I continue to impress upon anyone who will listen that you can protect your home computer for free. Ditching paid protection software can save you lots of money! But this isn’t always as easy as it sounds. Norton, for example, like to upsell and install many different programs on their customers’ computers. And if your computer is covered in these myriad apps, it might be intimidating to think about uninstalling all of them and learning how to move on. If this applies to you, here is some food for thought, or rather, a breakdown/list of free alternatives to all those Norton programs on your PC:
Norton Antivirus
replacement: Windows Defender Antivirus is as good as anything else out there. Really, you don’t have to just take my word for it, you may also consider independent security firms that rate and compare antiviruses.
Norton Utilities
replacement: StorageSense is enough for cleaning up Windows’ junk files and it’s already on your PC.
replacement: Revo Uninstaller Free or Bulk Crap Uninstaller, if you feel the need to go the extra mile.
Norton VPN
replacement: You probably don’t need a VPN. But if you insist, ProtonVPN and TunnelBear and Hide.me have free options. The Opera browser also offers a built-in free VPN.
Norton AntiTrack
replacement: MalwareBytes Browser Guard and/or Ghostery
Norton Password Manager
replacement: The password manager that is built-in to your default browser is just fine!
Norton Cloud Backup
replacement: Google Drive is free for up to 15GB, Microsoft OneDrive is free for up to 5GB. If you have a lot of data, then this is something you will likely have to pay for.
Norton SafeWeb
replacement: Bitdefender TrafficLight
Norton SafeSearch
replacement: MalwareBytes Browser Guard and DuckDuckGo browser extension
Norton Private Browser
replacement: any big-name browser, such as Chrome, Edge or Firefox, with an ad-blocker and Malwarebytes Browser Guard and Bitdefender TrafficLight added in. If you want to go the extra mile, you might try out the Brave Browser.
Now that I’ve typed out all of that, I can see why some people would stick with Norton. It can be a lot of work to disengage from and replace Norton apps, if you’ve grown accustomed to them and come to depend on them. If that feels best for you, and you have a well-running computer, then stay the course.
But if you do care to put in the work (or have me help with it), you can use the above info to reduce your annual tech expenses. And your computer may thank you as well – many computers run better after being disencumbered of Norton’s weighty software.
Please also know that when removing Norton apps, you do not necessarily have to replace all of its different apps. The antivirus is the most important, but many of the others are optional. Depending on your needs and concerns, some components could be skipped or considered later.
I have not mentioned McAfee or other big-name antivirus vendors, but a lot of the above applies to their software, as well. No matter what antivirus apps you use, the free alternatives linked in this post could replace them!