Avast is a huge player in antivirus. They already protect around 425 million consumers worldwide. On the other hand, Emsisoft is a smaller company with about 1 million yearly users.
As one might expect, Avast has a larger offering, with many more options. However, Emsisoft tends to be a good bit less expensive across the board. But Emsisoft does not have a free version, like Avast. We aren’t concerned with the differences between these two, though, but in comparing these two in the areas where they overlap.
Avast Business Antivirus
Avast Business Antivirus is an extremely easy-to-use hosted endpoint protection product. That’s partly because it’s an easily deployed cloud service. But it’s also just a simpler product than the full-on EDR solutions like Sophos Intercept X. Avast does a good job covering all the bases most small businesses need, and it also throws in a VPN service, Sandbox browser, and data shredder.
Another common refrain among users is how unobtrusive Avast is. It runs, and protects, in the background, and you likely will not even notice it. And, Avast provides 24/5 fast and friendly support. Staff are highly trained technical engineers, who can assist you via email, chat, or phone. They’re really here for you.
Using Avast
One of the things you’ll notice with Avast Business Antivirus is that the web interface is very different, and frankly, a lot better. There is also a new patch management dashboard that gives you a count of how many devices need patching. This might be the biggest improvement.
In addition, Reporting has been completely overhauled. You can now schedule reports and get a broader range of information. It includes a report for checking in on who used the remote access feature, which is a huge benefit when that level of access is available
Avast Business Antivirus is an excellent service, and it makes managing security an easy task for a small business administrator. It also offers a significant level of protection against threats. It is a very good entry-level solution for protecting a small organization that doesn’t need mobile device management or EDR/XDR.
Emsisoft Antimalware
Emsisoft Business Security protects workstations, servers and remote workplaces. It also comes with the free Cloud Console that lets you deploy AV to an entire organization (more on this cool capability later). This allows you to generate reports, apply security policies, and initiate and schedule scans from a single console.
One of Emsisoft’s really strong selling points is that it’s (also) a lightweight, easy-to-use software that can be run on any computer. It has a clean, friendly interface, and is backed up by highly available and skilled tech support.Plus, it’s super-fast and low on resource use.
Using Emsisoft
In the Scan & Clean panel, you can click links to run a quick scan, a malware scan, or a custom scan. Clicking the panel itself brings up a page with clear descriptions of each scan. The quick scan scans only active programs, looking for traces of malware. The malware scan looks in “all places that malware typically infects.”
To get a full scan of your entire computer, you choose custom scan. By default, it scans the entire C: drive, which is probably what you want. The custom scan page includes settings to configure just how the scan proceeds, but you probably don’t want to change them unless you know what you’re doing.
A full scan is a good idea after installation, to root out any existing problems. After that, real-time protection should take care of any new problems.
But no matter, because Emsisoft performs a full scan once per week anyway. You can edit it or add other scans on a monthly, weekly, or daily basis
Effectiveness against malware
Emsisoft seems to be stronger in detecting and stopping malwares such as adware and trojans. However, Avast’s full on-demand scan, while slower than Emsisoft’s, did a better job finding live malware samples.
AV-Comparitives has tested both solutions, although they have tested Avast more, not surprisingly. This touches on one disadvantage of Emsisoft, which is that they are a less well-known quantity than Avast.
However, what real-world data is avilable shows Emsisoft measured 99.1 percent detection against threats from the internet such as downloads and malicious websites. They had no false positives.
Their latest Malware Protection Test was completed in September 2021. In it, Avast scored a 99.98 percent protection rate, among the very best in the industry.
Again Emsisoft was not tested here. It last featured in September 2018, where it scored 99.95 percent protection rate, but also scored 10 false positives.
Features
Avast boasts excellent threat detection capabilities, an included VPN and File Shredder, and is extremely easy to manage.
Emsisoft gets good scores in malware protection and behavioral detection, successfully thwarts ransomware, and has a nifty Cloud Console that allows full remote management. Both of these solutions represent very good value for money. They both excel at being easy solutions to manage, which could be a huge selling point for organizations that lack the IT savvy needed to handle complex administrative tasks. Corporate Armor would love to answer any questions you ay have, and save you money on your next antivirus solution. So email us, or call 877-449-0458.