Bitdefender vs Norton 2021

With over 25 years of experience, Norton is one of the oldest antivirus solutions and has recently updated its offerings to meet modern-cybersecurity requirements with the perfect blend of features and protection.

While a newer entrant, Bitdefender has over 500 million installs across 26 countries. It also bagged the top-performer award in 2019.

Read on to compare their performance across key areas.

Security Suites Offered

Norton is continually refining its solutions and the new cloud-based interface ensures it does not drain the power of your devices. The widely varied tools offered by the company and its core-malware scanning platform are two of the things we appreciated the most.

The company provides many additional features for privacy that include email security, a VPN, and secure browsing.

However, it misses out on some add-ons like file encryption. All of these features are only available with the top-tier plan starting at $99.99/year for 5 devices.

Security features include:

• AI and ML-powered protection
• Online threat protection
• Cloud backup, parental control, webcam protection
• Smart firewall, VPN, and deep web monitoring
• Password manager

By comparison, Bitdefender offers a 360-degree security infrastructure backed by artificial intelligence. It has been consistently listed among the top products because of the advanced protection features delivered.

It offers more security-related features and add-on tools compared to most other antiviruses. Besides, the company covers more devices in their plans.

The top-tier plan covers 10 devices at just $89.99/year.

Standout features include:

• Multi-layered malware protection, spam filter, tracking protection
• Fully customizable firewall, password manager, hardened browser
• Webcam & microphone protection, fraud & phishing protection
• File shredder, Wi-Fi network selector, built-in VPN
• Cross-platform parental control

Protection

Owing to its excellence, Norton recently received the AV-Test Best Protection 2019 Award in the consumer and the business sectors. It scans every file and matches them with the signatures of known and updated threats in real-time.

You’ll get great detection and scanning tools alongside dedicated VPN, firewall, and multi-layered heuristic monitor for enhanced protection. The company is so confident in its capabilities it offers a Virus Protection Promise with all plans.

When assessing the solutions side-by-side, the malware protection from Bitdefender is exceptional. The company regularly monitors its extensive list of possible risks. If a new danger is detected, the database matches them for further action.

The AI-based heuristic monitor ensures real-time protection. AV-Comparatives named it the Product of the Year 2019 given it was the only product to achieve ADVANCED+ ratings in all seven tests, Silver Awards for Real-World and Malware Protection, and a Bronze award for Advanced Threat Protection.

Top Features

Though Bitdefender has a lot of features, you can’t get them all unless you subscribe to the top-tier plan. The features offered can be categorized in three modules – protection, performance, and privacy.

Each module comes packed with many important tools like Safe Files, Rescue Mode, Anti-theft, one-click optimizer, multiple modes (battery, game, work, movie), Photon™, microphone monitor, file encryption, social network protection, file shredder, and many more features.

Still, if you consider the cost for features, Norton overpowers the former. You can get more features with the lowest plan than with other product’s mid-to-premium plans.

Enhanced features include AI-based real-time threat detection, online threat protection, cloud storage starting from 2GB to 100GB, smart firewall, money back guarantee, multi-device parental control, dedicated VPN, privacy & deep web monitoring, LifeLock Identity Alert™, and a million-dollar protection package among others.

User Interface

The interface of Norton is simple and light, mostly in white and green colors. The main dashboard displays the security status, the last scan time, and a Quick Scan button. You can find all sorts of advanced features under each tab. On the top bar, there is a default search bar, help links, option to report, and settings. Overall, we can’t deny that Norton employs an intuitive interface.

Bitdefender also follows the minimalist approach to make the navigation extremely easy. It uses a modern and darker interface alongside the trademark green checkmark icon that all antiviruses use. On the left bar you’ll find 8 tabs. Click on one and a new page with all the features and functions pertaining to that module will pop up. Most of the tabs and call-to-actions are self-explanatory, making it extremely user-friendly.

Price

If you have a smaller number of devices, Norton offers an unbeatable price. The Antivirus Plus plan covers 1 PC or Mac at just $19.99 for the first year.

Protection for PCs, Mac, and smartphone/tablet is covered under the 360 Standard plan billed at $39.99 for the first year.

Then, you have the 360 Deluxe plan for 5 devices – Macs, PCs, smartphones, and tablets at $49.99 for the first year.

The top-tier plan is called 360 with LifeLock Select and covers 10 devices at $99.99 for the first year.

Bitdefender has three main solutions to choose from. The core antivirus plan, Antivirus Plus 2020 for up to 3 devices, starts at $19.99 for the first year.

However, you have limited access to features other than malware protection.

The next plan, Internet Security 2020 covers 3 devices at $39.99 for the first year and includes advanced protection.

Finally, the top-tier Total Security 2020 covers 5 devices at $44.99 and 10 devices at $49.99 for the first year.

Bottom Line

There is no denying that both brands feature outstanding solutions. For instance, if you need to protect many devices, Bitdefender offers the best pricing. If you want protection for just one device, Norton offers more value for money..

If you’re primarily considering the features, we think there is no better option than Bitdefender. There isn’t anything bad about Norton other than its competition has better features and is more cost-effective.