Avira Prime Review: More Expensive Than Worth It

In 2024, you need better antivirus protection than what your operating system provides for free. That doesn’t mean you have to pay a hefty fee or sign up for a long-term subscription.

The best antivirus software is affordable and offers reliable protection and good customer service. I recently researched Avira antivirus solutions and reviewed Avira Prime to find out how easy it is to use and whether it offers good value for money.

Levels and prices

Avira offers a monthly subscription plan, which is quite rare for antivirus software. Most require an annual subscription. As you might expect, the annual plan is a much better deal.

Avira Internet Security for one PC starts at $7 per month, $35 for the first year (renews at $71), or $126 for two years. The price increases to $10, $97, and $172, respectively, if you need protection for five Windows or Mac computers. You get real-time malware protection, a free password manager, a VPN with a 500MB monthly limit, and a software and driver update manager.

The free version has many of the same features, but it lacks browser protection and customer support. This means you won’t get notifications when you download infected files. Preventing viruses is definitely better than cleaning them after your computer has already been infected. There are better free antivirus apps out there if you don’t have room in your budget for malware protection.

I tested Avira Prime, a premium version that supports mobile devices, includes unlimited VPN, and device optimization tools. Pricing starts at $10 per month for five devices, $60 for the first year (renews at $110), or $205 for a two-year subscription. For families, there’s a 25-device plan for $13 per month, $135 per year, or $260 for two years.

Avira offers a generous 60-day money-back guarantee on all paid plans, so you can try any plan risk-free and see if it meets your needs.

Design

The Avira Windows app installed in less than a minute and immediately offered a full system scan. It quickly checked for privacy issues, performance issues, and viruses.

When Avira started scanning for outdated applications, the process slowed down and stopped for about a minute at 78%. I started to worry that something had gone wrong, but the scan sped up to 79 and 80%, and after a few seconds it finished checking the network.

Avira found two outdated applications, 22 privacy settings to update, and flagged 520 registry entries in its performance review. I recently installed Windows 11 on this test PC, so I was surprised to see so many problems.

Regardless, I chose the big blue one Fix problems button. Windows updates were responsible for outdated applications, and most of the other problems were also related to Microsoft’s default settings.

With my computer secured, I began exploring the app. The default status tab showed a green checkmark, indicating that my computer was protected. On the security tab, I could start an antivirus scan, change protection options, see quarantined files, and check the firewall. Everything was in good shape.

The privacy tab was more interesting. That’s where I found settings for the included VPN, password manager, and more. The performance tab has tools for cleaning and optimizing your PC, but the initial system scan took care of those.

The app seemed simple and setup was quick, so I started testing its features.

Characteristics

The most important job of antivirus software is to protect your computer from malware. There are independent cybersecurity labs that constantly evaluate leading antivirus solutions, so we can see how well Avira performs.

According to AV-Test results, Avira has a good reputation, but it’s not as good as many other antivirus solutions. While Norton has had a perfect protection score since 2015, Avira missed several zero-day threats in tests conducted in July and August 2023 and had ongoing problems from 2016 to 2021.

Avira’s anti-malware protection has become more reliable recently, so I decided to test it myself. I visited Wicar.org, a site that hosts harmless files that can be used to test antivirus software. Avira’s Safe Shopping browser extension identified threats and blocked the download.

I also tested the VPN by selecting a server in London and opening the BBC iPlayer website. Unfortunately, it told me I had to be in the UK to use iPlayer, which suggested the VPN wasn’t working. Avira Phantom VPN Pro also has a server in Manchester, so I tried that and it worked. Sometimes you have to fiddle with the settings on your VPN to find a connection that unblocks geoblocking. However, the best VPNs are better at streaming.

Like Norton and Bitdefender, Avira Prime includes a password manager. I tested it and autofill worked as expected. I also created a secure note that syncs across devices.

Support

The Avira support center has a chat option, so I tried it late last night and an AI assistant named Mark responded immediately. He suggested several support documents, but none of them answered my question. Mark suggested opening a support ticket because no agents were online, adding that it might take longer than usual to respond due to the high volume of requests.

I tried again the next day during normal business hours. AI Mark responded, but when I needed more help, a human came in and quickly resolved the issue.

Overall, Avira support is good, but many other antivirus solutions offer 24/7 support, which can be important if you’re struggling with a serious computer problem.

Privacy and security

Avira states that it will not sell or share your personal information. I didn’t even have to dig through the privacy policy to find out because it’s on the Avira Free homepage. It’s also in the privacy policy.

I couldn’t find any records of Avira security breaches or privacy concerns. The company was founded in 1986, so it has a long history of treating customers with care.

Is Avira antivirus right for you?

Avira Internet Security and Avira Prime offer good malware protection, but they can’t compete with the best antivirus software in terms of price or performance. McAfee and Norton have cheaper annual plans and better antivirus records.

Monthly plans are great, but expensive. If you knew you needed extra protection for a short period of time, it might make sense to buy Avira for a month or two. However, AVG Antivirus Free may be all you need.

There is nothing wrong with Avira Internet Security and Avira Prime, but there are better and cheaper options.