Pros & Cons
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- Perfect scores from four antivirus testing labs
- Scores from good to perfect in hands-on tests
- No-limits VPN
- Can install VPN on router
- Cross-platform anti-theft system
- Includes server-specific edition
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- No remote management of endpoint installations
ESET Small Business Security Specs
| Anti-Theft | |
| Antispam | |
| Behavior-Based Detection | |
| Device Control | |
| Firewall | |
| Malicious URL Blocking | |
| Number of Devices Supported | 25 |
| On-Access Malware Scan | |
| On-Demand Malware Scan | |
| Parental Control | |
| Phishing Protection | |
| Remote Monitoring | |
| Supports Android | |
| Supports macOS | |
| Supports Windows Server | |
| VPN | Full |
| Website Rating |
When your business is small, running it from a corner of your dining room table might be a practical solution. Eventually, though, you’ll need to expand. Likewise, the security suite that you use for your personal computer may not be effective as a business security suite. ESET Small Business Security is designed for this kind of very small business—too small to have an IT department or a security team. It builds on ESET’s top-tier security and offers specific options for business use. That said, Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security also offers support for mobile devices, identity theft protection for employees, and dark web monitoring of business details, making it an Editors' Choice winner. And if you want a strong emphasis on remote management, Avast Premium Business Security is our other top pick.
How Much Does ESET Small Business Security Cost?
There’s no fixed size for a small business, but 20-25 employees seems to be a common figure. Pricing for Bitdefender and ESET caps out at 25 employees, while Malwarebytes for Teams and Norton Small Business Premium cap out at 20. With pricing that goes up to 999 employees, Avast Premium Business Security and AVG Internet Security Business Edition don’t match this pattern, but I’d be surprised if their actual installations didn’t average around 20-25 employees each.
ESET’s pricing starts at $179.99 per year for five devices, which is $154.99 plus $5 per device. That pattern holds until you hit 10 devices. For 10 to 25 devices, the price is simple—$20.50 per device. That means you’d pay $512.50 at the 25-device level. That price looks to be considerably less than Bitdefender’s $799.99 per year. However, Bitdefender’s pricing is based on the number of employees and covers twice as many devices as employees.
With Malwarebytes, that same $799.99 per year gets you security protection for 20 devices, not 25. Norton is looking like a bargain at $399.99 for 20 devices. Yes, that’s just a tad less than ESET, which would run $410 per year for 20 devices.
As for Avast and AVG, the price per device decreases as the number of devices increases, but their protection remains expensive. Ignoring first-year discounts (as I always do), both Avast and AVG would cost more than $1,000 per year to cover 25 devices. And who’s going to pay $23k-ish per year for 999 licenses?
Getting Started With ESET Small Business Security
When you purchase a subscription to protect your business with ESET, you will receive an email containing an activation key and a link to manage your subscription. You then simply go online and associate the subscription with your ESET online account or create one if you don’t already have one.
From the online console, you can download protection for the device you’re using or email a link to protect another Windows, macOS, or Android device. When installing on a desktop computer, you must actively choose whether the antivirus should remove PUAs (potentially unwanted applications). These are apps that, although not actively malicious, may exhibit undesirable behaviors or include associated programs. During testing, I found that ESET detected many of my malware samples as PUAs. You should definitely enable PUA detection.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)Installed on Windows, this suite closely resembles ESET Home Security Premium. A large banner across the top reflects the security status. You want to see a green banner labeled “You are protected.” Below the banner are seven large buttons representing these security features: Anti-Theft, Browser Privacy & Security, ESET Folder Guard, Network Inspector, Safe Banking & Browsing, Secure Data, and VPN. You can drag these buttons around to change their order, if you so desire.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)Along the left side of the window is a menu providing access to various app features: Overview, Computer Scan, Update, Tools, Setup, Help and Support, and ESET Home Account.
Antivirus Abilities
Naturally, this suite includes all the protective features found in ESET NOD32 Antivirus. You can peruse that review for an in-depth look at the core antivirus features. Given that my review of the standalone antivirus is nearly two years old, I reran all my tests, and the results did not change significantly.
A full antivirus scan on my standard virtual machine testbed completed in 87 minutes, which is significantly faster than the current average of 113 minutes. ESET clearly did some optimization during that scan, as a repeat scan finished in just seven minutes, cutting more than 90% from the initial scan time.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)Independent antivirus testing labs around the world test dozens of protective solutions and regularly report on their capabilities. I follow five such labs, and four of the five included ESET in their latest reports. ESET holds perfect scores from AV-Test Institute, AV-Comparatives, AVLab Cybersecurity Foundation, and MRG-Effitas. My aggregate lab score algorithm maps all results to a 10-point scale and returns an overall score. With only perfect results, ESET has an admirable lab score of 10 out of 10.
Sophos Home Premium also has a 10-point aggregate score, as does Webroot, but these are based on results from one lab and two labs, respectively. I consider ESET’s score better because it’s derived from four labs. On that basis, Norton is the big winner, with perfect scores from all five labs. Avast and Microsoft Defender Antivirus also appeared in the latest reports from all five, scoring 9.6 and 9.4, respectively.
When I opened my folders full of malware samples, ESET eliminated 30% of them on sight, little change from 31% when last tested, and still very low. McAfee and UltraAV detected 100% of the samples before they could ever launch, and Malwarebytes managed 99%. It’s worth noting that, as before, ESET only wiped out half of my ransomware samples on sight, whereas most competitors eliminate them all or nearly all.
Continuing the test, I launched all the surviving samples. ESET caught all but one of the ransomware samples at this stage; however, the one that slipped past completely wiped out the virtual machine testbed. It also detected a significant number of other malware types, achieving a total detection rate of 87%. It lost points in several cases by allowing the malware to install one or more executable files, resulting in an overall score of 8.1 points. Challenged with this same sample set, McAfee and UltraAV detected 100% and scored a perfect 10 points. Malwarebytes scored 9.9, while Avast, AVG, Norton, and Webroot all scored 9.7.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)For another window into antivirus effectiveness, I challenge each security app by attempting to visit web pages that literally host malware downloads. Starting with a feed supplied by the testing experts at MRG-Effitas, I launch each URL in turn and note whether the antivirus blocks access to the URL, wipes out the malware download, or takes no action.
After running through hundreds of samples, I found that ESET blocked 42% of dangerous URLs. In most cases, it displayed a red-bordered warning that it had found dangerous content, though for a few cases it used a yellow border to flag content it considered “potentially unwanted.” It eliminated another 55% by identifying and removing the malware, bringing the total to 97% protection.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)That 97% score is good, and matches the latest scores from G Data, McAfee, Total Defense, and Webroot. Even so, others have done better. In their own malicious URL tests, Avira, Guardio, and Sophos all scored 100%.
The same browser extension that identifies dangerous websites also steers your surfing away from phishing sites. These frauds masquerade as legitimate sites, including those of banks and financial institutions, as well as dating and gaming sites. Anyone who, fooled by the fakery, logs in to the phishing site has given away their credentials to the fraudsters. Yes, you can train yourself to spot the fakes, but most antivirus apps, ESET included, aim to help you.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)For the phishing test, I use recently reported frauds scraped from websites that collect examples of phishing. I include both verified phishing messages and reports that are too new for commonly used blacklists. I also compare the antivirus app’s response with the built-in phishing protection in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.
ESET had scored in the low 90s for the last several years. This time around, and the time before, it achieved 100% accuracy, detecting every single instance of phishing fraud. AVG, Avira, Guardio, McAfee, and Webroot also scored 100%, as did Norton Genie, which focuses on phishing, and Surfshark One, which has VPN protection at its core.
Ransomware Protection
I mentioned that in my malware blocking test, ESET detected fewer than half of my ransomware samples on sight. That’s uncommon. Almost all recent antivirus apps have wiped out the complete set of ransomware samples in a trice. Worse, one of the samples completely evaded ESET’s detection, going on to wipe the test virtual machine completely.
For a deeper look into ransomware protection, I turned off the regular real-time antivirus, restored all the samples, and (for safety) cut the test system off from the internet. The wiper ransomware sample sailed past ESET’s detection, and a whole-disk encrypting sample also slipped past. Of the dozen file-encrypting ransomware samples (the most common type), ESET’s additional detection layers successfully fended off eight attacks, leaving four that bypassed ESET and encrypted important files.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)The Folder Guard feature backstops ransomware detection by blocking all changes to files in protected folders unless the program making the change is authorized. Folder Guard is off by default, and even when you turn it on, it does nothing until you configure the list of protected folders, which is initially blank. If you’re unsure what to add, start with Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos for each user account.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)With Folder Guard on patrol, I repeated my test on the four sneaky ransomware samples that had evaded other protective layers. Folder Guard caught and terminated three of the four. However, in each case, the attack managed to encrypt files outside the protected folders, ranging from 80 to over 4,000.
The information I obtained from ESET highlighted another new feature, Ransomware Remediation. When this feature detects an unknown process attempting to modify a file, it creates a backup copy of the file immediately and sends the unknown process for analysis. If the verdict is ransomware, ESET kills the process and restores the affected files from backup.
With Ransomware Remediation on the job, I ran my ransomware test again. Ransomware Remediation responded to two ransomware attacks, warning that it had detected ransomware and listing affected files. The remediation process left the encrypted file versions intact, in case they might be useful. And it appended “_restored” to the filenames of the recovered versions.
Between behavioral detection, Folder Guard, and Ransomware Remediation, ESET detected and eliminated all my file-encrypting samples. There are still cases where the ransomware encrypts files before its demise; I’m hoping that going forward, Ransomware Remediation will catch more of these.
Additional Features Shared With Antivirus
As you’ve seen, ESET’s antivirus technology consistently receives high scores from independent testing labs. It also scores high in some, but not all, of my hands-on tests. However, the antivirus app doesn’t stop there—it offers several features beyond the basics.
ESET’s exploit protection system specifically looks for attacks that exploit security holes in Windows and popular applications. Yes, these holes get patched as quickly as possible, but until you apply the patch, you’re vulnerable. Challenged to detect several dozen exploits generated by the Core Impact penetration testing tool, ESET actively blocked 29% of them, identifying most by their official names. That doesn’t sound like a high score, but it’s better than most. Currently, G Data, Vipre, and Bitdefender top the list, at 56%, 55%, and 52%, respectively. Because the test system is fully patched, none of the exploits can do any real damage.
Several of the security bonus tools are better suited for business use than for consumer use. The device control system, in particular, lets a business owner protect company computers from rash employee actions such as plugging an unknown USB into a company computer. I’ll discuss this and other tools below.
Shared Security Suite Features
The business suite reviewed here incorporates all the features of ESET Home Security Essential, although some changes are forthcoming for both. Parental control, which definitely isn’t a business feature, comes with a notice that the feature will be removed after June 30, 2026. The password manager will reach its end of life on October 21, 2025. Please peruse my full review for details on the remaining shared features. I'll briefly enumerate them here.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)In a big business, spam filtering is handled in-house or by an email partner. At the small business size, it’s possible you might need spam filtering for your business email accounts. ESET’s spam filter handles POP3 and IMAP email and integrates with Microsoft Outlook; users of other email clients will need to define message rules to divert spam and infected messages to the appropriate folder. ESET offers a wide range of configuration settings for this feature, but it is preconfigured for effective spam filtering.
Windows Firewall does a good job of defending your computers against network-based attacks, whether they are personal or business devices. The main thing it doesn’t do is provide an easy way to manage network permissions for apps running on your system. Out of the box, the ESET firewall also skips program control. If you dig in and change the firewall’s mode to Interactive, you’ll see a firewall pop-up query every time a new program attempts internet access. This includes built-in Windows components, so if you turn on this mode, you’ll find yourself quite busy responding to pop-ups at first. Some firewalls, like the one built into ZoneAlarm Extreme Security, use a huge database of known programs to configure network access, so you hardly ever encounter a pop-up.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)Additionally, in the realm of network protection, ESET’s Network Inspector scans your local network and reports on all connected devices. This feature is available to all users, but you, the boss, are the one who really needs to keep an eye on it. Run a full network scan and do your best to identify every device listed. You can dig into the details of an unknown device to obtain its IP address and MAC address, which may provide clues to its identity. When you’ve solved one of these mini-mysteries, you can rename the device within the system.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)When you’ve made that initial scan and reviewed what’s on the network, you can relax. For a while. You’ll get a notification when a new device connects. If you determine the new device isn’t authorized, you can follow the app’s instructions to disable the device’s access through your router’s settings.
Anti-theft is a common feature for mobile security apps, but laptops are also frequently stolen. To get full use of ESET’s anti-theft system, you must complete a few simple setup steps. If any user accounts are set for automatic login, that needs to be canceled. And any user account without a password needs password protection added. Besides these two common-sense actions, you must let ESET create what it calls a “phantom account.” When you remotely lock a stolen system, nothing is accessible except this phantom account, which itself has no access to the files and documents of the real user accounts.
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(Credit: ESET/PCMag)Once this system is configured, you manage it from the ESET console online. Where many anti-theft systems feature buttons to locate, lock, or wipe a stolen device, ESET starts with a simple button labeled 'My device is missing.' When you click and confirm, ESET reboots the device and locks out all accounts except the phantom one. It also starts tracking the device, recording its location every 10 minutes, saving screenshots, and (when available) snapping pictures through the webcam. If these clues lead to the recovery of your device, you can stop the tracking by marking it as recovered.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)Browser Privacy & Security doesn’t require any user interaction. It’s enabled by default and automatically starts installing the ESET extension for Brave, Chrome, Edge, or Firefox. This extension marks up results in popular search engines, flagging search hits as safe, dangerous, or unknown. Its Browser Cleanup feature wipes away traces of your browsing history, either on demand or on a schedule. It’s not so different from the built-in cleanup system you invoke by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Del in any popular browser. For the serious privacy nerds, you can enable an option that cleans up images you upload, stripping out metadata such as camera settings and the location where the image was taken.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)The Safe Banking & Browsing feature aims to protect your most sensitive online transactions by running the browser as an isolated process, insulated from all outside interference. A small, informative tab and a green border in the browser indicate when this feature is active. You’ve probably seen that green border already, because in its default configuration, ESET runs all browsers in secure mode.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)It’s always possible that a hacker could access your laptop’s webcam to see your private moments. Possible, though not likely. In a business setting, though, a scenario where the competition spies on your office by subverting webcams or microphones is more believable. ESET is equipped to control which apps can use the webcam and to notify you of any unexpected microphone access.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)All the features I’ve just described come with the ESET Home Security Essential suite. The upgrade to ESET Home Security Premium doesn’t add much, especially given the password manager's imminent departure. The main addition is the Secure Data file encryption system. Installed the first time you use it, Secure Data lets you create one or more password-protected virtual drives for your most sensitive files. When the virtual drive is unlocked, it acts like any other drive. But when it’s locked, its contents are totally inaccessible.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)Full-Featured VPN
The antivirus or security suite installed on your computer should protect your data and privacy from any malware attacks. However, your antivirus software cannot protect your information as it traverses the internet. That’s where a VPN (virtual private network) comes in.
When you connect through a VPN, your data is encrypted as it goes from your computer to the VPN server. Even if you’re using a thoroughly compromised network, your data is safe. As a bonus, your internet traffic seems to come from the VPN server’s location. That means nosy trackers can’t find you IRL using geolocation. Changing your apparent location can also gain you access to region-locked content.
ESET Home Security Ultimate enhances ESET’s security by adding identity theft remediation along with VPN protection. Note that ESET has recently extended VPN protection to the Home Security Premium level as well. Rather than building a global VPN network from scratch, ESET chose to license its VPN solution from a well-regarded third party. Technically, ESET is enjoined from revealing the identity of this third party, but it’s easy to see that the partner is Windscribe.
Our Windscribe VPN review provides a comprehensive overview of the original program. Please read that review if your business security plan includes requiring employees to use the VPN. I’ll summarize very briefly here.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)The VPN is a separate app that you install from the ESET dashboard online and activate with a one-time code. If you simply click the big switch, ESET connects you to the server with the best connection. You can also choose to connect through any of 85 cities in 41 countries.
ESET supports an unusually large number of VPN protocols, including the well-regarded WireGuard. By default, it chooses the best protocol, and you should respect that choice. You might consider using a stealthy protocol if you’re experiencing issues with apps or websites, such as Netflix, that restrict VPN use. Advanced features include split tunneling, which allows you to direct traffic for specific apps or websites to connect without using the VPN, and a kill switch, meaning that if the VPN loses connection, it cuts all connectivity rather than risk sending any data without encryption.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)Our analysis of Windscribe’s privacy policy revealed it to be unusually straightforward and transparent. In our hands-on performance tests, which included checking connection latency and the VPN’s impact on upload and download speeds, Windscribe performed significantly better than most competitors. We found its support options, ranging from a surprisingly helpful AI chatbot to a comprehensive support ticket system, to be truly helpful.
ESET’s VPN is not the same app as Windscribe, but the technology is the same, and the two behave very much alike. We found Windscribe to be an excellent VPN, with unusually strong privacy and transparency.
Install VPN Protection on Your Router
With this small business suite and with ESET Home Security Ultimate, you can come at VPN protection from an entirely different direction, installing VPN protection directly on your small business network’s router. When the router itself connects to a VPN server, it protects internet traffic for every device on your network. That includes all your computers and mobile devices, of course. But it also includes devices that don’t have the capability to run an onboard VPN, things like smart security cameras and automated door openers.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)You start the process by logging in to the ESET Home dashboard and working through the steps to choose VPN for Router. Next, you must choose a protocol: WireGuard or OpenVPN. You also choose a server location for setup. As you can see, the router-based VPN isn’t as flexible and configurable as the onboard software. To finish this phase, you download a configuration file to your computer.
The next step seems innocent enough. It advises you to open your router’s web interface and install the downloaded configuration file. But…do you know how to do that? I checked with PCMag’s VPN analyst, Justyn Newman, and our router expert, John Delaney. They confirmed that in a typical consumer setup with an ISP-owned router, this level of user control is simply not possible. The same is true if your small business is small enough to rely on an ISP-supplied router.
If your business has a network expert, it’s possible they’ve installed a third-party router. And if it’s an Asus or TP-Link router, you’re in luck, as ESET provides detailed instructions for installing the configuration file. Do note that we’ve honored both brands with our Editors’ Choice designation, meaning they’re among the best routers. Those using another router brand will have to figure out the process on their own.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)Even if you do successfully install ESET’s VPN protection on your router, you’re not done. If any of your devices routinely connect to other networks (as laptops, tablets, and smartphones do), you still must install ESET’s VPN component on those devices. Otherwise, leaving the office network would mean leaving protection behind.
This feature is a better fit for small business installations than for ESET in a home setting. Most consumers simply can’t make use of it, and few of those who can have the network expertise to do so. But your business might well have both the correct router type and the necessary network expertise to make it work.
Enterprise Management Features
Everything I’ve described thus far is shared by the business suite and ESET’s consumer editions. However, when you’re installing protection for your business, you’ll need a different viewpoint than for your home security.
Full Device Control
Your business is more of a target for espionage than your home computer. A competitor might attempt to infiltrate your network by leaving infected USB drives in your company's parking lot. It just takes one clueless clerk to plug in the gimmicked drive and expose your network to hacking. Or, in a movie-style scenario, a spy might break in and copy all your secrets to a portable drive.
You can put the brakes on these and other types of device abuse by enabling and configuring ESET’s device control system. This process starts by enabling the device control system, as it's out of the box turned off. You also need to restart the system after enabling device control.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)With the system enabled, you can create rules of varying scope. It’s entirely possible to create a rule that blocks access to all devices, regardless of type. Don’t worry; it won’t cut off your hard drive or USB keyboard. You may find this heavy-handed mode works for you. If not, you can add rules or edit existing rules. For example, you could ban all portable storage but create exceptions for individual drives, or for drives of a certain model. If you tried blocking all devices on the family computer, you might get some serious pushback. But when it’s a company computer, well, you are the boss.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)If you do get the urge to fine-tune device control, you have a lot of choices. You can click to populate a list of all devices currently attached and then create a rule for each of them, if you wish. You can also connect a rule with a certain user or group so that, for example, the average employee can’t use a thumb drive to copy files from the hard drive, but you, as the boss, don’t have that limitation.
Tools to Support Your Business
As a business owner, you (or whoever you task with IT management) are responsible for all the company’s assets, computers included. If something goes wrong with one of your ESET installations, you’re probably the one who’ll have to fix it. That being the case, you should familiarize yourself with ESET’s various maintenance and diagnostic tools.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)The first handful of items on the Tools page provide information about the device and its security. Specifically, you can view log files, examine running processes, review a security report, or get an overview of network usage and statistics. You may not know exactly how to interpret these informative features, but they’ll be invaluable if you work with tech support.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)When a PC suddenly starts throwing errors overnight, the big question is, what changed? The SysInspector tool can help. You need to save a baseline log from SysInspector for every company computer. If a problem arises, you can run a new SysInspector log and compare it with the previous one to see what changed. Alas, the ability to automate this comparison is no longer available in SysInspector. If you do need help from tech support, you can save the SysInspector log to a file, optionally stripping out personal information.
Sharing Your Configuration
As I described the many shared security features above, I made several suggestions about configuring ESET to maximize your security. By the time your new installation is ready, you’ve put a fair amount of time and effort into customizing it.
Can you depend on your employees to put in that same time and effort? Even if you can motivate them, are you sure they’ll follow instructions correctly? Save yourself some time (and your employees some aggravation) by exporting the configuration you carefully crafted and then importing it into each employee's ESET installation.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)Once you have protected all your company computers, you can use the ESET online console to monitor your installations. If there is an issue with a device’s ESET setup, a warning will appear stating that attention is required. Well, you will unless the device is a Mac. Currently, you can’t remotely check the status of macOS devices.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)With Bitdefender’s online console, if one of your devices has an issue, you can often resolve it remotely. You can also remotely trigger tasks such as checking for updates or running a scan. Like Malwarebytes, ESET can flag problems on remote devices, but it requires you to go to the offending device to apply any fixes.
The online console provides a dedicated area to monitor the use of bundled components, such as the VPN. You see a list of users who’ve installed VPN protection, along with the number of devices used by each. That’s the extent of it. You can’t see whether they’re using the VPN or what servers they’ve chosen.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)ESET Safe Server
As you grow your business, you may find that you need a server, perhaps for in-house email or secure storage of important documents. If you install ESET on a PC running Windows Server, it installs a different version called ESET Safe Server. This suite’s features match ESET Small Business Security, but with user-centric components removed. I don’t have a Windows Server installation for testing, but I was able to review Safe Server's features by examining the documentation on the ESET website.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)The server edition’s main window features the same menu choices along the left side and a large green banner stating that you are protected. The user-facing suite features seven large buttons for accessing various functions, including anti-theft, VPN, and network inspector. Safe Server omits all of those, just displaying buttons to check for updates, launch a scan, and view the server’s security report.
The Tools page contains all the same choices, except that the Network Inspector and Network Connection Scanner are absent. On the Setup page, both suites display banners for Computer protection and Internet protection. Safe Server omits Network protection and Security tools. While the server edition’s computer protection page includes device control and HIPS, it omits LiveGuard, webcam protection, and the ransomware-focused Folder Guard.
(Credit: ESET/PCMag)Bitdefender also offers a server-specific version of its suite, allowing installation on one to five servers. As with ESET, I couldn’t test that component. However, I certainly give both ESET and Bitdefender credit for recognizing that the security required for a server is not identical to what is needed for an employee’s endpoint computer.
Final Thoughts
(Credit: ESET)
ESET Small Business Security
While it doesn’t offer remote management, ESET Small Business Security lets you monitor the health of all company computers and even offers a version specifically configured for server protection.