“Avast One has easy-to-use free and paid versions that offer impressive protection.”
- Good malware protection record
- User-friendly app
- Customizable plans
- 24/7 live support
- Free app includes a VPN
- Big price increases on renewal
- Poor privacy history
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Cybersecurity isn’t the most enjoyable aspect of technology, but Avast might be able to make it an easier task. Avast One includes antivirus, ransomware protection, malware blocking, and more in free and subscription plans.
In the ongoing search for the best antivirus software to safeguard your PC, I reviewed Avast One’s design, features, support, and overall value.
Tiers and pricing
Avast One security has four basic plans and various configurations to customize the software to suit your particular needs. While too many choices can be overwhelming, Avast made clear distinctions to help narrow in on the correct subscription.
Avast One Basic is free, yet it includes good antivirus protection for your browser and email, a VPN, PC optimizer, and more. The VPN is capped at 5GB per week and lacks the advanced features you get with a paid subscription.
Avast One subscriptions have a discounted price for the first year with a big increase when you renew. Unfortunately, that’s quite common. Malwarebytes’ low-cost renewal prices are unique.
Avast One Silver starts at $36 per year and renews at $80. You can customize the features, opting for more device protection, privacy controls, or PC cleanup tools. An individual plan covers three devices.
A family version of Avast One Silver has the same three options and protects up to 30 devices. The first year costs $60 with a renewal price of $130.
Avast One Gold includes all three Silver modules and works on up to five devices for $84/$180. The family version costs $132/$280 and supports up to 30 devices.
The highest tier is Avast One Platinum, an upgrade to Gold family that adds $2 million in identity theft insurance, dark web monitoring, and remote tech support for your laptop, phone, and printer.
If you’re considering Avast One Gold, Platinum’s $120 price is more affordable for the first year, and the $300 renewal price is just $20 more.
Design
I started with Avast One Basic, a fairly complete antivirus solution that blocks viruses and ransomware but lacks the advanced features that subscribers get. The first screen suggested upgrading to a paid Silver or Gold account.
I stuck with the free app and started a system scan to identify any malware. My computer was clean, but Avast found eight issues with my stock Windows 11 installation.
I could resolve these problems by buying an Avast subscription. When I declined, Avast offered a generous 60-day free trial. I had an activation code, so I said skipped the paid version again.
The dashboard includes a VPN that’s capped at 5GB, a smart scan button, and system maintenance options to clean up my PC, browser, disk, and drivers. On another tab, I found email and ransomware protection, firewall settings, and a network inspector.
Moving on to the paid version, I activated Avast One Gold and checked the Explore tab to set up extra protection. Some features like the PC optimizer include a tutorial screen that explained the operation, a thoughtful design touch.
On the Account tab, I found the Rescue Center that can undo recent changes made by the Disk Cleaner and PC Speedup tools, another user-friendly feature.
Avast One Gold has a nice design that’s easy to set up and explore, so I moved on to testing the security and privacy features.
Features
Security comes first with antivirus software, and Avast is one of the best when it comes to protecting your computer from malware. I checked Avast One’s rating on third-party cybersecurity lab AV-Test.
In monthly evaluations, Avast has maintained a nearly perfect record for the last nine years, with its AV-Test score dipping occasionally to 5.5 out of 6. That’s almost as good as Bitdefender and Norton, two of the best antivirus software solutions.
I felt certain Avast was protecting my PC, but I always run my own tests with the harmless and free malware tests at Wicar. While Avast One Gold never prompted me to install a browser extension, it detected the EICAR test virus and several others, blocking the downloads to keep my computer safe.
To check the VPN, I picked a server in Italy and went to Google to check if Avast One’s VPN hid my location. Google loaded in Italian but gave me a chance to switch to English. I searched for the best coffee shop near me.
I got search listings for Milan, which is in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy. The VPN worked as expected. I tested streaming and was able to watch a tennis taking place in Italy, but the bandwidth was quite low. If you want to stream video, our guide to the best VPNs can help you find the best solution.
Support
Avast One subscribers get support via live chat or by phone 24 hours a day, every day. Once again, Avast proved to be remarkably user-friendly.
I chose the chat option and answered a few basic questions like the product I’m using, name, and email. The form asked for my order number, but it let me proceed without filling in that field.
In seconds, a live agent replied. My question was about using the VPN for video streaming from another country. I was told it would take two to three minutes to check my account, so I left the tab open and found something to occupy my time.
It only took about a minute to get the reply that it is possible to stream video from another country, but the server location can impact speeds, reducing quality and potentially preventing a good connection.
That matched my experience, and I feel satisfied that Avast support is quick and helpful.
Privacy and security
If you use free version of Avast One, you might see targeted ads. According to the end user license agreement, paid subscriber data is private, though you could receive product offers from Avast with special offers to upgrade.
My inbox looked good after supplying my contact information and installing the apps, so privacy doesn’t seem to be a concern.
Avast has had some privacy issues in the past. Google removed the Avast browser extension in 2019 for spying on Chrome users.
It’s been five years, and Avast has well-rated security extensions in the Chrome Web Store, so that’s no longer a problem. Still, it’s worrisome that Avast was overly invasive in the past.
Avast One makes antivirus easy
Avast One Basic is a good free antivirus that includes a capped VPN. If you like the sound of this app, it’s a good place to start to get immediate protection against malware.
Avast One Silver keeps costs low while providing access to some of the advanced features of a Gold subscription. If you don’t need to full package, why pay extra? I like that Avast One has so many ways to customize its plans. Avast One supports Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, but you’ll get more features on Windows.
Avast One setup was simple, and the app showed me how to use features and utilities to optimize and protect my computer. While that’s valuable, the prices are higher than equivalent Norton 360 plans, particularly when it comes time to renew.
If you aren’t tech-savvy, the extra cost might be worth it. You can try the user-friendly Avast One Gold free for 60 days, which is the longest free trial I’ve come across when testing antivirus software. That’s enticing, but you’ll find better deals from other top antivirus software.
