Top 5 Free Antivirus for Windows 8 – 2013 editions

Windows 8 comes with a lot of new features, out of which one is the built in antivirus, Windows Defender. While it’s a good solution, most prefer dedicated security software. We recommend one of the solutions from out best antivirus 2013 for Windows 8 list, but if you’re not up to shelling out money for security, you better get one of the top free antivirus for Windows 8 detailed here. You might face compatibility issues with older antiviruses, so make sure to get the newest ones. The antiviruses here provide adequate protection, but if you’re looking for complete internet protection and additional features, we recommend going the premium way and getting an internet security suite or paid antivirus. Nevertheless, you should always have a security software installed. Make sure to check out our lists of security software for Windows 7 too!

Top 10 Paid Antivirus for Windows 7 – 2012 Editions

Top 15 Best Free Antivirus For Windows 7

The best 5 free Antivirus for Windows 8:

Comodo Antivirus

Comodo Antivirus was always known to be one of the good free antiviruses, and now it makes its way into the list of best free antivirus for Windows 8. It’s more suited to advanced users though. While it has an excellent malware detection rate, it falters in actually cleaning up the damage. Furthermore, if you decide to give it a spin, get ready to see a lot of notifications and prompts because there’s a lot of user intervention required. Bottom line is, Comodo Antivirus will keep you safe, but won’t clean up infested systems.

Download Comodo Antivirus

Panda Cloud Antivirus Free

Our next entry is Panda Cloud Antivirus, the lightest free antivirus for Windows 8. Just like Webroot SecureAnywhere, Panda Cloud Antivirus Free is cloud based and hardly stores any files on your hard drive. That means less slowdown and faster scan times. On the protection front, it detects threats well but again lags behind on cleaning them up. It’s a barebones alternative though, there’s no firewall included so it’s got less features than your average free antivirus solution. However, since it’s a cloud based antivirus, even the newest threats are accounted for, so you don’t have to worry about much.

Download Panda Cloud Antivirus Free

ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall

We know that ZoneAlarm firewalls are amongst the best in the business but this time, even their free security solution is noteworthy. Bundling both a good antivirus and powerful firewall, ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall offers all round protection, online and offline. Malware detection, malware blocking and online protection is excellent, but it unfortunately tends to slow down your computer a bit. If your daily computer use consists mainly of online activity, this is the best free antivirus for Windows 8 you can get.

Download ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall

avast! Free Antivirus 7

You can’t really mention free antiviruses without avast! in there somewhere. The updated version 7 of avast! is an excellent and easy to use product that provides good protection for well, nothing!  It does a good job of both detecting and removing threats and the addons like boot time scanning, online protection and automatic sandboxing suspicious programs only add to the deal. However, malware blocking could still be better and it can take a toll on system resources, specially during scans.

Download avast! Free Antivirus 7

AVG Anti-Virus Free 2013

No free antivirus list is complete without AVG and for good reason. AVG Anti-Virus Free 2013 comes highly recommended on our list of the best free antivirus for Windows 8 because it offers protection rivaling some paid products. The core antivirus is basically the same as the paid one, so it’s got excellent malware detection, blocking and removal rates. The online protection and toolbar is also pretty useful. You might have trouble installing it on infected computers, but it does a good job of keeping threats at bay. AVG’s new modern UI based interface looks good and is easy to use as well. One of our complaints was that this product scans your computer and gives solutions to speed it up, but to actually apply the fixes you will have to buy a separate product worth 39.99$. It’s a tad misleading, but we can live with that. Overall if you’re going for free protection, AVG Anti-Virus 2013 Free should be at the top of your list.

Download AVG Anti-Virus Free 2013

We’re aware that Windows 8 has issues with older security solutions, so those were our picks for the top free antivirus for Windows 8. Do leave us a comment and let us know what you think, and queries are welcome too!