Bitdefender vs. Norton: Battle for the best malware protection

Bitdefender and Norton consistently rank among the best antivirus programs in the world, earning near-perfect scores for malware protection, making it a difficult choice between them.

To help you decide, I compare these leading cybersecurity solutions in terms of price, features, customer support, and ease of use.

Levels and prices

When your personal information, account logins and financial data are at stake, the price of protection may not be the most important consideration. Still, subscription costs add up over the years, and it's important to keep an eye on costs.

Both Bitdefender and Norton offer great deals in the first year of a new subscription. However, prices start to increase after the second year and it's easy to forget that you got a much better deal when you signed up.

For comparison, Malwarebytes offers uniform annual pricing and even reduces the fee if you order a two-year subscription in advance.

Bitdefender's first-year and renewal pricing starts at $40 and $60 (Antivirus Plus) for basic antivirus protection for three Windows PCs. Cross-platform security for five Windows, macOS, iOS and Android devices costs $70 and $100 (Total Security).

Bitdefender Premium Security adds an unlimited VPN and password manager for $80/$160. Ultimate Security includes identity theft protection, bringing the annual price to $90 for the first year and $180 thereafter.

Norton's prices are generally lower and include more features, but not always. For example, Norton Antivirus Plus costs $30/$60 for the first year/renewal. Norton 360 Standard covers three devices and costs $40/$95.

In my review of Norton 360 Deluxe for five devices, I found the $50/$120 price to be just right, as it includes an unlimited VPN, up to 50GB of cloud backup, and more. Norton 360 with LifeLock includes identity theft protection, credit monitoring, and 250GB of cloud backup for $100/$180.

Pricing from leading antivirus software developers is competitive, but Norton offers even better protection if you can afford the top subscription. Norton's most expensive plan, Ultimate Plus, costs $300 for the first year and goes up to $350 after that. At that price, Norton will alert you to banking, credit card and investment activity, monitor your property record and refund stolen funds up to $1 million.

characteristics

Cybersecurity software is designed to protect your computer and your data. To do that effectively, you need more than a simple virus scan. Here are the features Bitdefender and Norton offer to keep your computer safe.

Malware protection

The malware threat is constantly increasing and becoming more sophisticated, but with basic antivirus programs from Bitdefender or Norton you're in good hands. Security researcher AV-Test has given almost perfect scores to all programs in recent years.

To differentiate even further, I checked another independent research lab, AV-Comparatives. In offline tests that measure antivirus protection against failed detections, Bitdefender maintained a detection rate of 96.1%, while Norton dropped from 98.9% to 81.8%.

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus has a more robust malware detection and protection system. When I reviewed Bitdefender's Premium Security package, I found it to be among the best in terms of malware protection.

Protection against fraud and tracking

Basic antivirus software will protect you from malware and phishing scams, but it can leave you vulnerable to tracking, allowing hackers to build profiles for targeted attacks.

If you upgrade to Bitdefender Total Security or Norton 360 Deluxe, you'll get a premium VPN service that blocks trackers. Both offer VPN servers around the world, so your bandwidth will remain good despite the extra hop required for this protection. For fast-action games, check out the best antivirus software for gamers.

Special features

At the core of account security is password security. You don't need a sophisticated algorithm or high-performance computer to crack simple passwords. That's why Bitdefender and Norton's mid-range plans include password managers that you can access from Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.

Norton plans include cloud backups, so you can protect some of your data by uploading it to secure servers. In the event of ransomware encryption or other data loss, you can restore your most important files. Bitdefender's ransomware protection backs up files when it detects an attack.

While it's not really a security risk, Bitdefender's System Optimizer fixes computer problems and improves performance. Norton 360 for Gamers has a similar feature.

Customer support and user-friendliness

I found Bitdefender and Norton's customer support to be quick and helpful. Bitdefender's response time was slightly faster in my testing.

Each service offers self-service articles, 24/7 live chat, and phone support. If you have any problems with installation or billing, Bitdefender and Norton can quickly resolve those issues.

If you've been hacked, that's a more complicated problem. However, you can rely on top-notch antivirus software developers like Bitdefender and Norton to help you get your computer up and running again. It just takes time and patience to solve bigger problems.

Protect your PC and Mac

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus is a cost-effective option for protecting your Windows PC or Mac, but for cross-platform support you will need to upgrade to Bitdefender Total Security.

Norton 360 Standard is a more affordable way to protect a PC, Mac and phone.

However, if you can afford a mid-range price, Bitdefender Premium is hard to beat, as it covers up to 10 devices with Bitdefender's best security and malware package.

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