Malwarebytes Premium Security vs Norton AntiVirus Plus Comparison

• Standard for 3 devices, 1 year: $59.99 a year; the store cart lists the same amount for the next billing
• Standard for 1 device, 1 year: $44.99 a year
• Plus for 3 devices, 1 year: $79.98 a year
• Total for 1 adult and 3 devices, first year: Intro: $89.99 for the first year, a 50% discount
• Total for 1 adult and 3 devices, renewal: $179.99 a year after the first year; the page says the discount is first year only

• AntiVirus Plus for 1 device, renewal: $59.99 a year after the first year; the cart says the plan 'Automatically renews at $59.99/ year'
• AntiVirus Plus for 1 device, first year: Intro: $29.99 for the first year
• AntiVirus Plus for 5 devices, renewal: $84.99 a year after the first year ($39.99 in the first year); from the cart
• Norton 360 Deluxe for 5 devices, renewal: $124.99 a year after the first year ($49.99 in the first year); from the cart

The privacy policy lists, among the data its software collects, 'artifacts detected as malware, PUPs, or suspicious files' and, for blocked exploits, the exploit payload files and possibly a copy of the exploit executable. It says the content analysis of files, photos and messages runs on the device and the company does not receive the content, 'unless we describe otherwise for a specific feature'; one such feature is text message protection on mobile, which sends the sender and the body of texts from senders not in your contacts and keeps the malicious ones for analysis. It does not say whether the upload of detected files can be switched off separately; the opt-out covers 'threat statistics', which include detection samples.

The Products Privacy Notice (last updated 25 Sep 2026) lists, for the desktop security products, 'Files identified as potential or known malware (36 months)', file metadata including file paths, application names, and 'URLs/Websites visited and associated metadata (36 months)', used among other things for 'file sample analysis'. Norton's settings article says Norton Community Watch sends information about potential security risks to Norton and, when a possible risk is detected, information on running processes, visited URLs and general system information; it can be switched off, but 'critical data will still be sent even if this option is turned off.' On phones, Safe SMS collects text messages that contain links or come from senders not in your contacts and keeps them, with personal identifiers removed, for up to five years.

The privacy policy says Malwarebytes does not sell personal data for money, but that it may share limited information with advertising partners such as Meta to measure ads: a hashed email address, online identifiers, ad click identifiers and IP address. Meta and Malwarebytes are joint controllers for data sent through Meta's business tools. The policy offers an opt-out through 'Your Privacy Choices' on the website or Global Privacy Control. It also says the product collects usage and threat statistics, a machine identifier created at install, and IP-based location, but that it does not store the IP address of client requests.

Gen Digital's General Privacy Notice, which Norton's Privacy Center says applies to Norton, says 'We do not sell your personal data to third parties', but also that the group uses data 'to serve you with relevant advertising and content, both on our properties and on third-party properties' and that 'Where permitted by applicable law, we may share personal data with third parties for advertising purposes.' Norton's cookies and analytics notice lists Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, Quantum Metric, AppsFlyer, Singular and Firebase as analytics tools in its products. The App Store listing of the iPhone app says identifiers and usage data 'may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies'. The desktop app shows promotional notifications by default; they can be switched off in Settings.

Malwarebytes is based in Santa Clara, California, and its privacy policy gives that address and says Malwarebytes Inc. takes part in the EU–US, UK and Swiss data privacy frameworks. The policy says the company may disclose personal data to government agencies in response to lawful requests, including subpoenas and warrants.

Norton is a brand of Gen Digital Inc., whose privacy team is in Tempe, Arizona; the group's general privacy notice says it may disclose data to public authorities and in legal proceedings. For users in the European Economic Area the controller of personal data for Norton products is NortonLifeLock Ireland Limited in Dublin, so EU data protection law applies to them.

Founded in 2008; co-founder Marcin Kleczynski is still chief executive. In December 2022 the private equity firm Vector Capital closed a $100 million minority investment and two of its managing directors joined the board.

Norton was a consumer brand of Symantec. On 4 November 2019 Symantec sold its enterprise security business to Broadcom and renamed itself NortonLifeLock Inc.; on 7 November 2022 NortonLifeLock took the name Gen Digital Inc. The company is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol GEN.