AVG Internet Security Free Download 25.1.9816 + 2025

CONS

• Persistent upsells
• Single-device plan is expensive
• Did not prevent a ransomware sample from running at startup during testing
• Initial and boot-time scan are slow

Ever since Avast bought AVG Internet Security Activation Code 2025 their product lines have thoroughly converged. In most cases, any component that appears both in this suite and Avast Premium Security acts the same. Some features may have different names, however, and one product may have something the other doesn’t. It’s no surprise then that Avast charges the same rates for its one- and 10-device plans.

Kaspersky’s and Trend Micro’s internet security products both cost $79.99 per year but give you only three licenses. Bitdefender Internet Security starts at $59.99 per year for one license and charges the same as AVG for its 10-device tier. McAfee Total Protection charges $119 per year for unlimited device licenses.

Desktop Interface

If you’ve used AVG Internet Security 2025 free antivirus, this suite’s user interface will look very familiar. It has the same dark background, white and mint-green text, and five panels marked Basic Protection or Advanced Protection. Of course, the three Advanced Protection panels (Hacker Attacks, Privacy, and Payments) are all enabled for AVG Internet Security users.

To modify the way any of these modules work, open them, and then click on the gear icon on the right-hand side of the screen. Alternatively, you can access each module’s settings through the Menu tab in the upper-right; you can also manage subscription settings, access more AVG tools, and get support here.

AVG’s Smart Scan (the default option) does a quick scan for active malware, but it also checks for unsecured browser add-ons, files with exposed sensitive data, and performance issues. In addition to the expected full system scan, AVG offers a Boot-Time Scan, for rooting out persistent malware.

Upsell Issues

AVG’s interface doesn’t shy away from upsells. For instance, if you want to fix problems found by the performance scan, you’ll pay up to $3.49 per month.  A little while after installation, a banner also appeared across the bottom of the main window noting that AVG discovered four privacy issues—all of which can be rectified with a subscription to AVG’s Secure VPN for an additional $3.99 per month.

To be clear, we still saw these issues pop up even with a different VPN running, which seems dishonest on AVG’s part. We also saw a pop-up for AVG’s anti-tracking add-on.

If you like what AVG offers in its tune-up and VPN product, you should just upgrade to AVG’s Ultimate edition. One thing AVG does not offer in this bundle, however, is a password manager. Check out our roundups of the best password managers and the best free password managers for your top options.

Shared Protection With AVG AntiVirus Free

Since this suite’s basic protection is the same as that of AVG Internet Security free download full version with key Free, we’ll send you to that review for the full details. Here’s a précis of our findings:

When possible, we refer to test results from four independent labs, MRG-Effitas, SE Labs, AV-Test, and AV-Comparatives. All four of them include Avast in their testing and three of four include AVG. Because Avast failed one of the grueling tests from MRG-Effitas, which omitted AVG, AVG has a better aggregate score of 9.9 of 10 possible points to Avast’s 9.6. All other test results came in unsurprisingly identical.

See How We Test Security Software

Like AVG Internet Security offers a special layer of protection specific to ransomware. Avast calls it Ransomware Shield; with AVG it’s Ransomware Protection. In both cases, this component prevents all unauthorized programs from making any changes to protected files. Bitdefender and Trend Micro offer similar protection against unauthorized file changes. Panda Dome Advanced is even stricter, blocking unknown programs from even reading data in protected user folders.

AVG Internet Security Download has added its Ransomware Protection to the free edition since our last review, so be sure to check out that review for specific settings. In testing, AVG prevented our utilities from creating log files on the desktop. Then, we tried to edit a file from the Documents folder using a custom-built editor; AVG flagged the program as suspicious, scanned it, and eventually determined it harmless. When we went to save the edited file, AVG blocked the change and required us to grant it access permission.

We did find a window of vulnerability, however. When we created a simple, fake encryption program that runs at startup and reversibly encrypts all text files in the Documents folder, AVG did not prevent this activity; apparently, it hadn’t fully loaded. When we tried again after waiting for AVG to start, it detected and blocked the program from running.

Protections Specific to AVG Internet Security

The rest of AVG Internet Security’s tools are distributed across three Advanced modules: Hacker Attacks, Privacy, and Payments.

Hacker Attacks

AVG Internet Security offers three tools in this section: a firewall, a password protection tool, and a remote access shield. Like any firewall, AVG Internet Security’s is designed to prevent attacks from both the outside and the inside.

Windows Firewall handles the former just fine and AVG enables you to easily set rules for how individual applications can access the network. Most people probably don’t need a personal firewall, but in any case, the combination of Windows’ built-in tool and AVG’s protections should be all you need.

The Password Protection tool helps you secure any passwords you’ve saved in your browser. It asks you to either allow or block access whenever an unknown app tries to make changes to your stored passwords. For more complete password protection, we recommend you install a password manager. The Remote Access Shield helps you prevent unauthorized remote connection attempts to your PC.

Privacy

You may think that your webcam is only active when you’re taking a meeting or letting your kids video-call faraway relatives. You may think that any time it’s active, the little light reveals that fact. But it’s not so. Webcam spyware can peer into your bedroom, office, or wherever the cam might reside, and do so without that telltale light.

Fortunately, AVG is among the security companies that offer protection from webcam spyware. AVG and Avast offer their Webcam Protection features to all non-free users.

Click on the gear icon in the Privacy section to configure your webcam preferences. In Smart mode, the default, AVG allows known and trusted programs to use the webcam, but asks your permission when an unknown program attempts access. At the Strict level, even trusted apps need your permission for each use. With the No mercy option, no apps get to use the webcam. ESET Internet Security, Bitdefender, and Kaspersky offer similar webcam protection.

Another option in the Privacy section is the Sensitive Data Shield, which is designed to protect any documents with important information, such as banking details. In essence, AVG runs a local scan on your hard drive to identify such files and then will block and notify you of any attempts to open, read, or copy them.

Payments

AVG’s Fake Website shield is the only option within this section. When enabled, this setting protects you from being redirected to a fake site as a result of a DNS attack.

Bonus Tools and Features

The AVG Internet Security suite shares a few other features with the Free AntiVirus version. We cover each of them in more detail in our review of the free product, but here’s a summary of the additional tools you get.

AVG offers a Chromium-based AVG Secure Browser which emphasizes security settings, though you don’t gain too much with this browser over installing the AVG Internet Security extension. That add-on provides tracking and phishing protections, as well as keeps you away from dangerous sites. There’s also the SafePrice browser extension that watches your online shopping and seeks better deals, but you don’t need a subscription to use that.

You can put the product in Do Not Disturb mode when using specified programs, so an antivirus notification doesn’t get you fragged. On the right-click menu for files and folders, you’ll find an option to Shred with AVG (meaning it securely deletes the item, foiling forensic recovery).

Improved Performance

Modern security suites don’t tend to put a major drag on system performance. Their creators know that if security gets in the way, users will turn it off. Still, adding security can have some effect on system performance.

When one or more layers of protection are ogling everything that happens in the file system, there’s a possibility they could slow common file activities. To check that possibility, we time many runs of a script that moves and copies a large collection of files between two drives, averaging the results. Then, we install the suite and repeat the test. That script took an average of 3% longer with AVG installed. That’s a vast improvement over our last test, in which AVG slowed down the process by 29%. A separate script that repeatedly zips and unzips those same files didn’t run any slower with AVG watching.

 Conclsion:

AVG Internet Security 25.1.9816 defends your devices with powerful antivirus tools and protects against ransomware, but its extra security tools may not be enough to lure away free users.