ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Bitdefender Total Security bundles antivirus and anti-malware with other digital privacy tools for $109.99 per year for individuals and $139.99 per year for a family of up to five, though Bitdefender often runs promotions on its annual plans. (At the time of writing, subscriptions were discounted to $49.99 and $69.99, respectively.) 
• Bitdefender offers solid protection against threats across platforms through a collection of clean, user-friendly apps and extensions. 
• Bitdefender is significantly more robust on Windows than on MacOS, and the included VPN is too limited for most users on desktop. 

A good antivirus and anti-malware solution can supplement your device’s privacy and security features to fight against evolving digital threats, including ransomware and phishing. Bitdefender Total Security offers multiple layers of protection and prevention across platforms within user-friendly apps and browser extensions. 

Also: The best antivirus software and apps

Bitdefender offers a 30-day free trial of its Total Security suite — all you need to do is create an account and download and install the software on your computer or phone. If you don’t purchase or activate a subscription before your trial expires, your protection will end, as Bitdefender doesn’t require a credit card upfront. Bitdefender Total Security for individuals allows access on up to five devices (Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS), so you can try before you buy on both desktop and mobile. 

Like many antivirus programs, Bitdefender for Windows has the most features: anti-spam filtering, a privacy firewall, and Wi-Fi security assessments, to name a few. Because I tested Bitdefender Total Security on MacOS, I was not able to try all of the full suite available to Windows users.

Bitdefender is currently our top pick for the best antivirus software overall. 

Installation and setup process

You can install Bitdefender when you first sign up for your trial or access your subscription and downloads later by logging into your Bitdefender Central account. Follow the prompts to add the software to your machine. You’ll need to adjust Bitdefender’s permissions in your system settings, which the setup wizard will guide you through. Bitdefender can also generate a QR code or download links to send via email or text to other devices — remember, you can have Bitdefender Total Security on up to five at a time — so you can add the Bitdefender Mobile Security app on Android or iOS. You’ll need to log in using your Bitdefender Central credentials. 

Once you have the app up and running, you can also add the Bitdefender Traffic Light extension, which protects against phishing attempts and malicious web content, and the Bitdefender Anti-tracker extension, to your browser.

If you want to utilize Bitdefender’s VPN service — which is powered by Hotspot Shield and comes with your subscription — you’ll have to download a separate app and enable the appropriate access in your system settings. 

Also: The best VPN services: Expert tested

Finally, you can add the Bitdefender Password Manager browser extension, log in with your Bitdefender credentials, and set up a master password to access your vault. Bitdefender allows imports from a handful of other common password management tools like Bitwarden, 1Password, and LastPass, or you can add individual items for new or existing accounts, identities, or credit cards. 

Password management on mobile requires a separate app (Bitdefender Password Manager), and the VPN will soon be fully migrated to the standalone Bitdefender VPN app. You can also download Bitdefender Central to access your dashboard and manage your subscription.  

Bitdefender basics

The Bitdefender desktop app on MacOS allows you to manually scan your whole system, do a “quick” scan on critical areas, or select specific files or folders for a custom scan. (There is no option to set up scheduled scans.) Bitdefender Shield is the real-time version of scanning on Mac — if enabled, it will scan apps, updates, and new and modified files for threats. Bitdefender can disinfect or quarantine suspicious or infected items, which you can view under Protection > Antivirus in the app. Scan logs and results can be found on the Notifications tab. 

Bitdefender for Windows has a number of settings — including gaming, movie, and work modes — to reduce the app’s drag on your machine and optimize battery life. On MacOS, you can’t adjust settings for scan speeds or performance. A full scan required 90 minutes on my machine, while a quick scan took around 40 minutes. I didn’t notice any impact on my system during either. 

All of Bitdefender’s apps have a clean design and are easy to navigate. However, I found having multiple apps on desktop and mobile along with three separate browser extensions to be clunky.

Unique features (and how well they work)

Bitdefender Total Security includes VPN protection for 200 MB of traffic per device, per day. For most users, 200 MB doesn’t go very far, so this is a chance for Bitdefender to upsell you to its Premium or Ultimate plans with unlimited VPN traffic (priced at $129.99 and $159.99, respectively, when not discounted). Within the VPN app, you can enable ad blocking and anti-tracking, adjust auto-connect settings, and activate a kill switch, which will shut down all traffic if the VPN connection is lost. 

On MacOS, Bitdefender protects against ransomware by preventing unknown programs from accessing, making changes to, or deleting important files. The app automatically selects potentially sensitive folders and file paths, but you can remove or add others as well as see any applications that try to gain access. Time Machine protection does the same for backups of your device. 

The TrafficLight browser extension catches threats like phishing and malware by showing you which links in your search results are safe or suspicious and alerting you if you’ve clicked on something dangerous. Separately, Bitdefender Anti-tracker identifies and blocks ad trackers, site analytics trackers, third-party cookies, etc., as you browse, which also decreases page loading times. You can also disable blocking for specific sites. Both extensions are free and work independently from a Bitdefender subscription. 

Mobile protection on iOS includes anti-phishing protection for web browsing and calendar event links, security scans of your device, SMS filtering, and data breach monitoring for your email address. On Android, you get additional security features like an app lock and anti-theft to remotely lock or wipe your device. 

Also: Bitdefender vs. Malwarebytes: Which antivirus is best?

ZDNET’s buying advice

As we’ve noted before, you don’t necessarily need to pay for antivirus software: your device already has built-in protection, and there are a number of free third-party tools. Bitdefender is actually one of our picks for the best free antivirus, with basic scanning and live customer support available at no cost. The $109.99 annual subscription for Bitdefender Total Security is likely to provide more value to Windows users than those on MacOS thanks to a more robust set of features, a wider range of protection, and more granular performance settings, so if you are looking for a paid antivirus option, Bitdefender is a solid choice. 

Having a bundled password manager, VPN, and data breach detection may be attractive to some users — but Bitdefender’s versions of these tools are more limited than specific VPN and password management services (many of which are available at little or no cost) and shouldn’t be the primary reason to pay a premium for antivirus. 

Finally, at first glance, it’s hard to determine the difference between the cheaper Bitdefender Antivirus Plus and Bitdefender Total Security other than password management and the ability to protect up to five devices (compared to one or three depending on the tier you choose). There are a handful of additional features for Windows users, such as parental controls, a privacy firewall, and cryptomining protection. On MacOS, though, the upcharge for Total Security doesn’t get you much over Antivirus for Mac.