Avast Essential Business Security vs Google Cloud VM Manager

Avast Essential Business Security is internet security for small businesses that helps protect devices and data from viruses, phishing and cyberattacks. It combines next-generation antivirus with AI-powered threat detection. File Shield, Mail Shield, Web Guard, Real Site, Behavior Shield and CyberCapture address threats from files, email, websites and emerging attacks. Real Site is designed to help prevent fake phishing pages and DNS hijacking. An endpoint firewall and Remote Access Shield help block unwanted connections, RDP exploits and brute-force attacks, with ransomware protection included. Avast Business Hub provides device health notifications, automated reports, device and policy management, network discovery, remote access and support tools. The product supports Windows 10 and 11, macOS 13 or later and specified Windows Server versions. Personal VPN and Patch Management are unavailable for macOS. Avast positions it for businesses with 11–100 devices, including those without dedicated IT staff. The listed price is $31.37 /first yr.

Google Cloud VM Manager manages operating systems across Windows and Linux VM fleets running on Compute Engine. Its tools cover patch management, OS inventory and OS policies. Patch jobs apply updates on demand or on a schedule, report compliance, and can use selected approvals and pre- or post-patching scripts. OS inventory collects hostnames, OS and kernel versions, installed packages, available updates, Windows applications and OS vulnerabilities. OS policies centralize software configuration deployment, maintenance and reporting. Teams can use the Google Cloud console, Google Cloud CLI or OS Config API; Terraform can extend scope across projects. The service supports projects inside VPC Service Controls perimeters, but patch jobs operate on VMs in one project at a time. A free tier covers 100 VMs per Cloud Billing account per month, and limited-functionality mode is available at no cost for unlimited VMs. After the free tier, the listed charge is $0.003 per hour per VM with an active OS Config agent.