AVG Antivirus is an anti-virus and internet security software for Microsoft Windows OS, Mac OS, Server, Linux, IOS & Android, developed by AVG Technologies. It was established in 1991 by Czech engineers Jan Gritzbach and Tomáš Hofer with over 200 plus million active users and revenue of around 1.03 billion U.S. dollars
McAfee Virus Scan is also an antivirus program operated and maintained by Intel Security (formerly known as McAfee, Inc.).It supports Microsoft Windows OS, Mac OS, Server, Linux, IOS & Android. It was founded in 1987 by John McAfee and Intel Security has acquired it in 2011 with more than 450 plus million users and with overall revenue of around 2.11 billion U.S. dollars.
Ease of Use – AVG vs. McAfee
AVG and McAfee both have relatively simple graphical user interfaces. Both have user-friendly options to adjust settings and schedule scans, and updates. Installation is simple and runs quickly for both applications. Notifications of alerts are quite easy to understand along with complete steps to clean the system.
McAfee operates best on a clean system i.e. non-virus infected and doesn’t do well with a computer that is already infected. AVG operates cleaner on both infected as well as non-infected systems.
Reliability – AVG vs. McAfee
McAfee supports include Email, FAQs, live technical chat, Telephonic support & Tutorials. AVG supports are available via Email, faqs, and Telephonic support. Both are available 24*7*365. Customer support for McAfee products fairs at a hair below average, which implies that technical support staff is slow to respond and unable to answer queries.
In tests conducted by (ATO) Anti-virus Testing Organizations, McAfee on average has a success rate of blocking Malware at around 89% & Malware deletion at 37% while the same result of AVG shows 78% & 38% respectively.
McAfee, however, has a poor history of clumsily identifying safe files and finding false positives, which can cause a dilemma for many users. In tests, AVG had no false positives and high accuracy while indicating safe files.
Security – AVG vs. McAfee
McAfee and AVG provide a heuristic detection mechanism that adds to a high-security protection environment. Security layers for both of them are tightly coupled to give protection against cyber attacks. Multiple layers are Anti-virus Protection, Firewall Appliance, Gate Way Antivirus, Cloud E-mail security &Predictive security.
Both offers feature that estimate website’s safety. AVG offers free identity theft recovery and checks social networks to protect computers against malware. Download protection, as well as controlling spam, are very well managed and configured in AVG which gives it an edge over McAfee.
In both, left traces of removed files were found even after system clean-up, and AVG failed to detect common phishing sites that lead to Web vulnerability.
Speed – AVG vs. McAfee
In McAfee vs. AVG testing, software scanned the system quickly and precisely. They run in the background with minimal problems.
McAfee has a specialty that will stop a scan while other applications are running and then it will resume when finished. This prevents other software and applications from slowing down while a scan is running.
Both McAfee and AVG include a firewall, mechanized updates, and system monitoring. McAfee will stop and update the virus definition just the same as it does with scanning, and resume once work is finished.
Features – AVG vs. McAfee
The main features of both Anti-viruses are broadly classified into Protection features, Privacy features, and Data features. Let us have a quick glance at the key features of both software
Protection feature entails:
- Anti-Rootkit prevents rootkit to be installed and gives protection against known vulnerabilities like social engineering.
- Malware Protection helps in removing unintentional software.
- Trojan Protection provides protection from harmful Trojans.
- Web Protection identifies suspicious websites & prevents them from opening.
- Home Security is mainly designed for small networks and scans external devices which are mostly plug-in.
- Email Protection identifies harmful emails and prevents them from gaining access and spam across the entire mailboxes.
- The enhanced firewall blocks hackers and ensures safe shopping and banking for end-users.
Privacy features entail:
- Data Protection takes preventive steps to legitimately control access to and use of data stored in computers.
- ID Theft Protection protects finance information of bank and good name from identity theft and fraud.
- Parental Controls help in content filtering and usage tracking.
Data Features entail:
- File Shredder permanently deletes any files on your hard disc as well as empties & wipe the Recycle Bin.
- History Cleaner helps in clearing cookies and history from each system
- File Defragmenter helps in Defragment and Optimize hard discs and individual files for free space and faster performance
McAfee has a firm-level product named VirusScan Enterprise, which is designed for use with many computers with ease. Unlike the user-home version, the Enterprise version consists of an application server that will handle client programs using the included Master-slave model, which is a console that can control Virus Scan.
Link scanner is one of the latest features included in AVG that provides real-time protection against exploits by redesigning existing search providers like Google, an option to give feedback on a visited webpage. Capabilities to repair files that are virus infected along with quarantine area add to another armory in AVG asset.
Both AVG and McAfee offer a free trial period of 30-day with an almost equivalent buying price at the end of the 30 days. The free trial is a fully equipped version with no restrictions during the trial period; when the trial ends, McAfee costs $49.99 and AVG costs $59.99. In the premium version, there are multiple variants available, so it is totally on individual requirements to decide the version.
Summary – AVG vs. McAfee
AVG is a relative newbie in the antivirus business, having been around for about twenty-five years, and is taking desideratum at McAfee, which is one of the best-known malware defenses in the world.
Both McAfee and AVG are appreciable antivirus applications software with ease of use and the ability to protect computers from multiple threats. They are almost neck-to-neck, which can create a dilemma for end users as well. If you are not sure which one to buy, go for the older and more trusted one as it is famously said: “OLD IS GOLD”.