Technology is moving at an increasingly fast pace, requiring more and more data and bandwidth as it does. This means that keeping track of everything that is going on can be challenging, especially if you’re looking to track how much data you’re using and what external threats could have access to your network. Luckily for Windows users, Microsoft has been doing a good job, including its Windows Firewall in its operating system. Windows Firewall is by no means perfect, but it’s more than enough for the average user. However, if you belong to another group of users or are looking to “advance,” then additional firewall tools may be required to give you the granular control and overview of your network.

Enter GlassWire, an application that, among other things, offers better manageability for the Windows Firewall. Some users may argue that a VPN could be an equally suitable solution; however, a VPN mostly protects your privacy and anonymity when you’re online, whereas a firewall takes things a step further. Namely, with a firewall, you can determine which programs should be allowed to access your network and devices. GlassWire does this remarkably well, nevertheless, users who do not have a lot of networking experience may be confused by all of the graphs and data offered by GlassWire.

Downloading and installing the app is as easy as it can be, and as soon as you launch it, the graphing starts. Your network traffic is analyzed and recorded, showing you the last five minutes of activity (for new users). Once you’ve been using the app for some time (day, week), you will get more data and “markers” on your graphs. These markers represent an individual event (i.e., first connection of an app), and they’re clickable so you can glean more information from the events. Graph spikes are also clickable, and unusual activity is also recorded. While all of this is great, if you’re an average user, it can, and does, feel simply overwhelming.

Features

While internet usage tracking represents the bread and butter of GlassWire, it can do much more. It offers an extra layer of security thanks to its in-depth analysis of each application on your computer, as well as which apps are accessing the internet and how they’re doing this. For each new event, you will get a discrete notification that contains enough information for you to make an educated step towards resolving an issue. Under the GlassWire Protect tab, you can see all of the apps on your PC as well as details such as Version, GW Score, Traffic in/out, Hosts, and download and upload speeds. Here you will also find the Firewall toggle button that lets you turn on or off the firewall functionality, which comes from Windows Firewall. GlassWire interacts with Windows Firewall for program control and reporting, which is a different approach compared to competing solutions such as ZoneAlarm, etc.

If you want to put an app onto a block list, simply click on the flame icon, or if you want, you can block all network traffic for the app if you do not wish to block the app itself. This way, you can quickly block all connections until you end the mode. If you like granular control over your network access, you can turn on the “ask to connect” mode, where you will be asked to confirm each time a program attempts to access the network. Note, if you have some apps that have already connected to the internet, this mode will not affect them. If some apps you’re using trigger a “this might be malware” alarm, GlassWire gives you the option of submitting the file to VirusTotal. VirusTotal checks the file against dozens of antivirus engines and reports how many of them recognize the file as malware. This is a handy feature, however, you will need to provide your VirusTotal API key to GlassWire (you can find the specific location to enter your API key under the settings menu). Another note, VirusTotal can present you with some false positives, so we would not rely solely on the analysis provided by them.

A short digression, the fact that VirusTotal is used, we would appreciate it if the apps would automatically show a malware score based on what VirusTotal has in its database, but that is not the case; you need to submit files to get some feedback.

If you want to configure what GlassWire monitors, you can do so in the settings under the security tab. You have 15 settings that you can tweak; in the free plan, only four are “unlocked”. By default, most of the settings are on, and GlassWire will notify you when a new device joins the network, or when a program connects for the first time, or even when a remote session starts. Speaking of remote sessions, GlassWire allows you to have a remote connection, even on the free plan (only one, though). If you move onto the paid plan, you will get an unlimited number of remote connections, but also access to something called the Wi-Fi evil twin detection. Hackers use deceitful wireless connections to gain access to devices through Wi-Fi, which means that these malicious actors can use any internet-connected PC/smartphone to create an evil twin Wi-Fi that looks legitimate. The goal is for you to connect using this evil twin and to siphon all of your data. GlassWire protects you by notifying you of any Wi-Fi password loss, the same name Wi-Fi’s or any new hardware.

If you’re a Mac user or an iOS user, you’re out of luck with GlassWire as it is not available for Apple’s ecosystem. On the positive side, you can get it on Android, using Google’s Play Store. On Android, the app looks and feels the same as the one on Windows and has all of the powerful features available on its desktop counterpart. It’s similarly easy to set up, but just like the desktop version, if you want to make additional tweaks, you will have to go for the paid version.

Pricing

You can get GlassWire completely free, with a lot of powerful features, and for most, this should be enough. However, if you’re looking for additional features, you can opt for a paid plan that starts at $2.99 for one license. While the free plan covers basic monitoring like real-time traffic, anomaly detection, and new device alerts, Premium significantly expands the toolset. It unlocks unlimited bandwidth history, full access to historical alerts, and advanced threat detection features like ARP spoofing detection, system file monitoring, and proxy settings alerts. Users can also customize and automate firewall behavior with features like unlimited app blocking, lockdown mode, and firewall profiles. For privacy-focused users, Premium offers DNS server monitoring and unlimited remote device connections. It also includes exportable usage data, an interactive network map, and dedicated customer support. Finally, the icing on the cake is the fact that the premium version also unlocks theme selection, offering roughly 13 additional themes. While the price is not that steep, the usability of the premium features comes down to the professionals who require all of the additional bells and whistles.

Protection

It’s worth noting that GlassWire is not an antivirus replacement, but a companion tool that adds a crucial layer of network-level visibility and early threat detection. The usability and blocking rate depend on your settings and how you utilize the app. There have not been any independent laboratory tests of the application, but since it uses the Windows Firewall API, its performance and effectiveness could be generally assessed within the context of the overall Windows security infrastructure, rather than through isolated testing. We tend to recommend Windows Firewall as the go-to firewall solution for most users, believing that it’s more than enough to protect you online, so take that for what it's worth.

Ease of use

GlassWire is generally pleasing to the eye, and we enjoyed using it. The icons and settings are well laid out and logical; however, if you’re newer to the world of networking and security, all of the colors, graphs, and information can be overwhelming. An additional positive remark we would like to make here is the notifications. Most firewalls tend to bombard you with notifications, alerts, bells, and various sounds; not GlassWire, they’ve managed to implement a discreet system of notifications which we enjoyed very much. If you’re one of those people who simply have to have a notification presented to them at each activity, GlassWire somewhat allows this if you go for the ask to connect mode.

Final verdict

As far as third-party firewall apps go, GlassWire offers a unique approach and a unique experience by relying on the Windows Firewall API. It’s easy to install and get working out of the box, but interpreting all of the data requires some “advanced” computer knowledge that is not common among PC users. If you’re an average user who has never even fired up Windows Firewall settings, then keep enjoying your browsing experience and skip over any additional firewall tools. GlassWire is not for you!

On the other hand, if you’re a competitive gamer looking to squeeze the last iota of performance from your network, analyzing your networking with a tool like GlassWire makes a lot of sense. We also see security professionals benefiting from such a tool, especially under the paid plan, since it offers a granular approach to tweaking your network and devices on it. We’re sure others can benefit from the app, but paying for more licenses certainly has to have a business value behind it.

All in all, GlassWire is a great addition to Windows Firewall. The fact that you have a free forever version gives you a great opportunity to test it out or even use it fully without the need to make a purchase. The developers behind the app are active across various developer forums, giving us confidence that user feedback is appreciated and updates are going to keep coming.

• Check out our rundown of best firewall software

ZoneAlarm is one of the cybersecurity pioneers, offering its firewall protection not just to businesses but also to consumers back in the 1990s, when consumer firewall wasn’t really a thing. What’s more, it instituted the concept of hardening a device’s firewall against direct attacks, today featuring an inbound intrusion detection system and the ability to control outbound connections by apps.

In 2004, ZoneAlarm, which was developed by Zone Labs, was acquired by Check Point Software Technologies, a major software and combined hardware provider for network, endpoint, mobile, cloud, and data security, as well as security management.

Over the years, ZoneAlarm has changed and adapted its offering (as well as its interface) to be more in line with the times. Nowadays, ZoneAlarm offers three main tiers of its antivirus product, courtesy of Check Point’s powerful cybersecurity platform.

These include ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus, ZoneAlarm Pro Antivirus + Firewall, and ZoneAlarm Extreme Security NextGen, all of which offer different levels of protection and features. The company offers other standalone products, such as ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware.

As it happens, the free version comes equipped with the usual antivirus and anti-spyware function, an advanced firewall (monitoring apps, stopping new and so far unknown attacks), and a two-way firewall (making your PC invisible to hackers) application control, anti-bot, and 24/7 online support - for one PC.

That said, real-time cloud security, anti-phishing, threat extraction, safe browsing, and threat emulation for up to five PCs is reserved for the paid upper tier, Pro Antivirus + Firewall, whereas the top-of-the-line Extreme Security NextGen throws in content filtering, anti-keylogger, anti-ransomware, and mobile security, while supporting up to 50 PCs at the same time.

The ZoneAlarm Pro for one device costs $24.95 for the first year, renewing at $39.95. If you need coverage for three PCs, you can get it at $32.95 per year initially, renewing at $49.95. A five-device service starts at $35.95, renewing at $54.95, 10 devices are covered by a $64.95 payment renewing at $99.95, while the coverage for as many as 50 PCs would cost you just $259.95 for the year one, renewing at $259.95. Do note that Pro Antivirus only supports Windows PC devices, making it a bit of a limited option.

Meanwhile, ZoneAlarm Extreme Security NextGen charges $34.95 for one device during the initial year, increasing it to $59.95 for each subsequent 12-month period of use. For three devices, it charges $42.95 (renewing at $64.95), five devices would cost you $44.95 for the first year ($69.95 for each subsequent year), while 10 devices would set you back by $89.95 during the first year (renewing at $139.95).

You may also get coverage for 25 devices, with this plan at $189.95 initially, after which you’ll pay $289.95 per year, while coverage for 50 devices comes with a price tag of $357.95 for the first year, renewing at $549.95. Extreme Security supports Windows, Android, and iOS devices.

It is also important to note that both carry certain discounts if you take a 2-year subscription. For instance, protecting five devices for the duration of two years will cost you only $61.95 for the first year, which would otherwise cost you $90.90 if you took it on a year-by-year basis. In other words, you’re getting an impressive 68.17% discount.

For the Extreme Security package, the discounts are very similar. In this case, a 2-year subscription package covering five devices goes for $72.95, which is a 63.51% reduction compared to the $114.9 you would pay if you signed up for the package to renew each year.

Finally, both Pro and Extreme Security NextGen have a 30-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee, giving you enough time to test the service out before making the final decision.

However, the free trial doesn’t give all that much and actually doesn’t differ in any way from the free tier, considering you need to activate it to access more than just its firewall and antivirus features. A pity, as someone might be attracted to actually buying the platform if they had the opportunity to check it out in more depth for free.

Setup

Downloading ZoneAlarm Free takes an unusual amount of time. At first, the downloader told us we would have to wait for two hours, changing the time to anywhere between 20 minutes and 20 hours, making our system very sluggish while it was doing this.

As it turns out, we waited for about 30 minutes, which is a lot longer than any other antivirus we had installed before. Still, installing the platform went a lot faster than this (although not nearly as fast compared to the competition).

Features

ZoneAlarm has gotten its name thanks to its method of controlling program access - by dividing all network connections into so-called ‘zones.’ Hence there are several such zones in ZoneAlarm’s vocabulary: the ‘trusted zone’ which typically includes the user’s local area network and can share resources like files and printers.

Then, there’s the ‘public zone’ that includes everything outside the trusted zone, and in which the user can grant permissions to apps before they try connecting to the Internet (such as before the initial launch) or ZoneAlarm will ask the user to grant these permissions.

Finally, the ‘blocked zone’ is where all the devices, networks, and/or apps that you decided you don’t trust with making traffic to or from end up. The firewall is on by default as soon as you install your ZoneAlarm software, and you don’t need to do anything unless you really want to change the default configuration or temporarily turn off the firewall for any reason.

Having said that, ZoneAlarm’s firewall currently allows access to every program by default, without letting you know when it finds something suspicious. If you want to modify an app’s permissions, you’ll have to go manually digging for it in the Application Control and change the settings yourself for each of the programs.

Open your ZoneAlarm app, and you’ll see a sleek green-white window that provides you with your protection status, a ‘Scan’ button, the time and date of the next automatic scan, as well as four icons - Firewall, Antivirus, Web Secure, and Hacking Protection.

The Firewall itself opens a set of features, including managing the rules for your ‘zones’ or networks (public or trusted), setting up the public and trusted zone sensitivity, as well as observing the previous firewall events, with a button to add a new entry (IP address, IP range, or subnet) as a zone rule. Its above-mentioned ‘Application Permissions’ section lists all the apps on your device and allows you to set the default action to ‘Allow Connection,’ ‘Block Connection,’ or ‘Terminate Process.’ Finally, you can turn on/off the anti-bot service.

Next is the Antivirus section, where you can view the quarantine, add exceptions, start a full scan, scan a particular folder, or schedule a critical (quick scan to identify threats) or full scan (deep scan of the entire system), on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

The Web Secure dashboard features Anti-Phishing, Safe Downloads, and Content Filtering options, whereas the Hacking Protection area contains Anti-Ransomware, Advanced File Protection, and Anti-Keylogger capabilities (none of which is accessible with the free version).

Previously, the ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus offered an entire year of simple identity protection by its partner Identity Guard, with a feature known as Identity Lock to prevent anyone from stealing your sensitive personal data from your device. However, these now seem to be gone.

On top of that, it seems to have also dropped the free Chrome extension, which was a phishing-oriented version of its Web Secure for free users to protect their credentials against phishing attempts and malicious document downloads.

Protection

Once ZoneAlarm is up and running, its protection begins, automatically updating the virus definitions and running occasional scans, which you’ll only find out from the notifications triggered by these events. Starting a full scan takes about 50 minutes, which is a bit long, but we’ve seen longer.

That said, it doesn’t get any faster with the subsequent scans, which also took about 52 minutes. This means that ZoneAlarm doesn’t use its first full scan to optimize for future procedures, as opposed to some of its competitors.

Upon testing with a recommended malware testing file, ZoneAlarm sprang into action immediately, recognizing the threat and moving it to the quarantine, letting us know what happened with a full-sized popup message that doesn’t go away until you dismiss it. You can reveal further details about the file and click again to access the list of all quarantined files.

The Web Secure mechanism is nothing to write home about, only working in Chrome, and not at all successful against malware-hosting websites - blocking only phishing sites. In other words, ZoneAlarm has no efficient ways to protect us from accessing a dangerous site, something that even the built-in Microsoft Defender can do without much effort.

Meanwhile, the personal firewall that comes equipped with even the free version might be a bit unnecessary, but it’s a nice addition considering it doesn’t cost a thing. ZoneAlarm also has its firewall available as a standalone, free product.

SE Labs hasn’t tested ZoneAlarm since Q4 2019, when it scored 85% in total accuracy rating, 87% in protection rating, 100% in legitimate accuracy rating (how well it tuned its detection engine to classify legitimate applications and URLs), a protection score of 97 points, and receiving a high AAA award.

Similarly, AV-Test did its last test of ZoneAlarm in December 2019, when it tested the paid Pro Antivirus + Firewall product, giving it a 6/6 for protection, a 6/6 for usability, and 4.5/6 for performance, as it underperformed in area of installing frequently used applications.

The same testing firm also analyzed the business version of ZoneAlarm, called Check Point, which lends its virus-defending platform to consumer products, for the period of July - August 2024, awarding it a 6/6 in all three observed areas - protection, performance, and usability, albeit also noting a slightly poorer performance in terms of installation of frequently-used applications.

A bit more recently, MRG-Effitas analyzed ZoneAlarm Mobile Security in Q2 2023, observing 82.30% accuracy in overall non-PUA (‘potentially unwanted applications’) detection, 100% accuracy in PUA detection, 86.76% in detecting trojans, 81.13% in accurately identifying spyware, but missing 100% simulator samples.

Meanwhile, the most recent test comes from AV-Comparatives, which tested ZoneAlarm Extreme Security NextGen as a non-dedicated fake-shop detecting solution in its Q4 2024 Fake Shops Detection Test, in which its detection rates in November were between 21% and 30%, with no false positives.

Final verdict

ZoneAlarm used to have a stellar reputation as the security industry’s pioneer looking out for the consumer back when no one really cared and business data safety was the primary concern. However, it has since degraded and today lags behind its competitors, many of which have much more advanced, faster, and richer platforms in terms of their antivirus and anti-malware capabilities, speed and performance, built-in features, extras, and configuration options. This is perhaps best illustrated by the lack of interest demonstrated by the leading antivirus testing labs, which haven’t been actively reporting on ZoneAlarm’s performance for years. Other than that, it’s a solid firewall solution for the price and ease of use.

• We've also featured the best antivirus

Panda Security is a Spanish-based company with a strong record of antivirus innovations. From launching daily signature updates in 1998 to introducing behavioral monitoring in 2004 and cloud scanning in 2007, Panda has been involved with a host of technologies we might now take for granted.

The company has several plans for its home users - Panda Dome Essential, Panda Dome Advanced, Panda Dome Complete, and Panda Dome Premium - all building upon each other in terms of features, and each offering a firewall, WiFi protection, online shopping security, a Dark Web Scanner, and at least some VPN.

Higher tiers offer even more tools, including parental control, anti-ransomware, PC optimization, password manager, file encryption and shredding, update manager, and so on. And the best part? All tiers have a 30-day free trial.

Panda Dome Essential

At a reasonable price starting at $34.99 (renewing at $49.99) for a one-year, one-device license, the Essential package goes well beyond the basics of real-time antivirus and URL protection and covers up to 10 Windows, Mac, and Android devices (the price increasing depending on this number).

To complement its real-time antivirus protection with link filtering, Panda Dome Essential adds a simple firewall to block network attacks and even free VPN access. Okay, with no choice of location and 150MB of free data per day, you won't be using it for streaming movies or heavy torrenting, but it's fine for emailing on public Wi-Fi hotspots when you're out and about.

Setup

Panda Dome Essential is downloaded and launched within a few seconds. Once the setup was complete, Dome Essential asked us to register the program by providing our email address. Some may prefer an antivirus program that allows you to stay anonymous, but many competitors do much the same as Panda. And at least we didn’t have to hand out any payment details.

The installation procedure itself was relatively speedy, with no complaints about ‘incompatible’ software or other hassles. In terms of being one of the most antivirus apps around, this seems to be quite true in Panda’s case, as its four core background processes only consumed a minimal 20-50 MB RAM during normal PC use.

Features

To launch a scan, you can simply click the Scan button on the top-left, choose the scan type (Critical Areas, Full, or Custom Scan) and wait for the results. Scans can run concurrently with no impact on the speed of either one of them or the system.

Although the regular scan buttons give you almost no control over how your system is checked, the Scheduled Scan feature is a little smarter. You can select which drives and folders to scan, exclude particular locations, and customize how the scan works in a few ways.

Scan times are average, at least initially. So, for instance, even the fastest Critical Areas scan took four minutes to check our test system. But effective optimization sees this drop over time, and our second scan took barely two minutes. A full scan took a little under 40 minutes the first time, and only 26 minutes the second.

Dome Essential’s firewall does its best to keep life simple, with a basic opening screen that just asks you to choose your current Wi-Fi location between Home, Work, and Public Place - enough for a basic user.

That said, if you know what you’re doing, heading off to Settings > Firewall enables defining its operating rules, and provides expert-level intrusion prevention settings relating to port scans, ping handling, flooding, and more.

A handy Process Monitor displays all the running processes, highlighting any that are accessing the internet and warning you of potential threats. That’s all very straightforward for beginners, but again, real power is only one or two clicks away.

The full Process Monitor report lists the name of every process, when it was detected and last scanned, where it was downloaded from, how many HTTP connections it has established, and lets you view whatever resources it was trying to access.

A welcome option is to create a bootable USB rescue drive to help remove malware that the regular package can’t reach. Other nice features include a software whitelisting system to control what runs on your PC, and a virtual keyboard to protect against keyloggers.

There’s also a monitor that raises alerts if you connect to unsecured Wi-Fi networks, and an option to ‘vaccinate’ USB keys to reduce the chance of infection by autorun viruses.

Another great addition is the Dark Web scanner that constantly monitors the dark corners of the internet and notifies you by email if your credentials appear in a new security breach, so you don’t have to worry about periodically performing these checks yourself.

Protection

Panda Dome has earned an AAA award from SE Labs for the period between October and December 2024, as it has shown a Total Accuracy Rating of 99% and not a single false positive - better than Microsoft Defender and Webroot, but not quite at the level of Avast, Kaspersky, or McAfee, all of which had the perfect 100% score.

At the same time, AV-Test’s Product Review and Certification Report for September - October 2024 has given Panda a 6/6 score for protection, 5.5/6 for performance, as it performed just a tad poorer than the industry average in some segments, and 6/6 for usability.

On the other hand, Panda Free Antivirus had a bit more false flags than recommended in AV-Comparatives’ False Alarm Test for September 2024, with 28 misidentified cases, with only Norton delivering more, and all the other tested platforms having significantly fewer.

It also had a rather poor offline detection rate of 36.6% in AV-Comparatives’ Malware Protection Test for September 2024 and a somewhat better online detection rate of 77.6%, albeit its online protection score was a strong 99.25%.

Final verdict Essential

Panda Dome Essential is a likable product that is easy to use and includes some genuinely valuable extras, especially for experts, but it still can't quite match the virus-detecting power and accuracy of the market leaders.

Panda Dome Advanced

If Dome Essential isn’t powerful enough for you, opting for the $41.99 (renews at $59.99) Dome Advanced for a one-year one-device plan gets you everything from the lower tier, plus parental controls and additional layers of protection - against ransomware.

Antivirus

Like Essential, Panda Dome Advanced has several scanning options. A Critical Area scan checks the most commonly infected areas of a PC; the Custom scan only inspects the files or folders you specify; and the Full System scan, of course, checks everything.

If that's not enough, you can also set multiple scheduled scans. These start with a Critical Areas, Full System, or Custom scan, but you can also exclude particular folders or file types (handy for speeding up scans.)

Scan times were reasonable during testing. Panda Dome Advanced checked our 50GB of test executables in 39 minutes for the first scan, within the 15–50-minute range we typically see. There's some optimization for subsequent scans, and Panda took 24 minutes for scan #2.

Ransomware

Panda Dome’s anti-ransomware relies on behavior-based detection, file access control, and whitelisting, as well as generates backup copies to recover files in the event of infection.

Among its tools is a data shield that configures the control and whitelists, decoy files used as bait, and shadow copies of files and folders to restore their previous versions in case of data loss, file corruption, or any other issue.

Parental control

Panda Dome Advanced includes Parental Control, but this has barely any features you'd expect from a specialized parental controls application. You can't control app use, there's no way to limit screen time or restrict internet access, and no clever geofencing support. The only option is content filtering.

The platform does at least give you lots of categories. Instead of a single catch-all Adult category, for instance, you can individually block or allow subcategories like 'Lingerie and Swimsuit', 'Nudity', 'Sex,' and 'Sex Education.' Although this works, it's nonetheless extremely basic.

Final verdict Advanced

Panda Dome Advanced has a decent core antivirus engine, detecting and removing malware with ease. And although other big names in the industry might outperform its capabilities, it’s still a solid solution with plenty of basic and advanced features.

Panda Dome Complete

The next step up, Dome Complete, adds system clean-up tools, and a password manager for $53.99 for a one-year one-device license, renewing at $89.99 for each subsequent year of service.

Cleanup: PC Optimization

With PC Cleanup, you can free up space on your PC by removing various files (including trash, temporaries, registry, cookies, browsing history, and the like), you can select which programs you want to run at startup, schedule a cleanup task with specific parameters, or defragment your hard disk.

Password manager

Panda’s password manager does pretty much what any other such product does - managing all of your passwords under a single master key, auto-filling forms, generating strong passwords, and syncing them across all your devices.

It also supports the creation of ‘secure notes’ - encrypted virtual Post-It notes only you can access using your master generic-addon, as well as deleting your browsing history and closing your web pages and services remotely.

File encryptor

This tool allows you to encrypt any file with a password or an automatically generated key through the right-click menu, transforming data into a sequence of unreadable characters that no one can decipher without the corresponding encryption key.

File shredder

Finally, this feature facilitates an irreversible and secure shredding process of your confidential or sensitive information to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. It does this by overwriting a file’s contents with random data or zeroes to hide the original content and make it extremely difficult or impossible to recover.

Final verdict Complete

Panda Dome Complete provides a few useful extras anyone might appreciate, including a file encryptor and shredder, a password manager, and PC optimization tools. However, if you don’t need these, then Panda Dome Essential or Advanced might be a better choice.

Panda Dome Premium

Finally, the top-of-the-range Panda Dome Premium gets you unrestricted VPN access to all available server locations, an update manager, and unlimited premium technical support - all that at $56 per year for one-device coverage initially, renewing at $139.99.

Premium VPN

Panda Dome Premium also removes any limitations to its VPN use from the lower-level packages and equips the user with unrestricted VPN for secure browsing, connectable to any location where it has servers, including 60+ countries, for up to 5 devices.

Testing the VPN connection to the recommended server hailed solid download and upload speeds, not much slower than our basic connection, and connecting took only a couple of seconds. Connecting to more distant locations (like Thailand) than our own (in Europe) was only slightly lagging.

Update Manager

Panda Dome Premium’s Update Manager helps keep your computer up to date to prevent any security breaches. It lets you perform a critical or in-depth scan for any available updates to the operating system or apps installed on your device or even schedule these scans.

For each program detected and included in the list, the product provides the possibility of applying the patch separately or ignoring it. It also includes an option to update all programs at the same time.

Final verdict Premium

Panda Dome Premium is a perfectly rounded antivirus suite that is well worth the price when taking into account the free trial and significant discounts for the first year of its use, particularly if you plan on relying on the VPN, Update Manager, and Dark Web Scanner. However, renewing might be a bit costly if you intend to continue.

• We've also highlighted the best antivirus software in this roundup

As we did some digging on Scanguard, we came across the fact that it seems to be owned by Total Security LTD. Hopefully, this means that it’s benefiting from the same minds that are behind the Total AV products. We’re optimistic that this could translate into numerous updates over time, potentially crystallizing Scanguard into a more premium offering in the antivirus & security space. Nevertheless, Scanguard is its own thing at the moment, and it has a lot to offer regardless. It’s essentially a total security and optimization suite that covers everything from viruses to PC improvement through junk file removal, a password vault, and even a VPN.

The offering starts off with security features, which include: advanced real-time protection against various threats, including malware, ransomware, spyware, and adware, through specialized guards like Malware Guard, Ransomware Guard, Spyware Guard, and Aware Guard. You can give most of the functions a free try, as the company offers a free version of the application for Windows. The time it took to update and apply the definitions in the free tool was a bit worrying, we’re not sure whether it was a connection issue or the free version just being slow. The initial scan, however, was quite quick on a 512 GB SSD filled roughly to 30% of its capacity. The entire scan took under five minutes, going through a malware scan, junk removal, browser cleanup, and startup app check. A note of caution here, as the app scans your PC for any tracking cookies it finds, it will notify you, with an attempt to upsell you to the Pro version, so the cookie, or malware, can be removed. To be fair, the company does offer a 90% discount if you’re trying out their software and musing whether to purchase a license, which means you can get Scanguard Essential Antivirus for as low as $9 for the first year. Beware of the price for the renewal license, though!

Features

The initial scan that we ran with Scanguard, called “smart scan” as we mentioned, was quite quick, covering malware, security and privacy issues, PC performance issues, system junk, and duplicate files with just one click. However, if you want to do a full system scan, which runs a more comprehensive check, be ready to wait up to 20 minutes. Of course, there is the Custom Scan option if you want to specifically target some folders in the scan, potentially speeding up your scan times. In the settings menu, you can additionally tweak your scan options with a toggle for scanning: removable drives, inside archives, specific file types, or scheduling a scan.

Moreover, the above-mentioned four features make up the core security offering, with the Malware Guard protecting your PC from trojans and worms. The Ransomware Guard guards from hackers taking over your PC and files, Spyware Guard deletes and blocks tracking software, and finally, Aware Guard blocks pesky adverts. We would also add the WebShield to this core, which protects you from malicious sites in real-time. Additionally, this feature offers a web cache cleaner, which can be useful if you do opt to visit the “Low Trust” websites the WebShield designates for you. It works quite well, preventing access to most well-known sites featured on PhishTank, though we did manage to access some more obscure sites, which were blocked by other security solutions, so stay vigilant regardless of which security solution you use.

You can enhance your security by installing the free ScanGuard web extension for browsers like Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari. It’s quite handy in blocking unwanted browser notifications and clearing up your cookies with just one click. Note, the Ad Block Pro is only available if you have the Pro version (paid plan) of the solution. Speaking of web extensions, another useful one offered by Scanguard is the Password Vault browser extension, but for it to function properly, you need to set up the Password Vault on the Desktop app first. If you do so, you will have access to auto-fill and auto-save features, as well as the password generator that will help you create secure passwords. We would have liked to see some features like 2FA for the vault itself, and options to share passwords, save notes, and files securely, but none of that was available. Standalone password managers, like 1Password, offer much more, but Scanguard does cover the basics, so if you need a more advanced password manager, you will have to buy an additional one.

If you opt to pay for the VPN, which is an extra feature, you will get the industry standard features such as data encryption, a kill switch, and encryption protocols like IKEv2 and OpenVPN. There are roughly 100 servers, most of which are located in North America and Europe, thus providing solid options for circumventing geo restrictions. The speeds are acceptable when streaming or torrenting (available only for non-US servers). We feel that other premium providers like Nord offer a much better VPN, with stable and higher speeds, as well as additional features.

If you’re worried about identity theft protection, apparently Scanguard offers some solid features in this regard. Note, we did not test out the offer, nor purchase it. It’s an additional service (paid separately), which covers dark web and social media monitoring, identity restoration, lost wallet assistance, and up to $1 million in identity theft insurance. You also get the Data Breach Check, which scans whether your passwords have been compromised as part of an online data breach. All you need to do is provide your email, and Scanguard does all the heavy lifting.

Rounding off the offer is Scanguard's system optimizer or tune-up utility, which covers junk file cleaning (including duplicate files), an application uninstaller, start-up manager, and a browser cleanup. The junk cleaner seems impressive as it ran under a minute, removing some odd 300 MB of junk files from my PC in the first run. The duplicate scanner, on the other hand, is not perfect; it flagged two different videos as duplicates hidden in a wide tree of folders, both had different names, lengths, sizes, and content, so make sure you double-check before letting the app remove the files by itself. The browser cleanup offers to clear your browsing and download history, cookies, and junk files from your browser, speed up the loading of websites, and put idle tabs to sleep. During our test, it worked quite well, we did not notice any issues with it. Despite having some useful features, we would have liked to see some disk optimization features as well as some gaming boosters, as seen in some other premium offerings. Sure, there is a “game mode,” but it simply makes sure no notifications or scans come up as you game, but there are no PC performance tweaks for gamers with Scanguard.

If you’re an Android user, there is a dedicated app for you; however, if you use an iPhone, then tough luck, there is no Scanguard app for you. On Android, you can not get the app from the Google store, you have to find the link to it in the Scanguard website’s help center. Google will warn you that the app is not safe. Most of the Desktop features are available on the mobile app as well. They work without any issues, but you don’t get advanced security features like SMS filtering, scam call filtering, etc. So all in all, the mobile experience is a bit underwhelming, to say the least.

Pricing

Luckily, Scanguard gets it right with its pricing plan approach, offering just two pricing plans. The first one is the free one, giving you some basic protection and a taste of what the suite encompasses and offers. The paid plan costs $29 for the first year if you purchase through the site, and here is where things get complicated. The site advertises $29 for the first year instead of $99, which is your annual renewal price. Yet, if you install the free version of the app and from the options menu click on upgrade, you get a price of $9 for the first year, and a renewal price of $99. But wait, there’s more! If you decide to make the purchase, be ready to pay for it using only PayPal, as there is no other payment option. Furthermore, once you do go through the purchase, an upsell moment arrives, offering the VPN as a service at an extra cost, as well as the Ad Blocker Pro.

The initial pricing strategy and plan started off quite promising, but the various offers through the site and the app just left a bad taste in our mouth, loathing the entire process. Sure, we understand that some marketing magic needs to be used to get the best sales results, but communicating everything in one place and transparently makes much more sense in our book.

The offer on the website for the paid plan includes the following: real-time virus and phishing protection, cloud-based threat detection, and tools to defend against adware and spyware. It also includes a secure password vault, system tune-up tools, disk and browser cleaners, and even a web shield extension to block harmful sites. With added Android protection, 24/7 customer support, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Protection

Checking reliable testing sites, you will only come across a VB100 test result for Scanguard from October 2023. It successfully passed the test at the time, but the website states that Scanguard is not VB100 certified, as the test results have not been refreshed or done recently. However, the test from October 2023 states that it achieved a detection rate of 96.94%, successfully identifying 1,871 out of 1,930 malware samples. Just as importantly, it scored a perfect 0.000% false alarm rate, meaning it didn’t flag any clean files as malicious across 100,000 legitimate test samples. This balance of strong malware detection and zero false positives demonstrated at the time that Scanguard provides reliable protection.

Ease of use

Scanguard has a beautiful design philosophy, with a modern UI, a black, green, and blue color scheme, and large icons that are intuitive and informative once you hover over them. Initial installation may take some time since all of the databases need updating, but it's not concerning. Under the settings tab, everything is laid out logically, with most settings offering a toggle switch for easy customization. Despite having numerous customization options, it never felt overwhelming.

Final verdict

In the end, Scanguard represents a peculiar offer in the security suite space. Some things, like the malware protection and web protection in general, it does well; we would argue on par with some more renowned companies. On the other hand, there are major issues with the mobile app, which is difficult to install. To this, we would also add the pricing fiasco from the app to the website, and the fact that no independent lab has tested Scanguard in 2025 to offer an insight into how well it compares to the others.

All in all, if you’re not too picky or demanding, Scanguard can keep you safe online, but knowing that there are much better offerings in the field, priced similarly to Scanguard, it’s simply difficult to recommend it as a go-to solution.

• We've also highlighted the best antivirus software in this roundup

Our series on identity theft protection apps will evaluate the features, pricing options, competition, and also the overall value of using each app. However, these are not full hands-on reviews since evaluating identity theft protection apps is almost impossible. It would require several months of testing, purposefully hacking accounts to see if the protection app works, handing over personally identifiable information, performing multiple credit checks, and risking exposure of the reviewer’s personally identifiable information.

McAfee, a leading cybersecurity company, has a rich history dating back to the early days of personal computing being founded in 1987 by a Santa Clara computer programmer that the company is named after. Throughout its history, including being the first to have an antivirus software, McAfee has been at the forefront of the cybersecurity industry, adapting to evolving threats and technologies. Its focus on protecting individuals and organizations from cyberattacks has made it a trusted name in the field.

McAfee Plus is designed to provide comprehensive protection for your digital life, helping you stay safe online and avoid the risks associated with cyber threats. It offers a range of features to safeguard your digital life, including antivirus and malware protection, real-time threat prevention, and firewall protection. Overall, McAfee Plus is a robust security solution that can help you stay safe online and protect your valuable data.

McAfee Plus: Plans and pricing

McAfee Plus pricing, like most of the services in this space, will vary depending on the specific plan you choose, and any ongoing promotions or discounts which can help make this more affordable. Here's a general breakdown of the different plans on offer, which can be broken down by Individual plans and Family plans.

McAfee Plus Individual Core Protection Plan is a comprehensive security software package tailored to safeguard your personal computer against diverse online threats. It encompasses an array of features, including antivirus protection to combat viruses, malware, and malicious software, a firewall to thwart unauthorized access, and web protection to block websites hosting malicious content. To further enhance security, McAfee Plus offers a VPN that encrypts internet traffic, making it harder for hackers to intercept, a password manager to create and organize strong passwords, and identity theft protection that monitors personal information for signs of compromise and promptly alerts you of suspicious activity. Notably, the annual subscription is currently available at a discounted price of $49.99 annually, significantly lower than the listed price of $149.99 annually.

The upgraded McAfee Plus Advanced plan offers heightened security features for an individual for an annual fee of $89.99, discounted from the original price of $199.99 per year. This plan builds upon the features of the prior plan by incorporating comprehensive identity theft coverage up to $1 million. Additionally, it provides identity restoration support, lost wallet protection, bank and credit card transaction monitoring, 1-bureau credit monitoring with monthly score updates, and a security freeze option to prevent unauthorized account openings.

At the pinnacle of McAfee's offerings stands the McAfee Plus Ultimate plan, currently available at a discounted annual rate of $199.99 annually (originally priced at $279.99 annually). This comprehensive plan encompasses the features of both lower-tier plans, adding bank account takeover monitoring, payday loan monitoring, up to $25K ransomware coverage, investment monitoring, and loan transaction monitoring. For enhanced ease of use, the top-tier plan includes a McAfee Assist protection setup session.

McAfee Plus Family Plans offers coverage for two adults and their children with varying feature sets and pricing. Starting at $69.99 annually, the Premium Plan provides basic protection. The mid-tier plan costs $119.99 annually and offers more features. For the most comprehensive coverage, the top plan is available at $249.99 annually.

For those looking for a more affordable solution, there is still the McAfee Basic that starts at a more than affordable $29.99 for a year of antivirus on a single device, VPN, identity monitoring, and a McAfee Protection Score, which is a personalized online safety assessment.

As pricing, and promotional offers change over time, be sure to check the McAfee Plus website for the latest pricing prior to purchase.

McAfee Plus: Features

Experience peace of mind knowing that your entire family is protected online with McAfee+ Family plans. Every member of your family will have access to their own identity monitoring, secure VPN, and unlimited device security. Adult family members are eligible for up to $2 million in identity theft coverage, with a maximum of $4 million per family. Additionally, there is assistance in removing personal information from potentially risky websites.

For every member of your family, there is 24/7 monitoring of your personal information. If something requires your attention, you'll receive alerts promptly. This monitoring helps safeguard your privacy and sensitive data, providing peace of mind knowing that you're protected.

In addition, there is access to a VPN (Virtual Private Network) that enables you to bank, shop, and browse online securely from anywhere. The VPN creates an encrypted connection between your device and the internet, ensuring that your online activities remain private and shielded from potential threats.

Drawing from McAfee’s strength, there’s also the award-winning antivirus security for all your devices, ensuring comprehensive protection against viruses, malware, and other cyber threats. This advanced security solution employs real-time scanning, threat detection, and automatic updates to keep your devices safe from harm.

Furthermore, there is access to the McAfee Protection Score, a unique feature that provides personalized guidance on steps you can take to make staying safer online even easier. The Protection Score assesses your online behavior, security settings, and device status, and provides tailored recommendations to help improve your overall security posture.

With these comprehensive features, users rest assured that their family's personal information, online activities, and devices are guarded against potential risks, allowing them to enjoy a secure and protected digital experience.

Each adult in a family can receive up to $2 million in identity theft coverage, resulting in a maximum of $4 million per family. This comprehensive protection includes the assistance of licensed restoration experts who are readily available to guide you through any unexpected identity theft situations. Additionally, vigilant monitoring of credit reports and financial transactions is provided to detect any unusual activities. Should anything suspicious arise, there is prompt notification.

For families with children, robust parental controls are provided, empowering parents to supervise their kids' online activities, ensuring their safety and well-being in the digital world. The goal is to provide parents with peace of mind, knowing that their personal and financial information is safeguarded with the family protected from the devastating consequences of identity theft.

McAfee Plus: The competition

McAfee Plus competes with several other reputable security suites on the market. Here's a comparison of McAfee Plus to some of its main competitors.

A main competitor is Norton 360, a comprehensive security suite that offers a wide range of features. It includes robust antivirus and anti-malware protection, a reliable firewall, a secure VPN for online privacy, a convenient password manager, parental controls to safeguard your family, and PC tune-up tools to optimize your system's performance.

While Norton 360 is highly regarded for its exceptional virus protection and comprehensive feature set, it can sometimes be resource-intensive, potentially impacting system performance. Additionally, some advanced features may require additional subscriptions.

Another option is Bitdefender Total Security, a comprehensive security suite that offers a range of essential features. It provides robust antivirus and anti-malware protection, a reliable firewall, a secure VPN for online privacy, a convenient password manager, parental controls to safeguard your family, and webcam protection to prevent unauthorized access.

One of the standout features of Bitdefender Total Security is its lightweight and fast performance, ensuring minimal impact on system resources. It also offers strong malware protection and is generally considered good value for the price. However, some users may find the interface less intuitive compared to other security suites, and it may have fewer additional features compared to some competitors.

Trend Micro Maximum Security is a comprehensive security suite that offers a range of essential features. It provides robust antivirus and anti-malware protection, a reliable firewall, a secure VPN for online privacy, a convenient password manager, parental controls to safeguard your family, and PC optimization tools to improve system performance.

One of the standout features of Trend Micro Maximum Security is its strong malware protection and comprehensive feature set, offering a wide range of security tools. It is also generally considered good value for the price. However, some users may find the interface less intuitive compared to other security suites, and it can be resource-intensive, potentially impacting system performance.

When choosing a security suite, it's important to consider multiple features. We suggest to focus on the following factors:

Malware Protection: While all of the mentioned suites offer excellent malware protection, it's recommended to research independent lab tests to compare their performance in detail.

Features: Identify the specific features that are important to you, such as a VPN for online privacy, a password manager for secure credential management, or parental controls to protect your family.

Performance: Some security suites may have a heavier impact on your system's performance than others. Consider how the suite will affect your computer's speed and responsiveness.

Price: Compare the pricing of different plans to find the best value for your needs. Consider the cost of the initial purchase as well as any recurring subscription fees.

Ease of Use: Evaluate how user-friendly the interface is and how easy it is to manage the suite's features. A simple and intuitive interface can make it easier to use and troubleshoot any issues.

While all of the mentioned suites offer excellent malware protection, it's recommended to fully assess your needs, and to read reviews before making a final decision.

McAfee Plus: Support

Need help with McAfee? McAfee offers various support options for its Plus customers. Explore the Support Center to find answers, troubleshooting tips, and articles on common issues. Join the Community to connect with other McAfee users and experts for advice and support. Search the Knowledge Base to access a wealth of information about McAfee products and features.

In addition to the self-help options available online, McAfee also offers direct support for customers who prefer to speak with a representative. This support option is available by calling the McAfee customer support number, which can be found on the McAfee website or in the documentation that came with your McAfee product. When you call, you will be connected with a customer support representative who can assist you with your issue. The representative will be able to troubleshoot common problems, provide technical support, and answer any questions you may have about your McAfee product.

Experience real-time support by initiating a chat with a knowledgeable McAfee agent. Simply click on the chat icon, located conveniently on the website, and you can connect to an agent in no time. There is access to instant answers, guidance, and support through the live chat feature, available 24/7 for your convenience.

For more in-depth assistance, another option is to reach out via email by submitting a support ticket. To help the McAfee Plus team address your issue efficiently, be sure to provide as much detailed information as you can. It is a good idea to include any error messages you've encountered, relevant screenshots, and a step-by-step description of any troubleshooting actions that have been already tried. The more context and specifics that are shared, the better the support team can understand the problem to supply a solution.

Rich media content is offered by exploring the tutorial videos for comprehensive step-by-step guidance on everything from basic setup to leveraging advanced features. These guides teach users how to optimize protection, resolve common issues, and stay ahead of emerging threats.

Finally, users can join the McAfee community through the social media channels. This allows folks to connect with fellow users, receive expert advice, share useful tips, and keep up-to-date on the latest security news and best practices.

McAfee Plus: Final verdict

McAfee Plus is a comprehensive security solution designed to safeguard your digital life from a wide range of online threats. At its core, it features robust antivirus protection that shields your system from viruses, worms, and other malicious programs. The advanced antimalware engine effectively detects and eliminates malware, including spyware, adware, and ransomware, ensuring your devices remain free of unwanted intruders.

Real-time threat prevention is another crucial component of McAfee Plus. It continuously monitors your system for suspicious activities and automatically blocks potential threats before they can cause harm. This proactive approach helps prevent infections and minimizes the risk of data breaches or unauthorized access to your personal information.

McAfee Plus also provides a robust firewall that acts as a barrier between your device and the internet. It analyzes incoming and outgoing network traffic, blocking unauthorized connections and preventing malicious software from infiltrating your system. This layer of defense helps protect against cyberattacks, such as phishing attempts and unauthorized remote access.

In addition to these core security features, McAfee Plus includes a host of other tools to enhance your online safety. It offers secure browsing, which warns you about potentially dangerous websites and blocks malicious downloads. The identity protection feature monitors your personal information online and alerts you to any suspicious activity, such as attempts to steal your passwords or credit card numbers.

Parental controls allow you to manage your children's online activities, ensuring their safety when browsing the internet. You can set limits on screen time, block inappropriate content, and monitor their online interactions.

With McAfee Plus, you can rest assured that your devices and personal data are protected against a wide range of online threats. Its combination of advanced security features and user-friendly interface makes it an excellent choice for anyone looking for a comprehensive and reliable security solution.

We've also featured the best identity theft protection, best antivirus and best VPN

Live Proxies was founded in 2020 to fulfill a growing need for proxy servers and IP addresses. These servers enable individuals and businesses to bypass geo-restrictions and scrape data from websites. They help users defy the increasing barriers on the internet.

This proxy provider offers over 10 million IPs across dozens of countries. Users can choose static or residential IP addresses to enjoy unrestricted access to the web. Our Live Proxies review will help you decide if it’s a good choice. It covers essential factors like pricing, customer support, ease of use, and features. Read on to learn about this proxy provider's features, pros, and cons.

Live Proxies: Plans and Pricing

Live Proxies offers three types of proxies; Rotating Residential, Static Residential, and Rotating Mobile. Each type has custom pricing, and there’s a separate B2B plan for businesses, which we’ll explore.

Users pay based on location, bandwidth, and number of IPs. For example, Live Proxies charges $70 for 200 U.S.A. IPs with a 4 GB bandwidth allocation for 30 days. However, the same allocation for random IPs (rather than the U.S. alone) costs $45. Extending the U.S.A. plan to 60 days costs $85, and doubling the bandwidth to 8 GB costs $100.

Static residential IPs have a similar pricing structure. Live Proxies charges $65 for 50 U.S.A. IPs with a 4 GB allocation for 30 days. Extending the plan to 8 GB for 45 days costs $110. The higher the bandwidth and subscription length, the more you’ll pay.

Rotating mobile proxies have similar pricing structures depending on location, bandwidth, and subscription length. However, the B2B plan has a simple pricing structure: Businesses pay at least $5,000 monthly to access the entire pool of 10 million+ IP addresses, unlike residential and mobile plans restricted by proxy location.

Live Proxies has a complicated pricing structure the average person might struggle to understand. Its plans are also costly compared to many competitors. We think Live Proxies will do users a favor by simplifying its pricing plans.

Live Proxies: Features

Proxy servers are physical internet-connected computers in different locations. You can route your online browsing through them to bypass geo-restrictions and scrape data. Live Proxies offers a broad network of 10 million+ IP addresses, although it’s not as extensive as some rivals. It offers three main types of proxies: rotating, static, and mobile.

Rotating

As the name suggests, rotating IPs “rotate” within specific schedules. You’ll switch to a new proxy IP at a set schedule, e.g., every hour or whenever you start a new browsing session. Live Proxies offers rotating proxies in many regions, although its IP pool is concentrated in the U.S.A., the U.K., and Canada.

Rotating proxies offer better anonymity, as the frequent change makes it difficult for websites to track your online behaviour. Suppose you want to scrape data from a real estate listing site with anti-scraping features. Rotating proxies makes it challenging for the website’s admins to track your usage pattern and detect the proxy. They’ll likely assume the rotating proxies come from different individuals visiting their website.

Better off, Live Proxies offers residential IP addresses from legitimate sources. Device owners around the globe agree to add their IP addresses to Live Proxies’ pool in exchange for benefits. Then, you can use these IP addresses to bypass website restrictions and scrape data.

The drawback is that rotating proxies are slower than static proxies. Frequent rotation increases the likelihood of encountering slow connections, and rotating IPs are more expensive than static IPs.

Static

As the name implies, static proxy IPs don’t change. You can use a static IP for as long as your subscription lasts. Live Proxies offers plans ranging from 30 to 60 days. You can choose a static IP from a specific country to bypass geo-restrictions. Suppose you aim to scrape data from a U.S.A.-centric real estate listing website; your best bet is choosing a domestic IP address.

For unclear reasons, most of Live Proxies' static IPs were listed as "sold out" during our test. Only U.S.A.-based static IP addresses were available, which we tested and observed excellent speed and performance. We think Live Proxies will help users by growing its static IP network to guarantee more availability.

Mobile

Mobile proxies are IPs sourced from mobile devices (smartphones and tablets). They have various use cases, such as managing multiple social media accounts without risking restrictions or verifying whether ads are displayed correctly to mobile users. Live Proxies offers reliable mobile proxies, although they’re costly.

B2B

Live Proxies offers a simplified proxy IP plan for businesses. Companies can access the entire pool of 10 million+ proxy IPs across 55 countries for a monthly fee. This plan best suits companies with large proxy needs, such as a price comparison website scraping data from numerous sources.

Live Proxies: Ease of Use

We didn’t observe any hiccups when testing Live Proxies. Its interface is easy to understand, with features neatly arranged on the left side and the main dashboard on the right. The dashboard sports a white background plus a few shades of blue to highlight features. Everything is set up in a way that a layperson can quickly grasp.

Customer Support

Live Proxies offers decent customer support, starting with a detailed knowledge base with answers to common issues. If you need further help, you can submit a ticket and expect a response within 48 hours. However, there’s no direct live chat or telephone support.

Live Proxies: The Competition

Live Proxies performed on par with most rival proxy tools we’ve tested. Its proxy IPs provide excellent speed and performance. The drawback is its limited pool of 10 million IPs across 55 countries, compared to rivals like Oxylabs, which has 102 million IPs across 195 countries and Bright Data, which has 72 million IPs across 195 countries.

Live Proxies: Final Verdict

Live Proxies is one of the best proxy providers in terms of speed and performance. It’s ideal for large-scale data scraping tasks where speed is paramount. It’s also suitable for individual use cases where speed is crucial, e.g., for downloading files. The drawback is that Live Proxies charges higher prices than most rivals.

• Take a look at our guide to the best proxy services

Ads are a major problem on the internet today. Many websites have focused too much on ads above content, inadvertently ruining the user experience. For example, you can find websites with half ads and half content, making them annoying to scroll through. You might also encounter a website with poorly placed ads covering valuable content.

Fortunately, there’s a solution to this pressing issue: ad blockers. These tools disable ads from their roots and let you surf the web without encountering obnoxious ads. Wipr is one of the best ad-blocking solutions for iOS and macOS users, and we’re reviewing it to help you decide whether it’s worth using. We’ll dive into its features, pricing, customer support, and other criteria to determine if it’s a suitable solution for you.

Wipr: Plans and Pricing

Wipr is a very cost-effective solution. It has only one pricing structure: a $1.99 one-time fee. There are no upgrade options apart from the one-time purchase, but you can tip the developer if you appreciate the app.

One developer currently maintains this app, and its simple structure means it doesn’t take much funds to run. Wipr does one thing and does it excellently: blocking ads. There’s no free plan, but the low one-time fee saves you a lot in the long run, unlike other competitors that demand monthly or annual fees.

Wipr: Features

Wipr focuses on one thing: blocking ads on the Safari web browser. This app only works for Apple devices (iPhones, iPads and Mac laptops or desktops). Wipr blocks ads and makes your browsing experience less disruptive. We tested it extensively and were pleased to discover it even blocked YouTube ads, allowing us to watch long videos without annoying breaks.

This app also blocks website trackers from monitoring your Safari browsing activity. Likewise, it blocks those repetitive EU cookies and GDPR notices asking for your consent to proceed.

However, Wipr only blocks YouTube ads if you watch videos on the Safari browser. Apple doesn't give apps permission to alter other apps, so Wipr can't block ads if you're using the native YouTube app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac PC.

Wipr blocks third-party cookies, but some websites need these cookies to function correctly. For example, without cookies, you’ll have to log in every time you visit a locked webpage instead of just logging in once and getting remembered for a long time. To solve this issue, you can whitelist specific sites on Safari to accept cookies from despite Wipr being enabled. You should whitelist trusted websites you use frequently, e.g., your email and social media platforms.

Wipr’s ad-blocking technology is based on a frequently updated blocklist. The platform maintains a database of domains that serve ads, which is updated continuously to keep up with rapid changes. Wipr reviews your browsing requests and blocks any request for an ad-linked domain, ensuring you don't see intrusive ads. The company says it updates its database twice a week.

When testing Wipr, we observed that it didn’t slow the browsing experience like many other ad-blockers. It’s normal to expect browsing to become slower when an ad blocker reviews every request. However, Wipr takes advantage of Apple's developer features that let apps dictate content-blocking rules for Safari once you open the browser. The browsing speed is unaffected because Safari knows the rules in advance and doesn't repeatedly consult Wipr during loading.

Besides, ads take considerable bandwidth. Blocking them actually improves your browsing speed, making your experience more enjoyable. Wipr works well for English users and supports many other languages, including French, German, Greek, Korean, and Chinese.

Wipr: Interface and In-Use

Wipr offers an interface that’s noticeably easy to navigate. The app is designed in a way any layperson can understand. It doesn’t have many features, so there’s no complexity to navigate. Just download and install Wipr, and you can toggle its ad-blocking feature on or off anytime.

We found it odd that Wipr doesn’t have a dedicated website for customers to visit. You can only find the app listings on the Apple and Mac App Stores. However, the lack of a website makes sense, given Wipr’s low cost and, consequently, its developer’s need for minimal hosting expenses.

Wipr has a minimal, uncluttered interface you’ll likely enjoy navigating. You can switch the interface between dark and light mode at will.

Wipr: Customer Support

Wipr doesn’t offer much in this criterion. There’s an option to contact the developer, but it might take long to receive a reply, or if at all. With its very low cost, it’s understandable that Wipr doesn’t invest much in customer support. Users are trading affordability for lesser support and help.

However, if you need help with any issue on the Wipr app, you can post on IT forums or IT-related Reddit subs. Wipr has many fans in the technical community, making them willing to help users.

Wipr: The Competition

The ad-blocking sector is intensely competitive. There’s no shortage of free or paid ad-blocking tools for different devices and browsers. We'd like to highlight Adblock Plus and AdLock as the two main alternatives to Wipr.

Like Wipr, these two alternatives remove ads to make your browsing experience smoother. They shine over Wipr by being compatible with many browsers, unlike Wipr, which is limited to Safari. However, Wipr is much more affordable than these alternatives.

Wipr: Final Verdict

Wipr is an effective ad-blocking tool for Apple device users. It detects and removes ads effectively, making your browsing experience faster and more enjoyable. The drawback is that Wipr only works for iOS and macOS users and on the Safari browser. There’s no version for other browsers and operating systems.

• We've listed the best adblockers

Advertisements have become a significant problem on the web. Many people have had their browsing experiences ruined by ads, including on websites they cherished. For example, YouTube ads have become excessive, with multiple ads playing in a long video. Many other websites now contain display ads that cover valuable content, disrupting the user experience.

Fortunately, there’s a solution to this problem: ad blockers. These software tools detect and thwart ads from their roots, enabling a seamless browsing experience. AdGuard is one of the best-known ad blockers, and we want to review it to help you decide whether it’s worth adopting. This review will cover AdGuard’s features, pricing, interface, customer support, and other essential aspects.

AdGuard: Plans and Pricing

AdGuard is a freemium tool. You can download the app for free, but free users are limited to basic features and protection on just one device. You need a paid plan to enjoy AdGuard with your custom settings on multiple devices.

AdGuard offers two plans, Personal and Family, and you can pay annually or for a lifetime. The Personal plan costs $30 annually, and the Family plan costs $66 annually, plus value-added tax (VAT). The lifetime plans cost $80 for Personal and $170 for Family.

The Personal plan protects up to 3 devices, and the Family plan protects up to 9 devices. AdGuard's free version offers only ad-blocking, but the Personal and Family plans include complementary features like a VPN and parental controls. This platform’s pricing plans are reasonable compared to the competition.

AdGuard: Features

Our test began with downloading AdGuard, both the extension and the mobile app. The installation process was fast and easy, and we started taking note of the features.

AdGuard is good at blocking ads from a web browser, including YouTube ads. We were particularly impressed with how it blocked YouTube ads, which many other blockers struggle with.

This app gives you reports about the ads it blocks, allowing you to verify that it’s doing its job. For example, opening Forbes.com showed that AdGuard blocked 10 elements from appearing on the web page. We tested with other websites, and AdGuard gave detailed results about what it blocked. You can also find charts showing the progress of how many ads it has blocked over time.

You might have websites you trust and want ads on these websites to show, even while AdGuard blocks ads from other sources. Fortunately, this app allows you to add specific domains to the allowlist, exempting them from ad-blocking. Most other ad-blockers offer a similar feature, so we were relieved to discover that AdGuard wasn’t left behind.

We encountered a creative feature called the “Inverse Allowlist,” wherein AdGuard unblocks ads everywhere except for the sites in the list. This feature works if you can tolerate regular ads during your browsing experience and only block the sites serving excessive ads.

Another thing we enjoyed about using AdGuard is its website security feature. Open any website and click the “Check Website Security” button. Adguard will give you a detailed report about that website’s safety. AdGuard uses several sources to determine a URL's safety, including if the URL is included in the Google Safe Browsing or Yandex Safe Browsing blocklist.

The website safety feature is valuable if you interact with a new URL you don’t trust. You can simply check with AdGuard to see if that URL has previously been implicated in malware and other malicious activities.

AdGuard offers Stealth Mode, which protects your browsing identity and personal information from online trackers. You can instruct AdGuard to send Do Not Track signals to all websites you visit to avoid being tracked. You can also enable AdGuard to automatically self-destruct cookies shortly after they're installed on your browser (you’ll set a custom time limit for the cookies).

AdGuard doesn't let you only block ads. You can also block other annoying web elements like cookie notices, mobile app banners, popups, and social widgets. This platform gives you a lot of control over your browsing experience.

AdGuard: Interface and In-Use

AdGuard has a stellar user interface you’ll likely enjoy using. We didn’t encounter UI-related hiccups during our test, which speaks much about the platform. You can easily find any feature you want and toggle the ad blocker on and off anytime.

The browser extension or app employs sufficient color contrast that looks appealing to the eye. You can switch between dark and light modes depending on your environment. We also enjoyed AdGuard’s widespread compatibility, wherein you can use it as a browser extension or download the app on your mobile phone or PC. Many competing tools are only available as browser extensions.

AdGuard: Customer Support

Customer service is a major selling point for AdGuard. It offers excellent customer support resources, beginning with the detailed FAQ section and Knowledge Base on the official website. If you are unsatisfied with the Knowledge Base, you can email AdGuard's support team and expect a response within 24 to 48 hours.

AdGuard also runs a discussion forum where users interact with each other and often exchange solutions to their problems.

AdGuard: The Competition

There’s no shortage of competition in the ad-blocking software segment. Two AdGuard competitors we’d like to highlight are uBlock Origin and AdLock. uBlock Origin is an effective free alternative, but unlike AdGuard, it is only available as an extension.

AdLock is a paid tool with desktop and mobile apps just like AdGuard. It offers similar features, although it is slightly more costly.

AdGuard: Final Verdict

AdGuard is an excellent ad blocker we recommend to anyone who wants to improve their browsing experience. It has a free version, but the paid plan offers more advanced features. With the paid plan, you can access ad-blocking, VPN, and browsing security, killing multiple birds with one stone.

• We've listed the best adblockers