AVG AntiVirus Free vs Kaspersky Premium Comparison

• AntiVirus Free: Free; the Android app shows third-party ads
• Internet Security for 1 PC, renewal: $79.99 a year, the price the store calls the renewal price
• Internet Security for 1 PC, first year: Intro: $39.99 for the first year
• Internet Security for 10 devices, renewal: $109.99 a year, the price the store calls the renewal price
• Internet Security for 10 devices, first year: Intro: $59.88 for the first year on the store page, $59.99 on the product page
• Ultimate for 10 devices, renewal: $149.99 a year, the price the store calls the renewal price; $59.88 for the first year

• Standard for 3 devices, renewal: $34.99 a year, the renewal price the store states
• Standard for 3 devices, first year: Intro: $30.99 for the first year
• Plus for 3 devices, renewal: $46.99 a year, the renewal price the store states
• Plus for 3 devices, first year: Intro: $40.99 for the first year
• Premium for 3 devices, renewal: $54.99 a year, the renewal price the store states
• Premium for 3 devices, first year: Intro: $42.99 for the first year

The product privacy notice (updated 26 August 2026) says the desktop app, which covers AVG AntiVirus Free and Internet Security, sends samples of suspicious files and detection metadata to AVG's servers through CommunityIQ, and that AVG may 'directly analyze suspicious files in our safe environment'. For the desktop app it also lists 'URLs and referrers (malicious URL information may also include search terms or cookie information associated with the malware)', kept for 36 months, the IP address, installed applications and security software, and product usage events. On Android, the notice lists the URLs of websites visited, 'malicious and non-malicious', for 36 months. The support article on privacy settings lets you untick sharing of threat data and of app-usage data; the 'Offers' setting cannot be switched off in the free version.

The products and services privacy policy lists what the software can send to Kaspersky: threats detected, information on installed applications, the addresses of websites visited (logins and passwords removed up to the host name), operating system events, Wi-Fi connection data and, in its words, suspicious files that 'can be automatically sent for a more thorough analysis by machine learning-based technologies and, in rare cases, by a malware analyst'. The files are mainly executables; harmless files or parts of them may be sent too, to reduce false positives. The policy says the Kaspersky Security Network Statement and the Marketing Statement list data that users decide to provide by ticking a box in the product settings. Kaspersky says files shared by users in Europe, North and Latin America, the Middle East and several Asia-Pacific countries are processed in two data centres in Zurich, Switzerland.

The Gen Digital general privacy notice says 'We do not sell your personal data to third parties' and also 'Where permitted by applicable law, we may share personal data with third parties for advertising purposes'. The product notice says the free Android app 'serves relevant third-party advertisements' through partners it lists (Google AdMob, Amazon, Facebook Audience Network, InMobi, AppLovin, Unity Technologies, IronSource and Liftoff Mobile), and that the advertising ID is processed for IronSource. The consent policy says consent is asked at installation and an equivalent paid version has no ads. The desktop app uses Google Analytics; the phone apps use Google Firebase, AppsFlyer and Singular. In the free version, the 'Offers' setting based on app-usage data cannot be disabled. The support article says 'When you use most AVG applications, you share anonymous data with AVG and other third parties' and that you can opt out at any time.

The privacy policy says data is used to protect users, to update the antivirus databases, to analyse threats, and to improve products through 'statistical research and analyses' on de-identified data. It also lists 'personalized information and offers from Kaspersky, including ... Kaspersky and third-party products and services, marketing offers, discounts'. Kaspersky may share data within its group and with service providers that supply 'web analytics, data processing, advertising, e-mail distribution, payment processing, order fulfillment'. On Android it processes a hash of a device identifier. The policy version opened is dated 28 February 2022. It states that data can be processed in Russia, China and Belarus among other countries, and that data from users in the EU is processed 'on servers located in the EU and Russia'.

Controls over how Kaspersky develops, tests and releases the antivirus databases for Windows and Unix systems, August 2025 to July 2026

AVG is part of Gen Digital Inc., whose privacy team is in Tempe, Arizona; the group says it has dual headquarters in Prague and Tempe. For users in the European Economic Area the controller of personal data for AVG products is a Czech company in Prague, so EU data protection law applies to it. The group notice says personal data may be disclosed to public authorities and in legal proceedings.

Kaspersky calls itself a private international company with its holding company, Kaspersky Labs Limited, in the United Kingdom, and its operating company, AO Kaspersky Lab, in Russia. The privacy policy is issued by AO Kaspersky Lab, Moscow, and names Kaspersky Labs GmbH in Ingolstadt, Germany, as the group's representative for EU data protection law. The US Commerce Department's 2024 entity listing names AO Kaspersky Lab and OOO Kaspersky Group in Russia and Kaspersky Labs Limited in the United Kingdom. Kaspersky says it has no ties to the Russian government and is not obliged to hand over user information under Russian surveillance laws; the Commerce Department found that it 'is subject to the jurisdiction of the Russian Government and must comply with requests for information'.

AVG says it has made security software since 1991. In 2016 a larger antivirus company bought a majority of AVG Technologies N.V., then listed on the New York Stock Exchange; that buyer was itself acquired in 2022 by the company now called Gen Digital, listed on NASDAQ, and AVG's site and notices now carry Gen Digital's name.

Kaspersky was founded in 1997 and has its headquarters in Moscow. It describes itself as privately held; neither its privacy policy nor its FAQ names the owners of the UK holding company. The US Treasury sanctioned twelve board members and senior executives of AO Kaspersky Lab in June 2024; Kaspersky states that neither the company, its subsidiaries nor its chief executive was designated.