Bitdefender Plus vs Norton Antivirus: which is the best antivirus in 2015?

There are tons of antivirus offerings out there, from various companies advertising various levels of protection. One thing is for sure: an antivirus is a necessary application every internet user should have on their laptop or PC. This time around, we will be checking out two top antivirus software, Norton AntiVirus and Bitdefender Antivirus Plus to see which offers the best features for your money.

If you are dissatisfied with what free antivirus programs have to offer, you might be tempted to buy a software that promises extra tools you can use and bonus features. To be honest, there are lots of free antivirus out there that can provide enough protection for the average internet user, such as Avira, AVG, Panda and more. Alas, there are features which you only find in paid software and if you are in need of those features or think you might use them, Bitdefender Plus and Norton Antivirus are among your best options out there.

Norton Antivirus isn’t the best out there, but it is a top of the list software that will certainly keep you and your computer safe. It provides new technology that can handle critical corrupted files with ease and it has great malicious URL blocking habits, as well as antiphishing detection systems and malware cleanup sources. One bonus feature you get is that you can monitor your computer remotely through a network map, if you’re in need of such increased surveillance. The biggest minus for Norton Antivirus is that it will set you back $50, but you can use it on three different computers, which is nice.

The user interface of Norton is friendly and easy to use, and provides for clear information about your system, CPU usage and various tools you can use to make your computer safer and more stable. Once you install the software, you don’t need to fuss around with its settings too much since it comes optimized to create a great balance between security and performance, a bonus feature for having a paid antivirus installed. One of the best and unique features in Norton is that can clean up corrupted Windows files without having to disable the operating system itself.

Norton comes with excellent malware detecting and removing features, having a huge database of known signatures at hand. If you are faced with unknown, new malware, Norton does a great job identifying suspicious sources and blocking or quarantining them. As a bonus, you get the Intrusion Prevention System that blocks network exploits.  You also get Norton Identity Safe installed automatically, which is otherwise a free software, and it comes with a platform for creating safe passwords.

Bitdefender Plus is a bit cheaper than Norton, retailing for $40 a year for a license and $60 for three annual licenses. So far, Norton seems to be the better value since it’s ten bucks less for three licenses. Bitdefender Plus comes with as many extra features as Norton, but lacks the great malicious URL blocking capabilities of the latter. Even so, it gets high ratings from independent antivirus testing labs, while Norton isn’t tested by the most relevant ones. Bitdefender Plus outdoes Norton when it comes to antiphishing detection, which is an important plus for the former.

Much like Norton, Bitdefender comes optimized for stable balance between performance and security, so it doesn’t require user interaction to protect your system efficiently. One of the great traits of the software is that it doesn’t bother you a lot, working on Autopilot and giving you weekly reports about what it has detected, quarantined and removed in the past 7 days. Bitdefender has better tests scores in a variety of international lab tests and ranks as one of the best antivirus software on the market right now.

Even though it doesn’t really succeed in blocking malicious URLs to the max, it does detect them once they launch and can neutralize them in due time. It does omit some malware if it is already on your computer, so that’s a downside compared to Norton. It does do better in antiphishing tests so that balances things out a bit. The scanning time on Bitdefender is great, taking about half an hour depending on your system configuration and how many files you have. The Rescue Mode is a bit more handy than it is in Norton because you don’t need to burn a disc to make use of it.

Bonus features include great privacy tools which can prevent your passwords and usernames from being unveiled to other computers or online. At the same time, you get a nifty file shredder which prevents forensic recovery of any files. You also get free credit monitoring that can alert you when something suspicious is going on in your banking accounts. SafePay and Wallet are also targeted at online financial protection. SafePay offers to open all your accounts and internet banking in a separate, safe desktop environment within Bitdefender. It’s a pretty nifty feature especially if you do all your banking over the internet.

Bitdefender also comes with a whole set of tune-up tools which can enhance system performance. OneClick Optimizer deals with registry items and privacy items, serving them up to you and you can delete them at your own discretion. Registry Cleaner and PC Clean-Up do the same thing if combined, but OneClick is a bit more exciting to use. The software also come with profiles that detect what you are using your system for an optimizing performance accordingly. That means that you won’t be bothered by updates when gaming, nor will you be experiencing lags when working.

Overall, Bitdenfeder is the better antivirus from this comparison, since it is easier to use and offers up more tools than Norton does. It is comparable to complete professional security suites, although it does have a long way to go until it hits top-notch performance. Still, for the money, it offers great protection and tune-up solutions which are enticing to most computer users. Which would you choose if it were free?