Antivirus/Firewall (Avast)

My antivirus license is expiring in a few days and i'm wondering what everyone uses and if anyone has used Avast.  It's free and is consistently rated high on av-comparatives.  

Also, what do people use for firewalls on windows?  I have typically gotten an all-in-one antivirus but going to free would mean losing the firewall.

Thanks for the input!

I use it. It's been great to me for about 12 years.

If your current AV is working, then why not renew it instead of risking something new and cheap/free?  The two computer components that you never want to "go cheap" with are your power supply and your anti-virus/firewall programs.  If either of those are unreliable and fail you, the cost in damage and time is immeasurable compared to just buying good, reliable products to begin with.

I've used Avast for years and years, and any computer I build for friends/family gets Avast put on it.  I've never had any problems with it.

Another vote for Avast here, I've been using it for around 10 years, just the free version, and I haven't gotten a virus in said time.

  i use both avast and malwarebytes free versions  while i have gotten a virus , it didn`t show up on avast scan but malware found it and removed ,  i normal scan every week with avast , malware and windows defender .  as  avast and malware look for diff types of virus, addware , keyloggers etc best to run more then 1 type . 

I've been using avast for a very long time now. Just put it in silent/gaming mode and forget about it. I run it on all my systems. Also if you have a router on in your network, as most people do this day in age, don't worry about a software firewall. Your router will handle all that. Also remember viruses are not spyware and virus protection does not protect against spyware. Only smart browsing can protect you from that. Browse with Google chrome and use the AD blocker extension. Most spyware comes in the form of one ad or another.

Using a NAT router alone, without a software firewall is not a good idea.  Folks can google about the security risks of NAT router protection, if they wish, but to sum up, the rogue traffic that you want to be worried about is not incoming... its the outgoing traffic, just in case something does get past your AV program and installs.  

A hardware firewall is a different animal and most home networks will be fine without one.  You will definitely want a "smart firewall" program so that it can scan your network for known or heuristic rogue traffic and isolate your computer if it needs to.  Software firewalls are especially recommended for home networks, so that your other computers and devices don't become compromised if one gets infected.

I avoided the issue earlier, but if someone is dead-set on going "free", then go with Avast.  Its the best freebie on the market and one of the best paid, too.  That said, its free version has failed me in the past, so that did place a black mark for it in my book.

Also, having multiple AV programs installed can cause them to interfere with each other, so install just one.  S&D Spybot is a nice spyware/browser watcher, it shouldn't interfere with most AV programs.