 PCMatic
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Norton | |
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Pricing
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| Price | $50 | $39.99 |
| Money back Guarantee | ||
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Scanning
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| Real-time Antivirus | ||
| Manual Virus Scanning | ||
| USB Virus Scan | ||
| Registry Startup Scan | ||
| Auto Virus Scanning | ||
| Scheduled scan | ||
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Threat type
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| Anti-Spyware | ||
| Anti-Worm | ||
| Anti-Trojan | ||
| Anti-Rootkit | ||
| Anti-Phishing | ||
| Anti-Spam | ||
| Email Protection | ||
| Chat/IM Protection | ||
| Adware Prevention | ||
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Compatibility
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| Windows | ||
| Mac | ||
| Android | ||
| IOS | ||
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Usage
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| Ease of use | ||
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Extra features
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| Personal Firewall | ||
| Parental Controls | ||
| Gamer Mode | ||
| VPN Service | ||
| Smartphone Optimizer | ||
| Device Tune-up | ||
| Safe browser | ||
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Support
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| Live Help | ||
| Phone support | ||
| Email support | ||
| Ticket support |
PC Matic or Norton: Which one to choose?
Norton is a reliable, feature-packed product with a user-friendly interface. PC Matic is not an antivirus in the most traditional way, it is more of an optimization center, a piece of software that is equally good at anti-malware protection, OS optimization, performance boost, and disc cleaning.
PC Matic will be a better choice for a regular user who’s not looking for something specific. PC Matic offers more value, and the built-in automatic maintenance module will make sure to keep the operating system running smoothly.
But before you make your decision, it’s important to go over both programs in detail and talk about their pros and cons. If you are interested to check both programs read PC Matic Review and Norton Antivirus Review.
Norton vs PC Matic: Main Features Comparison
We’re comparing two different products in this review – with different approaches to dealing with malware. Plus, while Norton is a “brick-strong” kind of software with a strong focus on its antivirus engine, PC Matic aims to please a much wider range of users. This is mainly thanks to its large set of optimization settings.
If you’ve been looking for a program that would delete junk from the hard drive, improve browser performance, and boost startup times, PC Matic should be right up your alley. It keeps the network secure, automatically installs new drivers, and runs full hard disc defragmentation. Still, it does share some features with Norton, including:
- Real-time anti-malware protection;
- Protection against ransomware and phishing;
- Spyware detection and elimination;
- Registry startup scans;
- Rootkit protection;
- Money-back guarantee.
You might think that Norton is asignificantly worse choice because of its lack of optimization tools, but that’s not the case. True, PC Matic is quite an impressive option in that regard, and as far as the main features go, it is the obvious winner. However, in terms of extras, it’s not nearly as impressive. Norton, in contrast, comes packed with a generous line-up of additional features.
We’ll talk about them in a moment and compare PC Matic vs Norton. But first, let’s take a look at how they performed in the security tests and which platforms they support.
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Security Comparison
In the most recent tests conducted by AV-Comparatives, Norton was able to detect and eliminate more than 93% of the malicious threats. AV-Test, another respected third-party tester, gave it 18/18 points (6 for performance, usability, and protection). Norton is strong against ransomware and phishing as well, thanks to its strong modules and the advanced firewall.
PC Matic also performed flawlessly in the AV-Test evaluation and earned a spot right next to the leaders of the industry. Anti-ransomware protection is decent, along with the anti-phishing features. We have to, however, say, that PC Matic has a very high number of false positives and will constantly flag legit apps and files.
That’s because it doesn’t follow the same “blacklisting” routine as most antivirus products. Instead, it creates a whitelist and fills it with files that it knows don’t pose a threat. All the heavy lifting is done on the company’s supercomputer, and this approach proves to be highly effective.
Compared to each other, Norton and PC Matic are mostly the same, if not for the above-average number of false flags that you’ll have to deal with if you choose PC Matic. On the other hand, we should all appreciate the fact that it is almost on par with one of the leading antivirus solutions on the market while being an optimization tool.
Compatibility Comparison
Norton has always positioned itself as one of the most versatile and flexible antivirus products on the market. And, it’s fully compatible with all the leading platforms, including desktop (Windows and macOS), and mobile (Android and iOS). As for PC Matic, it’s a PC optimization suite and is a Windows-oriented product. For a very long time, it had only been available on the Win OS, but recently, the company added macOS and Android support.
Sadly, iOS is still not an option, so if you own an iPhone or an iPad, you might want to stick with Norton. The same is true for the macOS: Norton fully supports it and has a fast, intuitive, and easy-to-navigate client. Now, going back to Win, we have to say that PC Matic has more trumps up its sleeve there. All those optimization tools work smoothly on Windows XP up to Windows 10.
PC Matic is compatible with macOS 10.12 and higher and Android 4.4 and higher. As long as you have 512MB of RAM and a 1GHz CPU, the software will run in the background without causing any trouble. Norton isn’t available on XP, but fully supports Win 7 SP1 and higher (both 32- and 64-bit versions). The Mac and Android requirements are the same; iOS 10 or higher will be enough to run Norton on an Apple mobile device.
Extra Features Comparison
As mentioned, the optimization/tune-up/boosting features of PC Matic is an integral part of the software, which is why we discussed them in the Main Features section. When it comes to extra features, such as password managers, firewalls, parental control services, and such, this product doesn’t have much to offer. Norton is a completely different story, especially if you purchase the LifeLock package.
Here is a quick list of useful Norton extras that are not available with PC Matic:
- Cloud Backup (up to 100GB of secure online storage for the most important data);
- Smart Firewall (protects the network and controls which apps get access to it);
- Password Manager (generates hard-to-crack passwords and keeps them in a secure vault);
- Parental controls (protects kids from explicit content on the Internet);
- Email Protection (self-explanatory);
- Webcam protection (prevents suspicious apps from taking control of the webcam).
Norton comes with a strong set of features that will be useful regularly. Again: PC Matic doesn’t include any of the extras we just mentioned. And with Norton LifeLock, you’ll also get:
- Dark Web monitoring;
- Stolen wallet protection;
- Credit alerts;
- SSN alerts;
- $1 million in reimbursement.
Support Comparison
The Norton antivirus doesn’t have the good old ticket system, but it does offer email and phone support, along with a live chat. Live help is available Mondays through Fridays, and it only takes an agent two minutes to join the chat. The same is true for phone support. Emails might take a day or two to get processed, but that’s the industry average.
PC Matic doesn’t provide support live chat. Instead, it focuses on the ticket and email systems. It is important: during our review, we learned that, on average, it takes the PC Matic agents less time to hit you back through email compared to Norton’s customer service. True, this isn’t an exact science, and how fast they reply depends on many things.
Still, PC Matic’s lack of support options is well compensated. The bottom line is – in this round of the PCMatic vs Norton comparison, there are no obvious winners or losers. You’ll be able to contact the support agents and fix your problems regardless of the antivirus software you choose. If you want to get your money back (a refund), it would be best to let support handle everything. And don’t forget about the FAQs, knowledge bases, and how-to videos.
Pricing and Packages Comparison
- PCMatic Annual Subscription – $50 per year
- PCMatic Lifetime Subscription – $150/year
- Norton Antivirus Plus – $19.99/year
- Norton 360 Standard (Norton Security) – $39.99/year
- Norton 360 Deluxe – $49.99/year
- Norton 360 With LifeLock Select – $99.99/year
There you have it – the available packages and their respective prices. Norton’s entry-level Antivirus Plus will be an excellent choice for users that only require protection for one single device. But if you’re looking to protect up to 5 devices, PC Matic’s Annual subscription will save you money in the long run.
The Lifetime subscription will protect those 5 devices for an unlimited amount of time – something that you won’t find with many similar products. The generous annual and unlimited packages are PC Matic’s biggest selling points, and we believe that it’s the winner in this round of our competition. Most users don’t look for ID theft protection services in an antivirus. If you are, then you might want to think again before you make a commitment.
Both companies offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. One final thing: PC Matic Pro is a business product, which is exactly why we didn’t include it on this list. Do you want to see a Norton Small Business vs Matic Pro comparison? Let us know in the comments!
PCMatic highlights:
- A unique approach to detecting and eliminating malware
- Whitelisting, Fileless Script Block and RDP Port Controls
- Compatible with every single Windows OS, starting with XP
- Available in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese
- Full support of Android devices
- Automated PC Maintenance
- Low system Impact, works with decades-old computers
- Built-in AdBlocker
- Very user-friendly, easy to install
Norton highlights:
- Safe and reliable files and data storage
- Blocking of illegitimate software
- Flexible scanning options
- User-friendly interface
- Decent variety of packages
