Avira vs GDATA

[safeguy]

Avira Antivir vs G Data Antivirus

I did this 'simple' comparison some time back (1 or 2 weeks ago)...wanted to post it here but forgot...so here it is:

NOTE: This comparison is based on the report and research made by AV-Comparatives found here:

http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_report23.pdf

Detection rate Winner: Avira & G DATA

Avira Premium has the highest detection rate for a single engine AV with a score of 99.4%. The only contender that beats Avira is G DATA with a score of 99.8%. However, G DATA is a dual engine AV that uses these 2 engines:

Avast (which scored scored 98.0% ); and
BitDefender (which scored 97.8%)

As such, that is the reason why G DATA has a slightly higher detection rate. I therefore conclude both as winners as personally, I find it unfair to compare a single engine AV with dual engine AV.

False positives rate Winner: G DATA

AV-Comparatives gives an Advanced+ award for any AV that scores above 97% detection rate and has few false positives (0-15FP) while it gives only an Advanced award for any AV that scores above 97% detection rate but has higher rate of false positives. (16-100FP)

Avira Premium (with heuristics set to highest level) had a higher rate of false positives (21) as compared to GDATA (9). This is the reason why GDATA got an Advanced+ award while Avira got only an Advanced award.

Scanning Speed Winner: Avira

Avira scored 14.1MB/sec while G DATA scored 9.3MB/sec. In this case, the higher the value, the faster it is.

Conclusion: Both Avira Premium and G DATA are very good anti-virus software. In terms of detection rates, both scored pretty well and the difference in score is negligible. If you are the type of person who is concerned with false positives, you are better off using G DATA or using Avira Premium with heuristics set to a lower level. As for scanning speed, Avira Premium is clearly much faster than G DATA and thus you might want to choose Avira Premium for that reason. Ultimately, the decision is yours. All I can say is choose wisely.

Additional info (Pricing and features included):

Avira Premium costs 19.95 Euro for 1 PC license and 49.95 Euro for 3 PC license

Avira AntiVir Premium includes:

AntiVir protection against viruses, worms and Trojans
AntiDialer protection against expensive dialers
AntiRootkit protection against hidden rootkits
Faster Scanning up to 20% faster
New User Interface
AntiPhishing protection against phishing
AntiSpyware protection against spyware and adware
NetbookSupport for laptops with low resolution
QuickRemoval eliminates viruses at the push of a button
WebGuard protection against malicious websites
AntiDrive-by stops malware downloads while surfing
RescueSystem creates a bootable rescue CD
Enhanced email protection for POP3 and SMTP
Fast Premium update server

G DATA Antivirus costs $ 24.95 for 1 PC license and $ 34.95 for 3 PC license

G DATA Antivirus includes: 

AntiVirus
AntiSpyware
AntiPhising
AntiRookit

Promotions/Freeware versions:

Avira AntiVir do have promotions sometimes allowing users to get 3 months or even up to 6 months license key for free.
Avira AntiVir also have a freeware version for home users called Avira Antivir Personal that has almost all the features included in Avira AntiVir Premium except for these:

WebGuard protection against malicious websites
AntiDrive-by stops malware downloads while surfing
RescueSystem creates a bootable rescue CD
Enhanced email protection for POP3 and SMTP
Fast Premium update server

To see the comparison chart between Avira AntiVir Personal and Avira AntiVir Premium, go to this page:

http://www.free-av.com/en/download/1/avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.html

On the other hand, it's rare to find any promotions for GDATA (I have never seen one so far) and there is no freeware version for home users.

Hope some of you would find this useful...

[keypees2005]

Hope some of you would find this useful...

Indeed useful for those who want to compare Avira with GDATA.

As you've said Avira holds the bonus points, because it has a free version and we have promos for the premium versions.

GDATA had a very good year this time after it made use of the combination.

[alpha1]

That is very useful thank you, and I personally think that Avira is much better than GDATA, but my favorite is and will stay Kaspersky... Why don't you make a little review about Kaspersky and Avira? :P

[sicksaint]

East or west avira is the best. gdata may have more than one engine but still avira is the best.

Note: Without virus defn updates no antivirus is perfect

[soban123]

good info, thanks

[safeguy]

Note: Without virus defn updates no antivirus is perfect

TRUE indeed...

[noaccount]

let's talk of gdata here, has hellnoire closed the other threads.
does anybody know what is the size of gdata daily updates? it should be large...

[kiku]

Thanks for detail comparison.

[hellnoire]

I closed the freebie thread, noaccount. It's offtopic there anyway... but either way, they should be small updates after the first ones, as bitdefender and avast both seem to have small updates when I've used them.

[noaccount]

yes, i understand. i'm going to give it a try - i can go back to avira anytime - as yesterday i uploaded one of my inactive keys to gdata licence manager and it didn't display a deadline. this av is very customizable and has a better interface than avira (for me).


edit to say: installing gdata in vista is a p*in in the a*s................................... five reboots and 3 hours later i uninstalled and went back to avira... support sucks... chat guy told me to ask for help at polish promo site... almost no documentation available... and it's very difficult to troubleshoot. doesn't play nicely with 3rd party firewall and hips (comodo and oa in my case), not sure of conflicts with other drivers.

arrivederci !!!