PC Matic vs Norton: Which Antivirus Is the Best in 2024?

I heard good things about PC Matic and that its performance is comparable with Norton. Even its website includes a comparison against the more well-known Norton. I decided to test things out for myself by pitting Norton against PC Matic.

I assessed both competitors across 15 different aspects, and Norton excelled in nearly every category. It was disheartening to observe that PC Matic lacked fundamental features such as a firewall, password manager, and parental controls.

Norton is my top recommendation even against other top competitors like McAfee. It provides perfect real-time protection, an advanced firewall, and a bunch of useful extras like cloud storage that most other antiviruses don’t. You can test Norton out for yourself with its 60-day money-back guarantee.

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No Time? Here’s a 1-Minute Summary of Category Winners

The only similarity between Norton and PC Matic is that they both have powerful virus scanners that gave me a 100% detection score. However, Norton offers extra security features like an advanced firewall and web protection.

Virus Scanner	3 scan options and a 100% detection rate with no false positives	3 scan types and a 100% detection, but with 4 false positives
Real-Time Malware Protection	SONAR analysis provides perfect real-time protection	Super Shield provides a real-time protection score of 86%
System Performance	Consumes less RAM and CPU resources and doesn’t slow down your PC	Consumes moderate RAM and CPU resources and there’s some noticeable slowdown during resource-heavy activities
VPN	30 global server locations, can unblock most global platforms, and provide good speeds	✘
Parental Controls	Lets you limit screen time, block apps, and track mobile devices	✘
Firewall	Monitors your incoming and outgoing traffic and guards you from suspicious networks	✘
Password Manager	Encrypts your sensitive data, lets you change passwords in a click with its Auto-change features	✘
Gaming Mode	Silences notifications, and includes a game booster for an extra fee	✘
Optimization Tools	Includes optimize disk feature with file cleanup and a startup manager	Includes a registry cleaner, app updater, startup manager, and optimizer for system restore points
Other Features	Offers SafeCam, cloud storage, and a software updater	Only offers an ad blocker
Device Compatibility	Works on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS and has a user-friendly and consistent interface	Works on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS but it can be overwhelming
Customer Service	Provides 24/7 live chat, phone support, and a comprehensive online knowledge base	Only offers email support — email replies usually take up to a day
Price	Better value for money as it’s more feature-rich and offers cloud storage, a password manager, parental controls, and more	Not good value for money as it’s priced as much as Norton’s Deluxe plan but doesn’t offer half its features
Free Version	✘	Offers a free plan that includes a virus scanner, but you can’t remove infections without upgrading to a paid plan
Money-Back Guarantee	60-day money-back guarantee	30-day money-back guarantee

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How I Tested and Compared PC Matic vs Norton

• Virus Scanner — I used each contender’s virus scanner and evaluated detection scores, accuracy, and the number of false positives
• Real-Time Malware Protection — I downloaded EICAR virus samples and infected files from the web to see which antivirus was better at blocking them in real time.
• System Performance — I looked at how heavy each antivirus was on my PC, comparing multiple system resource stats with and without a scan.
• VPN — I judged each contender’s VPN by its streaming capabilities and speeds on nearby and distant servers.
• Parental Controls — I considered which antivirus provides more easy-to-use and feature-rich parental controls.
• Firewall — I checked for a firewall and what features it offers. I also tested its efficacy in terms of web security.
• Password Manager — I stored passwords and other personal information and tested the password manager’s auto-fill abilities.
• Gaming Mode — I checked the contenders’ gaming modes, how many features/modes they offer, and how well they allocate system resources while gaming.
• Optimization Tools — I considered how many tune-up tools each antivirus offers.
• Other Features — I accounted for the useful extras Norton and Trend Micro provide in their plans.
• Device Compatibility — I checked which OS versions and devices each antivirus supports.
• Customer Service — I compared each contender’s customer service by the number of support options and response times.
• Price — I compared the price plans of each contender to determine which plan offers the best value for money.
• Free Version — I checked for any free plans available and tested them to see if they provide good security
• Money-Back Guarantee — I tested the money-back guarantee first-hand to see how seamless the refund experience was for each antivirus.

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1. Virus Scanner — Norton’s Virus Scanner Doesn’t Give False Positives

Both Norton and PC Matic have powerful anti-malware engines, but Norton gave me no false positives throughout repeated tests. In contrast, PC Matic’s full scan flagged 4 safe files — that’s a much lower false positive score than the industry average but still does not beat Norton’s score.

Norton provides users with three scanning options: Quick Scan, Full Scan, and Custom Scan. To ensure thorough security, I recommend conducting a Full Scan. During my own experience, the Full Scan efficiently checked 400,000 files on my PC in less than 13 minutes and successfully detected all the malware I had intentionally placed on my computer. On the other hand, the Quick Scan focuses on critical areas of your hard drive and managed to scan over 12,000 files in a mere 2 minutes.

PC Matic also provides 3 scan options, including Quick Scan, Full Scan, and Selective Scan. I used its scan scheduler to run daily, weekly, or monthly scans. The full scan detected 100% of existing malware, including trojans and rootkits. It removed 1GB of junk files and outdated drivers, but it did give me 4 false positives. It also took nearly half an hour to complete.

Overall, both antiviruses offer perfect detection scores, but Norton was better as it didn’t flag harmless files. It was also much faster — Norton Insight remembers your scan history and makes future scans less time-consuming.

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2. Real-Time Malware Protection — Norton Blocks 100% of Real-Time Threats

After extensive tests, I learned that Norton’s real-time protection is much better than PC Matic’s. It blocked all malicious links, downloads, and websites without exception. Its excellent real-time detection score can be attributed to its SONAR analysis. When confronted with a novel threat, Norton’s SONAR tool compares it to existing threats to determine if it’s harmful to your device.

Norton’s Safe Web browser extension blocked me from visiting potentially dangerous sites and downloading malicious files. In comparison, the Chrome browser gave me a 97% online protection score. I also tested Norton’s web protection against spam email URLs, and it automatically blocked all of them.

PC Matic’s Super Shield offers a whitelist-based system of real-time protection. You can whitelist apps you deem safe to access. Theoretically, that should result in more security since anything that isn’t explicitly marked safe can’t be accessed. Unfortunately, PC Matic’s real-time protection score was only 86%, far lower than the industry average.

Unlike Norton, PC Matic doesn’t use malware databases, AI, and machine learning techniques to keep you safe from fast-emerging threats. However, it can detect file-less viruses without an .exe that binds themselves to legitimate software, making them extremely hard to detect. Overall, Norton’s real-time protection is far superior.

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3. System Performance — Norton Has Minimal Impact on System Resources

Norton’s full scans were faster and much lighter on my computer than PC Matic’s. Usually, full scans take up more system resources but that wasn’t the case with Norton. Norton Insight excludes previously safe files in future scans, making them much faster. My CPU and RAM usage jumped by just 32% and 38%, respectively. I noticed no significant slowdowns even while installing resource-heavy programs like MS Office and Adobe suite.

With Norton’s full scan running in the background, I launched 10 websites and 3 apps and transferred large files from my PC to an external hard drive. The slowdown in launching apps and browsing was between 4 to 9%, which was insignificant. That said, I have a powerful PC with the latest CPU so your experience may be different than mine.

PC Matic had a slightly more noticeable impact on my computer’s performance. Surfing the web with 10 Chrome tabs open at once was smooth, although I did experience some frame drops during gaming. The utilization of my CPU and RAM peaked at 45% and 55%, correspondingly. If you’re intending to engage in tasks that demand a lot of resources, I suggest pausing any ongoing scans.

Overall, Norton’s scans were lighter and better optimized for resource-heavy activities. You won’t notice your system slow down significantly.

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4. VPN — Norton’s Secure VPN Can Access Global Content Safely From Anywhere

Since PC Matic doesn’t offer a VPN yet, Norton wins this round. Norton offers an unlimited VPN in every plan except the basic one (Norton 360 Standard Plan). After running multiple leak tests, I found that Norton’s Secure VPN didn’t leak my original IP address and kept my identity hidden on the web.

Besides privacy, Norton’s VPN has all the top-shelf security features to protect you from prying eyes and snoopers, especially if you’re on public WiFi. These include:

• Military-grade encryption — Encrypts your internet traffic with a 256-bit cipher used by many government agencies to protect confidential data
• Kill switch — Cuts your device’s internet connectivity if something unexpected happens to the server (all my server connections were 100% reliable, though)
• No-logs policy — Ensures none of your data is logged, so your online activities are invisible to third parties
• WiFi security — Scans your WiFi network to check for vulnerabilities and avoid common network attacks

Secure VPN gave me fast speeds on local servers, but they dipped on distant connections. Still, they were fast enough for UHD streaming. Unfortunately, it blocks all P2P torrenting traffic, so you’ll have to get a standalone VPN like ExpressVPN for that.

Despite its limited network of 30 server locations, Secure VPN can access most global geo-restricted sites, such as Netflix US, HBO Max, Disney+, and more. Norton is among my top 5 VPNs with an in-built VPN.

While PC Matic doesn’t have a VPN, its website says that it’ll offer a VPN in 2023. Whether or not it happens remains to be seen.

In conclusion, Norton’s Secure VPN is nearly at par with a top standalone VPN. It has good unblocking capabilities, provides fast speeds, and keeps you anonymous on the web.

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5. Parental Controls — Norton Has Advanced Parental Controls While PC Matic Has None

Norton includes parental controls in its high-tier Deluxe plan, whereas PC Matic doesn’t offer them at all. This may be a deal breaker for parents needing to keep themselves and their families safe from inappropriate content and malicious intruders.

With Norton’s parental controls, you can limit your child’s screen time and fully monitor what they’re doing online and offline. You can create up to 15 child profiles, which is enough for an average parent. All you need to do is install the Norton Family app on the monitored devices.

One downside is that Norton’s parental controls aren’t available on its Mac app. Also, location tracking and app blocking are only available on mobile devices. I really liked the School Time function, which allows internet access for online learning but blocks distracting apps.

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6. Firewall — Norton’s Advanced Firewall Lets You Control Incoming and Outgoing Traffic

Norton wins this round yet again because PC Matic doesn’t have a native firewall. However, its Super Shield works in tandem with the Windows Defender firewall. The problem is Windows Defender is not enough to keep you safe from complex threats, like metamorphic viruses.

Norton’s firewall lets you be in full control of your incoming and outgoing internet traffic. You can set traffic rules, check for DNS and ARP spoofing, and set up a list of trusted networks. The Intrusion Detection feature was my favorite — it blocks connections with attack signatures to secure you against inbound threats.

The Whitelist feature ensures you can seamlessly access trusted programs, like Skype and MS Word without seeking Norton’s approval. I could manually configure this list to my liking, but I liked that Norton automatically learns which apps are reliable and safe. Nonetheless, it monitors newly downloaded applications for malicious activity.

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7. Password Manager — Norton Protects You From Data-Stealing Malware

Norton includes a password manager in its most basic Plus plan, so it was disappointing to find it missing in PC Matic. After testing Norton’s password manager, I was pleasantly surprised that it was almost as good as a premium standalone password manager like 1Password.

You just need to remember your master password, and Norton will take care of the rest. It fetches all user credentials you’ve already saved in your browsers so you don’t have to manually re-enter them on Norton. Even better, your passwords will be synced across all your devices using Norton.

Norton uses military-grade 256-bit encryption to secure all your data. The encryption happens at the local level before the data leaves your device. As a result, even Norton doesn’t know what you’ve stored in your vault. I used Norton’s password generator to create strong passwords for my Google, Facebook, and Instagram accounts.

The Auto-change Password feature lets you replace weak passwords with strong ones with a single click. I didn’t have to head over to a website and change my password — I could do it from Norton itself, which was very convenient. However, this only works with popular sites, like Netflix, Reddit, and Facebook.

The only reason why Norton lags behind standalone password managers is that it doesn’t support 2-factor authentication. There’s no recovery method, and you can’t access your vault if you forget or lose your master password. Still, as an add-on to a powerful antivirus, Norton’s password manager is one of the best.

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8. Gaming Mode — Norton’s Game Mode Silences Notifications During Full-Screen Activities

Since PC Matic lacks a gaming mode, much like most other useful extras, Norton is the better contender in the gaming department. That said, I wasn’t impressed by Norton’s basic gaming mode in its standard antivirus plans. All it does is silence unnecessary notifications during full-screen activities, like streaming or gaming for an uninterrupted experience.

For avid gamers, that’s not enough. That’s why Norton offers a special, dedicated plan just for gamers. Norton 360 For Gamers includes a game optimizer, which gives you the power boost for lag-free gaming. It reduces performance interruptions by boxing all non-essential apps in a single CPU core, allowing other CPU cores to boost your gaming performance.

I tested Norton GO’s capabilities by launching Forza Horizon 5 and CS:GO simultaneously while the full scan was running. Both games never lagged and ran on 120 FPS. Without Norton GO, my FPS nosedived and hovered between 40 and 60 FPS.

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9. Optimization Tools — PC Matic Has More Tune-Up Tools

PC Matic’s tune-up facility is better because it has more optimization tools than Norton. I ran a virus scan and PC Matic removed almost 1GB of junk files and warned me about outdated drivers. It also prevented 3 auto-run programs on system start-up, which improved my boot time by about 5 seconds. It includes:

• Registry cleaning — Gets rid of registry entries from previously uninstalled programs, something which I would’ve missed without PC Matic’s tune-up facility
• Update apps — Ensures up to 30 apps on your device are auto-updated and not vulnerable to exploits
• Optimized system restore points — Ensures system restore points don’t hog up too much space on your hard drive
• Startup services edit — Disables unnecessary auto-run programs to improve system boot time

After doing all of the above, I opened 10 apps on my PC simultaneously and the launch time improved by 4 seconds — that’s significant, considering I didn’t get any delays previously because my PC is quite powerful. However, the improvement will be quite noticeable if you have a slow computer.

Unfortunately, Norton’s optimization tools aren’t embedded inside its scans. However, you can access them in the Performance tab in the dashboard. They include:

• Optimize Disk — Scans your hard drive for fragmentation and optimizes it to improve performance
• File Cleanup — Deletes temporary and junk files from Windows and browsers to clear up RAM
• Startup Manager — Lets you disable unnecessary apps from launching at system startup to improve boot time

All tools took less than 2 minutes to run and significantly improved my system performance. My PC’s startup time was 15 seconds, which dropped to just 10 seconds. However, I was hoping Norton would have more optimization tools like removing cookies from browsers.

To sum up, PC Matic’s and Norton’s tune-up facilities improved my system performance by the same levels. But PC Matic wins this round because it has more optimization tools than Norton.

10. Other Features — Norton Offers Many Useful Extras for Better Protection

Norton’s extra features are difficult to contest against, especially by PC Matic, which lacks a lot of basic features like a firewall and password manager. The SafeCam feature protects your webcam, which doesn’t have any internal security protocols and can be easily hacked. With Norton, I didn’t have to tape my PC’s webcam as it blocks any unauthorized attempts to access your webcam.

Besides that, Norton is among a few antiviruses with tiered cloud storage on all its plans. It starts with 2GB and goes up to 250 GB. I backed up all my sensitive files so that they were immune to any cyber attacks and threats like ransomware. You can also schedule regular backups weekly, monthly, or at a time frame of your choosing.

The Software Updater is an easy way to keep your OS and apps up to date to avoid exploitable vulnerabilities. While this is essentially an optimization tool, it’s not a part of Norton’s official tune-up facility for some reason. I ran the Software Updater scan and found that I needed to update 10 items. It took about 8 minutes for them to update, after which I had to restart my PC.

In contrast, the only extra feature I found on PC Matic was its ad blocker. After installing PC Matic, it prompted me to install its ad blocker after restarting my system. It works with Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, and blocked all annoying pop-up ads while I surfed the web. However, I noticed that it looks almost identical to a free, open-source ad blocker extension called uBlock Origin.

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11. Device Compatibility — Norton’s Apps are Easier to Use and Have Greater Features

While PC Matic is compatible with a greater range of OS versions, I found Norton’s desktop and apps easier to use. They have a consistent and user-friendly interface across the board with clearly labeled features.

Norton’s desktop apps have a quick access menu for all features, including parental controls, VPN, cloud backup, password manager, and more. The secondary interface opens up when you click “Device Security.” This is where you can run and schedule scans and use Norton’s optimization tools.

The mobile apps on iOS and Android have the same features, which was surprising because most antiviruses lack features on their iOS apps. The apps include malware scanning, device security, privacy report, WiFi security, web protection, call blocking, SMS security, and more. Unfortunately, the anti-theft feature is no longer available.

In contrast, PC Matic’s dashboard seemed overwhelming at first glance as it has too many elements popping out. It doesn’t make sense why the desktop apps were so cluttered when PC Matic doesn’t have many features to offer in the first place.

Its Android app doesn’t offer much apart from malware scanning. Meanwhile, the iOS app offers web security for iPhone users with ad and social media blocking as well as Safari Privacy Protection. Take a look at the device compatibility chart for both antiviruses below to see if they support your devices.

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12. Customer Service — Norton Offers Fast and Responsive 24/7 Live Chat

Norton leaps ahead of PC Matic in the customer support department because it offers 24/7 live chat. I think live chat is a must-have for any premium antivirus — it’s the fastest way to get help. I filled out an online form on Norton’s website and got connected with an agent in under 2 minutes. I asked them a question about the Power Eraser tool and got a helpful and detailed reply.

Norton’s phone support is available in 53 countries and multiple languages, including German, Spanish, and French. Just fill out an online form and you’ll be given a number to call. I had to hold for about 8 minutes before an agent got back to me. It’s a bit slower than live chat, but excellent if you have a technical issue you want to troubleshoot.

Most of the answers you’re looking for are in Norton’s comprehensive knowledge base available on its website. It includes common FAQs, setup guides, and a community where you can post questions and get answers to them from professionals.

On the other hand, PC Matic doesn’t offer live chat or phone support. Instead, you can contact the team via email support by submitting a ticket on the website. The agent got back to me after a day, which was a bit slow compared to other antiviruses. Some of the answers were generic and unclear.

Fortunately, you don’t have to wait for the support team to get back to you. Instead, you can look up your query on PC Matic’s knowledge base and forum. In the end, Norton not only offers more support options but also better quality and faster support than PC Matic.

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13. Price — Norton Offers Better Value for Money

After comparing price plans, I concluded that Norton offers much better value than PC Matic. It offers a wide range of extra features, such as a VPN, password manager, and cloud backup even on its mid-tier plans. In contrast, PC Matic only offers basic security features but I was happy that dark web monitoring was on the list.

While Norton doesn’t have a free plan, it offers many more features even on its starter plans. Here’s a brief breakdown of what you’ll get with each plan:

The Standard plan is the best value plan as it has all the necessary features and useful extras to protect you against cyber threats. However, you’ll have to get the Deluxe plan if you want access to parental controls. Overall, PC Matic costs as much as Norton’s Deluxe plan but has nothing to show for its high price tag.

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14. Free Version — PC Matic Has a Free Version While Norton Doesn’t

The only advantage PC Matic has over Norton is that it offers a free plan. It includes the signature whitelist-based security, so you can test its malware engine’s capabilities before signing up for a paid plan. It offers the following features:

• SuperShield Whitelist — Blocks all apps that aren’t on PC Matic’s whitelist
• Scheduler — Lets you schedule scans periodically

The problem is you can’t remedy threats after a virus scan — PC Matic prompts you to upgrade to the premium plan to do that. That didn’t leave a good impression, and you’ll be better off with other free but fully functional Windows antiviruses with more features.

15. Money-Back Guarantee — Getting a Refund With Norton Is Easier and Faster

Norton provides a longer money-back window than PC Matic. A generous 60-day refund guarantee is enough for you to fully test all of Norton’s features. On the monthly plan, however, you’ll have 14 days to claim a refund.

I bought an annual subscription and submitted my refund request via the 24/7 live chat. The agent asked me once if I’d stay if Norton added 1 month to my subscription plan for free, but didn’t insist when I refused. I got the confirmation email as soon as the agent approved my request and got my money back in 4 days.

PC Matic offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. Since it doesn’t have live chat support, I had to request it by email. The billing team responded the next day with a confirmation email and I got my money after 5 days.

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And the Winner Is… Norton 360

Norton 360 is the obvious winner of this competition. It outperformed PC Matic in almost every category. SONAR analysis and advanced firewall make Norton the leader in the antivirus industry. It offers perfect real-time protection against the most complex of cyber threats. You can try Norton risk-free for 60 days to see if it suits your needs.

• Virus Scanner — Norton
• Real-Time Malware Protection —Norton
• System Performance — Norton
• VPN — Norton
• Parental Controls — Norton
• Firewall — Norton
• Password Manager — Norton
• Gaming Mode —Norton
• Optimization Tools — PC Matic
• Other Features — Norton
• Device Compatibility — Norton
• Customer Service — Norton
• Price — Norton
• Free Version — PC Matic
• Money-Back Guarantee — Norton

However, PC Matic is a good option for those looking for an accurate virus scanner with adequate real-time protection. In that case, I suggest you get a lifetime subscription so you don’t pay as much monthly as you would for the Norton Deluxe plan. If you prefer the monthly plan, test PC Matic first with its 30-day money-back guarantee.

Overall, Norton is a much better antivirus suite than PC Matic. Its perfect real-time protection score and a range of advanced security features make it perfect to guard yourself against complex and fast-emerging threats.

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How To Download Norton on Your Device

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FAQs About PC Matic And Norton

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