Norton vs TotalAV: which antivirus is better?

Norton and TotalAV are two leading programs in the antivirus industry – both ranking as top choices with independent antivirus testing labs and home users alike. And the time has come to finally see which of them is better, and decide on a winner once and for all.
In this Norton vs TotalAV comparison, we will be evaluating which provider better protects your devices from malware, and which offers more and/or better features. We will also take a look at performance stats, pricing, as well as ease of use, and user support systems.
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Norton vs. TotalAV
Norton Antivirus | TotalAV | |
⭐ Rating: | ||
🥇 Overall rank: | #2 out of #25 | #3 out of #25 |
🔥 Coupons: | Norton Antivirus coupon 66% OFF | TotalAV coupon 84% OFF |
💵 Price: | From $19.99/year | from $19.00/year, 3 devices |
✂️ Free version: | No | Yes |
🖥️ Platforms: | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | Windows, Mac, iOS, Android |
Norton vs TotalAV: which offers better protection?
Norton | TotalAV | |
AV-Test | Top Product | Certified |
AV-Comparatives | Advanced+ | Advanced+ |
While both Norton and TotalAV are at the top of their game when it comes to protection, Norton is just a tad bit better.
AV-Test independent antivirus testing lab gave Norton a maximum of six points in all tested areas: protection, performance, and usability. Norton has been given the Top Product badge on the AV-Test website.
The same lab also tested TotalAV. It scored six points in performance and usability, however, for protection, it got five points out of six. The TotalAV test results earned it a Certified badge, which is a step lower than Norton's.
Another testing lab, AV-Comparatives, uses a slightly different scoring system. Both Norton and TotalAV were tested for malware protection, performance, and real-world protection.
Norton scored a maximum of three stars for malware protection and performance, and one star in real-world protection testing. Meanwhile, TotalAV got three stars in malware protection, two stars in performance, and no stars at all in real-world protection.
Malware protection
Both Norton and TotalAV have real-time protection available for their users, like any other respectable antivirus software provider. This feature protects your device at all times from malware and online threats.
Norton’s real-time threat protection is quite an extensive feature. Not only does it employ sophisticated artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to monitor and protect your device, but it also allows you to safely interact with potentially dangerous websites in Isolation Mode. The real-time protection feature also works with social media feeds and emails, and warns you about anything suspicious. It will prevent you from accidentally clicking on malicious links or falling for scams.
TotalAV’s real-time protection is enabled by default when you first login to the app. Unlike Norton, TotalAV doesn’t use AI to detect threats but employs advanced cloud scanning – any suspicious programs or activity are dealt with in the cloud. If a legitimate threat is detected, TotalAV gives you a warning and recommendations for further action.
Scanning
An antivirus wouldn’t be an antivirus if it didn’t have at least some scanning systems. TotalAV and Norton have plenty. Not all scanning options are as efficient as they could be, but both of them do a pretty good job in catching viruses on your device. Let’s take a closer look.
Norton has several scan types:
- Smart scan, which scans temporary files, system files, and any other places where malware is usually found.
- Quick scan, which checks for privacy or network security issues, as well as tunes up the system.
- Full system scan, which fully scans your device without leaving anything out.
- Custom scan, which scans specific files, folders, and disk spaces chosen by the user.
- Norton Insight, which flags any suspicious activity or files which might need a custom scan.
The Smart and Quick scans on Norton are, unfortunately, pretty useless at detecting malicious files. The full scan, however, is greatly efficient and managed to detect all intentionally planted malware during in-house testing.

TotalAV offers scan options as follows:
- Quick scan, which scans the temporary files folder.
- System scan, which is essentially a head-to-toes scan for your device.
- Smart scan, which allows for scheduling malware, tracking cookies, and junk file scanning.
- Custom scan, which scans your chosen files, folders, or disks.
Much like Norton, TotalAV’s quick scan didn’t find any of the 10 malicious files during in-house testing. The system scan was more successful, as it identified all 10 malware.

Firewall protection
Firewalls are regarded as a staple part of any antivirus suite. However, in this Norton vs TotalAV battle, only one contender actually has this feature – Norton.
Norton’s firewall protection feature is called Smart Firewall. It not only protects your device from incoming outside attacks but also monitors both outgoing and incoming network traffic whenever you are online.

Some of the more advanced features of Norton’s smart firewall are intrusion protection, which protects you against any attempts to hack your device by online means. There is also a vulnerability assessment option that informs you about any insecurities your device may have, as well as offers ways to fix them.
Features overview
Both Norton and TotalAV have more than the standard antivirus features, ranging from ad blockers and safe browsing features to full-fledged password managers, VPNs, and even secure crypto miners. Take a look below to see how both antiviruses compare to each other in terms of available features:
Norton | TotalAV | |
Real-time protection | ✅ | ✅ |
Secure VPN | ✅ | ✅ |
Firewall | ✅ | ❌ |
Ad blocker | ✅ | ✅ |
Safe browser | ✅ | ✅ |
Anti-phishing protection | ✅ | ✅ |
Password manager | ✅ | ✅ |
PC cloud backup | ✅ | ❌ |
Webcam protection | ✅ | ✅ |
Parental controls | ✅ | ❌ |
Dark web monitoring | ✅ | ✅ |
System optimization | ✅ | ✅ |
Secure crypto mining | ✅ | ❌ |
While both providers have a lot of different and useful features, TotalAV falls shorter than Norton just by four – it doesn’t have a firewall, cloud backup, parental controls, and the secure crypto mining feature. While the usefulness of the latter could be argued, the rest of them are quite essential for a full-fledged antivirus program.
Norton features
The features you get with Norton depend on the pricing plan, however, even the cheapest subscriptions will get you a pretty good deal. Such features as Smart Firewall, password manager, real-time protection, and even cloud backup are included in all plans.
If we go further, Norton gives its users the opportunity to further secure their online presence with a VPN. There is also a webcam protection feature and dark web monitoring. The latter two will protect you from identity theft and/or alert you if anything is amiss with your personal data.

The most advanced version of Norton antivirus includes, besides previously mentioned features, parental control, crypto miner, and School Time. The latter is another feature for parents who want to monitor their children’s online activities and interactions with devices.
To learn more, check out our Norton antivirus review.
TotalAV features
The real-time protection with TotalAV comes enabled by default, and together with it – numerous device scanning options. But there is still so much more to discover here.
The more prominent features of TotalAV include a password manager and a VPN. Both are essential in today’s digital world where having one password for everything equals a death sentence for your personal data, and online anonymity is a luxury few can afford.
Some other neat built-in TotalAV gadgets are the WebShield browser extension and System Tune-Up. The former is a well-rounded online protection feature – it blocks malicious websites, and phishing attempts, and deals with other online security threats. The system tune-up checks your device for junk files and cleans it thoroughly.

For more information, read our TotalAV review.
PC performance
In this battle of the best antiviruses, performance is also important to take into consideration. If the program slows down your PC too much in order to protect it, it is no good at all.
During our tests, Norton showed pretty good results. The smaller scans, such as the quick scan or the smart scan, used only around 30-40% of CPU power. The full system scan, being more extensive and intensive in general, took a slightly bigger bite out of the CPU – the average usage hovered around 70%, occasionally reaching 100%.
TotalAV’s performance during scans was really good. The quick scan, even though it didn’t find any malware, used only around 23% percent of the CPU power on average. This is quite significantly better than Norton’s quick scan results. The full system was a little difficult to judge – it could go from only 19% to 99%. However, 19% is still better than 70%.
Pricing
Norton | TotalAV | |
Free | – | $0.00 |
AntiVirus Plus/Pro | $19.99/year | $19.00/year |
360 Standard/Internet Security | $39.99/year | $39.00/year |
360 Deluxe/Total Security | $49.99/year | $49.00/year |
Get our dicsount | Get our discount |
TotalAV and Norton pricing plans don’t differ much – in all cases except for one, the price difference is exactly $0.99. Norton is the more expensive one, in every single pricing tier.
There are, however, some other things to be noted. For example, only TotalAV of the two antiviruses offers a completely free plan – albeit it is very basic and doesn’t include anything besides standard scans and malware and phishing protection.
On the other hand, Norton doesn’t have a free plan, but its Plus plan, which costs x, includes not only basic scans but also a password manager, cloud backup, and a smart firewall. TotalAV offers a VPN and system clean-up tools – for a dollar less.
Apps and interface: which is more user-friendly?
Both Norton and TotalAV apps are very well designed from a usability standpoint. They have clean interfaces, and good layouts and the features are easy to find.
However, the Norton desktop and mobile apps have one disadvantage – a lot of features open in separate windows, or you need to have separate apps for them. This definitely takes away some usability points.
Desktop apps
Norton’s desktop app is really straightforward, easy to install and to use. Once you log in, the app will even offer you a guided tour to inform you about where to find which feature. And even without it, the whole interface is easy to navigate.
Our only complaint with the app is that a lot of its features open in new tabs – this can be annoying, especially with features such as Dark Web Monitoring or Parental Controls, which open on the web altogether.

TotalAV’s desktop app has a simple interface, and four main categories of features, which make navigating between them even easier. If you want to do a quick scan, you don’t have to go far or look deep – everything is on the main antivirus page. The app also conveniently provides information about device security levels.

Mobile apps
Norton’s mobile apps aren’t much different from the desktop version. All the features are easily accessible through the main page. The scans also start right away once you open the app.
However, the same problem that we had with desktop apps also persists – some features are available only with separate applications, namely the VPN, the password manager, and parental controls.

TotalAV’s mobile apps are simple, easy to use, and nicely designed. All of the features, including the VPN, password manager, and scans, are available on the home page – you don’t have to swipe or scroll endlessly to find something you need.

Customer support
Norton | TotalAV | |
24/7 live chat | ✅ | ✅ |
❌ | ✅ | |
Phone | ✅ | ✅ |
Knowledge base | ✅ | ✅ |
Community support/FAQs | ✅ | ✅ |
Customer support at both Norton and TotalAV are available through many different channels. People have the option to browse through extensive knowledge bases and FAQs or ask their fellow users for help in community support channels.
There are also live chat and phone support options with both antivirus programs. In TotalAV’s case, it doesn’t even matter if you’re a free or a paid user either.
However, we must note that Norton doesn’t have email support, and to reach a real and live support agent through the chat, the user has to go through numerous steps of logging in, chatting to a bot, and then doing some more waiting. It is a bit of a hassle.
Final verdict
Norton | TotalAV | |
Protection | ✅ | ❌ |
Features | ✅ | ❌ |
PC performance | ❌ | ✅ |
Price | ✅ | ✅ |
Ease-of-use | ❌ | ✅ |
Support | ❌ | ✅ |
It’s been a close battle, one which Norton wins by a fraction – ease of use and support might not be Norton’s strong suit, but at the end of the day, it’s the protection and security that are the deciding factors.
Norton is an excellent antivirus program, with a number of useful features and near 100% protection rate, evaluated as the top product by several independent testing labs. During our tests as well, it performed remarkably well, and deserves the attention and praise as one of the best antivirus suites.
As for TotalAV, there are some aspects that make it an attractive choice for many. Namely, the free version and more convenient interface. However, TotalAV’s protection rates are worse than Norton’s, which is the deciding factor when comparing antiviruses. Besides, TotalAV lacks some essential features such as a firewall or cloud backup space.
All in all, since the quality and efficiency of protection is the name of the game, awarding Norton anything else than the winning title would be simply unfair. Nevertheless, both antivirus providers offer excellent protection and are worth their fame and longevity in the antivirus market.
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FAQ
Is TotalAV better than Norton?
Both Norton and TotalAV are excellent antivirus programs, however, Norton has better malware protection rates, as well as such features as firewall and cloud backup. So in terms of protection, Norton is better than TotalAV.
Is Norton 360 worth the money?
Yes, Norton 360 is definitely an antivirus suite that is worth your investment – especially if you want top-tier malware protection for your devices. Coupled with real-time protection and a smart firewall, there are also such features as a VPN and password manager. Even though Norton is not the cheapest antivirus out there, its excellent protection rates and features are well worth the money.
Is TotalAV to be trusted?
Yes, TotalAV is a completely trustworthy antivirus program. It has near 100% protection rates, real-time protection enabled by default, and numerous security features, such as a VPN and password manager.
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