When it comes to protecting your computer from viruses, you have a lot of choices. You can choose between Norton and McAfee, two of the most popular antivirus programs on the market. Both programs offer protection against a wide range of threats, but they do have their differences.
In this blog post, we will compare Norton and McAfee and help you decide which program is better for keeping your device safe from cybersecurity threats.
 McAfee |
 Norton |
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| SCANNING | ||
| Real-time Scan |
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| Custom Scan |
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| Manual Scan |
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| USB Scanning |
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| Cloud Scanning |
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| Scheduled Scan |
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| THREAT TYPE | ||
| Anti-Spyware |
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| Anti-Worm |
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| Anti-Trojan |
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| Anti-Rootkit |
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| Anti-Phishing |
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| Anti-Spam |
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| Email Protection |
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| Adware Prevention |
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| COMPATIBILITY | ||
| Windows |
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| Android |
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| macOS |
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| iOS |
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| OTHER FEATURES | ||
| VPN |
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| Parental Controls |
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| Safe Browser |
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| Firewall |
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| Wi-Fi Protection |
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| Webcam Protection |
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| CUSTOMER SUPPORT | ||
| Email Support |
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| Call Support |
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| Chat Assistant |
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| Social Media Support |
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| Forum |
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| PRICING | ||
| Price | $34.99 | $35.99 |
| Money back Gurantee |
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Norton Antivirus: An Overview
Norton Antivirus is an antivirus program that was developed by Symantec Corporation. It offers protection from viruses, spyware, worms, and other threats. Norton has a reputation for being one of the best programs on the market when it comes to virus detection rates and overall performance.
There are three different versions of Norton Antivirus available: Norton Antivirus, Norton Security, and Norton 360.
Norton Antivirus has all of the features that you would expect to find in an antivirus program. It offers protection from viruses via real-time detection, scans files when they are opened or downloaded, it has a firewall that blocks hackers from entering your computer, and it can prevent identity theft. The program also includes a phishing protection system that warns you when you visit a website that is known to contain malware.
Norton Antivirus has received very positive reviews from independent testing companies such as AV-Test and Virus Bulletin. According to the latest reports from these organizations, Norton Antivirus has an impressive detection rate and a small impact on the performance of your PC.
Norton Security provides all of the features that you find in Norton Antivirus plus additional layers of security to keep you safe when you’re shopping online or visiting dangerous websites. For example, it can block malicious websites, prevent webcam hacking, and keep your passwords safe.
Norton 360 is a bundle that includes all the features of Norton Antivirus and Security plus extras such as an online backup system and protection for social networks. It also offers parental controls so you can monitor what your children do on the internet.
McAfee Antivirus: An Overview
McAfee is an antivirus program that was developed by McAfee Inc., a company that was recently acquired by Intel Corporation. They offer several different antivirus programs, including McAfee Antivirus Plus.
As you can probably guess from its name, McAfee Antivirus offers virus protection and has all of the features that you would expect to find in an antivirus program. It scans files when they are downloaded or opened, it detects viruses via real-time protection, and it lets you schedule full system scans so you can check for viruses whenever you want.
McAfee Antivirus has received decent reviews from independent testing companies such as AV-Test and Virus Bulletin. According to these organizations, McAfee has an above-average detection rate and a moderate impact on the performance of your PC.
McAfee Antivirus Plus is now free for home use, which means you can download it without paying any money. However, if you want to receive automatic updates or technical support, you will need to purchase a subscription.
Norton vs. McAfee: Protection
McAfee comes with a proven antivirus engine from Intel Security. It uses heuristic analysis to identify new viruses and known malware before they infect your computer, has an above-average detection rate and can block ransomware, phishing attacks, and other types of malware. In addition, the program uses McAfee Transaction Security to enhance the security of online transactions. Here is the performance of McAfee in the latest AV-Test:
Norton Protection comes with a collection of utilities that can help you protect your data, fix system problems, and optimize your PC’s performance. The most important tools in this package are Cleanup, Snapshot, Power Eraser, Diagnostics, and Insight; these utilities protect your PC from viruses, malware, ransomware, performance issues, and more. Here is the performance of Norton in the latest AV-Test:
Winner:
With the latest AV-Test results, it is clear that both Norton and McAfee are equally good in detection and protection against malware programs.
Norton vs. McAfee: Features
Features of Norton Antivirus
Real-time protection: Norton Antivirus uses real-time scanning to provide the best possible protection against threats such as viruses and malware. It checks for new threats every time you use your PC and it can also check all USBs that you connect to your computer.
Norton Security Toolbar: The Norton Security Toolbar is a built-in browser extension that alerts you whenever there are problems with your online safety, whenever you encounter suspicious content on a website or social media page, and whenever your internet security might be compromised. It also helps you block unsafe websites, track cookies, manage passwords, and more.
Parental controls: Norton Antivirus lets you monitor the activities of your children on social media, track their location via GPS, block websites that are inappropriate for their age, and manage passwords. To make these features as effective as possible, Norton Antivirus continuously monitors your child’s PC activity 24/7.
Norton Utilities: Norton Security comes with a collection of useful utilities that can help you protect your data, fix system problems, and optimize your PC’s performance. These utilities include Norton Cleanup, Norton Snapshot, Norton Power Eraser, System Insight Diagnostics, and more.
Features of McAfee Antivirus
Protection against viruses and malware: McAfee Antivirus is based on the proven antivirus engine from Intel Security. It has an above-average detection rate and can block ransomware, phishing attacks, and other types of malware. It uses heuristic analysis to identify new viruses and known malware before they infect your computer.
Parental controls: McAfee Internet Security lets you monitor the activities of your children on social media, track their location via GPS, and block websites that are inappropriate for their age. With the help of the McAfee LiveSafe service (sold separately), you can also manage passwords and safely share files with other people. There’s also a free parental control app for Android and iOS smartphones.
Two-way firewall: The McAfee Firewall provides a two-way physical barrier between your computer and the outside world, protecting you from hackers and unwanted intrusions. This is an important piece of security software because it prevents hackers from accessing your PC even if they discover a vulnerability in one of your other security tools.
Safepay for online purchases: McAfee’s Safepay feature protects your financial information when you shop or bank online. When enabled, it creates a virtual vault that keeps all of your sensitive data encrypted and password-protected at all times. In addition, the program uses McAfee Transaction Security to enhance the security of online transactions.
Fingerprint identification: McAfee Total Protection lets you provide a fingerprint instead of a password to unlock your PC or its individual features. This is safer because you can’t forget your fingerprint – even if it’s wet – and it’s more convenient than typing a password every time you need to use your computer. Interestingly, this option is currently not available in McAfee Internet Security.
Winner:
Norton Antivirus comes with a few useful features, such as real-time protection and parental controls, but it lacks a two-way firewall. McAfee Internet Security, on the other hand, delivers good all-around protection and has a number of useful security features that help you protect your data, bank online safely, and more. It also comes with Fingerprint Protection which is pretty efficient.
Norton vs. McAfee: Performance Impact
Performance of Norton Antivirus
According to independent testing companies such as AV-Comparatives, Norton Antivirus can have a moderate impact on the performance of your PC. The program slows down your computer by an average of 2 percent in regular use and 5 percent in gaming mode. This is a relatively small amount and won’t be noticed by the average PC user.
According to AV-Test, Norton Antivirus uses an above-average amount of memory (RAM), but it still has a moderate impact on your computer’s performance. We believe that this is acceptable for an antivirus program, especially given its ability to detect and remove viruses. As for CPU usage, the program only uses an average share during a system scan.
Performance of McAfee Antivirus
According to independent testing companies such as AV-Comparatives, McAfee has a slightly above-average impact on your PC’s performance. The program slows down your computer by 3 percent in regular use and 5 percent in gaming mode. We believe that this is acceptable for an antivirus program, especially given its ability to detect and remove viruses.
According to AV-Test, McAfee uses an above-average amount of memory (RAM), but it still has a light impact on your computer’s performance. The program only uses about 1 percent of CPU power during a system scan.
Winner:
The results from these tests show that Norton has a moderate impact on the performance of your PC, while McAfee has a slightly above-average impact. For this reason, we give the edge to Norton when it comes to performance impact.
Norton vs. McAfee: Compatibility
Good compatibility is hardly a concern for security software, but we had to mention it anyway.
We’ve tested the installation of McAfee Antivirus and Norton Security on:
- Windows 11 (64-bit )
- Windows 10 (64-bit)
- Windows 8 (64-bit)
- Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit)
Here’s what we found:
- Both products were installed without a hitch on all four versions of Windows.
- In terms of user-friendliness, Norton Security is the clear winner. Its installer included fewer third-party offers and had more informative messages. McAfee Antivirus installation was significantly slower as well.
Apart from Windows, both the products are compatible with Mac, Android, and iOS.
Winner:
Norton vs. McAfee: User Interface
The user interface of both antivirus applications is fairly simple and resembles the interfaces of similar tools from competing companies. In Norton Security, you get a large white window where all events are displayed. The main screen features a status bar with security-related notifications and two icons for accessing the Settings page and the Dashboard full of useful information.
McAfee Internet Security is simpler, with a lighter color scheme. The only events that are displayed here are the security status and software version information. There’s also an icon for accessing settings and features below it, but you’ll have to click on the More Protection menu item for advanced options.
Winner:
The user interface is largely the same for both programs, so we can’t say that one is superior to another.
Norton vs. McAfee: Installation
McAfee Internet Security includes a number of third-party apps. In the installation process, you’ll also have to agree to some licensing terms and select whether or not you want to participate in customer experience improvement programs. You can proceed without paying directly, but it’s a 10-minute process.
Norton Security has a shorter installation routine that includes fewer third-party offers and checks if your computer meets the minimum system requirements. During this process, you’ll have to agree to end-user license agreements, set up an email account, select your subscription plan, and register for a Norton Account.
Winner:
The installation of both programs was flawless. However, Norton Security had fewer third-party offers and presented more detailed notifications while installing. As for the installations’ speed, McAfee Antivirus was noticeably slower than Norton Antivirus.
Norton vs. McAfee: Support
The support page of McAfee Internet Security includes user guides, knowledgebase articles, and various FAQs. There’s an option to chat with a support specialist as well as the ability to send them an email.
Norton Security’s support pages include similar content. You can also check out product tutorials and enroll in Norton Community Watch events where you’ll find discussions with other users, videos, guides, and more.
Winner:
McAfee doesn’t have a phone line and social media support team while Norton offers phone support and is pretty active on Twitter. However, both programs offer similar content on their support pages.
Final Verdict: Which one is better among Norton and McAfee?
For the most part, we’d say that Norton Security and McAfee Internet Security are equally good. On paper, they look like solid antivirus tools that protect your PC from various dangers and allow you to browse safely. But in terms of the user interface, installation process, support options, and general performance Norton is better than McAfee.
Here is the summarised result based on the above parameters:
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| Protection | ✔ | ✔ |
|---|---|---|
| Features | ❌ | ✔ |
| Performance Impact | ✔ | ❌ |
| Compatibility | ✔ | ❌ |
| User Interface | ✔ | ✔ |
| Installation | ✔ | ❌ |
| Support | ✔ | ❌ |
Both Norton and McAfee have a similar protection system, but we’d say that Norton has the edge because it offers an optimal balance of power and performance.
All of the popular antivirus tools on the market are pretty good. Generally speaking, they have similar protection systems with various types of malware detection, security layers against common cyber threats, and a firewall component to block incoming traffic. So, the best antivirus is the one that is robust enough to meet all your requirements.
