Lightweight
Stackable with other antivirus
Almost no features
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Malware removal and virus removal aren’t always synonymous, even though they’re often billed that way. Lightweight product HitmanPro.Alert offers both. HitmanPro.Alert isn’t available for all operating systems, so it will only work for Windows users looking to remove malware threats and protect against malicious software.
HitmanPro.Alert can be stacked with other antivirus software as a second-opinion scanner. In our testing, we found it caught something malicious on our system, which had been previously left by another antivirus.
If you’re looking for a zero-day product that’s lightweight, offers a quick scan, and can encrypt your traffic to help avoid trackers, HitmanPro.Alert may be the software for you.
Lightweight
Stackable with other antivirus
Almost no features
| Price | $24.95–$54.95/yr |
| Free plan | No |
| # of devices protected | Up to 3 |
| Malware scans | Manual |
| Firewall | No |
| Phishing protection | No |
| Parental controls | No |
| Learn more | Get HitmanPro.Alert |
HitmanPro.Alert, like HitmanPro, doesn’t come with a lot of features, but that’s ok. It’s light antivirus software that takes up almost no space on your hard drive and is always running in the background. It also adds additional encryption features not offered in HitmanPro. This means you can leave it by itself to protect your machine or stack it with additional security software for a more robust approach to security.
If you’re someone who really loves features, this is not the product for you. HitmanPro.Alert and HitmanPro are very lightweight, no-nonsense cybersecurity products. HitmanPro.Alert does offer some additional encryption technology that protects you online, but that might be its only other defining feature.
The malware and antivirus scanning features are extremely easy to use. Since HitmanPro.Alert is thorough, it boasts the ability to remove all types of malware like ransomware, adware, and spyware, as well as viruses and trojans. The removal tool is built-in, and the scanning button is directly on the dashboard. So far, the scanning features seem to be manual, but this is a real-time protection tool that’s running in the background to protect you from anything that may come up when you’re online.
HitmanPro.Alert doesn’t offer phishing protection. When we ran EICAR tests (results below), there was no phishing protection present in the product. Since HitmanPro.Alert can be stacked with other security products, you can fulfill this need elsewhere without interfering with your HitmanPro.Alert functionality.
HitmanPro.Alert also doesn’t offer a firewall. HitmanPro.Alert does work with other security products, so you could use this with your proprietary Windows firewall. You could also stack it with a firewall product.
HitmanPro.Alert’s real-time protection is always running in the background. As far as other real-time features, you can see a small, semi-opaque red bar in the bottom right corner of your browser that encrypts your data as you interact online. This is meant to protect you from keyloggers by hiding what you’re typing.
Because this is such a lightweight product, there really isn’t much to the ransomware protection that you can see. It’s there, though! Since HitmanPro.Alert comes with ransomware protection, it’s always running in the background, making sure you have a line of defense against all the nasties that float around the internet waiting to get you. It also reinforces vulnerable programs like Microsoft Word or Office by adding extra security to those applications.
The only feature that could be categorized as anti-fraud is the encryption that comes standard with HitmanPro.Alert. By encrypting your traffic, it hides your personal information and shields you from data theft or keyloggers that could steal your credentials. This feature comes with HitmanPro.Alert and not HitmanPro. You can see it working in the lower-right corner of your browser.
The European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research (EICAR) offers tools to help evaluate the effectiveness of cybersecurity products. It tests for malware, potentially unwanted programs (PUAs), and phishing attempts. The samples provided mimic each of these to really give your cybersecurity product a run for its money. This is a great way to get additional information about the effectiveness of your software when there isn’t independent third-party testing information available.
HitmanPro.Alert doesn’t have any independent third-party testing information, which means it likely hasn’t submitted itself to AV-Comparatives or AV-TEST. This isn’t a huge red flag since the testing does cost money.
We weren’t bothered by the lack of results because HitmanPro.Alert passed most of the EICAR tests. If the cost to you was higher, or HitmanPro.Alert was boasting more robust features, we might be alarmed that it hadn’t been submitted for testing. But because the product is meant to be lightweight, we were okay with the results we received.
| Test | HitmanPro.Alert score |
| Malware detection | Pass |
| Potentially unwanted apps (PUAs) detection | Pass |
| Phishing detection | Fail |
There really isn’t a lot of elaborate detail we can go into with HitmanPro.Alert. We tested the product on our 6-year-old Windows 10 machine. The installation was easy. Honestly, the most work we had to do was finding HitmanPro.Alert in our menu and pinning it to our taskbar for easy access. Because we were able to use the free 30-day trial (they actually give you 32 days, starting on the day you download it), we didn’t have to enter any credit card information.
The initial scan ran in under 5 minutes, and subsequent scans all clocked in at a minute or less. We were surprised when HitmanPro.Alert caught something on our device, and a large red box appeared. Next to the suspicious file was a drop-down menu with the option to run, quarantine, or delete the file. We chose to delete it and HitmanPro.Alert took care of it.
We found a fun bonus while using the web. We knew HitmanPro.Alert encrypted our internet browsing, it’s a key difference between that and the HitmanPro product, but we didn’t know we’d see it in action. When we began typing in our Chrome browser, a small, somewhat transparent red bar appeared in the lower-right corner of our browser to show us how HitmanPro.Alert was encrypting our traffic. Since this feature is meant to help protect against keyloggers, we were excited to see it actually worked.
HitmanPro.Alert is available only for Windows. The product does suggest that you can use Sophos Home for macOS if you want protection. Sophos Home does offer an app for Android and iOS users that can be found in the Google Play and Apple’s App stores, respectively.
There are really no customer support options other than guides. We weren’t really able to find forums in the Help Center either, so your best bet is the FAQs. Since the product is so lightweight, we don’t think you’ll have too much trouble with it, but if you do, the Help Center looks organized and is searchable.
There are a few options available if you’re looking at either HitmanPro or HitmanPro.Alert. You can choose one or three devices for one year or three years. If you choose either the three-device or three-year option, you’ll be paying for only two, as the third PC or third year comes free. As far as the actual prices are concerned, the one or three-year prices are extremely reasonable.
If you’re looking for something lightweight that isn’t going to bog down your machine or become overly confusing with the amount of features available, this could be a great option for you. The real-time protection and anti-malware features usually aren’t offered in products as paired down as this one. We feel this is a good value for what you’re getting. Definitely a win in our book.
| HitmanPro | HitmanPro.Alert | |
| Price for first year | Starts at $24.95/yr | Starts $34.95/yr |
| # devices supported | Up to 3 | Up to 3 |
| Compatible with | Windows | Windows |
| Manual and auto scan | ||
| Phishing protection | ||
| Web encryption | ||
| Firewall | ||
| Real-time protection | ||
| Ransomware protection | ||
| Parental controls | ||
| Performance optimization tools | ||
| Details | View Plan | View Plan |
If HitmanPro or HitmanPro.Alert aren’t your thing, we have some of the best antivirus software options available listed below. Whether you’re looking for a product with more features or a free antivirus that won’t sell you out, we’ve got you covered:
HitmanPro is under the parent company Sophos, which is a trusted brand. On top of that, HitmanPro uses Sophos’ name generously across its website. Couple that name recognition with the results we got from testing it, and we would consider HItmanPro to be trustworthy.
HitmanPro.Alert includes additional encryption technology to help keep your data safe online. It can also let you know if someone else turns on your webcam. HitmanPro offers malware protection, which is also offered in HitmanPro.Alert.
HitmanPro and HitmanPro.Alert aren’t free, but they offer a 30-day free trial. The best part is that there’s no card required to trial the product, so you don’t have to worry about being accidentally charged for forgetting to cancel your trial.
Yes, HitmanPro.Alert is a good product. With the backing of parent company Sophos, coupled with the results we got from the EICAR tests, we would be comfortable using and recommending this product.
We understand being hesitant to use HItmanPro.Alert, considering there isn’t much to it. A lot of antivirus offer additional features like identity theft protection or a virtual private network. If you want something a little more robust, consider Bitdefender, McAfee, or TotalAV.
Lightweight
Stackable with other antivirus
Almost no features
