I put Bitdefender vs Norton antivirus through a 7-round face-off — here's the winner

Bitdefender and Norton are two of the best antivirus software suites available today. They are on par when it comes to protecting your computer from viruses and malware, and have similar reputations for effectiveness.

However, when it comes to determining which program you want to put on your PC, you might still be deciding between the two. Which will work best for your machine, what features are the most important to you, which will take up the least amount of resources and which will keep you safe from malware?

This Bitdefender vs Norton face-off is made to help you decide specifically between these two excellent antivirus software options.

Bitdefender vs Norton: Specs

Bitdefender vs Norton: Costs and what’s covered

Only Bitdefender offers a free tier; Norton doesn’t have a free tier, only a free private Chromium browser.

Norton’s lowest paid tier starts at $60 but the first year can be as low as $20. With the cheapest paid Bitdefender program, Antivirus Plus, you get real-time scanning, Bitdefender’s Network Threat scanner, a file shredder, its Safepay hardened browser and protection for three devices for $60. Similarly, with Norton's basic offering, AntiVirus Plus, you can protect a single PC, Mac, phone or tablet against common threats and you also get access to a password manager and 2GB of online cloud backup.

Each suite has a variety of paid tiers that go from there: Norton has seven main Windows antivirus products ranging from $95 to $180 annually, though the prices are often discounted significantly during the first year. For instance, Norton 360 Standard costs just $40 when you sign up but jumps to $95 if you renew your subscription for a second year.

Meanwhile, Bitdefender has a wider – and almost confusing – array of offerings including a $15 mobile tier, as well as several Windows tiers ranging from $85 to $240, though again these are often heavily discounted during the first year. Bitdefender Internet Security covers three devices and costs $50 at signup but jumps to $85 upon renewal. Additionally, Bitdefender allows you to sign up for some of its security products, like the Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac and Bitdefender VPN, a la carte.

Winner: Bitdefender

Bitdefender vs Norton: Antivirus Protection

Regardless of which tier of Norton's security suite you choose, you still get the company’s excellent malware protection which guards against malicious email attachments, fake websites, phishing attacks and spam as well as emerging threats, ransomware and hacker intrusions. Bitdefender’s Total Security option covers all the malware bases you would expect, while the Premium Security option adds VPN use and Ultimate Security adds identity protection.

Norton’s Community Watch program sends samples of suspect code to the company’s online lab for analysis though you can opt out of this data collection program at any time. Norton updates its hazards database and sends data on the latest threats to its 500 million users.

Meanwhile, Bitdefender’s malware-scanning engine also uploads suspicious items to the company’s online testing lab for analysis and new malware signatures are distributed several times daily. These uploads do include some information about your system, and what it was doing when a new threat was detected, so you can opt out but still get updates unlike with some competitors.

Norton’s Quick Scans can be started from the main page and scheduled for daily, weekly or monthly execution however, full or custom scans require going a level below the surface. For example, USB drives require a manual scan.

Bitdefender has a Profiles feature that monitors what you’re doing and tailors its protection accordingly without being overly intrusive. Preset profiles are available for work, movie, games and public Wi-Fi. In the event of an attack, Bitdefender will produce an after-action Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) incident report that shows what damage took place in an easy to read timeline.

Winner: Norton

Bitdefender vs Norton: Antivirus Performance

Norton aced the June 2023 AV-Test of malware and new threats, and produced no false positives. However, it detected only 99.6% on the AV Comparatives May 2023 report. The Norton test runs in that report resulted in 14 false positives of safe software as malware, which is high. Norton was one of only three malware companies that worked with SE Labs on testing and eradication of online threats, and scored a 99% there.

Meanwhile, in the same June 2023 AV-Test Bitdefender scored a perfect 100% but also flagged five safe items as potentially dangerous. It held that 100% scoring with the AV Comparatives May 2023 report, but again had false positives – two this time. Bitdefender doesn't work with SE Labs for antivirus testing.

Winner: Bitdefender

Bitdefender vs Norton: Security and Privacy Features

Norton’s programs, starting with AntiVirus Plus, all have features that are usually found in top tier software suites, like a two-way firewall, password manager, and file-backup program with 2GB of online space. Other features include Norton Genie which uses AI to thwart online scams, Norton’s Sensitive Data scan that identifies important files on your Windows system that need to be backed up, a Safe Web browser extension that can stop online attacks based on a site’s reputation, Private Email to mask your actual email address behind an alias, a Secure Browser that uses a secure HTTPS encrypted online session, a secure VPN, parental controls, and an array of LifeLock plans for identity theft protection.

Each Bitdefender paid program includes browser extensions that will block web-tracking in Chrome, Edge and Firefox. Bitdefender also has a File Shredder that can eliminate all the vestiges of an item and be used directly from the File Explorer. A few tiers – Internet Security, Total Security and Premium Security – still have one of the best webcam protection features as well as parental controls. The top suites also include a two-way firewall. And there’s a OneClick Optimizer that will sweep a system to offer a list of items to remove for a privacy cleanup.

Winner: Norton

Bitdefender vs Norton: Performance and System Impact

Our custom benchmark test clocks how long a PC takes to match 20,000 names and addresses on an Excel spreadsheet. We use a Lenovo ThinkPad T470 laptop with 2.5Ghz Core i5-7200U processor, 8GB RAM and 256GB of solid-state storage with 50.7GB of files. When testing Norton 360, the benchmark test slowed from 9.8 seconds to 10.0 – a two percent loss of available resources. While running a Full Scan, the benchmark slowed further to an average of 12.8 seconds, a drop of 30%.

The same test ran with Bitdefender Total Security registered a benchmark time of 9.8 seconds slowed to 10.2 seconds, which is a 4% drop in performance potential. During a System scan, Total Security’s version of a full scan, the benchmark score dropped significantly to 2.8 seconds which is a 31% drop. Quick scanning fared worse at 13 seconds, which works out to a 34% decline in performance.

Winner: Norton

Bitdefender vs Norton: Interface

Norton has two options for its interface: Classic or MyNorton, with the latter echoing the formatting used in its mobile app and a list of main categories along the right with subscription information along the left. The right hand list of options includes most of the necessary features like Device Security (scanning), Software Updater (new patches), Privacy Monitor and more. Partially filled circles indicate which features you have set up; the Settings wheel at the bottom will give you a tour of the program and let you toggle between the two interfaces.

Be aware that you may have to click through a level or two to get to the meat of the program and access all the controls.

Bitdefender's interface for desktop has been updated to show major categories on the left, including Protection, Privacy, Utilities, Notifications and Settings but the program can’t run full screen. Along the right side are functional boxes to start features and functions. There’s also a Tasktray icon to let you open the main program or update malware definitions but it can’t start a scan.

The Bitdefender Central online portal lets you access its features and requires two factor authentication, but needs to be scaled to 33% on a full HD screen so all the elements can be seen without squinting.

Winner: Norton

Bitdefender vs Norton: Installation and Support

Downloading and installing Norton 360 Deluxe required a typical amount of information including an email address, password, and credit card details. There were options to download the 4.7MB installer app to the computer in question or forward a link to another machine. The program used conflict checking software to remove old extensions that could potentially cause issues, and a license had to be accepted. Dark web scans, VPN and cloud backup had to be set up but the whole process took less than 15 minutes. Norton has technicians available to help 24/7 and there are self-service options as well.

To install Bitdefender, first you need to create an account at Bitdefender Center then download the 12.2MB installer app. It then downloads the remainder of the 678MB program. You agree to the license and a slide show runs showing its features, then you need to pay and activate the program. This installation process took less than 7 minutes but afterwards, the software wanted to perform a Device Assessment scan to look for any existing infections. Bitdefender's paid options include 24/7 tech support, you can call, email or use chat; Premium Security customers have the option to use priority support as well.

Winner: Norton

Bitdefender vs Norton: Outlook

Norton offers a comprehensive approach to computer security by providing a lot of features on top of good malware protection. There are a slew of add-ons from a password manager, parental controls, an unlimited VPN, a secure browser, and more. However, it lacks a few security bonuses like a file shredder and encryption and it produced some false positives in testing.

Bitdefender has several tiers of products that all provide excellent malware protection. There are some great features spread across the offerings, as well, but the software eats up a lot of a system’s precious resources. It also doesn’t let anything dangerous come through to your computer but it did produce some false positives in lab tests. Bitdefender doesn't have the full range of features that others offer, for example there’s no file encryption, and trying to decide which product to choose can become a bit complicated.

Based on the results of this face-off, Norton is the overall winner but at the end of the day, you really can't go wrong with either antivirus suite. Deciding between Bitdefender and Norton really depends on your own personal security needs, your budget and whether you want the option to buy some tools on their own.