10-second breakdown:
Offering plenty of punch for the price, Panda Antivirus Pro is a great choice for users that don’t want to pay an arm and a leg but still want quality protection from something other than a free alternative.
The good:
Panda ranks with some of the best names in the business as far as antivirus protection goes. If that’s what you want for a price that is really a bargain, then Panda could be the best option for you.
When you purchase Panda, you’ll get access to protection for one Android device. A pretty cool feature for anyone who has an applicable smartphone.
The impact on your machines performance is minimal, which is awesome given the number of features and level of protection you’re getting.
The bad:
There is an added fee to have access to customer support which is a definite problem for many potential customers.
Anti-phishing only ranks middle of the pack according to most independent studies.
How it works:
Compared to the competition, at first, it might seem like Panda’s priced about the same. So what gives, why is it a steal? The basic Panda plans include a lot more than just protection, they bundle in features that only higher tier premium competitors include.
First though, let’s cover the basics. You want to purchase antivirus software to keep your system safe and clean, right? Panda Antivirus Pro has you covered, they submit their program for testing at independent labs and always receive high marks. You can rely on Panda to remove any viruses or malware it finds on your system and keep an active guard against new threats.
Although not quite the gold medalist, Panda also scores high on blocking malicious URLs. The same goes for phishing sites, if Panda smells anything off about the site it’ll warn you and if need be shut down a download.
What Panda brings to the table is a lot more than just basic antivirus protection. A cool feature that almost no one else includes standard is a process monitor. Basically, Panda watches all of the other programs from the shadows, taking note of how they use the internet. If it notices anything off, it’ll strike like a ninja and shut the rouge program down. It will take a little setting up, the first time you run the process manager it’ll ask you to verify all of your programs, but from then on out you’re fully protected.
There’s also a USB scanning process that runs automatically every time you plug a USB drive into your computer. Believe it or not, quite a lot of malware gets spread by victims plugging unknown flash drives they found laying around into their computer. Panda can put a stop to that though, it scans the drives before they are allowed into the system and if need be can even ‘vaccinate’ them if it finds something malicious.
Another handy feature a lot of the competition puts behind a paid wall is wi-fi protection. Panda’s wi-fi protection is a two-pronged attack. First, it can warn you if you connect to a wifi network that has any security concerns. This is especially useful if you work on the road a lot from coffee shops or fast food joints.
In addition, the wi-fi protection will warn you if an unknown party tries to connect to your computer from the network. If you don’t know what the device is, you can block it with the push of a button.
One other thing Panda offers at all levels that competitors don’t is a free installation to an Android device. In addition to the one computer installation you can protect your phone as well. Apps installed from stores outside of Google’s official Play store can have viruses attached but Panda scans for them similar to how it scans for malware on your computer and can warn you if it turns up anything suspicious.
One thing to note, Panda’s built-in firewall is particularly weak. Windows comes with one pre-installed, but if you were looking at supplementing your firewall with a more powerful one you might need to keep looking. Panda’s isn’t particularly strong and has very few firewall controls.
Panda offers 4 different packages for you to choose from. First up is Panda’s ‘Basic Protection.’ It sets you back $27.99 for one Windows PC and one android device for a one-year license. It will fully protect you with the usual virus sweeper, live protection, PUP remover and more. The only downside is that there is no Mac offering here, it’s PC only.
Next up is the ‘Advanced Protection’ package. It will cos $34.99 for one device for a year. Advanced comes with everything the Basic package included but also throws in parental controls, automatic file backup and a data shield to keep financial purchases safe. At this package level and up you can also install the program on a Mac instead of a PC if that’s your preference.
The third offering is ‘Complete Protection’ and it’ll set you back $48.99 for one device for one year. It comes with everything in the other packages and sweetens the deal with a password manager, file encryption, a file shredder and a computer tuneup utility.
Last but not least is the ‘Premium Protection’ package. It costs $66.49 for one user for a one-year license and as you would expect it comes with everything in the other packages. Premium comes with much nicer tech support, the technicians can log into your computer, and a virus removal guarantee. It also comes with 20GB of cloud storage you can access across all of your devices.
Providing excellent value for your money with many features you will only find in more expensive suites, Panda Antivirus Pro offers solid protection for the right price and is definitely worth a second look if you’re on a budget.
For complete rankings of all antivirus software, go here.
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