A powerful antivirus or security suite can protect your devices against all kinds of digital attacks, from ransomware that encrypts all your files to phishing pages that try to steal your passwords.
However, there's nothing software can do if your computer gets hit by a meteor, or submerged in a flash flood.
When it comes to physical damage, backup is the ultimate security.
With Webroot SecureAnywhere Internet Security Complete, you get Webroot's award-winning antivirus plus 25GB of hosted online backup.
This suite also adds an optimization and tune-up system, along with a secure deletion tool.
With backup and tune-up, it fits the profile of a security mega-suite, though it lacks the parental control and spam filtering found in some competitors.
For $79.99 per year, you can install Webroot on five devices, a lower per-device price than most.
Bitdefender Total Security and Kaspersky Total Security also offer five licenses, but they cost $89.99 and $99.99, respectively.
At $109.99 per year, Norton Security Premium looks expensive, but that price gets you 10 licenses along with 25GB of hosted storage for your online backups, the same amount of storage that Webroot offers.
If even Norton's 10-license subscription isn't enough, well, for $149.99 per year you get 20 Kaspersky Security Cloud licenses.
You could also consider McAfee Total Protection—with this suite, a $99.99 subscription lets you install protection on every Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS device in your household.
Webroot includes a modicum of security for iOS, but installing it on an iOS device doesn't use up one of your licenses.
Your Webroot licenses let you install protection on Windows, macOS, and Android devices.
This top-tier suite adds backup and tune-up for your PCs, and also enhances Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus (for Mac) with those features.
It also adds a modicum of backup support to the Android app.
Security protection on Windows comes from Editors' Choice Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus.
The product looks identical to the standalone antivirus, until you click the Backup & Sync button or Utilities button.
In the antivirus or the entry-level suite, clicking one of those buttons just gets you the option to learn more about the feature, and what you learn is that you need to upgrade.
Read Me First
When reviewing a new or updated security product line, I typically start by reviewing the antivirus.
With that review in the can, I move on to the entry-level security suite, summarizing my antivirus findings but focusing on the suite-specific features.
When there's a high-level mega-suite or a cross-platform suite, I do the same, summarizing my review of the entry-level suite and moving on to the features that you only get at the top tier.
The differences between this suite and Webroot SecureAnywhere Internet Security Plus are self-contained enough that a summary of shared features would make up most of the review.
Rather than summarize, I'll ask you to click that link and read my review of the entry-level suite.
When you're finished, read the rest of this review to learn about the top-tier features.
Very briefly, Webroot's antivirus is an Editors' Choice on Windows and a very good contender on macOS.
The entry-level suite adds Android support and a password manager, but the password manager, while licensed from LastPass, doesn't even have all the features of the free LastPass edition.
My conclusion is that the entry-level suite doesn't add enough value to be worth upgrading from the excellent antivirus.
As you'll see, this top-tier suite brings a lot more value to the table.
Easy Backup and Sync
To get started using the online backup system, you click a button to log in to your Webroot account online and follow the prompts.
As part of the process, you select a storage region: Europe, Japan, or the US.
Once you finish, you have a new folder named Webroot Anywhere.
Whatever you put in this folder syncs to the Webroot cloud, in encrypted form.
It also automatically shows up in the Webroot Anywhere folder on your other macOS and Windows devices.
You can add other sync folders, perhaps for files that need to sync with some, but not all, of your devices.
On an Android device you have full access to those files but can't manipulate folders.
The Panda Cloud Drive component in Panda Gold Protection works in a similar fashion.
If you designate a folder for backup, Webroot backs up the folder's contents to the cloud but doesn't sync it with other devices.
You can choose whether subfolders get backed up (they do by default), and specify file types for inclusion or exclusion.
By default, Webroot includes all file types and doesn't exclude any.
If you regret the edits you made just before backing up, fear not.
Webroot retains the last 10 versions of backed-up files.
For sync folders, it keeps the last five versions.
Webroot updates new and changed files in sync folders immediately, and it pushes its updates to all your devices.
It processes backup folders once a day, by default.
In Advanced Settings you can set the time of day for the daily backup, choose days of the week when backup will run, or configure Webroot to back up files every so-many hours, from one to 999.
From the online console you can view and manage your synced and backed-up files.
Conveniently, you can log in from any secure computer and download a local copy of any file or folder as a zipped archive.
There's no restore function like what you get with Symantec Norton Security Premium and others, just the ability to download files and folders.
But you can de-authorize a lost or stolen device, to ensure the thief can't also steal your backed-up files.
When you click the Get More Storage button, it opens a web page that invites you to purchase the product again, choosing 50GB, 100GB, or 500GB of storage for roughly $80, $100, or $200 per year, respectively.
Note that unless you actively choose otherwise, adding storage also renews your subscription for a year.
Norton starts you with 25GB of backup storage, and each additional 10GB you add costs $10, prorated based on how much of the year remains when you sign up.
To get 500GB from Norton, you'd pay nearly $500, which is quite a lot more than Webroot's price.
Norton does offer more options, with the ability to store backups on any local or network drive, without using the cloud.
Kaspersky only offers local backup, though you can set it to store your archives on Dropbox.
BullGuard Premium Protection, too, focuses on local backup.
It can store your archives on local, network, or removable drives, or send them to your DropBox, Google Drive, or OneDrive account.
The online backup component in most security suites aims to protect your most important files, not to back up your whole computer.
If you want more than 25GB of online storage for your synced and backed-up files, you should probably look at a standalone backup utility.
Editors' Choice IDrive, for example, gives you four times the storage of Webroot's top tier, for less than a tenth of the price.
Backup for Android
I've discussed security features of Webroot's Android protection in my review of Webroot's entry-level suite.
What's new in the top-tier suite is the backup component.
On Android, upgrading to the top-tier suite adds a Backup & Sync button to the main window.
The app lets you access all your backup and sync folders, which it calls Remote Containers.
You can manage backed-up files, or save local copies.
And you can open platform-independent file types such as videos and pictures directly from the backup.
This component also serves as a file manager for your documents and data files, but the most important thing you can do with it is send local files to cloud storage.
It's not as elaborate as the backup component in the Windows edition, but it gets the job done.
On Android, Webroot's backup system offers special features for your media files, accessed by tapping the Camera button.
You can snap a photo or record video directly to cloud storage, without saving a local copy.
You can tap to upload all media files on the device.
Finally, you can view your cloud-stored media files.
System Analysis and Optimization
An old-fashioned, bloated security suite that slows down your everyday computer use might try to hide its performance impact by adding a performance tune-up tool, but Webroot is the opposite of a resource hog.
It displayed no impact at all in my hands-on performance tests.
Even so, Webroot offers two tools to make your Windows and macOS systems run faster and better.
Clicking Utilities on the main window shows two buttons, Optimize Now and Run System Analyzer.
Clicking Optimize Now launches a scan for useless files and for traces that might let a snoop learn too much about your browsing and computer usage.
These include things like browser history and cache, Windows temporary files, and various lists of recently used files.
It's a quiet tool; you might not even realize that it finished its job.
When its scan is complete, it shuts down, simply reporting in the main window how much space it recovered.
System Optimizer on the macOS platform works in much the same way.
However, it offers a pair of features not found under Windows.
You can click Verify Disk to check whether your Mac's hard drive has any errors, and Repair Disk to fix any problems found.
By digging into Advanced Settings, you can see the kinds of junk Webroot clears away in its default configuration.
On Windows, you can also tag more items for removal.
Webroot doesn't clear browser cookies by default, but you can add them to the trash list, along with more persistent Flash cookies.
It can sweep away memory-dump files and disc-burning temp storage files.
It can even clear the contents of the clipboard.
As with the backup system, Webroot defaults to running optimization once a day.
System Analyzer checks your hardware, software, and security status.
It's like a scaled-down version of Norton's Diagnostic report.
Note, though, that where Norton's report includes automatic fixes for some problems, Webroot leaves the resolution to you.
On my Windows test system it reported high disk fragmentation, advised turning on Windows Firewall, and noted that upgrading to a dual core processor would improve performance.
As the test system is a virtual machine, switching to a dual-core processor was just a matter of tweaking the settings.
I also turned on Windows Firewall and ran the built-in defrag tool.
A repeat scan showed no problems.
I did observe that System Analyzer no longer reports a numeric score.
My Webroot contacts confirmed they made this change based on customer feedback.
The Windows and macOS operating systems are quite different, so I wasn't surprised to find different kinds of System Analyzer results on the Mac.
Some made plenty of sense.
I have the firewall component turned off, to let third-party firewalls do their job.
I turn on Time Machine when I want it to make a backup, rather than leaving it on all the time.
Others, I didn't really know how to manage.
Apparently processes on my test Mac use a "high amount of RAM" and maintain a "large number of open files." Even so, with a little tweaking I got closer to an all-green result.
Bonus: Secure Erase
If you right-click any file or folder in Windows you'll find a new menu option, Permanently Erase With Webroot.
A secure deletion tool like this is handy when you want to erase a file and ensure it can't be recovered using forensic software or hardware.
It's especially useful when paired with encryption software—after encrypting a sensitive file, you securely delete the original.
Webroot doesn't offer encryption, but you may still find uses for this tool.
As I've mentioned before, out of the box this tool does not perform secure deletion.
All it does is delete the file without sending it to the Recycle Bin, something you can accomplish for yourself by holding down shift while deleting the file.
To get real security against forensic recovery, you must dig into the settings and change the tool's security level at least to Medium.
At this level, it overwrites the file's data three times before deletion, which should foil any software-based attempt at forensic recovery.
If you crank it up to Maximum, it overwrites the file's data seven times, overwrites the unused data in the file's last data cluster, and wipes other traces within the file system.
Yes, it takes longer, but a file wiped at this level is gone forever.
It's not even recoverable with forensic hardware.
If you're using Webroot on a Mac, you'll find this feature on the System Optimizer page.
All you need to do is click Delete Files Securely and select files or folders for destruction.
Interestingly, on macOS Webroot defaults to the Medium level, meaning it does overwrite file data before deletion.
A Good Deal on macOS and Windows
The best part of Webroot SecureAnywhere Internet Security Complete is the powerful, unusual antivirus component.
Upgrading to the entry-level suite adds a password manager with limited capabilities, as well as full protection for your Android devices.
With this suite, the top of the line, your macOS and Windows devices get a pair of tune-up tools, a simple secure deletion tool, and an online backup system, along with 25GB of hosted storage for backed-up files.
You can also access those backups from Android.
On a per-device basis, the suite costs roughly $16, which is actually lower than the per-device price of the antivirus ($59.99 for three devices).
If you want Webroot protection on many devices and can do without spam filtering and parental control, this suite can be a good deal.
However, our Editors' Choice for security mega-suite is Bitdefender Total Security, which packs a phenomenal collection of features and gets near-perfect scores from the antivirus testing labs.
With its support for Mac and Android, Webroot could also be considered a cross-platform multi-device suite.
In that realm, our Editors' Choice products are Symantec Norton Security Premium (which also gives you 25GB of storage for backups) and Kaspersky Security Cloud($53.99 Per Year for 3 Devices at Kaspersky), both of which also boast low per-device prices.
Sub-Ratings:
Note: These sub-ratings contribute to a product's overall star rating, as do other factors, including ease of use in real-world testing, bonus features, and overall integration of features.
Firewall:
Antivirus:
Performance:
Privacy:
Parental...
