F-Secure Antivirus Review 2024: Is It Worth the High Cost?

F-Secure antivirus is top-performing antivirus program with lots to offer. It maintains an up-to-date database of the current cyberthreats, so you can rest assured you're being protected from malware and phishing threats around the clock. 

During our testing it had fast scan speeds, blocked all the cyberthreat test files, and rated high in recent third-party testing. But is it too pricey compared to many of the best antivirus programs?

In our review, we'll cover F-Secure's diverse pricing options, wide range of features, test results, and more. 

F-Secure at a glance

Prices	$44.99–$169.99/yr
Free plan	No
# of devices protected	1 - 25
Malware scans	Manual and scheduled scans
Real-time protection	Yes
EICAR test results	3/3
Firewall	No
Phishing protection	Yes
Compatibility	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
Extras	VPN, password manager, identity monitoring
24/7 customer support	Yes
Learn more	Get F-Secure

Our experience

We tested F-Secure Total on our PC laptop running Windows 11. The download and setup was a breeze, with all important settings being automatically turned on after download. 

The only active setup we needed to do was set up the Browsing Protection by F-Secure extension. This was displayed directly on our list of tasks, so it was easy to find the extension link and dismiss the tasks for browsers we don't use. 

Once the setup was complete, we went over to the Device Protection tab to start running virus scans. The quick scan was done in under a minute and the full scan was done in under 10 minutes. It detected old malware test files on our device, which we were easily able to clean off our device with just a click. 

Overall, we found F-Secure to have an intuitive and user-friendly interface, so it's a great choice for anyone who needs easy-to-use antivirus software with all the bells and whistles. 

Who is F-Secure best for?

• Recommended if you need a comprehensive, high-performing protection but budget isn't a concern.

F-Secure has two plan options: Internet Security and Total. F-Secure Internet Security provides antivirus protection and internet security, hence the name. 

But we think F-Secure Total is the better option due to its wide range of robust features for privacy and security. Some of these features include a virtual private network (VPN), a password manager, identity monitoring, and more. 

Parents who want to ensure their children are safe online will appreciate F-Secure's parental controls. With F-Secure, parents can filter unwanted content, including blocking inappropriate websites and apps on compatible computer devices, mobile phones, and tablets, and set screen time limits.

Gamers will also appreciate F-Secure's Gaming Mode feature, which prevents interruptions and reduces its use of system resources, providing an optimized gaming experience by pausing scheduled scans from running in the background. 

However, F-Secure has a high starting price, so budget-conscious users may need to look elsewhere. 

F-Secure prices and subscriptions

F-Secure has a wide range of prices from $44.99–$169.99/yr. It provides lots of customization for its plans. You can support one to 25 devices and you can select one-year or two-year protection.

There are also the two plan types, Internet Security and Total. Internet Security focuses on keeping your device protected from malware, phishing, fraud, and other cyberthreats. Total enhances the Internet Security package by including other cybersecurity products like a VPN and a password manager. 

The starting cost of F-Secure is quite high compared when with other antivirus software on the market:

• TotalAV Antivirus Pro: $29.00/yr (first year only)
• Norton Antivirus Plus: $29.99/first yr
• McAfee Essential: $39.99/first 2 yrs
• F-Secure Internet Security: $49.99/yr

We think F-Secure is a high performer, but it may be hard to justify the price when so many other products start for much lower. 

	Internet Security	Total
Price for first year	Starts at $49.99/yr	Starts at $69.99/yr
# of devices supported	1 - 25	1 - 25
Manual and auto scan
Phishing protection
Firewall
Real-time protection
Ransomware protection
Parental controls
Performance optimization tools
VPN
Password manager
Identity monitoring

F-Secure security features

F-Secure offers comprehensive protection against a wide range of cyberthreats. It's always automatically scanning in the background, but you can also manually run quick scans and full scans. 

F-Secure can also scan USB storage devices, such as flash drives, and check whether any threats are present. (Excellent for spotting keyloggers!)

Its standout features include advanced parental controls, which enables parents to monitor and manage their children's online activity, and its Gaming Mode feature, which keeps gamers protected from malware threats on the web while ensuring performance isn’t compromised. 

Malware and antivirus scan

F-Secure Total provides a variety of scanning options, including quick and full scans. You can also scan USB storage devices. 

The scans we ran manually were quick and efficient. They also clearly provided the results of our scan along with options to clean or ignore the threats found. 

You can also schedule a scan directly from the settings. You can customize the frequency, the day, and the starting time.

We highly recommend performing a full scan periodically rather than relying on quick scans alone because it may overlook hidden malware on your device.

Phishing protection

F-Secure has various settings dedicated to secure browsing that are all enabled with your download:

• Browsing Protection: Blocks you from accessing harmful websites
• Banking Protection: Activates when you access your bank's website or other online payment sites
• Trusted Shopping: Notifies you of any fake or untrustworthy sites while online shopping

F-Secure also has the Browsing Protection extension, which you can add to Chrome, Firefox, or Edge. It warns you if the website you're visiting is unsafe and it also has an ad blocker. 

Firewall

F-Secure doesn't have a proprietary firewall; instead, it works with your operating system’s built-in firewall. It works seamlessly with Windows Defender Firewall, providing an extra layer of protection against network threats.

For example, Windows Defender Firewall monitors incoming and outgoing traffic on your device and allows you to set up and configure controls to block any unwanted IPs and ports. 

Additionally, the firewall alerts you with a pop-up notification when it detects suspicious activity so that you can take action accordingly. We didn’t encounter any issues when we tested our firewall, which was easy to configure as well.

Real-time protection

Real-time protection is provided for web browsing, emails, and apps, thanks to its advanced malware detection and removal capabilities. 

Additionally, F-Secure's proprietary security cloud stores malware and other cyberthreat data. Data analysis of these cyberthreats is refined by AI, algorithms, and machine learning. And it’s combined with the help of humans who report new threats in real time around the world. 

Ransomware protection

F-Secure's Ransomware Protection monitors folders and blocks any suspicious activity. 

There's also the DeepGuard feature, which monitors installed applications and prevents suspicious applications from accessing the internet without your permission. DeepGuard can block new and undiscovered threats such as malware, exploits, and other harmful applications that try to make changes to your computer. 

It also prevents suspicious applications from accessing the internet, which is excellent for preventing malicious actors from remotely using your device for nefarious reasons such as fraudulent online banking transactions or as part of a botnet involved in DDoS attacks.

Anti-fraud protection

F-Secure Banking Protection protects your device while making banking transactions online. It automatically launches a secured browser when you navigate to a banking site, which isolates the banking session from the rest of the online activity. 

It also blocks attempts by malicious actors to intercept the session or steal sensitive data and clears any data on the clipboard after a banking session is completed.

Bonus features

In addition to its antivirus protection, F-Secure Total comes with bonus features for privacy and identity protection.

Privacy features:

• Privacy VPN: Can be used to browse the web securely and anonymously
• Kill switch: Stops data traffic from bypassing VPN
  
• Tracking prevention: Prevents ad trackers from building a profile of you

Identity protection features:

• ID monitoring: Scans the dark web for your driver’s license, Social Security number, email, and more
• Password Vault: Creates strong and unique passwords to sync across devices
  

F-Secure test results

The antivirus programs we review undergo three categories of testing:

• Scan speed: How long do the antivirus scans take and do they slow down our device?
• EICAR tests: Can the antivirus protect from cyberthreat test files?
• Third-party test reviews: How has the antivirus performed during third-party testing?

F-Secure passed all three types with ease. Our virus scans were fast and efficient. It passed all three EICAR tests we threw at it. And it has high scores from AV-TEST, AV-Comparatives, and SE Labs. 

Scan speed

• Result: Fast

F-Secure offers the standard scan types: quick scans to review the most vulnerable files and full scans to review every file on your device. 

Scan type	Time spent
Quick scan	40 seconds
Full scan	8 minutes, 3 seconds

Both the quick scan and the full scan took less than the average amount of time we expect from antiviruses. Plus, it didn't affect our computer's performance, so we were able to browse like normal. 

EICAR test results

• Result: 3/3

We conduct in-house antivirus testing with the help of the European Institute of Computer Antivirus Research, also known as EICAR. It has an extensive library of cyberthreat test files to test for capabilities like malware detection, drive-by malware downloads, and phishing page detection.

Test	F-Secure score
Malware detection	Pass
Drive-by malware downloads	Pass
Phishing pages detection	Pass

F-Secure blocked all the EICAR files and pages. We were either stopped from downloading a malware test file, or blocked from accessing a phishing test page. 

During our initial scan, F-Secure even detected old EICAR test files that other programs had missed. 

AV-TEST results

• Result: F-Secure's Windows app had perfect results, while macOS and Android had some minor struggles

AV-TEST is an independent organization that evaluates the performance of antivirus software. The criteria tested were malware protection, impact on device performance, and ability to detect true cyberthreats (referred to as usability). 

Test type	Windows 10 score	macOS Ventura score	Android 11 score
Protection	6/6	5.5/6	6/6
Performance	6/6	5/6	6/6
Usability	6/6	6/6	5/6
Total	18/18	16.5/18	17/18
Date	June 2024	December 2023	July 2024
Link to test	Link	Link	Link

F-Secure earned perfect scores for its Windows 10 program. However, the macOS program received the lowest scores. Its malware detection rate was 99.6% while the industry average was 100%. It also had drastically slower performance while launching standard software applications and while installing frequently-used applications. 

Finally, the F-Secure Android app had perfect scores for malware protection and performance. It only received a lower usability score because of one false positive.

AV-Comparatives results

• Result: F-Secure had high protection scores, but struggled with performance impact

AV-Comparatives is another independent organization that's dedicated to testing security software. For desktop programs, it compares programs based on their real-word protection rates, malware protection rates, and performance impact. It also compares antivirus apps for their mobile security. 

Test type	Mobile security	Real-world protection	Malware protection	Performance impact (Lower is better)
Score	99.9%	99.8%	99.97%	19.9
Platform	Android	Windows	Windows	Windows
Date	July 2019	May 2024	March 2024	April 2024
Link	Link	Link	Link	Link

F-Secure was at the top of the pack for real-world protection and malware protection. It received a 99.8% real-world protection rate alongside Avira, McAfee, and Kaspersky. It was only beat by Avast and AVG, which received 100%. For malware protection, F-Secure received a 99.97% rate and tied with Norton for the top spot. 

However, F-Secure struggled with the performance testing. It was second to last with its impact score of 19.9, only behind Total Defense. For reference, the lowest impact score was McAfee's 2.8.

Finally, F-Secure received a 99.9% protection rate with its Android app. Only Trend Micro had a perfect score of 100%.

SE Labs results

• Result: 99%

SE Labs is the final organization we refer to for antivirus testing. It calculates antivirus program's protection accuracy rating against general and targeted attacks and tis legimate accuracy rating based on false positives detected. The total accuracy rating is based on these two scores. 

Test type	Home Anti-Malware Protection
Total accuracy rating	99%
Date	2021 Q4
Link	Link

F-Secure was a top performer with SE Labs. It received a 99% protection score, having defended against 100% of general attacks and 96% of targeted attacks. It also had zero false positives. 

Note that these are the most outdated F-Secure results, so the other third-party results are likely more accurate.

F-Secure compatibility

When it comes to compatibility, F-Secure Total has got you covered. This antivirus is designed to work on a variety of devices and platforms, so you can keep your data and devices protected no matter what you're using. 

Here are the platforms and devices that F-Secure works on:

• Windows 10 and 11
• macOS 12 (Monterey) or mewer
• iOS 16.6 or newer
• Android 10.0 or newer

Browsing Protection by F-Secure is available on the following browsers:

• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Microsoft Edge

F-Secure customer support

To reach a support agent, you can either call F-Secure support or use the live chat on its website. Live chat is available 24/7, while phone support is available Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST. It’s also available in other countries in Asia, Europe, and the U.K. with their own hours and phone numbers.

Live chat was easy to use and quick to respond. We were asking our agent about specific features and they were clear in their answers. 

If you prefer self-help, F-Secure’s website has a collection of support articles available in multiple languages (mainly European and some Asian) here.  There's also a community forum where you can ask questions and get help from other users. 

Top alternatives

F-Secure is a top-notch antivirus, but there are plenty of fish in the sea. We've compiled the following recommendations if F-Secure isn't right for you:  

FAQs

Bottom line: Is F-Secure good?

F-Secure is an above-average antivirus. We liked that it offers robust antivirus protection plus additional features like banking protection, a VPN, a password manager, identity monitoring, and so much more. 

Plus, it's great for parents who want to keep their children safe online with its parental control features and for users who want to game safely without slow performance with its Gaming Mode feature.

But it's not the most budget-friendly option out there either, especially because it doesn't have a firewall. 

Overall, we recommend F-Secure Total to anyone looking for robust antivirus protection with additional features that keep their devices and online activity secure, but we think there are better options for less elsewhere (like our recommended alternatives).

Explore your antivirus software options and read about the best antivirus software we've reviewed.