View from the Labs
Why is online shopping still fraught with traps when you buy AV software?
If you turn to our feature table on p80, you’ll see that we’ve listed three separate prices for most of these antivirus suites. “Renewal price” is the annual price you’ll be charged on subscription renewal if you subscribe directly from the company’s own website. It can be somewhat hidden, as it’s often significantly more expensive than the second price we list – the new subscriber offer, which we’ve labelled “First year’s price direct”.
There can be a huge disparity between these prices. For example, your initial McAfee+ Advanced subscription may cost £75 inc VAT, but renewing it will come in at £160. A ten-device subscription to Norton 360 Premium Advanced costs £35 for the first year, but renews at £150. Our Labs Winner, Avast Ultimate, costs £65 for the first year, but then goes up to £110 for a ten-device sub.
This is made worse by the commonplace practice of automatic renewals, something that’s been enough of a problem that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has both published guidance ( tinyurl.com/355guidance) and investigated and even taken legal action ( tinyurl.com/355action) against the worst offenders for being insufficiently clear about auto-renewals at a higher price.
And for making it too difficult to cancel them. This has led to marked improvements in the signposting of auto-renewing subscriptions from
ABOVE Buying an antivirus suite can come back and bite you if you don’t check auto-renewal policies most of the industry, particularly for UK customers.
However, this improvement hasn’t been entirely consistent. When reviewing Norton 360, I found that, even if I had a code bought from a third-party retailer, I was obliged to enter my payment information and agree to an auto-renewing subscription before I was allowed to activate said code. The CMA’s 2021 compliance principles for antivirus auto-renewal states that AV firms should “make sure... customers are able to make a fully informed choice about auto-renewal”. Although it was easy enough to immediately deactivate auto-renewal on Norton’s subscription page, requiring auto-renewal for a key purchased elsewhere feels like it’s sailing awfully close to the wind with regards to the CMA guidance.
By contrast, some antivirus makers are deliberately avoiding renewal free price hikes. This virtuous category includes Eset, G Data and Panda. Many others are extremely clear about renewal fees, and some make auto-renewal opt-in, rather than opt-out. These are things I want to see more of across the industry.
However, the most cost-effective way of getting antivirus software, particularly from bigger firms that use deep discounts to attract new subscribers, is to buy it from a third-party retailer. This generally gives you more control of what you pay and what you commit to, making it easy to change providers from year to year. Not all packages or vendors sell through retail – there’s a market trend against retail keys as AV makers seek to lock customers into a pattern of regular auto-renewal – but if you can buy and activate keys without too much personal inconvenience, I recommend you do so.
“Some antivirus makers are avoiding renewal free price hikes. This virtuous category includes Eset, G Data and Panda”