Is free antivirus software as good as commercial-grade antivirus software? That is the question of the day. The short answer is typically yes. While it depends on the vendor, free versions of antivirus software usually offer the same updated virus definitions as its commercial counterpart. But it will provide a lower level of protection than the paid version, as free versions will commonly exclude advanced features. So is that good enough for you?

We’ll first have to assume the antivirus protection is the same in free and commercial grade software. We’ll also assume it is updated frequently and scans are run each day on your PC. To see the real difference between commercial and free antivirus software, we have to look at what most commercial-grade software protection offers that the free version will not.

Anti-Rootkit Protection
Rootkits are nasty viruses that often cannot be detected by a typical antivirus scan, as they have the advanced ability to hide themselves and become virtually invisible at the root level.

SPAM Protection
SPAM filtering is important to some and not as important to others, but free antivirus programs will not usually come with this feature. Some SPAM emails can contain viruses and phishing schemes and blocking these will help prevent infection.

Download Monitoring
If you download files from the Internet, commercial grade software will frequently scan these downloads before you install them on your system. Free antivirus software might not catch the executing program and your PC will become infected.

Instant Messaging Protection
Exploits are now being sent over IM. If you engage in Instant Messaging, you might find IM protection necessary.

Software Firewall
Windows XP SP2 and Vista have a firewall turned on by default. But it only protects against inbound traffic. Commercial software firewalls will monitor both incoming and outgoing traffic. Free antivirus will not typically include a firewall.

So while we see that commercial-grade software includes addtional protection, it really depends on your activity on the Internet. If you are active in downloading programs, sending Instant Messages and surfing a lot of different sites, commercial-grade protection might be for you. But no matter what, be sure to run at least the free antivirus software, and have it automatically update and scan daily.