Overview
As spyware and adware have become increasingly powerful and difficult to remove, developers of anti-spyware programs have added a wider range of functionality to their applications to give users more powerful tools as well as greater control over those tools. Moreover, although anti-spyware applications have long resembled standard anti-virus applications in many way, they have also started to acquire their own distinctive set of features in order to help users deal with the unique problems posed by spyware and adware. Given the bewildering array of programs and features available to users looking for anti-spyware applications, users may find it difficult to usefully compare anti-spyware programs and their feature sets.

To remedy that potential confusion, this page presents two Feature Comparison Tables for the major anti-spyware programs currently available. An explanation of the features considered can be found below the table in the Notes section. 

Please note...

Please note that the anti-spyware programs listed on this page comprise a limited subset of the larger array of anti-spyware programs that can be found on the Net (numbering at last count over 150). Moreover, this page is restricted to dedicated anti-spyware programs with scanning capabilities. 

Compare Antispywares , not considered on this page are anti-virus programs, anti-trojan programs, or general anti-malware programs, many of which may be adding spyware and adware detection and removal. Also not considered are anti-spyware programs that are devoted exclusively to spyware prevention. Finally, the programs listed here may offer additional features that are not considered on this page.

Recommendations...

A set of Recommended Programs is listed below. Readers interested in purchasing anti-spyware applications are advised to investigate and test those programs on their own systems. No one program will be useful, convenient, effective, and appropriate for every user. Moreover, as testing with these anti-spyware applications has demonstrated, no single anti-spyware application will remove everything. Therefore, users are advised to install and use at least two anti-spyware applications.

Finally, users should take additional steps to protect their systems beyond just installing one of the anti-spyware programs listed below. If your system is currently infested with spyware and adware, see below for tips on what you can do.