Head to head

TotalAV vs Norton

Both are sold hard with discounts, and both protect well in the labs. Norton includes far more in its plan and slows a PC down far less.

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

#6 overall

Total AV Plus

7.6/10

Strong detection, heavy footprint, opaque intro price.

$99per year

Regular price; intro offer only at checkout

Wins 2 of 8 criteria

View TotalAV pricing

30-day money-back guarantee (annual plans)

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 4 of 8 criteria

View Norton 360 pricing

60-day money-back guarantee (annual plans)

Criterion by criterion

Norton 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.

TotalAV and Norton compared criterion by criterion. A tick marks the better figure.
Criterion	TotalAV	Norton
Our score	7.6rank #6	8.8rank #2
Real-World protection	99.0%³ADVANCED+	99.3%³ADVANCED+
False positives (Real-World)	5³false positives	5³false positives
Malware protection (Sep 2026)	99.97%⁴ADVANCED	99.96%⁴ADVANCED
AV-TEST Windows	6 / 5.5 / 6⁵17.5/18 · Aug 2026	6 / 6 / 6⁵18/18 · Aug 2026
Performance impact	30.5⁶STANDARD	4.9⁶ADVANCED+
Price, first term	$99¹per year · 4 devices	$49.99²first year · 5 devices
Renewal per year	$99	$124.99
Money-back	30 days (annual plans)	60 days (annual plans)
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
VPN	Internet Security tier	Included
Password manager	Total Security tier	Included
Cloud backup	Not included	50 GB (Windows)
Breach / dark-web monitoring	Not included	Included
Parental controls	Not included	Included
Free version	Not included	Not included

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

Bottom line

Norton is the better buy: equal-or-better protection, a much lighter footprint (4.9 vs 30.5 impact) and a VPN included. TotalAV's renewal price ($99/yr for 4 devices) is lower than Norton's, which is its main argument.

Choose TotalAV if…

Lower renewal: $99/yr for 4 devices vs Norton's $124.99 for 5
Simple interface; AV-TEST Best Usability 2025
Publishes its full renewal price matrix

View TotalAV pricing Full TotalAV review

Choose Norton if…

Far lighter on the PC: 4.9 vs 30.5 impact score (Sep 2026)
VPN, cloud backup and parental controls included
Verified first-year price ($49.99) and 60-day money-back

View Norton 360 pricing Full Norton review

Where the points come from

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

TotalAVNorton

Protection 40%: TotalAV: 9.0; Norton: 9.4
Performance 15%: TotalAV: 6.8; Norton: 9.5
Value 20%: TotalAV: 6.4; Norton: 7.2
Features 15%: TotalAV: 6.8; Norton: 9.4
Trust & transparency 10%: TotalAV: 7.0; Norton: 8.0

Add a third

Every figure, against the field

Pre-set to TotalAV and Norton. Add a third suite, or clear the selection to see all 8.

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: Lightest4.9
Devices: 5
Renewal / year: $124.99
VPN
iOS app

View Norton 360 pricing

60-day money-back guarantee (annual plans)

Read the Norton review

7.6

TotalAV#6 overall

Regular price

$99

per year

Real‑World protection: 99.0%ADVANCED+
False positives: 5
AV-TEST (Aug 2026): 6 / 5.5 / 6
Performance impact: 30.5
Devices: 4
Renewal / year: $99
VPN: Internet Security tier
iOS app

View TotalAV pricing

30-day money-back guarantee (annual plans)

Read the TotalAV review

Antivirus comparison. Product columns, feature rows. Comparing Norton, TotalAV.
Head to head2 suites	Norton#2 overall	TotalAV#6 overall
Score & price
	Editorial score 8.8 out of 10	Editorial score 7.6 out of 10
	$49.99first year	$99regular price; intro at checkout
Renewal / year	$124.99×2.5 year one	$99
Devices	5	4
Money-back	60 days(annual plans)Longest	30 days(annual plans)
Independent lab results
³	99.3%ADVANCED+Highest	99.0%ADVANCED+
³	5	5
AV-TEST Windows⁵	6 / 6 / 6Aug 2026TOP PRODUCT	6 / 5.5 / 6Aug 2026TOP PRODUCT
⁶	4.9lower is betterLightest	30.5lower is better
In the ranked plan
VPN		Internet Security tier
Password manager		Total Security tier
Cloud backup	50 GB (Windows)
Breach monitoring
Parental controls
Free version
Platforms
Windows
macOS
Android
iOS
Verdict
Best for	all-in-one suite	for beginners
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 TotalAV (opens Protected.net site in a new tab)Review: TotalAV

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 2026⁸. Surfshark Antivirus: Surfshark showed us local-currency prices; USD figure from a secondary source updated 4 Nov 2026⁹. 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.

TotalAV vs Norton: questions

Is TotalAV better than Norton?

No, on our data. Their protection results are close (99.0% vs 99.3% Real-World, both ADVANCED+), but Norton's system impact was 4.9 against TotalAV's 30.5 in AV-Comparatives' September 2026 test, and Norton includes a VPN and backup.

TotalAV vs Norton · Our pick

For most readers: Norton. Prefer TotalAV? 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 TotalAV pricing Read the review

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More head-to-heads

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

Sources

All accessed 12 Nov 2026

1.Protected.net pricing page. totalav.com/subscription-pricing-matrix (opens in a new tab)
2.Norton pricing page. us.norton.com/products (opens in a new tab)
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.McAfee price: mcafee.com blocked our checks; prices from a secondary source updated 26 Aug 2026. mcafee.com/en-us/antivirus/mcafee-total-protection.html (opens in a new tab) · unverified on vendor site
9.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