Should You Pay For An Antivirus?

Incidents with large-scale effects caused by malware and computer viruses, such as identity theft, phishing and ransomware asking for ransom, have attracted media attention and made a lot of talk in the past five years. Although these cases are not new, the fact that large organizations have also been affected has opened the debate on computer security and led to a massive increase in the promotion and sales of antimalware and antivirus software. Today there are many security programs for computers, which include not only antivirus, but also other tools for the protection of online purchases, for emails, for intrusion activities and much more. But these services come at a cost, which for the most part translates into annual passes.
The question that arises spontaneously for many, and which often opens endless discussions among the people who talk about it, is whether it is worth paying for a paid antivirus, if it is actually a superior solution compared to free antivirus or if it is not only a waste of money.
The answer I give is immediate and simple: if it is true that paid services offer solutions that are valid, on the other hand, if we are specifically talking about protecting your computer from malware and not other accessory services, you can absolutely stop pay for an antivirus .

Because many people have become used to paying for an antivirus "> Malware Protection Test) you will notice how Windows Defender is able to detect 99.96% of the malware and virus attacks launched against it, being among the best antivirus also Compared to the big names in the market such as Avast, AVG, Avira, Bitdefender and Symantec, although Defender has detected too many false positives, Defender has distinguished itself for anti-malware protection in Windows PCs.
In addition to its reliability, then, one can not overlook the fact that Windows Defender is also the easiest antivirus to use, which does not require special configurations and that being integrated in Windows 10 does not require any new installation that can weigh down less powerful PCs . It should also be borne in mind that not even the most innovative and powerful paid antivirus will ever have a 100% detection of malware and viruses, due to the speed with which new methods of phishing attacks and identity theft are created makes it impossible for any software to be perfect.

Why don't people trust Windows Defender?

Perhaps due to the bad reputation of MSE and the first versions of Windows Defender on Windows 8.1, or perhaps just because it is free without limitations, many people are convinced that it is not effective protection. Perhaps you may be led to think that no company would offer real protection for free.
The truth, however, is that Windows Defender isn't really free because Windows 10 isn't free. When you buy a Windows PC, in fact, you buy the Windows operating system and also its support. For Microsoft, it is only an advantage to protect its customers' computers from viruses, so putting an antivirus worthy of the name in it serves to prevent disasters which it would then be forced to give support.

So what do paid anti-malware do most?

The appearance of Windows Defender in a decidedly good version like the one integrated in Windows 10 has led to many protests by antivirus companies who have tried to discredit Microsoft's antivirus on several occasions. To distinguish themselves, then, they started selling under the name of antivirus a whole series of accessory services such as secure connection via VPN, Password manager, Parental control, Multiple scan options, Advertising blocking and many other useful features such as additional protection, but which are not directly associated with malware protection. Yes it certainly is about useful additional features, but the idea of ​​using these services as anti-malware solutions is just a masked marketing tactic.
For example, VPNs are used to maintain privacy on the Internet, Password Managers are used to generate secure passwords that are always different and impossible to keep in mind, parental controls to limit the use of the computer by children. Most of these services can also be obtained for free using different programs: for example Chrome provides a password manager, Windows 10 already has a solution for parental control inside and the Opera browser integrates a free and unlimited VPN.

In the end, then, should you pay for an antivirus or antimalware?

From all this talk the answer to the question should be a dry NO, but it really depends . A number of users, especially those who run a business and need to protect many computers centrally and with risk-limiting tools, are worth paying for paid or subscription-based antivirus . Certainly, however, those who use the PC for personal use, for fun or work, can rest assured with the protection of Windows Defender in Windows 10. This is because no other paid solution would provide greater protection from virus and malware injection attacks .
Paid antiviruses would better protect your PC in other respects, by protecting emails, dangerous links, passwords and much more that has nothing to do with malware protection.
Regardless of the additional features offered by paid antivirus suites, therefore, free antivirus like Defender are just as good. The same can be said also by choosing the free version of some commercial antivirus (such as BitDefender, Avast and AVG), which usually include only antimalware protection without other accessory tools.
Conclusions
As mentioned in a past article, therefore, you can use the Windows Defender antivirus to protect your PC from malware with the same effectiveness that you would have by choosing a paid antivirus.
If you are not convinced or want to try other solutions, you can download and install another program, to choose from the list of the best free antivirus and in that of alternative antivirus to Windows Defender among which I like to report the Sophos Home antivirus, free without limitations and without advertising.
If you want to try the most famous antiviruses, you can, as seen, download the trial version of paid antivirus for free .
Finally, if you were really convinced that a paid antivirus is higher than the free one of Windows 10, then I can recommend, at least, to pay it with a shared license, possible thanks to Together Price, a platform that allows you to divide the cost of the 'antivirus with other people (I talked about it in the guide on how to split the Netflix subscription). In practice, you buy a license that two or more people can use (depending on the license).