Bitdefender Vs Kaspersky Comparison

Bitdefender and Kaspersky both provide cybersecurity solutions. It has several products for home and corporate-based users. Bitdefender was founded in 2001 while Kaspersky established in 1997. Kaspersky is older than Bitdefender however they started their journey long back.

In this article, I am going to make a Bitdefender Vs. Kaspersky comparison. At the end of the article, you will know the offerings from both companies. You will also know their product’s pros and cons. I will also list the features and pricing of different products. Below is also an infographic to compare both companies in better contrast.

If you don’t have the time to read this more than 2.5K word comparison, here I am giving a short verdict that will help you to decide which one is better.

Company Offerings

Features in Bitdefender Security Suites

Bitdefender security suites come with all essential feature. It doesn’t include those fancy feature you see in low-cost products. However, the features it has are necessary for securing your PC. If you see its free version antivirus, it has limited features. The free version only has few features that are enough for the security. However, it lacks Password Manager, Wi-Fi Security Advisor, Ransomware Protection, and a few other features. Let’s take a brief introduction to the features of different software.

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition

The free edition of Bitdefender antivirus only supports Windows PC. It has limited features. It protects you from viruses and malware. It also has anti-phishing and anti-fraud protection capability. However, other features such as ransomware protection, VPN, Password Manager, Webcam Protection and Parental Controls are not there. It is evident that a company will not include all the features in their free edition. They have to make the sale of their paid products.

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus

Antivirus Plus from Bitdefender also only supports the Windows operating system. In the paid products, it is the entry-level software. It protects you from malware and viruses and also comes with free online support. It has VPN, Password Manager, and Wi-Fi Security Advisor. It also protects you from harmful websites. The File Shredder and Vulnerability Scan also make it a great tool.

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus doesn’t have webcam protection and Firewall. So it would help if you thought about it before purchasing. File Encryption, Parental Control, and the Anti-Theft feature is also not here. It doesn’t improve the performance of your PC too.

Bitdefender Internet Security

Internet Security is also for Windows operating system. It has more features than Antivirus Plus. In addition to Antivirus Plus features it has Webcam Protection, Firewall, Safe Files, Parental Control, and File Encryption. Though, it lacks Anti-Theft and PC performance booster.

Bitdefender Total Security

Bitdefender Total Security is a suite that protects all your devices. It has all the features in the Windows version. The Mac version doesn’t have features like the Windows version. However, it is due to the OS limitations. It also protects your iOS and Android devices. You can purchase it for multiple devices which makes its pricing reasonable.

Bitdefender Family Pack

This version of Bitdefender security suite is best for people who want protection for all devices in their home. You can use it on a maximum of 15 devices. It supports Windows, Android, iOS, Mac devices. It is a full-featured protection suite from Bitdefender.

Virus Scanner for Mac

Virus Scanner from Bitdefender is for Mac devices. It is a free tool and contains only essential features. It is like the free version antivirus for Windows. You can use it to scan for viruses and malware in the Mac PC.

Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac

For people who wants premium protection for the Mac devices, Antivirus for Mac is best for them. It protects you from viruses and modern malware. It also blocks ransomware and adware. This suite also comes with VPN and Anti-Phishing tool. Also, you get performance enhancement features with this suite. If you are getting the Total Security or Family Pack, then there is no need to purchase it. They also support the Mac devices and has all these features.

Below is a table that lists all the features of Bitdefender products. You can take a look for a better understanding.

Features in Kaspersky Security Suites

Kaspersky offers similar product range like Bitdefender. It also provides free antivirus. The free version comes with an essential protection feature. The full feature product is Kaspersky Total Security. It has Advanced protection, Parental Controls, File Protection, and VPN. Let’s take a look at the different Kaspersky products and their features.

Kaspersky Free

Kaspersky Free is the primary protection suite that has limited feature. It supports only Windows PC and Tablets. It protects you from malware and viruses. Kaspersky free also warns you of suspicious websites that may steal your personal information. It is good for people who don’t need modern features. However, if you need to protect your privacy, kids, passwords, money, and file, then you have to purchase their premium products.

Kaspersky Antivirus

Kaspersky Antivirus is the entry-level suite in the paid protection category. It protects you from viruses and malware. It also enhances PC performance. The Kaspersky Antivirus comes with a simple user interface. So that you don’t face a problem in understanding it. It doesn’t support multi-device and only works on Windows. With Kaspersky Antivirus you won’t be able to protect your privacy, money, kids, passwords, and files.

Kaspersky Internet Security

Kaspersky Internet Security is for people who want protection against internet threats. Along with Kaspersky Antivirus features, it supports multi-device. It also protects your privacy and money. Internet Security doesn’t have elements of password and file protection. It also doesn’t have parental control options.

Kaspersky Total Security

Kaspersky Total Security comes with all features. It protects you from viruses and malware. Along with the features of Internet Security, it also protects your password, kids, and file. You can use it on different devices. It supports Windows and Mac. It also works on mobile devices.

Kaspersky Virus Scanner for Mac

Kaspersky Virus Scanner for Mac is a free tool. It has basic protection features. It scans for viruses in your Mac PC. You need to start the scan manually. It doesn’t protect you from advanced computer threats. It also doesn’t protect your privacy, money, and kids.

Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac

Kaspersky ditched the Virus Scanner Pro and now offering Internet Security for Mac with same features. It is a premium suite for Mac devices. It protects your device from modern threats. Internet Security for Mac also protects your sensitive information. There is a performance enhancement feature also. It also has parental control features. Virus Scanner Pro is a full-featured suite from Kaspersky.

I am listing some important products from Kaspersky and their features in the table below.

Bitdefender Vs Kaspersky – Which has better Protection?

To compare the protection capabilities of these two antivirus companies, I will take help of two independent Anti-Virus test institutions. AV-Test and AV-Comparatives regularly test anti-viruses against modern computer threats. They check their performance on different levels also.

Usually, regular anti-viruses use signature-based detection mechanism. It is a less effective method of detecting threats. In this method, anti-viruses check the digital signature of these files against an extensive database of previously identified threats. It is best for detecting known computer threats but didn’t work on threats that are new. Such new threats are also referred to Zero-day malware.

Two catch these unknown threats, anti-viruses companies, adapts the heuristic approach. In this method, they analyze the behavior of the apps and blocks them if they go the wrong way. In this digital age, thousands of computer threats are emerging each day. So, the best antivirus should work on both methods for quick detection of known threats and behavior analysis of unknown ones.

Both, Kaspersky and Bitdefender work on signature and behavioral analysis method. Now let’s take a look at the test scores of these security companies.

AV-Test Results of Bitdefender and Kaspersky

According to AV-Test Institute, Bitdefender and Kaspersky both perform well. The test conducted in October 2018, Kaspersky and Bitdefender both got a score of 6/6.

In the real world test, Bitdefender and Kaspersky both blocks 100% zero-day malware. There were 311 samples of zero-day malware inclusive of web and e-mail threats. The industry average in this test is 99.4%.

In the signatures based test Bitdefender and Kaspersky again blocks 100% threats. AV-Test used 21257 samples of widespread threats. The industry average in this test is 100% though.

Below is a table that lists the AV-Test scores of both companies through out the year.

The above table lists the test score conducted on Windows 10 platform. Both company suites performance was similar on Mac platform test. However, on the Android platform, Kaspersky performs a little less than Bitdefender. Though, there was a marginal difference.

AV-Comparatives Results of Bitdefender and Kaspersky

The AV-Comparatives Institute most recently conducted the Real World Protection Test in June 2018. This test was done during February to June 2018. Both, Bitdefender and Kaspersky perform well in this test. They both got an Advanced+ Award. In the real world test, Bitdefender got 99.8% while Kaspersky 99.7% result.

In the test period, 1080 test was conducted. Bitdefender only compromised two times while Kaspersky compromised 3 cases. In the False Positive test, Bitdefender blocked 2 legitimate websites while Kaspersky just blocks 1 URL.

In September 2018, Malware Protection Test was conducted. Bitdefender again got the Advanced+ Award with 99.99% score. While Kaspersky lost its score and gained the Advanced award with 99.89%, there were 11890 test cases, Bitdefender only compromised 1 case, while Kaspersky compromised 12 instances. Bitdefender had 9 false positive cases while Kaspersky had only 5.

On an average, if we compare both companies, they have outstanding performance over the year. Kaspersky and Bitdefender both have around 100% protection scores and very minimal false positives.

Bitdefender Vs Kaspersky – Impact on Performance

Performance is the biggest concern. If antivirus is providing full security and reducing the performance of the PC, then it is of no use. It should adopt the hardware configuration of the PC. So that it doesn’t eat the system resources while protecting it.

The AV-Test and AV-Comparatives also check the performance of anti-viruses. So I am again going to take the reference from there.

AV-Test for Performance of Bitdefender and Kaspersky

Both Bitdefender and Kaspersky got the full score in the performance test. The test checks the performance on the various level. It checks by opening popular websites, downloading apps, launching apps, installing apps, and copying files. This test was conducted in October 2018. Below is the result of Bitdefender performance test.

You can see the test result for Performance of Kaspersky below.

Both anti-viruses performances well and doesn’t reduce much of the performance. They both got full scores. However, as it is visible in the results, Bitdefender is slightly better than Kaspersky.

If we take an average of the test result, then Bitdefender has 8.2% impact on the standard PC system resources. While the proportion of test result for Kaspersky is 10% impact. On the high-end PC, Bitdefender average impact is 8.4%, while Kaspersky’s impact is again 10%. It is clear that Bitdefender is a winner here.

AV-Comparatives Performance Test of Bitdefender and Kaspersky

AV-Comparatives did the Performance Test in the October 2018. It also performed the test on various levels like AV-Test. Both anti-viruses performance well on these test.

Bitdefender was awarded Advanced+ while Kaspersky got an Advanced reward. AV-Comparatives mention that the low performance of Kaspersky was due to a bug which has been resolved now. Still, Bitdefender proved to be better than Kaspersky again.

Kaspersky Vs Bitdefender – Impact on your Pocket

I have included the pricing of the same device in the table for you to compare them easily. You can clearly see the difference in the pricing. Bitdefender products have low price compared to Kaspersky. So Bitdefender again is the winner here.

Bitdefender Vs Kaspersky – User Opinions

If you look at the forums, people tend to believe in Bitdefender security than Kaspersky. However, many users find Bitdefender products little slow than Kaspersky.

This user also thinks that Bitdefender slows down the PC despite having good performance score in AV Tests. It is strange though.

This user says something good for the Bitdefender protection, but again he reports the slow down problem. However, other users tried to correct him as this was not the problem of Bitdefender. It was his PC which is ancient.

It seems that users who complain about the slow down of the PC by Bitdefender use old machines. Still, Bitdefender should not slows down them. Also, if we see the popularity of both companies. Bitdefender is way ahead than Kaspersky. OPSWAT publishes monthly market share of popular anti-viruses. According to its October 2019 report, Bitdefender was at 4th position with 10.65% share while Kaspersky had only 6.63% market share and gained 8th position.

Conclusion

Bitdefender and Kaspersky both antivirus suites are well built and offers excellent protection, however, if you consider other factors in this comparison. Bitdefender is ahead than Kaspersky. It is light on your system resources and your pocket. Bitdefender is also much popular among users. Few users reported it causes slow down of PC. However, it is due to their old machine. Bitdefender Total Security and Bitdefender Family Pack is the best solution that protects your all devices.