Webroot Essentials
OpenText
Almost weightless protection for aging hardware.
Price
From $2.50/mo
Last checked
June 2026
Best for
Old or low-power PCs
Category
Specialists
About Webroot Essentials
Webroot does antivirus differently: the analysis happens in the cloud, so the local client stays tiny (the installer is around 5 MB) and scans finish in seconds. On an aging laptop where Norton would be a burden, Webroot is barely noticeable. The flip side: it participates in fewer independent lab tests than the major brands, so protection claims are harder to verify, and the feature set is thin. As lightweight protection for a secondary or older machine, it fills a real niche.
“The featherweight: a cloud-based scanner that installs in seconds and uses almost no disk or memory. Perfect for old laptops and minimalists. Independent labs test it less often than the big names, which keeps our score modest.”Editorial team, via AntivirusShortlist
Where to get it
From $2.50/mo
Sign up directly with the provider.
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