7 Best Light Weight Antivirus For Windows 10- Lightest Antivirus

Having the lightest antivirus software is a must nowadays to keep your PC protected from cyber threats without slowing it down. There are many antivirus tools available on the internet but they use a lot of system resources which makes PC slow.

The problem is very serious for low-end PCs. So, here I am going to help you choose the best lightweight antivirus software for Windows 10 PC. These virus protection tools have all the advanced features and don’t consume much system resources.

Note: All the tests that I have performed are on the free versions of these software.

Lightest Antivirus For Windows 10

While testing these programs I noted down the CPU usage, RAM usage, and Disk usage in my computer. I have taken screenshots that I will share below with the software description. 

Here, I am going to share a table with you. In this table, I have mentioned the CPU usage, RAM usage, and Disk usage of the entire computer. 

I am not going to share the resources used by the antivirus program only because each antivirus runs different services in the background which affects the system as a whole. 

So, I am sharing the total resource consumption of my laptop while I was running scans with this antivirus software. While performing the task the only programs that were open along with the antivirus were Chrome, Sticky Notes, and Notepad.

Antivirus Program	CPU Usage	RAM Usage	Disk Usage
Webroot Security	21%	61%	6%
Panda Antivirus	15%	55%	60%
AVG	10%	70%	72%
Avast	12%	71%	74%
Bitdefender	25%	71%	91%
F-Secure	27%	72%	99%
Avira	51%	66%	97%

7 Most Lightweight Antivirus Software For Windows 10 PC

1. Webroot Antivirus:

Free Version: Yes, 14-day trial version

Price: $19.99/year (50% off at the time of writing this software)

Compatible OS: Windows and macOS

Ratings:

• Safety Detectives: 3.1/10
• PCMag: 4.5/5
• Compareitech: 3/5
• Tech Radar: 3/5

Webroot is one of the most lightweight antivirus programs for Windows 10 computers. When you visit the official website of Webroot you won’t find the direct download link. You need to scroll down and click on “Try it free” and it will take you to a new page. Here you need to fill in the name and email id, after this the download will be started automatically.

Once the software is downloaded you need to install it by double-clicking the .exe file. After this, the software will ask you to put in some keycode. Go to the email that you entered before downloading this software and you will find an email from Webroot. You can find your keycode in this email.

It does not have a good user interface and it has low ratings from some popular websites. Still, I have included this antivirus software in my list because it scanned files more than other antivirus programs in the list.

This software does not have a completely free version it only provides a 14-day free trial version.

Salient Features:

• Protects you from insecure wi-fi.
• Safeguard your identity online.
• It blocks websites that could pose threat to your PC security.
• Webroot antivirus is lightweight and protects your system from malware and virus threats.

2. Panda Antivirus

Free Version: Yes

Price: $35.99/year

Compatible OS: Windows and Android

Ratings:

• Safety Detectives: 8.6/10
• PCMag: 2.5/5
• Cybernews: 4/5
• Gartner: 4.9/5

Panda Antivirus is a newer product among these big names. It was initially released in 2009 and it has reached a huge amount of customers since then. This is the only antivirus software that has a VPN service in-built. 

Panda Antivirus has 4 versions i.e. Free, Essential, Advanced, Complete, and Premium. The free version is the basic version and the Premium version is the most expensive and advanced version. Here I am going to discuss the features of the essential version-

Salient Features:

• It provides a limited VPN service (150MB/day)
• Panda Security can scan USB devices.
• It can also scan external devices and keep them safe from any kind of threats.
• This lightweight antivirus can protect your Windows system from all types of viruses.

When I installed this software it automatically downloaded the Opera browser without my knowledge.

3. AVG

Free Version: Yes

Price: $31.20 (AVG Internet Security)

Compatible OS: Windows, macOS, iPhone, Android

Ratings:

• Cyber News: 4.1/5
• SafeWise: 4/5
• PCMag: 4/5
• Trusted Reviews: 4/5

Another best lightweight antivirus software for Windows 10 PC is AVG antivirus. It is also one of the most popular antivirus programs. After I was finished testing this software I wanted to uninstall this program. But it gave me hard time uninstalling it. Because it was not completely installed, it was installing other programs in the background. I tried to end tasks with the task manager but it did not work. Then I disconnected the internet and then tried to uninstall it and this time it worked. 

Salient Features:

• Protect your PC from viruses, malware, and spyware.
• It protects your computer from malicious emails.
• AVG blocks links that could harm your system.
• This lightweight antivirus program puts extra effort to block ransomware attacks.
• Protect your webcam from hacking.
• Add an extra layer of security with an advanced firewall.

4. Avast Free Antivirus

Free Version: Yes

Price: $34.99/year

Compatible OS: Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS

Ratings:

• CyberNews: 4/5
• Forbes: 4.3/5
• PCMag: 4.5/5
• SafetyDetectives: 5.8/10

Avast is one of the most popular and oldest antivirus programs in the industry. Avast was initially released in 1995 since then it has achieved a lot of popularity and trust. Like other antivirus programs, it takes some time to install. So, be patient and let it install completely.

Salient Features:

• It provides robust protection against viruses and malware.
• Avast will protect your device over any wi-fi network.
• This lightweight antivirus program has a file shield option that notifies you about suspicious files before you open them.
• It also monitors the activities of previously installed apps.
• Avast can block suspicious emails.
• It protects you from opening malicious websites.
• This software will also notify you if any of your passwords are compromised (that are stored in your Google account).

5. Bitdefender

Free Version: Yes

Price: $34.99 for the first year (Bitdefender Total Security For 5 Devices)

Compatible OS: Windows, macOS, and Android

Ratings:

• PCMag: 5/5
• Safety Detectives: 9.6/10
• Forbes: 4/5
• Cybernews: 4.9/5

Another in the list of the best lightweight antivirus software for Windows PC is Bitdefender antivirus. The software has got better ratings on the internet compared to other antivirus tools. Similar to other lite antivirus programs it took some time to install on my PC. When installed it added 2 extensions to my chrome browser. One of these extensions was Anti-tracking which I want to keep.

When I was testing this software I found that the CPU and memory usage were fluctuating a lot. The fluctuations were very high these were between 20% to 70%

The free version only provides basic protection for better security you should use the Bitdefender Total Security which is the pro version. Here we will discuss the features of the pro version.

Salient Features:

• It will protect up to 5 devices including Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS
• Bitdefender also works as a robust parental control software.
• You can have a firewall to keep intruders away.
• The software will regularly monitor your microphone to prevent eavesdropping.
• Bitdefender has a dedicated ransomware protection system.
• Protect your webcam from hacking.
• You can also optimize your PC with Bitdefender

6. F-Secure SAFE

Free Version: Yes, 30-day free trial

Price: $34.99 for the first year (Bitdefender Total Security For 5 Devices)

Compatible OS: Windows, macOS, and Android

Ratings:

• PCMag: 3/5
• Trusted Review: 3.5/5
• Tech Advisor: 3/5
• TechRadar: 3/5

The software is not completely free although, you will get a 30-day free trial. You need to register on the official website to download the software. Just go to the official website and click on “Try Free” after this it will ask you to register with your email and password. On successful registration, it will take you to a new page. 

On this page click on the “Add Device” button and choose My device. After this, you need to click continue. Now the download button will appear and you need to click on that to start your download. Finally, the .exe file will be downloaded and you can install it to secure your device. 

Salient Features:

• It will protect your device from threats in real-time.
• Robust protection against trojans, viruses, spyware, and ransomware.
• F-Secure can secure your online banking and other payments.
• This is one of the lightest antivirus software that can block harmful websites.
• In this software, you will also find a nice parental control system.

I have performed a scan with all of the antivirus software listed in this article. None of them pointed to any malware except F-secure. F-Secure found 1 malware on my system, I am not sure whether it is malware or not but the F-Secure malware definition seems to be better than others.

7. Avira

Free Version: Yes

Price: $30.99/year (Avira Antivirus Pro)

Compatible OS: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS

Ratings:

• PCMag: 3.5/5
• Safety Detectives: 9/10
• Cybernews: 4.3/5
• Trusted Reviews: 3.5/5

When I installed this software It automatically added Avira browser safety, Avira Password manager, and Avira Safe Shopping extension to your google chrome. Of course, you will get the pop-up on Google Chrome whether you want to add these extensions or not. The only drawback that I found with this software is that it took too much time to install. 

Avira is one of the lightest antivirus software for Windows 10 PC, you can see the screenshot of the CPU and RAM usage below.

Silent Features:

• Blocks most kinds of threats like ransomware, virus, malware, etc.
• It can detect PUPs in your system.
• Avira system can protect your system from malicious websites.
• You can block ads while browsing.
• If you want you can forbid companies from monitoring you.

Conclusion:

These are the best lightweight antivirus software for Windows 10 systems. These lite weight antivirus programs will also work fine on Windows 11. I have tested all of the programs on my 64-bit Windows 10 system, None of them use much resources and did slow down my PC.

I hope this article helped you to choose the lightest antivirus software. If you like this article please share it with your friends. And for any suggestions feel free to use the comments section.