Avira Antivirus Pro

Avira already offers free antivirus protection, so what benefits come from upgrading to its paid–for product? The answer is: not many. The primary reason to upgrade is to gain protection against ransomware and browser– based attacks, but the results are mixed.

After setting up, you’ll be shown a somewhat basic screen with three large buttons: Security, Privacy, and Performance. Don’t get too excited though — most of the options behind the latter two merely point you towards another subscription tier: Avira Prime.

What features do exist perform adequately enough, with the exception of its web protection tool, designed to block malicious URLs at the network level rather than relying on a browser plugin. Here it’s less effective than even its own plugins, and far worse than others on test. If you need basic protection, Avira Free Security has you covered, but the paid–for Pro version falls short.