Even though Microsoft Defender isn't the best, you may be reluctant to pay for antivirus protection, given you can get it for free. As it turns out, quite a few companies offer free antivirus solutions, and some of them are quite good. Most purveyors of free antivirus protection also offer a premium, paid edition. In some cases, the premium edition includes features not available for free or offers VIP tech support. Others make the full range of features free for consumers but require payment for business-related use. The best of these free antivirus utilities outperform all but the top for-pay competitors. Avast One Essential is an unusual case. It's a free security suite, with support for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. It doesn't include all the features of the commercial Avast One, but it does quite a bit without requiring any payment.