Start free. Upgrade only when you need more.

ProtectKit Free is useful. Premium adds continuous protection.

ProtectKit is designed so the Free edition is genuinely useful on its own. You can inspect important Windows protections, investigate what is running, review network activity, use maintenance tools, and understand many findings without paying first. Premium is for users who want ProtectKit to do more continuously, alert them when important activity occurs, and unlock deeper protection and investigation capabilities.

Useful Free edition
No forced Premium trial
Monthly or yearly Premium
Upgrade when you need more

Choose the level of protection that fits how you use your PC

Free is designed for manual checking, investigation, and maintenance. Premium adds continuous monitoring, real-time awareness, and advanced protection features.

ProtectKit Free

Free
Essential Windows security visibility, investigation, and maintenance
  • Windows security overview
  • Microsoft Defender controls and manual scans
  • Firewall status and firewall rule inspection
  • DNS protection assessment
  • Selected Windows hardening tools
  • Manual System Change verification
  • Live Connection snapshots
  • Startup program investigation
  • Services analysis
  • Privacy tools
  • Maintenance, repair, and recovery tools
  • Basic logs and reports
Get ProtectKit Free

ProtectKit Premium Yearly

$29.99/year
The same Premium protection with annual billing
  • Everything in ProtectKit Free
  • All Premium monitoring features
  • All Premium investigation features
  • All Premium protection features
  • One annual billing cycle
  • Designed for users who plan to keep Premium long term
Get ProtectKit

What changes when you upgrade?

The biggest difference is not simply “more buttons.” Premium changes ProtectKit from a mostly on-demand security toolkit into a more continuous monitoring and alerting system.

Capability Free Premium Monthly Premium Yearly
Protection Dashboard Review overall security status and important findings. Included Included Included
Microsoft Defender controls Review Defender, update protection, and launch supported scans. Included Included Included
Windows Firewall Review firewall profiles, recommended settings, and rules. Included Included Included
DNS Protection Assess DNS configuration and use supported secure DNS options. Included Included Included
Windows Hardening Review security-sensitive Windows settings and reduce unnecessary exposure. Selected tools Advanced Advanced
System Change verification Check protected files, security settings, and credential protections. Manual checks Manual + continuous Manual + continuous
Live Connections Review processes, ports, addresses, connection state, and supporting evidence. Snapshot Continuous monitoring Continuous monitoring
Startup Program Review Inspect programs that automatically launch with Windows. Included Included Included
Services Analysis Review service status, trust, executable location, and supporting evidence. Included Included Included
Intrusion Detection Continuously watch for suspicious inbound or related connection activity and alert when review is warranted. View only / unavailable protection Included Included
Spyware & Stalkerware scanning Investigate suspicious software and behavior associated with unwanted monitoring. Page visibility Advanced scan Advanced scan
Ransomware Behavior Protection Look for suspicious file activity patterns that may resemble ransomware behavior. Premium Included Included
Malicious Code Protection Add another evidence-based layer for suspicious code and behavior. Premium Included Included
Real-time alerts Receive alerts when continuous monitoring detects activity that deserves attention. Premium Included Included
Scan history Retain and review a deeper history of ProtectKit scan results. Basic Unlimited Unlimited
Privacy tools Review supported Windows privacy-related settings. Included Included Included
Maintenance & Recovery Cleanup, repair, optimization, restore, and recovery workflows. Included Included Included
ProtectKit logs & reports Review and export supported ProtectKit activity information. Basic Expanded capability Expanded capability

Premium is about continuity, awareness, and deeper investigation

These are the major differences in practical terms.

Continuous System Change Monitoring

Free users can manually verify important system files, security settings, and credential protections. Premium goes further by allowing ProtectKit to keep monitoring supported areas over time.

This matters because a security setting can be correct today and changed later. Continuous monitoring is designed to help detect important changes without requiring the user to remember to run the same check repeatedly.

Continuous Live Connection Monitoring

A network snapshot tells you what is connected at the moment you look. Continuous monitoring is more useful when activity is brief, intermittent, or happens while you are doing something else.

Premium is designed to keep watching supported connection activity so potentially important events are less likely to disappear simply because you were not looking at the Live Connections page at that moment.

Real-Time Security Alerts

Premium can alert you when supported continuous-monitoring features detect activity that deserves attention. The goal is not to frighten users with vague warnings, but to provide enough context to understand what happened and why ProtectKit surfaced it.

Advanced Investigation

ProtectKit is built around evidence. Depending on the feature, investigations can include executable paths, publishers, digital signatures, hashes, processes, services, local and remote addresses, ports, connection state, and external reputation information.

Premium unlocks deeper investigation capabilities where the Free edition intentionally provides a more limited workflow.

Intrusion Detection

Intrusion Detection is intended for users who want ProtectKit to continuously watch for suspicious connection activity rather than requiring them to manually inspect network information.

Detected activity can be logged and surfaced for review, with alerts and supported response options when appropriate.

Spyware & Stalkerware Investigation

Some unwanted monitoring software may not look like traditional malware. ProtectKit's spyware and stalkerware workflow is designed to examine suspicious indicators and explain the evidence rather than immediately labeling every unusual program as malicious.

This careful approach matters because removing monitoring software without understanding the situation can sometimes destroy evidence, break legitimate software, or create other problems.

Ransomware Behavior Protection

Ransomware protection focuses on suspicious behavior, especially patterns involving rapid or unusual file activity. The goal is to identify behavior that deserves immediate attention even when a simple file-name or signature check would not tell the whole story.

Malicious Code Protection

Malicious Code Protection adds another layer of analysis for suspicious code and behavior. It is designed to complement, not replace, Microsoft Defender and other Windows security technologies.

ProtectKit's role is to add visibility, evidence, explanation, and practical next steps around suspicious activity.

Advanced Windows Hardening

Windows includes many security-sensitive settings that are easy for ordinary users to overlook. ProtectKit brings important hardening checks together and explains what the settings mean before users decide whether to change them.

Premium provides access to the more advanced hardening capabilities.

Unlimited Scan History

A single scan shows current results. History provides context. Premium allows users to retain a deeper record of supported scan activity so they can compare findings and better understand how a system changes over time.

You do not need Premium just to make ProtectKit useful

Choose ProtectKit Free if...

  • You want a clearer view of Windows security.
  • You want to manually investigate network connections, startup programs, and services.
  • You want Microsoft Defender and firewall controls in one place.
  • You want privacy, maintenance, repair, and recovery tools.
  • You are comfortable running checks yourself when you want them.
  • You want to try ProtectKit before paying for additional protection.

Choose ProtectKit Premium if...

  • You want supported security areas monitored continuously.
  • You want real-time alerts instead of relying only on manual checks.
  • You want deeper investigation capabilities.
  • You want Intrusion Detection.
  • You want advanced spyware and stalkerware scanning.
  • You want ransomware behavior and malicious code protection.
  • You want advanced hardening and expanded history.

Common questions about ProtectKit Premium

Is ProtectKit Free a trial?

No. ProtectKit Free is intended to remain useful without requiring a Premium subscription. Premium unlocks additional monitoring, alerting, investigation, and advanced protection capabilities.

Does ProtectKit replace Microsoft Defender?

No. ProtectKit is designed to complement Microsoft Defender and other Windows security technologies. It helps users inspect, configure, investigate, understand, and respond to security information rather than trying to replace Windows' built-in antivirus.

What is the difference between monthly and yearly Premium?

Both plans provide the same Premium feature set. The difference is the billing period. Monthly Premium is billed monthly. Yearly Premium is billed annually.

Will ProtectKit guarantee that my computer is safe?

No security application can guarantee that a computer is free from every threat or will never be compromised. ProtectKit is designed to improve visibility, strengthen supported protections, help identify suspicious activity, preserve useful information, and guide users toward appropriate next steps.

Do some features require administrator privileges?

Yes. Some Windows security settings, scans, repairs, and system changes require administrator privileges because Windows itself restricts those operations.

Do reputation checks require internet access?

Yes. Features that use external reputation or investigation services need an internet connection to contact those services. Local ProtectKit features can continue to operate according to their own requirements.

Start free. Upgrade when continuous protection makes sense for you.

Download ProtectKit from the Microsoft Store, explore the Free edition, and decide whether Premium's continuous monitoring, real-time alerts, and advanced protection are worth adding for the way you use your PC.