Eset vs Avast Antivirus (2018 Comparison)

We’ve been asked by our readers to look into Eset Smart Security Premium and Avast Premier as they are really great antivirus products, with each doing very well as antivirus suites. But how do they do when compared against each other?

Let’s find out.

To really check how good they were, we looked at their malware detection skills, their unique feature sets that set them apart as well as seeing how running those antivirus suites affected our computers’ performance. We also closely scrutinized their UI, because user friendly programs are the way of the future.

After looking at how well it performs in terms of finding and removing malware as well as checking out the system’s performance with Eset vs Avast, we found out that Avast, priced at $79.99/ year is our overall winner.

The Winner of The Battle: Eset vs Avast

The BlueGadgetTooth team declares Avast to be the winner of the battle in Eset vs Avast. The well designed user interface, combined with clean lines, simplified installation process, minor adverse effect on system’s performance as compared to Eset and the sheer security feature set makes Avast a winner.

Of course, the actual test results which reveal Avast to be a better choice should also sway people looking for a great antivirus program in Avast’s favour.

Avast: Knowing More

Avast is hugely popular, holding the market’s lion share for antivirus applications. An internet security behemoth, Avast has many products for Windows, Mac and Android users, with applications for mobiles, businesses and home usage. It offers both free and paid versions of its antivirus software, computer security programs, firewall, anti-spyware programs and many more.

Eset: Knowing More

An IT security company based in Bratislava, Slovakia, ESET was founded in 1992 and has been the recipient of many awards. Interestingly, the name ESET was adopted by Miroslav Trnka, Peter Paško and Rudolf Hrubý, taking the name of the Egyptian goddess of love, marriage and health.

It has a huge arsenal of antivirus and computer security programs in its inventory, all of which have been highly lauded by security market critics.

Which Independent Testing Labs Do We Trust

When testing and reviewing our antivirus suites, we highly trust the test results of two independent testing labs – av-comparatives.org and av-test.org. They are known to test multiple popular antivirus programs, bombarding them with tens of thousands of malware, ranging from the current, most popular, and most commonly found malware to check which antivirus suites are the most successful in keeping these malware at bay.

There’s only so much the BlueGadgetTooth team can do, and if we review these security suites, we want to be able to give you the best and unbiased test results, so you get the most well informed choice on which is better – Eset vs Avast.

We checked with the latest test results from AV-Test and AV-Comparatives to check for malware detection rates of Eset vs Avast.

The results revealed that Avast could detect 97.5% while offline, increasing to 99.3% when online, with Online Detection rate standing at an impressive 99.9%. Eset did marginally lower than Avast, scoring a constant 97.2% offline and online detection rate. At least it is constant whether your device is offline or online. The Online Protection rate was also marginally lower, standing at 99.86%.

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However, Eset fared better with the best score in false positives, with a big 0. Yes, Eset was the only antivirus security program to get 0 false positives. On the other hand, Avast managed to get 9 false positives.

Then we looked at just how many malware compromised the systems. At AV-comparatives, the security programs are bombarded with 20011 malware and Avast scored a near perfect 99.9%, with only 2 compromising the system. Eset was compromised by 28 malware, which is not a good thing at all.

Taking a closer look at the real world protection rates – because in the end, real world results are what matter.

Eset seems pretty thorough in its scans, taking hours to complete, but reaching through the innermost parts of my computer system to reveal possible threats. I like that.

Winner of Round One: The results showed us one true winner – Avast. Even one malware compromising your system is enough to cause untold damage, why would you want to take a chance with letting 28 get through? The obvious choice for this round’s winner in Eset vs Avast was Avast, scoring near perfect test results.

The installation process for Avast was admittedly simple, to the point, and extremely user friendly. The step by step process is shared below – but what I really liked was the simple unobtrusive notification window at the bottom right hand corner of my screen. Enough to keep you informed that the process is underway, without taking up your entire screen unlike other security applications.

The whole set up process probably took around 15 minutes, which isn’t bad at all, and in no way interfered with my ongoing work as it was getting installed. What I really like about Avast is the almost minimalistic approach to design and user interface of the program.

The installation process doesn’t need me while it is downloading and getting set up, so it stays out of my way and goes to a corner of my screen, where it quietly does its thing. Once the set up process is complete, the window automatically shuts and you have to click on the Avast shortcut icon that automatically is created on your desktop.

Once you click on that – you can run a scan on your computer to check for viruses.

The installation process for Eset was simple, and I like it that when things are much simpler, because we’re testing these security suites for the average user. The download process took about 5 minutes and the installation process was super quick, taking only 2 minutes. But after that, the window closed and for a second I wondered where the window went. That’s when I noticed the mail – in case it wasn’t done correctly, you have the option to get your license key in the mail to activate the program.

You get a simple license agreement which is default for all packages. After you click on Agree, it takes you to the pre installation window.

Click on enable, and register your program.

In my case, it was ready and just needed to be launched, which I then did. The whole installation process was simple, but the scan took way longer than I expected. 4 and half hours into the scan, I stopped looking at the timer. It seemed to be doing a very thorough job though, finding multiple threats in my files.

Winner of Round Two: Avast takes the cake for this round in the Eset vs Avast battle. I lean heavily to the clean design, simply user interface and smart installation process. There was no fuss made, just a good program that did its own thing quickly, and efficiently as I worked.

At first, we tested both Eset vs Avast with running simple programs as the installation and scanning process was underway – ranging from working on Word, to browsing through the internet, and in the end, working on power hungry applications like Photoshop.

We noticed that our system’s performance became much slower with Eset, with the computer almost seeming like we were trying to work underwater, with all actions taking on a sluggish tone. We could notice lags in responsiveness to commands.

In fact, test results from av-test.org collaborate with our findings as well, which are shared below.

Eset Performance 

As you can see, there is a huge disparity in performance from Eset vs Avast, with Avast’s results shared below for you to compare.

Avast Performance

Winner of Round Three: This round belongs to Avast – even the scores by av-test.org show a score of 5.0/6.0 with Eset being a whole point lower standing at 4.0/6.0.

Winner of Round Four: Both Eset vs Avast are nearly tied for the spot as they share a majority of common security features. However, I do like the Data Shredder feature, which helps to keep state sponsored criminal activities at bay. So even though this is really close, I’ll lean towards Avast.

Avast Premier is available at $79.99 for a one year subscription. This is protection for one PC only and when you go to the checkout point, you’ll see you have the option to include add-ons to your cart, which will increase your final bill. These add-ons include Avast Cleanup Premium for $29.99, Avast SecureLine VPN Multi-Device for $39.99 and Avast Passwords for $9.99.

Eset is admittedly cheaper, priced at $59.99 (currently at a 20% discount from the original $79.99 price tag) for one device for a one year subscription.

Winner of Round Five: With the current discount, Eset is the winner. If set at the normal price tag of $79.99, it would be a tie.

Sure, you have Windows Defender or you think, like many others, that your Mac’s defense is impenetrable from the malware multitudes that hound our systems on a daily basis. But just how reliable are they?

We are constantly and steadily shifting our daily transactions to an online platform – whether it is shopping, banking, transferring funds, communicating with contacts and more. This means that there is a lot of sensitive data online like our identities, financial details that can be easily stolen by hackers. We pay a lot of attention to the physical security of our homes, yet we barely know o do much about cyber security.

More and more people who remain unaware of the malicious acts certain users can do will remain vulnerable to cyber attacks that could leave their bank accounts high and dry, or have their identities completely stolen and held at ransom. If you don’t want to be placed in a tight situation, you should follow the adage of ‘prevention is better than cure’, and invest in a reliable antivirus program.

Final Verdict

Testing and reviewing Eset vs Avast took time, but we believe in being thorough in our entire approach in revealing which antivirus program is better in our comparison guides. We also reviewed AVG vs McAfee, which you can read about here.

When it comes down to it, you don’t want an antivirus program that could be marginally cheaper but is not as effective in preventing malware from infecting your system. You don’t want to be that person who saves a penny, but loses a dollar.

After all, the security of your online identity matters. And we want to help you be the safest you can be.