Pricing

Pricing for Kaspersky Antivirus 2012 is comparable to the prices of other top antivirus software, though the package options are somewhat more limited than those offered by other companies.  We've compared the prices of the standard Antivirus 2012 package with the prices for the Kaspersky PURE Total Security package, which offers additional services and computer security options.  The PURE Total Security package is available in a boxed version or a downloadable version.  The prices listed below are for the downloadable version.  The boxed version is available only for 1 year for 3 computers and the price is $64.95.

Kaspersky Antivirus is also available in a Mac version which is available for a 1 year contract only.  Pricing is $39.95/year for one Mac or $59.95 for 3 Macs.

Lastly, Kaspersky offers several computer protection options for businesses, all of which are available for 10 computers.  Both of these services offer protection for workstations, mobile devices, file servers and management portals, but only the Enterprise package also protects a company's mail servers. 

Small business owners who have fewer computers to protect can also consider the company's Small Office Security package which protects up to 5 computers for $199/year.  If you wish to protect 5 computers plus your file server, the cost is $249/year.  This plan is also available for 10 computers and 1 file server for 1 year, for the cost of $349.  This program allows you to manage the protection of all computers from a single source. 

Features

The standard features included in Kaspersky Antivirus 2012 are notably more robust than many of the other antivirus programs we tested.  However, the features listed below are not all available in the company's Antivirus for Mac which offers similar but slightly more limited services. 

Feature
Antivirus protection
Antispyware protection
Host-based intrusion prevention system
Removable media control (protects removable drives such as CDs, DVDs and flash drives)
Anti-phishing protection
Malware detection
Automatic updates
Gamer mode
Antirootkit
Protection against keyloggers
Internet security training
Community protection
Protection from non-secure websites
Available for Macs

Kaspersky Antivirus 2012 offers a combination of cloud-based protection and software that is installed on your computer, the combination of which is designed to make sure that the system combats threats from every angle. 

Ease of Use

Unlike most antivirus companies that promote their free trial prominently, advertising of Kaspersky's free trial is notably muted.  It also requires the submission of your email address in order to receive the download information, as compared with other top antivirus services such as AVG or Eset NOD32, which allow users to download directly with no personal information required.  Oddly, once you submit your email address, you do have the option to download directly, without waiting for the information in the email to appear.

When attempting to download Kaspersky, our downloading software began by telling us that the download would take us a full hour, a revelation which was both disturbing and shocking.  Although it didn't take quite an hour, downloading Kaspersky antivirus did take nearly 50 minutes, which was about five times as long as other services required for download. 

Once the download was complete, we were required to follow several prompts in order to complete the installation.

One of Several Kaspersky Setup Prompts

The setup process took about 7 minutes on top of the initial download, and afterwards, we received no notices about what to do next, as we'd received with AVG and Eset NOD32.  Quite frankly, we weren't sure what to do next, or whether we needed to customize or setup the antivirus software.  We checked the start menu and located Kaspersky.  When we clicked on it, we were shocked to see that it asked us to activate the software, which we did.  Only then were we finally routed to the control panel, where we were able to run scans and update our preferences. 

Kaspersky Antivirus Control Panel

The installation process somewhat bothersome, but once we completed this one-time task, the Kaspersky antivirus control panel was actually remarkably painless to use.  We truly appreciated that we could easily scan our entire computer or a single item, with the click of a button. 

Control Panel Settings

The settings section of the control panel was equally comfortable to use, and we had no trouble finding what we needed or personalizing our settings as desired. On the whole, the Kaspersky antivirus user experience was satisfactory, because while the installation process was among the worst, the actual service was quite enjoyable to use.

Customer Support

Kaspersky's customer support page is rather intuitive, with large buttons clearly directing users to where they need to go.  We especially appreciated that when using the search function in Kaspersky's help center the answer opened in a new window, allowing us to keep one eye on the main help page in case we needed additional assistance.  In our tests of the search function we found that the answers were highly relevant and helpful.

We also tested the company's email support.  Although it took us several clicks to reach the page that contained the company's actual contact information, we had no trouble navigating directly to the page.  We began by emailing the company in the early morning hours on a Friday, and we received a response within 4 hours, clearly outlining the exact steps it would take to complete our requested task.

Email to Kaspersky

Reply from Kaspersky

Kaspersky offers free live chat support, which is available from Monday-Friday, 9am-9pm EST. Phone support is available from 8am-9pm EST, Monday-Friday, excluding holidays. Surprisingly, these hours were not listed on the company's website, while the hours for chat support were stated openly.

Kaspersky Support Page

Unlike Webroot which claims to help you choose the right product but doesn't deliver concrete recommendations, Kaspersky offers a functional page that enables you to answer questions about your usage so that the system can recommend a service that will best suit your specific needs. We tested different configurations of the system and found that it was responsive to our needs.

Help Me Choose Feature

Awards and Certifications

Kaspersky has won some very prestigious software and antivirus awards including:

5 Stars from PC World (October 2011)

Best Choice by the Institute for Information Industry (III) 2009

3 Stars from AV-Comparatives (2010)

The company has also been noted by various international magazines including Britain's Virus Bulletin, Spain's Data.ti, and the German Das Computer Magazin. 

Highlights

• Available for Macs
• More features than most other top antivirus software options
• Competitive pricing for PCs and Macs
• Very long download time

Summary

Although it took the longest time to install, Kaspersky's thorough antivirus protection may very well be worth the wait.  We especially appreciated the fact that Kaspersky Antivirus is available for Macs, and that it included protection against keyloggers which was rare among the top antivirus services.