Perhaps the best thing about PGP is its freeware status as long as you use the client for individual, non-commercial purposes. For commercial use, versions are available for individuals beginning at $59 (PGP for Personal Privacy) and for businesses beginning at $119 (PGP for Business Privacy). The freeware personal edition of PGP contains all of the same features as found in the commercial versions with the exception of technical support and optional PGP 2.x backward compatibility algorithm support.
The only real downside to PGP is that cryptographic software continues to be classified as export-controlled by the U.S. Government, which means that only citizens and permanent residents of the United States and Canada can download and legally use this version of the software. Fortunately, a version of PGP for international users has also been released with a similar level of security. All in all, if privacy is of any importance to you, PGP is an essential app to have in your arsenal.
Pros: Freeware, excellent encryption capabilities, helpful wizards make PGP easy to use
Cons: Restricted to U.S./Canada, freeware edition for non-commercial use only, plug-in support not available for all e-mail apps
