BitDefender vs. Norton

As you might imagine, we get a lot of emails here every week.

Among the most common questions are:

1. What's the best antivirus software for [insert some seemingly unique condition here]?
2. What has better antivirus protection Product X or Product Y?

Questions like these are what led to the creation of this head-to-head antivirus comparison section so consumers could easily compare one antivirus application versus another and get the best solution for their particular needs.

This page compares:
BitDefender Antivirus vs. Norton Antivirus.

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$24.95* Vs. $39.99*

Which Has the Best Real-time Protection?

BitDefender	Norton
BitDefender's real-time antivirus protection automatically scans web pages, PC files, and email usage by default. With a 96% rate, BitDefender testing showed that this antivirus application can defeat the majority of incoming viruses and malware (no antivirus is 100% accurate). BitDefender's real-time antivirus protection is world-class with acceptable imperfections.	For the most part Norton gets it right with real-time antivirus this year--except it's still too resource intensive. Email, web pages, and files are all scanned in real-time with Norton's active real-time antivirus protection. Independent testing showed Norton to do just as well as the competition in scanning and protecting against incoming virus and malware attacks. Norton does a passable job with fairly solid (albeit slow), real-time antivirus protection.
RESULT: Winner BitDefender BitDefender testing proved to be both better in accuracy and faster.

Which is Most Effective Against Spyware?

BitDefender	Norton
BitDefender's real-time protection also protects against incoming spyware attacks. Hourly spyware definitions are downloaded to keep your PC safe with the most current security. Independent tests showed BitDefender to be as good with antispyware as it is with antivirus. Nice work.	The antispyware feature in Norton is comparable to its antivirus feature. Antispyware updates are current and fast (sometimes within 5 minutes!) Testing showed that Norton antivirus is equally potent against viruses as it is with spyware and other malware threats.
RESULT: Winner Norton Both do a great job in deflecting spyware, but Norton's virus definitions tend to come faster than BitDefender.

Which Has the Lowest Resource Usage?

BitDefender	Norton
BitDefender generally performed better than Norton when resource usage was concerned. During a manual scan, BitDefender used 25% less memory than Norton did. The percentage of CPU used during a scan was slightly higher for BitDefender. During real-time protection, however, BitDefender used less than 4% while Norton used more than 4% of memory.	While this version of Norton is much better with resource usage than previous versions, it still falls behind much of the competition. A manual scan showed Norton used 25% more memory than BitDefender. The CPU percentage used during a scan was just below BitDefender. Unfortunately, Norton proved to be too heavy during normal, real-time protection coming in over 4% of memory.
RESULT: Winner BitDefender Norton gave a good effort, but it's still too sluggish during real-time scanning.

Which Has the Best User Interface?

BitDefender	Norton
The UI (user interface) for BitDefender is generally clean and easy to use. Each section of features is accessible via tabs instead of on one handy page. This requires the user to do a bit of digging to get where they need to go, but is still intuitive. Overall, BitDefender's UI isn't cumbersome or difficult to navigate.	Norton's UI gives you plenty of information, but we disliked some of the information presentation and overall organization. We saw some users having difficulty getting a grasp on where they needed to be from time to time. For instance, sometimes the navigation you need is on the left, sometimes it's on the top, and some other screens show a multi-layer expansion. It's just too cumbersome for something as ubiquitous as an antivirus application. There are numerous pop-up screens to deal with, and too many details to examine that most users will likely just find irritating.
RESULT: Winner BitDefender Even though BitDefender's UI isn't perfect, it's far better than Norton's design mismatch.

Which Has the Best Customer Support?

BitDefender	Norton
We're sorry to say BitDefender has had several complaints about their antivirus customer support. While they do offer free chat, email, and phone support, you're required to click through at least 12 different steps just to get access to phone support. Then once there, you're required to create a new account before you can ask your question. In our opinion, phone support should be fast, free and easy to find. If other companies like Sunbelt, makers of VIPRE antivirus, have managed to do it without breaking the bank, we feel BitDefender can, too. Knowledge base and FAQs are also available.	One of Norton's major failings for as long as anyone here can remember has been its lack of good customer support. They still insist on pushing for paid tech support when most other companies offer some form of basic phone support for free. While the knowledge base is extensive and fairly good, Norton simply needs to make free phone support an easy option for their users.
RESULT: Winner BitDefender BitDefender wins by a hair only because they don't charge for phone support.

Which is Easiest to Install?

BitDefender	Norton
The installation process for BitDefender antivirus is quick and painless for the most part. A standard install wizard walks you through some basic set-up fields, then the installation will complete without any problems. Resource usage is minimal during installation, and you shouldn't have any real hang-ups.	The installation for Norton antivirus is faster this year, taking only about a minute. The standard installation wizard will take you through the necessary steps for a fast install. One important note, if you choose to uninstall, not all registry components are uninstalled (which can present problems down the line). And their LiveUpdate program needs to be separately uninstalled. Not as clean as the uninstall should be.
RESULT: Winner BitDefender While Norton installs fast and easy, the sloppy trail left behind after uninstall is unacceptable.

Which Has the Best Email Virus Protection?

BitDefender	Norton
For some reason, BitDefender chose to make their email antivirus feature disabled by default. This is concerning considering so many viruses and spyware are transmitted via email--particularly via Microsoft Outlook/Outlook Express. Email protection is easily turned, though, on in the Advanced View section, which we recommend BitDefender users do. Once enabled, BitDefender does a good job at scanning incoming emails for potential threats.	Email protection is enabled and does a decent job at protecting your PC against incoming virus and spyware threats. Email antivirus protection is available for standard mail clients like Outlook, Outlook Express, and POP3 and SMTP supported email clients (like Thunderbird or Eudora). Because it relies on the same antivirus scanning engine as the rest of their software, it does tend to be slower than many other competitors and also more resource intensive.
RESULT: Tie When active, both BitDefender and Norton do an adequate job of scanning incoming emails with Norton being slower when dealing with large emails and/or ones with attachments.

What's the Best Antivirus Software?

BitDefender	Norton
We can't say BitDefender Antivirus was our "best antivirus software" choice this year, but they did top our list last year as a solid PC security solution. Despite the lack of good customer phone support, BitDefender is still one of our top recommendations for quality antivirus protection. The antivirus and antispyware features are excellent, and the resource usage falls into the acceptable range. Overall, still a fine antivirus product.	Norton has made a ton of improvements this year and has regained some of its status as a viable antivirus application. However, their paid phone support still needs to be corrected, and their user interface needs to be rethought. The resource usage is mostly acceptable, but real-time protection can drag down the average PC user from time to time. Norton antivirus is still a viable contender, but for most consumers there are likely to be far better choices for antivirus programs.
RESULT: Winner BitDefender BitDefender still holds a top position on our site due to its consistent performance where it counts: antivirus and malware protection. Norton is a bit on the expensive side, needs better customer support, and a better user interface.

BitDefender vs Norton: Conclusion

BitDefender	Norton
#1 $24.95*	#2 $39.99*
* No coupon currently available.	* $35.99 with our exclusive coupon.
CONCLUSION: Winner BitDefender