I find that the softwares I have on my computer serve me well. I usually only use the free version because I don't have that much money. So whenever Avira, CCleaner, Malwarebytes and other program offer for me to upgrade for a fee to more functionality, I refuse. Are there any programs whose upgrades are really in a different league and worth paying for?
Well it would depend on what software it is. If you find it very useful to the point that the free version's limitations bug you so much then go for it. I can't really give you examples of softwares that I would upgrade since I don't have any. I usually go for free softwares that are reasonable and doesn't really give you that much crap if you don't upgrade.
I would say VPN's. I use VPN's all the time, especially ProXPN. Although their free version is doing the job they limit your speed and they have this annoying waiting page every time you launch it or go to a different website.
For some software, there are some premium features which are "unlocked" only when you get the pro/full version of the software. For example there's one some software which one can use to download videos from youtube. With the free version you can download videos but you are restricted to downloading one vid at a time and you can't pause your downloads. With the pro version you can download as many videos as you want and you are allowed to pause and resume downloads which is great if you have an unstable internet connection. When it comes to choosing whether you should or shouldn't upgrade, I guess it depends on whether you'll find those "premium" features useful or not.
I don't know a singe free software that I've used that has tempted me into upgrading to a premium. But I would say anti virus programs or those softwares that set a very a tight limit on what you can and cannot do. But it solely depends on how useful you find the software.
