Antivirus Software: To Pay or Not To Pay?

Experts agree that the Internet is chock full of online dangers, such as malware, viruses and hackers who aim to separate you from your personal information. But name-brand antivirus software can set you back $40 to $70 or more a year. Should you opt for excellent free antivirus protection or stick with the tried-and-true antivirus experts?

  To buy or not to buy? That is the question. When it comes to anti-virus software for your computer, most experts agree you need it if you have the Windows operating system and often go online, where dangers lurk.

But name-brand software could set you back $40 to $70 or more a year. Alternatively, some excellent products are available for free. 

What's a prudent consumer to do? 

The short answer is that if you refuse to pay for computer protection software, at least use a free product in lieu of nothing. On that, experts agree.

Beyond that, it's difficult to generalize with so many products available. But the difference basically comes down to this: Free software will help you discover a problem, such as a virus, and deal with it. Paid software has more features that might help keep you from getting a problem in the first place, especially if you're inexperienced online or visit risky Web sites. Here are some considerations.

FREE SOFTWARE: Popular free products include Avira AntiVir Personal, AVG Anti-virus Free Edition, Avast! Free Antivirus and Microsoft 's own Security Essentials. Be aware that the many free products, while good at what they do, are essentially a marketing tool to persuade you to buy the same brand's paid version. Microsoft is an exception. It has no upsell. 

Some reviewers claim the free anti-virus software might be all you need. Consumer Reports, for example, says that free products are "fine for most people." 

"The best of the free products in terms of malware perform on par with the best paid suites that we've tested," said Paul Reynolds, Consumer Reports' electronics editor. "Even where they are a shade below in performance against some kind of Net threats, it's still sufficient performance for most people."

PAID SOFTWARE: Experts are quick to point out that you are likely to get broader protection and functionality using security  software that you pay for. The free versus paid discussion is "an artificial wall," said Dan Nadir, senior director of product management for Norton security software, a paid product. "There is this perception you can get an apples-to-apples free version with a free product; it's not true," he said. "I think the way users should think about this is that if you're going online, you should get a paid product -- even the free guys have paid products."


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