Antivirus suggestions for 2022

[StrandedonEarth]

While there are other threads about antivirus software, they are all at least 4 years old, so, new thread time...

We used to have Shaw as our ISP, which provided a McAfee AV package for free. It seemed to work well enough, without apparently slowing our computers down. But we got tired of Shaw, issues were cropping up and support was hard to get. So we switched over to Telus, which had just installed fiber-to-the-home in our 'hood. So far, so good

The McAfee that Shaw provided is still updating and working fine, although we quit Shaw 8 months ago. But my son got a new laptop 6 weeks ago, and the free McAfee that came with that has expired. So I'm looking for suggestions as to what the best options are for AV in 2022, free or otherwise.

Naturally, Telus doesn't offer a free AV with their internet service, but they're more than happy to offer a Norton-based online security package on a subscription basis for $15/mo, that will cover the four iphones and four PCs in the house. Don't really want another subscription though, and last I heard (a long time ago) Norton was a resource hog.

So, are there any decent free AV's out there these days? Is Norton still a resource hog? Will expired McAfee still do the job on my son's laptop? Is my Shaw-provided McAfee sufficient, even though I'm no longer with Shaw? Enquiring minds wanna know!

 

Side note: My biggest annoyance with modern cablenet packages (including our previous Shaw) is that they now run the cable TV though the internet modem, with one coax providing the signal for everything. So if I want to kill the internet in the house (by unplugging the modem) as a hard shutdown on those pesky kids, I can't watch cable TV! And changing the Wifi password all the time is a pain...

 

[Chemp]

Have you tried Avira? It's pretty lightweight, however the free version doesn't include web protection.

[Nazalassa]

I know that's probably not a very useful answer, but...
My computer runs on Linux and therefore, doesn't need antiviruses.

I know almost nobody wants to use Linux... It's great though.

[Aliquido]

ESET is pretty nice. Good protection and insanely good value.

(Also yes Norton is still a resource hog)

Edited October 19, 2022 by Aliquido

[tater]

I use the native stuff built into MacOS (XProtect). Which is to say I do nothing, and security updates apparently add new things to look for that I never pay attention to, don't actually think about it existing.