The first-year price is a customer-acquisition promo. The renewal price is the retail price the vendor never advertises. The gap between the two is what your auto-renewal charge is about to land on. Here is what the numbers actually look like, and how to avoid them.
Drawn from vendor product pages, support documentation, and user-reported renewal invoices.
| Vendor & plan | First year | Renewal | Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norton 360 Standard 2 devices, official product page | $199.99 | $299.99 | 1.5× |
| Malwarebytes Premium user-reported, forums.malwarebytes.com | $24.95 | $64.94 | 2.6× |
| Bitdefender Total Security user-reported, BitDefender subreddit | promo price | retail price | ~2× |
| Kaspersky Total Security user-reported, Kaspersky support forum | new-user price | +£25 above new-user | ~1.5× |
| Avast Internet Security user-reported, Avast community | discounted year | $60+ retail | 2×+ |
A 2023 Which? investigation found all 10 major antivirus providers reserve the right to change renewal prices in their terms — meaning the multiple can grow year over year.
A reminder 30 days before renewal is the gap between auto-charge and informed decision.
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Antivirus pricing has two tiers. The new-customer price is a promotional rate the vendor uses to win you over against free alternatives like Windows Defender. Once you are acquired, you move to the retail tier on every renewal — and unless you compare it against today's new-customer price, you have no anchor to notice the markup.
McAfee says it directly on its own support page: "The renewal prices vary based on the number of devices that are protected and the type of plan you've selected. The renewal prices are not discounted." Translate: the discount you got at sign-up does not apply to anyone who already gave them a credit card.
This is not a glitch. It is the business model. Auto-renewal is the lever that converts promo customers into retail customers without any conscious decision on the customer's part.
The cleanest way to reset to the new-customer price is also the most direct: cancel auto-renew, let the subscription expire, and buy again as a new customer.
This is the entire reason for the reminder. If you wait until the vendor's billing window opens (7–14 days before expiration), the charge has already been queued.
Some vendors recognize a recently-expired email and still apply renewal pricing. Letting it sit a day clears the customer-history flag on their checkout.
Use the same vendor's homepage in a private browser. If their checkout still recognizes you, sign up with a different email and re-license your devices.
Vendors with a phone retention queue (Norton, McAfee) often offer 30–50% off the renewal quote when you say you're cancelling. They will not offer it unless you initiate.
For details on the cancellation steps themselves — what to click, where to find the toggle — see the vendor-by-vendor guide on cancelling auto-renewal before the price hike.
Vendor billing windows open seven to fourteen days before the listed expiration date. That is too late. Your card is already in their queue, and even if you cancel during that window, you may have to chase a refund. The 30-day reminder is the only timing that consistently puts you ahead of the charge.
Reminder timing cheat sheet
This page is part of the antivirus renewal reminder pillar. For what actually happens if you let your antivirus expire, see what stops working when antivirus expires.
The first-year price is a new-customer promotion. The renewal price is the retail price the vendor charges existing subscribers. McAfee's own support page states plainly: "The renewal prices are not discounted." Norton, Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Avast, and Malwarebytes all follow the same pattern.
Almost never directly. The fix is the cancel-and-rebuy loophole: turn off auto-renew, let the subscription expire, and buy again as a "new" customer using a different email or after a short gap. Some vendors also offer half-price retention discounts if you initiate cancellation by phone.
On Norton's own product page, the 2-device standard plan is $199.99 first year and $299.99 on renewal — a 50% increase. Bitdefender forum users report renewals at retail price after a promo year. Malwarebytes users have reported jumping from $24.95 to $64.94, a 2.6× increase. The hike varies by vendor and plan but 1.5× to 3× is typical.
Yes. A 2023 Which? investigation found all 10 major antivirus providers state in their terms that "renewal prices are subject to change." That means the price you see on next year's renewal can be higher than the price quoted when you signed up.
Most vendors bill the card on file 7 to 14 days before the listed expiration date. Norton, McAfee, and Bitdefender all follow this pattern. That is why setting your own reminder 30 days before expiration is critical — it lands before their billing window opens, not after.
For many users, yes. The big-brand engines (Norton, McAfee, Bitdefender, Kaspersky) all score similarly in independent malware tests. Switching annually keeps you on promo pricing and avoids the renewal markup. The trade-off is reinstalling and re-licensing once a year.
Get a reminder 30 days before your antivirus renews, while there is still time to avoid the price hike. Free, no account, takes 30 seconds.
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