I've used all the major freeware AV programs.
Most are fairly good, but I think that some of them are mediocre in terms of effectiveness, others have had repeated major fuckups, others have nag screens, some don't update often enough.
Most of the freeware AV have paid versions also as you know.
The paid versions come with better support, or more frequent updates, or more features or customizations, etc. So that motivates some people.
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I recently purchased a subscription for a paid AV (BullGuard) for my home PC.
One reason that I did so:
Suppose one day my machine gets trashed by the AV (such as Avast) or suppose we get a virus.
If I have a free AV my wife would hit me with a pot, and say "you cheap jerk, look what you did to us"!
But if I am using a paid AV and something goes wrong, then I really can't be blamed....
