Alternatives to VirusTotal
Online service that checks a URL or file against many antivirus engines and URL scanners. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
VirusTotal
Online service that checks a URL or file against many antivirus engines and URL scanners.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as VirusTotal.
Hybrid Analysis
Free online sandbox that runs submitted files and URLs and reports on their behaviour.
Hybrid Analysis runs files and URLs in a sandbox and reports behaviour instead of collecting verdicts from many antivirus engines.
urlscan.io
Sandbox for the web that loads a URL and records screenshots, requests and indicators.
urlscan.io handles URLs only, loading them in a sandbox to record screenshots and network requests, with advanced use behind a paid plan.
Triage
Online malware sandbox that runs submitted samples and reports their behavior and configuration.
Triage detonates malware samples with behavioural detections and configuration extraction, but it requires an account and puts advanced features behind paid plans.
URLVoid
Website reputation checker that looks up a domain against more than 30 blocklist services.
URLVoid checks a domain against more than 30 blocklist services and shows domain age and server location, but cannot analyse uploaded files.
urlquery
An online service that scans web pages for malware, suspicious elements and reputation problems.
urlquery scans web pages for malware and suspicious elements with hosting details, handles links rather than files, and lists recent submissions publicly.
Cloudflare Radar URL Scanner
Free Cloudflare web tool that scans a URL and reports its technologies, security and performance details.
Cloudflare Radar URL Scanner checks one public URL at a time for technologies, security and performance details. It gives no multi-engine antivirus verdicts and does not scan files.
Norton Safe Web
Free web service from Norton for looking up the safety reputation of a website.
Norton Safe Web gives a website reputation check from a single vendor's data rather than many engines, and it offers little detail on how ratings are decided.
Also worth comparing
These listings name VirusTotal as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
ClamAV
An open source antivirus engine, used mostly for scanning mail servers and file shares rather than desktops.
VirusTotal is a web service that checks uploaded files against many antivirus engines, so nothing runs locally but samples are processed by a third party.
Google Safe Browsing Site Status
A lookup in Google's Transparency Report that shows whether Safe Browsing flags a site as unsafe.
VirusTotal aggregates verdicts from many antivirus engines and URL scanners instead of Google's list alone, and also handles files, though verdicts can disagree and need interpreting.
Gridinsoft Website Reputation Checker
A free online checker that reports whether a URL or domain looks safe, suspicious or dangerous.
VirusTotal aggregates verdicts from many antivirus engines and URL scanners and also checks files, though conflicting verdicts need interpreting and items go to a third-party service.
PhishTank
Community-run phishing URL database where you can check, submit and verify suspected phishing sites.
VirusTotal checks links and files against many scanning engines instead of a community-verified phishing list, and verdicts can disagree.
Quttera Website Malware Scanner
Free online scanner that checks a website's public content for malicious scripts and threats.
VirusTotal checks a URL or file against many antivirus engines at once, with verdicts that can disagree and need interpreting.
SiteGuarding Website Malware Scanner
An online scanner that checks uploaded PHP and JavaScript files for malware and backdoors.
VirusTotal checks uploaded files and URLs against many antivirus engines for free, though uploads are processed by a third party and verdicts can disagree.
Sucuri SiteCheck
Free remote scanner that checks a website for visible malware, blocklisting and outdated software.
VirusTotal aggregates verdicts from many antivirus engines and URL scanners for a URL or file, though verdicts can disagree and submissions go to a third party.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Cisco Talos Reputation Center
Online lookup for Cisco Talos reputation and threat intelligence on IP addresses and domains.
YARA
Pattern-matching engine for identifying and classifying malware samples.
CAPEv2
A self-hosted automated malware sandbox that extracts payloads and parses malware configurations.
