Bitdefender Review 2024: Brilliant Device Protection

Bitdefender Total Security is a top-rated antivirus that gives you everything you need and then some. That includes the full malware protection suite, plus extras like parental controls, a file shredder, a firewall, and more.

But the question remains, is it one of the best antivirus options you can get? Is it worth upgrading to the top option from Bitdefender, or do the other plans make more sense?

We'll go through all the fine details of Bitdefender Total Security, including costs, our experience with the software, and more.

Bitdefender antivirus overview

Price	Free–$40.99/first yr
# of devices protected	1–10
Malware scans	Manual and scheduled
Real-time protection	Yes
EICAR test results	3/3
Firewall	Yes
Phishing protection	Yes
Compatibility	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
Extras	Vulnerability scan, VPN, cryptomining protection, parental controls, webcam protection
24/7 customer support	Yes
Learn more	View Bitdefender Plans

Our experience

One of the standout features of Bitdefender was how easy and accessible it was to use. Menus are simple and organized, and we never felt overwhelmed by the features we were presented with.

When using Bitdefender’s full system scan as well as the quick scan, we noticed little to no hit to our system’s performance. The first full system scan we ran after installing Bitdefender took a little more than 28 minutes, and subsequent quick scans took about two minutes.

We had fun exploring all the extra bells and whistles that came with this premium tier of Bitdefender, including a vulnerability scan to make sure your system's settings are safe, a safe remote desktop for banking purposes, and a limited version of the Bitdefender VPN.

We didn’t like how Bitdefender comes in two parts: the antivirus application and the browser hub Bitdefender Central. Setting up parental controls wasn’t intuitive because we needed to be logged into Bitdefender Central and use the hub to install and manage this feature.

One of Bitdefender’s biggest problems is the lack of features it offers for Apple products. Scheduled scans, a firewall, a file shredder, and more features are just not available to Apple users. (It's important to note, however, that this tends to be true for most antivirus software.)

But overall, we felt that Bitdefender was a good option for an all-encompassing security suite. 

Who is Bitdefender best for?

• Recommended for Windows and Android users who aren’t cost-averse and are looking for reliable antivirus with powerful premium add-ons.

Windows and Android users will get the most value out of Bitdefender, as the product ships with all the advertised features you’re being charged for.

Although Bitdefender’s premium features are locked behind additional subscription fees, if you use these features to their fullest, you’ll find they’re worth the extra price as they tend to outshine the competition.

Bitdefender cost

Bitdefender plans range from completely free to $49.99/yr (first year only).

The cheapest package protects one mobile device for about $14.99/yr (first year only). Bitdefender Internet Security is a middle-ground package in terms of pricing — it costs approximately $42.49/yr (first year only) and offers more features such as antispam, parental controls, and social network protection, for example. However, this package is exclusive to Windows.

Bitdefender Total Security is available for Windows and macOS as well as iOS and Android. Total Security costs $69.99/yr (first year only) and includes limited use — up to 200 MB per device per day — of the Premium VPN.

When compared with similar services, Bitdefender's prices are what you'd expect. For example, AVG Internet Security costs about $46.68/yr (first year only).

Bitdefender antivirus plans and prices

	Bitdefender Total Security	Bitdefender Internet Security	Bitdefender Antivirus Plus
Price for first year	$49.99/yr (first year only)	$42.49/yr (first year only)	$29.99/yr (first year only)
# devices supported	10	3	3
Compatible with	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS	Windows	Windows
Manual and scheduled scan
Phishing protection
Firewall
Real-time protection
Ransomware protection
Parental controls
VPN	Yes — 200 MB/day data cap	Yes — 200 MB/day data cap	Yes — 200 MB/day data cap
Learn more	View plan	View plan	View plan

Bitdefender Total Security features

Bitdefender Total Security offers a good balance between security features and price. It protects up to 10 macOS, iOS, Windows, and Android systems from malware, spyware, and adware. Though we should note Apple users are left out on features such as the device optimizer and privacy firewall, which are only available to Windows users.

The Total Security plan comes with a basic version of the Bitdefender VPN with 200 MB of data per day (and per device) and multi-layer ransomware protection that works on all operating systems. There's also a 30-day free trial in case you'd prefer to put Total Security through the wringer before you decide to pay or not.

Malware and antivirus scan

Bitdefender scans your system much as other antivirus software, but it uses cross-platform malware protection. When you perform a scan, Bitdefender checks Apple devices for Windows malware, and vice versa — which could be useful if you regularly transfer data between devices with different operating systems.

Scanning options for Bitdefender include quick scans, custom scans where you can choose specific files or destinations to scan, and more in-depth, full-system scans. Bitdefender prompts you to perform a “one-time scan” of your entire device directly after installation to “make sure it’s threat-free to begin with.”

We like that Bitdefender recommends this initial step because if you’re using antivirus for the first time, you might not know the importance of establishing a threat-free baseline.

But we do wish Bitdefender was more upfront about how long the scan might take. Our initial scan took a little more than 28 minutes before it was complete.

That said, our computer experienced no noticeable effects on performance while surfing the web and streaming video from multiple platforms (YouTube and Hulu) while running the scan, so you can set the scan to run in the background while you continue with other tasks.

The quick scan, on the other hand, only took about five minutes to complete, and there was also no noticeable slowdown on our system while it ran.

Phishing and social network protection

Bitdefender protects against phishing attempts through a browser extension called TrafficLight. While our previous tests found that Bitdefender would prompt you to install the browser extension, that didn't happen this time. We had to find the extension ourselves and install it manually.

Using the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO) Phishing Test Page, we concluded that TrafficLight does in fact successfully protect and block you from opening pages with phishing scams.

Social network protection is achieved through Bitdefender’s Digital Identity Protection. The application scans the web for leaks of your personal data, monitors your accounts, and delivers a course of action when your personal data is compromised. Unfortunately, Digital Identity Protection doesn’t come with the Total Security package and asks for an additional $34.99 per year to access its features.

Firewall

Bitdefender’s firewall prevents unauthorized connection attempts when you use the internet and local networks. The feature operates off of a set of rules to filter data that comes into and leaves your system.

Bitdefender’s firewall automatically creates rules when applications attempt to connect to the internet. But you’re able to create custom rules as well as edit existing rules to better fit your needs or prevent the firewall from blocking legitimate apps.

Real-time protection

On the surface, Bitdefender functions similarly to how most antivirus software works. But it sets itself apart from other antivirus software with its Advanced Threat Defense — a feature that continuously monitors applications and processes on your computer to detect malware, ransomware, and adware in real-time using behavioral detection.

A short call with customer service confirmed that while macOS users are unable to alter Advanced Threat Defense settings or access the Exploit Detection feature, the technology of the Advanced Threat Defense system comes baked into the antivirus software.

Bitdefender also comes with an adware blocker designed to remove not just adware but malicious hijackers, toolbars, and other unwanted browser add-ons. 

Ransomware protection

Bitdefender offers ransomware protection for both Windows and macOS, but it takes different forms for each operating system.

In the case of Windows, Bitdefender uses its Ransomware Remediation feature, where ransomware attacks are blocked and your stolen encrypted files are restored without needing to pay a ransom.

For macOS, Bitdefender uses a combination of two features to protect users from ransomware attacks: Safe Files and Time Machine Protection.

The Safe Files feature allows you to choose sensitive folders and files to protect from being altered in any way. Additionally, you can choose which applications are allowed to make changes to those protected files.

Time Machine Protection is the second feature Bitdefender uses for anti-ransomware on macOS. This feature actually works in tandem with Apple’s Time Machine utility, guarding the backups created with Apple Time Machine from unauthorized and potentially harmful alterations.

We were able to easily activate Time Machine Protection by clicking a toggle. But be aware that making use of this feature’s primary function requires you to create backups through Apple Time Machine. (Bitdefender prompts you to do as one of its recommendations after the initial installation.)

Parental controls

Bitdefender’s parental controls are accessed and managed through the browser hub Bitdefender Central. This wasn’t made clear to us at first, and we spent a good amount of time searching for the feature in the Bitdefender application before learning through online research where the feature can be found.

Although this was a minor inconvenience, it’s somewhat cumbersome to have to manage two applications — Bitdefender Central and the Bitdefender app — to access different functions.

Thankfully, setting up Parental Controls was quite simple. We were first prompted to create a child profile and then to add a device. After selecting a device, we received a notification telling us we’d need to add security and privacy permissions before using Parental Control features.

We found the Parental Controls interface informative and organized intelligently. Basic information such as screen time, applications used, and websites visited are presented front and center or are easily accessed by scrolling down.

Modifying settings, such as creating a whitelist/blacklist for websites, was easily achieved by simply clicking a Change settings button and then typing website addresses into a text box and selecting Block or Allow.

Bitdefender Parental Controls also allows you to block or allow content based on category. Setting up blocked categories was easy and intuitive, and blocking or unblocking content was as simple as clicking a toggle next to the corresponding category.

Bonus features

Bitdefender comes with a host of useful extra features most of which are only available if you’re a Windows user:

• File Shredder gives Windows users an extra option to permanently delete items by right-clicking a file or folder and selecting File Shredder in the Bitdefender menu.
• Vulnerability assessment is an extra scanning option that checks your computer for vulnerabilities and notifies you about them.
• Microphone and webcam protection blocks hackers from taking control of your webcam or microphone by allowing only safe and trusted applications access.

Bitdefender VPN

The Bitdefender VPN that comes with Total Security is the basic version. It allowed us to secure our connection easily after adjusting a couple of security privileges on macOS.

The basic version of Bitdefender VPN only allowed us to use the automatic location feature, where the application chooses where your virtual connection is located.

Being able to choose the location, along with other features, is locked behind the premium version. Upgrading costs an additional $34.99 for the first year.

You can learn more about the Bitdefender VPN here:

Bitdefender test results

Instead of just accepting Bitdefender’s claims, we put it through a series of rigorous tests. Our approach combines extensive in-house testing with scores from respected third-party antivirus evaluators. Here's how it did.

Scan speed

• Result: Average

Bitdefender's scan speeds weren't slow, but they weren't the fastest we've seen either. We've seen quick scans complete in as little as 50 seconds, while some full scans have taken well over an hour to complete.

Bitdefender came somewhere in the middle, though the amount of files it claimed to have scanned is much higher than we usually see. In fact, the system scan claimed to have looked at over 700,000 files.

Scan type	Time spent
Quick scan	2 minutes and 22 seconds
Full scan	28 minutes and 18 seconds

EICAR test results

• Result: 3/3

The European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research (EICAR) tools help test the effectiveness of antivirus software without actually putting your software at risk. It does this by providing fake files that act like viruses, but actually aren't malicious at all, kind of like a vaccine. 

We tested Bitdefender against two types of malware detection and also a phishing page. It blocked both malware downloads flawlessly, even providing a timeline for how it went down:

The phishing test was only a pass once we download the free browser extension called TrafficLight, but we've had the same experience with most of the other antivirus software we've tested as well.

Test	Bitdefender Free score
Malware detection	Pass
Drive-by malware downloads	Pass
Phishing pages detection	Pass

Test results as of 08/13/2024.

AV-TEST results

• Result: Almost perfect scores, with only a markdown for performance on Windows.

AV-TEST is an independent organization that tests and rates the performance of antivirus software and IT security products in realistic scenarios against real-world threats. It uses a point system where security products may achieve a maximum of six points in three categories: protection, performance, and usability, with 18 total points being the best possible score.

The following are Bitdefender’s results when tested using Windows 11, macOS Sonoma 14.6, and Android 12:

Test type	Windows 11 score	macOS Sonoma score	Android 12 score
Protection	6/6	6/6	6/6
Performance	5.5/6	6/6	6/6
Usability	6/6	6/6	6/6
Date	October 2024	September 2024	September 2024
Link to test	Link	Link	Link

Bitdefender scored the highest number of points possible for protection, performance, and usability with its macOS and Android programs. There were also no false positives. 

The only markdown Bitdefender received was in the performance category for Windows. It had slower installation of frequently-used applications compared to the industry average (22% vs. 26%). However, it still performed well in the protection and usability. 

AV-Comparatives test results

• Result: High scores for protection with middling performance results

AV-Comparatives, another well-regarded antivirus testing organization, runs a series of evaluations on top antivirus products and compares the results to provide a more complete picture.

In these tests, Bitdefender showed impressive results, especially in areas related to real-time protection.

Test type	Mobile security	Real-world protection	Malware protection	Mac security	Performance impact (Lower is better)
Score	99.9%	99.6%	99.98%	100%	19.9
Platform	Android	Windows	Windows	macOS	Windows
Date	May 2024	July- October 2024	September 2024	May 2024	September - October 2024
Link	Link	Link	Link	Link	Link

While these scores look impressive on their own, it's helpful to see the full context of where it ranked amongst its peers. For example, it received the second-highest real-world protection rate and tied with Avast, AVG, and G Data. It also came in first for malware protection and tied with F-Secure and TotalAV. 

On the other hand, it was 14th in performance impact out of 16 antivirus programs. Still, when put against some of the best antivirus in the world, those aren't terrible scores. Especially when you look at them as pure numbers. 

SE Labs results

• Result: 100%

The final third-party antivirus tester we'll mention is SE Labs, a U.K.-based company that publishes quarterly reports on antivirus performance for both individual users and businesses.

In the first quarter of 2023, SE Labs evaluated Bitdefender, along with 10 other antivirus providers. It came in first place — tied with Kaspersky, Sophos, and Avast — and all four achieved flawless 100% scores across all categories.

Test type	Home Anti-Malware Protection
Total accuracy rating	100%
Date	Q1 2023
Link	Link

Bitdefender compatibility

Bitdefender is compatible with Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS:

• Windows 7 with Service Pack 1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and Windows 11
• macOS Yosemite (10.10) or later
• Android 5.0 or later
• iOS 12 or later

Bitdefender, along with its Bitdefender Central website and Parental Controls, are compatible with the most recent three releases of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari for macOS.

Bitdefender customer support

Bitdefender offers customer support options via 24/7 chat, text and video tutorials, as well as a customer service phone line.

Although we never had to troubleshoot when using Bitdefender, we did call customer support to gain clarity on features we thought were missing from our version of Bitdefender — specifically the device optimizer and the privacy firewall.

The representative was polite and helpful but seemed surprised when he booted up the macOS version of Bitdefender and compared it with the Windows version, where he apologized and confirmed that those features were not available on macOS.

Top alternatives

If Bitdefender isn't scratching that itch for you, check out other top-rated antivirus products on the market:

Bitdefender FAQs

Bottom line: Is Bitdefender antivirus good?

Bitdefender antivirus offers reliable, solid security solutions for personal use and businesses alike. The interface is clean and easy to use, and Bitdefender offers comparable — and in some cases more powerful — premium features than its competition.

Unfortunately, many of Bitdefender’s premium tools are locked behind higher-priced plans, and if you use Apple products you should beware that you’re locked out of many features Windows and Android users have access to.

We think most users will find a lot of value in Bitdefender’s Total Security package. However, Apple users may want to compare Bitdefender's prices and features to other top antivirus solutions to see if there's a better deal elsewhere.

To see how Bitdefender compares against other top antivirus options, check out our in-depth reviews:

• Bitdefender vs. Norton 360
• Bitdefender vs. McAfee
• Bitdefender vs. AVG