Softonic Security Seal

More than 30 antivirus engines

To guarantee that our programs are virus free, we scan them with more than 30 antivirus engines.

Frequent scans

To be extra sure, we scan all our programs regularly, not just once.

Safe alternatives

If the program you were looking for is suspected of containing a virus, we will offer you safe alternatives.

Why use so many antiviruses? Isn't one enough?

As new viruses and threats are always appearing, using just one antivirus doesn't guarantee detection in 100% of cases. Using more than one antivirus means that the results are more reliable, whether the file is infected or not.

If a program is marked virus free, does that mean it is 100% safe?

Virus developers try to trick antivirus engines and sometimes they succeed -although less than 1% of the time. As a result, just one antivirus can't guarantee that a program is 100% virus free. Using more than 30 antivirus engines, however, completely guarantees that that the file is safe.

Why do you say that a program is virus free if one antivirus says it is suspicious?

Occasionally, an antivirus can classify a safe program as suspicious if it confuses its functions with symptoms of a virus. If this happens, we check manually to see if it is a false alarm or not.

Why do you let people download programs suspected of containing a virus or malware?

For various reasons. The first one is to warn people who are looking for a specific program, but don't realize that it could be dangerous, and to provide them with an alternative. Secondly, on rare occasions, the antiviruses give a false alarm, detecting certain programs as suspicious when they are actually safe.

So are you saying that there are dangerous programs on Softonic?

No. If we confirm that a suspicious program actually has a virus, we either don't publish it or remove it immediately if it is already online.

Can I stop using an antivirus on my PC now?

No. We recommend that you use an antivirus on your PC so that it can offer you real-time protection against infections from other sources, for example, through email or from visiting dangerous webpages.