ZoneAlarm Antivirus Full Review: Zone Out the Harm

How good is ZoneAlarm relative to its competition, and is it worth it? This article contains valuable information that will help you make up your mind.

Security and Protection

The major point when buying an antivirus is how secure the product is, so we ask the question: Can ZoneAlarm protect our devices from viruses, malware, and other causes of harm?

To answer that, we check the following regarding security and protection:

1. Third-party lab test results

• AV-Test scores

• ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall scored high on protection according to AV-test. It got a 6/6 score on its ability to detect malicious ware.
   
• ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall scored 4.5/6 in the impact on device performance department was relatively low, which means its effect on your device's resources is average.
   
• ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall had a low false-positive rate with a 6/6 usability score. This means it's unlikely to mistake regular files for harmful ones.
  
   

ZoneAlarm lacks up-to-date data when it comes to the third-party testing labs we follow, including AV-Test. At the same time, it lacks any assessment data from AV-Comparatives and SE Labs.

2. Firewall and IDS protection

ZoneAlarm has firewall protection with the firewall; your device becomes invisible to hackers, monitors incoming traffic, and protects your data from being compromised. With the intruder detection system (IDS), you can disable malicious programs while enjoying proactive protection against cyberattacks.

The Firewall by ZoneAlarm is a two-way firewall, meaning not only does it prevent hackers from invading your device but also catches them trying to leave.

3. USB Rescue ToolKit

ZoneAlarm lacks a bootable USB rescue toolkit. A rescue toolkit is a failsafe that is meant to be used in the event malicious ware infects your device and prevents it from even booting and reaching the antivirus screen. A USB Rescue toolkit can be useful against malware that requires you to boot your PC to function.

ZoneAlarm Plans and Features

ZoneAlarm provides users with:

1. ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall

Provides robust protection through the following features:

• Real-time protection: Provides protection against viruses and malware in real-time so you can enjoy your time without fear for your data or worry.
   
• Firewall protection: Provides a firewall that functions both ways for incoming and outgoing traffic, monitoring and protecting users.
   
• ID-Protection: Protects your personal data against attempts of theft.
   
• Gaming mode: Provides users with the ability to play games/work/watch movies without interruptions.

The free ZoneAlarm Antivirus + Firewall product is available only on Windows.

2. ZoneAlarm Pro Antivirus + Firewall

Adds to the existing features in the free version, providing a higher level of protection via the following:

• Anti-phishing: Provides protection against fraudulent websites and malicious links.
   
• Web Monitoring: ZoneAlarm scans any website you attempt to visit before it's accessed and checks any web content before it is downloaded to make sure your device remains safe.
   
• Real-Time Cloud Security: Provides protection using a cloud-based antivirus that has an updated directory collected from different users.

The ZoneAlarm Antivirus + Firewall Pro product is available only on Windows.

3. ZoneAlarm Extreme Protection

This is the ultimate plan by ZoneAlarm taking everything provided by the fire and pro version and further adding to them more features to make sure your experience is most secure. The following are the added features to the Extreme Protection plan:

• Anti-Keylogger: Provides protection against keylogging, which can be a way for hackers to copy the keystrokes of your keyboard, and therefore hack your accounts.
   
• Mobile Security: Provides protection to your mobile device, keeping you safe, especially now that the majority of web surfing, according to Google, is turning towards mobile devices.
   
• Ransomware protection: Provides protection against ransomware so you won't be at risk of getting your important files hostage.

This plan is compatible with Windows, iOS, and Android.

Zonealarm mobile app

Along with the Internet Security plan, the ZoneAlarm mobile app is available for Android phones only.

This provides users with protection against threats such as viruses, malware, and other harmful programs.

Extra features

Among the major extra features provided by antiviruses, ZoneAlarm stands as follows:

• Password manager

ZoneAlarm doesn’t provide a password manager as part of its plans but rather as a standalone product.

Using the same password, again and again, runs the risk of getting hacked across all your accounts when hacked on one, while using different passwords runs the risk of forgetting them. Password managers are the perfect solution.

• Safe online banking

ZoneAlarm doesn't provide safe online banking.

With safe online banking, a user would be able to do online transactions in safe environments without the risk of losing his information to a man in the middle attack or other attempts at stealing your data. ZoneAlarm redirects users to real sites if they go to a fake one automatically, adding to the online security.

• Parental control

ZoneAlarm antivirus doesn’t have the parental control feature.

Parental control allows worried parents to take care of their children and make sure they are surfing safe parts of the internet, and when are they allowed to do so.

• VPN

ZoneAlarm lacks a premium VPN service.

A VPN is a useful tool to encrypt your data when browsing online and to mask your IP address.

• Online back-up

ZoneAlarm doesn’t provide online backup.

The presence of encrypted online backup can give peace of mind, especially when one has sensitive documents relating to work, personal, and sensitive files. With the online backup, a user can find his files saved in the event the main files are lost, which can prove helpful.

User Experience

ZoneAlarm provides a great user experience for users, be it in the form of the scan speed amplified by the Turbo Scan feature, which shortens scanning time by skipping files it already knows are safe, the simple user interface, or the smooth customer support.

1. Ease of use

The user interface is user-friendly with a green smart scan button label scan anyway when your PC is healthy, under the Thor foresight tab, and a custom scan button under the Thor vigilance section, the menu for more options are located at the top left section of the interface.

2. Customer support

In terms of customer support, the following methods of contact are available for users when they are in need of help:

• Knowledge base
• Livechat
• Email and ticketing

Pricing and Payments

ZoneAlarm prices per plan summarized in a table:

Payment methods

Payment methods include:

• Major credit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB).
• PayPal.
• PayNearMe.
• UnionPay.
• Skrill Waller.
• Bank/Wire transfer.
• Check.
• Neteller.

Free trial

ZoneAlarm provides users with a 30-day trial period to try their premium product to make sure they are satisfied with the product.

Money-back guarantee

In addition to the 30-day trial, a 30-day money-back guarantee is also available, adding up to 60 days of risk-free use of ZoneAlarm until you make up your mind.

Final Verdict

Is ZoneAlarm worth it? ZoneAlarm provides a great deal in the forms of protection, as it provides many features such as cloud-scanning, sandboxing, heuristics, and behavior analysis, all of which are tools that can be useful against day-zero attacks. However, the lack of third-party testing makes it a bit hard to make a full assessment.

Despite all, it is still an ok choice. However, if you only need single device protection, you might get a better deal with Norton 360 by getting a higher level of protection with the addition of many more features which aren't available, like the VPN and password manager.