Best VPN With Antivirus in 2025

Surfshark

Surfshark is currently the best VPN with antivirus right now, thanks to its bevy of privacy and security features at a wallet-friendly price. On top of being one of the best VPNs on the planet, Surfshark’s antivirus solution is AV-test certified, feature-rich and available on Windows, MacOS and Android devices. 

PIA

PIA is another excellent VPN that offers antivirus protection as an optional paid add-on. PIA’s antivirus solution provides standard features without a ton of extras and is available only for Windows users. It’s a terrific option for budget- and privacy-conscious users because a yearly subscription with VPN plus antivirus protection is cheaper than many standalone VPNs on the market today.

A virtual private network is an important tool for protecting your privacy, but despite certain misconceptions, a VPN isn't a silver bullet for all of your online privacy and security needs. A VPN can boost your privacy online because it encrypts your internet traffic as it’s routed through a secure “tunnel” to a remote server in another location. This means that neither your internet service provider nor any other entity attempting to snoop on your internet activity will be able to see what you’re up to online. And in the process of routing your connection through a remote server, the VPN hides your true public IP address because the sites and apps you use while connected to the VPN will register the VPN server’s IP address rather than your own.

An antivirus program, on the other hand, is a security tool that can help keep your computer secure and free of harmful malware. Your antivirus software can analyze files you download and continuously scan your system in real time to detect and neutralize potential threats. 

Both of these tools cover different parts of your overall privacy and security needs. We’ve seen plenty of online security and tools at CNET over the years, testing VPNs, antivirus and password managers with the same focus on quality and value for money. Every one of them is designed for a specific task, so you can’t rely on just one. A VPN might be able to block some of the more prolific malware distribution sites, but it won’t do anything about malware files already on your computer like an antivirus will. By the same token, antivirus software can’t encrypt your internet traffic and protect your privacy like a VPN can. That’s why you should consider using both a VPN and antivirus software to cover as much of your threat surface as possible. The good news is that you don’t need to buy each separately, as some of the best VPNs also offer an optional antivirus add-on that integrates into your VPN client. While it’s a little more expensive than just the base VPN, yearly plans can bring the price down way below purchasing a VPN and antivirus separately -- plus, you can manage your antivirus and VPN from the same app.

Whether to bundle your VPN and antivirus software is entirely up to you and will depend mostly on your budget and what you want out of your VPN and your antivirus. Perhaps the two most compelling reasons to bundle VPN and antivirus software are cost and convenience. 

It’s convenient to have multiple online services under one umbrella with a consistent user experience as opposed to having multiple logins or dealing with different interfaces across various services. You could also potentially save some cash by bundling under one provider. An annual subscription for a standalone VPN can range anywhere from $40 to $100 or more per year and an annual subscription for an antivirus program can cost an additional $20 to $100 per year, depending on how many devices you need to protect. Whereas, if you bundle your VPN and antivirus software, you can expect to pay around $60 to $100 per year total.

On the other hand, if the VPN’s antivirus solution doesn’t include the features you’re looking for or doesn’t provide all of the protections you need, then you’ll probably want to go with a separate antivirus program. Or if the VPN that works best for your needs doesn’t include antivirus protection, then you’ll need to go with separate solutions.  

There’s a lot that can go into your decision on which service to go with, but based on my years of using and researching VPNs, these are the most important factors to consider when choosing a VPN with antivirus software.

Antivirus software included with the VPN

If you want a VPN with an antivirus included, your primary consideration will be that the VPN you choose offers antivirus protection. Not many VPNs include antivirus software at this time, so your choices are somewhat limited. But VPNs are increasingly adding additional services like password managers and antivirus solutions to their portfolios, so you may have more options in the future. Antivirus companies like Norton and Avast also offer VPN solutions. 

Privacy/security

You’ll want your VPN to protect your privacy and your antivirus software to secure your computer. Look for a VPN that offers AES 256-bit encryption on OpenVPN and IKEv2 and ChaCha20 with Wireguard, along with privacy protections like a kill switch, DNS leak protection and an audited no-logs policy. The antivirus software that comes along with your VPN should include virus/malware detection and removal, real-time protection, malicious website blocking and automatic updates to keep on top of evolving threats.  

Price

If you’re on a budget, price will be an important consideration. If you’re purchasing a VPN bundled with antivirus software, then you can expect to pay about $15 per month or between $60 and $100-plus per year, depending on what’s included in the VPN’s package. Naturally, it’ll be more expensive than getting just the VPN on its own, but you’ll probably save some cash over getting a VPN and antivirus separately. If you’re worried about committing to a year-long subscription, you can always back out after testing the antivirus if your provider offers a money-back guarantee. Regardless, we generally don’t recommend you subscribe for any time longer than a year, as which VPN provider is considered the best can easily change within that timeframe.

Usability

Your VPN should be as easy to use as any other app you’re used to using. Connecting to a VPN server and navigating the settings should be a simple, straightforward affair -- whether you’re an experienced VPN user or a total newbie. As for the antivirus, you should barely even know it’s there because it should work in the background with minimal impact on the performance of your computer. That said, you should be able to hop into the settings and customize your antivirus security protection and schedule scans easily whenever you need to.

I picked the best VPNs with antivirus based on our exhaustive VPN testing process and took into account which of CNET’s top VPN picks offer fully fledged, high-quality antivirus protection alongside their VPN services. When we evaluate VPNs at CNET, we test the VPN’s speeds by conducting over 250 internet speed tests per provider, run DNS leak tests, check its streaming capabilities, test all features across available platforms and evaluate its overall usability and value. We also take a deep dive into each VPN provider’s privacy policy, along with its corporate structure and history. Throughout the process, we maintain close contact with company representatives via email and video conferencing to ensure any questions we may have are clarified or issues we have are addressed.  

NordVPN

NordVPN is a top-tier VPN provider that earns an honorable mention here because of its new Threat Protection Pro feature that’s built into its VPN software. While not a full-fledged antivirus solution, NordVPN’s Threat Protection Pro does many things that an antivirus program does, like scanning downloaded files to check for potential threats, scanning existing applications for vulnerabilities and blocking malicious websites. The feature also blocks ads and trackers and can detect double extensions to help guard against files sneaking malware onto your device. NordVPN is currently the only VPN to be awarded AV-Comparatives’ anti-phishing certification. However, Threat Protection Pro lacks key antivirus features like full system scans, quarantine and removal of existing malware, webcam protection and automatic updates.  

NordVPN’s Threat Protection Pro feature is available along with the VPN and NordPass password manager on the Plus and Ultimate subscription tiers for Windows and Mac users. The Plus tier costs $14 per month, $72 for the first year (then $167 annually) or $105 for the first two years combined (then $167 annually). The Ultimate plan goes for $16 per month, $96 for the first year (then $278 annually) or $153 for the first two years combined (then $278 annually).

As a VPN, NordVPN is one of the best. The VPN boasts fast speeds, a huge network of servers in 111 countries, excellent streaming capabilities and solid privacy features. 

Read our NordVPN review.