PC Matic Review 2025: Will It Keep Your Device Protected?

We didn't find much to root for from PC Matic. It has some of the slowest scan times we've recorded and it failed to block malware and phishing threats during our in-house testing. 

PC Matic is interesting because it uses whitelisting technology to identify legitimate programs. Many antivirus programs use traditional blacklisting to prevent computer viruses by comparing programs and files to a list of known malware. 

However, we were disappointed by PC Matic's methods in action. Learn more about our experience with PC Matic and the best alternative antivirus programs. 

At a glance

Price	$50.00-$250.00/first yr
Free plan	Yes, Windows only
# of devices protected	3 - Unlimited
Malware scans	Manual and scheduled
Real-time protection	Yes
EICAR test results	0/3
Firewall	No
Phishing protection	No
Compatibility	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
Extras	Dark web monitoring, junk cleanup, system updates
24/ customer support	With family plan or Support Unlimited add-on
Details	Get PC Matic

We last tested PC Matic on July 2, 2025.

Our experience

Our experience testing PC Matic left a lot to be desired. The scan times were long with multiple hiccups, and our in-house testing received extremely poor results.

PC Matic's home page was cluttered, which became overwhelming. Our total protection score was only a 54/100 and it was labeled in red, but several ways to "improve" the score are limited to higher tier plans. 

To test PC Matic, we started by running a quick scan. We've had some exhausting experiences in the past, with the scans crashing repeatedly. So we weren't surprised that we had to restart the app and our computer more than once while running a quick scan. 

Once the scan was complete, there's lots of of detail in the summary, including the automatic updates and junk cleanup it did. 

But we were alarmed that PC Matic didn't detect any of the malware test files we had on our device before installing the software and it didn't detect any of the test files we downloaded when the software was already installed.

Overall, we'd like to see huge improvements when it comes to PC Matic scans and real-time protection. We don't mind longer scan times as long as the results remain thorough. But buggy scans that mess up when you use other functionality is unacceptable and failing to detect malware makes you wonder what you're paying for. 

PC Matic could benefit from an improved scan interface that shows what each "Part" means, an estimated time remaining, and pause functionality. Overall, we wouldn't recommend this antivirus based on the frustration we felt during testing.

Who is PC Matic best for?

• Recommended for PC Matic is recommended for anyone who wants an antivirus with device optimization options and identity protection.

If you don’t need a firewall, password manager, or VPN, PC Matic has some other options you may like, such as scan reports and dark web monitoring through IdentityForce. PC Matic scans the web for your details and alerts you if there’s been a breach that includes your email address or other personal information.

PC Matic antivirus cost

PC Matic's plans range from $50.00-$250.00/first yr. You can also opt for a free plan if you're a Windows user, which gives you access to the malware scan for up to three devices.

Considering you get five devices covered with the lowest plan, PC Matic is very comparable to other antivirus software on the market. Here's how PC Matic's starting price compares to other antivirus plans that cover five devices:

• PC Matic Advanced: $50.00/first yr
• Norton 360 Deluxe: $49.99/first yr
• McAfee Essential: $39.99/first yr

But if you only need a couple of devices covered, PC Matic isn't the most economical. 

	Free	Advanced	Complete	Ultimate
Price	Free	$50.00/first yr	$100.00/first yr	$250.00/first yr
# devices supported	3	5	10	Unlimited
Manual and auto scan
Phishing protection
Firewall
Real-time protection
Ransomware protection
Performance optimization tools
Dark web monitoring
VPN
Identity and credit monitoring
Stolen funds reimbursement
Details	View plan	View plan	View plan	View plan

PC Matic features

PC Matic comes with some standard antivirus features, like multiple scan options, phishing protection, and a firewall (with some plans). It also has several extras, including the system tune-up tools, dark web monitoring, and ad blocker. 

Here’s a closer look at some of PC Matic’s security features.

Malware and antivirus scan

PC Matic offers manual and automatic scans. You can schedule scans on a daily, weekly, or monthly cadence to suit your needs. You can also click the "Scan now" button to start a manual scan.

PC Matic's fileless malware prevention feature is good to have. Because fileless malware gets into your device through tools built into your operating system, it’s good to have an antivirus that uses script blocking to identify it.

Phishing protection

PC Matic mentions that the antivirus helps protect against phishing with its default-deny feature, which is part of the application whitelisting process. The default-deny process keeps malicious processes from controlling your device but doesn’t necessarily flag potential phishing scams. 

PC Matic works with a preventative approach rather than traditional blacklisting methods, and whitelisting is intended to stop intrusions before they become a problem. This is a more granular approach because it monitors your operating system in real time and screens each file no matter what publisher or software it belongs to.

PC Matic also offers the Scam Blocker extension for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. The extension is meant to detect and block you from accessing malicious links. 

Note that PC Matic doesn't offer email phishing protection and it’s still up to you to avoid clicking on suspicious files and links.

Firewall

PC Matic offers an Enhanced Firewall, but not with the Advanced plan. PC Matic Complete includes the Enhanced Firewall feature and PC Matic Ultimate includes a secure firewall. 

The Enhanced Firewall isn't a true firewall, but it boosts the existing firewall for Windows and reviews recent traffic statistics. 

PC Matic lists a "secure firewall" under its list of features on the Ultimate plan. However, we couldn't clarify if this is different from the Enhanced Firewall. 

Real-time protection

SuperShield is a whitelist feature verifies apps in real time with a list of trusted, known programs and allows those programs to run. Anything that’s not on the whitelist gets sent to the PC Matic malware research team. The team then tests it to see if it is indeed malware.

We ran several scans with multiple browser windows open and had no issues with lag or system slowdowns. Our laptop didn’t have any problems handling all the processes running at the same time. 

We also sent several emails and received emails during the scan, and nothing was blocked or added to the blocked items list under SuperShield Block.

Ransomware protection

PC Matic’s application whitelisting also includes ransomware protection. According to the antivirus, the best protection uses this process because it completely blocks malware infections on your device by allowing only trusted applications to run.

Using the blacklisting process, malicious applications may be able to run if they’re not found in the known malware database. That could mean you stand the chance of installing new ransomware that hasn’t been discovered yet. At that point, it may be too late to stop the damage.

The whitelist ransomware approach is proactive rather than reactive because it automatically blocks any unverified apps or scripts. Unknown bad files get categorized within 24 hours and removed from your device, and any future attempts to run the files are blocked.

Bonus features

PC Matic includes optimization tools that free up space on your device by removing junk files and unneeded applications. You get improved speed when the tools remove startup apps you don’t need, and it disables non-critical services.

It can also automatically update your drivers and software. That can help fix any security vulnerabilities. 

Another feature we don’t see often offered by antivirus is optimized broadband connections. PC Matic helps you speed up your internet connection by adjusting internet settings for better performance.

You can even check your device status to see memory (RAM) and processor (CPU) usage, along with how much disk space is available on your device. That can be helpful to know if you need to free up some space for better performance.

PC Matic antivirus test results

In order to make sure PC Matic actually protects you, we put it through a series of tests and checked out trusted third-party testers. Together, the information gathered here should be able to give you a sense of confidence in the antivirus — if it performs well.

Unfortunately, PC Matic's performance was mediocre at best. The software has also not been tested by AV-Comparatives or SE-Labs, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but does show that PC Matic doesn't prioritize third-party testing.

Scan speed

• Result: Slow

While fast scan times aren't as important as being thorough, it's still important to be able to scan your device efficiently and with little hiccups.

PC Matic's quick scan took much longer than anticipated, running for over over 16 minutes at first. The quick scans also encompass a performance scan, hardware scan, and optimizing your device. 

We decided to turn these extra scan options off to focus on detecting malware, but that only saved us a couple minutes on the quick scan. Sixteen out of 29 antivirus antivirus programs we've tested only took a minute or less on the quick scan, so PC Matic was among the slowest. 

The full scan only took a minute longer, which was puzzling. But we were still disappointed because PC Matic didn't detect any of the malware test files we downloaded before and after downloading PC Matic. 

Scan type	Time spent
Quick scan	13 minutes, 28 seconds
Full scan	14 minutes, 16 seconds

EICAR test results

• Result: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS

The European Institute for Computer Anti-Virus Research (EICAR) developed a series of tests anyone can use to make sure their antivirus is working properly.

These tests consist of downloading files or visiting pages that are made to act like malware or other bad actors, while not actually subjecting your device to anything malicious.

Test	PC Matic score
Malware detection	Fail
Drive-by malware downloads	Fail
Phishing pages detection	Fail

Test results as of 07/02/2025.

Unfortunately, PC Matic did not stop the download of either "malware" file. Both were able to download to our computer without any interference. 

The phishing page we tested was also able to display without any protection from PC Matic's Scam Blocker extension.

AV-TEST results

• Result: 16/18

AV-TEST evaluates security products using their default settings to see how they compare with other products. The tests focus on realistic scenarios to see how antivirus programs hold up against everyday security challenges and threats. The programs must demonstrate their abilities and they’re then given scores from 0 to 6. 

Test type	Windows score	macOS score	Android score
Protection	6/6	N/A	N/A
Performance	6/6	N/A	N/A
Usability	5/6	N/A	N/A
Date	April 2024	N/A	N/A
Total	16/18	N/A	N/A
Link to test	Link	N/A	N/A

In the latest tests, PC Matic scored perfectly in all but the usability tests for Windows, where it fell short due to flagging a total of 20 false positives. The industry average across all categories is only 3, which is why it lost some points.

False positives happen when antivirus blocks legitimate programs by mistake. It makes sense that PC Matic doesn't do well in this category, since it's use of whitelisting rather than blacklisting means it blocks unknown applications by default to be safe.

PC Matic was only tested on the Windows 11 platform, with no tests done on the macOS or Android equivalents.

PC Matic compatibility

If you’re checking out PC Matic’s compatibility, you’re covered with these devices and platforms:

• macOS
• Windows
• iOS (iPhone and iPad)
• Android smartphones and tablets
• Chromebook

The PC Matic Scam Blocker and Ad Blocker extensions works with all major web browsers including:

• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Microsoft Edge

PC Matic customer support

We were more than pleased with the response from PC Matic’s customer support. In our testing, we had questions regarding the user interface on a Mac versus Windows PC, so we emailed.

We immediately got an automated reply, which is standard for most antivirus emails. Then, in less than a few hours, we got an actual response with the information we needed. The rep was clear in their communication and let us know that the interface is different between the two systems.

There isn’t a phone number you can call for tech support unless you pay the annual $100 fee. If you fork over the cash, you get unlimited calls with a technology expert. You also have access to tech coaching by phone, chat, email, and remote assistance.

Otherwise, you can send an email or use the guides with information on using PC Matic and how to run it on your device. We would’ve liked to have a phone number to call for faster support service without having to pay an additional fee.

Top alternatives

If PC Matic isn't hitting all the right spots for you, check out these top-rated antivirus options on the market right now:

PC Matic FAQs

Bottom line: Is PC Matic any good?

In it's current state, we wouldn't recommend PC Matic over other alternatives. Its scans were buggy, most extra features are behind paywalls, and it failed our in-house tests.

While its whitelisting methodology seems to be a more robust way of stopping malware than blacklisting, it does create a ton of false positives. This could be a good thing if you'd rather be safe than sorry, but a bad thing if you only care to know what matters.

If you're looking for other antivirus that performs well on both our in-house tests as well as trusted third-party testers, check out our full list of the best antivirus software.

If you want an in-depth comparison to one of the best antivirus software around, check out Norton vs. PC Matic.