Head to head

Norton vs McAfee

The two big US consumer brands both bundle a VPN and both sell through steep first-year discounts. On the lab data, Norton protects better and McAfee runs lighter.

Compared by the AVSO Editorial Desk
Prices and lab results verified 12 Nov 2026How we score Editorial policy

Our pick · #2 overall

Norton 360 Deluxe

8.8/10

The fullest feature set, with the steepest renewal.

$49.99first year

Renews at $124.99/yr

Wins 2 of 8 criteria

View Norton 360 pricing

60-day money-back guarantee (annual plans)

#5 overall

McAfee Total Protection Plus

8.5/10

The lightest on your PC, the noisiest in one test.

$39.99first year²

Renewal price not stated by vendor

Not verified on vendor site

Wins 4 of 8 criteria

View McAfee pricing

30-day money-back guarantee (secondary source)

Criterion by criterion

McAfee takes 4 of 8 criteria to 2, with 2 tied or not comparable. Every row uses published lab results or the vendor's own price page.

Norton and McAfee compared criterion by criterion. A tick marks the better figure.
Criterion	Norton	McAfee
Our score	8.8rank #2	8.5rank #5
Real-World protection	99.3%³ADVANCED+	98.5%³ADVANCED
False positives (Real-World)	5³false positives	4³false positives
Malware protection (Sep 2026)	99.96%⁴ADVANCED	99.97%⁴STANDARD
AV-TEST Windows	6 / 6 / 6⁵18/18 · Aug 2026	6 / 6 / 6⁵18/18 · Aug 2026
Performance impact	4.9⁶ADVANCED+	3.1⁶ADVANCED+
Price, first term	$49.99¹first year · 5 devices	$39.99²first year · 5 devices
Renewal per year	$124.99	Not stated
Money-back	60 days (annual plans)	30 days (secondary source)
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
VPN	Included	Included
Password manager	Included	Not confirmed
Cloud backup	50 GB (Windows)	Not confirmed
Breach / dark-web monitoring	Included	Not confirmed
Parental controls	Included	Not confirmed
Free version	Not included	Not included

Lower is better for false positives, performance impact and prices. Features refer to the ranked plan: Norton 360 Deluxe and McAfee Total Protection Plus.

Bottom line

Norton is the safer choice: 99.3% Real-World protection (ADVANCED+) against McAfee's 98.5%, and far fewer false positives in September's Malware test. Choose McAfee if you run an older PC and want the lightest product AV-Comparatives measured.

Choose Norton if…

Protection first: 99.3% vs 98.5% in AV-Comparatives' Real-World test
Fewer false alarms: 15 vs 36 in the September 2026 Malware test
Verified pricing: Norton's prices and renewals are published

View Norton 360 pricing Full Norton review

Choose McAfee if…

Lowest system impact of 20 products (3.1 vs Norton's 4.9)
AV-TEST Best Performance and Best Advanced Protection 2025
Cheaper 5-device first year ($39.99, secondary source) vs $49.99

View McAfee pricing Full McAfee review

Where the points come from

Our five sub-scores, out of 10, with their weight in the overall score. How each is calculated.

NortonMcAfee

Protection 40%: Norton: 9.4; McAfee: 8.7
Performance 15%: Norton: 9.5; McAfee: 9.8
Value 20%: Norton: 7.2; McAfee: 7.6
Features 15%: Norton: 9.4; McAfee: 8.4
Trust & transparency 10%: Norton: 8.0; McAfee: 7.4

Add a third

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8.8

Norton#2 overall

First term

$49.99

first year

Real‑World protection: Highest99.3%ADVANCED+
False positives: 5
AV-TEST (Aug 2026): 6 / 6 / 6
Performance impact: 4.9
Devices: 5
Renewal / year: $124.99
VPN
iOS app

View Norton 360 pricing

60-day money-back guarantee (annual plans)

Read the Norton review

8.5

McAfee#5 overall

First term

$39.99²

LowestUnverified

first year

Real‑World protection: 98.5%ADVANCED
False positives: Fewest4
AV-TEST (Aug 2026): 6 / 6 / 6
Performance impact: Lightest3.1
Devices: 5
Renewal / year: Not stated
VPN
iOS app

View McAfee pricing

30-day money-back guarantee (secondary source)

Read the McAfee review

Antivirus comparison. Product columns, feature rows. Comparing Norton, McAfee.
Head to head2 suites	Norton#2 overall	McAfee#5 overall
Score & price
	Editorial score 8.8 out of 10	Editorial score 8.5 out of 10
	$49.99first year	$39.99²first yearUnverifiedLowest
Renewal / year	$124.99×2.5 year one	Not stated
Devices	5	5
Money-back	60 days(annual plans)Longest	30 days(secondary source)
Independent lab results
³	99.3%ADVANCED+Highest	98.5%ADVANCED
³	5	4Fewest
AV-TEST Windows⁵	6 / 6 / 6Aug 2026TOP PRODUCT	6 / 6 / 6Aug 2026TOP PRODUCT
⁶	4.9lower is better	3.1lower is betterLightest
In the ranked plan
VPN
Password manager		Not confirmed
Cloud backup	50 GB (Windows)	Not confirmed
Breach monitoring		Not confirmed
Parental controls		Not confirmed
Free version
Platforms
Windows
macOS
Android
iOS
Verdict
Best for	all-in-one suite	for older or slower PCs
Vendor pricingOpens the vendor's site. Some links are affiliate links.	View pricing for Norton (opens Norton site in a new tab)Review: Norton	View pricing for McAfee (opens McAfee site in a new tab)Review: McAfee

Prices are USD before tax for the plan each vendor leads with, read on its own pricing page on 12 Nov 2026. First-year prices are usually introductory; renewal is what you pay from year two, and “Not stated” means the vendor did not publish it. Black Friday prices are marked. McAfee: mcafee.com blocked our checks; prices from a secondary source updated 26 Aug 2026². Surfshark Antivirus: Surfshark showed us local-currency prices; USD figure from a secondary source updated 4 Nov 2026⁸. Lab rows: AV-Comparatives Real-World (Feb–May 2026)³ and Performance (Sep 2026)⁶; AV-TEST Windows (Aug 2026⁵, Surfshark Jun 2026⁷). “Not tested” means the product was not in that test.

Norton vs McAfee: questions

Is McAfee as good as Norton?

Not on protection in 2026. AV-Comparatives measured 99.3% Real-World protection for Norton (ADVANCED+) and 98.5% for McAfee (ADVANCED). McAfee was lighter on system resources, with the best performance score of all 20 products tested in September 2026.

Why are McAfee prices marked as secondary?

McAfee's site blocked our automated price checks, so we used a secondary source dated 26 Aug 2026 and flagged it. Norton's prices were read on us.norton.com on 12 Nov 2026.

Norton vs McAfee · Our pick

For most readers: Norton. Prefer McAfee? Both are one click away.

The fullest feature set, with the steepest renewal. 360 Deluxe: $49.99 first year · 60-day money-back guarantee (annual plans).

View Norton 360 pricing View McAfee pricing Read the review

We may earn a commission through affiliate links, at no extra cost to you.

More head-to-heads

Back to the antivirus rankings or read the Norton review and McAfee review.

Sources

All accessed 12 Nov 2026

1.Norton pricing page. us.norton.com/products (opens in a new tab)
2.McAfee pricing page. mcafee.com/en-us/antivirus/mcafee-total-protection.html (opens in a new tab) · secondary source for USD price
3.AV-Comparatives Real-World Protection Test, February–May 2026. av-comparatives.org/tests/real-world-protection-test-february-may-2026/ (opens in a new tab)
4.AV-Comparatives Malware Protection Test, September 2026. av-comparatives.org/tests/malware-protection-test-september-2026/ (opens in a new tab)
5.AV-TEST Windows 11 home-user test, August 2026. av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/windows-11/august-2026/ (opens in a new tab)
6.AV-Comparatives Performance Test, September 2026. av-comparatives.org/tests/performance-test-september-2026/ (opens in a new tab)
7.AV-TEST Windows 11 home-user test, June 2026. av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/windows-11/june-2026/ (opens in a new tab)
8.Surfshark Antivirus price: Surfshark showed us local-currency prices; USD figure from a secondary source updated 4 Nov 2026. surfshark.com/pricing (opens in a new tab) · unverified on vendor site