Dollar-and-Cents Question: Can Antivirus Be Totally Free?

Dollar-and-Cents Question: Can Antivirus Be Totally Free?

Let us be honest: the world has changed as the COVID-19 pandemic prevails. People lose their jobs and earnings, so it is no wonder why many want to save. Still, you shouldn’t save on your safety. There is no need to buy expensive antivirus solutions if you can use a good free product.

Well-known antivirus developers release not only the traditional paid versions of their products — free antiviruses are becoming increasingly popular. Does totally free antivirus exist? Can we compare them to premium products? Let us try to figure it out.

It is Free, but Is It Any Good?

Can free antiviruses be as good as paid solutions in terms of protection? Both yes and no. As a rule, real-time antivirus scanners and protection modules in paid and free solutions are similar. On the other hand, the paid versions include additional components to improve safety. In some cases, they make a difference.

Key Features of Free Antiviruses

Free antiviruses usually have other disadvantages besides the lack of additional features. Most products show the ads of the full version. While some apps do not abuse the user’s attention, others can be quite aggressive. As a rule, it is impossible to get rid of the advertising in free antivirus completely.

Also, many free antiviruses can install third-party software that is not always necessary, change the home page or search engine in your browser. Therefore, when installing a free antivirus, read the inscriptions in the installer very carefully and remove all unnecessary “ticks” not to clog the operating system.

Another thing that antivirus software developers often use the free versions of their products as guinea pigs, testing new features on them. Thus, users of full versions get more tested tools without many errors.

We also must mention that free users are not provided with technical support. Of course, most people never contact the support team, but in some cases, it can save a lot of time and resources.

Accordingly, free antivirus products may not be the best choice for first-time users. Sometimes it is easier to buy an inexpensive home license for 1-3 devices and get comprehensive protection against threats and high-quality technical support than to try fixing all the problems yourself.

Free Antivirus Industry

It may seem weird that many developers create a free product that does not seem to have any commercial value. However, there are good reasons for that. Developers earn money indirectly in several ways.

First, advertising. The developers use free antivirus products to promote their paid ones, for example, by displaying inactive control components and functions that are available only in a premium solution. Many companies also use free apps for advertising third-party software.

Second, they can install third-party apps, such as browser extensions, or change your current home page or search provider.

Third, they can collect data, such as links or search queries you open in the web browser. Then, they might sell the data to their partners.

There are several other indirect reasons to invest in free antiviruses. They include better brand awareness as well as more enhanced protection through an advanced collection of malicious samples. In turn, improved security can lead to increased sales of paid products.

Which Free Apps Can You Trust?

Avast Free Antivirus. Huge threat detection network, machine learning technology, simple password, and account management. However, according to user feedback, the powerful toolkit is combined with aggressive advertising of paid version features.

Kaspersky Free. The product from Kaspersky is an almost full-fledged antivirus that differs from the paid version by its reduced settings and the lack of some extensions. However, its main feature — protecting from many threats — it is almost perfect. The license is issued for one year. After it is over, importantly, you do not need to reinstall the antivirus — go to Licensing, click on the button, and get a license for another year.

AVG AntiVirus Free. In addition to all basic tools of complex security software (including payment protection), AVG can check the system for vulnerabilities in real-time, as well as stop suspicious downloads. For a long time, AVG was the most popular free antivirus in many countries.

Bitdefender Free. The product includes all the advantages of the apps mentioned above. Plus, as promised by developers, it has the largest and actual base of actual viruses and threats.

Free antivirus is a proper solution for those who need basic protection and is quite experienced to avoid most threats. Remember that you oversee your security — the software just helps.