10 programs you won’t regret buying
Sure, you can stock your PC with some excellent freebies, but this software is worth paying for.
Sometimes, you get what you pay for. Outfitting your computer with useful software doesn’t have to cost a penny, but paying up for programs often gets you perks you won’t find with freeware, from smoother interfaces to more plentiful features or even customer support if you need help. Some of the most useful software is available only in premium form.
Freebies tend to get the headlines, but today we’ll shine a light on some programs and services that are worth paying for, drawing on both our extensive testing. Break out your wallet, you won’t regret it.
1. GROUPY
Price: £4.99 from fave.co/2VbeMHX
Groupy lets you group your various open windows and programs in a single window, essentially treating them like browser tabs. That makes it easy to manage the far-flung files associated with a given project. I like to have a singled Groupy’d window open with my most-used work programs – Slack, Chrome, Outlook, and so on – as well as windows dedicated to a given task, such as having a Word document, Excel spreadsheet and PDFs related to a specific graphics card review. Groupy even lets you keep multiple instances of Windows 10’s File Explorer open in a single window.
I can’t recommend Groupy strongly enough. It keeps me from drowning in open windows. Better yet, it has a 30-day free trial available if you want to try before you buy. Stardock tends to make software worth buying in general, and its Object Desktop – billed as ‘a powerful suite of desktop enhancements that transforms your Windows experience’ – gathers the heaviest hitters together under one roof. Check that out too while you’re at it.
2. LASTPASS
Price: £2.60 per month from fave.co/2M4PqGW
In a world gone crazy with security breaches, everyone should use a password manager to create strong, unique passwords for their significant accounts. If you invest in only one piece of software, make it this. LastPass tops our list of the best password managers, though Dashlane puts up a strong showing, too. From our review:
“LastPass ticks all the boxes on our password manager want list. It makes it a breeze to create unique, complex passwords; capture and manage login credentials; sync them across multiple devices; and share them with others you trust. Its password auditing and updating features let you identify and eliminate
weak or duplicate passwords with just a mouse click or two. It also stores credit card numbers and other personal data to autofill web forms when you’re making a purchase, signing up for a service or paying a bill.”
Better yet, LastPass’s basic password management service is free, though paying £2.60 per month for a premium account unlocks helpful extras that are well worth the investment. It’s a small price to pay to keep your data as secure as possible, and to minimize the potential damage when one of your accounts inevitably gets breached.
3. ADOBE CREATIVE CLOUD
Price: £49.94 per month from fave.co/36TXkhD
“Over three decades, the revolutionary Adobe Photoshop has become an industry standard synonymous with image editing and manipulation,” we said in our Photoshop Elements 2020 review. “Even if you’ve never used it, you know what it is.” There’s a reason so many people use ‘Photoshop’ as a term for general image tinkering. Adobe’s software remains the gold standard for creative professionals, be it Photoshop, Premiere, Illustrator, Lightroom or any of the other programs available via Adobe’s Creative Cloud subscriptions, which cost varying amounts depending on what you need. Yes, no-cost alternatives like GIMP and Paint.net exist, and they’re surprisingly powerful in the right hands. But they’re not as potent as Photoshop proper, and their interfaces tend to be less intuitive. If you’re serious about creative editing, Adobe Creative Cloud is worth its steep monthly price.
4. XBOX GAME PASS FOR PC
Price: £7.99 per month from fave.co/2GTwM54
You install games via a dedicated Xbox Game Pass for PC app, which is much better behaved than Windows 10’s atrocious Microsoft Store.
If you’re interested in play as well as work, Xbox Game Pass for PC is easily the best value in gaming, usurping the title long held by Humble Monthly (RIP). Microsoft’s subscription service costs just £7.99 per month for unlimited access to over 100 PC games. That includes all of Microsoft’s own first-party titles, such as Halo, Gears Tactics, Forza and Age of Empires.
Better yet, the PC version of Xbox Game Pass is loaded with top-tier indie games, including Mech Warrior 5, The Surge 2, Frostpunk, Ark: Survival Evolved, A Plague Tale: Innocence, Mutant Year Zero, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, and a whole lot more. You’ll also find a smattering of third-party titles such as Dishonored 2, Wolfenstein: Youngbloods and Rise of the Tomb Raider.
5. MULLVAD
Price: €5 (around £4.40) per month from fave.co/34Kv4sR If you want to use a VPN to encrypt your Internet traffic while you’re out and about – or if you want to view streaming movie catalogues in other countries – then you should pay for it, full stop. Yes, once again, free alternatives exist, but free VPNs track your online activity and sell it to the highest bidders, or could even use it for nefarious purposes. Paying for a VPN buys you privacy and security – the very reasons you’re likely subscribing to a VPN service in the first place.
We keep those aspects in mind when we’re evaluating VPNs, along with more traditional features such as speed, cost and ease of use. Right now, the little-known Mullvad is our favourite VPN. “Sweden-based Mullvad is like
the Swiss Bank account of VPNs,” we said. “Instead of attaching your account to an email address, the company autogenerates an account number for you, which is all that’s required to log in. Mullvad now offers a much improved and user friendly interface, its speeds are good, and the company takes privacy very seriously.”
6. CYBERLINK POWERDVD 20 ULTRA
Price: £79.99 from fave.co/3iRhRFT PowerDVD 20 Ultra reigns supreme as a high-quality video player. It’s “the first choice for those seeking every last ounce of video quality, and of course those that want to play commercial DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra Blu-ray discs using a PC,” we said. If you’re an image snob, it’s worth splurging the money on PowerDVD 20 Ultra rather than relying on (admittedly also excellent) freebies such as VLC (available from fave.co/2GPBxwR).
7. NORTON SECURITY PREMIUM
Price: £24.99 per year from fave.co/36XphVJ Now we’re getting into the more discretionary picks. You can get by pretty well with free antivirus solutions, which rely on the same underlying protection as their paid-for siblings. The Windows Security app built into Windows 10 delivers solid protection as well. But free antivirus is very basic, offering few helpful features beyond simple scanning, and usually no customer support whatsoever.
Paying for antivirus gets you a fully backed, more comprehensive security solution that protects you against much more than just malware. Features like browser protection, email
protection, and phishing protection come standard in premium antivirus suites, often bundled with extras such as password managers and cloud storage. In a pinch, you can contact customer support for help if you’re paying for a product. That alone is worth a premium for many people.
We’ve evaluated many different paid security suites over the years, and Norton Security Premium is our top pick. “Norton Security Premium does an excellent job of protecting your PCs, doesn’t bother you too much, and has a very easy-to-use interface,” we said. It also offers helpful features to back up data, clean out your temporary Internet files, securely erase stubborn data, manage your passwords, and more.
Norton isn’t the cheapest, though. While you’ll only pay £39 to protect up to 10 devices during your first year, the price doubles after that. It’s worth it for the excellent protection and abundant features Norton offers.
8. ADOBE ACROBAT PRO
Price: £15.17 per month from fave.co/354TwaT Reading PDFs is easy. Even Adobe offers its Acrobat PDF Viewer for free. But if you want to start editing PDFs, you’ll
need to pay up, especially if you need more advanced features. Once again, Adobe’s software stands heads-and-shoulders above the crowd. “Adobe Acrobat Pro DC remains the industry standard for good reason,” we said in our guide to the best PDF editors. “Its rich combination of creation, editing, reviewing and security features are what the best alternative options are built on, but we feel Acrobat still does it best. Its recent interface redesign makes it much easier to navigate its robust toolset than the nested menus of yore.”
9. ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE 2021
Price: £34.99 from fave.co/3lCDKu9 Backing up your precious data is the most important computer maintenance you can perform, but once again, you don’t have to pay to do it. Windows 10 comes loaded with various backups tools, though their far-flung nature means relying on them is more of a cobbledtogether solution than anything else. And you could always just drag your most critical files over to an external drive. But premium backup tools can make backing up your data easier, or offer more robust options, or both. The venerable Acronis True Image remains our favourite Windows backup software. “True Image is one of the very best for good reason,” we said. “It’s capable and flexible, and rock-solid reliable.” Acronis’s software has more features than you can shake a stick at, and granular backup options galore.
From our review: “The program will back up partitions, whole drives, and files, and do so with versioning, incrementally (all post-initial backups contain only changes since the last backup),
differentially (all post-initial backups each include all changes since the initial backup), and as a one-time event.
“You can fine-tune which versions are kept, how older backups are culled, and more. There’s scheduling, of course, plus pre- and post-backup commands, email notifications, file exclusions, validation and backup splitting settings, backup performance throttling for slower systems, and just about every other option ever included in a backup program. There’s also syncing with other PCs running True Image. You can back up to just about any kind of media or location, including removable, optical, and FTP. Tape isn’t supported, but I’m guessing there aren’t a lot of people left who use that storage type.”
Phew. Better yet, you can get Acronis True Image for a one-time £35 fee rather than having to pay a monthly or annual subscription.
10. WINDOWS 10
Price: £119 from fave.co3jTuama Finally, we’re being a bit cheeky here, but if you want your PC on Windows, you’re going to have to pay for the privilege. It’s included in the cost of laptops and pre-built desktops, but if you’re rolling your own rig, you’ll need to purchase a copy.