Best for PC and Mac

5.0

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On McAfee's website

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McAfee

• All-in-one protection for your personal info and privacy
• Excellent antivirus protection
• Additional features like a file shredder and parental controls
• Multiple pop-ups for text notifications can be annoying

Best for Low-Cost Coverage

5.0

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On Norton 360 Antivirus's website

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Norton 360 Antivirus

• Easy-to-install antivirus protection
• Secure VPN and password manager included
• Parental control features
• Multi-tab navigation may be overwhelming at first

There are many antivirus and cybersecurity products on the market, but not many have as long a history as McAfee and Norton antivirus. Both are quality products that come highly rated by independent third-party reviewers. And both solutions have a host of additional features that make them valuable additions to your computer or mobile device.

With identity theft protection, malware protection, dark web monitoring, virus protection, spyware detection, and built-in safe web features, it’s clear these products have evolved. But which one should you choose?

McAfee has coverage for both PC and Mac as well as browser extensions that support Safari. Norton may not cover Safari, but its customer support is easier to navigate and has more options. Each has a user-friendly interface and anti-malware protection as well as coverage for Windows PCs, Macs, smartphones, and even tablets. So your choice comes down to your needs — let’s dig in and help you decide.

McAfee vs. Norton 360 at a glance

The McAfee versus Norton question is nearly as old as the internet itself, with both having a long history of fighting for space on our computers. If you’re old enough to remember when personal computers became common in every household, both products were there to protect us against the dangers of the new thing called the World Wide Web.

As we progressed, certain manufacturers partnered with either Norton or McAfee to present these products preinstalled on your new PC. Even now, with a host of other competitors, both Norton and McAfee still have the name recognition and security chops to be key players in the fight against ransomware and other nasties you find online.

But which of these products is better for online threats? Do they protect you in the same way? And which has the most security features to eliminate the need for additional products? And is there an answer to, “What is the best antivirus out there?” Let’s look.

• McAfee: Best for PC and Mac
• Norton 360: Best for covering more devices at a low cost

How do McAfee and Norton compare?

	McAfee	Norton 360 Antivirus
Starting price	$29.99/first year	$24.99/first year
Max number of protected devices	1	5
24/7 customer support
Compatibility	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Edge	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Firefox, Chrome, Edge
Free version
Phishing protection	Yes	Yes
Ransomware protection
Ad blocker
	View Plans Read Our McAfee Review	View Plans Read Our Norton Review

Both antivirus programs have been around for a long time, but they’ve both continued to add extra features necessary for the modern internet.

Norton, however, has a lower starting price with more devices covered. McAfee is a little more expensive, but when you go up to the middle pricing tier, you’ll receive unlimited device coverage.

Is Safari coverage important to you? Go with McAfee. Are you looking for quality protection for the least expensive price you can find? McAfee does that, too. Do you want webcam coverage and a file shredder? Norton has that. Are you worried about false positives or if it’ll work on your operating system? AV-TEST says they’re both secure with few false positives. These are questions you’ll need to consider when deciding on an antivirus product.

McAfee vs. Norton: prices

Norton stands out when it comes to pricing and features — it also has a more-than-generous 60-day money-back guarantee. McAfee’s basic plan only covers one device.

When you go up to McAfee’s next tier, you’ll receive coverage for five devices and not much more in terms of features. You’ll need to go up to the McAfee+ Premium plan to receive all the privacy features. Norton starts off at a lower price (at the time of publishing) and includes privacy features and coverage for five devices in its lowest-priced tier.

When it comes to family plans, McAfee is less than half the cost of Norton for unlimited device protection and identity monitoring. Unfortunately, McAfee doesn’t offer a monthly payment for its family plans. (Although you can subscribe monthly through Amazon for three or 10 devices.)

McAfee+ Ultimate vs. Norton 360 with LifeLock Ultimate Plus software bundles

Although McAfee+ Ultimate is considerably less expensive than Norton 360 with LifeLock Ultimate Plus, the highest tier plan for Norton, Norton offers 500 GB of cloud backup. McAfee doesn’t have a cloud storage option built into any of its products. This is the key difference between the two products’ most expensive plans.

In fact, cloud storage is the biggest difference between any of the paid tiers. All Norton products come with some form of cloud storage. If you want a safe place to store specific digital documents, you can do that with Norton. On the other hand, if you’re interested in a lower price and don’t need cloud storage, McAfee may be the product for you.

McAfee+ Ultimate and Norton 360 with LifeLock Ultimate Plus features

• Norton only: 500 GB cloud backup
• McAfee only: Personal data cleanup service
• Antivirus and web protection
• Credit monitoring
• Credit lock and credit freeze
• Identity theft coverage
• Ransomware coverage
• Transaction monitoring
• Parental controls
• Password manager
• Virtual private network (VPN)

Finally, McAfee requires a yearly subscription which needs to be paid all at once (unless you subscribe through Amazon). Norton products, except for the Basic plan, have monthly payment options. Sometimes it isn’t financially feasible to purchase the plan you need at the annual cost, so having a monthly option is nice.

McAfee vs. Norton: features

Considering these two antiviruses both offer additional features such as a VPN and phishing protection, it’ll depend on preference to decide which one you find to be the better antivirus.

Most of the features here are straightforward, but the ransomware protection feature might feel like it’s difficult to find. Ransomware is another form of malware, or malicious software created with the intention of doing harm. All antivirus products that protect against viruses and malware protect against ransomware. As far as the other features, they’re all value-adds that enhance your antivirus program and overall protection.

McAfee antivirus firewall settings

Firewalls are built into products such as Mac, so having one on your security software may require you to disable the feature. A firewall is good for a PC, however, and augmenting your Windows Defender protection with a firewall can increase your security. No matter what, you’ll want a product with a good adware cleaner.

Phishing and other social engineering hacks are rampant on social media, through email, and even through text messaging, so having an alert system in your antivirus software may help keep you from becoming a victim.

Norton offers a VPN to encrypt your Wi-Fi connection

Other features, such as the VPN, password manager, and device optimization tools are great additions that aren’t necessarily included in all antivirus products. If you’re looking to round out your security suite, having these included can save you some money.

McAfee Total Protection includes network monitoring and a password manager.

Norton includes multiple extra features including dark web monitoring, cloud backup, and a password manager.

McAfee vs. Norton: test results

When comparing antivirus products, third-party testing is a must. Not only do these tests have the resources and capabilities to really throw every malicious thing they have at the software, but they also know software vulnerabilities.

This means the third-party testers are doing whatever they can to break the product to make sure hackers can’t break it once you’ve installed it. It also means you get an objective look at a product outside of its marketing claims. If you really want to know whether a product is worth your money, third-party testing can tell you.

Here’s what third-party testing site AV-TEST said about McAfee and Norton.

McAfee vs. Norton AV-TEST scores

AV-TEST gives numerical scores from zero to six in three separate categories for computers and two categories for Android. Because both McAfee and Norton passed all of those tests with straight sixes in every category, we translated that as 100% overall. Both of these products are recommended by AV-TEST as safe and effective against malware and viruses.

The most glaring difference was the lack of testing for macOS on McAfee. This doesn’t mean that Mac users aren’t covered. There is a fee for third-party testing and sometimes a company isn’t interested in paying this to test their product. A lack of test results doesn’t mean the product is bad, it just means it hasn’t been tested.

McAfee vs. Norton: compatibility and ease of use

We had similarly positive experiences with both McAfee and Norton as far as usability, speed, and detection. Neither program had a lengthy initial scan, nor did either security product have a lengthy quick scan process. Both Norton and McAfee were easy to use even for novices or beginners.

One of the most important considerations in choosing an antivirus is if it slows down your computer while it’s running. We were pleased to see that both Norton and McAfee performed well with little-to-no performance degradation. McAfee had a slight advantage by including a browser extension for Safari, but that wasn’t enough to have us favor it over Norton.

McAfee has you enable each feature individually.

Norton also requires setting up features individually.

McAfee vs. Norton: customer service

There’s a definite difference between the support options available between McAfee and Norton. McAfee’s website focuses more on self-help through forums and guides and makes finding options such as chat, email, and phone difficult. We had to search for a support number. You should never have to do a separate internet search for a support number. That can lead to fake support numbers that scam you.

Norton, on the other hand, has links and clearly labeled support sections. We were able to chat, call, or search the guides and forums. We could quickly and easily find everything we needed within Norton’s site, eliminating the chance we may get scammed. A security product should make sure you’re secure rather than hiding support options.

McAfee vs. Norton FAQs

Which is better, Norton or McAfee?

Because both McAfee and Norton have been in the game so long, they’ve had time to mold and adapt to the ever-changing internet. Both have solid, third-party-tested protection and a plethora of features wrapped into the security product offering. Both have an easy user interface and pleasant user experience.

Although McAfee takes the lead on price, Norton takes the lead on customer service. Either of these products is a solid choice. The downside to these antivirus programs is that they’re both still priced fairly high even though competitors are lower (and sometimes free) with similar or more features.

Even so, you know you’re getting a trusted security product when using either of these antivirus solutions. It’s going to be up to you to decide whether the history behind these products makes them worth the price, or if you’re interested in something more economical. Either way, you should always have security software installed, so having McAfee or Norton will go a long way in keeping you safe online.

5.0

Save $105 on your first year of McAfee+ Premium

Learn More

On McAfee's website

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McAfee

• All-in-one protection for your personal info and privacy
• Excellent antivirus protection
• Additional features like a file shredder and parental controls
• Multiple pop-ups for text notifications can be annoying

Author Details

Mary James

About the Author

Mary lives in Los Angeles and has been a cybersecurity writer for over five years. With a B.S. in Liberal Arts from Clarion University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, her career in online security began in sales and content creation for a private cybersecurity firm.