This article explains how ESET’s Home security plans differ – to help you choose the version that best fits your needs, without paying for features you’ll never use.
I had to put it all on paper to make heads or tails of it (after decades of using only the Enterprise plans). 🙂
Related:
ESET security features listed and explained
Brief overview
Here is a basic overview of ESET’s security packages/tiers
Note that business/enterprise packages differ from home and small business packages!
List of home plans on ESET’s website:
https://www.eset.com/us/home-store/#home
- Home ESET NOD32 Antivirus (Essential Security 1) very basic, without even a firewall (will rely on Windows’ built-in firewall).
- Good pick on a budget:
Home ESET Internet Security (Essential Security 2) tier offers real-time protection against malicious software, safe banking and web browsing, and firewall, Wi-Fi, and network shields. - Best pick overall (if you can pay just a bit more):
Home ESET Smart Security Premium (Premium Security) tier offers all of the above, and adds encryption, file & directory security, and a VPN. - Home ESET Security Ultimate (Ultimate Security) tier offers all of the above, plus enhanced browser and privacy protection, proactive identity protection, and better ransomware protection.
- Business ESET Small Business Security package provides protection for Windows clients and servers (more details in a separate article).
These programs are offered on a subscription basis and require using your existing ESET Home account (or setting one up) to manage your subscription.
Plans compared
Briefly put:
ESET Smart Security Premium = ESET Internet Security + Disc Encryption + ESET LiveGuard cloud sandbox.
In more detail – listing just the basic and most important features and differences:
I’ve put order links for each version because ESET website is unintuitive. These are not affilitate links (as you can see).
1. Home ESET NOD32 Antivirus (Essential Security 1)
- Basic anti-malware protection (not just antivirus, as the marketing name says).
- Cloud-based Protection (a.k.a. ESET LiveGrid, previously ThreatSense.Net) – Uses cloud reputation data to quickly flag new threats.
https://help.eset.com/eav/16.2/en-US/idh_config_charon.html - NO firewall. That is the biggest downside (your PC will rely on Windows firewall, which is OK, but if you’re paying for anti-malware software, I’d suggest adding a few dollars more and getting one of the versions which include a firewall.
Order link for 3 devices and 3 years (you can edit it to more or fewer):
https://buy.eset.com/us/add-to-cart?product=2032&p=3&q=3&lang=en-US
2. Home ESET ESSENTIAL (Essential Security 2, Internet Security)
Good pick on a budget
Everything that’s in previous tier, plus:
- Firewall.
- Network Attack Protection – Detects and stops network-borne exploits (e.g. SMB or RDP attacks).
- Parental Control (a.k.a. Web Control in business plans) – Filters websites or limits computer time for children.
- Safe Banking & Browsing – Opens financial sites in a hardened, isolated browser.
- Vulnerability Shield – Adds network-level signatures to block exploit attempts targeting common protocols.
- Webcam Protection – Alerts or blocks apps trying to access your camera.
This tier is the real antivirus+antimalware+firewall. If you’re going to pay for it, get the real deal.
Order link for 3 devices and 3 years (you can edit it to more or fewer):
https://buy.eset.com/us/cart/add?product=7951&p=3&q=3&lang=en-US
3. Home ESET PREMIUM (Premium Security, Smart Security Premium)
Best pick overall (if you can pay just a bit more)
Everything from the previous tier, plus:
- LiveGuard (Cloud Analysis) – uploads suspicious files to ESET’s sandbox servers for deep analysis.
- Folder Guard Security – Locks specified folders against unauthorised changes or deletion (ransomware protection to a limited degree).
- VPN (Virtual Private Network) – I believe this is Windscribe service rebranded, and if you need a VPN, it should be a good option.
This tier is slightly improved compared to the previous tier, and if the price difference is not huge (which is the case now), or if you need a decent VPN anyway, I would say it’s the optimal choice (based on my knowledge of marketing, I believe ESET designed the tiers this way deliberately, and this is the one they expect to sell well).
Order link for 3 devices and 3 years (you can edit it to more or fewer):
https://buy.eset.com/us/cart/add?product=7950&p=3&q=3&lang=en-US
4. Home ESET ULTIMATE (Ultimate Security, Security Ultimate)
Everything included in the previous tier, plus:
- Enhanced browser & privacy protection – browser extension that in theory should notify you of any phishing sites in search results. A bit dubious compared to using Firefox with Ublock Origin.
https://io.bikegremlin.com/38706/my-application-software-stack/#web-browsers - Proactive identity protection – I’m calling bullshit on this, for reasons beyond the scope of this article (briefly, no online service will stop the “dark web” from sharing the data already gathered).
- Ransomware defense and recovery – this is the main selling point and the only real reason to even consider this expensive tier. Since even this isn’t 100% secure and won’t replace reliable off-site backups of important data, it’s a dubious value for the money, and I’m not sold on this ultimate tier (ESET’s marketing folks probably counted on this – it’s a big price for those who have a lot of money, and also serves to make the previous tier look like a “great deal” – classic marketing 101).
Order link for 5 devices (the minimum for this tier) and 3 years (you can edit it to more or fewer):
https://buy.eset.com/us/cart/add?product=7949&p=3&q=5&lang=en-US
Business vs Home
- Home ESET NOD32 Antivirus is roughly equivalent in protection features to Business ESET Endpoint Antivirus, but without enterprise deployment and remote-management capabilities.
- Home ESET Internet Security (includes firewall and antispam) is functionally very close to Business ESET Endpoint Security.
The main difference is in management: the business “Endpoint” editions can be centrally managed through ESET PROTECT and include advanced policy and device-control options.
- Download links for Business Endpoint Antivirus and Endpoint Security:
https://www.eset.com/us/business/download/?nav=mm - Download links for Home security:
https://www.eset.com/us/download/home/#content-download-for-your-operating-system
Conclusion and recommendation
Overall, ESET Internet Security or Smart Security Premium are the most balanced options for most home users. Higher tiers mainly add convenience features, not core protection improvements.
References
- ESET security features listed and explained
- Reddit thread “ESET Version 19 for Home/SOHO Users Released”:
https://www.reddit.com/r/eset/comments/1ocxwub/eset_version_19_for_homesoho_users_released/ - Home console login:
https://login.eset.com - ESET Home download link:
https://www.eset.com/us/download/home/#content-download-for-your-operating-system - Do you really need an antivirus – and when?
- My Application Software stack
- List of home plans on ESET’s website:
https://www.eset.com/us/home-store/#home
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