“Kaspersky consistently receives top marks from independent antivirus test labs.” Best for Ransomware Protection: Avira “Avira is a great overall antivirus and security product.” Best Built-in VPN: Bitdefender “In addition to its excellent built-in VPN, Bitdefender also provides top-notch protection against malware.” Best for Privacy Protection: Malwarebytes “Offers an excellent level of protection against all sorts of adware and malware.” Best for Beginners: ESET “The best Chromebook antivirus for beginners due to its intuitive interface.” Kaspersky consistently receives top marks from independent antivirus test labs, and their Android product is no exception. Kaspersky Internet Security for Android will run on your Chromebook if it’s capable of running Android apps, and it has received high ratings from both AV-Comparatives and AV-Test for providing a high level of protection against all sorts of malware. In addition to stamping out malware with a real-time scanner that runs in the background, Kaspersky also includes anti-theft tools, anti-phishing measures, and even a web filter to keep you safe online. Kaspersky is also available for Windows, macOS, and iOS, and the same app will run on both your Chromebook and Android phone, so you can rely on the same antivirus suite to protect all your devices. If you store important data on your Chromebook, and you’re worried about it falling victim to ransomware, the best thing you can do is make sure that data is automatically synchronized to your Google Drive. Failing that, Avira’s ransomware protection can prevent malware from encrypting your data and then extorting you for the decryption key. Avira also provides an excellent malware scanner with real-time protection, automatically rates apps based on privacy concerns, protects your identity by monitoring data breaches for your information, and even offers a free version. In addition to the Android app, which works on Chromebooks, Avira is also available for Windows, macOS, and iOS. Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus is an Android app that runs great on Chromebooks, expanding out to a full screen interface that’s easy to use. Its key feature is a built-in VPN that provides you with 200 MB of traffic per day. Upgrade to the premium version of Bitdefender, and you get unlimited bandwidth and the ability to select VPN locations from around the world. In addition to its excellent built-in VPN, Bitdefender also provides top-notch protection against malware, an autopilot function that helps you patch security holes, and even a monitoring feature that alerts you if your email account is ever included in a data breach. Bitdefender is also available for Windows, macOS, and iOS, and you can run the same exact app on both your Chromebook and your Android phone. When you run the Malwarebytes privacy audit, the app provides you with an exhaustive list of permissions with specific information about which apps have been granted each permission. This provides a quick and easy way to see which apps can access your network, control your hardware, track your location, and more. If you don’t like what you see, you can revoke permissions or uninstall the offending app. In addition to protecting your privacy, Malwarebytes also offers an excellent level of protection against all sorts of adware and malware. The app provides real-time protection, which means it’s capable of scanning new files and apps in real time and identifying threats before they become an issue. Malwarebytes also has an excellent Chrome extension to protect you while you’re browsing on your Chromebook, and the main app is available for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. The ESET app comes with a free 30-day trial, but there is no totally free version. That makes it a good candidate for beginners looking to try out a fully-featured Chromebook antivirus without paying a bunch of money up front. In addition to an excellent malware scanner, ESET comes packed with a lot of extra features. Anti-phishing measures protect you from malicious websites, a network scanner can look for vulnerabilities on your home Wi-Fi network, and the security audit feature checks all of your apps to see if they pass muster. You also get a number of anti-theft features that are primarily designed with phones in mind. In addition to working on Chromebooks and Android, ESET is also available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Our writers spent 5 hours researching the most popular Chromebook antivirus software on the market. Before making their final recommendations, they considered 30 different antivurses overall, screened options from 30 different brands and manufacturers, read over 0 user reviews (both positive and negative), and tested 6 of the antiviruses themselves. All of this research adds up to recommendations you can trust.
