Bitdefender vs. AVG 2024: Are You Looking for Features or Simplicity?

Are you worried about hackers, need malware protection, or just want good cybersecurity but don’t know where to start? Bitdefender and AVG are two of the best antivirus with free products, but their paid subscriptions really bring the features to life. In this comparison, Bitdefender sneaks out the win.

Both of these top solutions come with anti-phishing technology and malware detection abilities, as well as real-time protection. AVG and Bitdefender’s security features also offer tuneups for better system performance as well as user-friendly protection against cyber threats.

In this Bitdefender vs. AVG antivirus showdown, the winner may be determined based on your own needs and preferences. We’ll go over their pricing, features, third-party test results, and more.

Bitdefender vs. AVG review at a glance

The biggest difference between Bitdefender and AVG has to be the features included with each antivirus. Bitdefender’s approach to security is customizable and charges a variety of prices based on what you need. AVG, on the other hand, offers a solid set of tools for a reasonable price without too many fancy extras. Depending on your needs, one product may outweigh the other.

• Bitdefender: Best for customizable protection
• AVG: Best for no-frills trusted protection

Bitdefender vs. AVG compared

	Bitdefender	AVG
Star rating	5.0 AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.	4.8 AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.
Starting price	Free or $29.99/yr (first year only)	Free or $46.68/yr (first year only)
Max number of protected devices	Up to 10	Up to 10
Malware scans	Manual and scheduled	Manual and scheduled
Real-time protection
Phishing protection
Ransomware protection
24/7 customer support	Yes	No
Compatibility	Android, iOS, Windows, macOS	Android, iOS, Windows, macOS
Learn more	Get Bitdefender Read Bitdefender Review	Get AVG Read AVG Review

Bitdefender pros and cons

Bitdefender has phishing protection and the option to schedule malware scans available on all of its premium plans. All of these plans have access to the virtual private network (VPN), but you'll have to upgrade for a firewall and parental controls.

AVG pros and cons

While AVG's free plan is quite good, you'll need to upgrade to a premium plan if you want 24/7 customer support or phishing protection. AVG has automatic and manual malware scans and offers real-time protection from various threats.

Which antivirus is the better value?

Bitdefender is the better value due to its pricing options and overall features.

	Bitdefender Best Pricing	AVG
Price range	Free–$40.99/first yr	Free–$59.88/first yr
Best value plan	Bitdefender Total Security for $69.99/yr (first year only)	AVG Ultimate for $34.99/first yr
Money-back guarantee	Yes — 30 days	Yes — 30 days
Learn more	Get Bitdefender Read Bitdefender Review	Get AVG Read AVG Review

Bitdefender has a massive range of prices, and that’s for antivirus-only protection plans. If you want a bundle with additional features, the price can go up even higher. This is great for people who only want to pay for the features they want. 

If you want a complete cybersecurity solution, Bitdefender Total Security comes with antivirus, performance optimization tools, parental controls, a VPN, and more for $69.99/yr (first year only).

AVG has three plans available, and one of them is free. There aren’t a lot of frilly extras with a paid AVG plan, but you will get top-notch tested protection. If you want to go for the most expensive plan, the AVG Ultimate Plan, it’ll cost $34.99/first yr for the first year, and it includes performance-enhancing features as well as anti-tracking, an ad blocker, and a VPN.

Which antivirus has better features?

Bitdefender takes a more holistic approach in terms of features.

	Bitdefender Best Features	AVG
Manual and scheduled scans
Phishing protection
Ransomware protection
Firewall
Parental controls
Password manager
VPN
Ad blocker
Device optimization tools
Learn more	Get Bitdefender Read Bitdefender Review	Get AVG Read AVG Review

Bitdefender and AVG have plenty of basic antivirus features in common, including manual and scheduled scans, phishing protection, a firewall, and more.

Because of AVG’s paired-down approach to security, you won’t get things like parental controls or a password manager. You will get an ad blocker, which is a feature that will make your browsing experience so much easier and safer.

The same can be said for Bitdefender’s password manager. You’ll be able to create and save complex passwords to keep your accounts safe without worrying about whether or not you’ll remember them.

If you have kiddos whose devices also need protection, Bitdefender offers parental controls. The internet is a weird place, and helping your kids navigate it can be more exhausting than having to rush a science fair project the night before the competition. If a feature-rich antivirus is on your list, Bitdefender has plenty of tools for you to enjoy.

Bitdefender vs. AVG: Test results

Third-party testing is necessary to make sure antivirus software works as advertised. Since new threats are constantly emerging, the best antivirus software should be submitting itself for independent testing at least twice a year.

AV-TEST is one of the most trusted third-party testing sites available. It hammers security products with the most up-to-date malware, including ransomware, spyware, and adware. It also tests for performance issues caused by antivirus software as well as false positives, which are when an antivirus flags something as malicious when it’s not.

Bitdefender vs. AVG AV-TEST scores

	Bitdefender	AVG Best Results
Windows score	17.5/18	18/18
macOS score	18/18	18/18
Android score	18/18	18/18
Learn more	Get Bitdefender Read Bitdefender Review	Get AVG Read AVG Review

Both AVG and Bitdefender did very well during the testing. The half-point deduction you see in Bitdefender’s Windows testing is from a false positive. There were no breaches of the software by actual viruses or malicious code, and it didn’t slow down the test computer. False positives can be annoying, especially when you’re trying to download or install something and your antivirus blocks it.

If false positives are concerning to you, AVG didn’t have any issues with them. In fact, AVG had perfect scores across all its products in all testing categories. That’s not bad for a freemium service without a lot of bells and whistles.

Which antivirus has the better compatibility and customer support?

These two are very close on compatibility, but Bitdefender has superior customer service with a 24/7 live chat option.

	Bitdefender	AVG
Windows
macOS
Android
iOS
Browser extensions	Yes — Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari on macOS	Yes — Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari
24/7 customer support
Customer support options	24/7 live chat, phone, email, support forums, online guides	Phone, email, support forums, online guides
Learn more	Get Bitdefender Read Bitdefender Review	Get AVG Read AVG Review

We had generally good experiences using both sets of software. With AVG, we found the speed of the scans and the ability to customize our experience to be very useful.

With Bitdefender, we liked the ease and accessibility of all the features. Both antivirus services provided us with clean and organized dashboards.

While running Bitdefender, it found several pieces of malware on our system. It quarantined them so we could review and remediate them. We didn’t have malware on our system when running AVG.

We had different problems with each security service. With AVG, we weren’t thrilled with the disorganization of the help pages. However, when writing this comparison, we took a second look at AVG’s help pages, and they seemed to be much cleaner and easier to navigate.

Our biggest complaint with Bitdefender was the lack of features available for Apple users. We found the scheduled scans, firewall, file shredder, and other features to not be active on the Mac version of Bitdefender. We feel that if a software company is going to charge the same price for a Mac product as they do for a Windows product, all the features should be available.

AVG doesn’t offer a live chat, which is the biggest difference between the two antiviruses. For us, that’s a huge minus. Live chat is such a helpful tool when you’re trying to quickly troubleshoot a problem. We feel like not having this feature in AVG’s support offerings is kind of a deal-breaker, especially when the products perform so well in threat testing.

As far as our experience with either company’s customer support, we had pleasant and friendly reps that we contacted via phone support. Unfortunately, neither representative was very helpful when we were looking for specific features on our Macs. It seems they were knowledgeable enough with the Windows operating system but not the others offered.

AVG does offer a service called Premium Tech Support. It’s a yearly paid service that will help you out with more than just your AVG product. Here’s a little industry secret: any time you see an antivirus company offering paid additional support on their website, it’s likely a third-party service based in the U.S.

AVG has three tiers of premium support available, depending on your needs. Knowing what the wholesale value is for these support services, we can tell you AVG’s prices are a little high. If this comprehensive tech support is something you want because you need troubleshooting on your printer every three months (printers are the worst), then we would suggest purchasing it independently and saving yourself some money.

FAQs

Bitdefender vs. AVG: Which is better?

You should definitely be using antivirus software, but choosing which one can be exhausting. On paper, Bitdefender comes out as the winner in this race, but that doesn’t mean you should discount AVG. Bitdefender offers more in the way of features and also includes live chat with its support. But AVG has stellar protection scores, did a great overhaul on its Support Center, and caters to people who aren’t looking for a lot of frills with their antivirus. We’d be comfortable using or recommending either of these products.

Bitdefender vs. AVG alternatives

Whether you’re looking for something different for your Windows PC or you want a service that provides full features for your Mac, we have suggestions that aren’t Bitdefender or AVG. If you’re interested in the best free antivirus providers available, we included some of those too.

• Avast: If you’re looking for a free antivirus that keeps you safe, Avast may be your answer. We found it offers more features with its free product than other antivirus software. We also found it to have better compatibility than other free products. While there are some drawbacks, you may find this to be one of the best free antivirus software products overall.
  
  Get Avast | Read Our Avast Review
• McAfee: McAfee is a tried and true product. It’s one of the longest-running security products for good reason: it works. If you’re looking for features and services like a VPN that can be bundled into your antivirus software, then you should give McAfee a look. It has packages that just include antivirus as well as those that bundle everything you need for a security stack you can feel confident using.
  
  Get McAfee | Read Our McAfee Review
  
• MacKeeper: We talk a lot about how there are limited features for macOS on most antivirus programs, but MacKeeper was built for macOS. It offers antivirus for Mac, a VPN, ID theft guard, patch management, and more. We liked it so much when we reviewed it that we began using it ourselves.
  
  Get MacKeeper | Read Our MacKeeper Review