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Features

A practical graphical interface for ClamAV

Standard provides the local scanning workflow without an account or licence. Pro adds scheduled scans, automatic updates, folder monitoring, exclusions and performance controls, plus advanced reports and CSV/JSON export through a Clarity Soft activation code and signed entitlement.

A modern interface for a proven engine

Chowder is a graphical interface and management layer for ClamAV — the open-source anti-virus engine maintained by Cisco Talos. The engine does the detecting; Chowder makes it approachable: clear scan controls, readable results, safe quarantine, and automatic definition updates on supported release builds.

  • On-demand quick and full scans with the ClamAV engine.
  • Manual Quick, Full and Custom scans are included with Standard. Scheduled scans require Pro.
  • Manual definition updates in Standard; automatic updates in Pro.
  • Pro folder and removable-drive monitoring on supported platforms.
  • Safe quarantine with review, restore, and a clear scan history.

A second opinion, alongside Microsoft Defender

On Windows, Chowder is designed to run alongside Microsoft Defender Antivirus, not replace it. Defender stays your always-on protection; Chowder adds an independent ClamAV engine as an on-demand second opinion — two engines catch more than one. Chowder never disables Defender and never changes its settings.

Chowder is an on-demand and scheduled malware scanner. It is not an EDR product and does not provide kernel-level real-time protection. Folder monitoring is event-driven companion scanning, not on-access interception.

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Representative capabilities by plan. Full entitlements are confirmed server-side.
FeatureStandardProEnterprise
On-demand malware scanningIncludedIncludedIncluded
Manual definition updatesIncludedIncludedIncluded
Quarantine of detected itemsIncludedIncludedIncluded
Scan historyIncludedIncludedIncluded
Full system scanIncludedIncludedIncluded
Complete scan historyIncludedIncludedIncluded
Scheduled scansNot includedIncludedIncluded
Multiple scan schedulesNot includedIncludedIncluded
Automatic definition updatesNot includedIncludedIncluded
Hourly definition updatesNot includedIncludedIncluded
Downloads folder scanningNot includedIncludedIncluded
Custom folder monitoringNot includedIncludedIncluded
Advanced exclusionsNot includedIncludedIncluded
Performance controlsNot includedIncludedIncluded
USB and removable-drive scanningNot includedIncludedIncluded
Advanced reportsNot includedIncludedIncluded
Report exportNot includedIncludedIncluded
Endpoint health overviewNot includedNot includedIncluded
Detection alertsNot includedNot includedIncluded
Offline-device alertsNot includedNot includedIncluded

Enterprise is application-only. Any additional capability must be written into the manual agreement and supported by the applicable release.

The website is not the source of truth

Feature availability shown here is documentation. Standard needs no licence. Pro is activated with an opaque Clarity Soft code and validated from a bounded signed lease; this website, Paddle checkout and their return pages never grant access.