VIPRE Antivirus Cost and Pricing Plans

Most antivirus software today relies on a subscription model instead of a flat fee to buy the software. And it makes sense. If you’ve read our guide to antivirus protection, you’ll know that antivirus software requires consistent support to keep up with current threats and maintain your online safety. So, most providers charge a monthly or annual fee to pay for this support instead of allowing you to buy the software outright. Today, we’re breaking down VIPRE’s pricing structure. It’s a provider that moved from lifetime licenses to subscription-based pricing to make it easier to provide customers with continuous updates.

VIPRE, which is an acronym for Virus Intrusion Protection and Remediation Engine, is one of the most popular software for antivirus, but what’ll it cost you? We focused on the bottom line not only on their antivirus software, but on everything you’ll need to protect your home devices from malware, ransomware, and other online threats. Here’s what we learned about VIPRE’s pricing and if it’s worth the cost.

Pricing

As we mentioned earlier, VIPRE previously offered lifetime licenses with limited update periods. Now they’ve moved to annual subscriptions that provide continuous protection against emerging threats. Lifetime licenses were nice since it let you at least have some amount of protection forever. But once it lost support, you needed to buy another license anyway.

The change to subscription pricing benefits customers by offering automatic updates that protect against the latest threats. This is critical given over 450,000 new malware and potentially unwanted applications were registered every day in 2024.1 This ensures you always receive their latest protections. We should note though that the renewal price you’ll pay for each subscription is the base price, not the sale price that you purchase your initial subscription for.

Antivirus

VIPRE offers three tiers designed for different protection needs. Annual subscriptions start at $15, which is significantly lower than the industry average of $30 to 50 for entry-level protection. Again, considering these are annual fees with comprehensive protection updates, VIPRE will save you a lot of money in the long-term, so it’s a great choice for those that know they want antivirus protection for the long-haul.

• Android Security: VIPRE’s Android protection follows a similar subscription model to their desktop offerings. Rather than buying individual subscriptions for one device, VIPRE offers one, three, five or 10 device subscriptions starting at $9.99 for one Android device per year. Not too shabby!

Other Software

Aside from antivirus software and packages, VIPRE has a few services that you can choose from individually. Think of these add-ons as extra layers of protection for specific security concerns beyond traditional malware threats.

• Internet Shield VPN: Not to be confused with the similar-sounding VyprVPN, VIPRE’s Internet Shield VPN will hide your web activity and IP address for either one, two or three years. The VPN uses AES-256 encryption and has a no-logs policy, making it a good choice for privacy-conscious users.

• Privacy Shield: Ever been paranoid that your computer’s camera or microphone is spying on you? Privacy Shield blocks hacking and it removes all personal information from your computer. This tool has become more relevant with research showing that 1 in 3 adults have experienced webcam hacking attempts. Like the VPN, Privacy Shield requires an annual subscription as a one, two or three-year subscription.

Canceling

One thing that we don’t love about VIPRE is its lack of money-back guarantees, which are usually a feature for antivirus companies. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t get a refund, just that it’s not guaranteed for most products. The only products with a 30-day money-back guarantee are Antivirus Plus, Advanced Security, and Ultimate Security Bundle. To request a refund, you have a few options:

• Email customerservice@VIPRE.com
• Call 888-688-8457 between nine AM and six PM EST weekdays
• For users outside of the U.S, call 1-727-562-0101 and press extension 700

Free Trial

Now, even though they don’t have a money-back guarantee, we are okay with that because, for the Advanced Security, Android Security, and Antivirus Plus packages, plus the Privacy Shield, VIPRE gave us 30 days to try them out without paying. That should be more than enough time to cancel if we don’t like the service.

Favorite Features

To get all of the smallest details, you’ll want to read our full VIPRE review above, but for those that are short on time, here’s a summary of what we found during testing that we liked the best.

Squeaky Clean History

The world of antivirus software, we’ve learned, is surprisingly controversial. From security vulnerabilities that have exposed the data of thousands of customers to begrudged employees leaking business information, most of the software we look at has a past that’s more than a little messy. But that wasn’t the case for VIPRE, which may have something to do with the fact that they’ve been in business under the same name for over a decade now, as opposed to decades-old companies like AVG and McAfee. Still, no leaks or lawsuits makes us trust VIPRE that much more.

100 Percent Malware Detection

You know how they say that nothing in life is every 100 percent? Well, technically that’s not true, as VIPRE consistently achieves high malware detection rates. In recent AV-Comparatives testing from 2024, VIPRE demonstrated 99.9 percent protection rates against real-world threats, placing it among the top performers in the industry.2 This is in line with previous results, giving us confidence in VIPRE’s capabilities.

30-Day Free Trial

It was nice to be able to try out VIPRE’s software for free for a month, especially because it wasn’t guaranteed that we could get a refund. For those concerned about the money, be sure to mark 30 days after your purchase date on your calendar so you’re alerted when the trial period ends!

Affordable Annual Subscriptions

Editor’s Note: VIPRE no longer offers lifetime licenses. Any lifetime licenses you find online are sold by a third-party reseller of old licenses. We recommend staying away from these products since there’s no guarantee that the license you buy will actually work. Especially in this case since most of the ones available online are from 2016.

Subscription services have become the norm, from streaming platforms to meal kits to software. The average consumer now has 4.5 subscriptions, spending approximately $924 annually.3 While VIPRE has jumped on this trend, their competitive pricing and regular sales keep costs down for budget-conscious users.

Company Background

So just where exactly does VIPRE come from, exactly? Well, the company has only been in business as VIPRE since 2013, which is relatively short compared to veterans like Kaspersky or AVG. Based in Clearwater, Florida, VIPRE is a product of J2 Global which also produces brands like the VPNs IPVanish, StrongVPN and Encrypt.me. But it’s true past started long before 2013, in 1994 when it was originally founded as Sunbelt Software. 16 years later, in 2010, a company called GFI Software acquired Sunbelt2 before selling it to J2 Global in 2018.

It’s worth noting that J2 Global (now Ziff Davis after a 2021 rebrand) owns several technology publications, including PCMag.com, which reviews antivirus software among other products. This creates a potential conflict of interest when reading reviews on properties they own. And when we Googled it, sure enough we found a review of VIPRE antivirus on PCMag. It’s why we prefer independent review sources—Security.org is not owned by Ziff Davis, so you can trust that our reviews are legit.

Customer Support

Don’t be like a stereotypical Dad on a road trip, refusing to ask for directions. If you need help with anything VIPRE, here’s how you can contact support:

• Create a support ticket
• Do a search on their online support portal
• Call 1-877-757-4094 Monday through Friday, 9 AM until 9 PM Eastern Standard Time.
• Home users can call 1-877-673-1099 Monday through Friday, 9 AM until 9 PM Eastern Standard Time.

Privacy Policy

Since VIPRE is based in the United States, a founding member of the surveillance alliance Five Eyes, we wanted to check to see what information of ours they keep. That’s because, under very specific circumstances, the company could be forced to give customer data to the U.S federal government. So, if that was the case, what would they have to give?

• Email
• Phone
• Public data from social media
• App data
• Site data
• Registration details
• Content and advertising information
• Third party information

We also looked into how they share this information with third parties, which includes legal authorities, any professional advisors they use like accountants, as well as advertisers that use their sites and apps. You may be able to opt out of such usage on your mobile device, or visit these two websites to opt out of advertising for certain companies in particular:

• http://www.networkadvertising.org
• http://networkadvertising.org/optout_nonppii.asp

Of course, we always want a company that logs the minimal amount of data possible and ideally doesn’t share this data with third parties, especially advertisers. But unfortunately, this isn’t uncommon for antivirus companies, so we can’t really knock VIPRE too hard for keeping up with the rest of the industry. Still, we wish that you could completely opt-out of this third-party sharing with all of their advertisers, not just some. If privacy is a huge concern of yours, VIPRE may not be the antivirus software for you.

Summary

VIPRE has evolved from its unique one-time licensing model to embrace the industry-standard subscription approach, which ensures you’ll always have protection against the latest threats. While we miss the simplicity of lifetime licenses, the current model offers better long-term security. However, if these prices weren’t to your satisfaction, you may be interested in the best free antivirus software, but keep in mind that, as they say, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.