Bitdefender vs Avira 2024: Latest Test Results

Bitdefender and Avira are top-tier antiviruses with perfect malware detection rates, effective real-time protection, and reliable ransomware protection. Plus, they’re both really easy to use, so even complete newcomers can get the hang of them in mere minutes.

These two antiviruses also offer a wide variety of features, including a VPN, file shredder, additional privacy protection, one-click optimization, and more.

Overall, while both are great choices, Bitdefender is the superior antivirus suite. It provides the same exceptional security as Avira but sets itself apart with its parental control features and a better firewall. Plus, its customer support was a lot more responsive and the live chat was always available.

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No Time? Here’s a 1-Minute Summary of Category Winners

Both Bitdefender and Avira are excellent antiviruses with robust suites that offer reliable protection and many other useful features. Overall, though, I believe Bitdefender is the better choice. It provides more reliable customer support, costs less, and offers parental controls, which you won’t find in Avira.

Virus Scanner	5 types of scans with 100% malware detection rates.	Offers 6 different scans but just falls short of a perfect malware detection rate.
Real-Time Malware Protection	Blocks 100% of threats with its real-time protection.	Successfully blocks all threats through its real-time protection.
System Performance	Uses more resources than Avira, especially during scans.	Is much less demanding on system resources due to its cloud-based infrastructure.
VPN	Offers a great VPN with a killswitch and reliable streaming capabilities.	Comes with a good VPN, but it doesn’t perform as well as Bitdefender’s.
Parental Controls	Has a variety of parental controls to help you monitor your children’s online activity.	Does not offer any parental control features
Firewall	Offers a secure firewall that’s easy to customize.	Manages Windows’ firewall instead of providing its own.
Password Manager	Comes with a password manager with auto-fill capabilities.	Provides a useful password manager with auto-fill features.
Gaming Mode	Has game profiles that you can set up for improved performance while playing games.	Offers a game booster that improves performance while playing games.
Optimization Tools	One-click optimization to speed up your system and free up space.	Lets you clear up space and speed your system up with one click.
Other Features	Has multiple features, including a file shredder, various profiles for different uses, anti-theft measures, and more.	Offers automatic software updates, a file shredder, a battery saver, and several other features.
Device Compatibility	Compatible with Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.	Works on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android devices.
Customer Service	Reliable customer support in the form of responsive live chat, email support, phone support, and a helpful knowledge base.	Offers a useful knowledge base, phone support, and email support, but live chat is only available 3 hours a day.
Price	Offers very affordable plans that are absolutely worth the price.	Costs more than other antiviruses but delivers many valuable features for the price.
Free Version	Has a free plan and a 30-day free trial that’ll let you test everything risk-free.	Offers a free plan and a 30-day free trial to let you test all its features before committing.
Money-Back Guarantee	Bitdefender offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.	Avira comes with a longer 60-day money-back guarantee.

How I Tested and Compared Bitdefender vs Avira

1. Virus Scanner – I checked how many kinds of scans each antivirus offers and how reliably they can detect malware.
2. Real-Time Malware Protection – I tested how effectively both antiviruses picked up the latest threats to my system.
3. System Performance – I analyzed how much of an impact each antivirus made on my system’s performance while active.
4. VPN – I tested each VPN’s speed, streaming capabilities, and security,
5. Parental Controls – I looked at how many different parental control options each antivirus offers.
6. Firewall – I checked each antivirus’ firewall and looked at how easy they are to configure.
7. Password Manager – I analyzed how well-integrated the password managers are and if they offer helpful features like auto-fill.
8. Gaming Mode – I turned on the gaming mode and played games to see if there was a noticeable impact on performance.
9. Optimization Tools – I compared the optimization tools of each antivirus and checked if they had a noticeable impact on performance.
10. Other Features – I examined the additional features available with both antiviruses to see which one offers more.
11. Device Compatibility – I researched how many different platforms and devices both antiviruses work on.
12. Customer Service – I contacted each antivirus customer support to check how helpful and responsive they are.
13. Price – I looked at the various pricing plans for both antiviruses to check which offers the best value.
14. Free Version – I tested the free trials of both antiviruses and checked how long they are.
15. Money-Back Guarantee – I researched if both antiviruses had a money-back guarantee and whether or not they live up to it.

1. Virus Scanner – Bitdefender and Avira Successfully Detect and Eliminate All Malware

Both antiviruses are very effective at scanning and removing malware. Still, I found that Bitdefender is better overall. It offers 5 different kinds of scans:

1. Quick scan – Scans the areas of your hard drive with the highest risk of infection.
2. System scan – Scans your entire device for threats.
3. Vulnerability scan –Looks for potentially dangerous settings and missing updates.
4. Rescue environment scan – Reboots your system in a safe mode to find and remove tough threats.
5. Custom scan – You choose which parts of your hard drive to search

I especially liked Bitdefender’s rescue environment scan because it reboots your system in safe mode to get rid of stubborn malware that you can’t get rid of in normal operating mode.

I tested the scans by spreading many different types of malware across my device. Bitdefender successfully detected and dealt with every bit of malware during its scans. It gave a few false positives, but I was quite pleased with its overall performance as Norton has been the only antivirus I have tested that hasn’t given me false positives.

Avira offers 6 different scans:

1. Quick scan – Scans the areas of your hard drive with the highest risk of infection.
2. Full system scan – Scans your entire device for threats.
3. Removable drive scan – Scans external drives such as USBs.
4. Active process scan – Detects all actively running processes on your device
5. Smart scan – Scans for outdated apps, unnecessary files, network security threats, and privacy and performance issues on your device.
6. Windows system scan – Scan customized for Windows users.

Its scans are quite effective, but unlike Bitdefender, it couldn’t successfully detect every threat. I was particularly impressed by Avira’s smart scan, which scans for threats, outdated apps, and your network for vulnerabilities.

Avira had a 95% detection rate in my tests which is impressive. One thing I noticed, though, is that it took a lot longer to finish scans.

2. Real-Time Malware Protection – Both Bitdefender and Avira Are Effective at Safeguarding You Against the Latest Threats

In my tests, I learned that both Bitdefender and Avira are highly effective at safeguarding against threats in real-time. I tried out their real-time protection by attempting to download malware, but they both successfully detected all malware and stopped me from downloading it.

One of the best things about the real-time protection both antiviruses offer is that they don’t require any input from you. As I further tested their real-time protection, I learned that Bitdefender and Avira automatically quarantined or eliminated any threat, and I didn’t have to do anything. This gave me great peace of mind while using my system because I knew I could entirely rely on either antivirus to keep me safe in real-time.

Both Bitdefender and Avira also offer excellent real-time web protection. You’ll need to install their browser extensions to make the most of this, but this is worth doing for the added safety. Bitdefender has the TrafficLight extension, and Avira’s extension is known as Avira Browser Safety. Both extensions are great at filtering malicious web pages, stopping phishing attempts, and detecting malware, so they’ll keep you safe online.

Unfortunately, one area Avira struggles in is against exploit attacks. Avira’s exploit protection isn’t anywhere near the same level as Bitdefender’s anti-exploit technology, which adds an additional layer of protection. So, Avira frequently fails to detect exploit attacks that Bitdefender handles with ease.

While both antiviruses offer top-notch real-time protection thanks to their fantastic malware detection and reliable web protection, I consider Bitdefender the winner. This is because Bitdefender is better than Avira at safeguarding your system against exploit attacks.

3. System Performance – Avira Has a Much Smaller Impact on System Performance

Avira has a much smaller impact on system performance. This is likely because it uses a cloud-based infrastructure, meaning it doesn’t strain your system’s resources too much during scans. Even though Bitdefender effectively detects all malware, it took up a lot more of my system’s resources, especially while running scans.

While running scans, Avira increased my CPU utilization by around 15 to 20%. It also increased memory and disk utilization, but only by a small amount that was barely enough to impact performance. On the other hand, I saw that Bitdefender’s CPU usage could sometimes surpass 50% while running scans. Plus, it significantly increased disk and memory utilization, which is something that might slow down lower-end PCs during scans.

Since it had such a small footprint on my system’s resources while testing, I consider Avira the better choice if system performance is a top priority.

4. VPN – Bitdefender’s VPN Is More Reliable

Avira and Bitdefender both come with a built-in VPN that you can use to further secure yourself online. Both VPNs performed quite well but Bitdefender’s VPN came out slightly on top.

Both VPNs use industry-standard AES 256-bit encryption to safeguard your traffic. Avira’s built-in VPN is limited to 500MB a month unless you upgrade to its premium plan, while Bitdefender’s VPN offers 200MB daily. This puts Bitdefender’s built-in VPN ahead of Avira’s.

One thing that sets Bitdefender apart is that its VPN is a lot better for streaming. It can successfully access your home streaming services and let you stream in HD, while Avira struggles to go unnoticed by most platforms. So, while both VPNs perform reasonably well, I have to give the edge to Bitdefender here.

5. Parental Controls – Bitdefender Offers a Wide Variety of Parental Control Features

Bitdefender’s parental controls impressed me greatly. It’s worth mentioning that these aren’t accessible from the antivirus app itself and require you to log into the Bitdefender Central web portal. However, once you’ve logged in, you will have access to various useful parental controls.

Bitdefender’s parental controls include a screen time monitor, application activity monitor, website activity monitor, and even a child location map that you can enable if you want to. If you want to keep your children’s online activity secure, this is a great way to do so.

Setting up Bitdefender’s parental controls can be a little confusing at first. You have to add your child’s profile and need to install Bitdefender on their device, which can be difficult for first-timers. Once you’ve set it up, though, the controls will give you incredible peace of mind that’ll be worth the effort.

Unfortunately, Avira does not come with any parental controls at all. I was disappointed to learn this, considering how many other great features it includes. Thus, Bitdefender is the better antivirus for anyone who wants good parental controls.

6. Firewall – Bitdefender Offers a Firewall That’s Fully Customizable

Both Bitdefender and Avira have a firewall option in their apps, but, of the two, only Bitdefender comes with its own firewall. Avira manages Windows’ firewall the way Microsoft Defender does, and lets you access its settings from within its app.

Bitdefender’s firewall feels a lot more intuitive to configure. It has multiple toggles and settings within the app that can easily adjust parts of the firewall to your preferences. You can do the same in Avira but have to do so from Windows’ firewall settings which aren’t as intuitive.

Between both firewalls, I think Bitdefender’s is better. This is because it presents many intuitive settings you can easily customize and adjust to your liking without going through complicated menus.

7. Password Manager – You’ll Get a Helpful Password Manager With Both Antiviruses

I found in my tests that both Bitdefender and Avira offer a great built-in password manager. You can easily use password managers on both apps to store your passwords, secure notes, and more. One of the key differences I noticed is that you have to set up Avira’s password manager from the web portal before you can use it. On the other hand, you can easily set up Bitdefender’s password manager within its app and start using it immediately.

Both password managers worked great in my tests. They offer safe storage for various kinds of information and come with auto-fill and auto-save capabilities. It’s important to highlight that most of the auto-fill and auto-save functionality comes from their browser extensions. So, getting the browser extension is essential if you want to make the most out of either password manager.

All things considered, I was pretty satisfied with the password manager available on both antiviruses, so it’s a tie here.

8. Gaming Mode – Both Antiviruses Offer a Way to Optimize System Performance While Gaming

Bitdefender and Avira both come with a gaming mode to help you get the most out of your system while playing games. In Bitdefender, this is in the form of gaming profiles you can set up according to your liking. Whenever you launch a game that you’ve added to your gaming profile, Bitdefender will automatically optimize system resources to ensure that it works smoothly.

On the other hand, Avira offers a game booster that’s built for the same purpose. You can add your games to it and Avira will optimize your system’s resources while playing that game. Gaming modes on both antiviruses auto-detected most of the games I had on my system, but I did have to add a few manually.

In both cases, I was pleased with the gaming mode’s performance. Avira and Bitdefender freed up crucial system resources when I launched games and let me play them without any unnecessary lag or stuttering. Since both antiviruses offer game modes that work exactly as they’re supposed to, I have to say they’re tied for this category.

9. Optimization Tools – Each Antivirus Comes With Simple and Effective One-Click Optimization

Bitdefender and Avira are great antiviruses for performance optimization. This is because they both come with effective one-click optimization tools that clean up unnecessary files and speed up your system.

You can easily find Avira’s one-click optimizer within the app. After starting, it’ll go through your system and find junk files you can remove to clear up some space. Also, it’ll find any apps causing slowdowns at startup and give you the option to disable them so that your system will start a lot quicker and perform better.

Bitdefender also comes with a one-click optimizer similar to Avira’s. It doesn’t optimize startup and instead locates junk files, registry issues, and unnecessary browser data so you can clean it up. This will help you free up a lot of space and improve your system’s overall performance.

Both antiviruses offer simple and effective optimization tools to enhance your system’s performance with just one click. With this in mind, it’s fair to say that they’re tied in this regard.

10. Other Features – Bitdefender and Avira Come With an Array of Other Useful Features

Other than their fantastic malware and threat protection, I was happy to discover that both Bitdefender and Avira have a variety of other helpful features. These features help in various ways by enhancing your system’s performance, improving your privacy, or providing other benefits.

Bitdefender’s additional features include an anti-tracker, a secure payment environment, an anti-theft feature, data protection, and more. These features help increase your system’s overall security and are a welcome part of its security suite.

Avira also comes with its share of extra features. Avira has a battery saver, a duplicate finder, a driver updater, and other tools that’ll improve your system’s performance and keep it functioning optimally. Both antiviruses have their share of useful additional features that help out in many ways, so it’s certainly a tie between them.

11. Device Compatibility – You Can Use Both Bitdefender and Avira on Multiple Devices and Platforms

You can easily install and use both these antiviruses on multiple platforms and devices. Both Avira and Bitdefender support Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. They have intuitive apps for every platform, and installing either antivirus on any supported device is really easy. The setups are extremely straightforward and will take care of most of the installation for you while asking for some input on a few stages to customize your installation. Overall, both Avira and Bitdefender are tied in terms of device compatibility because they support the same devices.

12. Customer Service – Bitdefender’s Customer Support Is Always Available

I was quite pleased with my experience with Avira and Bitdefender’s customer support. Both antiviruses come with live chat support, email support, phone support, and even a helpful online knowledge base with lots of useful information. I found it easy to solve any problems I ran into, and if I couldn’t find the fix on my own, support was always there to help.

Bitdefender’s online knowledge base is filled with tons of helpful information. You can learn how to set up its additional features, how to make the most of its security, and pretty much anything else you want to. If a specific question isn’t covered, I found it best to speak to Bitdefender’s live chat because it provides useful responses in minutes.

Avira also offers the same variety of support channels as Bitdefender. You can find helpful information about most of its features in the online knowledge base. There’s phone support, live chat, and email support too but you have to have a paid subscription to use these services. I spoke to Avira’s live chat support and got quick and helpful answers to all my questions.

Although both antiviruses offer the same great customer support channels, I consider Bitdefender the winner. The key reason for this is that I found Bitdefender’s found live chat available pretty much any time I needed it throughout the day.

Avira’s live chat, on the other hand, is only available for a select few hours from Monday to Friday. I also don’t like that Avira only offers customer support to people with a premium subscription.

13. Price – Bitdefender Delivers Better Value for Money

Bitdefender is much cheaper than Avira. Its cheapest plan costs a lot less than Avira’s while providing similar protection and a wide variety of features. Both antiviruses come with real-time protection, web protection, ransomware protection, and all their core features in their cheapest plans.

Avira offers 3 plans which, in ascending order of price, are:

• Avira Antivirus Pro – Basic antivirus protection
• Avira Internet Security – Antivirus protection in addition to a password manager and software updater.
• Avira Prime – All premium antivirus, identity, and web protection options bundled under a single plan

Bitdefender’s 2 main plans, in ascending order of price, are:

• Bitdefender Internet Security – Offers most security features but doesn’t include Bitdefender’s anti-theft features and optimization tools,
• Bitdefender Total Security – The complete package of anti-theft, optimization, and security tools.

There’s also a Bitdefender Family Pack, but it doesn’t offer anything extra other than protecting 15 devices simultaneously.

Overall, I found that Bitdefender offers much better value for money. Its plans cost less while managing to deliver the same protection and features, so I consider it the winner in terms of pricing.

14. Free Version – Both Bitdefender and Avira Offer Free Plans and a Free Trial

Both Bitdefender and Avira have free plans that you can use if you don’t want to go for the paid plans. Either free plan is an excellent choice because they both come with the core features of each antivirus. Whether you choose Bitdefender free or Avira free, you’ll get their core anti-malware features and basic web protection which is great.

I was also pleased that you can get a 30-day free trial for the paid plans of Bitdefender or Avira to test it out. The great thing about this is that it’ll let you access all their functions, including real-time protection, malware scanning, and additional features.

I downloaded and tried both trials and could easily access every single one of their features. The only limitation I found was in Avira’s free trial because it wouldn’t let me fully access the features available in Avira Prime. This included the unlimited bandwidth limit on its VPN and the various PC tune-up tools it offers.

Nonetheless, it’s great that both antiviruses offer free versions and a 30-day-long trial because it’ll let you test them risk-free before committing. So, it’s certainly a tie here.

15. Money-Back Guarantee – Avira Has a Longer Money-Back Guarantee

The great thing about Bitdefender and Avira is that they both come with a money-back guarantee. This means you can test them entirely risk-free to see if they’re worth your money, even after their trials expire. Also, both antiviruses live up to their money-back guarantee, so you can quickly get your refund within a few working days after applying for it.

However, while both offer the guarantee, I have to give the edge to Avira here. Bitdefender’s money-back guarantee is 30 days long, whereas Avira’s money-back guarantee is 60 days long. This gives you an additional month to test drive the antivirus to see if it’s right for you.

And the Winner Is… Bitdefender

It’s close between Bitdefender and Avira, but Bitdefender does emerge as the winner here. They’re tied in many aspects like their real-time protection, optimization tools, and device compatibility. However, Bitdefender comes out ahead with its perfect malware detection rate, better parental controls, a more effective VPN, affordable pricing, and more responsive customer support. Avira was better in terms of system performance and when it comes to the money-back guarantee, but Bitdefender is the superior choice overall.

• Virus Scanner – Bitdefender
• Real-Time Malware Protection – Tie
• System Performance – Avira
• VPN – Bitdefender
• Parental Controls – Bitdefender
• Firewall – Bitdefender
• Password Manager – Tie
• Gaming Mode – Tie
• Optimization Tools – Tie
• Other Features – Tie
• Device Compatibility – Tie
• Customer Service – Bitdefender
• Price – Bitdefender
• Free Version – Tie
• Money-Back Guarantee – Avira

Ultimately, both antiviruses are amazing at safeguarding your system against threats. So, no matter which one you choose, you can be sure it will protect your system against every kind of malware.

I do think that Bitdefender is the superior choice. I was impressed with its amazing parental controls that let you easily track your children’s online activity and its VPN that outperforms Avira’s. Also, its impressive customer support always gave me the help I needed within minutes of reaching out.

Avira also has its strengths, though. It leaves a much smaller footprint on your system’s resources and has a much more flexible 60-day-long money-back guarantee. Plus, it offers all the same customer support channels Bitdefender does, but the live chat availability window is quite limited and you have to be a paying customer to use it.

All said and done, Bitdefender is the winner with its amazing value for money, perfect malware detection rates, and variety of other features. Avira is also a very reliable choice that’ll give you the same level of protection while also consuming a lot less of your system’s resources.

How to Download and Use Bitdefender’s Free Trial on Your PC

1. Download Bitdefender Total Security from the official website – Go to Bitdefender’s website and press download under Bitdefender Total Security.

2. Run the setup to install Bitdefender – Run the setup and follow all the steps to install Bitdefender on your system.

3. Create your Bitdefender account – Enter your name, email, and password to create an account once the setup is complete.

4. Choose the free trial option – Choose the second option in the Activate Now menu to activate the 30-day trial.

5. Finish the setup – Click on Finish and your 30-day Bitdefender Total Security free trial will be ready for use.

Get Bitdefender now

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Editors’ Note: Private Internet Access, CyberGhost, Intego and Expressvpn are owned by Kape Technologies, our parent company.