Both McAfee Antivirus and Bitdefender Antivirus have been in the market for a long time now. Both McAfee and Bitdefender offer different suites with varied level of security and number of tools in different packages. But in this blog, we are only going to compare most popular versions of both the antiviruses; Bitdefender Total Security and McAfee Total Protection.
This review isn’t just based on specs, rather it is a user review as I have used both of them. I used McAfee Total Protection for about 2 Years before I switched to Bitdefender Total Security this January (2020).
Also Read: How to choose the Best Antivirus for Windows 10
Basis of Comparison:
In this comparison of McAfee vs Bitdefender, we are going to evaluate and compare both the antiviruses on the grounds like their Malware Protection, Pricing, Tools, and Impact on System Performance. So, let’s not waste any more time and get straight to the comparison.
McAfee vs Bitdefender Tool Comparison:
We will begin this review with comparing the Tools Offered by each of these Antivirus suites; McAfee Total Protection and Bitdefender Total Security. Tools offered by these security software and how well they work is the real metric of what they are meant for and where they stand.
In the table given below, we have listed all the tools available with the both the antivirus suites.
| Mcafee total protection | bitdefender total security | |
|---|---|---|
| Real time malware protection | YES | YES |
| PASSWORD MANAGER | YES | YES |
| VPN | NOT FOR ALL REGIONS | YES (200 MB/DAY) |
| WEB SECURITY (ANTI PHISHING, ETC) | YES | YES |
| PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION | YES | YES |
| PARENTAL CONTROL | YES | YES |
| FILE SHREDDER | YES | YES |
| ANTI-THEFT | YES | YES |
| ENCRYPTED STORAGE | YES | NO |
| DIFFERENT SYSTEM PROFILES | NO | YES |
| WIFI SECURITY ADVISOR | NO | YES |
| DEVICE COMPATIBILITY | MAC, WINDOWS, ANDROID, IOS | MAC, WINDOWS, ANDROID, IOS |
| BATTERY SAVER | NO | YES |
| SOFTWARE OPTIMIZATION ACCORDING TO NEEDS | NO | YES |
| MICROPHONE MONITOR | NO | YES |
| WEB-CAM MONITOR | NO | YES |
So, here are the tools that are available with both Bitdefender Total Security and McAfee Total Protection. As can be seen in the table above, Bitdefender Total Security offers much more features than what McAfee Total Protection has to offer.
It’s now the time do an objective evaluation on which Antivirus software is the complete security solution.
Objective Evaluation of Tools:
As we have already seen that the Bitdefender Total Security clearly offers more tools than what McAfee Total Protection offers. But it is also very important to evaluate the usability and need of these tools. Let’s now get going and understand about some of the aspects that do make some difference and make one antivirus to be more desirable than the other.
VPN:
One can’t over emphasize the importance of a VPN in today’s world. Our online Identity and Data that we send or receive over the internet is vulnerable to be stolen and misused by hackers. VPN encrypts the data we send and masks our IP address (Online Identity) to protect us from various scams and other cyber-threats.
Bitdefender Total Security comes equipped with a VPN and the available bandwidth is 200 MB/Day. Though the Bitdefender VPN can’t be used to stream websites from other countries due to it limited bandwidth, it sure protects the online identity and data from thefts.
McAfee Total Protection, on the other hand, comes equipped with a VPN too but not for all the regions in the world. So, if you are planning to buy McAfee Total Protection, it is better to check the website and ensure the availability of the tool. If it is available in your region, it is as good as Bitdefender VPN in protecting your privacy. Also, it comes with Unlimited Bandwidth and hence, can be used to stream online content.
If you have McAfee VPN available in your region with McAfee Total Protection, McAfee VPN makes more sense than Bitdefender VPN because of Unlimited bandwidth.
Anti-Theft:
Anti-theft feature is extremely useful for people who are going to install these software on their Mobile phones, be it Android or iPhone. Anti-Theft feature is aimed at providing guidance in case of the phone being stolen.
Both Bitdefender Total Security and McAfee Total Protection come equipped with Anti-theft features like remotely alarming the siren on phone, deleting phone data remotely, etc.
However, in my usage, McAfee’s Anti-Theft Features worked much more reliably than Bitdefender’s. While I tried to trigger the alarm remotely or click pictures of the intruder remotely, the Bitdefender’s system didn’t work as smoothly as I expected.
Encrypted Storage:
Encrypted Storage is a very useful tool that I severely enjoyed on McAfee Antivirus. It gave me a peace of mind where I could encrypt some of the most useful files and folders of mine and so only, I would be able to access them.
However, this feature isn’t available with Bitdefender. And I missed this feature dearly in Bitdefender Total Security.
Web-Cam and Microphone Monitor:
Web-Cam and Microphone Monitor is the tool through which users can be sure that their Microphone and Web-Cam aren’t being used to spy on them without their knowledge. Bitdefender Total Security comes equipped with this tool to help you gain peace of mind.
This feature isn’t available with McAfee Total Protection.
All the tools except what specially mentioned above work the same and in all other aspects of tools both, Bitdefender Total Security and McAfee Total Protection, perform equally well.
Verdict on Tools
In this comparison, McAfee vs Bitdefender, both the antivirus software has equally useful tools to provide the best value for money to the customers. However, because we have to draw distinction, I would rather go with McAfee Total Protection. Reason being, VPN is of utmost importance to me and I often forget, and also don’t like, to turn the VPN off repeatedly while I have it turned on. 200 MB/Day bandwidth allowed with Bitdefender Total Security isn’t enough in my point of view. Also, the unreliability of Anti-Theft feature in Bitdefender makes me more inclined towards McAfee when we compare McAfee vs Bitdefender.
McAfee vs Bitdefender Pricing
Another useful metric while comparing McAfee Antivirus and Bitdefender Antivirus is Pricing. Any number of tools offered at an unreasonable price lose their functionality pretty quickly for most people.
McAfee Total Protection Pricing
Though as we mentioned earlier that both the security suites come in different versions with varied level of security and tools, we are going to discuss only about the McAfee Total Protection and every aspect of it. So, here are all the different plans available for McAfee Total Protection:
10 devices plan at $44.99 for 1-year offers the best value for money. There is also Unlimited-Devices version available for $99.99 for 1-year but the VPN is only available for 5-devices.
Bitdefender Total Security Pricing:
Bitdefender Total Security is also available in different plans with varied level of supported devices and a few varying tools. Let’s look at all the plans available for Bitdefender Total Security:
5-devices version for 1-year provides the best value in Bitdefender Total Security. Unlike McAfee Total Protection, Bitdefender Total Security isn’t available for Unlimited Devices.
Pricing Verdict:
If we compare the best deals in both the Antiviruses, McAfee offers the most value for money with subscription of 10 devices available only for $39.99. Hence, in McAfee vs Bitdefender pricing, McAfee Total Protection comes out to be clear winner.
McAfee vs Bitdefender Malware Protection:
Malware protection offered by antiviruses is the primary task they were made for. Malware protection offered by these software needs to be evaluated in order to crown an antivirus to be the best in McAfee vs Bitdefender.
Though I haven’t ever had any problem with any of the antivirus software, judging malware protection of a Software isn’t something that can be done without the help of special resources. Hence, we are going to take help from the independent lab results who have specialized in judging the protection offered by different antivirus software.
AV-Test Lab is one such independent lab that can help us provide quantifiable result. And let me tell you prior to what AV-Test Lab results are, Malware protection offered by all the best antivirus software in the market is identical. That being said, let’s get straight to results by AV-Test Lab.
McAfee Total Protection:
Bitdefender Total Security:
As can be seen in the results above, both Bitdefender Total Security and McAfee Total Protection were tested for around 14,000 samples of Malwares out of which they were able to detect all of these.
Hence, as far as malware protection is concerned, both the antivirus software are worthy to be treated as the best antivirus software available in the market.
McAfee vs Bitdefender System Impact
All the admirable antivirus software available in the market don’t just come with malware protection, but with lots and lots of other tools too. As a result, they generally tend to be heavy on the system performance. Hence, it becomes necessary to compare the system impact of both these software in this article, McAfee vs Bitdefender.
In this field, both the measured results and personal opinion of users matter. To begin with the quantifiable results, we are again going to look at the results of AV-Test Lab that have measured the system impact of both the antivirus software.
Bitdefender Total Security:
McAfee Total Protection:
System Performance impact of both the Antivirus software is kind of identical in the results given above. However, if we talk about the user experience, I felt a lot less system impact with Bitdefender Total Security than what I felt with McAfee Total Protection. With McAfee Total Protection my computer took a bit to open programs and even websites, but with Bitdefender the impact was way less.
Hence, the winner in the case of System performance impact in McAfee vs Bitdefender is Bitdefender Total Security.
So, this was our review and comparison of McAfee vs Bitdefender. Hope we were able to provide you the information you were looking for. Do let’s know your views, we love hearing from you.
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James
I have been using Bitdefender since the days of the Windows XP OS along with Malwarebytes and wouldn't switch if payed to. It can get frustrating at times when web sites get blocked because of "potential malware" but the security is well worth the occasional irritation.