Heimdal Antivirus Review 2022 — Is It Worth the Money?

Heimdal Antivirus Review: Quick Expert Summary

Heimdal provides decent protection for Windows, macOS and Android. However, there are some bugs. Overall, it is not an excellent value when compared to premium antivirus suites such as Norton or Bitdefender, which offer more security features for a lower price.

Heimdal’s malware scanner had a 98% detection rate during my testing. I appreciated the minimal system slowdown that Heimdal experienced during system scans. The scanner crashed several times in full system scans, which is unacceptable and something that should not happen.

Heimdal also has the following features:

• Firewall.
• Advanced packet inspection.
• Automatic software upgrader (Xploit Resilience).
• Gaming mode.

Heimdal’s firewall and deep packet inspection are excellent — they offer advanced network protection that can stop sophisticated threats such as exploit attacks, man-in the-middle attacks (MITM), and ransomware.

The X-ploit Resistance feature is also a favorite of mine. It installs your software updates without any intrusion and automatically patches potential flaws on your device. McAfee and Avira have vulnerability scanners, but Xploit Resilience is a bit more intuitive.

Heimdal’s antivirus product is lacking many essential security features. It’s also a fraction of the price of its competitors.

In short, Heimdal can be described as a decent antivirus product that offers advanced threat protection. However, it is too expensive for the few features it offers (after all, Avira Free Internet Securityoffers an identical set of tools and it’s free).

Heimdal has three plans available, each with a 30-day guarantee.

HeimDal Full Review

Heimdal scored well in malware scanning and real time threat protection tests. This is what makes Heimdal stand out. Heimdal’s cost is too high, in my opinion.

Norton and Bitdefender are competitors that offer superior malware protection and a VPN, cloud backup, parental controls, and more for a fraction of the cost of Heimdal.

Heimdal has three plans available for home users. Each plan comes with a 30-day money back guarantee.

Heimdal Security Features

Malware scanning

Heimdal’s anti-malware scanner is very good when it works. However, it crashed on my gaming computer several times during testing. Fortunately it didn’t crash any other devices. Bitdefender and Avira have similar advanced antivirus scanners, which were able scan all my devices without any problems.

Apart from these crashes, Heimdal’s scanner and real time protection are quick, efficient, lightweight, and effective. My tests showed that I could use my devices as usual during scans. I used Google Docs and Google Sheets, surf the internet, and played video games on my Windows 10 computer. I also watched a Netflix movie on my Android smartphone with no performance issues.

Heimdal has more scan options than other antiviruses. It offers:

• Quick scan.
• Active processes scan.
• Full scan.
• Hard drive scan.
• Local drive scan.
• Removable drive scan.
• System scan.
• Network drive scan.

Although this might seem confusing, most users will stick to the quick scan (to check for common infected areas such as temporary files and downloads) and the complete scan (to scan the entire system).

While Heimdal’s 8 scan options are useful for some users, I would prefer Heimdal to include a custom scan option that allows users to choose specific files or drives to scan. Bitdefender’s custom scans, which are quick and complete, are much easier to understand and provide the same functionality as Heimdal.

To test Heimdal Antivirus, I used nearly 1000 malware files. This included trojans, viruses and ransomware. When it did work, it detected 98% of the malware samples.

Heimdal’s full scan would freeze on a file after 3 hours on my 2TB hard drive. And Heimdal does not allow you to add exceptions to scans, such as excluding this file. I couldn’t perform a complete scan of my primary computer. This issue was not resolved even after I tried emailing Heimdal’s support. This is a serious problem, since a full scan in antivirus software is essential and should work flawlessly. Norton, McAfee and Bitdefender all offer excellent full scans that scan large drives quickly and without any issues.

Heimdal’s full scan was completed in less than an hour on my laptop with a smaller 200GB drive.

My testing revealed that Heimdal’s quick scan took 8-10 minutes. This is significantly longer than TotalAV’s or Avira’s scans which take between 3 and 5 min.

It is easy to schedule Heimdal’s 8 scans weekly or monthly. You can also add notes and custom names for each scan.

Heimdal should have a better scan report system. Once a scan has been run, there is no way for you to view the details.

Norton, on the other hand, offers detailed scan results that include the number and resolution of threats, as well as the date and time of each scan.

Heimdal’s malware scanner scored high in detection rates and had very little system downtime when I tested it on a smaller laptop. Heimdal Antivirus does not offer a custom scan option, and my testing on a smaller laptop showed very little system slowdown. Before making a decision, I recommend that potential buyers use the 30-day Heimdal Money-Back Guarantee to run a full scan of their computer before making any final decisions.

Firewall

Heimdal firewall isn’t really special — more of a user interface to the built-in firewall found on all Windows devices. Although Heimdal integrates with Windows, I didn’t notice any improvement in my Windows firewall’s effectiveness after installing Heimdal.

Heimdal makes it much easier to add rules to its firewall than the Windows interface. This allows you to allow a particular program through your firewall or create rules for specific network ports.

Although Heimdal is better than Windows, Heimdal’s rule-setting process is not as easy as Windows. For example, to add a program to your computer, you must manually navigate to its path rather than selecting it from a list like Norton or McAfee. Heimdal’s customization layer is great for experienced users, but beginners and less tech-savvy users might find it overwhelming.

I was not impressed with Heimdal’s firewall. Advanced users might enjoy its rule-setting capabilities.

Deep Packet Inspection

Heimdal’s deep-packet inspection service is extremely effective but the name is confusing and difficult to understand. Deep packet inspection, as it is known in layman’s terms analyzes every piece of data sent over your network and looks for suspicious activity.

Heimdal’s deep-packet inspection service analyzes all outgoing and inbound DNS (Domain Name System), HTTP(Hypertext Transfer Protocol), HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) traffic using machine learning technology. Heimdal can also recognize malware such as rootkits and spyware communicating with users outside of your network.

Heimdal divides its deep-pack inspection service into two tools

• DarkLayer Guard. Real-time blocking of malicious connections
• VectorN Detection. Monitoring DarkLayer Guard connections and searching for patterns with machine-learning technology.

DarkLayer Guard and VectorN Detection can be combined under one feature, a “next generation firewall”. This feature is very common in premium antivirus software. Bitdefender and Norton both use similar technologies in their firewalls.

Heimdal’s deep packet inspection service is split into two parts, listed them separately from the firewall and given confusing names is a huge blow to the software’s usability – DarkLayer Guard & VectorN Detection seem deliberately vague and difficult to understand.

Heimdal’s deep-packet inspection service works very well I was able to simulate 23 scenarios and Heimdal was able block them all. Windows Defender blocked only 19. Windows Defender only blocked 19.

It’s easy to whitelist certain sites, files, or processes with DarkLayer Guard. All you have to do is add the file, site, or process into a marked box. It would be great if this could be integrated into the firewall’s rules system. I don’t want Heimdal to have to create a rule in the firewall or add an entry to DarkLayer Guards’ whitelist whenever Heimdal blocks something. It’s much easier to add firewall rules than competitors like McAfee and BullGuard.

Heimdal’s deep-packet inspection service is effective in catching malware files in real time. However, it’s not intuitively designed. I also didn’t like the number of false positives it returned during my testing. Its use of machine learning and TTPC make it an excellent feature for those who want to keep their networks and devices as secure as possible.

X-ploit Resilience

Xploit Resilience is an add-on that automatically updates and patches most software. It is free and useful. McAfee and Avira offer vulnerability scanners to flag outdated software. Heimdal is the only competitor that offers automatic software updates.

After you have opened X-ploit Resistance, Heimdal scans the system for any software. You can choose to monitor or auto-update any programs.

Xploit Resilience takes a while — it took me almost an hour to patch six programs on my laptop. It’s still an extremely useful feature, especially for those who aren’t used keeping their programs up to date.

I was also impressed with the extensive list of software X-ploit Resistance works with. I was pleasantly surprised that the tool recognized and updated some of my niche programs, like Wireshark, Tortoise SVN, and more common programs, such as Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.

X-ploit Recovery also offers a wide range of software that you can use, as well as more specialized programs. You can download them all with a single click. This works just like X-ploit Resilience’s automatic updates and is very discreet.

Xploit Resilience is a great feature, but Heimdal should add more device optimization features. For example, a startup manager and disk optimizer. Or a way to visualize computer resources. Avira Prim offers all these features and updates scanning in its paid plans.

Overall, Xploit Resilience is a great feature. It’s simple to use, can auto-update hundreds of programs and even offer a free download for those who want to add to their cybersecurity protections.

Gaming Mode

Heimdal’s gaming mode is a very basic feature that prevents security notifications and antivirus scans from interrupting gaming, or other CPU-intensive activities. Heimdal’s General Setting tab can access the gaming mode. Heimdal will not perform scans or send you security notifications if gaming mode is enabled. Instead, it will provide basic real-time protection.

This is a great feature that Heimdal has added to its antivirus. I just wish it was easier to find. It was tedious to have to go through Heimdal’s settings each time I wanted a game to open, especially since most games from McAfee and Norton launch automatically when you enter fullscreen mode.

Gaming mode will disable notifications but not increase your computer’s performance. There are better antiviruses out there that can increase framerate and performance in gaming. (Norton is my favorite gaming anti-virus in 2022).

Although it isn’t as effective as other gaming modes, Heimdal’s gaming option is an excellent tool for those who don’t want their antivirus affecting their games.

Pricing and Plans for Heimdal Antivirus

Heimdal has three premium plans available for home users. All allow you to install the product up to 10 times (Windows, macOS and Android).

• Threat Prevention Home. Includes deep packet inspection and vulnerability scanner.
• Next-Gen Antivirus Home. Includes firewall and malware scanning.
• Premium Security Home. All Heimdal’s features are included in one program.

Heimdal does not offer a free plan. However, you can try the software risk-free for 30 days with the money-back guarantee.

Heimdal’s pricing remains competitive with other premium antivirus software. However, it does not offer nearly as many features as comparable-priced alternatives. Norton 360 includes far more features for just few dollars. Malwarebytes offers an extremely affordable basic scanner for users with limited budgets, while Bitdefender offers lightweight cloud-based scanning for advanced protection that won’t slow down users’ systems.

Heimdal Threat Prevention Home – Real-Time Security Features

Heimdal Threat Prevention Housecosts $D800,680 per year and provides some really useful real-time security features.

• Deep packet inspection. Includes DarkLayer Guard, and VectorN Detection.
• X-ploit Resilience. Software installation with one click and automatic software updates

This plan is for advanced users who have an antivirus and want to add more security to their network. Heimdal Threat Prevention Homepage is a great option.

Heimdal Next Generation Antivirus Home — Solid, Nonobtrusive Antivirus

Heimdal Next-Gen Antivirus Home offers solid antivirus protection but lacks the Threat Prevention Home’s deep pack inspection and software updates. Heimdal Next Generation Antivirus offers:

• Antivirus software.
• Heimdal firewall technology.

This plan is for users who need a reliable malware scanner program, but don’t want Heimdal to provide advanced network security features. Malwarebytes and Bitdefender offer cheaper antivirus plans. Heimdal Next Generation Antivirus costs D800,680 per year and isn’t a great value. Avira Internet Security Free is a better choice if you are looking for an affordable and basic antivirus solution. It’s also completely free.

Heimdal’s antimalware scanner scored high in my testing, and it also comes with a 30-day guarantee of your satisfaction.

Heimdal Premium Security Homes — Best Value

Heimdal premium security home includes all the features of the 2 previous plans and is priced at D800680/year. Programs like TotalAV or Avira have more features, such as password managers, identity theft protection and VPN protection.

This plan is the most affordable. This plan is a fraction of the price of Heimdal threat Prevention and Next Generation Antivirus Home. However, it’s still an excellent choice for those looking for a basic antivirus product that has good anti-malware features.

Heimdal Setup and Use Ease

I was able to install Heimdal Antivirus on all my devices in less than 3 minutes. The whole process was very easy. Some features of Heimdal are disabled by default and the settings menus can be confusing.

Heimdal is available on PC, Mac and Android. It’s also available in the following languages.

• English.
• German.
• Danish.
• Spanish.
• Czech.
• French.

Heimdal default settings are generally good. Nearly all of Heimdal’s proactive security features have been activated by default. You are therefore pretty protected from the moment Heimdal has been installed on your device.

The Xploit Resilience software updates are disabled by default. This is in addition to the removable drive scanning, real time archive scanning and real-time networking scanning that the antivirus scanner uses.

In future, Heimdal should enable these options by default. I used Heimdal’s online help system to find out how to activate the security features.

The program is well-designed and easy to use. It includes tools such as deep packet inspection, antivirus scanner, firewall and software update features.

Navigation around the application can be relatively simple, but it can get a bit confusing Heimdal’s “Quick Settings”, and “General Settings”, menus are both available, which can make things difficult, as they often contain the exact same content.

Overall, I think Heimdal is a pretty easy-to-use antivirus, but that’s not saying much — it basically only offers 4 different security features. Avira and TotalAV, which are competitors, are just as simple to use but have a lot more functionality. Although I was disappointed that Heimdal’s security features were disabled by default, I found Heimdal to be intuitive and easy-to-use.

Heimdal Mobile App

Heimdal does not prominently promote one on its website. However, Heimdal has an Android app called Thor Mobile Security (Heimdal doesn’t offer an iOS app). All Heimdal plans are valid for up to 10 devices. Once you have purchased a plan, Thor Mobile Security can be downloaded quickly to your Android device. The Android app by Heimdal claims to have the following features:

• Malware scanning.
• Deep packet inspection.
• VPN, but it doesn’t work.

Heimdal’s Android malware scaner is quick and easy to use. It works well. Heimdal was able detect 95% of almost 400 Android-specific malware files I downloaded. This is really impressive. It’s not as impressive as Norton’s 100% Android malware detection rate, but it’s still quite impressive.

DarkLayer Guard, Heimdal’s deep-packet inspection service, also works well. It runs in the background even if the app is closed. It detected all network spoofing and MITM attacks that I tested, which impressed me.

The app misleads users into believing that DarkLayer Guard (a virtual private network) is a VPN. A VPN replaces your IP address with one from another country or location, allowing you to browse the internet anonymously and securely.

DarkLayer Guard, however, is not a VPN. Instead, it acts as a firewall blocking malicious connections. Heimdal’s VPN doesn’t even offer the option to connect to a server at a different location. Heimdal makes it sound like it has a VPN, but it doesn’t.

Many antiviruses include a VPN for Windows and Mac. Some even offer it for iOS. TotalAV and Avira, for example, both offer good VPNs with their premium antivirus plans. The best VPNs available are those from standalone providers such as ExpressVPN or ProtonVPN which offer great mobile apps.

One other thing I don’t like about Thor Safety is that it doesn’t look or feel as professional and polished as Heimdal’s desktop application. Heimdal should implement anti-theft features in Thor Mobile Safety. This could include remote locking, remote alarm, GPS tracking or remote image capture. Norton, Bitdefender and other professional-looking Android apps offer far more features including anti-theft protocols.

Thor Mobile Safety is a good mobile anti-malware tool, but there are better Android-based antiviruses available in 2022. Heimdal should add useful features to its Android application to make it a better companion to its desktop software.

Support for Heimdal Customers

Heimdal’s customer service is quick and efficient. However, I wish there were more channels.

• Email support.
• Online knowledge database.

Heimdal does not offer live chat, phone support or a forum. McAfee, Bitdefender and Bitdefender offer quick support via live chat and phone in many languages. This is much more convenient than waiting for an email response or digging through an online knowledgebase.

Heimdal’s web knowledge base and email support can be accessed via both the Android app and the desktop. It also includes a large number of tutorials and articles, as well as a comprehensive cybersecurity glossary and frequently asked questions section. There is even an email course that teaches beginners cybersecurity.

I was surprised to see Heimdal’s cybersecurity glossary not include its proprietary terms — e.g. DarkLayer Guard, VectorN Detection, X-ploit Resilience, etc. This makes it difficult to find specific parts of the program.

The plus side was that Heimdal’s email support is among the most responsive I have ever received. Heimdal responded quickly to my support tickets. Often, it was within an hour. This is a very quick response for an antivirus email support service. BullGuard can take up to a day to respond to support requests.

Heimdal’s customer service options are excellent. However, it is too bad that Heimdal doesn’t offer live chat, phone support, or forums for its users like other companies.

Is Heimdal worth the money?

Heimdal is a good antivirus scanner that offers network security tools for Windows, Macs and Android. However, it’s not as robust and user-friendly as premium brands like Norton or Bitdefender.

Heimdal’s antivirus scanner detected 98% malware files during my testing. This is a fantastic score. It found malware such as exploit attacks, man-in the-middle attacks and ransomware. Heimdal crashed several times on my gaming computer during full disk scans. I was not able to whitelist that file.

Heimdal comes with advanced packet inspection, a firewall and an automatic software upgrader.

I love the Xploit Resilience software upgrader tool. It is easy to use and detects sophisticated network attacks. Heimdal, however, is missing a few other useful extras. Avira and Norton are competitors in this area. They offer password managers, VPNs and system tune-up tools, as well as web shields and other useful extras.

You can subscribe to all 3 Heimdal antivirus packages for 1 or 2 years, and up to 10 devices. Although the 3-year subscriptions are quite affordable, Heimdal still costs more than McAfee and Bitdefender. Heimdal offers a 30-day money back guarantee on all plans.

Heimdal is a great anti-malware product. It also provides a firewall and is easy to use. However, there are other antivirus companies offering more features for a lower price or at a comparable price.

Is Heimdal free?

Heimdal does not offer free antivirus protection. However, all its plans come with a 30-day money back guarantee. Avira is the best free antivirus available.

Heimdal’s excellent software Xploit Resilience is free. This protects you from exploit attacks.

Is Heimdal safe?

Heimdal can be used as a security program, as long as your device supports it. Heimdal failed to detect any malware on most of my devices in my antivirus testing. However, it crashed every time that I ran a full disk check on my gaming computer. Norton 360, on the other hand, has never crashed while running a scan of any of my devices.

Heimdal is not the best antivirus program. Heimdal offers a 30-day money back guarantee on all plans, so you can try it out on your own system.

Does Heimdal include a mobile app?

It is, but only for Android users. It offers malware scanning and network traffic scanning, but Heimdal’s Android application misleads users into believing that DarkLayer Guard is a VPN. It also lacks the app advisor or identity theft protection that Bitdefender and Norton offer.

Check out our list with the top Android antiviruses in 2022 if you are looking for an excellent antivirus. Check out our list of top iOS security apps to protect your iPhone and iPad.

What is Heimdal Thor agent?

Heimdal’s antivirus software is called Thor Agent. Heimdal Thor Agentincludes real-time malware detection and antivirus scanning — it did a good job in my testing except for the fact it crashed several times while scanning my gaming computer.

Heimdal’s security program is full of confusing terms like Xploit Resilience and DarkLayer Guard. It’s not just me who finds it confusing. I was also surprised to find Heimdal’s online knowledge base doesn’t correctly label its features.

Does Heimdal include a VPN?

Heimdal does not claim that DarkLayer Guard for Android, its advanced network monitoring tool DarkLayer Guard, is a VPN. However, it is unable to perform basic VPN functions like connecting to other servers around the globe, replacing your IP address and encrypting your internet traffic. Avira or TotalAV are the best VPN antiviruses.

Source : #safetydetectives
Editor by : BEST Antivirus Review Team