Best Antivirus for Windows 11 in 2026

Windows 11 already ships with an antivirus, so the question is not whether you need protection but what a paid suite adds and what it costs after year one. Every vendor below scored the maximum for protection in AV-TEST's July and August 2026 Windows 11 test, which means detection alone no longer separates them. Price, device count, renewal terms and extras do.

The renewal is where Windows antivirus bills surprise people. Norton, Malwarebytes, McAfee and Avast print their renewal price next to the first-year deal, and the second year costs between 1.25 and 3 times the first on the plans below. Bitdefender and ESET print no separate renewal figure, so their buyers should check the price at the first auto-renewal notice.

Cyberpresso data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, evaluated 867 security tools for its security ranking as of October 2026, and 5 of its 10 top picks offer a free plan. On Windows 11 the free plan that matters most is the one already installed, which is why Defender sits on this list as the benchmark.

A Windows antivirus is software that scans files, downloads and running processes for malware, blocks ransomware and phishing sites, and usually bundles extras such as a VPN, a password manager or cloud backup. On Windows 11 it either replaces or sits alongside Microsoft Defender Antivirus, which Microsoft integrates into the Windows Security app with real-time protection on by default.

How we compared: lab results come from AV-TEST's Windows 11 test for July and August 2026, which scored 15 products on protection, performance and usability out of 6 each. Prices, devices and renewal terms come from each vendor's US pricing page, read on October 19, 2026. This page reads published results and prices; it does not test the software.

The first-year price is a promotion on most of these suites. McAfee Total Protection Essential renews at $119.99 for five devices, three times its first-year price. Norton 360 Standard renews at about 2.4 times its first-year price, Avast Premium Security at about 1.6 times, and Malwarebytes Standard at about 1.25 times.

Over two years, the cheapest first year is not the cheapest suite. By our arithmetic on printed prices, Malwarebytes Standard costs $107.92 for three devices across two years, Norton 360 Standard $134.98 for three devices, and McAfee Essential $159.98 for five. Turn off auto-renewal in the vendor account after buying if you plan to shop again at year end.

Methodology: every price was read in US dollars on October 19, 2026, on the vendor's own page: Bitdefender Total Security, Norton 360 Standard, ESET protection plans, Malwarebytes pricing, McAfee Total Protection and Avast Premium Security. Lab scores come from AV-TEST. Ranking weighs lab results first, then devices per license, then whether the vendor prints its renewal price, then extras.

Two-year cost, by our arithmetic on printed prices (first year plus one renewal year): Malwarebytes Standard $107.92 for 3 devices, Avast Premium Security $127.07 for 1 PC, Norton 360 Standard $134.98 for 3 devices and McAfee Essential $159.98 for 5 devices. Bitdefender and ESET print no renewal figure, so no two-year total is possible for them from the page.

Per device in year one, McAfee Essential works out to about $8 and Bitdefender Total Security to about $12, while Norton 360 Standard is about $13 and Malwarebytes Standard about $16. Directory profiles for Bitdefender, ESET, Malwarebytes and Avast sit on Toolradar. Our Bitdefender pricing, Norton pricing and McAfee pricing guides cover every tier.