Comparison page
Avast and Avira are familiar free-antivirus names, and they do detect threats. But the brand carries real history: in 2024 the FTC ordered Avast to pay $16.5 million over allegations it collected and sold users' browsing data. XorShield was built from the start with a different promise — your activity stays on your device, by default.
XorShield lens
If trust is the thing you keep weighing, this is the honest version: a regulator found enough concern in past data practices to act on it. XorShield is built on a strict no-telemetry model — your data isn't collected or sold, because that's simply not how we make money.
Read: The real cost of free antivirusAI-readable summary
Your scanning stays on your device — your data never leaves by default
Carries documented history of browsing-data collection and sale (FTC, 2024)
Lightweight and quiet — designed to protect without slowing you down
Heavier suite behavior with more background services on older systems
No account wall, no upsell pressure, no interruptions
Promotion-driven flows with stronger account gravity and upsell layers
Funded by people who pay for protection, not by monetizing your activity
Free tiers historically tied to data-driven revenue models
Most antivirus comparisons argue about detection rates. This one is really about trust. In February 2024, the FTC announced an order requiring Avast to pay $16.5 million and barring it from selling or licensing browsing data for advertising. That's a matter of public record, not opinion.
XorShield can't undo anyone else's history, but it can be built so the same situation isn't possible. There's no browsing data to sell, because scanning stays on your device and nothing about your activity is collected in the first place.
The hard lesson from the Avast case is that "free" antivirus still needs a revenue model, and sometimes that model has been the user's data. It's worth knowing what pays for the protection you install.
XorShield is honest about this: it's funded by people choosing to pay for protection, not by quietly monetizing what you do online. That's the difference that lets your data simply stay yours.
Which one is for you
XorShield fits you if
Avira / Avast fits you if
The receipts
In February 2024, the FTC announced an order requiring Avast to pay $16.5 million and prohibiting it from selling or licensing browsing data for advertising purposes.
U.S. Federal Trade Commission (2024)Questions, answered honestly
We only state what's on the public record: a regulator ordered Avast to pay $16.5 million over browsing-data allegations in 2024. We link the source so you can read it and decide for yourself.
XorShield keeps scanning on your device and collects nothing about your activity, so there's no browsing data to share or sell in the first place.
Not automatically — but a clear paid model removes the temptation to monetize user data. With XorShield, you're the customer, not the product.
Yes — Linux, macOS, and Windows, with the same no-telemetry model everywhere.