Viruses are near the same to living organisms, however there are differences. One of the ways a virus can be seen as living is that a virus needs to make more of themselves. A virus cannot survive on its own. It is only active when reproducing within a host, using a hosts' resources and food. Once inside a host, a virus's main purpose is to make as many copies of itself, and infect other host cells; everything it does is to benefit its fitness and increase the number of its offspring.