Panda Dome Antivirus 2024: Cute Name, Serious Protection

Panda Dome Antivirus is a legit software that fared well in our independent research and testing, though old third-party test scores are a bit lacking.

Panda has a variety of plans and price points (as well as a free antivirus version) to fit any budget and the features offer a lot for a reasonable price.  On top of being a reliable antivirus with bonus features like a firewall and ransomware protection, you can also opt for upper plans that act more like a full security suite, with parental controls, dark web scanning, and more.

With big names like Bitdefender towering over best antivirus lists everywhere, you may be tempted to skip Panda’s free antivirus or paid plans. But overall, we were pretty happy with our Panda experience. Here's everything you need to know.

Panda Dome Antivirus overview

Price	$22.50–$63.00/yr (first year only)
Free plan	Yes
# of devices protected	Up to unlimited
Malware scans	Manual and scheduled
Real-time protection	Yes
EICAR test results	1/3
Firewall	Yes
Phishing protection	Yes
Compatibility	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS (Many features limited to Windows)
Extras	Wi-Fi protection, parental controls, identity protection, password generator, VPN, PC cleanup, update manager
24/7 customer support	Yes, with Premium plan
Learn more	Get Panda Dome Antivirus

Our experience

Our experience with Panda Dome was mostly good, though there were some hiccups along the way. We were impressed by the amount of tools available and happy overall with the scan times.

The first hiccup came when installing the software, which our Windows Defender blocked as a potentially unwanted app. It can be nerve wracking to have to go in and manually allow the app.

Once that was done, everything went mostly smoothly. The app started scanning our files in real-time right away, as shown by a slowly increasing "Files scanned" counter on the main app page.

The first thing we did was download fake viruses as part of our testing. While Panda did send us a notification that it detected the file, the guide it linked to in the notification wasn't very helpful. We wish it would've just quarantined the file for us, instead of sending us to read documentation.

Thankfully, when a threat was found during a scan, the software did quarantine and delete the file for us.

We did a critical scan and full scan, which took five minutes and 24 minutes, respectively. These times are pretty standard for antivirus, so we were pleased. They also listed a high amount of files scanned, which helped us feel like the scans were thorough.

We really liked the progress page that shows up while a scan was running. It gives you an idea of how far along the scan is so you can estimate how long it'll take.

When a scan is done, you can review the event files which let's you know what the program did with any viruses it found. Overall, we thought the scan experience was good.

Other than antivirus scanning, we got the Panda Dome Premium plan, which is jam packed with features. We had fun playing around with the updates scanner, VPN, and PC tuneup features, which all were easy to access and worked as promised.

Overall, Panda Dome has a lot to offer if you look past the slightly un-modern appearance and confusing layout. We were pleased with its ability to detect our fake viruses and felt safe with it on.

Who is Panda Dome Antivirus best for?

• Recommended for individuals or families researching the right protection plan

One of Panda Dome Antivirus’s advantages is the option to pay monthly with no commitments. Your first month is even free! Because of these flexible payment options, various features, and multiple types of plans, this is the perfect product for people looking to find the right protection for themselves or their families. Panda lets you try out different plans to see if this antivirus product works for you.

One caveat is that Panda isn’t the best for macOS users. While the Windows product is fairly robust and offers a lot, the Mac product doesn’t come with a lot of the same features. Mac users looking for a similar product should check out MacKeeper, which is an antivirus and performance optimization tool.

Panda Dome Antivirus cost

While Panda Dome does offer a free plan, there are four different paid plans available, costing between $25.50/yr (first year only) and $63.00/yr (first year only).

Panda takes a little different approach to pricing than its competitors. While most antivirus companies want you to pay for a year’s subscription, Panda offers monthly installment options. Depending on what you need, you’ll have access to a variety of features and you can adjust your plan month to month or decide to save by purchasing an annual subscription.

The prices are comparable if not a little lower than competitors like McAfee ($29.99–$249.99/yr), Avast (Free-$119.88/yr (first year only)), and Avira ($26.99–$129.99/first yr).

It’s also nice that Panda lets you choose how many devices you’d like to protect for each plan. Some competitors will make you purchase a higher tier to include more devices, but Panda allows you to choose between one, three, five, 10, or unlimited devices for each tier.

Overall, we feel like Panda’s options are a good value for the price. Even with the Essential Protection plan, you receive a decent amount of features. We were happy with our testing results and would feel comfortable using Panda ourselves.

	Free	Essential	Advanced	Complete	Premium
Price	Free	$25.50/yr (first year only)	$27/yr (first year only)	$40.50/yr (first year only)	$63.00/yr (first year only)
Manual and auto scan
Real-time protection
Firewall
Wi-Fi protection
Parental controls
Ransomware protection
Password manager
Dark web monitor	Scanner only	Scanner only	Scanner only	Scanner only
VPN	Yes — 150MB daily	Yes — 150MB daily	Yes — 150MB daily	Yes — 150MB daily	Yes — unlimited data
Update manager
Premium 24/7 support

Panda Dome Antivirus features

Panda Dome Antivirus offers the essentials for security suites, like scans and antivirus protection, and it includes bonus features like Wi-Fi protection, external device scanning and a virtual private network (VPN). It’s great to be able to scan external devices like your USB sticks and external hard drives for malware before they can infect your device.

We were a little surprised that the free product didn’t offer ransomware protection. Ransomware and viruses aren’t the same, even though they’re frequently grouped together. Panda has antivirus protection, but you’ll need to opt for a paid plan if you also want ransomware protection.

Malware and antivirus scan

With Panda, you get both manual and automatic scans. Custom scans can be scheduled from the Antivirus icon on the dashboard. Panda’s real-time protection means it’s scanning files and apps as they’re running on your device, so you can feel confident that a new threat can be caught quickly in any critical areas.

When you check your antivirus dashboard, you’ll be able to see your last scan, scheduled scans, any files in quarantine, and any problems found, like spyware and potentially unwanted programs (PUPs). It’s all easy to understand and well organized.

Phishing protection

Panda’s Safe Browsing features help protect against phishing pages by blocking them. A pop-up will let you know that the site you’re trying to visit isn’t safe and give you the option to navigate away.

Panda has built-in blockers that will immediately block a fraudulent or malicious site without you having to do anything. It also shows you the URLs allowed by users so you can see where these attempts are originating. You have the option to configure this in the Safe Browsing section.

Firewall

The Firewall feature allows you to choose where you’re working from so it can be more diligent in protecting your computer. If you set the option to Public place, then this feature can add a layer of security along with your VPN.

And the firewall doesn’t just monitor access when you’re connecting and disconnecting from networks, it also monitors activity while you’re using your device. If a foreign device tries to access your computer while you’re online, Panda’s firewall will block the interaction. You can use Panda’s preconfigured permissions or customize permissions to work for you. Using the firewall can give you more peace of mind that hackers and malware are being blocked from your computer.

Real-time protection

Real-time protection means that the cybersecurity product you’re using is scanning files and apps as they’re running on your computer. Panda’s real-time protection appears on the main screen of the dashboard as it shows you the total number of files scanned to date. The paid plans protect against all forms of malware, including spyware, ransomware, and adware. As we were testing the product, we could continue to scan files and processes on our laptop without issue.

Ransomware protection

While all of Panda’s plans offer antivirus capabilities, if you are an Advanced, Complete, or Premium customer, you can enjoy additional ransomware protection. Panda’s antivirus is great for protecting against older bugs like trojans and computer viruses while ransomware protection is more advanced for protecting against modern threats like spyware and adware. Panda’s ransomware dashboard breaks down what was blocked, allows you to customize protection, and even educates you on ransomware.

Bonus features

Panda’s dashboard has some other cool features that may be beneficial to you. The Rescue Kit allows you to make a backup of your hard drive and use Panda’s Cloud Cleaner to look for advanced threats that may be tucked away on your computer.

The password generator is helpful if you need to create a strong password quickly. And as we mentioned earlier, Panda comes with a VPN, which will keep your data encrypted and your browsing private. However, these features may not be available on all plans or they may be limited depending on your plan.

Here’s a list of Panda’s other bonus features:

• Parental controls: Monitor and limit your kids’ online activities
• Dark web monitoring: Scans the dark web for your information
• Device optimization tools: Helps your device run smoother and more efficiently
• Password manager: Stores all your passwords in one convenient, safe place
• Private browsing: Part of the VPN, this allows you to browse anonymously to avoid trackers
• Virtual keyboard: Use this keyboard while typing confidential data to protect against hackers

Panda Dome Antivirus test results

As part of all our product reviews, we run through a set of standardized internal tests so we can make sure the product works as promised. We also rely on trusted third-party testing to get a wider amount of information.

Here's how Panda Dome fared.

Scan speed

• Result: Average

Panda Dome offered three types of scans: Critical (which is basically a quick scan), full, and custom. We timed how long a critical and full scan took so we can compare against other antivirus.

Scan type	Time spent
Quick scan	5 minutes
Full scan	24 minutes

Panda Dome's scan speed results are quite average, with most full scans taking between five and 20 minutes.

EICAR test results

• Result: 1/3

In order to safely test how well the antivirus can detect viruses, we rely on a series of tools developed by the European Institute for Computer Anti-Virus Research (EICAR). These allow us to download files and visit pages that act maliciously, but don't actually endanger our devices.

As part of our tests, we try downloading malware in two different ways and visiting a page that acts like it's trying to phish info from us.

Test	Panda Dome score
Malware detection	Pass
Drive-by malware downloads	Fail
Phishing pages detection	Fail

Test results as of 08/30/2024.

While Panda Dome was able to detect the virus after we downloaded it, which gave it its only pass, it was not able to stop the file from downloading in the first place.

In addition, the safe web feature was unable to detect the phishing page we visited.

AV-TEST results

• Result: Decent but outdated results on Windows

AV-TEST is a trusted third-party tester that vigorously examines an antivirus' ability in three areas: protection against viruses, impact on device performance, and how many false positives it finds (usability).

Panda Dome hasn't been tested by AV-TEST by a while, but here are their latest results:

Test type	Windows 10 score	macOS Monterey score	Android 11 score
Protection	6/6	N/A	0/6
Performance	5/6	N/A	N/A
Usability	5.5/6	N/A	6/6
Date	December 2018	N/A	November 2017
Link to test	Link	N/A	Link

On Windows, Panda Dome performed pretty well. It lost a point in performance because it generally made devices slower when downloading and installing applications or when copying files. It also found five false positives, which is exactly industry average and cut down its usability score a little.

The Android scores weren't impressive at all, only detecting 65.9% of malware vs. the industry average of 94.8%. Though this test was from 2017, we would recommend finding an alternative antivirus for your phone.

AV-Comparatives test results

• Result: Good scores

AV-Comparatives is another trusted third-party tester. Luckily they've much more recently looked at Panda Dome, and the scores are much better than the AV-TEST results.

That said, they didn't do a mobile security test, so Panda's abysmal Android scores have not been redeemed.

Test type	Mobile security	Real-world protection	Malware protection	Performance impact (Lower is better)
Score	N/A	99.4%	99.57%	9.5
Platform	N/A	Windows	Windows	Windows
Date	N/A	February-May 2024	March 2024	April 2024
Link	N/A	Link	Link	Link

On paper, these scores look excellent. When taken in context of how other antivirus did, it's more accurate to just call them good scores. 

When it comes to real-world protection, Panda tied with ESET with a protection rate of 99.4%. The top antiviruses in this category, Avast and AVG, saw a much more impressive 100% protection rate.

Similarly, Panda's score of 99.57% in malware protection only got it eight place. The top contenders, F-Secure and Norton this time, got top scores of 99.97%.

Finally, when it comes to the performance test, the closest to zero you can get, the better. Panda came in at a middling seventh place here with a 9.5 score, far outranked by McAfee which only had a 2.8 score.

Though these scores didn't exactly top the rankings, they are still commendable and get the job done. But when it comes to your safety, would you settle for seventh best?

SE Labs results

• Result: 92%

SE Labs is the last third-party tester on our list. The U.K.-based company compiles quarterly reports of antivirus effectiveness for both consumers and enterprises. Here's how Panda Dome fared last time they were included:

Test type	Home Anti-Malware Protection
Total accuracy rating	92%
Date	2024 Q2
Link	Link

While not a bad score on its own, Panda only came in fourth place with this score. Five other antivirus actually tied for first place with a perfect score of 100% — Avast, Kaspersky, McAfee, Microsoft Defender, and Sophos.

Panda Dome Antivirus compatibility

You can install Panda on desktops, laptops, and mobile devices running:

• Windows
• Android
• macOS
• iOS

Panda Dome Antivirus isn’t available on every platform and doesn’t list any browser extensions you could install if you don’t have one of the compatible devices. It does, however, cover the bases for most home users.

What's important to note is that not all features are available on every platform. Here's a breakdown on which features are available on each device:

	Windows	Mac	Android	iOS
Antivirus
Dark web scanner
Anti-theft
VPN
PC Tuneup
Password manager
Update manager
Wi-Fi protection
Safe browsing
Parental control
Firewall
Data protection
USB protection
Virtual keyboard
App lock
File encryption
File shredding
Process monitor

Panda Dome Antivirus customer support

The Support icon in Panda’s dashboard is listed along with all the other features. You can search the support forums, go over its FAQs, or contact technical support.

Panda support is available at all times and is accessible by calling the number listed on the site (1-917-341-2063) or by filling out an online form. You can navigate to the site from the dashboard of your Panda Dome product.

 

Top alternatives

Is Panda Dome not quite what you're looking for? Compare it against these top antivirus solutions:

Panda Dome Antivirus FAQs

Bottom line: Is Panda Dome Antivirus good?

Yes, we feel confident that Panda Dome Antivirus is a good option to protect your Windows computer based on our antivirus review experience. We appreciated the extras like the VPN and private browsing as well as the free product offerings. The good scores from third-party auditors also gave us faith that we would be in good hands with Panda.

With a variety of features and solid test results, Panda proves it’s able to compete on the cybersecurity stage. It can even be argued that it outdoes some of its competitors with a free product and a lot of features as you move up in tiers. We just wish the Mac product was more robust but our best antivirus software list has options for macOS devices.