2025's Hottest Antivirus Apps: Stay Safe Online With These Picks!

More phones run Android than any other mobile OS, and there's a correspondingly large variety of malware for it.

These are the best Android antivirus apps we've tested to keep your devices safe.

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1. Bitdefender

Antivirus protection by Bitdefender Total Security's Android edition swept the testing labs. You can locate, lock, or wipe any protected Android device from the Bitdefender Central online console. You can even get a photo of a phone thief. This is also where you extend protection to your other devices running Android, as well as iOS, Windows, or macOS.

In addition to the expected protection against malicious and fraudulent websites, Bitdefender's Scam Alert flags shady links in texts and other messaging apps, its Account Privacy system checks your emails against known data breaches, and its App Lock protection for sensitive apps is more flexible than most. Password management and VPN protection extend to your Android devices, though VPN features are limited unless you pay an extra fee.

Pros

·Award-winning antivirus

·Protects Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS devices

·Online management and remote control

·VPN, spam filter, and parental control

·Vast number of additional bonus features

Cons

·Full VPN access requires a separate subscription

·Support for iOS is limited

2. Norton 360

Independent antivirus testers at AV-Test Institute and MRG-Effitas give Norton's Android antivirus excellent scores. Tested under Windows, its web protection did well, detecting and deflecting 99% of fraudulent websites and 99% of malicious ones. In an unusual twist, Norton's real-time malware protection reaches all the way into the Android Play Store and warns you before you even download unsafe apps.

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This is a fully cross-platform suite with support for Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS. Its full-powered, no-limits VPN works just fine in Android, as do the cross-platform password management and parental control apps. Other features include a detailed security scan of every Wi-Fi network you join, a check for insecure device settings, and a monitoring system that warns of dangerous links in texts.

Pros

·Award-winning antivirus

·VPN with no bandwidth or server limits

·Hosted online storage for backups

·Effective protection against dangerous and fraudulent websites

·Powerful, self-sufficient firewall

Cons

·Parental control unavailable on macOS

·Online backup strictly for Windows

3. Avast

Avast's Smart Scan watches for malware, warns of vulnerable Wi-Fi networks, and identifies junk files for cleanup.

VPN protection is now built into the main security app. As with Norton's VPN, it comes without limits on bandwidth or server choices. In addition, Avast includes quite a few features to keep your phone running smoothly and safely.

It can free up available RAM, reclaim storage space by deleting junk, and check both the safety and the speed of your Wi-Fi connection. The App Insights feature helps you manage app usage and privacy, and App Lock lets you put your most sensitive apps behind a secondary PIN.

Avast can check known data breaches to see if your email shows up, block unwanted calls and texts, tweak settings to reduce power consumption, and more.

Pros

·Excellent antivirus lab scores

·No bandwidth or server limits for VPN

·Protection for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS

·Enhanced protection, privacy, and performance features

Cons

·Protection limited on Android, more so on iOS

·Most features available in free edition

4. Avira

With most security suites, the feature set doesn't change appreciably after your purchase. But with Avira Prime, you get the Pro edition of every Avira product, including any apps Avira may add. Not all those Pro apps support Android, but you do get Antivirus Security Pro, Phantom VPN Pro, and Password Manager Pro.

Like its counterparts on other platforms, Avira first wants to run a Smart Scan of your device's security, privacy, and performance. As with many Android security apps you can locate, lock, or wipe a lost or stolen device, though you perform these actions from another mobile device, not an online console.

Avira offers typical Android security features, including App Lock to secure your most sensitive apps and Permissions Manager to identify apps that may have permissions that aren't appropriate. Its Web Protection component aims to keep you from accidentally visiting dangerous sites.

Going beyond standard features, the Optimizer feature helps you free up memory and reclaim storage space, Identity protection checks your email against known data breaches, and Microphone protection prevents eavesdropping. This Android security app is loaded when it comes to bonus features.

Pros

·Includes Pro editions of all current and future Avira tools

·Protection for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS devices

·No-limits VPN

·Cross-platform high scores from antivirus testing labs

Cons

·Lacks many expected suite features

·Dark Web Monitoring is available only in Germany

5. ESET

This cross-platform suite offers antitheft protection for Android devices and extends that protection to Windows laptops. Unlike most competitors, ESET lets you send antitheft commands using coded SMS messages. And it can automatically lock your phone if a thief tries to swap out the SIM card.

In addition to the expected on-demand malware scan and real-time protection, ESET can schedule regular scans. Its numerous additional security features include Payment Protection, which launches sensitive apps using enhanced security; App Lock, which puts your most important apps behind the protection of a secondary PIN; Security Audit, a scan that identifies apps with the most permissions, as well as security problems such as USB debugging enabled; Network Inspector, which both lists devices on your network and flags any with security problems; and Call Filter, to block unwanted calls and texts.

Pros

·Excellent antivirus lab scores

·Full-featured Android protection

·Small impact on performance tests

·Useful home network security scanner

·Anti-theft for laptops and Android

Cons

·Limited parental control

·Poor score in hands-on malware protection test

·Unusually annoying firewall pop-ups

·No enhancements for macOS

6. Trend Micro

Like McAfee, Trend Micro lets you activate protection on your Android by scanning a QR code. A new installation walks you through the initial configuration process, a process made lengthy by the sheer number of features. Once you've set up Lost Device Protection, you can perform the expected locate, lock, and wipe functions, but this app goes further. It snaps a photo of anyone who repeatedly tries and fails to get past the lock screen. You can even remotely change the PIN if you think someone has stolen or shoulder-surfed yours.

Pay Guard Mobile triple-checks your device's security and connection when you log into a sensitive website. Wi-Fi Checker scans the hotspot you're using for security problems. Social Network Privacy checks your social media accounts to make sure you've configured them correctly for privacy. Like Norton, it checks apps you view in the Play Store and warns you so you don't download any that are iffy.

Pros

·Excellent score in our phishing protection test

·Comprehensive Android security

·Unusually feature-rich iOS protection

·Protection for macOS beyond the basics

·Many useful security features

Cons

·Poor lab scores

·Substandard score in hands-on malware protection test

·Weak parental controls

·Upgrade doesn't enhance Windows or macOS security

Conclusion

We hope that our guide helped you make an informed decision. Before you start cleaning up your Phone, you should back up your files just in case — if something goes wrong, third-party apps will not be held liable for any permanently lost data.