Trend Micro Maximum Security review: Better alternatives exist

When we last looked at Trend Micro Maximum Security, it won our favor with a simple interface and strong features. But in the years that have since passed, this antivirus suite has lost its ability to compete with rivals like Avast, AVG, and Norton.

It offers fewer features from similarly priced competing software, with several notable ones that disappoint. Its ability to catch offline threats ranks nearly dead last in benchmark results. And it can be buggy — to the point of not working.

Where this app once shone for its beginner-friendly vibe, you now have reason to seriously consider alternatives instead.

What does Trend Micro Maximum Security include?

As you’d expect, Trend Micro’s main features are its protections against malware and web threats. By default, its antivirus engine scans continuously for real-time dangers, including phishing sites, malicious downloads, suspicious applications, and ransomware. And to help keep your more vulnerable loved ones safe, you get parental controls that filter or limit device usage as needed.

In addition, the Maximum Security plan includes a limited password manager to boost your online security, as well as dark web monitoring to keep you abreast of data leaks and breaches that you may have gotten caught in. You also get tools to ensure your PC stays up to date (and thus less vulnerable to attacks), keep some of your local data safe, and also preserve your privacy.

Trend Micro Maximum Security does not offer a firewall or VPN. For network protection, it relies on Windows’ default firewall. As for VPN access, you must upgrade to Trend Micro’s Premium Security Suite subscription.

How much does Trend Micro Maximum Security cost?

When subjected to AV-Comparatives’ battery of tests, Trend Micro also performed fairly well — at least for online protection. In the real-world protection test for February through May 2024, which assesses an antivirus suite’s ability to stop malware during typical online activities (like web browsing), Trend Micro blocked 99.6 percent of the 489 test cases. However, it had the highest number of false positives — 29, or more than double the next highest competitor (Norton, which had 12).

Meanwhile, in the March 2024 malware protection test, Trend Micro scored a 97.10 percent in online protection — that is, keeping 10,053 malware samples from spreading through network, USB, or local drives. But its online detection and offline detection rates were far lower, coming in at 84.5 percent and a staggeringly low 45.1 percent, respectively. (It ranks nearly dead last on that latter point, and a fair amount lower than other well-known antivirus suites.) Translated: So long as your PC’s connected to the internet, its ability to communicate with Trend Micro’s servers should keep your system safe by actually stopping the threats. But it may not notice the presence of the malware when you’re offline…and occasionally even while online.

Trend Micro did not participate in AV-Comparison’s November 2023 advanced threat protection test, which evaluates how well an antivirus engine catches sophisticated, targeted threats like zero-day attacks, malicious scripts, and fileless exploits.

AV-Comparatives / PCWorld

To evaluate how antivirus software affects a PC’s system performance, we run several benchmarks before and after the app is installed. Typically, these are done on our laptop designated for this testing, but as mentioned above, Trend Micro refused to open after installation.

So for this review, an Intel NUC11i5TN featuring an Intel i5-1135G7 processor was used for this part of our performance benchmarks. While in the same class as our testing laptop’s CPU, it has slightly different strengths and weaknesses—so the results can’t be compared directly to our other recent antivirus reviews.

Trend Micro’s effect on a PC appears to be on the lighter side. When running in the background, it had a mild effect on the Intel NUC’s system resources. Scores in PCMark 10’s Extended benchmark, which simulates web browsing, video chatting, gaming, and image and document editing in free, open-source apps, didn’t budge after installing Maximum Security. Similarly, the amount of time needed to complete our Handbrake encoding test, which transforms a large uncompressed video into a smaller version, didn’t change either. Even in UL Procyon’s Office Productivity benchmark, which involves Microsoft Word, Excel, and other document use, the real-time scanning caused a tolerable 6 percent decrease for results.

Even during a continuous full scan, scores decreased relatively moderately—just under 11 percent in PCMark 10, and about 13 percent in Procyon. Meanwhile, the time needed to complete the Handbrake encode increased by almost 14 percent. Hard-hitting rivals like Avira Prime can tank performance by as much as 50 percent under the same conditions.

These benchmark results suggest that users with newer mid-range laptops or better should see a relatively modest hit to performance. Those with older or more budget computers should anticipate a bit deeper effect. As always, if you’re concerned about getting work done on your computer during a scan—you can bypass the issue by scheduling full scans for off-hours (like when you’re asleep).

Should you buy Trend Micro Maximum Security?

Ultimately, the worst outcome for Trend Micro Maximum Security is attempting to install it on a PC you’ve already been using — and have it refuse to open the main console. (The exact scenario I ran into with my usual testing laptop.)

But even when working, enough of the suite still feels underbaked, including its primary job of blocking malware. You can save much headache and frustration by choosing a similar alternative, like Norton 360 Deluxe, which also includes a VPN.

Editor’s note: Because online services are often iterative, gaining new features and performance improvements over time, this review is subject to change in order to accurately reflect the current state of the service. Any changes to text or our final review verdict will be noted at the top of this article.