Here’s the Deal

avast! vs Avira

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When comparing avast! vs Avira, the Slant community recommends Avira for most people. In the question“What is the best antivirus software for Windows?” Avira is ranked 7th while avast! is ranked 14th. The most important reason people chose Avira is:

I've used AVG Free in the past, and it seemed to slow my computer more than Avira does.

Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking

Common Questions

What is the best antivirus software for Windows?

What are the best free anti-viruses for Windows?

What is the best antimalware software for a new computer?

What is the best antivirus software for the Mac OS?

Pros

Pro
Decent anti-virus protection

Pro
Fast, and free version seems powerful

I've used AVG Free in the past, and it seemed to slow my computer more than Avira does.

Pro
Can install more components if you wish.

Optional installs include VPN, System Speedup, a password manager, browser extensions, and a hardened browser.

In the case that you've downloaded the Free Suite (not recomended), you can uninstall the above mentioned additional downloads with Avira's Connect app or any uninstaller utility software. This flexibility to cherry pick your extra software keeps the bloatware down somewhat.

Cons

Con
Tries too hard to sell you the paid version

Con
Too noisy

Avast! has sounds turned on by default. It also has a lot of blinky features of questionable use.

Con
Makes your system slower than usual

Even though scans are not being run in background, it will slow your system.

Con
Opt-out installation of Google Chrome

These advertising tactics are simply unacceptable.

Con
Selling potentially identifying user data

Con
Detection rate isn't too solid

Avast! is not the sort of antivirus product to give you peace of mind. In practice, it does miss some malware every now and then. You'll need backup virus protection, which raises the question why you should get Avast in the first place.

Con
Expires after a year leaving computer exposed to new viruses

Expires and stops updating after a year after which the user's computer may become infected by new viruses not covered by existing patterns.

Con
May interfere with hyper-V

Since avast has its own virtualization engine, it will cause issues with hyper-V.

Con
Unable to detect some adware such as FADE adware

Con
Blocks or causes issues on apps or games

Con
"Smart Screen" feature

When running an unknown application, avast will run it wrapped in a sandbox environment first for scanning, then kill the process and re-run it again. A lot of applications do not like this.