I compared Norton vs McAfee’s antivirus software to see which one is best

In our last head-to head antivirus round up, we found Norton won out overall as the top antivirus platform. This time, we’re putting it up against McAfee to see what happens when we compare two of the best antivirus software suites available today.

Both are good at protecting your computer from viruses and malware, and have decades of experience doing so. However, those aren’t the only factors you’re going to take into account when it comes to determining which program you want on your PC.

Which will work with the least amount of interference, what features do you need the most, which choice will take up less system resources and which will keep you safe from malware?

This Norton vs McAfee face-off is written specifically to help you make a decision between two excellent antivirus software options.

Norton vs McAfee: Specs

Norton vs McAfee: Costs and what’s covered

Neither McAfee nor Norton offers a free tier. Norton only offers a free private Chromium-based browser, and McAfee offers a free 30-day trial. Norton’s lowest paid tier starts at $60 but the first year can be had for as low as $20. McAfee’s Basic plan retails for $90 for a single device but can often be found for a more reasonable $25.

That Basic plan gets you its antivirus program as well as features like a firewall, password manager, file shredder, and VPN (for one user) for use with a Windows, Mac, Android or iOS device. Similarly, with Norton’s basic offering, AntiVirus Plus, you can protect a single PC, Mac, phone or tablet against common threats and you also get access to a password manager and 2GB of online cloud backup.

Each suite has a variety of paid tiers that go from there: Norton has seven main Windows antivirus products ranging from $95 to $180 annually, though the prices are often discounted significantly during the first year. For instance, Norton 360 Standard costs just $40 when you sign up but jumps to $95 if you renew your subscription for a second year.

From there, McAfee tiers up from the $60 McAfee+, to McAfee+ Premium which has Individual or Family plans ranging from $70 to $150 and can cover up to 2 adults and 4 children. There’s also McAfee + Advanced which is focused on identity theft and can be found for $90 or $120 for an Individual or Family plan. At the top of the tier is Ultimate, which isn’t usually found for less than $250. McAfee’s Privacy & Identity Guard is an additional service which can be found for $100.

Winner: Norton

Norton vs McAfee: Antivirus Protection

Regardless of which tier of Norton’s security suite you choose, you still get the company’s excellent malware protection which guards against malicious email attachments, fake websites, phishing attacks and spam as well as emerging threats, ransomware and hacker intrusions.

McAfee’s products use a cloud-based infrastructure with an emphasis on machine learning to catch dangerous code early. The malware scanner on the software sends potential new threats to McAfee’s servers for analysis and – unlike other programs – you cannot opt out.

Norton’s Community Watch program sends samples of suspect code to the company’s online lab for analysis, though you can opt out of this data collection program at any time. Norton updates its hazards database and sends data on the latest threats to its 500 million users.

Additionally, behind the scenes McAfee’s Ransom Guard stays on the lookout for any suspicious file changes and if it sees them, it can quickly make copies of targeted files in case of a targeted attack. The Advanced Malware Detection not only speeds up the detection of any problems but McAfee can remotely clean the system – however, this service is only included if you have auto renewal activated. There’s no rescue disk available.

Norton’s Quick Scans can be started from the main page and scheduled for daily, weekly or monthly execution however, full or custom scans require going a level below the surface. For example, USB drives require a manual scan.

McAfee has multiple reports: one for antivirus and one for firewall. They’re provided weekly, monthly or annually with data on the program’s activities. The antivirus report details threats and attacks as well as how many of the systems files have been scanned; while the firewall report explains what’s being monitored and blocked.

Winner: Norton

Norton vs McAfee: Antivirus Performance

Norton aced the June 2023 AV-Test of malware and new threats, and produced no false positives. However, it detected only 99.6% on the AV Comparatives May 2023 report. The Norton test runs in that report resulted in 14 false positives of safe software as malware, which is high. Norton was one of only three malware companies that worked with SE Labs on testing and eradication of online threats, and scored a 99% there.

Meanwhile, in the same June 2023 AV-Test McAfee had a 100% score for both existing malware and new zero-day exploits, with one single false positive. During the May 2023 test run by AV Comparatives, McAfee’s results suffered some where it scored a 99.6 percent – the same as Norton.

However, during that testing McAfee producing a total of 13 false positive identifications which is enough to be both annoying and frustrating when trying to run a software but still one less than Norton. And like Norton, McAfee participated in the SE Labs testing and scored a 99 percent.

Winner: Norton

Norton vs McAfee: Security and Privacy Features

Norton’s programs, starting with AntiVirus Plus, all have features that are usually found in top tier software suites, like a two-way firewall, password manager, and file-backup program with 2GB of online space.

Other features include Norton Genie which uses AI to thwart online scams, Norton’s Sensitive Data scan that identifies important files on your Windows system that need to be backed up, a Safe Web browser extension that can stop online attacks based on a site’s reputation, Private Email to mask your actual email address behind an alias, a Secure Browser that uses a secure HTTPS encrypted online session, a secure VPN, parental controls, and an array of LifeLock plans for identity theft protection.

McAfee has a strong emphasis on protection against phishing, and keeping your personal data private via browser extensions that can block mistyped URLs and malware-spreading websites. It also has an AI Scam Protection feature that uses machine learning to detect and counteract realistic looking emails and fake websites in real time. There’s also a Social Privacy Manager to safeguard personal information across platforms, and a firewall that works alongside Windows Defender.

Other features include a True Key password manager, which costs $20 on its own, a file shredder, a Safe Connect Virtual Private Network for up to five users (which costs $60 on its own), a Protection Score which shows your security weak spots, and Safe Family which runs $50 a year on its own. The top two tiers of McAfee protection add identity protection features as well.

Winner: Tie

Norton vs McAfee: Performance and System Impact

Our custom benchmark test clocks how long a PC takes to match 20,000 names and addresses on an Excel spreadsheet. We use a Lenovo ThinkPad T470 laptop with 2.5Ghz Core i5-7200U processor, 8GB RAM and 256GB of solid-state storage with 50.7GB of files to conduct these tests.

When testing Norton 360, the benchmark test slowed from 9.8 seconds to 10.0 – a two percent loss of available resources. While running a Full Scan, the benchmark slowed further to an average of 12.8 seconds, a drop of 30%.

The same test ran with McAfee+ Premium registered a benchmark time of 9.8 seconds slowed to 10.0 seconds, which is one of the lowest passive declines in performance that we’ve seen.

During a full scan of the system, the benchmark declines to 16.0 seconds which is a 63% loss in performance potential. This is a slower class than most. Quick scanning lowered performance potential ever further, reducing the benchmark score to 16.7 seconds, which works out to a 70% decline in performance resources, making McAfee’s security products among the most resource-hungry apps we’ve seen.

Winner: Norton

Norton vs McAfee: Interface

Norton has two options for its interface: Classic or MyNorton, with the latter echoing the formatting used in its mobile app and a list of main categories along the right with subscription information along the left.

The right hand list of options includes most of the necessary features like Device Security (scanning), Software Updater (new patches), Privacy Monitor and more. Partially filled circles indicate which features you have set up; the Settings wheel at the bottom will give you a tour of the program and let you toggle between the two interfaces.

Be aware that you may have to click through a level or two to get to the meat of the program and access all the controls.

McAfee’s interface has evolved with the aim of simplicity; currently, it takes up one-half of an HD desktop but can’t run full screen. Six boxes highlight your most pressing items, but you can’t change them or add favorites. The options include running a scan, turning on the VPN, check your Protection Score and more.

The My Protection area has a pull-out menu for major tasks like scheduling and running scans, though you have to scroll to the bottom to get to the Security Report.

There’s also a Settings gear for General, Information and Access Protection. Overall, the McAfee interface isn’t for those who want to control every aspect of the program, but rather malware protection at its simplest.

Winner: Norton

Norton vs McAfee: Installation and Support

The efforts to streamline the McAfee installation process has clearly paid off: In total, choosing the program, paying for it, activate the license, download the installer and the full program and a little more in 4 minutes 55 seconds. The support steam at McAfee do work 24/7 but are only available via chat window, phone, X and Facebook (not email). And McAfee has a money back guarantee if its software can’t clean up your system, but only if auto-renewal is enabled.

Downloading and installing Norton 360 Deluxe required a typical amount of information including an email address, password, and credit card details. There were options to download the 4.7MB installer app to the computer in question or forward a link to another machine. The program used conflict checking software to remove old extensions that could potentially cause issues, and a license had to be accepted. Dark web scans, VPN and cloud backup had to be set up but the whole process took less than 15 minutes. Norton has technicians available to help 24/7 and there are self-service options as well.

Winner: Norton

Norton vs McAfee: Overall

Norton offers a comprehensive approach to computer security by providing a lot of features on top of good malware protection. There are a slew of add-ons from a password manager, parental controls, an unlimited VPN, a secure browser, and more. However, it lacks a few security bonuses like a file shredder and encryption and it produced some false positives in testing.

McAfee has plenty going for it as well including an extremely quick installation, a very clean and easy interface, and a truly great set of included features that save a lot of money when purchased separately. However, it uses a lot of system resources and still suffered from quite a few false positives in the antivirus testing.

Based on the results of this face-off, Norton is the overall winner but at the end of the day, you really can’t go wrong with either antivirus suite. Deciding between McAfee and Norton really depends on your own personal security needs, your budget and whether those “unlimited” licenses will come in handy for you.