Pricing and Pricing Tiers
For a single license, most antivirus tools charge around $39 or $49 per year. When it comes to protecting a lot of computers, some antivirus companies spread out a smorgasbord of choices, with discount pricing for up to 10, 25, even 50.
That’s not the case with either Bitdefender or McAfee. Both charge $49.99 per year to protect one PC. McAfee stops there, while Bitdefender gives you three licenses for $69.99. That small amount of flexibility gives Bitdefender the edge when it comes to price.
Winner: Bitdefender
Independent Lab Test Scores
When reviewing an antivirus utility, I always check with four big independent testing labs to see what their reports say. Bitdefender and McAfee both routinely top the scoring lists. In the latest report from AV-Test Institute, both earned a perfect 18 points. As for the three tests from AV-Comparatives that I track, both achieved Advanced+ certification, the top rating, in two tests and Advanced, the almost-top rating, in one.
SE Labs challenges antivirus apps by playing back real-world antivirus attacks. Its latest report rated McAfee at the AAA level, the top level, but didn’t include Bitdefender. On the other hand, Bitdefender took perfect scores in the latest tests by MRG-Effitas, but those tests didn’t include McAfee.
It’s Surprisingly Easy to Be More Secure Online
As all the labs use different scoring systems, I’ve developed an algorithm to match their scales and come up with an aggregate score from 0 to 10. Based on results from three labs, Bitdefender and McAfee earned the same aggregate score, 9.8 points.
Winner: Tie
Scores From Our Hands-On Tests
Not every antivirus company participates with the independent testing labs, so I always run my own hands-on tests. These tests also give me a good working knowledge of just how the app in question handles different types of malware attacks.
(Credit: Bitdefender/PCMag)
One test challenges each antivirus to prevent the installation of a fixed set of malware samples using any protective features at their disposal, from simple recognition of the malware file to elaborate behavioral detection. For years, Bitdefender has scored poorly in this test, rescued by its routinely stellar lab scores. And McAfee has typically been at or near the top. In my latest tests, though, McAfee stumbled, coming in with 8.5 points compared with Bitdefender’s 9.0.
(Credit: McAfee/PCMag)
A separate test challenges each antivirus utility to detect and prevent downloads from malware-hosting URLs. Both McAfee and Bitdefender regularly score high in this test. In their latest challenges, Bitdefender earned 100% and McAfee 94%. Tested against fraudulent (phishing) websites, McAfee detected 100% to Bitdefender’s 99%.
This time around, Bitdefender outpaced McAfee in lab test scores, but chances are good McAfee will pull those scores up when next tested.
Winner: Bitdefender
VPN Protection
A full-featured antivirus roots out any malware that has infested your PC and prevents new attacks from taking root. Typically, it also monitors everything that comes in across the network or the internet to head off attacks before they even start. When your data is stored on your computer, it’s behind multiple layers of defense. But when you transmit anything across the internet, all bets are off.
That’s where a VPN (virtual private network) comes in. The VPN runs your communications through an encrypted channel, so no other entity can access them. It has the added bonus of hiding your IP address, making your web traffic seem to come from the VPN server. This foils IP-based geolocation by advertisers and trackers.
(Credit: Bitdefender/PCMag)
Bitdefender and McAfee both offer full-powered VPN protection at their top security suite tiers. At the antivirus level, compared here, it’s a different story. Bitdefender’s VPN limits you to protecting 200MB of traffic per day, and doesn’t give you a choice of which VPN server to use. McAfee, on the other hand, doesn’t include VPN protection at all. Limited beats none.
Winner: Bitdefender
Firewall and Exploit Protection
One typical addition that helps grow an antivirus into a full security suite is an integrated personal firewall. Typically, the firewall actively blocks network-based attacks from the outside and also prevents misuse of your network connection by the apps running on your system. Associated with firewall protection, though sometimes separate, exploit protection hardens your system against network-based attacks that gain entry by exploiting vulnerable apps or system components.
(Credit: McAfee/PCMag)
McAfee brings firewall protection at the antivirus level, though it relies on Windows Firewall to stealth the system’s ports and block dangerous inbound network connections. Its program control is also limited, challenging only connections to known dangerous sites. Still, it’s a firewall, and Bitdefender only includes firewall protection in its security suites.
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Bitdefender builds protection against exploits into its antivirus. In a test using the Core Impact penetration tool, it detected more exploits than almost any competitor. That’s good, but with an actual firewall, McAfee ekes out a win.
Winner: McAfee
Ransomware Defense
For every malware infestation, there’s a Patient Zero, the very first victim. Antivirus apps use many techniques to detect and protect against attacks that nobody has ever seen before, but sometimes, these “zero-day” attacks penetrate their defenses. That unknown status doesn’t last—in a few days or even hours, your antivirus should receive an update that gets rid of the now-known attack.
With ransomware, though, once the initial attack has finished, no update can help you. Your documents are already encrypted, and the perps are already demanding untraceable payment in exchange for the decryption key. That’s why many antivirus programs build in protective layers specifically aimed at ransomware protection.
(Credit: Bitdefender/PCMag)
Bitdefender’s multifaceted approach detects and shuts down ransomware attacks based on their behavior. A remediation component does its best to reverse any damage the attack may have done before detection. In testing, with all other antivirus components disabled, Bitdefender’s ransomware protection foiled 11 of 12 real-world ransomware attacks.
As for McAfee, I couldn’t find any way to disable regular antivirus without also disabling the ransomware protection system. I managed to test it by creating hand-modified versions of my samples. And one of those tweaked samples totally evaded McAfee’s ransomware protection and its regular antivirus components. That’s not good.
Winner: Bitdefender
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Secure Backup for Files
Antivirus isn’t going to protect your files if a tsunami floods your computer and soaks its circuits. You can recover, though, if you have those files backed up somewhere else. In a way, backup is the ultimate security for those files.
Alas, almost all security companies that offer a backup system reserve it for their security suites. Norton is a rare exception, with backup at all levels, starting with the standalone antivirus. Bitdefender and McAfee are part of the majority, with no backup.
Winner: Tie
Breadth of Security Features
Every antivirus app needs two core capabilities. It should thoroughly examine your computer and evict any malicious programs found lurking. And it should keep a watchful eye out to avert any future attempts to compromise your privacy and security. Most of the better apps extend their patrol to include the websites you visit. If the page contains malware or if it’s a fraud meant to dupe you and steal your accounts, the antivirus slams the door on the connection and warns you about what happened.
(Credit: McAfee/PCMag)
That’s the minimum, and some companies pride themselves on doing that minimum very well. Others, including McAfee and Bitdefender, enhance your security further by adding bonus features. For example, both include a secure deletion feature, sometimes called a file shredder. Just deleting a file in Windows, even if you bypass the Recycle Bin, leaves it subject to forensic recovery. But put that sensitive file through the shredder, and nobody can recover it, not even the NSA.
McAfee has the unusual ability to detect and prevent cryptojacking. That’s when an app or website uses your computer to run the computation-intensive processes that produce cryptocurrency without your knowledge or permission. McAfee also works to keep your PC clear of computer and browser traces that could reveal your habits to a snoop. Bitdefender reserves both those features for its suite products.
That’s about it for McAfee’s bonus features, but Bitdefender’s list goes on and on. To start, unlike McAfee, it’s a cross-platform product, one you can use on Windows, macOS, Android, or iOS devices (though its iOS support is limited). It’s SafePay hardened browser kicks in to protect your financial transactions by running in a separate desktop, isolated from other processes. As you surf the web, the Anti-Tracker feature detects and blocks ads and other trackers that try to build a profile of your activity. And its vulnerability scan warns of missing security patches in Windows and popular apps.
(Credit: Bitdefender/PCMag)
If you connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot that’s not properly secured, the Wi-Fi Security Advisor pops up a warning and suggests you connect using the VPN. In the unlikely event that the regular antivirus components can’t remove an entrenched malware system, rebooting into Bitdefender’s Rescue Mode should save the day. The list goes on.
McAfee does more than the antivirus basics, but Bitdefender’s collection of bonus security features is bigger than what you get with some security suites. Bitdefender wins this one, hands down.
Winner: Bitdefender
This article was published by WTVG on 2025-06-03 12:02:00
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