Bitdefender Vs Norton: The Only Comparison You’ll Ever Need

Today as we move a major portion of our lives from photos to videos to office work over the internet, it is extremely crucial that we have proper systems for protecting our data. Data thefts or damage to our computer or network happens through malware, including Viruses, Trojans, and more. Also, these programs can damage your device, steal your data, or take control of your computer.

Installing reliable antivirus software on our devices is essential. Usually, an antivirus works by downloading database files from its cloud servers onto your system. Then it runs a scan to compare your system files with them for a match. If the files in your system match the virus definitions, the antivirus will quarantine or delete them. Also, many antiviruses perform application behavioral checks to prevent possible attacks.

In this post, we will review the two most popular antivirus brands: Bitdefender Vs Norton. We dive deep into both of the products and study the features they have to offer. Also, we already know that it is always difficult to select the best between Bitdefender or Norton.

Make sure to read to the end of the article to understand the best they have to offer and choose the one that best suits your needs.

Bitdefender Vs Norton: Comparison Parameters

Before we move towards the showdown, let us first look at the product packages they offer.

* some regions have limited feature Norton Antivirus Plus

So with this, let us come to the actual comparison between Bitdefender Vs. Norton Antivirus.

Let's look at the features that each of these antivirus packages has to offer. Bitdefender has a new free antivirus package with improved features for Home users. The old free version is now discontinued. 

We will start from the most basic paid versions and then gradually move to the most advanced versions.

Please note that all the features that an earlier package has been carried forward by default to the next expensive version.

Hence, we will not be repeating the same in our comparison table.

You can find a detailed Bitdefender products comparison. If you wish to check Norton products in detail, visit Norton's official page.

With Norton Secure VPN, you get unlimited data which is included in all its plans. The VPN is not an optional add-on but is a mandatory paid inclusion. Also, you can get it at the best price by using Norton Secure VPN coupons.

Bitdefender VPN is only included as a Free add-on with all the products by default. You get 200 MB per day without the choice to select servers. If you wish, you can purchase Bitdefender Premium VPN separately. Learn more about what the Premium VPN offers in this Bitdefender Premium VPN Review.

Hence, with Bitdefender, you will have a choice to select any dedicated VPN services like Surfshark or CyberGhost. In our opinion, a dedicated VPN service is far advanced than the one included with the antivirus. For example, Norton VPN does not support P2P traffic. It will not start unless you close your Torrent application. Hence, if you need P2P traffic, Norton VPN will disappoint you.

Though both of the antivirus packages are more or less similar with their offerings, in comparison to the features above, Bitdefender seems to offer a better value proposition and choice than Norton.

Let us move to the next feature comparison.

When we compare these two top-performing antivirus brands, it is tough to decide the exact differences these two will have. However, although it is very tough for common people to test and judge an antivirus for performance, an organization named 'AV comparatives' & AV-Test consistently run different tests on global antivirus providers and publish reports with winners across different categories.

AV-Comparatives

When they ran tests for Norton 360 and Bitdefender products, Bitdefender performed better in the July - October 2024 Real-World Protection Test. Bitdefender blocked 99.6% of threats in all the tests with 5 false positives. Though Norton blocked 99.8% of threats in this duration, it had 22 false positives.

According to the latest Malware Protection Test, Bitdefender outperformed Norton based on offline detection rates. Bitdefender received the Advanced+ award with few false positives. Norton, on the other hand, received the Standard Award as it recorded many false positives.

AV-TEST

According to the latest AV-Test.org results conducted in September - October 2024, Bitdefender and Norton scored 6 out of 6 in Performance & Usability and 5.5 out of 6 each in Protection.

Please note that both Bitdefender and Norton rival every year. They offer some of the best protection against malware threats on the internet.

However, defending your computer against ongoing threats is not a static job. The protection will evolve, so will the threats. Moreover, the AV-TEST Institute registers more than 350,000 new malware samples every single day.

It means there will never be a consistent 'best' solution in the antivirus industry. But both Norton, as well as Bitdefender surely top the charts when it comes to malware protection. Bitdefender just has a slight edge at the point of writing this comparison. You can count on the numbers by the independent firms when buying a good antivirus solution.

Any software, however perfect it may be in providing a solution to the problem, is of no use if it isn't user-friendly. It is true, especially in the case of an antivirus. With so many different modules, settings, and options in an antivirus package, it is crucial to communicate with the user easily. Moreover, it should be easy to navigate and control for its intended user.

In this section, we check for the user-friendliness of Bitdefender vs. Norton. The user journey starts right from the installation phase and continues through correctly using the software.

Bitdefender

Bitdefender is fairly simple to install onto your computer in under 15 minutes. The installation process resembles a guided tour. Once installed, the software is pretty simple to use. The dashboard is the most commonly visited page on Bitdefender antivirus. It is clean and well organized to let you view and control the most important functions required.

The main page on the dashboard contains various options:

The dashboard also hosts 'quick actions' as shortcuts to some more utilized options. Most of the time, if the antivirus finds any issue on your computer, it will alert you through sidebar pop-ups.

One-click prompts in these notifications will resolve most of the issues. Only rarely will you go to the main dashboard for any additional settings required. But that doesn't mean you cannot access detailed settings. An advanced user still has access to an array of micro-settings that can allow the user to decide how the antivirus should perform according to his requirement.
Overall, Bitdefender is straightforward to use for general users and still has more advanced settings to offer for the experts.

Norton

Like Bitdefender, Norton offers a straightforward installation process, ensuring a hassle-free experience for potential users. The new interface, a significant upgrade from previous versions, is designed to be user-friendly. Once installed, the app presents a dashboard with all the essential features, making it easy to navigate.

On the left side of the dashboard is a button dedicated to Smart Scanning; other than that, it has Protection Report, Feature Setup, Messages, Search Tool, Help Center, and Settings.

Norton provides a comprehensive range of essential features on the right side of the dashboard.

At the bottom, there's an option to download additional features, such as Driver Updater and Utilities Ultimate, which require a separate purchase.

The Device Security tab offers a wide range of options to customize your antivirus settings, making it more suitable for advanced users. However, if you find the latest user interface difficult to navigate, you can easily switch to classic mode from the Settings panel.

Note: While these settings are configurable, I found Bitdefender sleeker and more user-friendly. All the tools in Bitdefender are easy to navigate. In contrast, novice users can struggle to find their way through Norton's features.

After carefully comparing both interfaces, we conclude that Bitdefender is more user-friendly than Norton regarding easy accessibility of features and configurable settings. Hence, in this segment, the verdict leans toward Bitdefender.

One of the most significant factors to consider when choosing an antivirus is its effect on your computer's regular performance. Antivirus is always 'ON' and running in the background to keep your system secure by running continuous scans. By doing this, it puts out a considerable strain on your system resources. However, the latest antivirus programs have considered this and improved a lot on this front.

If an antivirus slows down your system and you can't use it the same way you could earlier, count it as a bad user experience.

Let us run through how Bitdefender & Norton pile up against each other in this avenue. For the tests, we are using Bitdefender Total Security and Norton 360 Deluxe.

Bitdefender Idle State Resource Usage

It is important to note that the idle load is the baseline resource consumption that the antivirus will always reserve from your system.

During my Bitdefender Vs Norton comparison, I observed that Bitdefender consumed 0% of CPU resources, occasionally spiking up to 7%, using 675.8 MB of RAM.

Norton Idle State Resource Usage

On the other hand, Norton's CPU consumption occasionally spiked upto 21.68%, and the RAM consumption remained constant at 333MB.

AV-Test Performance Results for Bitdefender Vs Norton

AV test organization tests all the antivirus programs based on performance or impact on system resources. Also, they evaluate the loading speed of Websites, Startup applications.

In the latest AV-TEST organization Performance category test, Bitdefender and Norton scored 5.5 out of 6. This means that they put very little strain on your system resources and do not cause substantial lag for the user.

Based on the above scenario, Norton consumes fewer system resources when idle but experiences higher CPU spikes than Bitdefender. Both programs have a constant CPU consumption of around 0%. If we select one strictly based on resource consumption, Norton is the preferred option due to its lower memory usage. Given the numbers, there will not be much difference in their usage scenarios at the idle state.

Both advanced, as well as basic users require support. This feature is something that can make or break the brand reputation of a company. Usually, you can contact the antivirus provider's support team in case of a virus or malware attack beyond the user's understanding. The customers expect an immediate and correct response to their queries. Let us understand how these two providers stack up against each other on the customer support feature.

Bitdefender

Bitdefender has almost all of the channels that every type of customer would feel comfortable connecting with. You can contact support through:

Norton

Norton also has similar customer support channels established, and you can contact them through:

We observed that Bitdefender's customer support articles and websites are slightly easy to use and well organized against Norton's website. To sum up the customer support parameter, both Bitdefender & Norton are truly approachable for almost all the comfortable communication channels.

As discussed in the first section, Bitdefender and Norton offer different protection packages according to individual needs and requirements. The price varies according to the package selected and the extra features these packages offer.
Let us take a closer look at the different features both of them offer.

Bitdefender

* For the latest price, refer to Bitdefender Website.

The cheapest package is the Antivirus Plus which supports Windows only. It includes basic features like Real-time protection, Phishing Protection, VPN, and Ransomware protection. This plan supports up to ten Windows PCs. You can opt-in for a lower or higher number of PCs during checkout.

The mid-tier package, Internet Security, also supports only Windows. Apart from the regular virus protection features, you also get additional features such as a microphone & webcam protection, parental controls, and a network firewall included in the package.

Total Security subscription package provides support for Windows, Android, iOS, and Mac Operating systems. To gain more insights on the features involved in this package, you can read our full Bitdefender Total Security review. Also, you can get rock-solid protection at the best price using Bitdefender coupons.

If you plan to continue with Bitdefender for the long term, you can further get assured discounts with 3-year subscriptions. All Bitdefender products include a limited VPN (200 MB/day). If you wish to have unlimited VPN covering upto 10 devices, Bitdefender Premium Security is ideal. It includes all the features of Bitdefender Total Security. 

Also, before you finalize any package, it is always a good habit to use the 30-day free trial and check your compatibility before the final purchase.

Norton

* For the latest price, refer to Norton Website.

In the basic paid Norton Antivirus plan, you're limited to only one PC or Mac device, with standard malware protection, network firewall, password manager, and cloud storage of 10GB.

Norton Antivirus's next two plans, 360 Deluxe & 360 LifeLock, offer better features and expanded device numbers up to 5 devices each. You get a cloud backup service of 50GB & 100GB with these plans. Basic identity theft and data theft protection are also bundled in these packages. Almost all of the features that a regular user requires are met with one of these two packages.

Norton 360 Premium I plan protects upto 10 devices, and it provides cloud backup of 100GB. It includes advanced features like Parental Control and WebCam protection features.

One of the most expensive plans, the Norton 360 with LifeLock Ultimate Plus, adds an array of advanced identity theft protection and data theft modules to the program. It gives a cloud backup service of 500GB. Moreover, you can install it across an unlimited number of devices with certain restrictions. You also get priority support when you choose this module.

With Norton, to get the best of the features, you will have to pay a lot higher than other players, especially Bitdefender.

Please note that the Norton 360 suites, including 360 Deluxe, 360 Premium, and 360 Deluxe with LifeLock Select, include Norton Secure VPN as part of the suite pack.

We recommend Bitdefender if you want sufficient malware protection with decent added benefits & that gives you an overall value for money. We like the availability of choice for the selection of number of devices and years of protection.

However, Norton can be a good choice if you have advanced online requirements and work with extremely sensitive data by paying that extra penny for the advanced features. You will feel the lack of flexible device plans with Norton.

Bitdefender Vs Norton: Frequently Asked Questions

Is Bitdefender free to use?

Yes, there is a free version of the program for Windows, Mac and Android devices.

Can I get a free trial of Norton?

Yes. You can try the 7 Days Free Trial of the software before planning to buy one. But as mentioned above, you will have to enter the payment information.

Which is better for Mac? Bitdefender or Norton

Both the antivirus programs offer top-notch protection for Mac users. The latest report from AV-TEST Institute includes Bitdefender and Norton as top products. 

The Conclusion: What to Buy? Bitdefender Vs Norton

Through all the comparisons and the features that Bitdefender and Norton offer, they both stand neck to neck in the competitive antivirus world. Both of them have their pros & cons. But there is no denying that they deserve being on the top of the charts for the best antivirus software.

However, based on our elaborate comparison and tests conducted by the AV test and AV-Comparatives, Bitdefender has:

The choice is yours. If you wish to go with the features offered by Norton, then you can go with it.

Bitdefender Vs Norton: Which is Better?

Considering the protection, malware detection rates, features, and value for money, we will choose 'Bitdefender' as our best choice of antivirus.

Comparatively, there is nothing specifically wrong with Norton Antivirus. It is also one of the best antivirus solutions available out there in the market. Also, it has been in the top 5 antiviruses in recent years. 

Simply put, Bitdefender offers more value for money, and you get solid protection and advanced features for a comparatively lower price. In addition, they also offer flexible product plans. Hence, giving more choice to users while purchasing a security solution.