Registry cleaners are almost always required for those who own Windows PC’s, if you fail to clean the PC’s registry occasionally, then it’s like having a car and not maintaining it, while it might not hurt you now, it will come back to bite you sometime in the future.

The problem is that while you’re looking for a good registry cleaner, there are two different kinds from which you can pick. These two different types are free, and paid. Most people will always choose to go with the free one, but going with a paid version isn’t a bad plan either. But the big question that many people will inevitably ask is why exactly should you go with the paid one? What exactly are the benefits?

That’s what we’re going to explore today - an honest assessment of the differences between free registry cleaners and paid registry cleaning software.

Free registry cleaner pros:

1. They come Free of Charge.

2. There are several available today

3. These will be supported by the user community if the creator will not provide support.

4. You have free license to install these on just about any machine you want without legal ramifications.

Disadvantages of Free Registry Cleaners:

1. They may have limited-to-no support

2. The software may be out-of-date or become out-of-date due to lack of updates

3. The feature list may be minimal, and as some features are imperative in order for a registry cleaning software to be safe - the free software could actually be dangerous

4. Largely unknown but free of charge cleaners may contain malware or even viruses, which is something that you won’t find in the standard inexpensive registry cleaners.

5. The writer of the program may not have the ability to offer support of any kind because the software doesn’t generate any kind of income.

Paid registry cleaner pros:

1. The paid software comes with better support in almost all cases.

2. The programs that you pay for will probably not contain malware, spyware, or bloatware.

3. Mostly they will offer free updates and will grow with you as you update your computer.

4. Normally they come with features that aren’t in free versions but sometimes these are just for convenience. Remember though that sometimes they are perks that will actually aid your computer.

5. Programs that you pay for are usually supported on other operating systems. A good example may be the way that some only function properly on certain operating systems like XP and Vista, but if you pay for the programs they might actually be backward compatible with some of the older operating systems such as 98 and NT, and even ones that haven’t been released yet like the Windows 7 Release Candidate.

6. Many cleaners provide a timed trial or software demo which you can download and use for a certain amount of time. When you are done with the demo you can decide whether or not you actually want to buy it.

Paid registry cleaning software cons:

1. These aren’t free and you will have to pay money for them, which is bad news for some people in today’s economy.

2. Not all of the things the program developer promises can actually be delivered on, and that’s because some of them have no ethics. This doesn’t happen often, but be vigilant just in case.

3. Not all registry cleaners are the same and some might offer better features than others. On the other end of the spectrum some of the paid ones might be exactly the same as the free ones, so this is something that you’ll really have to watch out for.

4. Sometimes the number of computers that you can install on will be incredibly limited but that’s not a usual occurrence.

5. For the most part the free registry cleaners have decent benefits, but you’ll get the most for your time and money by purchasing a paid one.

Of course there are going to be expenses, but if you want to keep your computer in good shape, this is definitely worth paying for!