Bitdefender’s excellent threat detection and prevention, coupled with its minimal impact on system performance, makes us choose it over McAfee. Despite McAfee’s strengths, it’s a little too heavy on system resources, and its prices are high for what it offers. Bitdefender has an excellent free version with plenty of features for most users.

We’d happily pit Bitdefender against any other antivirus on the market. It easily won our Bitdefender vs Kaspersky matchup. Although to be fair, Kaspersky isn’t the strongest opponent — see our Avira vs Bitdefender comparison for a more even contest.

Editor’s Choice

www.bitdefender.com

$3.33 / month

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• Complete real-time data protection: Bitdefender’s anti-malware solutions provide real-time data protection, so it continuously monitors and scans files to detect malware threats before they can cause any harm.
• Advanced threat defense: This behavior-based technology monitors running processes and system events for suspicious activity, enabling it to detect and block advanced threats and ransomware.
• Web attack prevention: Web filtering technology protects users from landing on harmful websites, preventing malware infections and phishing attempts.
• Anti-phishing and anti-fraud: Bitdefender’s features help prevent phishing attacks and online fraud when users shop, bank or browse the internet. These include email protection and an encrypted browser that protects online purchases from fraud. 
• Bitdefender Photon technology: This technology helps Bitdefender adapt to your system in order to perform more efficiently. If Photon detects a file with a recognized configuration, it offloads responsibility for that file to the cloud, allowing the scanner to focus on monitoring unknown and potentially malicious files.

• Spyware protection: McAfee got a 99.9% protection score from AV-TEST in January 2024. This is better than the industry average score of 99.8%.
• Web and email protection: This feature includes tools to block malicious websites, prevent phishing attacks and scan email attachments for potential threats.
• Home network security: This tool protects important files and information from loss or corruption by monitoring network traffic for suspicious activity and blocking unauthorized access attempts.
• PC optimization: McAfee has a PC optimization feature that allows users to improve their PC performance by altering system settings and cleaning up unnecessary files. However, even with this feature, McAfee is still hard on system resources.
• Parental controls: With tools to set screen time limits, block inappropriate content and track online activity, this feature helps parents keep their children safe online.

Bitdefender and McAfee both offer strong web protection features but with some differences. Bitdefender’s anti-phishing protection blocked all phishing sites in lab tests by comparing them to a vast database of dangerous domains. It scans search results for risky sites, checks encrypted websites and identifies fraudulent content to ensure comprehensive online security. 

McAfee’s WebAdvisor also identifies phishing sites from a large, regularly updated database. It blocks phishing sites and exploit attacks that bypass standard browser protections, and it received AV-TEST’s award for best protection in 2022. 

Bitdefender and McAfee each provide exceptional malware protection. Bitdefender has a lightweight but powerful malware scanner that uses machine learning and an enormous directory to detect and remove malware. Its real-time protection, Bitdefender Shield, blocks malware before it can infect your system, and it has a minimal impact on device speed.

McAfee uses traditional malware detection techniques and a real-time protection engine that blocks malware downloads. This is one reason for its larger impact on devices compared to Bitdefender, which uses a more streamlined approach that relies more heavily on machine learning.

Both antivirus solutions have firewall protection features, with Bitdefender providing a firewall that monitors network traffic, blocks unauthorized access attempts and safeguards against cyber threats.

Bitdefender’s firewall includes advanced customization settings. You can configure network rules for specific apps, define trusted networks, set up port forwarding and adjust intrusion detection settings for higher or lower levels of security. 

McAfee’s firewall is very similar. It monitors incoming and outgoing traffic, detecting suspicious activities and allowing users to control their network permissions.

A file shredder feature permanently deletes dangerous files so they have no chance to impact your system. Bitdefender and McAfee both have a file shredder.

Parental control features help parents monitor and manage their children’s online activities. Both Bitdefender and McAfee’s parental controls let parents restrict access to inappropriate content, set screen time limits, block dangerous apps and websites, and track their children’s whereabouts. 

McAfee’s child tracker allows you to see your child’s location on a map and get notified when they arrive at or leave a location. Bitdefender also lets parents track their children’s locations. It even has a “safe check-in” feature where children can notify their parents that they’re OK without having to make a phone call.

McAfee’s parental controls are only available on the McAfee+ Family subscription and aren’t provided to individual users. Additionally, McAfee’s parental control features are offered on Windows, Android and iOS devices, but not on Mac. If you have a Mac and want parental controls, Bitdefender is the better choice.

A password manager securely stores and manages passwords. Both Bitdefender and McAfee have good ones. You can purchase Bitdefender’s password manager as a standalone software, whereas McAfee’s password manager comes bundled with its McAfee+ packages. 

Both password managers let users access their passwords from anywhere, and they include data encryption to protect sensitive information. Users can import their passwords from other password services, and they support multiple file formats for easy data transfer. Both managers also generate strong, randomized passwords.

Bitdefender and McAfee each provide excellent antivirus software solutions with strong protection. Bitdefender uses machine learning algorithms along with traditional malware detection techniques like signature-based detection, heuristic analysis and behavior monitoring. It also has very fast scanning speeds and detection rates, and it keeps device impact low. 

McAfee relies more heavily on traditional malware detection techniques, though it is incorporating more machine learning into its antivirus software. It uses signature-based detection — which compares files to a database of known malware — combined with heuristic analysis to identify potentially harmful code based on behavior or characteristics.

McAfee also monitors program activities in real time. It flags any suspicious behavior it observes, like programs attempting to modify files or access sensitive system areas.

Both apps offer identity theft monitoring services. Bitdefender and McAfee’s identity theft protection actively scans the surface web, social media networks, blogs, forums and the dark web for any signs of compromised personal information.

Each service also provides advanced monitoring for banking, credit cards, investments, addresses and court records. Bitdefender includes instant alerts for data breaches or fraudulent login attempts, plus assistance in identity restoration with US-based certified protection experts.

McAfee’s Advanced Total Protection package includes similar instant alerts, but it adds court records monitoring, sex offender registry monitoring, cyberattack reimbursement of up to $25,000 and insurance coverage for some expenses in case of identity theft.

Bitdefender’s free plan uses real-time scanning for malicious software while offering protection from ransomware and phishing attacks. Its free plan is enough to keep most users well protected. Paid plans include a VPN, parental controls, anti-spam and a gaming mode that optimizes system performance to maintain speeds while gaming. 

McAfee’s cheapest plan is McAfee Total Protection Basic, which is $35.99 annually for the first year for one device. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus is the same price but includes three devices. The Bitdefender Total Security plan includes five devices and is $69.99 annually for the first year. McAfee’s Total Protection Plus plan covers five devices for $35.99 annually for the first year.

Both Bitdefender and McAfee have VPN options, but there are some notable differences. The no-logs policy for Bitdefender Premium VPN has been independently audited by Pango Group, but we couldn’t confirm whether McAfee’s policy has been externally audited.

In terms of VPN features, they both secure your internet connection. Bitdefender lets you connect up to 10 devices, while McAfee only allows for five. Bitdefender’s VPN has unlimited data, while McAfee Secure VPN has a very low data cap of 250MB monthly — unless you remove data limits by subscribing to the premium version.

Both companies do state that they collect user data in their respective privacy policies, so you may be better off with a more privacy-focused app. Check out our ExpressVPN review or NordVPN review for some options.

Bitdefender’s mobile app offers an “app lock” feature and system optimization tools that aren’t included in McAfee’s app. Both apps provide anti-malware, parental controls, anti-phishing, web security, account privacy checks and webcam protection.

Support:
Community Forum
Phone Support
Knowledgebase
E-mail
24/7 Chat Support

When we contacted Bitdefender through live chat, we got a bot that couldn’t answer simple questions about the service and only spewed sales jargon. It did forward our questions to a different department that replied with comprehensive answers in just under 24 hours. Bitdefender also has phone and email support as well as a knowledgebase.

Unlike Bitdefender, McAfee’s chat option requires a phone number to access, but McAfee did connect us directly to a human. Unfortunately, that human was unable to answer most of our questions and directed us to McAfee’s paid TechMaster service for comprehensive support. McAfee also has 24/7 customer support by phone and email, plus a knowledgebase.