Avast antivirus is one of the largest security companies in the world using next-gen technologies to fight cyber attacks in real-time. As a matter of fact, last year they were the 2nd biggest Windows antivirus vendor based on market research.
It might seem logical that antivirus companies would offer free antivirus protection as a kind of loss leader, with only the most basic protection. Getting the advanced bonus features would require becoming a paying customer. But actually, many of the most popular free antivirus tools offer full-scale protection and a ton of extra features. Avast Free Antivirus gives you more than many competing commercial products. On top of excellent antivirus protection, it adds a network security scanner, browser protection, and more. It’s an impressive collection of security tools-especially considering that it’s free.
Free Avast Antivirus Protection
Avast antivirus is only free antivirus for personal use. If you want to use for business environment you must upgrade to Avast Premium Security, which replaces both Avast Internet Security and the all-inclusive Avast Premier. It’s a simpler product line than most, just a free antivirus and a for-pay suite.
Virus and Malware scans
Avast’s virus scans are fast and easy to do scan. And not only do they flag up any issues on your machine, they also allow you to fix any issues with the single click of a button
Avast virus scan does 3 things:
- Updates the virus definitions
- Scans for viruses and malware
- Seeks out advanced issues
Malware protection
This is the best revolutionary feature for free antivirus software. Avast antivirus comes with lots of protection:
- Real-time protection runs silently in the background to block threats as they appear in an unobtrusive yet effective way.
- In-depth scans of your entire machine or device that’s designed to root out hidden malware.
- Complete malware detection that stops you from sharing infected files with other users.
- Removable drive scans to check external drives, such as CDs, DVDs, USB sticks, etc. for viruses.
- Security reports that provide you with personalized updates every 30 days.
- Scheduled Scans so it can check for malware while you’re away from your desk.
- Custom scans on specific files or folders for faster, targeted scans.
- Real-time security updates and new features are updated automatically.
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Email security
Avast antivirus also provides a decent level of email security with its free version. It alerts you for any unsafe websites, prevents dangerous email attachments, blocks suspicious downloads and stops intrusive web tracking. Email is one of the most common ways of getting a computer virus, it’s a really useful feature that weeds out a lot of potential threats.
Ransomware Shield
Avast’s Ransomware Shield provides basic ransomware protection. By default, it protects the Documents, Pictures, and Desktop folders of each user account. You can add folders to the protected list or dig into settings for more fine-grained control.
On Settings page, you will see that this feature runs in Smart Mode by default, meaning that it ignores known and trusted programs. You can set it to Strict Mode, meaning every modification of a protected file will require your permission. It can protect archive, database, audio, disk, document, picture, video files, or file types of your choice.
Compatibility on different platforms
Avast antivirus is available on all the major platforms. You can use it on Android, Windows, macOS, Linux and iOS. When I visited on the Avast website through macOS it automatically redirected to the Mac version. So I could view all the information specific to the type of machine and operating system I was using.
Wi-Fi inspector
Avast antivirus free offering scans your entire Wi-Fi network and all the devices connected to it to find any vulnerabilities and threats. This works to prevent hackers from stealing your personal data through your Wi-Fi network.
Avast Antivirus Package Cost
Version | Features | Price |
---|---|---|
Avast Free | Ransomware and malware protection | Free |
Avast Premium | Free plan + Wi-Fi network security, phishing protection, and network protection | $34.99 |
Avast Ultimate | Premium plan + SecureLine VPN and Cleanup Premium tools | $59.99 |
- Last Updated : 15 Minutes Ago