Do I really need antivirus in 2026?

[Pilgrim]

I ditched third party antivirus years ago and honestly haven't looked back. Windows Defender plus basic common sense covers way more than people give it credit for these days

[RomoneyWalters]

People underestimate how good built-in protection has gotten. Defender used to be a joke years ago, now it's actually competitive with paid tools

[Louise5]

I tried going without antivirus for a year and the only issue I had was my own stupidity downloading random freeware, so yeah, user discipline matters more

[Forge89]

I think antivirus is less about viruses now and more about bundled features like password managers and VPN upsells. That's where the real product is

[Craig71]

The reality in 2026 is most infections come from user behaviour, not lack of antivirus. Clicking sketchy links is still the real problem, not your security suite

[Oscar73]

I still keep a lightweight antivirus just for peace of mind, not because I think it's magical protection. It's more of a safety net than a necessity