The original poster is sort of correct David where avast does not recognise any other make of vpn except its own so bombards us with what i class as spam adverts. I dont think the intention is to ONLY use avast though.
I agree it should be similar to microsoft where it changes to avast instead of the microsoft anti virus in use.
I get the same on multiple of occasions with the usual adverts of buy this add on and buy that. Ive used Nord for almost 5 years and still get the same privacy issue warnings popup adverts which mentions you need a vpn blah blah blah Scare Tatics - #3 by MrDJ
When avast first released its vpn i did try the trial and it slowed my connection down by a lot. i then tried nord with no speed change what so ever. after the 2 years i then tried Norton free with BT but soon changed back to nord for another 3 years. Now Norton is part of the Avast/AVG since 2022 we can all see by the many posts that support has gone to pot and the adverts have increased.