Any one still paying for Anti-virus softwares in 2026?

In past i was paying for Norton, but now I believe Microsoft defender is very good.

Based on AV-Comparatives, the latest 2025 real world protection test shows that Microsoft Defender blocked 99.1% of attacks, while Norton blocked 100%. That extra 0.9% is not enough to justify paying for Norton, at least for me.

I also have two other concerns: privacy and security.

Microsoft already has deep access to my system, my files, and a lot of what happens on my PC, including essential diagnostic data even if you turn off every optional setting. From a privacy standpoint, I already feel like Microsoft sees too much. Why would I invite Norton to the party too?

Then there is the security side. Installing Norton means giving another company extremely deep access to my system. If Norton ever gets compromised, that creates another serious point of failure. Yes, Windows itself can be hacked too, but giving two large companies full access to my files and system activity feels like doubling the risk.

For those reasons, I think Windows built in antivirus is enough. That extra 0.9% of protection is not worth the extra cost or the added privacy and security concerns.

before Windows defender become popular i was using Kaspersky was pretty good defender but ofc it costs money but ngl it worth it's money back then, but now I'm pretty happy with windows so i don't think that i need to pay for different anti-virus. This one is enough for my needs

I've always used Windows Defender my whole life, and paying for all other antivirus programs seems illogical to me because Defender really works well after I upgraded to Windows 10.

mcafee total protection

You’re actually on the right track here. For most users, Microsoft Defender is already solid enough and does the job quietly in the background without adding extra cost or system overhead.

never paid for it

I've paid for MalwareByters 1 year subscription some time ago when I was young and naive and thought that AV companies are saints. Then I've learned that some of these companies create viruses that only their software can detect and remove, so they can sell their software, so I stopped being a milk cow for every company under the Sun, and just did some basic, common sense protection like not visiting / downloading from shady sites, not keeping my important files on the same physical storage, etc... And so far it's worked well... ok, I'm on Linux too, so this probably also helps, but yeah... not gonna fall for the AV scams ever again...

I have come to be content with what windows defender offers since it doesn't inconvenience me at all. All i do is be careful in what i interact with online.

I have been using windows defender for years, haven't faced any issues