We sometimes get asked why we do not test all AV’s out there. There exist several hundreds (maybe thousands worldwide, if we would count every rebranded security software or other various products providing some form of security).
We usually include around 15 of the most well-known AV products in our public consumer main test-series. Some other can be found in our single product tests, several more are getting tested only internally.
Below you can find a list of 25 relatively well-known AV vendors of consumer security products. We have strictly limited the number of listed vendors, all of whom should fulfil certain requirements. These include keeping the product and the company website up to date, being included in VirusTotal, being integrated in Windows Security Center, participating in independent third-party tests, and avoiding deceptive practices.
In recent years, the AV software market started to consolidate, so there are considerably fewer vendors than in past – several companies stopped their business, got acquired by other AV vendors or license now a third-party engine in their product instead of developing their own engine.
Vendors that currently hold an “Approved Consumer Product” (2021) certification by AV-Comparatives are written in bold.