[SOLVED] Is Avast Premium worth it any more?

[James Blonde]

I've had Avast premium for many years, mainly because I keep forgetting to review the subscription so it's renewed before I realise. It mainly just sits there doing its thing. But I've just had a reminder, so thought I'd ask.

I also get MBAM free from work. Now I know it's not strictly an anti virus package, but I see a lot of people suggesting that Windows security is now half decent, and coupled with MBAM would probably be sufficient.

I'm also a bit fed up with Avast constantly trying to sell / "scare" me into upgrades - I'm not a fan of scare tactic adware - that feels more like the dodgy end of the software market.

So am I wasting my money? I use Windows 10 across 3 devices, I do also download stuff.

 

[avg9956]

I have Avast Free Anti-virus and MBAM. Avast recently is giving me trouble as well such as windows explorer crashing on startup. It also does some very unorthodox things...

Avast will update silently in the background and suddenly PC goes haywire, forcing you to restart. Also had a case where Avast blocked my internet connection for all PCs connected in my router, and the solution was to shutdown the unit.

I think the free version of avast is just as decent as the premium one, so you can save on money. I still can't put 100% faith on Windows Defender to stop a ransomware attack, as that is the AV that is commonly targeted and circumvented by malware programmers. I'm just biting the bullet by sticking with Avast Free until another decent AV or an even better AV can replace it.
(Kaspersky, bit defender were a bit off for me).

 

[lvt]

I loved and used Avast for a decade, but a couple of years ago I had to switch to Kaspersky as Avast became too heavy for my XP machines.

Since Windows 10 I use the built-in antivirus and found that it's good enough. It's useless to have two antivirus software on the same computer.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

I used to always recommend the free version of avast. But honestly for average people I recommend windows defender. I currently have Symantec endpoint protection on my system. However, that’s because I work in IT and had to work from home previously, plus they want us using Symantec if we vpn into the network for some reason.

If not for those reasons I’d be running windows defender and did up until that point. But for a home user, subscribe to Dropbox or one drive, or whichever competitor that has versioning you like, sync your files, then if you do have an issue, wipe your pc, reload and download clean copies of your files. Just my opinion.

 

[lisaphantom]

I have always used the free version of Avast. Probable one of the best antiviruses...