TotalAV review: Pros and cons
TotalAV is a decent choice for users seeking affordable pricing, robust malware detection, additional privacy protection, and 2GB of cloud storage. The service is now considered one of the most effective antiviruses for Windows and Android. However, Mac users may prefer an alternative.
Below, I’ve listed my top pros and cons based on careful testing and analysis:
What I liked about TotalAV:
- Effective malware detection and removal: TotalAV offers high malware detection rates. It can effectively scan devices and accurately detect harmful files and programs. The scans run efficiently when scheduled or on-demand.
- Top scores awarded by independent testing labs: TotalAV has received impressive scores from testing labs like AV-Test Institute and AV-Comparatives. In the most recent December 2024 evaluation by AV-TEST, TotalAV received perfect scores of 6/6 for protection, performance, and usability.
- Useful digital security suite: TotalAV includes features that not all antivirus programs offer. This includes privacy and online protection features designed to prevent tracking and phishing.
- User-friendly interface: TotalAV is excellent for beginners. It is easy to use and has little impact on device performance. The apps are easy to navigate across different devices and platforms. Plus, the customer support is outstanding via live chat.
- Real-time protection: TotalAV offers real-time protection. It actively scans all incoming files and programs as you download, open, or create them. This prevents you from downloading threats long before you ever need to remove them.
- Additional features: TotalAV offers a range of extra features, such as a VPN, system tune-up tools, a password manager, and an ad blocker.
- No false positives: TotalAV resulted in zero false positives out of the 1,022,137 samples it was tested with. This puts it in line with the very best antiviruses on the market.
What I didn’t like about TotalAV:
- Renewal rate: Although TotalAV offers unbeatable value for money in the first year, the renewal rate significantly increases the cost. Auto-renewal is automatically switched on by default, so you must switch it off to avoid paying more.
- Lack of behavior-based detection: TotalAV lacks heuristic analysis. This type of malware prevention uses behavioral pattern analysis rather than signature-based malware detection.
- No firewall: Some antiviruses come with an advanced firewall that scans outgoing and incoming traffic. This can allow the antivirus program to detect traffic from trojans. Always remember to enable your system-level firewall.
- Mac antivirus is slightly less robust: The Mac version of TotalAV was still decent but not as powerful as the version for Windows and Android.