Bitdefender

• Great features
• Cloud services
• Extra perks

This company promises excellent protection against malware, and it boasts the features and credentials to back up their claim. Bitdefender's technology includes social network protection, anti-spam, anti-phishing, and a powerful firewall. Though the product is downloadable, up-dateable antivirus software in the traditional sense, it combines those layers of protection with cloud services that flag malware and phishing attempts in Google and Bing search results. Perhaps because of this combination security approach, Bitdefender has been shown by AV-Test to have minimal impact on PC speed. Bitdefender's antivirus products have some extra perks along with computer security, such as autopilot setting configuration that prevents the need for pop-ups, secure online storage, and remote settings management. The company recently came out with the first antivirus product specifically designed for the Windows 8 and 8.1 interface. Bitdefender also offers excellent cloud security for businesses, with no hardware costs.

• Free version is limited

While Bitdefender's free antivirus products offer top-notch protection, these free versions only offer on-demand virus scanning (versus continual, real-time scanning). For that reason, you'll definitely want to purchase a paid subscription if your computer has a continuous connection to the internet.