TotalAV and Norton are two of the major household names in the antivirus industry. If you’ve been looking for a top-quality antivirus, then chances are that you’ve come across both of these pieces of software. Both are considered to be amongst the top 10 best antiviruses in the world, and with more and more threats being introduced to the world as each day passes, the popularity of both programs rises.
Which of these programs provides better protection against viruses, malware, adware, and other threats? That’s what we’re going to find out on this article. We’ll be also providing you with other alternatives that you might want to take a look at if you don’t feel that Total AV and Norton are the right choices for you.
In any case, we do want to point out that both of these antiviruses are of the highest quality and both offer protection of over 95% effectiveness against any threat you might encounter online. Regardless of your choice, both of these are better than Windows Defender and will keep you safe against all sorts of threats.
Best Antivirus Protection
Regardless of all the additional features that both Norton and TotalAV offer to their customers, the most important aspect of antivirus software is always going to be the quality of protection that they offer. Protection, in this case, is referring to any type of attack that your computer might be prone to receiving in any sort of way while browsing online (this includes malware, adware, or direct attacks).
Norton comes packed with everything you need to keep your computer safe. First of all, and most importantly, it has an active protection program that keeps your computer from running processes that are deemed dangerous. This program works in real time, which means that any process that your computer might be running can be shut down immediately if a threat is detected.
TotalAV also uses real-time protection software and keeps threats from being injected into your system when a program is running. However, TotalAV excels more on the fact that it removes threats that are already present, even though it’s also good at preventing them. Norton seems to be more suited to keeping your system from new threats that you may encounter online.
The way in which Norton does it (and what makes it so effective) is keeping a full and complete database of all known threats and using it in real time to continue scanning anything suspicious that your computer might get infected with.
The Norton database is a thing to behold as well, with millions adware, spyware, malware, and many other threats registered there. The complete list allows Norton to keep even new threats away, as it compares the code of each one with any malware that it encounters.
Best Family Home Antivirus – TotalAV or Norton?
Norton has one clear advantage against TotalAV in terms of being the ideal antivirus for a family home – it allows you to set up parental controls for your children, allowing you to remain calm while they browse the internet.
The fact that Norton is also a good option in terms of adware protection is also a good thing to have when children browse the internet, as they are prone to clicking on adware and installing bad programs on your PC.
In any case, it’s up to you to decide which antivirus you seem more comfortable with before making your final purchase. It’s important that the whole interface makes you feel comfortable, especially if you’re going to be setting up parental controls for your children. The most important thing about antivirus software is to be able to control it with ease.
Depending on which TotalAV plan you select, though, you might also be entitled to receive Parental Control features. However, with Norton you’ll need to pay less for them, which makes it a better option in terms of family friendliness.
System Usage
Another important feature to consider when using an antivirus is the system usage capabilities of each program. Not everyone looks forward to running scans because some computers simply don’t do a good enough job at keeping pace with the running antivirus. This makes everything move far slower than it should, and it could cause issues if you’re not using a high-end PC or one with a powerful processor.
Both programs allow you to set the frequency of scans manually, and both shouldn’t take much system processing capabilities when running. However, Norton does use a bit more of your computer’s capabilities than TotalAV. It’s to be expected, though, considering that Norton does offer a more in-depth scan than its counterpart.
In any case, if you’re using an older computer or one that can’t deal with a lot of processes at the same time, TotalAV might be the best option for you to choose. Remember that this antivirus is still very good and your quality of life also matters, so using the one with less processing requirements could be your way to go.
System and Device Compatibility – Best Antivirus for Mobile and Best Antivirus for Mac?
Another important feature in today’s modern world is that antiviruses must be compatible with many devices in order to fulfill the needs of all sorts of buyers, as many people tend to own various devices in one household. You’ll be pleased to hear that both Norton and TotalAV are compatible with some of the world’s most popular OS’s, amongst which you can find Apple and Android devices as well as Macs and PCs.
In any case, TotalAV seems far easier to install in most devices when compared to Norton. The setup process of TotalAV is much more straightforward and the way it works requires much less user intervention than Norton. That’s a huge plus if you aren’t a tech-savvy buyer, as you won’t really need to do anything other than run an installation wizard and set up some simple preferences.
In any case, it’s good to know that you can count on both pieces of software to keep your computer and any other device safely. You may also purchase the Deluxe version of each of these antiviruses to gain access to more devices per year, which ends up being dirt cheap on the long run – especially with some of the discounts that you can find.
Email Safety and Anti-Spam Features
Norton excels in this area as well. You’ll find how your email is far better protected when using Norton thanks to the specialized defenses that the program has in place. TotalAV offers a more generic level of protection against email threats, but there isn’t a specific way in which it can deal or treat any of these menaces. You just need to run your scan and remove anything malicious that your email might’ve downloaded.
Norton, on the other hand, has a specialized tool which scans emails and keeps you protected against downloading any potential threats. You may sometimes be blocked out of certain addresses – particularly if you haven’t received any emails from that source yet, or if the source has a similar name to other of your contacts. You can filter them out manually in any case.
Ease of Use – Which One Excels?
Both of these products are extremely easy to use. You won’t struggle to find any important features and the setup process tends to be very straightforward in all regards. However, TotalAV is a bit easier to configure than Norton.
This is particularly important because TotalAV has more features, so it really does say something about the emphasis put on customer satisfaction when a more complex product is easier to use. In any case, you won’t struggle to set up any of these two antiviruses, so it would be unfair to use this as a key comparison point.
Keeping Your Identity Safe – Which One Does a Better Job?
Other than protecting you from viruses and threats, there’s also one more major issue with which antiviruses need to be capable of dealing with. This is the increasingly growing issue of identity theft and information leakage in the modern state of the internet, which could cause you to accidentally give away more than you would want when entering your info on any given website.
That’s because some sites are meant to be keeping track of your information as long as you’re visiting them, which could mean that they’re constantly stealing your browser information to then bombard you with spam or unwanted adware. Most modern antiviruses are capable, in one way or another, of keeping your information from being released to the world with their private browsing features.
TotalAV and Norton are no exceptions to this rule. Both programs come packed with a special VPN software that you can connect to make sure that your information is safe at all times.
Both VPNs are very good and both companies have made sure that the browsing speed doesn’t suffer as a consequence of using one of these programs, which is also a massive plus in the modern industry as some new VPNs really make your connection feel sluggish.
Another great feature of both of these antiviruses is the capabilities of their firewalls. If you’re a Windows user, you might be already protected in this regard as the Windows firewall is still one of the best free products that you’ll find, but Norton and TotalAV have an incredible setup in place which can keep you safe from attacks at all times.
It has to be said, though, that Norton’s firewall is more advanced that TotalAV, which means that those people who prioritize the safety of their personal info might want to give Norton a try.
TotalAV Pricing vs Norton Pricing
Another huge aspect that people use to determine which antivirus is best is their price tag. Which one offers better value for money? Well, it’s necessary to tell you that TotalAV has way more features than Norton, even though its level of protection is a bit lower than the former.
However, Norton does cost a bit less than TotalAV in general. The TotalAV Ultimate plan goes for almost $70 a year, while Norton’s most expensive plan costs just below $50. Both plans allow you to use multiple devices at the same time, although Norton has a limitation of a few devices per plan. In any case, both are relatively affordable and whichever one you’d rather buy offers great value for money.
Norton, regardless, is far less limiting than TotalAV in relation to the number of devices in general. TotalAV supports three computers per license at a time.
Why Choose Norton Over TotalAV?
After going over all the features that both programs offer, one thing is clear: both are amazing pieces of antivirus software and both will keep your computer safe. However, we have concluded that the best program out of the two is Norton simply because it’s a far more complete antivirus that TotalAV. Protection matters, and the quality of Norton makes it a bit better than its competitor.
That’s not to say TotalAV is not good at keeping you safe, though. The program still runs consistent scans and offers real time protection against all sorts of malware, but Norton is safer because of its complete database.
In any case, you might want to purchase TotalAV if what you’re looking for is a cheap antivirus option that won’t cost you too much to get. In terms of budget and features, you’ll be better off buying a subscription of TotalAV over Norton.
Norton and its plans might be more expensive, but if sheer protection is what you’re after, you’re going to need to purchase one of their plans. There are almost no other antiviruses on the market capable of offering such a high level of protection, with the exception of other industry giants such as Kaspersky. In any case, Norton rivals the best of the market and that’s why it takes such a high spot on the list of the best antivirus software in the world.
