Webroot vs. Norton Antivirus

There are hundreds of antivirus softwares out there, providing services like virus detection, malware removal, and protection from ransomware. To add to that, each product purports to do the best job at keeping you and your devices safe. It’s a huge market out there, and that’s why as digital security experts, we’ve made it our priority to evaluate which antivirus software you should use and which ones you should stay clear of.

Today, we’ll be looking at two popular antivirus programs, Webroot and Norton Antivirus, to see how they stack up against each other. We took these programs out for a spin, installing them both on our computers and on our phones, and put them through a number of tests to determine ease of installation, virus scanning speed, and detection accuracy. You’ll find that Norton took the trophy, but it was a close race.

Cost Breakdown of Webroot and Norton

Webroot’s SecureAnywhere pricing breakdown is pretty straightforward. There are four products you can select from: Basic Antivirus for $29.99, which covers one device, Plus Antivirus for $41.99 on three devices, Premium (Antivirus + ID Protection) for $64.99, and Premium Family (Antivirus + ID Protection) for $124.99.

Norton’s pricing is similar. At the lower end, you can purchase Norton Antivirus Plus for $29.99 on one device. In the middle of the pack, there’s Norton 360 Deluxe and Norton 360 Premium, which are $39.99 and $49.99 respectively, covering you on three or five devices. The grand pooh-bah of them all, Norton 360 LifeLock Select, is priced at $99.99 and provides protection on up to 10 devices.

We’ve put together a table which breaks down more features of these programs:

More on Features: Webroot vs. Norton

In America, someone has their identity stolen every 4 seconds.1 Even more disturbingly, 60 percent of victims don’t find out about the identity theft until three or more months have gone by.

Dark Web Monitoring: Both Webroot and Norton provide robust dark web monitoring, especially as you get into the higher tiers.

Dark web monitoring checks for any unscrupulous actor searching, tracking, or storing your (or your organization’s) information on the dark web. This information might include compromised passwords, phone numbers, work and home addresses, and more.

Both Webroot and Norton have high quality Dark Web Monitoring tools with Webroot’s highest tier product, Webroot Premium Family (Antivirus + ID Protection), providing a suite of identity protection tools. These tools include financial monitoring with account takeover alerts, and up to $1 million in identity theft expense reimbursement.

Norton 360 LifeLock Select, meanwhile, alerts you if your Social Security number, name, address, or date of birth are used in applications for credit or services. It also protects your investments by alerting you to potentially fraudulent cash withdrawals and balance transfers.

Secure VPN: One area where Norton stands out is by providing a secure VPN, starting all the way down with Norton 360 Standard. This service encrypts your personal data, masks your IP address, and keeps your browsing history private. Webroot doesn’t offer a VPN bundled with its antivirus software, but does offer Webroot WiFi Security at an additional cost of $35.99.

>> Read More: Our Best VPN Picks

Testing Webroot and Norton Scans

Here comes the fun part: putting both Webroot and Norton to work performing a scan. We started with Webroot on macOS. First, it’s worth noting that Webroot installed on our Mac at lighting speed, something that the software boasts. The app only takes up about 20 MB of storage, too. The scan, however, wasn’t quite as fast. The app defaults to a full scan, which took about an hour to complete. We later tried a quick scan, which took about six minutes.

Norton 360 Deluxe, on the other hand, took about 15 minutes for a full system scan. A quick scan took about two minutes. All in all, Norton’s scans were significantly faster than Webroot’s scans.

As for what Webroot and Norton uncovered, Norton found no viruses (phew!) on our Mac. Webroot, curiously enough, flagged a Bitdefender file from a previous comparison as dangerous. Talk about playing well with competition!

>> Recommended: Best Norton Antivirus Alternatives

Detection Results: Webroot vs. Norton

The next step for us was to actually install some real live viruses on our Mac and see how Webroot and Norton Antivirus tangoed with them. For our test, we used five different files that contained a mix of malware, adware, spyware, and other malicious files.

Of the five viruses on our computer, Webroot only found one, for a poor score of 20 percent. We then moved on to Norton and those same five viruses. In our test with Norton, it detected three out of the five samples, for a score of 60 percent. In our test, Norton far outperformed Webroot.

We then opened up our examination to the broader network and looked at scores from independent software testing lab, AV-Test.

Webroot: Though AV-Test hasn’t looked at Webroot in a few years, in 2019, Webroot received 81.1 percent and 66.5 percent scores in protection against zero-day malware attacks, including web and email threats.2 Webroot scored much better in the detection realm, receiving a 99.3 percent and 98.9 percent in detection of malware.2

Norton: Norton scored a lot better here. It received a 100 percent score on protection against zero-day malware attacks, including web and email threats. It also received a 100 percent score in 100 percent score in detection of widespread and prevalent

Going Mobile With Webroot and Norton

Like Webroot desktop, going mobile with Webroot was also a blazing fast process, with the app installed from the App Store onto our device seamlessly. The program boasts secure web browsing, identity protection, and functionality on both iOS and Android. Norton’s web app stood out in how easily it was to use our account information and smoothly transition to another device.

Does Webroot or Norton Take the Trophy?

After a fun time getting our feet wet with Webroot and Norton Antivirus, it’s time to start tabulating our results here and picking our winner. So which one takes the trophy, Webroot or Norton? Let’s look at where things stand.

Ease of Installation: Webroot boasted about a lighting fast installation speed and they didn’t lie. We were already up and playing with the software while Norton was still getting going.

Scanning Speed: Norton finished a full system scan about 45 minutes before Webroot, which took over an hour. Norton takes the crown here.

Range of Features: We were impressed with Norton and Webroot’s identity protection features in their higher-end products. But for the most bang for your buck, Norton wins.

Antivirus Protection and Detection Strength: Norton takes the win in this category, both in our test and an independent analysis by AV-Test.

In the end, Norton comes out on top over Webroot. For more details on both of these programs, read our full reviews of Webroot and Norton Antivirus.

>> Read More: Webroot Review and Norton Antivirus Review