To extend protection to another device, you can log in from the device, send an email with a link to the installer, or (for mobile devices) scan a QR code that has your credentials baked in.
To start the ball rolling, you create or log into a My Kaspersky account online, enter your registration code, and download the appropriate package for your operating system. You get a security app (on all but iOS), a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, a password manager, and a parental control system, among other things. Kaspersky Security Cloud runs on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. Among the premium-only features are Backup and Restore, Privacy Protection, Safe Money, and most of the bonus tools. This tool looks just like Kaspersky Security Cloud, but shield-shaped icon overlays identify numerous features that aren't available for free. If you just want antivirus for all your devices, you might consider Kaspersky Security Cloud Free.
In fact, if they don’t use all the licenses they paid for, looking generous costs Kaspersky nothing. Offering 20 licenses is very generous, even if people don’t use them all. Kaspersky cut that offering in half shortly before this review, on the basis that few consumers made use of the 20 licenses. Long-time readers may remember that the Family edition used to include up to 20 devices. And while there's no limit on installations of the password manager, you can only have five distinct user accounts. Only the master account can manage the parental control component, for one. With the Family edition, you can also define as many as 9 secondary My Kaspersky accounts, with some limitations. Note that these are all list prices, and all are frequently discounted. At the high end 10 licenses for Panda Dome Premium will run you $274.99 per year.
However, Norton comes with 50GB of online storage for your backups and also gives you five full VPN licenses, where Kaspersky offers no online storage and charges $4.99 per month to remove limits on its VPN.
Norton 360 Deluxe looks more expensive, at $99.99 for five licenses. You get unlimited cross-platform McAfee Total Protection licenses for $119.99 per year, for example. Prices for this kind of cross-platform multi-device suite vary wildly.
You pay $149.99 per year for the Family edition, which lets you install protection on up to 10 devices, also the same as Kaspersky Total Security. Pricing for the Personal edition is the same as for Kaspersky Total Security, $89.99 per year for three licenses or $99.99 for five. This product comes in two editions, Personal and Family. Kaspersky Security Cloud offers everything you get with Kaspersky Total Protection, plus additional features, along with platform-specific improvements the company calls Adaptive Security. Kaspersky offers those three levels, and one beyond the mega-suite. Security companies typically offer protection at three levels: a basic antivirus, an entry-level security suite, and a mega-suite with additional features. Because we have not found or been presented with any hard evidence of misdeeds on the part of Kaspersky, however, we are leaving our original review in place for those who wish to decide for themselves. However, based on the increasing censure and criticism of Kaspersky by US government agencies, foreign agencies, and informed third parties, we can no longer recommend no longer recommend Kaspersky’s products. Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security SoftwareĮditors’ Note: PCMag rates and evaluates all products, including Kaspersky’s, based on their merits and effectiveness, not on any political or other considerations.