Recomend an antivirus program

In My Humble Opinion
1

For many years I’ve gotten Norton Security for free from my ISP (Comcast). However, I just got an email from them saying they will no longer offer Norton for free as of Jan. 1, 2021. Now the only way to get “free” security from them is by renting their xFi Gateway. Since I already own my router having to rent a different one from them would make it not really free. So it looks like I have to look for a new antivirus program.

The email also said they offer a 6 month free trial on Norton if I want to keep using that, but then it’s $105/year after the first year. But in the short term I guess signing up for the trial and then canceling before they start charging is an option.

I can get McAfee LiveSafe for 75% off through my employer, making it only $30/year. So if I’m going to actually pay for security software that seems like the obvious choice.

But does free antivirus software still exist? I know Avast was free at one time, but I have no idea if it still is, as I haven’t “shopped” for AV software in a very long time. Are the free ones (if they’re still free) just as good as the ones you pay for?

2

I switched to Kaspersky from Norton. No regrets, the price is reasonable and the feature set is really good.

3

McAfee has been notoriously poor. I would stay away from it.

Honestly if your willing to put up with the occasional nag message from them AVG does a very good job for free.

Kaspersky has an excellent rep for a pay one.

Windows Defender does a very solid job these days and you could go with just that.

4

I asked my old IT tech support guy at my last workplace, and he recommended AVG. I’ve been using them for some years now, and, as far as I can tell, I’m protected.

(Not an expert of any sort. Maybe I’m living in a fool’s paradise?)

5

I really like Avast, free version, even has sandbox mode for running things you really aren’t sure about. Zero problems other than the occasional “Upgrade to premium!” nag (not necessary).

ETA:. While there are still bad things out there, even Windows Security Essentials / windows defender are much better than in the past, and nothing beats just using good “internet hygiene”.

6

I just use the windows built in products now.

7

To be honest, I just realized that even though I recommended Avast, I just went with Windows security on my last install also. Zero problems.

8

Windows defender works fine, and I frequent illegal sports streaming. I run Malwarebytes scan every month or two and it always, for many years, finds 0 objects. Once in a while it finds a PUP and kills it.

9

Don’t overlook Bitdefender, including their free version. Geeks love it. Er, or so I hear.

Here are some free-AV overviews from reputable sources:

Windows’ built-in security is good enough for many, perhaps most, people’s needs, but unless your machine is always bogging down, there’s really no reason not to upgrade to a free standalone.

BTW, since the buyout/merger, AVG’s free antivirus is exactly the same as Avast’s, except without many of the extra features. If you have AVG and like it, you might want to switch to Avast for the additional features; same protection under the hood.

If there’s one piece of web security advice I’d offer anyone, it’s this: Use Malwarebytes along with whatever antivirus you choose, and if you can only afford to pay for the “premium” version of one of those, combine premium real-time Malwarebytes with free antivirus rather than vice-versa.

10

Whoops, meant to answer this direct question but forgot.

Almost without exception [weasel words because there’s surely a counterexample or three out there somewhere, but I don’t know of any specifically], the difference between a given AV company’s free and paid products boils down to convenience and tech support. The free version’s actual protection is almost always exactly the same as the premium product’s, but useful features, automation, and tech support are what you’d be paying for. That’s the “freemium” business model.