Is Avast for Mac free? Well, yes and no. There is a free version. There is also a paid version. What’s the difference?

Create disk image for mac on a hard drive. Most digital products today come with a free doppelganger to show customers the in the paid-for product. Bloggers offer a free e-book to get people to subscribe to their email list. Subscription services offer a free week or month so people can try the services (if you’re a music lover, don’t try Spotify’s three-month free trial. You will be helpless to resist continuing your subscription afterward.) The point is, these sales methods can be very effective. Free is hard to resist.

But free can also be expensive. It all comes down to the simple question – “is it worth it?” Of course, the answer varies depending on your needs and wants. Avast for Mac is no different.

What is Avast for Mac? Image: Public Domain, Avast Software, via Wikimedia Avast Antivirus for Mac is a “free” software program that protects your Mac from viruses, malware, spyware, and ransomware. The free version doesn’t do much more than allow you to scan for malware that has already made its way into your system. And you can only scan so often – once a day is typical. Scanning more often than once a day can be cumbersome, especially if you are working on your Mac throughout the day. Malware scanning apps take a lot of processing power and so the rest of your will work much slower while a scan is taking place. More complex programs might even grind to a halt.

The paid-for version can do much more than just scan. One of the most significant differences between the free and paid-for versions of Avast for Mac is a called real-time protection. Real-time protection is a proactive method of protecting your Mac.

Avast Free Mac Security. When it comes to Avast Free Mac Security, Avast and AVG belong to the same Avast family. Avast is one of the largest security companies in the world and protects over 400 million customers in more than 150 countries worldwide.

Instead of finding malware and removing it after the fact (which allows enough time for malware to make its way back to a third-party with your information or otherwise accomplish its malicious purpose), real-time protection scans for malicious software in real-time. This way, you’re constantly protected by most threats, so long as you keep the threat database of Avast for Mac updated. Add-ons for Avast for Mac So, the free doesn’t cut it for those who need around-the-clock protection and are constantly using their devices. Avast for Mac is not free if you’re looking for real-time protection.

The paid version comes with this feature first and foremost. But it’s not the only option available once you upgrade. There’s not just one paid-for version – there are multiple different kinds of add-ons. Each addon gives Avast for Mac additional functionality.

Let’s see what some of these can do. Avast Secure line VPN. Image: CC BY 2.0, Mike MacKenzie, via Flickr A virtual-private-network (VPN) provides an encrypted tunnel for all of your web traffic to travel through. This gives you an additional layer of security and privacy. A VPN can also mask your IP address, making it look like your device is located in another city, state, or country. The farther away the VPN server is from your general location, however, the slower the connection tends to be.

All of your traffic has to first arrive at the server before going out to its final destination. Obviously, Avast is not the only VPN in the world. There are dozens of VPNs available, and many reviews for them have been written.

We’ll leave it up to you whether or not to choose the VPN offered by Avast for Mac. Avast File Shield Avast File Shield is one of the simplest features of Avast for Mac. It simply allows you to permanently delete files forever. You may think simply hitting “delete” on something in the Trash accomplishes this, but it does not. There are ways for erased files to be recovered even years later. But Avast promises to get rid of any trace of sensitive data.