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VirusTotal vs ZoneAlarm comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

VirusTotal
Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) (7th)
ZoneAlarm
Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools
33rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Anti-Malware Tools category, the mindshare of VirusTotal is 3.1%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ZoneAlarm is 1.5%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Anti-Malware Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
VirusTotal3.1%
ZoneAlarm1.5%
Other95.4%
Anti-Malware Tools
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2588199 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Specialist at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Improves security alerts and analysis with comprehensive insights
I would like to see improvements in the score consistency and accuracy. VirusTotal should add more details like those from competitors such as URL Void or Symantec URL Checker, which show the category of websites. The addition of a file selection option to analyze files would also enhance the service.
Bala_Krishna - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at esupport Solutions Pvt ltd
Security suite has protected individual devices from threats, while installation and network features require improvements
BIG-IP is actually the LTM, Link Load Balancer, which comes with ASM, meaning Application Security Module. It consists of multiple modules, such as ASM, SWG, and a domain DNS manager. ZoneAlarm allows defining trusted and public networks, which helps maintain security in public Wi-Fi environments. It offers comprehensive protection, securing PCs against threats. Users do not experience any system slowdowns while scanning. Harmony Browser protects all your browsing activity and is bundled with Harmony Endpoint and Harmony Connect. It provides a small but effective security layer and sometimes comes packaged with the larger Harmony suite.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"With VirusTotal, I can check for any hash, malware, file, domain, IP URL, or malicious URL, and Kaspersky stays clean."
"It gives detailed information about suspicious IPs, which is one of its most valuable features."
"The feature I like the most is the ability to see the MD5 or SHA-256 signature of the file, and also the composition of the file according to its segments."
"It can scan the dark web and find if an email ID has been compromised. This is another area that we have not explored yet."
"I have never had any problems with stability or bugs while using VirusTotal."
"The product is easy to use with coding, such as Python or Java, via its API."
"It is quite simple for anyone if they just want to check some suspicious URLs."
"It allows us to see if there have been previous reports on certain indicators of compromise, providing insights from other security professionals."
"I strongly recommend ZoneAlarm as a simple but efficient solution, especially if your organization doesn't have a dedicated budget for providing a security solution for BYOD devices."
"The solution maintains reasonable scalability."
"Personally, I find the Game Mode of the Firewall very useful."
"This antivirus is regularly updated, and the updates can be scheduled."
"The product's most valuable feature is the detection engine due to its ability to identify threats."
"User friendly design and interface"
"It is easy to use through interfaces and easy to configure each of the customizations we created based on the characteristics that we wanted."
"ZoneAlarm is one of the best rated security products from Checkpoint, which comprises of inbuilt antivirus, anti spyware, anti phishing, and advanced threat protection features."
 

Cons

"They can improve the telemetry. Whenever we handle a sample, they cannot provide any information about a victim."
"VirusTotal needs better advertisement and promotion, especially in the Middle East, since it is not yet widely recognized or popular in that region."
"VirusTotal is hard to understand because you need to know Google Docs to create queries, and it doesn't have documentation for that."
"The platform could improve in the areas of endpoints and networks."
"There is room for improvement, particularly in making some of the most useful features more accessible in the non-paid version."
"There should be room for improvement, particularly in the API side of things."
"VirusTotal has predefined reports, but there is a lot of manual effort involved."
"I would like to see an improved user interface and some automation."
"Currently, the client is only available for the Windows Operating System but it would be good if it were released for Mac OS as well."
"They should release a single update with all the necessary characteristics to avoid being in a cycle of consecutive updates."
"Some of our users say that the interface is a little bit outdated for 2020, and want it to be more modern and cozy."
"We'd like better performance of the network equipment. There are high-speed environments where an immediate response is required."
"I have used it in the past for personal desktops and for systems at small startups, but I would not recommend it as an enterprise level firewall security solution."
"They need to update and improve the features available for Mac."
"Updating ZoneAlarm is a problem at times."
"I used ZoneAlarm a long time ago, so I don’t know the specific version."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are using VirusTotal with free licenses, managing the license limits across three or four accounts, thus incurring no costs."
"VirusTotal is an expensive solution."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The pricing is very economical."
"We use the free version of the software, but it can be upgraded to the paid Extreme Security edition."
"We have to pay a yearly licensing fee for ZoneAlarm, which is cheap."
"This is a freeware product and I recommend using it."
"I rate the product pricing a seven out of ten."
"The pricing is reasonable, with a yearly renewal license costing seventy dollars."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Hospitality Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VirusTotal?
I do not know about the pricing or licensing as our organization services VirusTotal for our clients.
What needs improvement with VirusTotal?
I would like to see improvements in the score consistency and accuracy. VirusTotal should add more details like those from competitors such as URL Void or Symantec URL Checker, which show the categ...
What is your primary use case for VirusTotal?
As I work in an incident response role, my daily task is to mitigate the security alert and perform the analysis part. When any alerts come, I check the IPs from where they originate and the locati...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ZoneAlarm?
ZoneAlarm has an acceptable price. Not much detail can be provided as I am not the one to judge the price.
What needs improvement with ZoneAlarm?
Check Point support needs improvement. Currently rated at 9 out of 10, more support is required. There are some concerns on support that need addressing. The integration of new products with their ...
What is your primary use case for ZoneAlarm?
I work with vendors such as F5 and deal with F5 as a reseller. I work with F5 BIG-IP regarding F5 Shape Security. BIG-IP Advanced WAF is what I work with regarding BIG-IP DNS or BIG-IP AFM. Advance...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Terma, Optix, Samsung Research Amercia, SF Police Credit Union, Independence Care System, Mattias Thomsen, Carmel Partners, Desert Research Institute, CRIF, FXCM Inc, US State Agency
Find out what your peers are saying about VirusTotal vs. ZoneAlarm and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.