buying 1 year vs 2 year subscriptions

[ccgerm]

I have been using Avast free edition for several years (with no complaints I might add), and I am planning to get the security suite for better protection.  However, I have several options:
- I can upgrade to the suite for 1 year for $30
- I can upgrade for 2 years for $57
- I can upgrade for 2 years for $59, which seems to include licenses for 3 PCs

My biggest question is: are the updates likely to be important for the firewall and sandbox?  Do I need to keep updating them?  Can I keep using them after my subscription runs out?

[Lisandro]

All the programs updates are important: new technologies, protection level, etc.
For sure, daily updates are necessary only for the antivirus.
If you can't pay, there are options for free firewalls/sandbox.

[cek333]

Hi:
I'm also an avast free user. I was thinking about possibly upgrading to the pro or internet security versions.
I was wondering why the products are offered as subscriptions rather than a one-time fee? Is the subscription just so that you can get program updates? How often are the non-antivrus features updated? What happens to the product after the subscription expires? I'm guessing all the program features will stop working without a valid registration; is that correct?
Thanks,
Cecil

[Gargamel360]

I was wondering why the products are offered as subscriptions rather than a one-time fee?

Thats always been the model with all AV companies, as far as I can remember.  Cant recall ever seeing a one-time license.  I would assume it is largely from the cost of piping definition updates.

Is the subscription just so that you can get program updates?

No, virus signature/definition updates also.

How often are the non-antivrus features updated?

Assuming you mean sandbox/SafeZone?  Those update with program updates.  There is no concrete schedule for program updates,  only signature updates, which come on average twice a day, plus steaming updates.

What happens to the product after the subscription expires? I'm guessing all the program features will stop working without a valid registration; is that correct?

No, the shields/sandboxing will still work.  You just wont get signature or program updates anymore, meaning any shields will soon be made partly (if not totally) irrelevant.

[cek333]

Hello Gargamel360:

Thanks for your reply, and sorry for my late reply; I didn't get any e-mail notification. I'll have to check my account settings.

I just wanted to clarify one thing. With the Avast free edition I currently get signature/definition and program updates. If I buy a 1 year subscription and it expires, I would no longer get the same updates that the free edition gets?

[DavidR]

The same happens with the free version 'Current registration will expire on: date', if you don't re-register you won't get signature updates either as far as I'm aware.

[cek333]

Thanks DavidR for the correction. You're right, I do need to re-register. However my main point was that those updates are free.
As long as Avast has a free version, a subscription model doesn't make sense in my opinion. It should be that a user would get a paid version of the software (for a one-time fee) in order to get more advanced features, for example, like the password protection that was advertised in a pop-up from Avast on my pc yesterday. The idea of paying for definition and program updates that you would otherwise get for free is a bit baffling (unless I'm misunderstanding how it works).
Anyway, that's beyond the scope of my original question. I just wanted to know what would happen when the subscription expires if I were to move up to the Pro or Internet Security. I guess you can't apply the free license to an expired Pro/Internet Security program?

[DavidR]

Yes, they are in the free version, but you are getting the additional features of the paid options Pro/AIS.

You only have to look at the other paid AV options and they all follow the same annual license fee and most of those aren't generous enough to offer a free version and those that do are often featured crippled.

Where the avast Pro's biggest competitor is avast free
That is the closest feature wise as avast free isn't feature crippled, essentially it is only missing the SafeZone and Full Sandbox features and some other minor options.

However the AIS version which you are talking about also has the Firewall and Anti-Spam modules that the Pro version doesn't.

No you can't apply the free registration key to Pro/AIS once it has expired you have to uninstall it and install the free version.

[Nesivos]

Thanks DavidR for the correction. You're right, I do need to re-register. However my main point was that those updates are free.
As long as Avast has a free version, a subscription model doesn't make sense in my opinion. It should be that a user would get a paid version of the software (for a one-time fee) in order to get more advanced features, for example, like the password protection that was advertised in a pop-up from Avast on my pc yesterday. The idea of paying for definition and program updates that you would otherwise get for free is a bit baffling (unless I'm misunderstanding how it works).
Anyway, that's beyond the scope of my original question. I just wanted to know what would happen when the subscription expires if I were to move up to the Pro or Internet Security. I guess you can't apply the free license to an expired Pro/Internet Security program?

You raise a good point.  I think only the owners and top marketing people know why avast! prices their products the way they do.  We can all guess as to the reason but it would be just a guess.   More important to know what the rules of game are than why they made the rules in the first place, unless you are a historian

[cek333]

Thanks DavidR for the clarification on the free/pro licensing.

With regards to the other stuff you mentioned, I totally agree with everything you've said. However, you didn't arrive at the same conclusion that I did (... not that you have to  ).

Since other AV companies offer crippled or no free AV options, you have to buy a subscription in order to get definition and program updates.

As you said, avast free and avast Pro are competing products! In avast free you get free definition and program updates (after a no-cost registration). In the Pro version you're now paying for definition and program updates!  Yes, it does have additional SafeZone and Sandbox features, but does that justify a subscription model?

I think Nesivos got the idea! I think Avast was following the industry standard/rules of the game by offering subscription AV products. But they broke the industry standard by offering a very capable free version! I think that warrants a re-visiting of their pricing model.

[AntiVirusASeT]

hmm just giving my opinions 

safezone is indeed valuable to the end users - it provides additional banking security compared to the free version.

u might say that if a system is already compromised, u will not trust the system for banking anymore. but what happens if u do not know that ur system is infected? a user who bothers to learn how to use safezone for banking purposes might just be able to protect his personal information even if the system he is using is infected. (i am not saying that safezone is impenetrable , but it is another useful layer to protect ur personal infomation)

so, if u often use ur computer for banking, there is a chance that u would like this additional protection. if so, it is reasonable to ask u to pay a subscription fee for the continuous research and development they put in to create safezone (avast does add new features/improve safezone from time to time, eg. the next version would allow the use of 3rd party password management tools like lastpass...etc)


on the whole, i feel what avast is doing is well within the industry standard - u subscribe for the continuous improvements to safezone (a kind of program update, while not as frequent as definition updates, is definitely something much more worthy of a subscription compared to that for definition updates. this is because definition updates offer ineffective protection against today's malware - u know that no antivirus can rely on definitions alone for 100% protection. whereas safezone in theory, should protect the user from all malware)

however, the thing that matters the most is that avast is profitable. if not, all discussion is moot 

[Gargamel360]

Just to add, as for Avast!'s business model, it is a well-established idea>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemium

[cek333]

The Freemium business model is fine; my point of contention was subscription vs one-time fee for the advanced features.

However AntiVirusASeT makes some good points. From the outside looking in, I was thinking that it was just another software feature. For example, a company might add image resizing to a photo viewer, and the algorithm for that will be the same 5 years from now. Security software is a whole different ball game; the threats are always changing, and will thus require ongoing research. They'll likely be able to put more money towards that research if they use a subscription rather than a one-time fee model. It makes more sense now!

Thanks AntiVirusASeT for your input.

This Safezone feature sounds really interesting! I'll have to look into it more.

[DavidR]

If you ignore the concept of the definitions being free, which it doesn't actually say in the free version. It talks of the Current Registration will expire on: from that point on you can't get virus definition or program updates.

In the paid versions it talks of Current License will expire on and at that point you don't get virus definitions or program updates. So one has a free registration for limited functionality and the other has a license that gives the full functionality.