ClamAV vs Sophos Home (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, ClamAV and Sophos Home share a 2.4 GPA, and only ClamAV has a free plan.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
ClamAV grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Sophos Home grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Sophos Home
Business-grade antivirus for up to 10 Windows PCs and Macs
Which one is for you
Pick ClamAV if
- Fits if you run Linux or a mail server and want a free scanner
- Works for a sysadmin who's comfortable on the command line
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a desktop antivirus with a window, because there's no graphical app
- Skip it if you want real-time protection on Windows or Mac, as on-access scanning is documented for Linux only
- Too light for your only protection, since the docs say it isn't a traditional antivirus or endpoint suite
- Watch out: it wants about 3 GiB of RAM and 5 GiB of free disk with the standard database
Pick Sophos Home if
- Fits if you look after your parents' computers from another house
- Works for households with several PCs and Macs, as one $59.99 plan covers 10 computers
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a VPN, password manager or identity monitoring in the same subscription
- Not for you if you need help at weekends, as live support is weekdays in US Eastern hours
- Watch out: the $44.99 first year is a 25% offer, and it renews by itself at $59.99
- Tight if you want to stay free, as there's no free plan and protection stops after the 30-day trial
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAClamAVFair | 2.4GPASophos HomeFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree and open source under the GPL v2, with signature updates from Cisco. Anyone can download and run it. | CPremium is $44.99 the first year, then $59.99, so two years cost $104.98, about $4.37 a month, a little above the middle of antivirus prices. That covers 10 computers and unlimited phones, about $6 a computer a year at the full price. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright, with no plan limits on record. The docs suggest 3 GiB of RAM and 5 GiB of disk for the standard database. | CNo free plan, but a 30-day trial of Premium with no credit card needed. After that it stops protecting unless you buy. |
| Features | DCommand-line and daemon scanning, archive support, signed databases and mail gateway focus. The docs point to Cisco Secure Endpoint for a full antivirus. | CIt does the antivirus job fully: real-time scanning with AI detection, ransomware rollback, web protection, parental web filtering and remote management. But it's a smaller product than the suites around it, with no VPN, password manager or identity monitoring. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record, and you work through a command line and config files. | BNo store rating on record. You install it on each computer and it runs, with the web dashboard there when you want it. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWindows, Mac and Linux, but computers only: no phone app and no graphical interface. | BWindows and Mac computers plus iPhone, iPad and Android, all managed from one web dashboard. No API or integrations on record, so it stops at B. |
| Best for | free command-line malware scanning | looking after the family's computers from one place |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: ClamAV and Sophos Home. How we grade
Price against what you get
ClamAV has no paid plan and scores 1.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Sophos Home starts at $5 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.7.
Sophos Home scores higher, and starts $5 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other antivirus apps on the chart, none scores higher than ClamAV for less, and 5 score higher than Sophos Home for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- ClamAV is open source, according to its own site.
At a glance
| ClamAV | Sophos Home | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free trial |
| Starts at | Free | $59.99 per year for 10 computers at renewal, after a first year for $44.99 |
| Free plan | Free and open source under the GNU General Public License v2, with signature updates published by Cisco. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial of Sophos Home Premium, no credit card required |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Cisco | Sophos Ltd. |
| Price read from | docs.clamav.net | home.sophos.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
ClamAV
- ClamAV's own docs say it is not a traditional antivirus or endpoint security suite and point to Cisco Secure Endpoint for that.
- Real-time on-access scanning is documented for Linux only.
- The downloads page offers installers and source packages; it does not offer a desktop app with a graphical interface or a mobile app.
- The docs recommend at least 3 GiB of RAM and 5 GiB of free disk space for the scanner with the standard signature database.
Sophos Home
- The advertised $44.99 is a 25% first-year offer; the subscription renews automatically at the published price, $59.99 a year.
- There is no free plan: the trial stops protecting after 30 days unless you buy.
- There is no VPN, password manager or identity monitoring in the plan.
- Live support is available only on weekdays during US Eastern office hours.
Key features
ClamAV
- Command-line and daemon scanning
- Includes a command-line scanner for on-demand file scans and a multi-threaded scanner daemon, with an automatic signature updater.
- Mail gateway focus
- The docs describe it as designed especially for e-mail scanning on mail gateways, and the About page lists a milter interface for sendmail.
- Archive and file format support
- Scans inside archives such as Zip, RAR, 7Zip, Tar and ISO, and reads PE, ELF and Mach-O executables, Office files, PDF and HTML.
- On-access scanning on Linux
- The ClamOnAcc client for the ClamD daemon scans files as they are accessed on modern Linux, and can block access until a file has been scanned.
- Signed signature databases
- Signature databases are signed, so the scanner only executes trusted definitions, and the databases are updated several times a day.
Sophos Home
- AI threat detection
- Deep learning models flag malware that has never been seen before, alongside real-time scanning against the SophosLabs threat databases.
- Ransomware rollback
- Blocks ransomware from encrypting personal files and photos, and rolls back any files it managed to change.
- Web protection
- Blocks compromised and phishing sites, adds browser protection for banking and shopping, and scans downloads automatically.
- Remote management
- One dashboard shows and manages the protection on every computer in the family, wherever those computers are.
- Parental web filtering
- Choose categories of websites that children cannot open on a protected computer.
- Support by chat and email
- Live chat and email support from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern, Monday to Friday, with a knowledge base available around the clock.
Plans
ClamAV
ClamAV$0
Open-source engine, scanner daemon and updater. You install and run it yourself, with no paid edition.
Sophos Home
Sophos Home Premium$59.99
per year for 10 computers at renewal, after a first year for $44.99
Up to 10 Windows and Mac computers plus unlimited phones and tablets. First year $44.99 (25% off $59.99), then renews at the published price.
Ways to pay less
ClamAV
No public discounts listed.
Sophos Home
- Other savings
25% off the first year for new customers
Sophos Home Premium costs $44.99 for the first year instead of $59.99, then renews automatically at the published price.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, ClamAV or Sophos Home?
As of Nov 12, 2026, ClamAV is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $5 a month when paid by the year for Sophos Home. ClamAV is free, and Sophos Home starts at $59.99 per year for 10 computers at renewal, after a first year for $44.99.
Which has a free plan, ClamAV or Sophos Home?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only ClamAV has a free plan. Sophos Home does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do ClamAV and Sophos Home run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only ClamAV lists a Linux app and only Sophos Home lists iOS and Android apps. Both list macOS and Windows apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.