McAfee Total Protection vs Norton AntiVirus Plus Comparison

• Total Protection Essential for 5 devices, renewal: $119.99 a year after the first year; the checkout gives this as the current renewal price
• Total Protection Essential for 5 devices, first year: Intro: $39.99 for the first year, for new customers
• McAfee+ Premium Individual, renewal: $149.99 a year after the first year ($49.99 in the first year); from the plan page, not checked in the cart

• 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 McAfee License Agreement says the antivirus protection may automatically send McAfee reports about suspected malware and unwanted software, that 'the reports may include files that contain suspected malware', that McAfee will ask permission first if it thinks a suspicious file is likely to contain personal data, and that 'You can turn off this automatic reporting from your antivirus protection in your product.' The privacy notice adds that the software collects device ID, telemetry, McAfee ID, IP address, web domains visited and web traffic data, and that the WebAdvisor browser extension collects URLs, search information and the name and size of downloaded files.

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 notice says McAfee does not 'sell' personal information under U.S. state law, but may share information with third-party advertising partners for cross-context behavioral and targeted advertising, that it collects mobile advertising identifiers, that mobile advertising partners may use location to target ads where location access is granted, and that it uses Meta's business tools to target ads. Opt-out is through the Individual Data Request form or Global Privacy Control. The Cookie Notice adds that free McAfee products may share device and advertising identifiers with web browsing or app usage with select partners for targeted ads, with an opt-out in the product settings.

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.

McAfee, LLC is registered in California and has its headquarters at 6220 America Center Drive, San Jose. The privacy notice names McAfee Ireland Limited as the controller for consumers in the EEA and says McAfee may disclose data to law enforcement and government authorities, including for national security purposes and in response to subpoenas.

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.

On 1 March 2022 McAfee Corp. announced the completion of its acquisition by an investor group led by Advent International and funds advised by Permira, with Crosspoint Capital Partners, CPP Investments, GIC and a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority; the deal was valued at over $14 billion and McAfee left the stock exchange.

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.