Which Is Better Sophos Or Avast For Mac

Sophos Home Free (for Mac), Avast, and Avira are among the other vendors offering free antivirus for macOS. However, like Avast, AVG is only free for noncommercial use. However, like Avast, AVG is. Sophos has less of an impact on the system than Avast, possibly because Avast has more features or maybe because Sophos is written better, I don’t know. In the latest test Sophos impacted system performance by 8.86 – 12.53% on various Intel Macs and 18.25% on a PowerPC G5 when performing a full system scan.

Activating Avast SecureLine VPN for Windows To open Avast SecureLine VPN settings: Click the Avast SecureLine VPN icon on the right side of the menu bar and select Open Avast SecureLine VPN. SecureLine VPN can be installed as a standalone application, without Avast Antivirus (Windows) or Avast Security (Mac) installed. If you are using Avast Antivirus on Windows, we recommend using SecureLine VPN as a component of Avast. Activating Avast SecureLine VPN for Windows If you use Avast Security on a compatible Mac system with, SecureLine VPN is installed by default. To install Avast Security for Mac. Avast secure line vpn for android.

1. Sophos Or Avast
2. Which Is Better Sophos Or Avast For Mac

When it comes to free antivirus for Windows computer, your friends will mostly recommend you either Avast Free Antivirus 2019, AVG AntiVirus FREE 2019, or Avira Free Antivirus 2019. But which one of them is the best? All are completely for free and offers plenty of advanced features. We’ll take a look at details on Avast and AVG.

Two biggest competitors, Avast and AVG, are today a single company. In October 2016 Avast acquired AVG company for $1.3B. From the end-user point of view, there is no change, both brands continue to coexist together. However, they use the same engine and technology in the background – the one from Avast. Feature-wise there are small differences, let’s take a closer look.

Feature Comparison Table – Does AVG Offer More Than Avast?

Both Avast and AVG are offering solid protection against viruses, spyware, malware, rootkits and even ransomware which is a big topic now. Plus you will be secured while browsing online, chatting on Facebook, or watching videos on YouTube. Also, they will protect and scan your incoming and outgoing e-mails if you are using an e-mail client like Outlook or Thunderbird. If you’re a gamer, you can relax – both antivirus solutions offer smart gaming mode and keep themselves silent.

With Avast you will get some cool features like Wi-Fi Inspector (formerly called Home Network Security), which scans your home network, Wi-Fi connection, and routers. An easy-to-use tool called Browser Cleanup for removing unwanted toolbars from your browser. Software Updater for monitoring the up-to-date status of the other software like browser, Java, Adobe Reader, etc. And you can ask your IT friend to fix your computer via the secured remote connection.

However, there are some differences. AVG offers spying and data theft protection controlling what kind of data you are sharing with the other applications, and File Shredder which can permanently delete your sensitive information, so they can’t be restored. A similar feature called Data Shredder is available also in Avast, but only in the top-tier product Avast Premier, not in the free one.

A big plus for AVG is that you don’t need to register or give out any personal information. You can just download, install, and keep using it. With Avast you have to activate the product within the first 30 days, and then once a year.

Impact on the System Resources – Which Product is Lighter?

We have measured the impact on the system resources using two ways:

1. How long does the computer to boot into Windows desktop while the AVG or Avast is installed
2. How does the computer perform in various areas (CPU, Graphics, Memory and Disk operations) while the AVG or Avast is installed

In the boot time test where less is better, it took only 28 seconds (on average) to load Windows desktop when Avast Free Antivirus was installed. The same operation took 33 seconds (on average) when AVG AntiVirus FREE was installed. Default boot-time without any antivirus solution in place took 20 seconds. So according to our testing, Windows loads faster with Avast.

In the second area, we have tested computer performance in various areas and impact of the AVG or Avast on the results. Test results (higher is better) were practically the same for both products, 2,116 points for Avast and 2,115 points for AVG. The default performance without any antivirus installed was 2,150 points. So the overall impact on the system performance is really low for both products.

Final performance test results are highlighted in the chart below. You can clearly see the difference between no antivirus and Avast or AVG present. Please note the vertical axis ‘Performance Score‘ is not starting from 0, but from 2,110 to clearly show the small differences.

Avast vs. AVG – Performance Test Results

You can find more details about how we tested in the ‘Additional Notes‘ section at the end of the article.

User Interface – Is Avast Easier to use Than AVG?

Avast user interface is really nice and clear. There is only one main action leading to the Smart Scan, which runs all seven Avast scans: compatibility, viruses, outdated software, browser add-ons, router issues, performance, and weak passwords. The green button ‘UPGRADE‘ (or ‘ACTIVATE‘) leads to a comparison table of Avast Free Antivirus and Avast premium product (Avast Internet Security).

The status is also indicated by color when green obviously means ‘You are protected’ (note AVG is using the exact same term). Also, you are assured that ‘Everything is up-to-date‘. The top menu is easy to navigate and structured in fours groups – Scan, Tools, Passwords, and Store. What is pretty annoying is the top menu disappears every time you go from the home screen and you need to click on ‘Menu‘ to get it back.

Same as AVG, also Avast is using the bottom space for the up-sell offers.

AVG user interface is quite busy compared to Avast. When everything is fine, you will see green tick marks with the message ‘You are protected‘. The interface will go red if there will be some issue. What is nice is when some of the shields are disabled, you will see immediately which ones as they will also turn in red.

AVG AntiVirus FREE 2019 – User Interface

The main tiles show you the status of the specific shield protection. If you are looking for a scan, it’s the less visible button ‘Scan now‘. The ‘Fix performance’ button sounds pretty interesting, but you need to download other product (AVG PC TuneUp) to actually fix the performance. The last button is for checking if the program is up-to-date, of course, the virus definitions are updated automatically. ‘Join us on Facebook‘ link at the top bar is very visible and somehow distracting.

Bottom of the interface is used as an offer space to buy or try for free the paid-for version.

Localizations/Translations – Is The Product Available in my Language?

Both Avast and AVG are available in plenty of languages, of course for free. But Avast offers many more.

Avast languages (46): Arabic, Belorussian, Bengali, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (United States/United Kingdom), Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Norwegian, Persian, Pirate talk, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil/Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu and Vietnamese

AVG languages (22): Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Turkish.

Popularity – Which is the Most Popular Free Antivirus? Avast or AVG?

The better product is, the most users it has. It’s simple as that. However, it’s not easy to say which is the most popular antivirus, if Avast or AVG. For expressing popularity we are using several, publicly accessible methods.

1. Official Sources

According to the official website, Avast is protecting more than 400 million users worldwide, but that probably includes also AVG users. The last publicly available number was 230 million users. AVG doesn’t state anymore how many users are using their products, however using simple math it’s around 170 million (400 – 230 = 170). Therefore we believe it’s safe to claim Avast has more users than AVG.

2. Antivirus Vendor Market Share by OPSWAT

OPSWAT is regularly releasing reports about the antivirus market share. Data are based on the OPSWAT GEARS software installed on the client machines. According to the latest report from November 2017, Avast is dominating the worldwide market with 18.48%. Followed by ESET with 13.97%. AVG is still reported as a separate company and didn’t make it into top 10 for June 2017, however, AVG’s share was around 4% in the last few months. It is also important to mention Microsoft for some reason is not included at all.

Avast vs. AVG – Market Share Report November 2017 by OPSWAT

3. CNET Download.com Ranking

Download.com by CNET is the World’s most popular download portal. According to its popularity rankings, AVG has more total downloads – almost 564 million, while Avast has ‘only’ 406 million. However, the recent trend shows Avast is slightly more popular, as it leads the last week downloads number.

Avast vs. AVG – Number of Downloads & Rating on CNET Download.com June 2017

Avast has higher editor’s rating– 4 stars (meaning excellent), while AVG has 3.5 stars (meaning very good). The user/community rating is also better for Avast – 4.5 stars, while AVG has 4 stars.

4. Number of Fans on Social Media Networks

Another way how to measure product/company popularity is the number of fans/followers on social media networks like Facebook and Twitter. Avast is leading on Facebook with 4.1 million fans vs. AVG’s 3.1 million. On Twitter, the leader is AVG with 216k followers vs. Avast’s 181k.

Avast vs. AVG – Number of Fans/Followers on Facebook and Twitter

Independent Labs Test Results – Will AVG Protect You Better Than Avast?

If you are looking for a more advanced comparison of antivirus protection, the best resources are the independent test labs. These labs are regularly performing various tests like how many viruses will get through the antivirus software, or which vendor offers better performance.

Selection of the most important and relevant test results is below:

• AV-Comparatives Real Word Protection Test Results (November 2017)
• AV-Comparatives Performance Test Results (October 2017)
• AV-TEST Avast Results (October 2017)
• AV-TEST AVG Results (October 2017)

As we mentioned the antivirus engine is the same for both products and that’s also visible in tests. In the latest AV-Comparatives Real-World Protection Test from May 2017, both Avast and AVG got 100% detection rate with 0 false-positives. Both products also scored the same score on the latest Performance Test.

Respected computer magazine PCMag gives both products the same rating of 4,5 stars in their comprehensive comparison of free antivirus solutions written by security expert Neil J. Rubenking. Actually, both Avast and AVG are their #1 recommendation for the free antivirus software.

Our current Editors’ Choice products for free antivirus utility are Avast Free Antivirus and AVG AntiVirus Free. Both get very good scores from the independent labs, and in our own tests as well. Both include some useful bonus features.

Neil J. Rubenking for PCMag

System Requirements & Compatibility – Will the Product Run on my Computer?

Both products will run on a majority of today’s computers as there are no special requirements. In fact, the system requirements are identical since the antivirus engine is the same. You just need to run a newer Windows than 2000, so at least Windows XP with Service Pack 3. Both Avast and AVG are also fully compatible with the latest Windows 10.

System Requirements for Avast Free Antivirus 2019

• Supported operating systems: Microsoft Windows 10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 SP1 or higher / Vista / XP SP3 or higher (any Edition, 32-bit or 64-bit)
• Processor: Intel Pentium 4 / AMD Athlon 64 or above
• Memory: 256 MB RAM or above
• Space: 2 GB of free hard disk space
• Please note that Avast Free Antivirus 2019 won’t work on Microsoft Windows 95 / 98 / ME / 2000 / Server, or any other operating system which isn’t specified above

System Requirements for AVG AntiVirus FREE 2019

• Supported operating systems: Microsoft Windows 10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 / Vista / XP SP2 or higher (any Edition, 32-bit or 64-bit)
• Processor: Intel Pentium 4 / AMD Athlon 64 or above
• Memory: 256 MB RAM for Windows XP or 1024 MB RAM for Windows Windows 10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 / Vista
• Space: 2 GB of free hard disk space
• Please note that AVG AntiVirus FREE 2019 won’t work on Microsoft Windows 95 / 98 / ME / 2000 / Server, or any other operating system which isn’t specified above

Test Conclusion – Both Avast and AVG are Worth of Trying!

Both products have their pros and cons. We don’t want to recommend only one of them, instead, we would like to encourage you to try both, and see if Avast or AVG will suit you better. Even they are offered completely for free, the level of protection you will get is comparable with the paid-for antivirus solutions. The download links are below.

From official AVG website

If you are looking for premium protection, check out our Internet Security suites comparison including Avast, AVG, Avira, ESET, and Norton (Symantec).

Additional Notes

Information about the product features has been obtained from the official websites of each vendor. If you believe we have stated something not correct, please let us know, and we’ll fix it immediately. Our intention is to offer a fair and fact-based comparison of each product.

For measuring the boot time we have used a free tool called BootRacer. We have tested AVG AntiVirus FREE 2016 (2016.0.7163) and Avast Free Antivirus 2016 (2016.10.2.2215) released on March 23, 2015. Both tests were performed on a Windows 7 Professional x64 computer with CPU Intel Core i7 @ 2.70GHz and 8 GB RAM.

For measuring the overall PC performance we have used a free tool called PassMark PerformanceTest which tests various areas including CPU, graphics, disk, and memory.

avast! Free Antivirus for Mac version 9

• Pros

  Certified by one independent testing lab. Free. Speedy full scan. Network security scanner. Password manager. Website rating. Active Do Not Track.

• Cons

  Poor scores in phishing protection test. Password manager includes only basic features. SiteCorrect feature did not work in testing.

• Bottom Line

  Avast Security (for Mac) delivers effective malware protection along with unusual bonus features. It tanks our antiphishing test, but this free utility is still worth a look.

For years, Mac users basked in the mystique of virus-free computing. It wasn't true, alas, and as time goes on we see more and more Mac-specific malware attacks. The situation may not be nearly as bad as for Window or Android, but prudence still dictates that you install antivirus protection on your Macs as well. Avast Security offers Macs protection against malware along with advanced features including a password manager and a network security scanner, all for a cost of exactly nothing.

Installation went quickly, though I did find I had to separately activate the password manager and the Online Security browser extension from the Tools page. You'll also find Avast's SecureLine VPN on that page, but it's not free like the others. When you click to activate, you get a choice of signing up for $2.99 per month or starting a 30-day trial.

The product's spacious main window features a large status indicator centered in an otherwise-empty white region, with a menu down the left side. It's a very different appearance from Avast Free Antivirus on Windows, which uses pops of purple and green on a dark gray background.

Pricing and OS Support

Like Bitdefender and Kaspersky, Avast supports macOS versions back to 10.9 Mavericks. If you have an antique Mac that for some reason can't even run Mavericks, consider ESET Cyber Security (for Mac), ProtectWorks, or ClamXAV (for Mac) all of which support versions from 10.6 (Snow Leopard) on. At the other end of the spectrum, Avira, Trend Micro, and Symantec require macOS 10.11 (El Capitan) or better.

Like Sophos and Avira, Avast offers full antivirus protection for free. Avast Security Pro (for Mac) costs $59.99 per year for one license or $69.99 for three. The Pro edition adds ransomware protection and real-time notification when new devices connect to your network. The free edition is strictly for non-commercial use; in a business setting, you must pay up.

Good Malware Protection Scores

When reviewing a Windows antivirus utility, I report how it scored with four independent antivirus testing labs. The very best products earn top scores from all four labs. But even if no test results exist, I can run my own hands-on tests using real-world malware and malware-hosting URLs.

It took years to develop my hands-on tools and tests for Windows. Most of them don't carry over to the macOS platform. Hence lab results become extremely important for my Mac antivirus reviews. Two of the labs I follow, AV-Test Institute and AV-Comparatives, test Mac antivirus, and Avast participates with one of them.

Experts at AV-Comparatives test Mac antivirus products using the latest macOS malware. They also evaluate each product's ability to detect Windows malware. Why? While a Trojan written for Windows wouldn't run on a Mac, the Mac could serve as a carrier.

Avast managed 99.9 percent protection against Mac malware. That's very good—better than most. However, Bitdefender and Kaspersky exhibited 100 percent protection. In the Windows malware test, Avast detected 100 percent of the samples. Most competing products also took 100 percent. However, Webroot only caught 75 percent, and Intego Mac Internet Security X9 got just 18 percent. Like most tested products, Avast received certification from AV-Comparatives for Mac antivirus protection.

Having one certification is good; having two is better. Bitdefender, Kaspersky, and Sophos are among the products that received certifications from both labs for Mac malware protection.

Scan Choices

Avast offers several scans to improve your Mac's security. A full scan on the Apple MacBook Air 13-Inch that I use for testing took 14.5 minutes, just a hair over Intego's 14 minutes, and quicker than the 18 minutes required by Avira. The average for recent products is 24 minutes, so Avast proved quite speedy. Norton is the current speed champ, completing a full scan in 10 minutes.

There's a separate scan for removable volumes, though you can configure the full scan to include them. I scanned a thumb drive containing my Windows malware collection and found that it quarantined 85 percent of them. For comparison, Avira detected 82 percent of these, while Sophos Home (for Mac) wiped out every single one.

There's no predefined quick scan, which makes sense given the speed of the full scan. The custom scan settings confused me, though. As with the full scan, you can add file locations to exclude from scanning, and configure it to scan Time Machine backups. But the full scan's settings include those options, and also let you include removable volumes and network volumes, while the custom scan's settings do not. Puzzling.

You can schedule a daily, weekly, or monthly scan if desired. Settings for a scheduled scan include two additional choices. You can set it to skip scanning if your device is running on batteries, and you can have it wake from sleep if necessary, to perform its scheduled scan. Avira Free Antivirus for Mac not only offers scheduled scanning, it defaults to a weekly scan with no effort on your part. Sophos skips scheduled scanning, relying instead on real-time protection.

Network Security Scan

The final scan choice doesn't look for malware. Rather, it collects information about all the devices on your network and flags any security problems. On my own network, the scan finished in just under three minutes.

The scanner correctly reported that my main router has an open port that could theoretically become a point of attack. It's true that the port is open, as my ISP uses it to run remote diagnostics when necessary. But that function requires a key that only the ISP has.

More interestingly, it found serious problems with a network storage device (fortunately, one that I'm not currently using). Not only does this device have numerous open ports, it's vulnerable to a buffer overrun attack. Avast advised updating the firmware; I just unplugged it.

The report also serves as a list of everything that's connected to your network, identifying each by name and type. It's similar to the output of Bitdefender Home Scanner. With both products, I found devices with names like unknown6542990b6483—not much help! Bitdefender includes an option to edit the name and type, and it remembers your edits in subsequent scans. I'd like to see that ability in Avast.

Excellent Phishing Protection in Chrome and Firefox

In the Windows realm, one thing that differentiates Avast's premium product is better protection against phishing sites, those fraudulent sites that imitate secure sites and try to steal your login credentials. The free Windows edition scored very poorly, while the premium edition did an extremely good job. Based on initial round of testing, the Mac product's phishing protection, both free and Pro, seemed to match that of the free Windows product, meaning it's not very good.

I learned later that Avast's phishing protection is not fully functional in Safari. The developers are working on making it completely browser-independent. In the meantime, they advise using Chrome or Firefox. Norton was also having problems during my original test, so I tossed those results and started fresh.

My phishing protection test uses URLs reported as fraudulent, but not yet verified. Typically, these are only a few hours old. That's important, because phishing sites are ephemeral. Once they've been identified and blacklisted, the fraudsters just create new ones.

I simultaneously launch each URL in Safari on the Mac and in a browser protected by long-time antiphishing champ Symantec Norton Security Premium. I also launch each in Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer, relying on the browser's built-in protection. If any of the five browsers throw an error message, I discard the URL. A true phishing fraud masquerades as a secure site and tries to capture your login credentials. Any URL that doesn't match that profile also gets junked.

I've written a Windows-based tool that handles launching URLs and capturing results. On the Mac, I copy and paste each URL into Safari and manually record the result. When I have enough data, I dump the five reports into Excel for comparison.

The malefactors that perpetrate these phishing frauds are clever. They're always devising new techniques to get past security software. That being the case, I report results not as hard figures but as the difference between the product under test and the others.

Tested using Safari's incomplete phishing protection, Avast's detection rate lagged Norton's by 32 percent, and Norton itself was having a bad day. All three browsers soundly drubbed Avast. When I retested using Chrome, Avast tied with Norton and beat the detection rates of the three browsers. That's impressive. Of the Mac security products I've tested, only Bitdefender did better, beating Norton by 5 percentage points.

While phishing is browser-agnostic, phishing protection is not. Bitdefender beat Norton by 5 percentage points, but its Windows cousin more than doubled that gap. Even Symantec Norton Security Deluxe (for Mac) didn't detect many frauds that its Windows edition caught.

Site Rating and Do Not Track

Like McAfee AntiVirus Plus (for Mac), Avira, Trend Micro, and several others, Avast marks up results in popular search engines with green for safe, red for dangerous, and gray for unknown. You can click to vote a page up or down. Simple!

Clicking the Online Safety toolbar button displays the status for the current page. It also lists all the elements on the site that can track your online activity, including analytics, social media, ad trackers, and more. By default, it doesn't do anything, but you're free to block any tracker or category. Websites are free to ignore the official Do Not Track header sent by your browser, but Avast's active Do Not Track feature has teeth. Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac offers a similar active Do Not Track feature.

Digging into the settings for Online Safety reveals a hidden gem: SiteCorrect. If you mistype a site name, this feature offers to change to the correct name. You can even set it to automatically make the fix, with no prompt. However, in testing, I couldn't tease it into action. I tried pyapal.com, pcmga.com, whitehous.gov, wallmart.com, and many others, with no reaction from SiteCorrect.

Basic Password Manager

Like Avast's Windows antivirus, this product includes a password manager. Where the Windows product invites you to install on Android, the Mac one suggests adding password management to your iPhone. On Windows, the password manager is integrated with the antivirus; under macOS, it's a separate app.

There's no limit on the number of devices, and you can sync your passwords between them all, macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android. Avast doesn't keep your passwords in the cloud. Rather, it uses your Avast account to authorize syncing data that's stored locally on your devices.

Once you've enabled syncing on a device, that device becomes an authenticator for adding more devices. The new device displays a numeric code, and the existing device gets a notification with the same code. If the numbers match, just click to approve. What if you lose all your devices? On installation, Avast sends an email with a recovery link; don't lose that email!

Sophos Or Avast

On each of your devices, you create a master password to protect the local password stash. The master passwords need not be the same, but who'd want the confusion of making them different? Avast offers advice on creating a strong password, with a color-coded line representing the strength of what you've typed. It's not easy to get all the way to green, but Avast doesn't require it. In fact, it accepted 'Password' as a master password.

Avast offers browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. When you log in to a site, the extension offers to save your credentials. If you come back to the site, it fills your saved credentials. Clicking the key icon in one of the fields brings up a menu showing all the credentials you've saved. And it handles two-page logins like what Google uses.

Avast doesn't use the typical menu of logins attached to its toolbar button. Rather, you click the button and launch the main application. Unlike the Windows edition, this is a separate app, not integrated with the main antivirus. Its main window is seriously tall and skinny, like something you'd find on a smartphone, and you have only limited control over its size. Clicking an item opens its details, with a link to open the site itself.

You can also use the password manager to sync and share secure notes between your devices. These are simple, unformatted text snippets, suitable for saving such things as locker combinations and non-digital passwords.

The left-rail menu offers simple icons to manage passwords and secure notes, and one to bring up the password generator. By default, it generates 18-character passwords using all character types. You can set the length anywhere from four to 30 characters using a slider.

Which Is Better Sophos Or Avast For Mac

Avast analyzes the strength of your master password when you first create it, but not when you update it. Avast Pro Antivirus on Windows can analyze your passwords, flagging any weak or duplicate ones. The free Windows edition used to include this feature, but it was recently enhanced and redefined as a Pro-only feature.

This password manager handles all the basic tasks and no more. Fancy features like secure sharing, two-factor authentication, and password inheritance aren't here. But you do get it along with the antivirus, at no charge, so if it does enough for you, go ahead and use it.

Worth a Look

AV-Comparatives certified Avast Security as an effective Mac antivirus. Impressively, it offers a network scanner and password manager, features often reserved for full security suites. On the other hand, the password manager handles basic functions only—nothing advanced. And while Avast earned great stores in my hands-on antiphishing test, that function currently works well in Chrome and Firefox, but not Safari. But the pros outweigh the cons. If you're looking for free Mac antivirus protection, give it a try, along with Sophos and Avira, and see which you like best.

For truly top-notch Mac security, you'll need to lay out some cash. Our Editors' Choice products in this realm are Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac and Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac. Both received certification from two labs. Both scored well in our hands-on antiphishing test. Bitdefender's AutoPilot mode means you can set it and forget it. And Kaspersky goes above and beyond feature-wise, with full-scale parental control, protection against webcam peeping, a network attack blocker, and more.

Avast Security (for Mac)

Bottom Line: Avast Security (for Mac) delivers effective malware protection along with unusual bonus features. Phishing protection only works well in Chrome and Firefox, but this free utility is still worth a look.