ESET Internet Security is discontinued: how to renew

ESET replaced Internet Security with HOME Security Essential. What happens to your key, how to keep your protection going, and why the switch takes nothing away.

If you have ESET Internet Security or ESET Smart Security Premium and your licence is about to expire, you may have noticed you can't buy these products “like before”. It isn't a store error, and it isn't the end of support for your protection. ESET has reorganised its home range, and renewal now means moving to the new ESET HOME Security plans. Here's what changed, what happens to your key and how to renew with no gap in protection.

What changed in ESET's home range

ESET stopped new sales of ESET Internet Security and replaced it with ESET HOME Security Essential. According to ESET, Essential keeps all of Internet Security's features and adds new ones. In the same way, ESET Smart Security Premium was succeeded by ESET HOME Security Premium.

The main difference of the new plans is a subscription across several platforms. One ESET HOME Security licence covers Windows, macOS and Android within the chosen number of devices, and management is all in your ESET HOME account.

Does your current protection still work

Yes. ESET confirms that a valid Internet Security licence keeps protecting your devices until it expires. Nothing needs reinstalling or changing in advance. The changes only matter when you renew.

How renewal works now

You can no longer renew “Internet Security” as such, so renewal becomes a switch to ESET HOME Security Essential (for Smart Security Premium — to Premium). In practice it looks like this:

1. you enter the key and the email the licence is registered to on the renewal page;
2. the system checks the licence with ESET and shows the available renewal options with prices;
3. after payment the new term is added to your licence, and the product in it changes to the successor.

The key stays the same. Devices that are already protected keep working: the term updates automatically within a few hours after ESET processes the order.

Sometimes a renewal can't be completed online automatically — for example, if the licence expired long ago or has a non-standard configuration. In that case we process it manually through the ESET partner portal and let you know by email. A paid order never stays without a key: a manager sees it, and the system flags any delay.

What you get when you switch to Essential

The switch takes nothing away. According to ESET's feature table, Internet Security and Essential have the same set of protection for Windows:

• machine-learning antivirus, exploit and script attack protection;
• ransomware protection (HIPS);
• firewall, network attack and botnet protection;
• ESET Network Inspector — checks your home network and router;
• webcam protection;
• safe banking and browser security;
• parental control and Anti-Theft.

What's new is that one subscription now covers not only Windows but also Mac and Android, and it's all visible in your ESET HOME account.

What if you have NOD32 Antivirus

ESET still sells ESET NOD32 Antivirus, so its licence is renewed as usual, as the same product. If you need a firewall, banking protection or several platforms, you can switch to Essential when renewing. Write to us and we'll put together the right configuration.

If the licence has already expired

First check the key on the renewal page. If ESET no longer offers renewal options for it, it's better value to buy the new HOME Security Essential plan: the key arrives by email after payment, and the old product updates with the new key without reinstalling. A device without database updates is vulnerable to new threats, so it's best not to wait.

In short

• Internet Security and Smart Security Premium are no longer sold; their successors are HOME Security Essential and Premium.
• Your current protection works until the term ends.
• Renewal means the same key, a new term and a successor product with the same features.
• You can renew online with your key, and sole traders and companies can pay by invoice.