Alternatives
Best ESET alternatives in 2026
Data compiled by Toolradar Updated How we rate
Cite this list: Toolradar, best ESET alternatives 2026, toolradar.com/alternatives/eset
13 direct alternatives to ESET, compared on pricing, features, and best-for use cases. Pick the right replacement without the marketing fluff.
Quick answer
- Acronis is the top alternative to ESET on our list, followed by Proofpoint and Barracuda.
- 3 of the 13 alternatives have a free plan, starting with CyberArk Conjur.
- Highest rated: Acronis, 4.6 out of 5 from 2,269 ratings, Sep 2026.
- 13 alternatives
- 3 with a free plan
Top 3 alternatives to ESET
Acronis
#1 Top pickIntegrated data protection and cybersecurity for any environment
Starting price
From $4.17 /mo
Cheapest paid plan, monthly, as of November 2026
4.6 /5 on G2 · 2,269 ratings, Sep 2026
Our take
Best overall
Proofpoint
#2Comprehensive cybersecurity solutions protecting people, data, and AI agents across all collaboration channels.
Pricing
Not published
4.6 /5 on G2 · 601 ratings, Sep 2026
Barracuda
#3Complete threat protection for email, applications, networks, and data for businesses of all sizes.
Starting price
From $5 /mo
Cheapest paid plan, monthly, as of November 2026
4.4 /5 on G2 · 676 ratings, Sep 2026
ESET vs 13 alternatives
| Tool | Starting price (Nov 2026) | Free plan | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Price: $3.33/mo | Free plan: No | 4.7 out of 5, from 2,173 ratings across G2 and Capterra (2,173) |
| Price: $4.17/mo | Free plan: No | 4.6 out of 5, from 2,269 ratings on G2 (2,269) |
| Price: Not published | Free plan: No | 4.6 out of 5, from 601 ratings on G2 (601) |
| Price: $5/mo | Free plan: No | 4.4 out of 5, from 676 ratings on G2 (676) |
 | Price: $59/mo | Free plan: No | 4.3 out of 5, from 203 ratings on G2 (203) |
 | Price: $2.5/mo | Free plan: No | 4.4 out of 5, from 94 ratings on G2 (94) |
 | Price: Contact sales | Free plan: No | 4.1 out of 5, from 56 ratings across G2 and Capterra (56) |
 | Price: Free | Free plan: Yes | 4.5 out of 5, from 17 ratings on G2 (17) |
 | Price: $10/mo | Free plan: Yes | 4.8 out of 5, from 7 ratings on G2 (7) |
 | Price: $500/mo | Free plan: Yes | n/a |
 | Price: Not published | Free plan: No | n/a |
 | Price: Not published | Free plan: No | n/a |
 | Price: Not published | Free plan: No | n/a |
 | Price: Not published | Free plan: No | n/a |
Why people consider alternatives to ESET
ESET provides antivirus and endpoint security for consumers and businesses. Low system impact, strong detection, and decades of security research behind the products. The scanning is efficient.
Teams most often switch away when one of these starts to bite:
- Pricing at scale as usage or premium tiers add up.
- Missing integrations with the rest of your stack.
- Performance or scale limits as your needs grow.
- A specific feature gap you have hit in security.
The 13 alternatives below cover the same core job (security) with different trade-offs.
ESET by the numbers
Toolradar data: It is listed as an alternative to 13 other tools on Toolradar, ranking #4 of 22 in Vulnerability Scanning. As of Nov 2026.
| Metric | ESET | Peer median | Position (1 is best) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | No | 12 of 22 have one | n/a |
| Listed as an alternative to | 13 tools | 3 | #4 of 22 |
| User rating | 4.7/5 (across the web, 2,173 ratings) | 4.6/5 | #2 of 10 (joint) tools with 20+ reviews |
| Compare-page visits, last 30 days | 64 visits | 26 | #3 of 10 tools with 20+ compare-page visits |
Visitors most often compare ESET with Kaspersky and Bitdefender (last 30 days, Nov 2026).
Listed as an alternative to: #4 on 2026-10-16 to #4 on 2026-11-02 (rank among 22 tools, 1 is best).
Each position is counted among the tools that have data for that row, as noted under it. All Vulnerability Scanning data · How we compute this. Advertising and placement fees are not inputs to any position. Visit counts include visits from every source.
Cite this: Toolradar, “ESET by the numbers”, Nov 2026.
Security leaderboards from Toolradar data
Toolradar ranks Security tools on one measure at a time, only where at least 8 tools have data. As of Nov 2026.
Lowest entry price, plans with no stated unit
Cheapest standard paid plan per month (annual prices divided by 12), read on vendor pages and compared only with tools priced on the same basis.
Counted among 171 tools with no stated price unit, verified price.
| # | Tool | Entry plan |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | HashiCorp Vault | $0.50/mo, billed monthly |
| 2 | Runbox | $0.66/mo, billed yearly |
| 3 | uTerminal | $0.83/mo, billed yearly |
| 4 | Alive | $0.99/mo, billed monthly |
| 5 | Addy.io | $1/mo, billed yearly |
Lowest entry price, per-user plans
Cheapest standard paid plan per month (annual prices divided by 12), read on vendor pages and compared only with tools priced on the same basis.
Counted among 40 tools priced per user, verified price.
| # | Tool | Entry plan |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zoho Mail | $1/user/mo, billed monthly |
| 2 | AccessOwl | $1.50/user/mo, billed monthly |
| 3 | Corma | $3/user/mo, billed monthly |
| 3 | Duo Security | $3/user/mo, billed monthly |
| 3 | Fastmail | $3/user/mo, billed monthly |
Lowest entry price, flat team plans
Cheapest standard paid plan per month (annual prices divided by 12), read on vendor pages and compared only with tools priced on the same basis.
Counted among 15 tools priced as a flat team plan, verified price.
| # | Tool | Entry plan |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hide.me | $2.50/mo flat, billed monthly |
| 2 | 1Password | $3.99/mo flat, billed monthly |
| 3 | Malwarebytes | $5/mo flat, billed yearly |
| 4 | Sentaro | $6/mo flat, billed yearly |
| 5 | Avast | $6.50/mo flat, billed yearly |
Most visited, last 30 days
Distinct visitor sessions on the tool's Toolradar page over the last 30 days, with bots excluded by our analytics. A session counts once however many times it reloads the page.
Counted among 11 tools with 50+ visits.
| # | Tool | Visits |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Proton VPN | 1,427 visits |
| 2 | Hide.me | 834 visits |
| 3 | Windscribe VPN | 639 visits |
| 4 | Opera | 619 visits |
| 5 | ZoogVPN | 365 visits |
Most media coverage, last 30 days
Number of distinct articles published in the last 30 days by independent press, blogs and newsletters that mention the tool. A story carried by several outlets counts once; the vendor's own blog, review sites, forums and republishing sites do not count.
Counted among 33 tools mentioned in the last 30 days.
| # | Tool | Articles |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ServiceNow | 21 articles |
| 2 | GitLab | 13 articles |
| 3 | ConnectWise | 12 articles |
| 4 | BitGo | 9 articles |
| 5 | Harmonic Security | 5 articles |
A position exists only when at least 8 tools have data for that metric. 234 of 735 Security tools have a verified price; the others publish none we could read (often "contact sales"). Advertising and placement fees are not inputs to any position. Visit counts include visits from every source. How we compute this. Cite this: Toolradar, “Security leaderboards”, Nov 2026. Data licensed CC BY 4.0. All Security statistics.
13 alternatives to ESET
Ranked by G2 and Capterra ratings, media mentions, and editor review, plus how directly they replace ESET.
- 1
Acronis
Paid Battle-tested at scaleIntegrated data protection and cybersecurity for any environment
4.6 /5 on G2 · 2,269 ratings, Sep 2026
From $49.99/year
- 2
Proofpoint
PaidComprehensive cybersecurity solutions protecting people, data, and AI agents across all collaboration channels.
4.6 /5 on G2 · 601 ratings, Sep 2026
Price not published
- 3
Barracuda
PaidComplete threat protection for email, applications, networks, and data for businesses of all sizes.
4.4 /5 on G2 · 676 ratings, Sep 2026
From $5/mo, billed monthly
- 4
Imperva
PaidApplication and data security platform
4.3 /5 on G2 · 203 ratings, Sep 2026
From $59/mo, billed monthly
- 5
Kaspersky
PaidCybersecurity solutions for individuals and businesses, building a Cyber Immune future.
4.4 /5 on G2 · 94 ratings, Sep 2026
From $29.99/year
- 6
Checkmarx
PaidApplication security testing platform
4.1 /5 across G2 and Capterra · 56 ratings, Sep 2026
Price not published
- 7
CyberArk Conjur
100% free Cheaper than ESETSecurely authenticate, control, and audit non-human access across your entire tech stack.
4.5 /5 on G2 · 17 ratings, Oct 2026
Free
- 8
Electric AI
Free plan Cheaper than ESETOne platform to solve all your IT and security needs for SMBs.
4.8 /5 on G2 · 7 ratings, Sep 2026
From $10/employee/mo, billed monthly; free plan available
- 9
Oso
Free plan Cheaper than ESETSecure and authorize AI agents and applications with fine-grained controls and audit trails.
From $500/mo, billed monthly; free plan available
- 10
Hush Security
PaidIdentity-first access for agentic AI and non-human identities, moving beyond static secrets to runtime protection.
Price not published
- 11
Abnormal Security
PaidAI-native human behavior security protecting cloud email and SaaS applications from advanced cyber threats.
Price not published
- 12
Conceal
PaidThe world's first Browser-Native Security Service Edge, transforming your browser into a security stack.
Price not published
- 13
Delinea
PaidRedefining identity security for the agentic AI era with intelligent, centralized authorization.
Price not published
Frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to ESET?
Based on real-signal scoring (G2 and Capterra ratings, media mentions, and editorial review), the top alternatives to ESET are Acronis, Proofpoint, Barracuda. Each solves the same core job with different trade-offs on pricing, features, and integrations.
Is there a free alternative to ESET?
Yes. CyberArk Conjur is 100% free (no paid upgrade path) (Securely authenticate, control, and audit non-human access across your entire tech stack). Freemium tools on this list offer a free tier with paid upgrades; they are not the same as fully free.
Why do people look for ESET alternatives?
Common reasons teams switch away from ESET: pricing that scales aggressively, missing integrations with the rest of their stack, performance or scale limits, or a specific feature gap in security. The alternatives on this page solve the same core problem with different trade-offs.
Side-by-side comparisons
In-depth comparison pages for ESET versus each alternative.
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