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Is Kaspersky safe to use? In this Kaspersky review, we’ll share our testing results to help you decide whether this antivirus is for you.
Our Kaspersky review will also explore the full details of its pricing plans, pros and cons. Plus, we’ll share how it compares to the best antiviruses in the market.
TotalAV – Superb antivirus software for complete, real-time protection
What is Kaspersky Antivirus?
In addition, Kaspersky provides web protection features that can shield you from phishing attacks, store your passwords, and stop you from downloading malicious files. Besides its antivirus features, the company offers parental controls, a secure VPN solution, and dark web data leak monitoring.
Kaspersky has pricing plans for personal and business use on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices.
Is Kaspersky Safe?
It’s debated whether Kaspersky is safe. Kaspersky antivirus protection is provided by Kaspersky Lab, a cybersecurity company founded in Russia by Eugene Kaspersky – a former Russian military intelligence agent – and it has its headquarters in Moscow today.
Allegations of collaboration with Russian intelligence agencies led the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to ban its use by government agencies in the US in 2017. Senior staff at Kaspersky have included former KGB agents, so these seem like plausible claims.
This action led to a steep decline in Kaspersky’s reputation. In response, Kaspersky moved key operations and servers out of Russia. The company’s data processing and storage resources are spread around the world and are subject to third-party inspections to ensure the firm respects user privacy.
An additional issue, however, is that many businesses and consumers have begun to boycott Russian firms since the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Eugene Kaspersky has refused to condemn the conflict.
Following the invasion, the U.S. government began to warn American companies involved in critical infrastructure not to use Kaspersky software. Then, in 2024, the U.S. government banned Kaspersky Lab products in the U.S., meaning American residents cannot purchase or update the software.
Is Kaspersky Russian? It’s a global company with headquarters in Moscow and a Russian founder.
Is Kaspersky safe? The antivirus provider offers premium features and performs well under testing. However, negative publicity has made users wary of using its services and it isn’t available to Americans.
Check out our guide to the best Kaspersky alternatives for more antivirus solutions.
- Starting From $19.00/year
- Starting From $29.99/year
- Starting From $37.57/year (2-year plan)
Kaspersky Plans & Pricing
Kaspersky isn’t the most affordable antivirus on the market, but few competitors have more features. In this section of our Kaspersky review, we’ll break down the product’s pricing plans and what they offer.
Kaspersky splits its personal protection plans into three tiers, allowing you to just pay for the features you need. All its core antivirus features are available with the cheapest plan, meaning you only need to upgrade to the more expensive plans if you want extra features.
| Plan | Starting Price | Best Features |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | $38.49/yr for 3 devices | Real-Time Antivirus, Online Payment Protection, Performance Optimization |
| Plus | $52.99/yr for 5 devices | All Standard Features, VPN Service, Data Leak Monitoring |
| Premium | $74.99/yr for 10 devices | – All Plus Features, Identity Theft Protection, Expert Virus Checks |
Can I Get Kaspersky for Free?
Besides its paid plans, Kaspersky offers a limited free version to protect your devices from viruses. However, the free version lacks most of the features that make Kaspersky one of the best antivirus solutions, so its premium version is a much better option.
You can’t get the free Kaspersky antivirus on Mac, as it’s only available on Android, iOS, and Windows, but we encountered no performance or security issues using it on those platforms.
The full device scans are quick, and we saw no performance issues, meaning Kaspersky performs better than most of its competition Plus, we didn’t see anything concerning during our hands-on testing or receive excessive prompts to upgrade.
But is Kaspersky safe to use for free for all-around protection? Kaspersky’s free plan is seen as being safe, but we suggest using its 30-day free trial to test the product risk-free and get access to the full feature set.
Kaspersky Security Features
Although Kaspersky is best known for safeguarding devices from malicious websites and files, it offers a much broader range of features. In this section of our Kaspersky review, we’ll explain how its features help address your security needs.
Scanning
Although Kaspersky monitors your devices in real-time, looking for malware and online threats, periodically running either quick or full scans is a good idea. Kaspersky offers seven different device scans, giving you complete control over which files you want it to scan and a sense of how long the scan will last.
During our hands-on testing, Kaspersky’s Full Scan took just 20 minutes to scan over 100 installed apps on a Windows PC. That’s generally faster than the average time taken by antiviruses we’ve tested.
Its other scans allow you to scan a single folder or removable drive or run an application vulnerability scan, which lets you see which apps lower your device’s security. One of our favorite additions from Kaspersky is that you can right-click on any file or folder on your PC and scan it for viruses from the drop-down Menu.
We aren’t surprised that AV-Test gave Kaspersky a 6/6 score for malware detection in its latest tests, as we found very high detection rates during testing.
Performance Optimization
Keeping your PC free of viruses will help it run faster, but Kaspersky also offers another feature to speed up your device. The Performance Optimization feature can help you address problems that slow down PC startup and impact performance when you perform resource-heavy tasks.
For example, clicking “Quick Startup” will show you a list of all the apps your PC automatically opens when you power it up. Kaspersky will highlight which apps use the most resources, and it allows you to stop them from automatically launching with a single click.
PC Speed-Up is our favorite Kaspersky performance-related feature. It can help you de-clutter your PC by showing you unused system files, and it can find Windows registry issues you can remove with a single click.
Web Protection
Besides detecting malicious programs on your devices, Kaspersky will also block malicious websites. The feature isn’t unique, with many of its competitors hosting their own databases of malicious websites, Kaspersky impressed us with Safe Money.
Safe Money is a secure browser that scans payment systems for invalid certificates and suspicious processes. This can save you from having your credit card details stolen.
Whenever you’re about to enter your credit card details on a website, the software will prompt you to continue in Safe Money instead of your regular browser – and we found the feature to be very easy to use.
Additionally, Kaspersky also has an ad-blocker, which to stop intrusive ads from loading and third-party trackers from collecting your information online.
Kaspersky Antivirus Performance
Since Kaspersky offers a large variety of security tools, let’s see how well said features protect your devices.
Based on an intendent report from AV-Test, Kaspersky got the highest score: 18 points out of 18. This evaluation included three different factors: security, performance, and usability. And Kaspersky showed perfect performance at each one.
Additionally, the antivirus caught 100% of zero-day threats and stopped numerous malware attacks with 0 false positive warnings.
Due to its Performance Optimization feature, the software was very fast. Also, even though Kaspersky has numerous security features, the dashboard is very simple and easy to navigate.
Kaspersky Compatibility and Ease of Use
Kaspersky is highly compatible with numerous popular operating systems. However, we only tested the Kaspersky app on Windows, Mac computers, and Android, and iOS mobile devices.
Here are our findings:
Kaspersky for Windows
We had a very smooth and pleasant experience when using Kaspersky on a Windows device. The interface is fairly minimalistic, which is makes it easy to use and navigate.
You can expand your list of features on the screen; however, the main 6 will always be displayed on your screen first. Which makes running a quick malware scan that much easier.
Overall, Kaspersky has a very good Windows app, making it a strong candidate for one of the best antiviruses for Windows.
Kaspersky for macOS
Kaspersky’s Mac app interface looks a little different, compared to the Windows one. However, the functionality and ease of use remains the same for Mac users.
You can expect to find the quick scan and update options right on your screen. It’s that easy. However, one downside does exist: compared to Windows performance, Kaspersky showed slower results.
Kaspersky for Android
When it comes to Android devices, Kaspersky has a very sleek and functional app to offer.
From its core security technologies, you can expect additional features like a VPN, a password manager, privacy protection, and more. It’s also very modern looking.
Overall, the Android antivirus app is very functional, enabling users to quickly scan their phones for viruses, connect to a remote VPN server, and store unlimited passwords securely.
Kaspersky for iOS
Kaspersky Security Cloud for iOS looks fairly similar to the Android app. However, unlike its counterpart, the iOS app displays only the antivirus scan results on the home page.
All other features, like a VPN, a password manager, and more can be found in the Menu at the top left corner.
And while Kaspersky can’t scan iOS phones for malware, a vulnerability check can still be performed. That will typically notify you about any unconfigured built-in security measures, like a FaceID.
How Does Kaspersky Compare Against Other Antiviruses?
To help you determine which antivirus service best fits your needs, we’ve compared Kaspersky to its top competitors. Since we’ve tested each provider, we’ll point out their main differences with Kaspersky.
| Antivirus Software | Starting Price | Max Devices Supported | Real-Time Protection | Firewall | Top 3 Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaspersky | $38.49 for the first year | 3 | ✅ | ✅ | Quick, System, Smart, Custom |
| TotalAV | $19.00 for the first year | 6 | ✅ | ❌ | Quick, System, Smart, Custom |
| Norton | $29.99/year | 10 | ✅ | ✅ | Quick, Full, Smart, Custom |
Kaspersky vs. TotalAV
One noticeable advantage Kaspersky has over TotalAV is with the extra features it offers. TotalAV lacks Kaspersky’s parental controls, and its VPN offers far fewer servers and features than Kaspersky’s solution.
However, if you’re only looking for antivirus features, TotalAV is more budget-friendly, as its cheapest plan costs just $19/year, and it also offers excellent protection.
Kaspersky vs. Norton
These two antivirus providers have similar features and additional solutions, making it tough to pick a winner. While Norton is cheaper than Kaspersky, it doesn’t offer flawless performance and may slow down your devices while working in the background.
TotalAV, Norton, and TrendMicro are excellent choices if you’re looking for a cheaper but comparable solution. You can also check out our guide to the best antivirus software to learn more about other providers.
- Starting From $19.00/year
- Starting From $29.99/year
- Starting From $37.57/year (2-year plan)
Our Other Antivirus Guides
Going beyond our Kaspersky antivirus review, we’ve created guides to a wide range of other cybersecurity solutions. Since no antivirus performs equally well on every platform, we’ve highlighted the best service for each use case and device type with the following resources.
- Best Business Antivirus
- Best Antivirus for Gaming PCs
- Best Antivirus for Windows
- Best Antivirus for Android
- Best Antivirus for Servers
