There you have it – our complete PCMatic review. It’s an incredibly effective universal program with special deal to save money with, a security slash optimization tool for a wider range of users. The lifetime subscription option and the long list of optimization/performance boost tools make it a good pick for 2020. And some extra features are better than others, so you should try it now!
Pros:
- Perfect whitelist-based anti-malware protection
- Includes lots of optimization tools
- Affordable lifetime subscription
- Below-average system impact
- Automated software – does everything on its own
- 30-day money-back guarantee to try the product
Cons:
- Some optimization tools are rather basic
- An above-average number of false positives
Ease Of Use
The first thing that will catch your eye when you open the main dashboard will be the abundance of menus, buttons, and text. The interface looks a bit outdated, but navigation is straightforward and intuitive, and everything is always within reach. You can launch scans (both automatic and scheduled) check performance, run several types of security tests, and take a look at the latest reports.
The overall system impact is incredibly low, and you won’t even notice PCMatic working in the background. The program does, however, affect the launch time of apps (in a negative way). On the bright side, you won’t see many pop-up messages – PCMatic mostly works in a fully autonomous mode, and it’s a fantastic feature. It constantly looks for new updates and installs them the second they become available.
Customer Support
PCMatic doesn’t have a live chat that you can use to get in contact with the support agents. Yet, it has a phone number so that you can call them. There is a pretty useful Technical Support page, though, where you are free to submit requests and get an answer within 24 hours. On top of that, there is a relatively Knowledge Base with information on download, installation, configuration, refunds, packages, helpful videos, and more.
The FAQ section, in turn, includes answers to the most popular questions and covers all the important topics, while the forum allows talking to other PCMatic users. The great news: this company is present on social media and can be reached on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. And if that’s not enough, you’re always welcome to check out the 29-page user’s guide. It describes every single feature available with this security/optimization suite.
Performance
It isn’t one of those traditional antivirus products that follow the blacklisting technology to protect against malware, and it is great. Instead, it uses a whitelisting approach, meaning when checking potentially dangerous files, it compares them to a list of harmless files, programs, and sites. Apps that aren’t included in that list are automatically blocked and flagged as dangerous. In such a way, PCMatic operates perfectly.
In the AV-Test zero-days attacks test, PCMatic detected and eliminated 100% of the planted threats. In the widespread/prevalent malware test, it recognized 99.9% of the test samples, which is also very impressive. The bad news is – this program has a very high number of false positives. That means it’s constantly blocking harmless files and calling them malicious. You can manually exclude any files/apps you need, but that gets a bit frustrating at times.
PCMatic has a very low system impact, mostly thanks to the whitelist-based approach. Some apps will take longer to launch, though. The software is fully compatible with Windows, Mac, and Android. Sadly, devices running on iOS won’t be protected by this antivirus/optimization suite.
Packages and Pricing
- Annual Subscription: 50 USD per year
- Lifetime Subscription: 150 USD per year
With PC Matic, you only have two packages to choose from, and they’re not very different from each other. First of all, they cover the same number of simultaneous connections/devices (up to five in total). Secondly, they come with the same set of optimization/security tools. However, with Lifetime, you’ll get an endless subscription, while the annual plan will only last for one full year.
Lifetime is perfect for protecting your computers and mobile devices for as long as you have the program installed. It is a very attractive deal, especially if you’re looking for an optimization and tune-up suite rather than a traditional antivirus program. Trying the annual subscription first might be a good idea if you’re not sure this is the best pick for you.
Free Edition, Trial, and Money Back Guarantee
PCMatic’s free edition is rather limited: it runs thorough scans but won’t get rid of any malware unless you upgrade to a paid edition. The good news is – even if you purchase one of the available paid plans, you’ll be able to get all of that money back. That’s possible thanks to the 30-day refund policy. We recommend getting in contact with support and letting them handle the refund/subscription cancellation.
Bottom Line
Most of the features PC Matic have are extremely useful and turn this software into a comprehensive, flexible product. As for the whitelist-based approach, it’s a unique technology that deals with online threats differently compared to most rivals. That allows PCMatic to provide leading malware protection.
