Avira vs. Bitdefender – Comparison review

Avira is an Antivirus from a German Company founded in 1988; it has become part of the NortonLifeLock (now Gen Digital). During its long history, it received many rewards as “Product of the Year” and passed many functional tests successfully. Millions of users downloaded Avira for its best usability, low system impact, and high system repair capabilities in case of any threat of infection. With one click, you can increase your antivirus protection, system speed and protect your identity on the Internet.

The incredible feature of Avira is that this service is free; you will receive the following tools: antivirus protection, free VPN, speed booster, identity protection, anti-spam protection, firewall, PC cleaner, and software updates. It supports desktops from Mac and Windows and mobile devices on Android and iOS. With paid versions, you can extend your computer’s protection and access such tools as file encryption, automatic cleaning and software updates, unlimited VPN, encrypted storage, and many more.

Additionally, you can purchase separate programs to increase privacy protection or professionally increase performance speed. It has proposals for home and business, for one device or bundles.

Bitdefender is one of the Cyber Leaders founded in 2001 in Romania. Now, it relies on the most extensive security delivery infrastructure, so within a minute, they receive information about new threats appearing, and their antivirus starts to protect you. As a result, it became four times the product of the year by some Internet independent researchers. This Antivirus is one of the best on the market for Windows 10 and 11 and Android; meanwhile, for iOS and macOS, its performance could be better.

It has a user-friendly interface with a dashboard of the most frequent actions you need to perform to keep your PC secure. The dashboard allows a high level of customization with the addition of any quick actions. The color coding of the application gives a clear antivirus protection status, and the color code of the icon in the left corner of a context menu tells the user the current status of protection.

Avira executes scanning the whole system, a quick scan of vulnerable or customized zones. For all scans, schedules can be set. Antivirus scanners constantly scan the system for viruses, malware, ransomware, Trojans, and other threats. The malicious file will be put in quarantine or deleted if you wish. From quarantine, the malicious file causes no damage to your system.

The scanner also protects from hackers stealing your sensitive data and identity. In addition, the signature basis and behavior analysis can detect new ransomware threats and their mutations.

An adware scanner for detecting and deleting unwanted advertising software is also included in the free and paid versions. In addition, in the paid version, you will also receive an email protection scanner that scans downloads and attachments from unencrypted emails (POP, IMAP, SMTP) for malware to prevent phishing attacks and anti-tracker.

Bitdefender can perform full, quick, system and vulnerability scans. All scans can be started from the dashboard, which is very convenient. The program also scans for vulnerabilities inside the system; it searches for outdated or vulnerable software that can potentially threaten the PC. Bitdefender is cloud-based to prevent slowing down the system.

The new built-in feature in Bitdefender is Antispam (in an All-in-one package), which works with Thunderbird and Outlook, scanning all emails for particular spam characteristics with the possibility of further customization.

Also, as a browser extension, you can install an anti-tracker. Although it protects your privacy when you browse (support Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Google Chrome), you can exclude this feature from some Browsers.

Avira has, by default, protection from all online threats – ransomware, adware, spyware, hacking, phishing, rootkits, worms, and Trojans. There are three packages: Avira Prime, Internet Security, and Free Security. All protection packages are based on AI with multi-layer security powered by cloud technology, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

Protection Cloud Technology safeguards from zero-day attacks in real-time without taking resources from your CPU. The file exchange between your computer and the cloud is encrypted, and all information is used only for malware protection. The NightVision technology allows the detection of the most complicated cyber threats. In the settings, you can define the level of protection – high, medium, or low. This affects the number of false positive disabled threats. For all antivirus activities, you can generate a detailed report.

Avira has a Firewall for blockage of all incoming connections and a Browser Safety add-on to block potentially dangerous websites preventing even opening them. It also prevents ransomware from encrypting your data. Moreover, the user can set in the application the specific threats from the extended threat categories (games, unusual runtime compression, jokes, back-door clients, etc.), the free version is limited in number, the paid – unlimited.

Remote devices, including digital cameras and smartphones, are protected and checked for malware threats to keep the whole system secure.

Avira Security has a user-friendly menu to perform all actions quickly; it includes status, security, privacy, and performance tabs. If you upgrade your version to secure multiple devices, you will get Avira Prime, which gives an overview of all covered devices.

Bitdefender has a lot of layers of protection and different tariff plans per any budget. Three dedicated products are Antivirus Plus, Internet Security, and Total Security. Moreover, there are All-in-one plans – Ultimate and Premium – with included tweaking system settings, all features that Bitdefender proposes. The Antivirus Plus is a basic proposal with advanced protection from spyware, malware, adware, and multi-layer ransomware protection. In addition, you will receive a privacy firewall and parental control within the Internet Security option. Finally, Total Security adds a Device Optimizer tool.

In the background of all plans, you always have real-time protection that catches viruses, rootkits, Trojans, worms, ransomware, and many more. Secondly, all have the best-in-class malware detection, with a protection rate of up to 99.7% and zero false positives. Then they have advanced threat defense and ransomware remediation.

The defense system monitors all processes, activities, and applications for threats and exploits. Bitdefender uses behavioral detection to monitor suspicious applications. For example, when Bitdefender detects a malicious file, it allows the owner to allow further usage or put it in quarantine. In addition, it can detect file encryptions by Third Parties, so it additionally protects your sensitive documents and makes their backup (ransomware remediation).

The antivirus prevents phishing and online fraud during surfing and online shopping. Web-filter technology ensures opening only safe websites; all infected links are blocked. The program also proposes a Safepay option if you like to shop online. It automatically connects Bitdefender VPN for online banking transactions and activates Safepay. For webcam users, Bitdefender also has a feature; all applications will be listed in the special menu, and to get access, they need to receive your permission.

In Bitdefender settings, you can set the automatic update of your antivirus to be constantly protected from the latest threats.

Avira supports Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices. Avira Internet Security and Free Security are developed only for desktop devices – Windows and Mac, while Prime can be used for all devices. The installation process is easy and has a wizard to be followed.

There is a tricky list for Bitdefender of supported OS. Only the Total Security version and All-in-One Packages support Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows at the same time. Internet Security and Antivirus Plus work only on Windows. The download time is 10 minutes.

Avira proposes to all users a Phantom VPN service. You can download it for free in a limited version, discover a professional version for mobile or desktop (for $5.99/month) or receive it with an antivirus package. Phantom VPN is an ultra-secure service for banking transactions, has no limitation for streaming content, and encrypts all traffic allowing it to work in all unsecure networks. It prevents all tracking activities by advertisers and Internet Service Providers and unblocks all censorships and geo-limitations. You connect with a kill switch, no logs, and the DNS leak protection in anonymous mode. Avira has 1400 servers in 37 countries, including Asia, Europe, and South America.

Avira Prime proposes unlimited VPN service, while other packages have a limitation of 500 MB/month. VPN supports Windows 7 or later, Android 5.0 or later, iOS 11 or later, and macOS 10.13 or later.

Bitdefender includes a very reliable VPN with many valuable features such as a kill-switch suspending the Internet traffic VPN connection accidentally drops down; blockage of ads and trackers; split tunneling to allow some websites to bypass VPN connection per required; and other safeguarding options to increase online privacy. But unfortunately, in some tariff plans, the VPN traffic is limited to 200 MB per day.

As Bitdefender is not a VPN provider, we can’t expect complete flexibility of its built-in VPN as the standalone program has. But for primary purposes such as complete online protection without traffic logs, the possibility of accessing servers to 4000+ in over 49 countries, and traffic encryption, you can purchase a premium Bitdefender VPN separately for $29.99 per year. It is also included without limitations in the All-in-One package and supports Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.

Avira system optimizer includes a power cleaner to delete all junk files to obtain free space and a startup optimizer to boost the start time. You will also get rid of duplicate files, repair corrupt files, and clean the system register – that will all lead to keeping your system from overheating and battery drain.

Moreover, backup and recovery tools built-in in this feature save your sensitive files, documents, and photos.
The program saves money, as your old device will work as new after Avira system optimization.

Bitdefender has several policies depending on what type of user you are: there are some for gaming, public Wi-Fi, workplaces, etc. After activating such modes, you will receive a certain level of protection without impacting your activities. In addition, the Bitdefender Photon technology within each Ultimate Security package adapts software configurations to hardware for the best performance and speed.

The program also prevents the battery from draining by temporarily tweaking system settings – cooling, display settings, Bluetooth, etc.

Avira’s assword manager has a lot of capabilities to improve password management. It automatically generates strong passwords and securely stores them, checks weak passwords, and notifies if some login details were hacked.

The manager can be protected by two-factor authentication or touch & face ID. You can add to the Wallet secure notes and credit cards.

You can use manager as part of the prime package, download it for free, or as a professional version from $2.99/month.

Bitdefender, among other tools, has a password manager to manage passwords for wallets, credit card information, and other sensitive login details. The Wallet is protected by cryptographic algorithms AES-256-CCM, SHA512, WSS protocols for data transmissions, and many more.

The Master Password provides access to multiple platforms and browsers simultaneously. You can import your passwords from other password managers (Bitwarder, Chrome browser, LastPass, etc.) in numerous file formats (json, csv, fsk, etc.). The user will also obtain advice for new passwords to make them more complex and secure.

Bitdefender Password Manager is available as part of the All-in-One package or for $19.99 for the first year with a 30-day free trial period.

Mobile versions for iOS and Android from Avira are separate applications. But you can be sure that you receive protection from all mobile threats, block trackers, and spies in each one. You will have access to a free VPN (100 MB/day). As standard antivirus, Avira checks the network for vulnerabilities, scans your data for leakage, and protects surfing from phishing. You can also optimize your storage and memory and speed up the performance.

There is a big difference between iOS and Android Bitdefender mobile versions. iOS lacks many features that Android has. While Android version is very close to the desktop version and includes VPN, malware scanner, web protection, anti-theft, share protection, and more. Anti-theft protection (inside the Ultimate Security package only, including desktops) allows you to access a tablet or laptop anywhere from Bitdefender Central Account.

Avira has paid and free versions. The Avira free version has several features: Antivirus, VPN (500 MB/month limitation), password manager, and an update scanner. The Antivirus Pro adds antivirus protection from malware; Internet Security also adds a software updater and password manager; finally, Prime adds performance optimization tools and VPN without limits.

Avira for mobile devices is free.

Bitdefender has business and personal proposals, for one PC or several. Unfortunately, it no longer has a free version; only a 30-day trial period is available for all paid plans. This article will present the security suites for home PCs. The difference between options 4-6 is the amount of identity theft insurance, credit monitoring, and alerts for unauthorized credit card transactions.

Option 3-6 supports Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. Option 1 and 2 are only for Windows PC. For large families with 15 devices, Bitdefender proposes a Family Pack – $44.99 / year. There are also separate basic proposals (similar to option 1) for Mac (3 devices / $24.99 / year), iOS (1 device / $14.99 / year), and Android (1 device / $14.99 / year).