How does it compare to the built-in Windows Defender, which is free, built into Windows, and gets very respectable ratings on sites like av-test and av-comparatives (which Surfshark doesn’t feature on, although I believe I read Surfshark’s antivirus is based on Avira, no?).
So, what should compel me to pay for the Surfshark offering over one of the others? Do you explain what the advantages are in your marketing material anywhere? Is there some sort of USP to it being bundled with a VPN?
I do not believe that there are any real advantages. If you do not mind having no privacy from microsoft, windows defender is a great program. If you use Linux instead, there are still other options.
There is potentially an advantage to having privacy-focused antivirus, in that antivirus programs are like backdoors for governments and the antivirus companies to spy on you and your activity. If someone 100% trusts surfshark and their antivirus to not compromise privacy, then the antivirus might be worth it.
However, if one’s threat model includes microsoft and/or governments, one should probably just use linux and use whatever antivirus solutions linux users like to use.
Check out a youtube channel called Mental Outlaw. He has a couple of recent videos on antivirus/antimalware/cleaning your pc that you might find helpful.