Bitdefender VS McAfee: The Ultimate Comparison

Perplexed about which antivirus you should pick? Well, if you’ve already made a Google search about “Best antivirus software,” then we surely understand your state of confusion. A wide variety of antivirus software is available online, where Bitdefender and McAfee are renowned players in this segment.

As cybercriminal activities are increasing rapidly, installing a secure antivirus suite to safeguard your digital devices becomes a must. No matter which device or platform you’re using, Windows, macOS, Android, or iOS, using antivirus software can keep your device safe against any potential threat. And even if you’re paying teeny cost to buy an antivirus software package, it will be one of the most worthy decisions you ever make to keep your digital data secure.

So, confused between Bitdefender VS McAfee? Which antivirus software should you pick? In this post, we have covered a detailed insight highlighting all the significant differences, comparing both these rival antivirus suites on various parameters so that you can make the best decision to protect your devices.

Bitdefender Antivirus Package

Before we begin the comparison, here’s a summarized overview of all Bitdefender antivirus products that you can choose from.

Bitdefender Antivirus Free: Starting our list with the bare-minimum, Bitdefender Antivirus Free offers you a limited set of security features, but yes, as compared to other freeware software, it does a pretty fair job to protect your devices. Along with Bitdefender Antivirus Free, you can avail of free malware protection and security against fraudulent websites.

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus: Bitdefender Antivirus Plus offers you top-notch security against viruses and malware. It comes bundled with a wide range of security features, including a password manager, a safe browsing experience for shopping online and pursuing banking transactions, a file shredder utility tool, WiFi network security, and many more. Although, the only catch here is that it is only compatible with Windows OS.

Bitdefender Internet Security: Consider Bitdenfder Internet Security as an advanced version of the above mentioned. Besides offering overall virus and malware protection, it also gives you many premium features, including Parental Controls, Webcam protection, and a 2-way Firewall to protect your network.

Bitdefender Total Security: Just how its name implies, Bitdefender Total Security is a sum up of everything above, with a few more added security features. Bitdefender Total Security is a complete package that features system optimization features, disk cleanup, advanced anti-theft module, and many more premium features that’s worth considering.

McAfee Antivirus Package

Let’s take a closer look at all the McAfee antivirus variants and packages that you can pick.

McAfee Antivirus Plus: McAfee Antivirus Plus is the most basic security package offered by the brand. Along with offering virus and malware protection, it provides you security features like home network protection, network manager, PC optimization tools, vulnerability scanner, Firewall, Social media guard, and many more advanced features.

McAfee Internet Security: Along with McAfee Internet Security, you will get everything stated above, plus two additional features, i.e., Parental Controls and Anti-spam security.

McAfee Total Protection: McAfee Total Protection is one of the best packages that you can choose to safeguard your devices. It comes with a 100% money-back guarantee so that you have absolutely nothing to worry about. McAfee Total Protection also offers you complete web protection. Its unique “Web Advisor” browser extension instantly notifies you whenever you try to visit dangerous or webpages containing phishing links.

Compatible Platforms: Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.

McAfee Live Safe: McAfee Live Safe is a professional security package that includes premium security and utility tools. With McAfee Live Safe, you get 1 GB of secure cloud storage space and everything else mentioned in the above-listed McAfee variants.

Compatible Platforms: Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.

Bitdefender VS McAfee: A Detailed Comparison

Let’s get started and compare both the antivirus software based on different factors.

Also Read: The Best Antivirus Software For Mac In 2020

Malware Protection

As we spend most of our time on our devices, it becomes crucially important to keep malware and malicious threats at bay. So, between Bitdefender VS McAfee, which antivirus is better when it comes to malware protection? What do you think?

So, malware can be typically categorized into two types, one is the Known Malware, and the other is a Zero-day malware (Unknown malware), which happens to be more dangerous. An antivirus program must be efficiently designed to quickly detect such threats to fight against zero-day or unknown malware. Bitdefender Antivirus suite offers advanced behavioral detection techniques that can easily spot any such risks, and the necessary action can be taken immediately to remove such threats from your device.

If we’re talking about malware protection, then, in this case, BitDefender is a clear winner as it boasts better security.

System Impact

Installing antivirus software on your device is not enough! You also need to make sure how badly it’s affecting your device’s performance. If we’re specifically talking about system impact factor, then an antivirus software should cause no harm to your device’s speed and performance.

BitDefender and McAfee, both antivirus software, have done a splendid job when tested for system impact. So, whether you’re picking BitDefender or McAfee, you won’t be disappointed worrying about what impact this software will make on your device. Both the software are light-weighted and doesn’t slow down your device, not even slightly.

User Experience

Whether you’re an individual or an organization, you may be required to use antivirus software at some point in time or another. Hence, antivirus software should be designed in a way that is ideal to use for both beginners and veterans. So, who has done an excellent job between Bitdefender VS McAfee regarding interface and user experience? Let’s find out.

McAfee: McAfee’s user interface is pretty neat and nicely designed. On the home screen, you will find all the main options categorized into various heads, which include Home, PC Security, Identity, Privacy, and Account. The Quick Scan button is placed right on the center to perform a scan without digging deep into the options efficiently.

Bitdefender: The user interface of Bitdefender antivirus software looks more advanced and sharp, compared to McAfee. The left-hand side panel broadly lists down all the categories to easily switch between the options. By default, you will get to see the dashboard preview offering various scanning options to choose from.

Popularity and Market Presence

McAfee and Bitdefender both have a strong market presence and are reputable enough amongst users worldwide. So, who is more popular when it comes to leading the realm?

Talking specifically about the market share, then McAfee captures more market share compared to Bitdefender. Although both these brands have a reliable image and online presence, you can pick any of them without a second thought.

Pricing

Agree or not, but pricing is considered to be one of the most important factors when you’re picking an antivirus software. It’s not a one-time investment, but it’s more like an on-going cost that you pay for protecting your devices. One needs to choose antivirus software, which is affordable but offers plenty of security features that can make your decisions worth enough.

Bitdefender VS McAfee? Which one do you think is more budget-friendly?

McAfee Pricing Plans:

• 1-device protection: 79.99$/year
• 5-device protection: 99.99$/year
• 10-device protection: 119.99/year

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Bitdefender Antivirus Pricing Plans: 

• Bitdefender Antivirus Plus: Protects up to 3 devices that come at the cost of 59.99$.
• Bitdefender Total Security: Protects up to 5 devices and will cost you around 89.99$
• Bitdefender Internet Security: Protects up to 3 devices (Windows) and comes at a yearly cost of 79.99$

Want To Try Something Else, Try Systweak Antivirus for PC

Well, this may sound slightly new, but Systweak Antivirus for PC does a commendable job in protecting your Windows device. So, if you’re looking for an antivirus suite dedicated to Windows, then you can gladly pick this tool to safeguard your device.

Systweak Antivirus offers all-round protection against malware, viruses, spyware, trojans, and other malicious threats. It also helps you detect and fix malicious start-up items so that your device’s security is not compromised under any circumstance. The tool comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee while you can enjoy the free trial phase to explore the tool at its full potential. To know more about this tool, visit this link.

The Final Verdict

So fellas, between Bitdefender VS McAfee, our vote is going with the former, i.e., Bitdefender, as it offers you more security-rich features and toolset at an affordable price package. From a user-friendly interface to an advanced toolset to enhance security, Bitdefender is an ultimate pick. Apart from offering round the clock virus protection, Bitdefender also offers you utilities like Password Manager, WiFi network protection, File Shredder, Webcam protection, File encryption, and more, along with improving the overall performance of your device.

Which antivirus software will you pick to add an extra layer of security to your devices? Feel free to drop your feedback in the comments box below.