ESET Antivirus Cost and Plan Pricing

You know when you go to a car dealership and they hand you a piece of paper with four boxes to explain the price of a car? When you get the paper, you’re even more confused about how much the car costs. They seem to break it down in every way possible without actually giving you the final cost. Well, that’s kind of how we felt when going through ESET’s pricing.

Even though we liked the antivirus software they sold overall, actually buying it is a headache waiting to happen. It’s one of the reasons it didn’t make the cut in our list of the best antivirus software. After all, you shouldn’t need a guide to buy antivirus software. You should only need a guide to understand antivirus software.

But don’t worry; we already went through that headache so you don’t have to. We’re going to break down ESET’s pricing in simple terms so you can get on their site and know exactly what to look for.

For Free?

We tried out ESET for 30 days without paying, but there’s no unlimited free subscription. Still, we’re glad that we didn’t have to commit to a year, two years or three years without actually trying the antivirus software out for ourselves. And that 30-day free trial gave us full access to the software which let us test all of its features. That way, you can test it out to see which features you like, and therefore, which subscription tier you want. But after the initial 30 days, we had to cough up some dough.

Subscription Options

ESET’s pricing used to be a complete mess, with different plans for desktop and mobile devices. Thankfully, they redid their pricing model and now they use an all-in-one subscription model that lets you decide how many devices you want covered. They still offer three tiers of protection, but it’s a lot easier to figure out than the old one that gave different prices for different device types.

Unfortunately, the Ultimate tier requires protection for at least 5 devices. But, other than that, you can buy protection for up to ten devices on any tier. Here’s an overview of the pricing for all three tiers:

So, what do you get with the different tiers of ESET’s all-in-one protection? With how much more the Ultimate plan costs, we’re sure you’re hoping it gives you a whole lot more. We cover the difference in full detail in our comprehensive ESET review. For now, here’s a quick overview of what you can expect in each tier:

NOD32 Windows and macOS Protection

Now, if you only want standalone ESET antivirus protection through their NOD32 program, you can save some money. Keep in mind that it only works on Windows and macOS devices, so your smartphones and tablets won’t be covered. Coverage is also capped at five devices. Here’s a look at current NOD32 pricing:

Android-Specific Protection

Of course, ESET’s pricing wouldn’t be that confusing if they didn’t have yet another tier of subscriptions specifically for smartphones. But, these plans are only for Android devices. To protect an iOS device, you’ll need to go with one of the all-in-one plans. Here’s how much protecting Android devices costs with ESET:

ESET also offers a free plan for Android devices, but it doesn’t give you a whole lot of protection. Here’s a comparison between the free and premium plans of Android protection:

What We Liked

While we’re not going to go into extreme detail about the testing process behind the Cyber Security Pro for Mac package, we can give you a little information on what we liked most about the software:

• Free trial: We liked that we could try out ESET for free without worrying about losing money.
• Discounted long term contracts: With up to three year plans, ESET gave us discounts the longer we signed up for.
• Solid Android app: The ESET Mobile Security app on the Google Play Store is easy to navigate and has strong user ratings. While ESET also has an iOS app, it doesn’t include its own standalone premium plan like the Android version does.
• High malware detection: It’s hard to get much better than detecting 99.8 percent of malware in the past four months.

• Detected four out of five viruses: In our testing, ESET performed well, in the top percentile compared to the other antivirus software we’ve tested.
• No history of breaches, vulnerabilities, or lawsuits: This is a huge rarity when it comes to antivirus companies. Many have pretty sordid histories with multiple vulnerabilities leaking user information, hackings, or simply lawsuits from disgruntled customers. ESET’s clean background made us trust them that much more.

Student Discount: How To Get It

Current students can get a discount on ESET products after verifying their student status through ID.me. The discount applies across the board, from its all-in-one security suite to basic Android protection, and even extends to plans covering multiple devices, which is useful if you want to cover the whole family. Check ESET’s website for the latest student discount percentage, as it may change over time.

>> Related reading: Is ID.me Safe?

How To Cancel

If you try ESET and decide it’s not the right fit, you can request a full refund within 30 days of purchase, regardless of whether you started with the free trial. We think it’s a reasonable grace period that gives you enough time to test the software thoroughly without any financial risk.