McAfee vs Norton: Side-by-side Antivirus Comparison (2023) (2024)

So, McAfee and Norton. Big names, but how do they really stack up when it comes to keeping your devices safe? Time to cut through the hype. I’ll be test-driving McAfee’s Total Protection (5 Devices plan) against Norton’s 360 Deluxe.

We’re talking more than just antivirus showdowns here. I’ll scrutinize each provider’s advanced features to see who truly offers the best bang for your buck and all-around safeguarding.

Here’s what I found in my researching and testing on McAfee vs Norton:

Background

Let’s dig into some backstory. McAfee’s been in the game since 1987, operating out of Santa Clara, California. With 30 years under its belt, the company’s global threat intelligence network monitors activities across over 500 million endpoints. McAfee’s not messing around.

Norton, a household name for 28 years, was originally Symantec. Then came the LifeLock identity protection acquisition in 2017, which led to a rebrand to Norton LifeLock. Fast-forward to recent acquisitions – Avira antivirus in 2020 and a plan to snag Avast in 2021. Norton’s portfolio is expanding, and they’re set to roll out the best from all three companies. Avast had already integrated its cloud and behavioral monitoring tech with AVG, so expect Norton to build on that.

McAfee vs Norton Pricing

At the time of writing, Norton and McAfee each offer five subscription tiers.

When it comes to your wallet, both McAfee and Norton have something to offer. Early-bird prices are in play at the time of my review. McAfee’s Total Protection for a single device starts at $29.99, while Norton’s first-yearpromo price for Antivirus Pluscomes in at $19.99.

I’ve used McAfee’s free30-day trialand Norton’s60-day money-back guarantee. Spoiler: I got my cash back, no questions asked.

McAfee’s Total Protection throws in identity protection right out of the gate for those stateside. With Norton, you’ll need to level up to the pricier 360 with LifeLock Select, which costs $149.99 (£110.46 for the UK crowd). Speaking of the UK, both services offer Dark Web Monitoring but skip identity protection.

Oh, and for the record, both McAfee and Norton play nice with Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. So, your desktop and mobile activities are covered.

Effectiveness against malware

I wanted to know which antivirus product offers the best protection against malware, so I installed both Norton and McAfee on my own PC for first-hand experience. Once I had a program installed, I then ran my malware detection tests using two methods.

First, I ran real-time detection tests that scan for malware threats in real-time while you are using your PC. The second type of test I ran was an offline test using multiple malware test files downloaded from EICAR (The European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research). To run this second test, I had to turn off the real-time detection setting on the antivirus program and run a full system scan.

I also consulted the detailed test results provided by major independent antivirus test labs AV-Comparatives and AV-Test to get the bigger picture. Here result from my research and tests.

My tests on both antivirus products are shown in the table above. The results show Norton blocked one of the Eicar samples but allowed three. Norton blocked all three live malware samples, including Adware and Trojans.

For Norton, the Eicar.com and .txt files were blocked on HTTP. Zip files were allowed on HTTP. The .com file was blocked on HTTPS, while the .txt and .zip files were allowed on HTTPS.

The .zip file extractions were disallowed on both HTTP and HTTPS. Live samples were immediately detected and deleted after unlocking and unzipping.

McAfee blocked all EICAR download attempts and blocked attempts to install live malware samples from password-protected files.

While it’s clear McAfee handled these test files better, the threats were still stopped by Norton before they could have caused harm – they were just allowed to download.

To test the quick scan feature, I turned off the AV tool so I could re-download EICAR and live samples and test again using this setting. Norton failed to detect the Eicar and live samples in quick scan mode. McAfee’s quick scan also failed to detect the malware threats and missed both the Eicar and live samples.

To complement my own tests, I also looked at independent AV testing lab results. During September and October 2019, AV-Test continuously evaluated 19 home user security products using their default settings. Based on these tests, each provider is given a score out of six in different categories. So let’s compare the scores given to both McAfee and Norton for various categories.

For real-world protection, McAfee was rated as 5.5/6.0 by AV-Test while Norton scored higher with a perfect 6.0/6.0.

Looking deeper at the results I found that in protection against 0-day malware attacks, inclusive of web and e-mail threats (Real-World Testing), McAfee scored 99.3 percent protection rate in September 2019 and a 98.4 percent protection rate in October 2019. Although this is lower than a few other providers, it is still well above the industry average of 97 percent. Therefore, McAfee still attains a high mark of 5.5 out of 6.0.

In contrast, Norton scored 100 percent protection rates against 0-day malware attacks, inclusive of web and email threats (Real-World Testing) in both September and October, making it more effective at protecting PCs against malware.

I also looked at AV-Comparatives’ latest Malware Protection Test from September 2019 to check if their results were similar to those recorded by AV-Test. As the table below shows Norton scored a 99.99 percent online protection rate, putting it in the top cluster of results. McAfee scored 99.82 percent, placing it in the bottom cluster. So both independent test labs show that Norton is better at protecting against malware in the most recent tests.

AV-Comparatives False Alarm test is another useful method of comparing the two products and their ability to detect threats effectively.

False positives occur when the antivirus flags a non-malware file as malware. They affect how well antivirus programs work because they hinder how well users can use their computers, apps, and files. If something is wrongly flagged as malware, it can affect productivity and be an annoyance.

The test results from September show McAfee had fewer false positives, with two recorded compared to seven for Norton.

Impact on PC performance

The first job for any antivirus is to make the user’s computer safer. It’s always a bonus if that can be done without slowing down the device too much. To test out the impact on PC speed and performance, I’ve recorded my experience using both McAfee and Norton.

To analyze speed, I recorded the time it took to run a full first scan and a quick scan with each software and looked for any noticeable drop off in my PC performance while scans were in progress.

First up, I ran a full scan with Norton, which took 121 minutes to complete its run. During this process, I continued to use my PC as normal. I noticed a slight drop off in speed when launching a couple of apps on my PC and when accessing a website. A short time after this, I ran a quick scan of my system and it took 171 seconds to complete the task.

McAfee ran the full first scan on my PC in 223 minutes. The McAfee quick scan was completed in 633 seconds.

Next, I looked at how each program used resources on the PC. When not performing a scan, Norton records higher utilization of Control CPU and Control Memory than McAfee while, it uses less Control Disk utilization than McAfee. During full scans, Norton uses less CPU and the same amount of memory as McAfee.

I have also looked at the benchmarking tests from AV-Comparatives and AV-Test to find out how each measures up in terms of impact on PC performance.

The Performance Test measures how installing the antivirus affects PC speed during some common tasks. This includes:

• Downloading files
• Browsing websites
• File copying
• Installing/uninstalling applications
• Archiving / unarchiving
• Launching applications

The results of the test conducted in October 2019 show that McAfee scores top marks with a rating of very fast across all tasks performed. Norton scored slightly lower, with six ratings of very fast and two of fast.

AV-Test’s performance results from September-October 2019 give Norton full marks and show that the software outperforms industry averages in several categories. McAfee also scores 6.0/6.0, outperforming many industry averages when running on both a standard and high-end PC.

When it comes to performance, the latest results show that McAfee performs slightly better in benchmarking tests, although it is only a marginal victory. This backs up my own findings, where both products had a very minor impact on speed and performance. In fact, I ran several day-to-day tasks with the antivirus running in the background and had no issues with lag or functionality.

McAfee vs Norton features

Aside from the antivirus engine itself, both companies bundle many extra features. Which provides the best additional features, Norton 360 Deluxe or McAfee Total Protection?

McAfee

• Award-winning Antivirus
• Performance Optimization
• Home Network Security
• Security Experts and Online Support
• Multi-device Compatibility
• Password Manager
• Safe Web Browsing
• File Shredder
• Encrypted Storage
• Identity Theft Protection

Norton

• Anti-Spyware
• Antivirus
• Malware & Ransomware Protection
• Online Threat Protection
• Smart Firewall
• PC Cloud Backup 50 GB
• Password Manager
• Parental Controls
• Secure VPN
• PC SafeCam

Several of the extra features are found in both the McAfee and Norton packages, such as firewalls, password managers, and network security scanners.

Rather than compare those products, I want to inspect the different additional security features each provider offers. Which tools you will find the most value from will largely depend on your personal needs. I will look at some of the standout benefits of each and briefly explain what they do:

McAfee Total Protection

• File Shredder – Delete sensitive files completely to ensure no traces are left behind. This means even if you sell your PC, your private information will be secure.
• Encrypted Storage – Keep sensitive files private by storing them on your PC with 128-bit encryption. This stops hackers from accessing your files.
• Identity Theft Protection – Available when you’re enrolled in auto-renewal, stay ahead of would-be identity thieves with identity monitoring and recovery tools.

Norton 360 Deluxe

• PC Cloud Backup 50 GB – Backup the contents of your PC to the cloud, so you never lose files. Backing up all your essential files is the surest way to survive a ransomware attack.
• Secure VPN – A VPN can provide privacy and help to secure private information like your passwords, bank account details, and credit card info. This is especially useful when using public Wi-Fi on your PC, Mac, or mobile device.
• PC SafeCam – Keeping your webcam secure is more important than ever after a rise in popularity in blackmailing scams and spying by hacking into a user’s PC webcam.

Sign up & Installation

The McAfee sign-up process is straightforward enough, with the first-year discount automatically applied at the checkout. The order also lists the Virus protection pledge and the Identity Theft Protection—but it is important to ensure you leave auto-renewal left on if you want to benefit from this offer.

Downloading the installation file took just a few minutes, while installing McAfee Total Protection was also quick and easy. I ran through a few installation options, and the software was soon up and running. I set the first scan to run in the background, taking about 10 minutes to finish.

The Norton checkout was simple and clear, with the first-year discount shown and the regular renewal price shown underneath. Norton also tried to push other services at the checkout point, but I ignored this offer. After entering my details and buying the software, I used the link to download and install the security suite. Less than 10 minutes after starting the process, I was underway running the full antivirus check on my PC.

How easy is the interface to use?

Like most modern antivirus interfaces, McAfee and Norton offer intuitive, user-friendly, and pretty straightforward design. Both applications look nice enough, but which is smoother and more intuitive to use?

McAfee has a clean look, with white and dark grey as the primary colors. The main dashboard displays the current system security status and a menu of links to get to popular settings.

Functional buttons are at the bottom to quickly launch virus scans, update apps or remove trackers. The screen layout is not perfect, but it is quite easy to use.

Norton uses an interface divided into one main panel with four different blocks along the bottom, keeping everything within one click. The top panel lets you know the current protection status. Norton uses alerts to let you know about changes in the software or any issues, which can be a bit annoying.

Customer Support

Norton offers 24/7/365 support on all of its product tiers. Online, you will find an FAQ section, community forum, and live chat. There is also a phone support number you can call, plus Facebook and Twitter accounts you can contact.

McAfee has clear navigation to get you to different topic areas for support on its website, including help with PC, Mac, mobile or billing. A virtual assistant offers guided help, plus a community forum to post your questions.

McAfee also offers help from the self-service knowledge base or technical help from live chat or social channels.

McAfee vs Norton conclusion

Not a major surprise, but Norton is my pick here. While McAfee is a good all-round product, Norton comes in at a similar price point with better protection scores and slightly more useful security features such as a VPN, webcam protection, and ransomware protection, so I would give Norton the edge.

When it comes to speed, Norton was not as strong as McAfee but this was only marginal and not enough on its own to knock Norton off the top spot.

Methodology: how we choose the best antivirus products

It might appear straightforward to select an antivirus provider based on its reviews or what it promises regarding malware removal, but there’s much more to it. Check out some of the criteria we’ve gone through to list the best antivirus providers:

1. Compatibility:We select antivirus solutions that have apps to protect all major platforms but those that protect Windows and macOS devices at a minimum. If they have apps for iOS and Android, even better!
2. Ability to remove malware:We take each antivirus through a series of malware tests to ensure they can identify and remove live and inert malware samples from your device.
3. Performance:Nobody wants an antivirus that slows down their system, so we’ll check the impact of each provider on system resources.
4. Usability:The antivirus options we target need to be simple enough to use with options for advanced users for optional settings tweaks.
5. Support:We expect antivirus solutions to include 24/7 support via live chat, email, or a ticketing system.
6. Value:The providers we select often include huge discounts for new subscribers, a money-back guarantee, and options for extra device installations as required.
7. Benchmarking: We compare our test results with world-leading test labs to ensure malware detection and performance are of a similar nature.

See also:

• Best antivirus
• Best antivirus for Mac
• Best antivirus for Windows 10