Bitdefender Review - Is It a Good Antivirus?

Investing in a good quality antivirus does a lot to keep you and your system safe. However, it can’t protect you from all the cyber threats out there. Bitdefender antivirus is an all-around security suite that takes the company’s reliable antivirus engine, adds a variety of crucial extras, and expands its protection to cover Android, Mac, and iOS devices, as well as Windows.

In this Bitdefender review, we will tell you about the whole package. We will examine its security features, pricing plans, test results, and many more things. Finally, you will get the verdict of whether this is an antivirus worth taking a look at or not.

So, let’s not waste any more time and get started!

Overview:

Bitdefender is one of the market’s top-rated antivirus providers in 2024. It continuously returns exceptional results at independent lab tests. Also, it is not as pricey as its opponents, and it includes effective security features.

Bitdefender operates a cloud-based engine that uses machine learning along with traditional signature-based scanning to offer exceptional malware detection. Additionally, it offers great web protection, comprehensive system tune-up tools, a fast VPN, a safe browser, and some of the finest parental controls in the market right now.

Alongside the free plans for Mac and Windows, this antivirus provides multiple premium options, including:

Antivirus Plus: A good entry-level antivirus for anyone looking to protect up to three Windows PCs

Internet Security: It adds parental controls and is also a great mid-range option, especially for families.

Total Security: It is an excellent value for anyone looking to protect up to 5 Android, Mac, Windows, and iOS devices.

Bitdefender Premium Security: It is the best-value plan for those who want all of the features of this antivirus. It also has a VPN with no limitations.

For all of Bitdefender’s plans, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee that you can try out without risking yourself.

Although this antivirus provides various amazing features, but there is still room to grow. Most of the tools are efficient and great, but, for instance, the VPN has a limitation of 200MB of data per device only unless you upgrade to the Bitdefender Premium Security Plan. Also, features like web protection could be more effective.

Therefore, to help you make a decision intelligently, this Bitdefender review will explore its protection capabilities and features, review its pricing plans, and compare it with its competitors.

Bitdefender Security Features:

Bitdefender is a go-to antivirus because of its outstanding performance in several areas. Regarding its paid vs free plan, the software uses the same malware database to detect potential threats. So, regardless of the budget, you will receive the same exceptional level of malware removal. However, there are some additional subscription benefits to keep in mind:

Here is a list of some of the most amazing features included in the Bitdefender antivirus package:

Firewall: It allows the monitoring of all the connections from the device.
Anti-theft: It allows you to locate the device on Google Maps and lock the device remotely.
Malware Scanner: It offers different scanning methods, from quick to complete searches for threats in the device system.
Real-time Protection: An effective security measure for catching threats before they enter the system.
Anti-tracker: A browser extension for protecting users from online trackers that harvest the data.
VPN: A digital protection and data collection prevention tool.
Password Manager: A security tool to keep all the passwords safe in one place.

Firewall:

Bitdefender’s firewall is a security feature that safeguards the device from unauthorized access. It is done by blocking outbound and inbound connections, both on the Internet and on local networks. The firewall utilizes a set of rules to detect which connections to block and which to allow. These rules are automatically generated for legitimate, known applications. Also, you can manually generate rules for applications that you trust.

This feature can also be used to protect your device from a variety of threats, including data snoops, hackers, and malwares.

Anti-theft:

The anti-theft security feature of Bitdefender helps protect a lost or stolen device. It includes a list of functionalities, such as:

Remote Location: You can locate the device on a map, even if it is switched off.
Remote Lock: You can lock your device remotely, stopping anyone from accessing your data.
Photo Capture: If someone enters your device’s password or PIN incorrectly three times, the anti-theft tool will capture a photo of them by using the device’s front camera.
Remote Wipe: This feature can wipe your device remotely, deleting all the data.
SIM card change alerts: You will receive alerts if anyone changes your SIM card. Also, it can help you to track the device if it gets stolen.
Remote Alarm: Activate an alarm on the device remotely, making it simple to find out if it is stolen or lost.

Malware Scanner:

Bitdefender has a reliable and efficient virus scanner. It is based on machine learning and malware directory, so it is effective in detecting unknown and known malware threats. The scans usually happen in the cloud therefore, they have less impact on the device system.

There are four scan types to choose from:

Quick Scan: This scan is done for the device location where the malware usually arises. It took 3 minutes and 37 seconds to complete, and almost 4000 files were scanned.

System Scan: System scan scans the whole system for malware threats. This scan took almost 24 minutes and 5 seconds to scan more than 163,000 files. It managed to identify 9 out of 10 zero-day threats. These results compete with other notable antivirus programs like Avira or Norton.

Vulnerability Scan: It helps check the device for any potential vulnerabilities and lasts for 5 minutes. Vulnerability scans include checking for Windows updates, weak passwords, and outdated drives or applications. Additionally, it detects any system changes and also informs about them in case there has been a security violation.

Custom Scan: It allows you only to scan particular system locations where a threat is expected. This scan also allows scheduling scans for further purposes. Bitdefender’s competitors, like TotalAV or Norton, also offer quick custom scanning to schedule easily.

Real-time Protection:

Bitdefender’s real-time protection is also known as Bitdefender Shield. This feature is continually scanning all of the downloaded threats or files. If a threat is identified, then it is placed in quarantine or is deleted. Before you open a malicious file, a real-time protection feature catches the malware.

This feature is extremely effective in offering the best protection since it works with Bitdefender’s Global Protective Network closely. It scans more than 500 million machines to extract the latest malware models. That is how this feature can ensure that you are heavily protected against the very latest and poorly documented malware threats and phishing attacks.

Ransomware Remediation:

Bitdefender’s ransomware remediation tool is designed to safeguard your files automatically from ransomware threats. This feature generates a backup of your files (like music, images, videos, and documents) so that they won’t get affected in case there is a ransomware attack. Additionally, Bitdefender detects when ransomware is trying to encrypt files, blocking every malicious process before it can cause some fatal issues.

AntiSpam:

The AntiSpam feature is quite easy to understand by its name, but it is a bit more complex than it looks. This feature is created to work with any mailbox, offering active protection for the entire email channel. To accomplish that, it utilizes a White-list, learning modules, and a heuristic filter.

For every received mail, Bitdefender analyzes the metadata, message content, and header. It is done to find our specific telltale spam attributes. You can also toggle blocks for emails encoded in Asian or Cyrillic characters.

The learning module operates in conjunction with this filter, collecting statistical information about spam messages and genuine email frequency. With appropriate adaptation, this module can identify spam messages faster than any skilled cybersecurity professional.

Anti-tracker:

Bitdefender’s anti-tracker feature provides solutions to premium users who want to prevent extreme tracking by web services. It is no secret that many websites are tracking each click you make via third-party cookies, scripts, and other ad tech marvels.

The anti-tracker feature is an add-on that you can set up on Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome. Once enabled, it will prevent malicious scripts from collecting your data when you are surfing the web. Additionally, you can manage which categories of tracking you would like to disable or allow.

Bitdefender VPN:

One of the major differences compared to several other antivirus service providers is that Bitdefender provides a VPN as part of the application. This is highly effective because some antivirus charge an extra fee for their VPNs or even add them as additional products when purchasing the most pricey packages.

However, you can also purchase the VPN separately. This would cost you $3.33 per month for a year plan.

There is plenty to like about Bitdefender’s Premium VPN, including:

In more than 53 countries, it has 4000+ servers.
Unblocks Netflix US and some other streaming services.
It has a kill switch, disabling your internet traffic if the connection to the VPN servers is interrupted.
It also includes an auto-connect feature allowing you to switch to a public WiFi network or visit particular websites.
Additionally, it provides Split tunneling, allowing you to ban the websites of your choice from the VPN traffic.

However, if you are buying Bitdefender’s cheaper plan, you will receive only 200MB of data per day. But if you are purchasing the VPN separately, you will receive unlimited data.

Password Manager:

Bitdefender merges its password manager into the main dashboard rather than creating a standalone project. If you are going to use Bitdefender on various devices, you will appreciate the ability to sync the password across all devices. Some of the notable features of password manager include:

Password Wallet: You can store passwords and select the browser to use this feature.
Password Generator: It helps you to create strong passwords to up the security.
Auto Fill & Auto Save: These features permit you to save fresh passwords into the password wallet automatically. You can also automatically fill them in.

This is quite an easy-to-use password manager with some features. It’s amazing for new users and is also pretty safe.

Digital Identity Protection:

Bitdefender can scan the web 24/7 and inform you if your crucial information has leaked online or not. Specifically, the service will scrutinize breached databases on the dark web to make sure your various login details, social security numbers, and payment information are not exposed to threat actors.

It is vital to note that you must separately buy this feature for at least $7.99 per month to attain its benefits. Moreover, it comes in 3 tiers, with each plan providing more benefits than the previous.

Identity Theft Protection ($8.99/month or $79.99/year).
Digital Identity Protection ($7.99/month or $39.99/year).
Identity Theft Protection Premium ($11.99/month or $109.99).

Bitdefender’s Additional Features:

Apart from all the important security features, Bitdefender also provides plenty of extra features that you may find extremely useful, including:

Web Protection
Webcam and Microphone Protection
System Optimization
Parental Controls
Profiles
Safepay

Bitdefender’s Plans And Pricing:

Bitdefender antivirus tool provides multiple payment plans covering 1-100 devices, but only Bitdefender Premium Security and Total Security work across every operating system (iOS, Windows, Android, Mac). However, Bitdefender’s business plan, GravityZone Premium, supports Linux systems.

Most of its plans include a restricted VPN. However, Premium Security is the only plan that comes with the endless-data VPN). Also, Bitdefender’s Premium VPN is available at checkout, and it is less pricey than most of the competing standalone VPNs.

Bitdefender also offers a free Mac plan and a free Windows plan, though both are highly limited compared to the premium plans. That said, all of the plans are extremely affordable and also include a money-back guarantee for 30 days, which you can try without risking yourself.

Bitdefender Free Antivirus For Windows

Bitdefender provides a free Windows-only antivirus plan but is quite limited compared to the premium plan. However, it still includes Bitdefender’s online threat protection and advanced anti-malware engine, but not much else.

The online protections and anti-malware engine run the same as the Bitdefender’s premium versions. However, it does not include a Rescue Environment that enables you to clear advanced malware like rootkits.

To access all additional security features, such as Ransomware Remediation, Network threat prevention, VPN, and Safepay, you will need to upgrade to the premium plans.

Bitdefender Virus Scanner For Mac

Bitdefender also offers a free version of its software for MacOS. However, it is very basic, and it is only an on-demand virus scanner letting you scan the Mac for malware and viruses.

Bitdefender’s free Mac version utilizes exactly the same advanced anti-malware engine as the premium version. However, it does not have real-time protection, which means it is only good for extracting existing malware and not for safeguarding against future threats.

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus plan includes web protection and real-time malware defense, as well as:

WiFi protection
Multi-layer ransomware protection
Password manager
Secure browser for online finances
Anti-tracking protection
VPN (200 MB data daily)
File shredder
User profiles (including gaming mode)
24/7 customer support

Priced at $79.99 for the first year up to 10 devices. The Antivirus Plus is quite cheap compared to most entry-level antivirus plans on the market.

Bitdefender Internet Security

Bitdefender’s Internet Security Plan comes with all the features included in the Antivirus Plus. However, it has some additional features, including:

Anti-spam filter
Firewall
Parental Controls
Webcam and Microphone protection

At $94.99 for the first year up to 10 devices, the Internet Security Plan is an excellent value, but it is only for the PC. However, it does not provide multi-platform support. If you use a Mac, iOS, or Android device, you will have to upgrade to Bitdefender’s more costly plans.

Bitdefender’s Internet Security plan is one of the best choices for Windows users in the market.

Bitdefender Total Security

Bitdefender’s Total Security Plan has all the features included in Internet Security Plus:

Mobile apps for Android and iOS
Coverage for Mac
System Tune-up tools
Anti-theft protection

The Total Security plan does not offer plenty of improvement for PC users, but mobile users might want to upgrade to Total Security so that they can get access to Bitdefender’s exceptional mobile apps.

For $99.99/year, you can install Bitdefender on 5 devices. It raises $109.00 for 10 devices. Also, Bitdefender offers a 15-license family pack at a price of $119.99/year.

Bitdefender Premium Security

Bitdefender’s Premium Security plan adds the VPN with zero server or data limitations, a fully featured password manager, and coverage for up to five devices. It is a good option for those who want to get all of this antivirus’s features and to protect multiple iOS, Windows, Android, and MacOS devices.

Priced at $79.99 for the first year for up to 10 devices that include an excellent VPN. A risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee also covers Premium Security, so there’s no risk in trying it out.

Bitdefender GravityZone Premium

Bitdefender’s GravityZone Premium plan has a highly advanced range of features that are specially designed for enterprises and businesses. Its features include:

Linux Support
Sandbox Analysis
Risk Analysis
Network Threat protection
Email security
Ransomware prevention and mitigation

Its pricing starts at $77.69 for a yearly subscription. Also, if you take a 3-year plan, it will cost $155.39.

Is Bitdefender Safe?

Bitdefender is a safe and secure anti-malware application. It is at the top among all the antivirus software in the market. Also, it got the AV-comparatives Product of the Year ranking four times till now, more than any other Antivirus software.

Let’s talk about the latest Bitdefender virus detection tests. According to AV-Test, Bitdefender can block 100% of threats during the test between September and October 2023 period. This also included both 0-day and 4-week-old malware and other potential threats. Additionally, it improved the score over the previous testing time and now boasts a maximum of points in all the categories, including usability, protection, and performance.

During one of the in-house tests, Bitdefender blocked all 10 threats. The quick scan only took 2 minutes, while the full one took 14 minutes. With these test results, you can be sure that this antivirus can stop any threat to any device. This is the reason why Bitdefender is seen as one of the safest and best antiviruses for safeguarding devices from potential threats.

MRG-Eiffitas and AV-Comparatives both rated Bitdefender’s protection as 100% safe and effective.

Bitdefender Pros and Cons:

Pros:

Built-in VPN
Best-in-class malware detection
Amazing scores in independent lab tests
Easily adapts to the hardware specifications
Password manager available
Automated system updates
Exceptional customer support
Multi-layered ransomware protection

Cons:

Rarer features for macOS
Limited VPN usage on many plans
The web protection does not always work
Incompatibility with other security software

Final Line:

One of the most feature-rich and best antiviruses on the market is Bitdefender. It has exceptionally good features, including a firewall, anti-theft, malware scanner, real-time protection, VPN, and many more. All the plans for this antivirus software are quite affordable, other than the Premium Security plan. However, it offers a bunch of features that you will not get in the other plans.