Norton vs TotalAV: which antivirus is better in 2025?

Norton and TotalAV are among the top choices on the antivirus software market, and experts and home users trust them. Both providers are reliable and effective at detecting viruses and other cyberthreats. So, choosing between them can seem challenging.

Together with our research team, I carried out in-house tests, where Norton 360 outperformed TotalAV in malware detection and ransomware protection, offering faster and more effective scans. While TotalAV excelled in real-time protection, it lagged behind Norton in phishing defense.

In this TotalAV vs Norton comparison, I outline the strengths and weaknesses of each product, based on our testing experience. In this article, I aim to assist you in choosing the antivirus that best fits your needs.

Norton vs TotalAV at a glance

During our tests, both Norton 360 and TotalAV delivered strong performance. However, in independent test results, Norton 360 outperformed TotalAV, achieving a perfect 100% malware detection rate and superior overall performance. TotalAV scored 99.98% for online protection and had a higher false positive rate. While TotalAV is more affordable and offers a free version, Norton 360 excels in malware detection and security.

	Norton Antivirus	TotalAV
⭐ Rating:	4.7 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★	4.9 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
🥇 Overall rank:	#2 out of #27	#1 out of #27
🔥 Coupons:	Norton coupon 58% OFF	TotalAV coupon 80% OFF
💵 Price:	From $29.99/year	From $19.00/year
✂️ Free version:	No	Yes
🖥️ Platforms:	Windows, macOS, iOS, Android	Windows, macOS, iOS, Android

Norton vs TotalAV: which offers better protection?

To find out which is better, Norton or TotalAV, I first checked the independent test results from the German AV-TEST Institute. Both Norton and TotalAV received a Top product rating in the March-April 2025 tests.

	Norton	TotalAV
Independent tests	Highest marks	Highest marks
Real-time protection	Over 99%	Over 99%
Scanning	Effective, caught 10/10 malware threats	Effective, caught 10/10 malware threats

According to the latest independent AV-Comparatives March 2025 tests, TotalAV achieved a 99.97% online protection rate and a 95.8% offline detection rate but had 28 false positives. Meanwhile, Norton scored 99.96% in online protection and had only 10 false positives.

In our in-house testing, both detected all 10 malware samples during a full scan, but Norton’s quick scan failed to detect ransomware. TotalAV used 50-65% CPU during scans, making it more resource-efficient than Norton’s 72%. In this regard, TotalAV offers better offline detection and a lighter impact on performance.

Real-time malware protection

Both Norton 360 and TotalAV offer strong real-time malware protection, as seen in both independent lab tests and our in-house testing. Norton scored a perfect 100% for malware protection in AV-TEST's March-April 2025 evaluation, while TotalAV also demonstrated solid performance with 100% protection against zero-day malware.

In our in-house tests, Norton detected 100% of malware samples during a full scan in about 10 minutes, while TotalAV detected 69%, which is still commendable. However, TotalAV and Norton both performed equally well in ransomware detection, successfully identifying 100% (10 of 10) ransomware samples.

Overall, while both antiviruses provide excellent malware protection, Norton excels in detection speed and full-system scans.

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.

Scanning

TotalAV and Norton offer multiple scans, with varying effectiveness, but both do a good job of detecting viruses. Here's 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 that might need a custom scan.

Norton's Smart and Quick scans struggle to detect malware, but the full scan efficiently found all intentionally planted threats during in-house testing.

TotalAV offers scan options as follows:

• Quick scan, which scans the temporary file folder.
• System scan, which is essentially a head-to-toe 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.

Like Norton, TotalAV’s quick scan missed all malware, but the system scan detected all 10 threats.

Malware protection

In our in-house tests, both Norton 360 and TotalAV performed well in malware detection, although there were some differences in their scan effectiveness.

Norton’s full scan successfully detected all 10 malware samples planted during testing.

Similarly, TotalAV’s quick scan also failed to detect any malware, but its system scan was effective, catching all 10 samples.

Overall, while both Norton and TotalAV provide strong malware protection, users should rely on the full or system scan for the best results in detecting and removing threats.

Pricing and plans

Norton and TotalAV offer three different plans, as you can see in the table below. Norton has a 60-day money-back guarantee, while TotalAV provides a 30-day guarantee. Norton doesn't have a free version but offers a 7-day free trial to test the antivirus. Meanwhile, TotalAV delivers the best free antivirus software.

	Norton	TotalAV
Free version	–	Yes
AntiVirus Plus/Pro	$29.99/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 discount	Get our discount

TotalAV is slightly cheaper across most plans. Norton entry plan costs $29.99/year, the Standard plan costs $39.99/year, while the Deluxe plan costs $49.99/year. TotalAV charges $19.00, $39.00, and $49.00 per year for comparable plans.

Norton pricing

Norton provides three subscription options to suit different device security needs. Here's a quick look at them:

	AntiVirus Plus	Standard	Deluxe	Select
Price	$29.99/year	$39.99/year	$49.99/year	$99.99/year
Device coverage	1	3	5	10
Malware protection	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
100% virus protection guarantee	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Cloud backup	2GB	2GB	50GB	250GB
Password manager	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
VPN	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Dark web monitoring	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Parental controls	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
LifeLock identity theft protection	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes

Norton Antivirus Plus starts at $29.99/year and offers protection against cybercriminals, viruses, malware, and ransomware for one device. Norton 360 Standard costs $39.99/year and adds a VPN to the package for three devices. Norton 360 Deluxe, priced at $49.99/year, not only includes a VPN but also parental controls for up to five devices.

TotalAV pricing

TotalAV offers three subscription plans and one free option for different security needs. Here they are:

	Premium	Internet Security	Total Security
Devices	5	6	6
Advanced ransomware protection	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Real-time protection	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
VPN (Safe Browsing VPN)	❌ No	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Password manager (Password Vault)	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes
Anti-malware scanner	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Anti-phishing protection	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
1st year price	$19.00	$39.00	$49.00
Price after 1st year	$99.00	$129.00	$149.00

TotalAV offers a free version with an anti-malware scanner and anti-phishing protection for one device. TotalAV Antivirus Pro starts at $19.00/year and provides essential security features such as real-time protection, system clean-up tools, and defense against ransomware and malware for up to three devices. TotalAV Internet Security, priced at $39.00/year, adds a VPN with the mentioned features for five devices. TotalAV Total Security, priced at $49.00/year, includes a VPN, ad blocker, and password manager and supports up to six devices.

Norton and TotalAV feature comparison

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	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Secure VPN	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Firewall	✅ Yes	❌ No
Ad blocker	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Safe browser	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Anti-phishing protection	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Password manager	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
PC cloud backup	✅ Yes	❌ No
System optimization	✅ Yes	✅ Yes

While both providers have a lot of different and useful features, TotalAV falls behind Norton by just 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, in addition to the previously mentioned features, parental control, a 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.

TotalAV features

The real-time protection with TotalAV comes enabled by default, and together with it come 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.

Impact on PC performance

Norton 360 and TotalAV both provide effective malware scans, though with varying CPU usage.

Norton’s full scan uses up to 72% of CPU, which can slow down your device, but it offers fast results. It’s still relatively low compared to other antiviruses like Avira, making Norton a good option for performance-sensitive users, especially those with older devices.

On the other hand, TotalAV has shown significant improvement in its impact on system resources. In our latest tests, TotalAV’s full scan used between 50% and 65% of the CPU, much lower than its previous 60%-75%. Smart and quick scans also showed much lower CPU usage (between 5% and 26% for smart scans and 40% and 60% for quick scans). In non-scan mode, TotalAV has almost no impact on performance, using less than 1% of the CPU.

In summary, while both antivirus solutions are relatively light on system resources, TotalAV’s recent improvements give it an edge in terms of minimal CPU usage.

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 and easy to install and 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.

My 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 I 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

Customer support at both Norton and TotalAV is available through several 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.

	Norton	TotalAV
24/7 live chat	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Email	❌ No	✅ Yes
Phone	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Knowledge base	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Community support/FAQs	✅ Yes	✅ Yes

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, I 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.

Video review

Final verdict

After careful consideration, I can clearly state that Norton 360 outperforms TotalAV as an antivirus solution. Independent and internal testing reveals Norton’s superior malware detection, broader security tools, greater value for money, and excellent ransomware defense.

While TotalAV stands out for its better PC performance, using fewer system resources during scans, and offering more affordable pricing, Norton 360 remains the better choice for protection. If security is your top priority, Norton is the clear winner, but for value and system efficiency, TotalAV is still a strong contender.

	Norton	TotalAV
Protection	✅ Wins	❌ Loses
PC performance	❌ Loses	✅ Wins
Features	✅ Wins	❌ Loses
Ease of use	❌ Loses	✅ Wins
Value for money	✅ Wins	❌ Loses
Support	❌ Loses	✅ Wins

How we tested and compared Norton vs TotalAV

To assess TotalAV and Norton, we conducted in-house tests using real-world malware samples to measure detection and removal effectiveness. Our evaluation process focuses on accuracy and relevance, considering key aspects such as:

• Malware detection and removal
• Real-time protection
• System performance
• False positive detection rates
• Additional features
• Compatibility
• Customer support
• Pricing

We follow a thorough and reliable testing process to provide precise results. For more details on how we assess antivirus software, check out our full antivirus testing methodology.

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