BITDEFENDER VIRUS SCANNER VS AVAST FOR MAC
BITDEFENDER VIRUS SCANNER VS AVAST INSTALL
BITDEFENDER VIRUS SCANNER VS AVAST FOR WINDOWS 10
BITDEFENDER VIRUS SCANNER VS AVAST PRO
BITDEFENDER VIRUS SCANNER VS AVAST SOFTWARE

For many buyers, that's going to be a first-round knockout. Pricingīitdefender Antivirus Plus starts at a relatively low $39.99 per year for one PC, but Avast Free Antivirus is, well, free. Avast caused less system drag on PCs, but Bitdefender evens the score on Macs.

BITDEFENDER VIRUS SCANNER VS AVAST FOR MAC

In testing on a MacBook Pro, the reverse was true: While both Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac and Avast Free Mac Security had a small impact on performance, the system running Bitdefender ran slightly faster. When we tested both suites on an ASUS X555LA laptop running Windows 10, the Avast system exhibited a very light system impact, whereas the Bitdefender package created just a little more of a slowdown in performance. Neither Bitdefender nor Avast will slow down your system much, but it might depend on the platform you use. Bitdefender gives you a file shredder and virtual keyboard, but Avast offers a lot of goodies for free. Over on the Mac, neither Bitdefender Antivirus For Mac nor Avast Free Mac Security offer much in the way of special features. At that price, Bitdefender throws in parental controls for keeping a child out of places where he or she shouldn't be looking, while Avast doesn't offer such options at any price.

BITDEFENDER VIRUS SCANNER VS AVAST PRO

MORE: The Best (and Worst) Identity Theft Protectionīitdefender and Avast both make you pay more for a firewall, either as a part of Avast Pro Antivirus ($49.99 per year) or with Bitdefender Internet Security (starting at $44.99 per year). In fact, the only features that Bitdefender Antivirus Plus can lord over Avast Free Antivirus are a virtual keyboard (for those worried about keylogging malware) and a file shredder. While we expect to see at least some of those features on a paid offering, they're a pleasant surprise in the Avast Free Antivirus package. To avoid this, you'll need to uncheck two small boxes at the bottom left corner of the first Avast installation screen.Īvast includes a password manager, which we don't even see in some paid options.

BITDEFENDER VIRUS SCANNER VS AVAST INSTALL

The installation processes for both programs are mostly the same, with one big difference: Avast will try to install the Google Toolbar into your default web browser and change your browser home page to Google. Avast places a 'Run Smart Scan' button in the middle of its home screen.īitdefender’s Quick-Scan button is also on its home page, but it’s jumbled among a bunch of other buttons and icons Bitdefender's home screen gives prominent placement to a toggle switch to enable Autopilot mode, which keeps a vigilant eye scanning your files.

BITDEFENDER VIRUS SCANNER VS AVAST SOFTWARE

MORE: Best Antivirus Software for Mac - Tom's Guide Ease of Use and InstallationĪvast Free Antivirus and Bitdefender Antivirus Plus both make it easy to see messages saying that your system is safe, but they differ in the presentation. When it comes to antivirus protection, what matters isn’t how much gets stopped, but how much gets through. AV-TEST's December 2016 test showed that Bitdefender detected 100 percent of malware attacking macOS Sierra, while Avast caught only 96.8 percent.

When it comes to protecting Macs, your choice is a lot easier. With zero false positives and the best detection, Bitdefender takes this round. Avast's Windows 7 widespread-malware scores were better, at 99.9 percent in July and 99.8 percent in August. On Windows 8.1, Avast stopped 100 percent of zero-day malware in both rounds, while catching 99.8 percent of widespread malware in November and 99.7 percent in December.Īvast got its worst score on Windows 7, catching 97.5 percent of zero-day malware in August but 100 percent in July. It detected 99.9 percent of widespread malware in September 2016 and 99.8 percent in October. On Windows 10, Avast blocked all the zero-day malware in one round, but fell below that otherwise, stopping 98.8 percent of zero-day attacks in the previous round. It dipped below perfection in only one round of Windows 8.1 tests, catching 98.7 percent of zero-day malware and 99.9 percent of widespread malware in December 2016.

BITDEFENDER VIRUS SCANNER VS AVAST FOR WINDOWS 10

But as both use the same malware-detection engine, they would have earned the same scores.)īitdefender stopped 100 percent of both kinds of malware for Windows 10 and Windows 7. (Note: Both labs’ tests were conducted using Bitdefender Internet Security instead of Bitdefender Antivirus Plus. In both fields, Bitdefender excelled by small margins. Bitdefender's scans earn high marks for practically perfect malware-detection rates.Ī similar pattern showed up in evaluations done during the same period by the German lab AV-TEST, which measured how well Bitdefender and Avast performed at detecting both known widespread malware and unknown “zero-day” malware.

Bitdefender virus scanner vs avast