In the initial days, Avast was known as Alwil. Avast was the name of its antivirus. Later on, the company decided to rename the company name to avast. Avast means Stop. Its full form is AntiVirus Advanced SeT.
Anyway, here in this article I will share all differences between paid & free versions. That can help you to make a decision either you should upgrade or not.
Even if you haven’t installed avast on your system and looking for a comparison of avast free & paid version still you are on the right page.
If you are an android user, most likely you don’t need any antivirus. I have developed many virus apk files and never ever an antivirus app detected them. So it will better for you to not install anything on your smartphone.
However if you are pc user then keep reading.
Avast Free Antivirus
Avast free antivirus is one of the best free antivirus. In fact, it even won several awards as well. This free antivirus is available in 37 different languages. Just make sure that you have 2 GB free space on the hard drive and 1 GB ram if you want to install this free antivirus.
Best features of Free Antivirus
Support Major Platforms: This free version supports all major platforms. It supports Microsoft windows, android and iPhone IOS operating system.
Easy To Use: There isn’t a lot of complicated settings. Anyone can use this free antivirus software.
Do Not Disturb Mode: While watching movies or playing games you can set do not disturb mode. It will stop all other apps that can interrupt by notification or other activities.
Behaviour Shield: Avast recently added this feature. Basically, it checks the behavior of installed programs. Behaviour is the most crucial thing to analyze for finding if any program is trying to hack your system or not. Accept behavior shield you are also getting Shield protection for mail and web.
Ransomware detection: Ransomeware is a special kind of program that basically encrypts your data in other words, you can’t access your data. Then hacker asks for money to decrypt the data. Avast also detects & blocks ransomware.
Phishing Attacks: Phishing is common practice to hack accounts. Basically in this hacker creates a similar website to the original however when the user login his details forward to the hacker and the user redirected to the original website.
Secure wifi: Sometimes hackers try to hack our machine through the network. This may not be possible while we are connected to the home network. However, when we are outside the home connected to public wifi then hackers can get some confidential information.
To be honest with you, modern browsers and operating systems are smart enough to detect when someone is playing with the network. You don’t need any protection from third-party software such as avast.
Password Manager: Another crucial feature of avast is the password manager. Basically, it can generate a strong password while you are filling the form, etc. It can even remember the password as well. So next time you open the website to login, you don’t need to type the password.
No ads: Generally, free apps contain ads. However, this isn’t the case with avast. You are not getting any kind of ads. That is great for the user experience.
Smart Scan: Avast smart scan feature quickly scans all the things. It not only scans files it also checks for browser add-on, network configuration, and other important information. If you want to go super deep then you can also deep scan. A deep scan takes a lot more time than a smart scan.
Regular Updates: You will keep getting regular updates. For any antivirus, updates are a must. New viruses are coming on the internet every day, without updates detecting & deleting them is difficult.
Avast Paid Antivirus
Avast doesn’t have one paid program. In fact, it has 3 paid programs with separate features.
- Premium security (Single device)
- Premium security (Up to 10 Device)
- Ultimate (Single device only)
The main difference between premium and ultimate is you are getting VPN with ultimate subscription. All these are on going subscriptions. Here is the pricing.
- Premium single device $39.99/year
- Premium Multi device $59.99/year
- Ultimate Single device $59.99/year
Best Features of Paid Antivirus
The following features are part of only paid programs. You are not getting in the free antivirus. Keep in mind, with the paid program you are also getting all the features of the free program.
Avoid fake sites: You are also getting browser protection in the paid program.
Run Before testing: What if you can run a specific software without installing it on the system. It is known as the sandbox.
Advance firewall: Firewall is basically monitoring then all outgoing & incoming connections. Thus it can detect if your machine is communicating with any unwanted or insecure network.
Webcam protection: If you have a separate webcam then you know you should turn it off separately. I have read the news when a hacker takes advantage of a web camera because the victim didn’t turn it off. Avast premium & ultimate also provide web cam security.
Advance delete feature: We all know that data can be recovered by some third-party software. It is common, probably you have also used date recovery software once in your life. With avast advance protection you can permanently delete the files, so one can recover it,
Install on Multiple Device: If you are purchasing avast premium multiple device license then you can install on multiple device.
Avast Cleanup Premium (Ultimate only): Basically it will delete hidden junk and other unnecessary files for faster speed. To be honest with you, you don’t need this feature, invest in a good configuration computer for better speed, don’t install unnecessary programs.
However if you found with time you are computer become very slow then it can help you for a certain level.
Avast Secure VPN (Ultimate only): You don’t need any VPN if you are purchasing an Ultimate subscription. Obviously, you are getting only a basic VPN. You can’t compare it with some premium quality VPN such as Nord VPN. Nord VPN has several servers for every country and lots of other useful features.
If you don’t use VPN very often then definitely it will better to go with ultimate instead of buying any additional VPN service.
Better performance: Paid VPN has better performance than free VPN.
If you want to buy a premium VPN but skeptical about a purchase then try it risk-free because you are getting 30 days money-back guarantee.
Avast Free & Paid: Which Is Better For You?
Now you know the difference between free & paid, maybe you can make a decision on your own.
The free program itself provides enough value to the user. Another thing most of us don’t need the paid program features however few features are very useful such as permanently delete files, VPN, and sandbox.
If this is something that you need, then it is better that you go with a premium subscription. The last piece of advice that I want to give you is to make sure you keep your system up to date.
Updates are more crucial than installing antivirus for security purposes. I hope you got value from this article, if you have any question or query then let me know by the comment section.
