(unless its just my idea) i think most antivirus that have an option for paid subscription might be somehow try to make you start paying at some point, maybe "detecting" something, or no idea

so i am trying to see if there's any thats totally free without any antivirus paid option so that I don't have that suspicion

Thanks

 

You don't need anything more than stock MS tools. Nothing you get at the consumer level will be demonstrably better than Defender. Many of them are demonstrably worse.

No one but script kiddies in Russia are trying to haxor you in todays landscape, and they have neither the knowledge nor experience to pull it off anyway as none of those rudimentary methods are effective anymore.

The two primary attacks of any concern to we the commoners are ransomware and phishing. Since I presume you are not a corporation with at least 50 million in assets you don't have to worry about either of those.

Keep Microsofts tools on. Don't open links in emails from unknown senders. That's all you need.

 

Most people pay with their data. I used to have Avira installed, too; it doesn't use as many resources.

Avira Free Antivirus for Windows ----> www.avira.com/en/free-antivirus-windows

 

You are correct about phishing and ransomware being a huge portion of the malware most people run into. It mostly arrives via emails.
But there is plenty of nasty stuff out there which is not just some fat kid with a port scanner.

 

Sure there is plenty of stuff floating around but the basic securities built into consumer products have so greatly advanced that mere 'rabblerousers' can't do anything of consequence to your machine without your participation and the truly insidious stuff of today isn't targeting or spread like days of yore (for the most part). 0 day attacks are of course always a concern regardless of platform, but the consumer can't do squat about that 99 out of 100 times. 95% of all consumer retail antivirus software in todays landscape is at best unnecessary on a windows machine and at worst, complete garbage. Which is all I was trying to convey to OP, as Defender is all they need.

 

I'd also like to add that a full backup of the C: drive on a second hard drive is extremely important. Whether your screen freezes after booting up (BKA Trojan) or the Polyphonic virus is eating your data, you can completely restore your hard drive with the rescue disc from your backup program.

I haven't had antivirus software for some time. Defender is uninstalled, and I surf the world without virus protection. But not on dubious websites; my browser warns me in time that the site isn't secure...! Virus software often gives you a false sense of security and also slows down your PC.

 

Last edited: Jun 17, 2025 at 1:17 PM

Without offering paid products is virtually impossible - there's ClamAV, but that's not very good. I've been using Panda Dome Free (Spain/France, so covered by the GDPR) for 8+ years now and it literally has never ever given me any popups or ads or distractions of any kind after the initial setup (= toggle off News and VPN). Its detection rate is negligibly worse (~1-2%) than MS Defender, but it uses considerably less RAM, CPU, disk (which is why I installed it in the first place).

I don't know if new accounts get the same Panda Dome Free deal I got all those years ago though.

If you don't care about RAM/CPU/disk usage, Defender is perfectly good.