $100 a year after).

Another missing feature is a password manager compatible with popular browsers like Chrome and Firefox. AVG’s safe browser does include a password manager, but you’ll have to purchase a separate password manager if you want compatibility with Chrome, Firefox or any other non-AVG browser as well as individual devices, like Androids and iPhones

AVG Antivirus Free

Built for the average user with a low budget and simple security needs, AVG’s free antivirus gives you real-time protection, scan scheduling and various manual scanning options, plus basic device optimization tools for removing junk files and problematic apps. You can also set up alerts to inform you when passwords tied to your email account are exposed, allowing you to quickly take action to re-secure your account.

AVG antivirus free is supposed to be limited to one device, but you don’t need to sign up for an account, so you could theoretically use it for multiple devices — and it’s compatible with Windows, MacOS, Android and iOS.

AVG Internet Security

Created for those who want more robust protection from online threats, AVG Internet Security adds firewall protection to the antivirus. You’ll also get Web Shield, a browser extension that blocks malicious URLs, and Email Shield, which blocks suspicious email attachments.

The one-device version of AVG Internet Security costs $40 in the first year and $78 per year after. The 10-device version of AVG Internet Security costs $60 for the first year and rises to $100 per year on renewal.

AVG Ultimate

AVG Ultimate is designed for those seeking comprehensive optimization tools and enhanced digital privacy. You’ll get AVG TuneUp for enhancing device performance, AVG AntiTrack to block ad trackers and other spyware, and the AVG VPN to disguise your IP address while you’re online. However, AVG’s VPN — like most antivirus-first companies’ VPNs — lacks key privacy features such as split tunnelling and server obfuscation, so we recommend buying a separate VPN instead.

AVG Ultimate protects up to 10 devices and costs $60 for the first year and $150 a year afterward. 

AVG antivirus usability: Easy enough for anyone to set up

I found it intuitive to sign up for AVG Internet Security, install the software and start running scans. The online account dashboard is also user-friendly, most notably in its quick access to billing and payment options. There are a couple of things I’d change — like making it easier to download multiple AVG programs at once — but the overall experience is simple enough for folks with limited tech-savviness.

Account navigation

Signing up with AVG required just a couple of minutes, payment information and the creation of login credentials. From there, I was sent to the AVG account dashboard, where I was able to quickly access key information about my subscriptions, including payment settings and order history. This is a very different experience from the account management areas of other antivirus tools I’ve tested, especially companies like Bitdefender and Malwarebytes, which hid billing information in small drop-down menus. 

The other surprise is that only the online privacy services — the password generator and secure browser — can be accessed directly from this page. You’ll need to click through to the My subscriptions area to download AVG Internet Security, TuneUp, Safe Browser or the VPN. This is slightly less convenient than other antivirus companies’ approach of sharing download links in the main account dashboard, but I personally think it’s a fair trade for easy access to the billing center.

Installation and setup

AVG immediately sent me a download link for the antivirus after I signed up. The link had Avast branding, which was odd and might be confusing for people who don’t know AVG is owned by the same company. I was aware of this shared ownership going in (both are under the Gen Digital umbrella), so I clicked through and AVG asked me which program I wanted to install. Unfortunately, the question used a multiple-choice format rather than a checkbox format, so I wasn’t able to install all the programs at once.

I started with AVG Internet Security and had it installed in under 2 minutes. AVG gave me the option to install the Secure Browser at the same time, which was great, but there were no installation options for other AVG programs. I only found those after connecting AVG Internet Security to my account after installation.

I set the other programs to download in the background and opened the antivirus software dashboard. This area features large status displays for tools connected to AVG Internet Security, with a highly visible button for running a smart scan. A smaller Run additional scans link, closer to the bottom of the software dashboard, opens a drop-down menu with options for deep scans and various custom scan options. This drop-down menu also includes a scan scheduling tool that you can access without moving to a new page.

AVG’s Android app can be installed via a QR code and connected to your subscription with an activation key, which is helpful if your phone isn’t storing your passwords. The interface itself is straightforward to use, with a large button for running scans at the top, plus status displays and buttons for other tools like the junk cleaner and VPN.

AVG antivirus performance: Good enough, but nothing to write home about

Next, I tested AVG’s antivirus to determine its resource usage, both while running in the background and while performing active scans. AVG had little impact on my computer while running in the background, and while active scans used more resources, they were fast enough to have minimal impact on my day. 

Overall performance was similar to Norton, which isn’t surprising since AVG is owned by the same company. This makes AVG (and Norton) a decent choice for antivirus protection. However, I’d recommend Bitdefender first, thanks to its minimal resource usage and rapid speeds on all but the first deep scan performed during testing.

Note: I performed these tests on a Lenovo ThinkPad with an Intel i5 processor and roughly 50GB of data on the hard drive. Your results may vary, especially if you’re using an older machine. Conversely, I used a 5-year-old Motorola G Stylus to test the AVG Android app, so you may experience better results if you’re using a newer phone.

Background performance

I spent two days using my test computer with AVG Internet Security running in the background. AVG Internet Security didn’t noticeably interfere with my ability to complete routine tasks like browsing the web and editing images. Task Manager revealed that AVG Internet Security used between 0% and 3% of my CPU’s processing power and 100MB to 200MB of memory, suggesting that it won’t interfere with high-resource tasks like video editing or gaming either.

This puts AVG on equal footing with most major antivirus tools I’ve tested, with Bitdefender and Malwarebytes using similar levels of CPU power and memory. Even McAfee, which had the most resource-intensive scans, used comparably low resources when running in the background. So, while I’m glad AVG didn’t slow my computer down during everyday use, it’s not a major selling point.

Active scans

I ran several scans across my two days of testing AVG. Smart scans — AVG’s only quick-scan option — used minimal resources and reliably took 2 minutes or less, similar to quick-scan speeds of most antivirus tools I’ve tested. Deep scans used more resources (which is typical of antivirus software) but didn’t use them for long, with even the first scan taking just 8 minutes rather than the 20 to 30 minutes of initial deep scans with Bitdefender and Malwarebytes.

Smart scans take place in four parts: an operating system scan searching for OS vulnerabilities, a virus scan, an “advanced issues scan” which identifies security settings/tools that are enabled and a performance issues scan. Each portion of the scan took around 30 seconds, with the full scan wrapping up in 2 minutes — a speed consistent across all three of my smart scans. Resource usage was also light, bouncing between 6% and 8% of CPU power and hovering around 300MB of memory.

My first smart scan discovered one outdated app and one advanced issue — a security setting that had been disabled — and gave me the tools to fix them in a couple of clicks. The whole experience was very pleasant, especially compared to Norton’s smart scans that came paired with repetitive upsells.

I then moved on to deep scans. These had a larger variance in CPU power usage, starting at around 7% and building to 40%. This is also a bigger range — with a much higher maximum — than comparable scans with Bitdefender or Malwarebytes (with ranges of 7% to 10% and 3% to 6% for CPU power usage, respectively). Meanwhile, memory usage stayed between 100MB to 300MB, which is closer to my experience with other popular antivirus solutions.

What stood out about AVG deep scans was their speed. The first scan took ei8ght minutes, much faster than the 20- to 30-minute initial scans of Bitdefender and Malwarebytes — and slightly faster than Norton’s 10-minute deep scan. Follow-up scans took the same amount of time, suggesting that AVG uses more resources to improve its scan speed — a trade-off most people will find worthwhile. However, Bitdefender’s second and third deep scans took less than 3 minutes each, so I’d still recommend it over AVG, especially for folks with older or less powerful computers.

With my desktop testing complete, I moved on to testing the Android app. The first scan took around 2 minutes, with the second and third scans taking only 1 minute. These speeds are roughly the same as the scan speeds for other Android antivirus apps I’ve tested, including our top performers, Bitdefender and Malwarebytes.

Usability and performance of additional tools: Intuitive and effective… except for the VPN

While the AVG Ultimate bundle I tested lacked some of the features I’ve enjoyed in other cybersecurity suites — such as privacy monitoring and identity theft protection — the tools it offers are generally effective and easy to use. I especially appreciated the simple operation and advanced privacy tools included in AVG Safe Browser, as well as the option to protect yourself when using other browsers with AVG AntiTrack. The VPN, however, was a disappointment, lacking key privacy features like split tunneling and significantly slowing down my internet.

Safe Browser

AVG Safe Browser can be installed on its own or with the antivirus. Once installed, the experience is very similar to Norton’s safe browser. You’ll get everything a regular browser has to offer, plus:

• Security and privacy center where you can enable privacy guard (to block ads/trackers), web shield (to block malicious websites), a password manager and an extension guard (to block untrustworthy extensions). You can also activate the VPN here and fully clean your browser data with the privacy cleaner.
• Privacy guard with three settings for what it blocks, ranging from basic trackers to all ads and trackers.
• Side panel with a search area, a chatbot you can enter suspicious content into to determine if it’s a scam, a newsfeed based on your location (mine was all Canadian, but not hyper-local) and a note-taking tool. The side panel also offers access to mini-games reminiscent of basic mobile games (including matching games and solitaire) and a utilities section with tools like a calculator.
• Side panel customization where you can add quick links to social media sites, your email tool or other frequently used websites.

Outside of these tools — which can be hidden if you want to view things like videos in full screen — using AVG Safe Browser is similar to using any other browser with ad blocking enabled. The only surprise was the lack of a safe search tool that scanned links for various risk factors, something offered by Norton and McAfee. AVG Safe Browser uses Bing instead, with no easily identified modifications. This isn’t a big deal to me, and I like the safe browser overall, but some people may prefer an alternative with a safe search tool.

TuneUp

Like the antivirus component, AVG TuneUp can be installed in a couple of clicks and roughly 2 minutes. The dashboard features a large scanning button so you can immediately start identifying problems that are impeding your computer’s performance. I ran one TuneUp scan, which took roughly 1 minute, and found numerous ways to improve my device performance. Results were split into categories for things like general junk files on my hard drive and unnecessary files associated with my browsers.

Primary areas like the browser cleaner automatically delete or fix problematic files when you click Clean Now; these fixes took less than 2 minutes each on my computer. I then started on the suggested “helpful tasks”, where AVG recommended processes to disable and software to update. These areas let me manually select which processes and programs to modify. Additionally, the app uninstaller let me quickly view and uninstall programs on my computer, with a more user-friendly display than the comparable area of the Windows Control Panel.

The disk optimization area of TuneUp features a separate scan that digs deep into your operating system to find corrupted files and other issues that might be impacting your performance. This scan took around 2 minutes and didn’t find any issues with my computer.

TuneUp also provides a data recovery tool to help you restore lost, damaged or corrupted data. My data recovery scan took about an hour but only used between 3% and 7% of CPU power and 100MB to 200MB of memory, allowing me to continue regular usage during the scan. TuneUp found 23.4GB of lost files, mostly system files and app files. I was a little surprised by the sheer number of app files, since I haven’t put much other than the antivirus tools I’ve tested on this computer, but this is a good sign that if you’ve lost anything, TuneUp can find it.

TuneUp’s final tool is Data Shredder, which overwrites sensitive files with meaningless data before deleting them. So even if someone uses advanced techniques to restore your files, they won’t be able to access your sensitive information.

Web Shield and Email Shield

Web Shield and Email Shield are built into AVG Internet Security and automatically enabled on installation. They block harmful websites and email attachments you attempt to access through any browser or email client, running in the background without interfering with your day-to-day activities. However, they didn’t block any of the sites or attachments I attempted to access during my tests — not even torrent sites or attachments I personally found suspicious — so it’s difficult to gauge what these tools deem harmful or how well they’re working.

Web Shield also includes an enhanced firewall that lets you view and modify permissions for various apps. You can further protect yourself by establishing trusted networks, which allows your PC to be viewed by printers or other computers on said networks, and untrusted networks are not allowed to view your PC. All public networks automatically fall into the untrusted category.

AntiTrack

AVG AntiTrack can connect to some popular browsers — Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Firefox and Safari — to block ad trackers and other spyware in real time. I connected it to both Chrome and Firefox, performing the same tasks in each browser to see how well AntiTrack worked. A pop-up appeared in the bottom-right corner of my screen every time AntiTrack blocked something, which was almost every time I opened a new page. This was great for my purposes, but might be annoying for regular usage; thankfully, you can disable the pop-ups at any time.

AntiTrack also includes a comprehensive browser cleanup tool that disconnects existing trackers and clears your cookies, cache, browser history and more. Like the core anti-tracking tool, browser cleanup is compatible with Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Firefox and Safari.

The system privacy tools in AntiTrack provide additional protection by preventing your operating system and various apps from collecting or sharing your data. Other system privacy settings claim to let you hide sensitive files from others using your computer and improve your device login security, but it’s not clear how they do this.

VPN

AVG’s VPN, like most VPNs from antivirus-first companies, isn’t great for optimizing your privacy. While the company says it doesn’t log your data, the VPN hasn’t been audited. While imperfect, audits conducted by reputable third parties are crucial trust signals that we look for. Accordingly, we recommend buying a separate VPN like ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Proton VPN, Surfshark or Mullvad if you’re concerned about privacy.

Of course, privacy isn’t the only reason to use a VPN. Many people install a VPN to view region-locked shows on Netflix (or, in my case, to see US-based plans and prices for products I’m testing). I performed numerous speed tests with the AVG VPN set to servers in different locations to determine how well it might work for this purpose. Sadly, AVG’s VPN caused an average 26.12% speed loss across locations — less than other antivirus-first companies’ VPNs reduced speed during my tests, but still higher than our recommended maximum of 25%.

My speed tests established the following average speeds for individual locations:

My default download speed — how fast my internet ran without the VPN activated — was 544.42Mbps, which decreased slightly to 536.62Mbps when I set the VPN to my optimal server (located in Toronto, Canada). This speed loss grew incrementally more severe as I tested servers further away from my location, with the exception of France, where download speed was actually above my default. However, France’s results were skewed by high performance — over 650Mbps — in one test, with my other tests both coming in at around 500Mbps. 

This result for France was also unusual because VPNs typically slow down your internet connection, even if just minimally. However, we have, in rare scenarios, experienced faster speeds with a VPN enabled than without. For instance, you might be bypassing throttling or establishing a more efficient connection with apps and websites using a VPN than with your internet provider’s DNS servers. Still, don’t expect a VPN to improve your internet speeds in most situations.

Most of these results (apart from the high-performing server in France) were in line with our expectations; distant servers will almost always be slower than nearby ones. The problem lies in how significant the speed loss was, especially when set to Singapore, where the download speed dropped by over 50%. For a more reliable VPN experience across servers, we recommend one of our top-rated VPN services.

AVG antivirus security: Great antivirus protection, average privacy

I analyzed tests from third-party labs and reviewed AVG’s privacy policies to determine how committed AVG is to protecting its customers’ data. AVG received excellent security rankings in all of its recent third-party tests. Unfortunately, its lack of transparency reports or third-party audits for its VPN and the extent of its data collection were disappointing. There are also questions about the company’s overall data security and its connection to Avast, which has been involved in a lawsuit related to selling customer information.

Antivirus

AVG’s antivirus engine has consistently earned a 6 out of 6 security ranking from AV-Test since 2022. AVG also regularly receives awards from AV-Test and notably had a 98.9% online detection rate in September 2025, putting it slightly ahead of the 98.8% online detection rates demonstrated by Bitdefender and Malwarebytes. AVG’s online protection rate was even higher at 99.98% — slightly below Bitdefender’s 99.99% but ahead of Malwarebytes’ 99.88% — showcasing that AVG can successfully block most online threats.

The offline detection rate, which represents how effectively AVG finds viruses on things like USB keys, was a little lower at 97.4%. However, this still protects you from most threats. Furthermore, offline detection rates are almost always lower — Malwarebytes’ offline detection rate was just 94.7%, while tools like McAfee have offline protection rates below 90%.

VPN privacy

The VPN privacy policy states that AVG’s VPN will not collect originating IP addresses, DNS queries, browser history or transferred data such as emails sent while using the VPN. This means your online activity while connected to the VPN will theoretically be protected. An AVG representative confirmed that AVG’s VPN is no-logs, but stated that there were no transparency reports or third-party audits, key trust signals we look for when evaluating VPNs at CNET.

AVG’s VPN policy goes on to describe the data it does collect. Most of this is information any VPN will collect, as it’s necessary for the software to operate. Additionally, I liked that the company discussed efforts to anonymize identifiers, as well as let folks opt out of some things.

Overall, AVG’s VPN privacy policy is fairly standard fare. While it reaffirms the company’s no-logs policy, there are no third-party audits to back it up or transparency reports to show how many legal requests the company received and were complied with, so I can’t recommend it for even modest privacy needs.

Privacy policy

AVG’s privacy policy explains the data it collects, starting with the concerningly broad “personal data.” My main qualm here is the inclusion of personal data collected from third-party sources, including third parties such as marketing companies deliberately engaged by AVG to collect more information about you. This is one of the most worrying aspects of AVG’s privacy policy, as it gives them license to collect more information about you than I’d like. For a privacy and cybersecurity company, more respect for user privacy and data security would be nice.

The billing and account data sections are more typical, confirming that AVG stores all of the data it needs to keep your account active and manage your billing cycles. The product data section states that AVG stores basic information about your device, location, error logs and unsafe sites or apps. Product data is collected primarily to improve AVG’s effectiveness and efficiency. It collects communication data — information about your interactions with customer service — for the same purpose.

AVG says it will generally use your data only to improve its products and processes, but there are a few other instances where it may disclose your data, such as when a third-party payment processor is required to set up a subscription. AVG further states that it may disclose your information to service providers for customer relationship management, analytics and marketing.

The language around sharing information for marketing purposes is concerningly broad, but AVG does at least provide some examples, such as Salesforce for CRM and Google Analytics. Privacy-focused folks may still dislike this clause, but you’ll find similar clauses in most antivirus companies’ privacy policies, including Bitdefender’s. Some companies, like McAfee, don’t even provide examples of companies they share information with. Overall, AVG’s policies regarding sharing your information for marketing purposes are fairly average.

Additionally, AVG will share your data with public authorities in specific instances where it’s legally required. AVG’s headquarters are in the Netherlands, which is part of the Nine Eyes Alliance, meaning that any country within the alliance, including the US, can legally request this data. AVG also doesn’t say anything about anonymizing your data, which means it may be able to provide legal authorities with a considerable amount of information about you. Notably, the VPN is headquartered in the Czech Republic, which is outside of those data-sharing alliances. Moreover, the VPN theoretically shouldn’t be logging any information as per the company’s VPN privacy policy, but its lack of audits means you can — and should — be skeptical.

These information disclosure terms may not be ideal, but most are pretty standard in the antivirus space. I’ve yet to find an antivirus company that doesn’t disclose data to any third parties, though Malwarebytes doesn’t share information with as many third parties as most.

AVG antivirus customer service: Acceptable, but far from ideal

AVG offers a self-serve knowledge base and community forum for all of its users, plus 24/7 live chat and phone support for paid customers. The knowledge base was the best option, with simple navigation and comprehensive tutorials. Live chat support was effective, albeit a bit slower than other antivirus companies’ live chat services. Phone support, meanwhile, was difficult to navigate and felt deliberately designed to waste my time. If customer support matters to you, I recommend Malwarebytes for live chat support or Bitdefender for its quick phone service.

Knowledge base

AVG uses a simple yet effective layout for its knowledge base. The search bar is easy to see, and there are clearly labeled contact links near the top of the page and prominent links to support pages for all of AVG’s products.

Individual articles provide step-by-step instructions with lots of screenshots to help tech newbies complete various processes. However, I didn’t find a single tutorial video. While this is common among antivirus companies’ knowledge bases, it is frustrating for folks who prefer to learn through video. I recommend using Bitdefender or Norton if you want access to video tutorials.

Direct communication

Like Bitdefender, AVG makes you jump through several hoops before you can speak to a human. You’ll need to open the support center, click Contact Options, describe the problem you’re having and navigate past a list of recommended tutorials before you can see your contact options. While I understand the desire to reduce support staff’s workload by sending people with simple questions to the knowledge base, taking this many steps to get contact information is frustrating.

If you choose live chat from the contact options provided, a chat window pops up with an AI-powered bot to answer simple questions. This is another frustrating obstacle in the search for a human, but the bot did connect me with a person on my first request (rather than the three or four times I had to ask with Norton and Bitdefender). I had an agent “on the line” roughly 2 minutes later.

Unfortunately, the agent struggled to answer my questions. Each answer took 2 to 3 minutes to arrive and I had to clarify my questions several times before I received a resolution, bringing the conversation’s total length to around 12 minutes. While this is generally acceptable, it is longer than the live chat conversations I had with Bitdefender and Malwarebytes — and the experience was more frustrating as well.

If you choose contact by phone, you’re told to fill out a form with your order ID, name, contact information and a brief description of your problem. This is used to generate a case number, which allows AVG support agents to easily pull up your account information and see why you’re calling. I understand why they want you to fill this out, but it’s frustrating to be hit with yet another obstacle in my quest to speak with a person.

Worse, when I called I got connected to another robot, and the robot didn’t send me to a human on the first request. A human representative picked up my call immediately after the second request, but they had to forward me to the technical department, which resulted in a 2-minute hold. Thankfully, the technical department was able to quickly and comprehensively answer my questions, but the entire process felt cumbersome and was far less pleasant than my experiences calling Bitdefender and McAfee.

AVG antivirus value: Simple protections for reasonable prices

AVG’s plans are focused on providing core protections for the average user. AVG’s antivirus bundles don’t include the identity management and protection tools featured in high-end cybersecurity packages from companies like Bitdefender or Malwarebytes, but they don’t cost as much either. This is an acceptable trade-off for people without significant identity theft concerns, especially folks with more than the five devices allowed by Bitdefender or the three devices covered on default Malwarebytes plans, as AVG can protect up to 10 devices per user.

AVG”s free tier is great for people with one device and a tight budget. Still, AVG’s paid plans are slightly more expensive than alternatives from Malwarebytes, Bitdefender, McAfee and Norton, all while giving you fewer amenities. Those rivals offer plans in the $40 to $60 price range with additional amenities, like monitoring tools, password managers and a VPN. But AVG’s 10-device plan can cover more devices for less money than competitors, so if you need cheap multi-device coverage and largely want antivirus protection without other cybersecurity trappings, AVG could be a good choice.

AVG’s 10-device plan includes antivirus, TuneUp and Anti-Track, but it doesn’t offer the same level of comprehensive protection as similarly priced plans from companies like Bitdefender and Malwarebytes. Still, most other antivirus tools don’t have a direct equivalent to TuneUp, AVG’s optimization software. This can make AVG more valuable for those who want to improve device performance without doing anything complicated. AVG’s Ultimate plan is initially a solid value, providing a VPN, PC optimization software and a tracker blocker less money than you’d pay for similar offerings from Malwarebytes, McAfee and Bitdefender. But its high $150 auto-renewal price hike makes it a worse value in the future.

While this doesn’t affect the value of AVG’s antivirus bundles, it’s also worth noting that AVG Identity Security only costs $90 in the first year and $100 per year after. AVG Identity Security includes identity monitoring and identity theft insurance (of up to $1 million) offered in other antivirus companies’ top-tier cybersecurity suites. This means that if you purchase it alongside AVG Ultimate, you’ll pay just $150 for your first year and $250 per year afterward — similar to what you’d pay for the top-tier cybersecurity suites from Bitdefender and Malwarebytes.

AVG: Is it right for you?

AVG’s antivirus is a decent budget solution for the average person, with a free plan for single devices and affordable plans extending protection to as many as 10 devices. I’m also a big fan of TuneUp and AntiTrack, which are great for folks who aren’t comfortable with tech but still want to optimize their computers and protect themselves from third-party ad trackers and other spyware. However, AVG Ultimate’s lack of privacy and identity monitoring tools makes it inferior to cybersecurity suites offered by companies like Bitdefender, Malwarebytes and even Norton.

I also have concerns about how AVG collects and utilizes personal data, so I don’t recommend using AVG tools — especially the VPN — if you’re worried about privacy. Malwarebytes offers much better privacy protection. Bitdefender isn’t quite as protective of user data as Malwarebytes, but it’s still better than AVG.