When a free service really is better than the paid ones

[Caute_cautim]

Hi All

Have a look at this you-tube link and consider the consequences of paying for paid services, when they do not provide the results you expect.  Free can be good and better than paid Malware and DNS services.

Look at the method, do you see any faults - the person appears to be totally objective.

https://forums.lawrencesystems.com/t/dns-malware-filtering-compared-quad9-vs-cloudflare-vs-dns-filte...

The results are surprising, especially when you expect paid services to be far better.

Regards

Caute_cautim

[rslade]

> Caute_cautim (Community Champion) posted a new topic in Threats on 07-29-2020

>   The results are
> surprising, especially when you expect paid services to be far better.

Well, if you expect that, yes. It's been a long time since I expected price to be
any determinant of quality.

Back in the day when I was doing a lot of reviewing of antiviral programs, I very
strongly recommended any program or system that provided or allowed a "free"
version for home or small business use. Partly this was because allowing for a
version that could be widely distributed helped reduce the risk for everyone. (the
"bastion" model of security is a lie. But I digress.) But I also noted that those who
did provide "free" versions were also those with the best and most useful programs.

(I also recall an anecdote from those days: somebody accosted Fridrik Skulason,
maker of F-Prot [which allowed Data Fellows to get its start], and said that he was
charging too little for his excellent program, and that he should charge more.
Skulason shrugged and replied, "I made a millions dollars last year. What more do
I need?")

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[markgdrt]

Really interesting post, Caute_cautim. I watched the video and I agree—it’s eye-opening to see free services like Quad9 outperforming some of the paid options. It definitely challenges the assumption that "you get what you pay for" always applies in tech.

Reminds me of a situation I had recently with a garage door repair. I tried a few big-name services that charged a premium but delivered subpar results. Then I found this local service (https://garagedoorrepairtallahassee-fl.com) that was much more reliable—and affordable. Just goes to show, sometimes the smaller or free options can outperform the big players.