ESET is a comprehensive antivirus suite with really good malware detection rates and an excellent host of additional features.
Avast can’t be trusted, as it was recently caught selling user data for a profit. You can learn more about the scandal here.
Avast vs. ESET — Final Verdict:
- 1st place: ESET.
ESET is better for malware protection, web security, features, ease of use, and customer support. If you want a comprehensive antivirus suite with excellent malware detection rates, then go with ESET.
We no longer recommend Avast due to allegations of its unethical practices involving user data. If you want a quality antivirus you can trust, go with ESET or one of our other recommendations for the 10 best antiviruses in 2022.
Avast vs. ESET: Malware Protection
ESET’s malware scanner is really comprehensive. It uses a deep system scan that looks for all types of malware, including trojans, rootkits, cryptojackers, worms, and spyware. When I tested ESET’s scanner by hiding more than 1,000 malware samples on my computer, ESET found nearly every sample.
However, because ESET uses a comprehensive deep system scan and looks in areas of your computer such as the operating memory and WMI Repository, its scan is a lot slower than its competitors. The full scan took almost 6 hours to complete on my computer.
That said, ESET includes really good real-time protection and a Host-based Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS) that managed to block all simulated ransomware attacks I tested against it.
We no longer recommend Avast due to allegations of its unethical practices involving user data. If you want a quality antivirus you can trust, go with ESET, or one of our recommendations for the 10 best antiviruses in 2022.
Avast vs. ESET: Web Security
ESET’s web security blocked most of the phishing website samples I tried to visit. It also successfully blocked more websites than Chrome and Firefox’s default protections. However, it blocked some safe websites and made whitelisting them quite difficult.
That said, ESET includes a really strong firewall and network inspector to keep you safe from web-based attacks. I particularly like how the firewall includes a range of filtering options that allow you to change the intensity of the protection. The network inspector lets you scan for network-based vulnerabilities, which is helpful if you want to keep yourself protected from network-based exploit attacks.
We no longer recommend Avast due to allegations of its unethical practices involving user data. If you want a quality antivirus you can trust, go with ESET, or one of our recommendations for the 10 best antiviruses in 2022.
Avast vs. ESET: Features
ESET offers coverage on up to 10 devices and includes:
- Firewall.
- Network monitor.
- System cleanup tools.
- Parental controls.
- Anti-theft protection.
- Secure browser.
- Advanced diagnostic tools.
- Password manager.
- 30-day money-back guarantee.
- And more…
I particularly like the advanced diagnostic tools, which let you thoroughly analyze and troubleshoot your system. For example, you can pull up a list of all running processes on your computer and cross-reference them with processes listed on ESET’s cloud database. You’ll see how dangerous a particular process is, how many other users are running the process, and when ESET first recognized the process. This is a great way to identify risks on your system.
I also like ESET’s anti-theft protections, which can completely lock down a stolen device and track its location. This is ideal if you travel a lot with your laptop or want to easily find your phone.
We no longer recommend Avast due to allegations of its unethical practices involving user data. If you want a quality antivirus you can trust, go with ESET, or one of our recommendations for the 10 best antiviruses in 2022.
Avast vs. ESET: Ease of Use
ESET is quick to install and pretty easy to navigate. You can access most features via a panel on the left side of the user interface, and when you click on a feature, it appears in the center of the dashboard.
However, ESET’s user interface isn’t the most intuitive, and while finding the features is easy, it sometimes takes more steps than necessary to set them up. For example, setting up a scheduled scan involves going into 4 different windows, while many competitors let you schedule a scan with one click.
ESET’s mobile app for Android is much more intuitive, and it includes some unique features the desktop version of ESET lacks (like a call filter and app lock).
We no longer recommend Avast due to allegations of its unethical practices involving user data. If you want a quality antivirus you can trust, go with ESET, or one of our recommendations for the 10 best antiviruses in 2022.
Avast vs. ESET: Customer Support
ESET offers email and live chat support. You can also visit an online knowledge base that contains helpful forums and product guides. I found these guides pretty informative and easy to follow.
ESET offers phone support, too, but only for business plans. When I contacted the phone support, I got through to an agent pretty quickly, and they were really helpful — but it’s disappointing the support isn’t offered for all ESET plans.
That said, I really liked the live chat support. It operates during US business hours and is offered in 3 languages (English, Spanish, and French). No matter which I contacted, I always reached a friendly and helpful agent.
We no longer recommend Avast due to allegations of its unethical practices involving user data. If you want a quality antivirus you can trust, go with ESET, or one of our recommendations for the 10 best antiviruses in 2022.
