Like McAfee AntiVirus Plus (for Mac), Avira, Trend Micro, and several others, Avast marks up results in popular search engines with green for safe, red for dangerous, and gray for unknown. See pros and cons of Avast vs. Kaspersky and easily decide which antivirus software is right for you. You are likely to get a lot of features for that price. You have the same level of protection for Android and Mac. The best part: you just need a single subscription. BitDefender Vs. A Comparison of Avast vs McAfee by the Spyshakers.com Team Editors A custom antivirus comparison of Avast vs McAfee by the Spyshakers.com Team Editors (accurate as of November 20, 2018).
(Last updated on May 26th, 2019)
McAfee and Norton (also called Symantec) are both well-known brands in the antivirus realm, but how do they compare in a head-to-head battle for dominance?
Read this in-depth McAfee versus Norton comparison to make a smart decision.
Do you know almost half of all computer users worldwide have been (or will be) victims of cybercrime?
In the digital age, every link clicked, purchase made, email opened, app downloaded, movie streamed is an opportunity for hackers to break into your devices (especially computers and smartphones) in order to compromise your data and privacy.
Do you know the AV-Test security laboratory catches over 350,000 new malware samples every single day? Needless to say, if you don’t invest in a reliable antivirus suite to protect what matters to you, it’s likely that you’ll find yourself in hot water very soon.
Hackers are continually surfacing new malware threats, including destructive ransomware, value='{'show_for_logged_in':'1','hide_on_device':'}'>
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During the past few months, we evaluated and reviewed over 50 antivirus suites from the biggest names in cybersecurity. We did this so you can confidently choose the best antivirus software to protect yourself and those whom you love.
Overall, Bitdefender is our #1 antivirus software for 2019 (and beyond), because of its excellent, flawless performance in all independent lab evaluations, particularly those conducted by AV-Test and AV-Comparatives.
Right now, we think that Bitdefender Total Security 2019 (currently at 50% off) is the best antivirus package available in the market. Apart from providing excellent anti-malware protection, it offers all the advanced premium features and utilities that must be there in a high-end package -- and best of all, it offers excellent value for money. You can protect up to five devices (PCs, Macs, or smartphones) with just one license.
If you need protection for more than five devices, we highly recommend Bitdefender Family Pack 2019. It will cover all the internet-capable devices in your household with the Total Security suite, so your family is protected no matter what goes wrong.
Overall, Bitdefender is our #1 antivirus software for 2019 (and beyond), because of its excellent, flawless performance in all independent lab evaluations, particularly those conducted by AV-Test and AV-Comparatives.
Right now, we think that Bitdefender Total Security 2019 (currently at 50% off) is the best antivirus package available in the market. Apart from providing excellent anti-malware protection, it offers all the advanced premium features and utilities that must be there in a high-end package -- and best of all, it offers excellent value for money. You can protect up to five devices (PCs, Macs, or smartphones) with just one license.
If you need protection for more than five devices, we highly recommend Bitdefender Family Pack 2019. It will cover all the internet-capable devices in your household with the Total Security suite, so your family is protected no matter what goes wrong.
![Avast vs mcafee total protection Avast vs mcafee total protection](/uploads/1/2/6/1/126174416/945276325.jpg)
First, let’s see the security suites both McAfee and Norton offer.
McAfee Antivirus Suites |
McAfee Antivirus (Windows only) |
McAfee Antivirus Plus (Windows and Mac) |
McAfee Internet Security (Windows and Mac) |
McAfee Total Protection (Windows and Mac) |
McAfee LiveSafe (Windows and Mac) |
Norton Antivirus Suites |
Norton AntiVirus Basic (Windows only) |
Norton Security Standard (Windows & Mac) |
Norton Security Deluxe (Windows & Mac) |
Norton Security Premium (Windows & Mac) |
If you’re in a rush and only want to see the summary of this ultimate comparison, see the infographic below.
Short Verdict
McAfee is the winner as it offers more security-related features and extra utilities in its products than Norton. Independent lab tests prove that both software provide comprehensive protection against all sorts of malware threats, but McAfee is better than Norton in terms of the impact on system performance.
Our recommendations: If you want to get the highest level of security and performance, there's no better choice than Bitdefender, which protects over 500 million computers worldwide.
We have reviewed and rated most (if not all) antivirus software packages out there, and we think that Bitdefender Total Security 2019 (currently at 50% off) is the best antivirus package you can buy right now. You can protect up to five devices (PCs, Macs, or smartphones) with a single license of this suite.
If you have more than five devices, Bitdefender Family Pack 2019 is the best option for you.
If you're just looking for Mac-specific protection, we recommend Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac 2019 for complete peace of mind.
We have reviewed and rated most (if not all) antivirus software packages out there, and we think that Bitdefender Total Security 2019 (currently at 50% off) is the best antivirus package you can buy right now. You can protect up to five devices (PCs, Macs, or smartphones) with a single license of this suite.
If you have more than five devices, Bitdefender Family Pack 2019 is the best option for you.
If you're just looking for Mac-specific protection, we recommend Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac 2019 for complete peace of mind.
Now, let’s delve into the details…
What’s Included in McAfee’s Security Suites?
McAfee offers two specialized antivirus suites, McAfee Total Protection and McAfee LiveSafe.
In the 2019 range, there’s no difference between the security suites in terms of features, but the LiveSafe is only available with the OEM deals, which means you can’t buy it. McAfee Total Protection is available online for purchase.
McAfee Total Protection is the company’s best-selling and most popular antivirus suite. Besides providing excellent protection against all types of malware threats (as we’ll see in the later section), it offers almost all the advanced features/utilities that are usually found in most high-end security suites.
Some of the advanced features include a two-way firewall (actively monitors your network traffic and thwarts attacks before they begin), a file shredding tool (lets you delete your sensitive files without leaving traces), the File Lock utility (an encryption tool that allows you create virtual, password-protected drives where you can store your confidential data).
The Safe Family module — which offers advanced parental control features — and the advanced True Key password manager are also part of the product. Protection against identity theft and risky websites/links is also incorporated into the suite.
To make sure your computer is running smoothly, McAfee includes several performance optimization features, such as Quick Clean and PC Boost.
McAfee Total Protection is compatible with the Windows platform, as well as macOS, Android, and iOS. It comes at different price points (as we will see later in this guide) depending on the number of devices covered in your plan.
If you sign up for automatic renewals, you’ll also get the Virus Protection Guarantee; in the event of malware infection, a McAfee expert will either “remove the virus or give you a full refund.”
What’s Included in Norton’s Security Suites?
The Windows-only Norton AntiVirus Basic is the company’s entry-level offering. Along with providing great protection against different kinds of malware threats (such as viruses, ransomware, spyware), it blocks phishing scams and also protects your sensitive information when you’re online.
Not a lot is offered in this suite in terms of advanced security-related features and extra utilities other than a useful password manager, which is available as a browser extension.
Next level up is Norton Security Standard. It adds an advanced two-way firewall, premium customer support, and the Virus Protection Guarantee; a Norton expert will help keep your device(s) virus-free or give your money back.
You can protect one PC and one Mac or mobile device with a single subscription of this plan.
Another level up is Norton Security Deluxe. It includes everything jammed into the “Standard” suite, plus an intuitive web portal (helps manage all your devices at one place) and several PC optimization tools, including a File Cleanup tool and the Disk Optimizer.
You can protect up to 5 PCs, Macs, mobile phones or tablets under this suite.
Norton Security Premium is the company’s top-drawer antivirus package. Along with everything included in the “Deluxe” suite, it adds parental controls, an automatic backup utility, and a cloud space of 25GB.
McAfee Vs. Norton: Which Software Offers Better Malware Protection?
Malware protection is the most aspect component of any security software.
Generally, malware can be classified into two types: known malware and unknown malware. The former is a type of malware for which digital signatures are already available, while the latter refers to a malware that exploits a previously unknown vulnerability.
Most security products rely on signature-based scanning to catch known malware and heuristic monitory to detect unknown malware (also called zero-day malware).
To determine whether McAfee or Norton is ahead in terms of malware protection, I’ll look at the independent lab results conducted by AV-Test and AV-Comparatives — two well-known security laboratories that extensively test various top antivirus products.
The most recent evaluations conducted by AV-Test were held in January and February 2018 and involved 18 security products. All products were tested against 228 samples of zero-day malware and 4,877 samples of widespread malware (known malware).
Norton’s came out of these evaluations with perfect scores; it blocked 100% of both types of malware samples, earning an excellent 6/6 star rating from the experts at AV-Test.
On the other hand, McAfee’s results against widespread malware were perfect in both months, at 100%. Against zero-day malware, however, its efficiency dropped to 99.2% in January but climbed to 100% in February.
It also received a perfect 6/6 star rating from the institute.
Note: These tests were conducted on Windows 7 platform. Similar tests, when conducted on Windows 10 platform in November and December last year, saw both software registering flawless results against both types of malware. (See this and this for detailed reports.)
The experts at AV-Comparatives do two major tests to assess the protection level of various products: Malware Protection Test and Real-World Protection Test. The latter tests a product against real-world conditions (as experienced by everyday users) with their default settings in place, while the former aims to assess a program’s total ability to prevent malware infections.
In AV-Comparatives’ Malware Protection Test, which was most recently held in March 2018, McAfee’s protection rate against malware was 99.95% and returned 10 false positives. It received the “ADVANCED” award, which is the second-best honor, from the experts at AV-Comparatives.
Norton, however, didn’t fare as well as McAfee in the test; its protection rate was excellent, at 99.99%, but a high number of false positives meant it had to settle for the “STANDARD” award.
In the AV-Comparatives’ most recent Real Word Protection Test, both McAfee and Norton registered impressive results; Norton’s protection rate was found to be 99.5% with 5 false positives, while McAfee protected against 99.1% of malware but it only returned 2 false alarms.
Overall, McAfee fared slightly better than Norton in the recent independent lab tests.
Winner: McAfee
McAfee Vs. Norton: Which Software Puts Less Impact on System Performance?
Most modern antivirus programs are extremely light (in terms of size) and put very minimal impact on system performance.
Let’s look at the recent independent lab tests to see which software is better in this category.
AV-Test’s performance study looks at the influence of a product on system performance by executing few common computer tasks, such as launching websites, downloading applications, launching applications, copying files.
Here’re the results of the AV-Test’s most recent performance test with McAfee installed. (The results are expressed in terms of system slowdown on a standard and a high-end PC.)
Here’re the results of the same study with Norton installed.
As you can see, Norton received a perfect 6/6 star rating in the test, while McAfee managed a slightly lower 5.5/6.
The experts at AV-Comparatives do a similar study, called Performance Test. The test measures the influence of a security product on computer performance in a similar way like AV-Test’s study and assigns an impact score to each product depending on their level of impact on system performance. The lower the impact score, the lesser the influence a product has on computer performance.
Both McAfee and Norton received the “ADVANCED +” award in the AV-Comparatives’ most recent Performance Test, due to their low impact scores of 7.3 and 8.7, respectively.
So, it is clear from independent tests that both McAfee and Norton are equally good in terms of occupying system resources, and neither of them will put an appreciable impact on system performance.
Winner: It’s a tie
McAfee Vs. Norton: Which Software Offers Better User Experience?
First, let’s dive into the McAfee interface…
McAfee’s user interface has recently gone through major improvements. The new interface is simpler and brighter, in colors of white, grey, and pale blue
The horizontal menu at the top breaks down product features into five main categories: Home, PC Security, Identity, Privacy, and Account.
The Home window, which is the default view, shows your protection status and also has buttons to run different types of scans. You can also clear your browser of cookies/trackers and set up True Key password manager from this page.
The PC Security page lists all the modules that are currently active, such as Real-Time Scanning, Firewall, etc. You can run different kinds of scans from this page, too. Anti-spam filter, File Shredder, and Web Advisor are accessible from the Identity tab.
The Privacy tab contains Parental Controls along with few other features, and the Account page shows information about the suite you’re subscribed to.
Now, let’s go over the Norton interface…
Avast Free Vs Mcafee Paid
Norton’s bright interface is still the same as it was a few years ago. When everything is okay, you’ll see a reassuring “you’re protected” message next to a green checkmark; it quickly changes to red “X” when there’s an issue that needs your immediate attention.
The menu on the homepage has four modules (Security, Identity, Performance, More Norton) arranged in a horizontal manner. The top row has a search bar and also contains links to Settings, Help, and Report Card, while at the bottom you’ll see your subscription status and a link for renewal.
From the Security tab, you can run different types of scans, manually update definitions, check error logs, access protection history, and switch on/off other advanced modules. The Identity page covers web protection features and tools, including an Identity Safe password manager.
The Performance tab contains features that help improve the performance of your system, and clicking the More Norton module takes you to a centralized online portal where you can manage all your protected devices.
Mcafee Vs Avast For Mac
Overall, both Norton and McAfee provide a simple, clean user interface.
Winner: It’s a tie
McAfee Vs. Norton: Which Software is Cheaper?
McAfee Security Products | Prices |
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McAfee Total Protection | Check Price |
McAfee LiveSafe | Check Price |
McAfee Small Business Security | Check Price |
McAfee Business Products | Check Prices |
Norton Security Products | Prices |
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Norton Antivirus Basic | Check Price |
Norton Security Standard | Check Price |
Norton Security Deluxe | Check Price |
Norton Security Premium | Check Price |
Norton Small Business Security | Check Price |
Apparently, it seems like Norton’s security suites are slightly cheaper than McAfee’s. But keep in mind that you can protect many devices with a single McAfee subscription.
Winner: It’s a tie
McAfee Vs. Norton: Which Software is More Popular?
Both McAfee and Norton are two well-known companies in the antivirus industry, but which of two software is more popular among the community?
OPSWAT releases monthly reports on the antivirus market share captured by different companies. As per their recent report, Avast leads the table with a strong market share of 19.27%, followed by ESET (13.15%) and Malwarebytes (12.93%). McAfee currently sits on the fourth spot, with 9.59% market share.
Interestingly, Norton didn’t quite make it to the list of top ten antivirus products.
On CNET’s download.com, which is the world’s most popular software download portal, McAfee’s products have significantly more overall total downloads than Norton’s.
Speaking of social media influence, McAfee has just 0.8 million Facebook fans, as opposed to Norton’s just over 1.3 million. On Twitter, however, McAfee leads the way with over 800K Twitter followers, as opposed to Norton’s 157K.
So it’s clear from the above numbers and statistics that McAfee not only captures bigger market share is also more popular among the antivirus community.
Winner: McAfee
Final Thoughts
In the modern, technology-driven world, we store a large part of our life on our computers, so it makes sense to say that we should never take our security and privacy for granted.
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Our recommendations: After reviewing over 50 antivirus suites from some of the biggest names in the cybersecurity landscape, we believe that Bitdefender Total Security 2019 (currently at 50% off) is the best antivirus suite for 2019 in terms of value for money. A single subscription of the suites lets you protect up to five devices (PCs, Macs, and smartphones) in any combination.
Plus, it comes with premium customer support and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
If you have more than five devices, Bitdefender Family Pack 2019 is the best option for you.
Plus, it comes with premium customer support and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
If you have more than five devices, Bitdefender Family Pack 2019 is the best option for you.
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Macs may be a far less tempting target for malware and viruses, but they’re not immune from attack. Even if you don’t care about adware or being used as a means to infect users on other platforms, it’s still possible to fall victim to ransomware, password theft, or stolen iPhone backups.
Accordingly, good antivirus software will protect your Mac on all of these fronts. It’ll catch malware that’s still spreading or in circulation; block ransomware; protect older systems with out-of-date software from security vulnerabilities; prevent your Mac from acting as a carrier for malware aimed at other operating systems; and keep infected files off of any virtual machines you’re running.
Antivirus for Mac cheat sheet
Our quick-hit recommendations:
- Best paid antivirus for Mac:Sophos Home Premium for Mac[sophos.com]
- Best free antivirus for Mac:Avast Free Mac Security[avast.com]
Many antivirus suites provide a decent level of protection, but a few rise above all others by providing the very best in performance. Our top contenders dominate by posting perfect (or virtually near perfect) scores from security research labs, passing our own malware detection tests with flying colors, offering well-designed interfaces, and even throwing in extra features like a firewall or password manager.
Updated 08/15/19: Added our review of Avira Free Antivirus, a worthy free option that’s easy to use and effective.
Avast for mac premier. Avast Premier License Key is most efficient and effective anti-malware application program. It is being used at very high level all around the world. There are many antivirus available in the market to provide the computer system protection against malware or spyware attacks.
Looking for Windows antivirus recommendations? You can read about the best antivirus suites for PC on our sister site, PCWorld.
Best overall antivirus software
on Sophos
Sophos Home Premium has the most extensive and up-to-date approach to fighting malware at an unbeatable price.
Sophos Home Premium has it all: Effective malware protection, ransomware monitoring, protection against potentially-unwanted-apps, and additional features that often require separately licensed software. Its cloud-based configuration and generous licensing (up to 10 Macs and PCs) also make it easy to shield friends and family from threats, no matter where they live. (Full details available in our review.)
Best free antivirus software
Though Sophos does offer a good free version of its software, Avast Free Mac Security edges it out as the best free antivirus software for macOS. In security lab tests, Avast detected 99.9 percent of macOS malware, and 100 percent of Windows malware. However, if you want more advanced protection (like ransomware detection), you’ll need to upgrade to paid software.
What to look for in antivirus software
By our reckoning, antivirus software should be able to neutralize a threat before it can begin wreaking havoc. That means preventing the download, installation, or execution of malicious software.
Since you can encounter threats by visiting compromised or malicious websites, receiving virus-laden attachments, or accessing USB drives with malware, good AV software should scan on a continuous basis unless you configure it otherwise. And ideally, files identified as malicious should be quarantined into a special storage area managed by the AV software, with the option to automatically delete files known to be malware or repair normal documents that also carry devious payloads.
Great AV suites also will monitor the filesystem for certain kinds of changes. Ransomware—which is malware that will rapidly encrypt user files like documents and mailboxes and then delete the originals—has become a huge moneymaker on other platforms. As a prime opportunity for attackers, it’s the greatest danger Mac users likely face as a category.
Detecting this pattern and halting it before any files are unavailable should be possible without an anti-malware system knowing the specific innards of a ransomware virus. Sophos, our top pick, includes this feature in the Home Premium version of its 2018 update. Other vendors, like Avast and Trend Micro Antivirus, offer an alternative feature that allows you to whitelist programs allowed to manipulate files in specific directories. So if this particular type of attack becomes rapidly popular, you’ll be protected.
Good antivirus software should also use minimal computational resources. That’s especially the case these days—AV monitoring hasn’t become much more complicated than when it first became available, and faster, multi-core CPUs can easily handle the demands of running AV software in the background without disturbing your active work.
Beyond these primary features, an easy-to-navigate interface and extra features are worth factoring into your decision. Some AV software are full-fledged suites that offer additional options like backup service for essential files, a password manager, parental controls, anti-tracking and privacy modes or options, a more advanced firewall, and the blocking of Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUAs).
How we test
Each software package is evaluated creating a clean installation of macOS Mojave, cloning it for each AV product, and then booting separately into each one to install a different package. This was to ensure that previous app installations didn’t interfere with new ones—sometimes AV software treats other AV software as an infection.
In addition to visiting malicious websites, downloading known malicious software, and even running said malware, we also reference the most recent reports from two labs that regularly cover macOS malware: AV Comparatives and AV-TEST. These laboratories test AV software against sets of known malware as well as products that are grouped as potentially unwanted applications (like adware).
The latter doesn’t damage or expose your computer or its files but may consume power and CPU cycles. Because the testing effectively looks at a combination of virus databases and behavior, they remain good gauges even after many months. When an antivirus software package lacks a rating from a known security research lab, we do more extensive testing with real malware.
Finally, while we gave props for a lot of different features and behaviors, we marked products down if they lacked any or all of the following:
- A nearly perfect score on macOS malware detection
- Ransomware monitoring
- Native browser plug-in or system-level Web proxy
- A high score on Windows malware detection
Privacy concerns
Using an anti-virus product, especially any that includes tools to also improve your online privacy, may lull you into believing you’re safe from personal and private information leaking out. That’s not quite the case. While there’s no reason to panic, you should consider a few reasonable issues.
![Mcafee Vs Avast For Mac Mcafee Vs Avast For Mac](https://1992444518.rsc.cdn77.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/avast-for-mac-2018.jpg)
First, an antivirus product may upload the complete text of files flagged to the cloud, where it can be analyzed by separate tools hosted there. This practice is normal and sensible: Some malware can detect when a running process may examine it, and will then engage in subterfuge. Antivirus software makers also can access their massive databases to examine files with characteristics that trigger their algorithms—certain elements that match known malware. As a result, security researchers discover new viruses, worms, Trojans horses, and the like.
However, helping the greater good means you’ll have to be comfortable with trusting a third-party with your file contents. Where appropriate, we noted privacy policy issues in individual reviews.
Second, this software may also rely partly or entirely on cloud-based checks of URLs, malware, and the like. Accordingly, an AV package might upload every URL you visit, metadata about files, signatures of files, information about your computer’s hardware, a list of running or installed applications, and more. Companies vary on their disclosure of such policies, and may not let you opt out of this kind of sharing. We note issues in each review as available.
Third, anti-virus software makers also get a sense of what behavior is happening on your computer that’s being monitored or blocked, and may use that information for their own purposes. In some cases, you can opt out of this information gathering.
All of our antivirus for Mac reviews
If you have specific requirements or just wish to see other options, below is a list of all the antivirus software we’ve reviewed. We’ll keep evaluating new and refreshed software on a regular basis, so be sure to come back to see what else we’ve put through the ringer.