What is the difference between free anti-virus software and paid anti-virus software?

[[correlate]]

Are you unsure of the difference between free anti-virus for Windows and paid anti-virus software?
This article explains how free and paid anti-virus options differ, helping you to decide which is best for you.
Read on as we discuss:

What is the difference between free anti-virus software and paid anti-virus software?

Free anti-virus for windows vs. paid anti-virus software. We explain the difference so you can make an informed choice about how to protect your computer.

www.kaspersky.com

 

[Antus67]

The major differences between free and paid are its extra features you would have on a paid version. What you have to address is what are your needs and requirements that you'll be satisfied with.

 

[oldschool]

Why does Kaspersy use these very light colored fonts? Very hard to read!

 

[EndangeredPootis]

paid versions usually include a firewall, parental controls and some sort of behavior module.

 

[[correlate]]

Actually the free version cannot be like paid
However, Comodo free internet security offers many advantages for free

 

[TairikuOkami]

The major differences between free and paid are its extra features you would have on a paid version. What you have to address is what are your needs and requirements that you'll be satisfied with.

Pay - get all in one solution, the most compatible and hassle free.
Free - you have to use multiple software to replace missing features.

 

[oldschool]

Pay - get all in one solution, the most compatible and hassle free.
Free - you have to use multiple software to replace missing features.

Hard_Configurator, and forget all the rest of the bloat.

 

[bribon77]

There are security suites, and those that if you know, you can do your a la carte.

 

[ForgottenSeer 823865]

The main reason people will use paid software over free is for the support. Most free soft support is limited (i don't talk about one-man software who obviously can't afford a support team).

 

[Digmor Crusher]

I don't think so, most software support is the same whether its a free or paid program. Examples would be Malwarebytes and Avast where support for free or paid versions is exactly the same. Protection in a free or paid version is mostly the same, the difference is that some paid versions have the bloat, such as Avast where the paid version has every useless thing under the sun. Software updater, safe browser,VPN, password manager etc. Most people use paid because they think that its better than free, but for the most part thats not true. And if your "one man support team" is a shot at Voodoo Shield its not cool and petty.

 

[ForgottenSeer 823865]

I don't think so, most software support is the same whether its a free or paid program. Examples would be Malwarebytes and Avast where support for free or paid versions is exactly the same. Protection in a free or paid version is mostly the same,

For some products, support isn't the same, you feel they are the same but paid users often has faster response and the support team will go the extra mile to solve the issue. And that would be normal, the paid users are those who pay their salary.
Just compare a business customer with a home one, guess which one will have more attention?
Now if some vendors give the same attention to both paid or free users, good for the free user.

And if your "one man support team" is a shot at Voodoo Shield its not cool and petty.

Can you stop with this ridiculous idea that I have an hidden agenda against Voodoshield. I'm not interested by Dan or VS. I have better things to do.
I talk about products in general, VS isn't the only "one-man" product or anti-exe on the market, there is many others.

 

[Aggravatorx]

But here is a question to ask yourself who would be protected from the latest threats first a paying customer or a free
customer to me its a know brainer to me free is like a Beta the free version is not going to have the best protection
then the paid.but as we all wonder about free and paid it would be awesome to see and test paid and free version
with malware at the same time on one pc to see which one would act faster.if done already forgive me i did not know that.
this is how i just feel about paid and free so for a couple dollars i will support the security company.i dont care about backup
got google one dont care about passwords get hacked anyway and dont care about support you all know more then them on
MalwareTips then them i would ask you guys now thats free with greatest support i respect and use anytime first time free
has a meaning

 

[roger_m]

But here is a question to ask yourself who would be protected from the latest threats first a paying customer or a free
customer to me its a know brainer to me free is like a Beta the free version is not going to have the best protection
then the paid.

Both the free and paid antiviruses will have the same signatures. But the paid versions may have extra modules to provide better behavioural protection or other features which will help them better protect against threats, that they don't have signatures for.

 

[Fuzzy_Bunny]

The only suit i would pay is ESET. But i don't see a reason since WD improved so much

 

[Cortex]

Some years ago free AV tended to have updates less often even just daily that's not the case now as far as I'm aware - As for support I've always used pay for products but probably used support a couple of times the last was for Emsisoft to amalgamate licences - However I always use pay for AV partially because ESET, G Data, Norton & F-Secure etc don't do free versions, but happy to pay anyway .

An interesting idea that Dr. Web has is you get a large discount for no support other than forum, good idea I think - I also detest products with ad's in which some free products use, some are happy with that though.

 

[TairikuOkami]

There might be also other down-sights, some free software have download restrictions, like only 1 automatic update a day, though you can manually update as many times as you want, or a limited number of available servers for updates, like 3 for free and 15 for paid. Tencent is a sad example, considering, that it is not exactly a small company, its download speed for free version is pathetic. With a cloud AV is even more troublesome.

 

[Burrito]

When you get in the free software line ---

* You agree to receive nag screens and other marketing attempts, and your basic marketing data will be sold

* You agree that your internet usage data will be monetized in one way or another. Oh sure, the claim will be that the data is just telemetry or anonymized data... but the short history of the internet proves that much more will typically be collected and monetized

* You agree to a lower standard of coverage... i.e. no BB, ML...

* You may get fewer or less timely signature updates and software updates

And more.

Windows Defender being the exception.... especially with Andy's H_C ------- I always advise people to shell out the money for the 'real product.'

But --- people here at MT can learn how to make the most of different free capabilities to achieve effective results.

 

[Cortex]

Windows Defender being the exception.... especially with Andy's H_C ------- I always advise people to shell out the money for the 'real product.'

But --- people here at MT can learn how to make the most of different free capabilities to achieve effective results.

Agree 100&

 

[Antus67]

IMHO Dan whom is the developer of Voodoo Shield does a outstanding job in the area of support. I've gone to him many times for help and questions and he's right there to aid you and give you help. He's a one man team.

 

[cliffspab]

Bells and whistles + support

Ie You pay to save the time you may otherwise spend seeking help on forums or researching and installing bits and pieces for more complete protection.

I think for those of us who find this stuff fun to play around with, locking oneself into any one product for a year is more of a hindrance than anything else. For grandma, I see the logic of a set-it-and-forget-it suite.