Bitdefender Total Security review: Great, easy to use protection

Finest Costs Right now: Bitdefender Complete Safety

Whenever you pay for software program, the very last thing you need are limits. And but, Bitdefender Complete Safety imposes a slightly stunning one on customers: VPN use, generally part of mid-range antivirus suites, is restricted to a 200MB per-day restrict per system.

It’s an odd ploy, on condition that rival companies supply full, unrestricted VPN entry, and typically a password supervisor subscription, too. However Bitdefender’s ace within the gap is its stellar safety, together with its easy-to-understand, but nonetheless customizable interface. When you can forgive Complete Safety its occasional half-baked elements, it supplies among the many greatest protection towards malware and on-line threats.

Additional studying: See our roundup of the greatest antivirus software program for Home windows PCs to find out about competing merchandise.

What does Bitdefender Complete Safety embrace?

Bitdefender Complete Safety gives broad safety towards on-line threats, beginning with antivirus, firewall, and ransomware. It additionally safeguards towards community, net, and electronic mail points like brute power assaults, malicious hyperlinks, and harmful attachments, in addition to screens your native inbox for spam if you happen to use Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird. It controls entry to your webcam and microphone to forestall distant spying, too.

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For added safety and privateness, Complete Safety features a safe browser, entry to its VPN service (albeit restricted), tracker blocking, parental controls, and a scanner that checks for system vulnerabilities. It additionally has anti-theft software program instruments to get well, lock down, or wipe an related system. Rounding out the suite are set of utilities: a system optimizer, file shredder for safe deletion, and utilization profiles.

You may set up Bitdefender on Home windows, macOS, Android, and iOS units, although not all options are supported on all platforms.

How a lot does Bitdefender Complete Safety value?

The worth of Bitdefender Complete Safety varies relying on the variety of units coated — although not by a lot. You may select between a five-device plan and 10-device plan, which all allow you to set up the software program on Home windows, macOS, Android, and iOS units.

5-device plan

• $70 for the primary 12 months
• $100 per 12 months thereafter

10-device plan

• $73 for the primary 12 months
• $110 per 12 months thereafter

Bitdefender enrolls customers into auto-renewal by default, although refunds are allowed as much as 30 days after the automated renewal date. The corporate additionally gives refunds inside 30 days of the preliminary buy of a subscription.

To avoid wasting extra money on Bitdefender, you should purchase by means of our personal PCWorld software program retailer, which at present gives 5-device, one-year licenses for simply $29.99. Retailers like Newegg, B&H, and Amazon supply sizable reductions as nicely. For instance, a 10-device, one-year plan was simply $50 on Newegg on the time of this text’s publishing.

Key options of Bitdefender Complete Safety

Set up and person interface

Getting began with Bitdefender Complete Safety is easy and easy — the set up window even exhibits brief explanations of various options as you wait. Nonetheless, watch out when organising your Bitdefender account, as you’re solely requested to kind in your password as soon as. When you don’t use a password supervisor, that leaves you open to misremembering (or mistyping) it.

The Bitdefender app has a clear, easy interface, with large tiles for every function. A defend icon within the upper-left nook serves as a standing indicator; it’ll flip purple when one thing requires consideration. Alongside the left facet of the window is entry to the dashboard, options sorted by class (Safety, Privateness, and Utilities), notifications, and settings. The app works at the side of the Bitdefender Central web site portal, the place you’ll deal with system administration (which incorporates distant instructions you possibly can ship to related units, like malware scans) and parental controls.

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Within the dashboard, you’ll discover six customizable shortcuts to totally different options, together with urged motion objects on the high. The defaults are Fast Scan, System Scan, Vulnerability Scan, VPN, and Safepay, together with a clean tile.

Below Safety, you get entry to the antivirus scanner, vulnerability scanner (which checks for weaknesses in your apps and community), and settings for on-line and superior risk protections, firewall, spam screening, and ransomware safeguards.

From Privateness, you can begin up the Safepay digital atmosphere or VPN, leap into parental controls (that are dealt with by means of the Bitdefender Central web site), set up the anti-tracker extension for supported browsers, and handle your webcam and microphone safety settings. You can too entry Bitdefender’s password supervisor, nevertheless it’s a separate paid service and never included with the Complete Safety suite.

Inside Utilities, you’ll discover a hyperlink to Bitdefender’s anti-theft instruments (managed by means of the Bitdefender Central web site), the optimizer scanner that hunts for non permanent and different disposable recordsdata, exercise profiles (which allow you to simply change Bitdefender’s habits to align with the way you’re utilizing the pc — e.g., gaming vs. work), and a file shredder for securely deleting recordsdata from hard-disk drives (HDD).

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Notifications present a working log of Bitdefender’s findings because it displays your system, organized by urgency stage. These differ from the pop-up notifications Bitdefender exhibits inside Home windows, which seem on the backside proper of your display screen and sometimes promote different Bitdefender companies. One such alert even went so far as to warn me a couple of LinkedIn knowledge leak from two years in the past, with the intention to recommend signing up for Bitdefender’s Digital Identification Safety service. Luckily, you possibly can flip off “particular gives” within the app settings.)

General, Bitdefender errs on the facet of ease-of-use, giving customers a reasonable variety of settings for the app and per function. The descriptions of options are additionally generalized and never very technical.

Virus, malware, and risk safety

Actual-time safety

Bitdefender stays on fixed alert for potential threats to your PC. On the pc itself, it scans opened or added recordsdata, displays apps for suspicious exercise, and screens downloaded electronic mail for spam, sketchy hyperlinks, and harmful attachments. It particularly seems to be out for apps that attempt to encrypt your recordsdata, too — when not initiated by you, such habits is probably going ransomware attempting to carry your knowledge hostage.

In the meantime, everytime you’re searching on-line, Bitdefender screens for malicious downloads, phishing and fraud makes an attempt, encrypted web sites with invalid or bogus certificates, and dangerous search outcomes. It additionally blocks unauthorized incoming entry to your PC, unauthorized use of your webcam and microphone, and on-line net trackers (once you set up the corporate’s anti-tracking browser extension). You may moreover pair this system with the corporate’s free TrafficLight browser extension, which provides icons to go looking outcomes marking them protected or dangerous.

Scheduled and guide scans

In an uncommon transfer, Bitdefender doesn’t robotically carry out common scans. To run a Fast Scan and/or System Scan at a scheduled time, it’s essential to edit these default scans — or as an alternative create a customized scan. The method shouldn’t be intuitive, both. You need to open the edit display screen and click on the Subsequent button earlier than the choice to Select when to schedule this process seems. 

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You may then select between 4 intervals — every day, weekly, month-to-month, or at system startup. Day by day enables you to set a time; Month-to-month enables you to set which day of the month and a time; and Weekly enables you to select a day of the week and a time.

For guide scans, you possibly can run Fast Scan, which focuses on vital recordsdata and processes; System Scan, which combs by means of your whole system; or a customized scan you’ve created. Fast Scan and System Scan will also be initiated by means of the Bitdefender Central web site — although you gained’t see indicators of exercise on the system. Because of this, I most popular beginning my scans immediately on the PC I used to be utilizing.

Working System Scan may be sluggish throughout its first run, as Bitdefender takes inventory of every thing in your PC, nevertheless it hurries up afterward. (By default, the app scans solely new and adjusted recordsdata.) You can too right-click on particular person folders and recordsdata, after which select Bitdefender > Scan with Bitdefender to verify them out.

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Bitdefender permits you to modify settings for scans — for instance, you possibly can select to have the software program all the time display screen all recordsdata, even when they haven’t been modified since your final scan. You don’t get a ton of tweaks, nevertheless it’s greater than opponents like McAfee and Norton (which go for an ultra-simplified vibe) supply.

Vulnerability scanner

Along with scanning for viruses, malware, ransomware, and on-line threats, Bitdefender can verify your PC’s app, system recordsdata, and community settings for exploitable weaknesses. (Attackers use these openings to compromise your system and/or knowledge.) Discovered underneath Safety > Vulnerability, the instrument hunts for weak Home windows person passwords, vital Home windows updates not but put in, modifications to Home windows and community settings that might let malicious habits slip previous, outdated apps, Wi-Fi community and router settings that may very well be strengthened, and extra.

Just like the antivirus scans, you possibly can remotely provoke a vulnerability scan by means of the Bitdefender Central web site.

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Firewall

Bitdefender takes over firewall duties fully for Home windows — and although most individuals are greatest off leaving it alone with default settings, you possibly can customise how stringent the foundations are and whether or not these guidelines change primarily based on the kind of connection you’re on. Bitdefender sends customers a notification at any time when a doubtlessly malicious app tries to entry the web. I didn’t discover any overzealousness on Bitdefender’s half whereas utilizing my take a look at PC, and the settings are properly streamlined with out being too simplified.

Rip-off safety

Bitdefender not too long ago launched a free service known as Scamio, an AI-driven chatbot designed to assist confirm the legitimacy of electronic mail, textual content messages, instantaneous messages, hyperlinks, and QR codes. To get began, it’s essential to head to scamio.bitdefender.com (login required) or Meta’s Messenger app. Then you definately’ll add a screenshot, copy/paste into the chat, or just describe the state of affairs to the bot.

As a really primary second opinion, Scamio isn’t dangerous, although its evaluation can take longer than anticipated. I preferred that it may possibly simply extract hyperlinks from screenshot — a a lot safer methodology, since attempting to repeat/paste can result in an unintended click on. It additionally appears to err on the facet of warning, dismissing my try at candy nothings as a possible rip-off.

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That stated, in order for you hands-off assist for textual content messages, you also needs to set up Bitdefender in your cell phone. As long as you’re snug with the permissions it requests (which go fairly deep), it should robotically display screen your chat messages and notifications for potential scams.

VPN

Bitdefender Complete Safety contains entry to its VPN for a number of units, however there’s one large catch — every bit of substances is allotted a paltry 200MB of bandwidth per day. (You may burn by means of that by searching just some web sites.) You’re solely allowed to connect with the closest server, too.

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In Bitdefender’s favor is a smooth, simply navigated interface — I significantly like how essential info and stats are laid out clearly. However with free, respected VPN companies providing far more bandwidth and letting you select a location when connecting, paying for Bitdefender Premium VPN to get limitless bandwidth and entry to servers in all 55 supported international locations simply doesn’t really feel price it. Not when the associated fee is $40 for the primary 12 months and $70 per 12 months thereafter.

Parental controls 

Bitdefender Complete Safety contains parental controls, that are managed by means of the Bitdefender Central web site. On PC, you possibly can restrict display screen time, apps used, and web sites visited. Android and iOS units additionally permit guardians to see location and telephone contacts.

To start on a PC, you’ll first set up Bitdefender on it. For cellular units, you’ll want to put in the devoted Bitdefender Parental Management app. Then on Bitdefender Central, you’ll create a profile on your baby and assign the pc, telephone, or pill to the profile.

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From there, you possibly can add deadlines and create schedules for blocked use, in addition to handle which functions and web sites may be accessed. For apps, you possibly can solely restrict apps your baby has already used. Nonetheless, for web sites, you possibly can block or permit by classes, that are predetermined by Bitdefender. By default, kids can go to websites inside simply 13 of the 43 presets, reminiscent of “search engines like google and yahoo,” “webmail,” “computer systems and software program,” and “journey.” Information is forbidden, which put PCWorld.com on the ban record. (Guess we’re not sufficient about computer systems and software program.)

As your child spends time on their system, you’ll see their utilization statistics seem within the dashboard’s charts. The dashboard additionally exhibits location monitoring, which works fairly nicely — the telephone used for testing appeared with shut accuracy to the bodily location. (The urged addresses weren’t right, nonetheless.) Cellphone contacts show right here as nicely, and robotically replace at any time when a brand new contact is added.

Further options

Anti-Theft

Bitdefender Complete Safety’s anti-theft instruments are unbelievable in concept, letting you remotely find, lock, or wipe your system. For a smartphone, you can too remotely set off an alarm and/or ship a push notification with a message to whomever has it.

However in follow, I discovered this function to fall flat. For instance, my take a look at laptop computer’s location wasn’t exactly correct — not stunning, because it was primarily based off of the IP handle. In the meantime, my smartphone’s whereabouts by no means confirmed up. Locking the units additionally didn’t work significantly nicely, both. If the individual holding your telephone is aware of your PIN, you’re out of luck. The PIN you set through Bitdefender Central doesn’t override that.

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The one half that labored as marketed was the distant alert sound, together with the push notification. That solely helps with smartphones, although, and also you’ll must belief that you may annoy somebody into doing the best factor.

Browser extensions

Bitdefender has two browser extensions price calling out, although neither are locked to the Complete Safety suite. The Anti-Tracker extension is robotically put in together with the Bitdefender app, the place you can too handle its set up if you happen to set up one other browser in your PC afterward. (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Web Explorer are supported — although if you happen to’re on an working system that may nonetheless run Web Explorer, it’s time to improve). It retains trackers from amassing knowledge on you, and allows you to handle the sort of info for web sites you go to.

Bitdefender TrafficLight checks web sites for phishing makes an attempt and malware, blocks doubtlessly harmful components on web sites, and provides visible cues to go looking outcomes labeling them as protected or dangerous. Obtainable as a Chrome and Firefox extension, this add-on isn’t vital, however its search-result visible warnings may be useful.

File Shredder

Bitdefender’s safe delete function enables you to completely take away recordsdata out of your PC — supplied they’re saved on a hard-disk drive (HDD). Complete Safety’s File Shredder function makes use of the Division of Protection 5520.22-M three-pass methodology to “shred” your knowledge, which works on HDDs however isn’t as efficient on solid-state drives (SSDs). In reality, this manner of deleting knowledge can shorten the lifetime of an SSD.

With most laptops now utilizing SSDs, this function will solely be helpful in case you have an exterior HDD you retailer delicate paperwork on. However Bitdefender is the same as rival antivirus software program on this regard.

OneClick Optimizer

This utility hunts for Home windows recordsdata, registry objects, and web recordsdata it may possibly nuke — all within the title of tuning up your PC. However whereas OneClick Optimizer can shortly wipe away seemingly pointless knowledge, it shares little element about what will get tossed. That’s a giant drawback for something associated to your registry — a spot the place even seasoned PC customers tread cautiously. (And normally, it is best to all the time know what you’re deleting.)

If OneClick Optimizer listed what it removes, maybe I’d have ended up much less cautious of it. Nevertheless it solely names three classes (Software program Places, Shared DLLs, and Assist recordsdata) and what number of “points” present in every.

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Given how obscure the instrument is total, I nonetheless suggest Home windows’ built-in Disk Cleanup app and purging searching knowledge within the app itself. This methodology leaves the registry alone and allows you to have far more management, whereas solely being barely extra cumbersome.

Safepay

Safepay is a sandboxed browser — that’s, a safe atmosphere for accessing delicate web sites, saved separate from every thing else working in Home windows. Bitdefender promotes this function as meant for financial institution web sites, and if you happen to navigate to a identified banking website, you’ll see a pop-up asking if you wish to load it in Safepay.

Inside this remoted desktop is a browser with the same really feel as Chrome, however much more bare-bones. You get no extensions and few settings. Nonetheless, it gives a digital keyboard, which is a bit cumbersome however helpful for these involved about keyloggers.

You should utilize Safepay with most web sites, although movies don’t play. Additionally, Bitdefender doesn’t react to all widespread monetary or delicate web sites — for instance, I didn’t see the pop up for irs.gov nor much less widespread banks within the U.S. You’ll must open Safepay and navigate there your self.

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Buyer help

Must you ever want help with Bitdefender, the app comprises a assist web page, which you’ll entry by clicking the life-preserver icon within the higher top-right of the window. It gives direct hyperlinks to Bitdefender’s help web site (which incorporates video tutorials), group boards, and even a full person information. You can too contact the corporate by electronic mail, chat, or telephone.

Updates and upkeep 

You may change replace frequency normally app settings.

By default, updates run robotically within the background as soon as per hour. You may stretch this frequency to as soon as each 24 hours (with changes accessible in hourly increments). If for some purpose you’re on a restricted web join, you possibly can flip off automated updates, however your PC might be higher protected if you happen to go away it on.

Bitdefender additionally permits you to run updates within the foreground, so that you just see after they occur. Nonetheless, it doesn’t let customers carry out guide checks for updates.

Efficiency

Bitdefender takes high marks in unbiased checks carried out by safety analysis institutes. In AV-Take a look at’s zero-day assault and malware checks for November and December 2024 (probably the most present outcomes launched by the group), Bitdefender caught one hundred pc of the 389 zero-day assault samples and 12,159 widespread and prevalent malware samples.

In the meantime in AV-Comparatives’ real-world safety take a look at for July by means of October 2024, Bitdefender detected 99.6 % of the 471 take a look at instances, with 5 false positives. (A false constructive is when the antivirus software program blocks a reliable obtain or web site.) The samples had been a mix of drive-by downloads, malicious net addresses, and URLs linking on to malware.

AV-Comparatives

Equally, Bitdefender ranked excessive in AV-Comparatives’ September 2024 malware safety take a look at. Of the 16 antivirus packages examined, Bitdefender scored a 94.3 % on-line detection charge, 99.98 % on-line safety charge, and 94.3 offline detection charge, with 5 false positives. Even once you don’t have an lively web connection, you’re well-protected. Solely a handful of different antivirus packages had equally excessive marks throughout the board.

In AV-Comparatives’ October 2024 Superior Menace Safety Take a look at, Bitdefender detected 13 of the 15 threats, placing it in a stable second place in comparison with the six different corporations that participated within the analysis. This take a look at checks to see how nicely an antivirus suite handles extra refined, focused threats like malicious scripts and fileless assaults.

AV-Comparatives

When idle within the background, Bitdefender usually has a lightweight affect on system efficiency. Its impact was minimal when our take a look at laptop computer encoded a big video right into a smaller 1080p30 file (our Handbrake benchmark), and through PCMark 10’s simulation of video conferencing, net searching, and enhancing in open-source picture and doc packages. Nonetheless, Bitdefender’s affect crept up when doc enhancing in Microsoft Workplace apps like Phrase, Excel, and PowerPoint, with UL Procyon take a look at scores falling by about 9.5 %.

When working a heavy scan, Bitdefender can notably have an effect on efficiency on mid-range and price range PCs — even when set to “low” affect in its settings. Blasting a steady full scan whereas working every benchmark dropped PCMark 10 scores by nearly 20 % and UL Procyon outcomes by a large 35 %. Handbrake encodes had been much less affected, with a ten % improve in time wanted.

Nonetheless, whereas these efficiency decreases sound scary, they’re a mirrored image of the toughest pressure in your PC. I compelled Bitdefender to scan the recordsdata as in the event that they’d by no means been checked earlier than, with the intention to see how arduous it could hit our take a look at laptop computer. However by default, the app solely scans new and adjusted recordsdata (as widespread amongst antivirus software program nowadays), which reduces the trouble wanted to verify over your PC. For many individuals, your expertise seemingly might be nearer to the idle efficiency (as outlined above), until you usually work with massive batches of contemporary or altered recordsdata.

Is Bitdefender Complete Safety price it?

Bitdefender Complete Safety gives top-notch safety in an easy-to-use app. Its foremost weaknesses are the constraints of a few options, like VPN entry and Anti-Theft instruments, and the questionable usefulness of its OneClick Optimizer utility. However regardless that rivals like Norton give extra bang for the buck, this antivirus software program delivers on what issues most, which is protecting your PC (and different units) protected. Simply don’t pay for the 5-device license when you may get the 10-device one for just a few {dollars} extra.