Avast Driver Updater

Avast Driver Updater is a device management tool developed by Avast Software, based in the Czech Republic. You may best know Avast for its antivirus software, but it also produces many other tools such as a driver updater.

Avast is a big name in the software industry. It has been in business for over three decades.

The Avast Driver Updater is a handy tool for professionals who use their PCs for heavy-handed tasks such as programming and animation. We’ll review it based on specific criteria, including pricing, customer support, user interface, compatibility, and features.

Avast Driver Updater is a bit more expensive than the competition but you get plenty of features for the price (Image credit: Avast)

Plans and pricing

Firstly, a free trial version is available for the Avast Driver Updater, but it has minimal features and only lasts 15 days. Hence, the ideal option is the paid version, which costs $45 (€40) for an annual license covering one computer. This pricing is pretty high, given that you get similar software from competitors for between $10 to $30. 

The Avast brand carries a premium in the software industry. Therefore, it can get away with higher pricing compared to its rivals.

Avast Driver Updater automatically searches your PC for outdated drivers (Image credit: Avast)

Features

Automatic Scan

You can set the Avast Driver Updater to scan your drivers at specific periods automatically, e.g., when your PC boots up afresh. This way, it’ll always remind you to update your outdated drivers for optimal performance.

Safety checks

Avast is an antivirus company at heart, so you shouldn’t be surprised by this security feature. The tool scans every driver to ensure they’re free from malware before downloading them on your PC.

Driver Backup and Restore

You can back up your device drivers and restore them at any time with the Avast Driver Updater. This feature is essential because driver updates can cause system malfunctions in some cases. If it happens to you, you can just restore a previous version of whichever driver is causing issues to make your PC whole again.

Whatever your device, Avast likely has its drivers in its extensive database (Image credit: Avast)

Vast Driver Database

Avast Driver Updater checks your drivers against an online database containing over 300,000 drivers for updates. This vast database contains drivers from over 1,300 well-known tech brands, to name a few, AMD, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Dell.

Compatibility

Avast Driver Updater is compatible with Windows 7, 8/8.1, and 10. These are pretty much the Windows versions we expect everyone to be running at this time. Anything older is stale.

Signing in to your Avast Account allows you to sync your subscriptions  (Image credit: Avast)

Interface and in use

Firstly, downloading the Avast Driver Updater is uncomplicated. Go to the official website and download the installation file, whether free or paid. Afterward, run the downloaded file, and it begins installing. It doesn't require much computing resources, just 1GB RAM or above and at least 1GB free space on your hard drive.

The free version only lets you scan and update drivers, whereas the paid version has added features.

After installing and launching the software, you’ll see that it's easy to use. It has a central dashboard from which you can control all the features. The features are easily accessible on this dashboard for you to choose from.  

The Avast Driver Updater scores very high in user-friendliness and ease of use.

Support

Avast provides 24/7 customer support through email, telephone, and live chat. You can contact the company directly to resolve your issues at any time. It’s a global software company with millions of users worldwide, so this broad customer service is expected. 

Avast's searchable knowledge base can help you find answers to common problems (Image credit: Avast)

There’s also a detailed Frequently Answered Questions (FAQ) page and a knowledge base you can check for solutions to common problems.

The competition

There are many competitors to the Avast Driver Updater on the software market, such as Ashampoo Driver Updater and Auslogics Driver Updater. Avast is the most expensive among these options. Despite having similar functionalities, it costs $45 annually, compared to $19 for Ashampoo and $11.50 for Auslogics. 

As we said, Avast is a premium brand, so it can afford to have relatively high prices and not lose customers.

Final verdict

Avast Driver Updater performs the job of keeping your drivers in check very well. However, the main drawback is that it’s expensive compared to its competitors. We’d make it cheaper to be on par with other similar products if we had a choice.

We've also highlighted the best driver update software