Bitdefender vs Panda: Which One is Better in 2024

I’ve been consistently impressed with both Panda and Bitdefender’s performance across the board. I use both antivirus suites frequently, but I wanted to see which one was the best option of the two.

So, I put them through a series of rigorous tests across 15 different categories to get a definitive answer. Bitdefender came out on top with Panda lagging not too far behind.

Bitdefender gave me near-perfect detection scores, has a highly configurable firewall, and a range of useful extras that further enhance security. I highly recommend you try it out risk-free with its 30-day money-back guarantee.

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

Overall, Bitdefender provides better value for the money and airtight protection for your computer. However, Panda delivered a good performance in most categories too. Despite not being able to top Bitdefender, I found Panda to still offer a competitive experience that was on par with top antivirus suites on the market.

Virus Scanner	Detects 100% of malware and provides fast scans	Detects 99.6% of malware and offers slower scans
Real-Time Malware Protection	Detects 99.7% of viruses in real-time tests	Detects 98.2% of malware in real-time tests
System Performance	Uses up more system resources but also delivers faster scans	Uses fewer system resources and has a minimal impact on system performance
VPN	Data cap of 200MB/day, with servers in just 27 countries and poor streaming capabilities	Data cap of 150MB/day with 1800 servers in 80+ countries but poor streaming capabilities.
Parental Controls	Lets you block apps and websites, track location, and set up screentime scheduling	Lets you filter content on a child’s device but lacks time scheduling and social media tracking
Firewall	Lets you have complete control over your internet traffic and offers specific modes to keep you safe	Lets you have significant control over your traffic with its automatically configurable firewall profiles
Password Manager	Provides an array of features, is easy to use, and has an excellent auto-fill function	Provides ample security but initial set-up can be confusing, and using it isn’t as easy
Gaming Mode	Suspends unneeded background processes to enhance gaming experience	Hosts a “mute” mode to silence all non-critical notifications while gaming
Optimization Tools	Offers few tools, including disk cleanup, registry cleanup, and privacy cleanup	Offers a range of optimization tools, including a hard disk cleaner, boot manager, defragmenter, and cleanup scheduler.
Other Features	Includes nifty security-related extra features that provide an additional layer of real-time security	Includes utility-related features that don’t enhance security but slightly improve performance
Device Compatibility	Compatible with Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, with consistent UI across platforms	Compatible with Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, but it has inconsistent UIs that make it difficult to use
Customer Service	Offers live chat, email support, and phone support with fast response times	Offers live chat, email support, and phone support with slow response times.
Price	Provides more features in its mid-tier plans, and provides better value for money	Provides essential features like a password manager only on its premium plan, so it doesn’t offer great value for money
Free Version	Basic app with limited features, lacking real-time protection	Basic app but provides comprehensive security, including real-time protection
Money-Back Guarantee	Provides a 30-day money-back guarantee and faster processing times for refund requests	Provides a 30-day money-back guarantee, with slower processing times for refund requests

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How I Tested and Compared Bitdefender vs Panda

1. Virus Scanner — I looked at what types of scans each contender offers and tested their detection scores across multiple scanning tests.
2. Real-Time Malware Protection — I checked whether each antivirus has real-time protection features, such as a browser extension, to detect viruses in real-time.
3. System Performance — I tested how resource-heavy each antivirus is in terms of CPU and disk utilization.
4. VPN — I judged each contender’s VPN based on its streaming abilities and the speeds it provides.
5. Parental Controls — I considered which antivirus provides more easy-to-use and feature-rich parental controls.
6. Firewall — I checked if each antivirus hosts a firewall and whether it has advanced features for providing better security.
7. Password Manager — I examined each contender’s password manager in terms of ease of use and superior auto-fill functions.
8. Gaming Mode — I checked the contenders’ gaming modes, how many features/modes they offer, and how well they allocate system resources while gaming.
9. Optimization Tools — I considered how many tune-up tools each antivirus offers and how well they worked across my devices.
10. Other Features — I accounted for the useful extras Bitdefender and Panda provide on their different plans.
11. Device Compatibility — I checked which operating systems (and their versions) each antivirus supports and whether their desktop and mobile apps were user-friendly.
12. Customer Service — I tested various customer support options for each contender and evaluated response times and ease of reaching out to the support team.
13. Price — I compared the price plans of each contender to determine which plan offers the best value for money.
14. Free Version — I checked for any free plans that the contenders have to offer (including a free trial).
15. Money-Back Guarantee — I tested each antivirus’s refund policy first-hand.

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1. Virus Scanner — Bitdefender Detects 100% of Viruses

After extensive testing, I found Bitdefender to be better at detecting viruses than Panda. It repeatedly gave me a perfect detection score. However, Panda didn’t lag behind that much, giving me an impressive score of 99.7%.

Bitdefender offers multiple scan types:

• Quick — Scans the parts of your hard drive with the highest risk of infection.
• System — Scans your entire device for threats.
• Vulnerability—  Looks for potentially dangerous settings and missing updates to plug security holes.
• Rescue Environment  — Reboots your system in a safe mode to find and remove tough threats.
• Custom — Lets you decide which parts of your hard drive to search, when to run the scan, and what to search for.

While Quick Scan is good for scanning your critical drive locations, it may overlook some malware hidden in unassuming places on your hard drive.

The full scan (System Scan) took 48 minutes to complete and sifted through more than 2 million files on my hard disk. However, the next time I ran the system scan, it only took 10 minutes for Bitdefender to scan over 1.4 million files. That’s because the first time you run a full scan, Bitdefender marks certain files as safe, making subsequent scans faster.

Panda provides 3 scan options — critical areas, full scan, and custom scan. “Critical areas” is similar to Bitdefender’s Quick Scan, but it was much faster and scanned over 60,000 files in under 3 minutes compared to Bitdefender’s 11,000 files in 7 minutes. Meanwhile, the full scan checked 850,000 files in almost an hour, which is too long considering the number of files it scanned.

Both Bitdefender and Panda gave me 3 false positives (i.e falsely flagged legitimate files and marked them as dangerous). This is a decent score considering the industry average is 16 false positives — the only AV that did better is Norton which picked up 0 false positives in our tests.

Overall, Bitdefender offers more scan types, delivers faster scans, and provides better detection than Panda.

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2. Real-Time Malware Protection — Bitdefender Provides Near-Perfect Real-Time Protection

After rigorously testing the contenders’ real-time protection capabilities, Bitdefender came out on top with a near-perfect real-time detection score of 99.7%. Panda also gave me an impressive score of 98.2%, which is above the industry average of 97%.

To carry out my real-time test, I planted 408 virus samples on my PC, including web and email threats. Bitdefender blocked all infected files and URLs in scam emails. It only missed 2 zero-day viruses packed inside zip files. In contrast, Panda blocked all but 7 infected files on my PC. However, it detected all scam URLs.

Bitdefender hosts security features that add to its superb real-time protection. I’m a big fan of its “Behavioral Monitor” tool that prevents ransomware from altering your sensitive files. If you fall victim to a ransomware attack, Bitdefender’s “Remediation tool” will decrypt your files and undo the damage caused by the virus.

I also used its phishing protection feature, and I’m happy to report that it flagged 95% of scam emails and URLs contained within them. It also blocked me from opening malicious websites. After researching, I found that Bitdefender matches URL filters from its database to detect malicious sites and uses heuristic filters and Bayesian modules to determine if an email resembles a scam.

Panda also has real-time protection features. I especially liked using its quarantine function, which automatically quarantines suspicious files on your PC without having to run a scan. When I downloaded a malicious file from the web, Panda detected it and immediately imprisoned it in its quarantine so that it wouldn’t infect my computer.

Overall, both Bitdefender and Panda offer superb real-time protection, but Bitdefender consistently provided me with better protection scores.

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3. System Performance — Panda Is Lighter on Your System

I was pleased to see that neither Bitdefender nor Panda had a significant toll on my system performance, but, Panda was lighter on my PC. Bitdefender didn’t lag behind much — it used up slightly more resources but in return also delivered faster scan speeds.

I recorded my baseline CPU, memory (RAM), and disk utilization levels with each antivirus open in the background with no scan running. Next, I ran a full scan with each contender and recorded the new system performance stats.

I visited over 60 popular sites, with 12 sites opened simultaneously at a time, and found that Bitdefender slowed my PC down by 11%. That’s decent compared to the industry average of 14% but higher than Panda’s 10%.

Next, I launched a couple of resource-heavy software (Adobe Suite, MS Office, and AutoCAD) on my PC simultaneously before and during a full scan. My results showed that Bitdefender’s full scan slowed the launch by up to 13% compared to Panda’s 11%.

I wanted to see how these numbers translated into my experience, especially considering that Panda used up 85% of my RAM but, strangely, I didn’t notice my PC slow down at all. I could stream Netflix and surf the web simultaneously while Bitdefender and Panda ran a full scan in the background.

I did experience some slowdown when I tried installing resource-heavy software on my PC while Bitdefender was running— I didn’t have this problem with Panda, though.

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4. VPN — Both VPNs Aren’t Suitable

I was extremely disappointed after using VPNs from both antiviruses, so I would call this round a draw. Having a reliable VPN is essential to keeping you anonymous on the web, so I suggest using an antivirus that includes an excellent VPN.

Bitdefender’s VPN has a data cap of 200MB per day, making it practically useless. I ran out of my daily limit just by running a few speed tests. However, it does provide unlimited data on its premium plan, but I would rather get an exceptional standalone VPN like ExpressVPN than pay extra for Bitdefender’s VPN.

For the sake of this review, however, I did get the premium plan just to try out the VPN. Although I got unlimited data, I was still restricted to servers in just 27 countries, which isn’t great if you want to access your home content while travelling overseas. I accessed my Netflix US library but couldn’t access my Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Max, and Disney+ accounts.

Panda’s VPN is not its own, rather it uses Hotspot Shield’s infrastructure. Once again, I was frustrated by a daily data cap of 150MB unless I upgraded to the premium plan. After upgrading, I had access to 1800 servers across 80+ countries and could choose my own servers, unlike before.

The increased number of servers improved my ability to access my home content while traveling internationally. However, I was still unable to access my Disney+ and HBO Max accounts because the platforms were able to detect that I was using a VPN.

While Panda’s streaming capabilities are sub-par, I was glad to see that it passed my DNS leak tests. However, if your connection to the VPN server drops for any reason, Panda doesn’t have a kill switch to disconnect your device from the internet, exposing your real IP address.

Overall, neither VPN provided satisfactory performance, especially considering they limit your data usage unless you upgrade to their premium plans. While they did provide good speeds on nearby and mid-range servers, their streaming capabilities didn’t meet my expectations.

If having a good VPN with your antivirus is  important to you, I wouldn’t recommend using either of them and instead go for Norton or McAfee with powerful in-built VPNs.

5. Parental Controls — Bitdefender’s Parental Controls Are More Comprehensive

Both Bitdefender and Panda offer parental controls. After trying them out, I concluded Bitdefender’s were more robust and feature-packed. Bitdefender offers parental controls with its Internet Security plan or higher, whereas Panda offers it on its Panda Dome Advanced plan or higher.

Using Bitdefender’s parental controls is simple. All you need to do is create a child profile with Bitdefender and link it to your child’s device. You can then send the download link to your child’s device to install parental controls.

I tried out Bitdefender’s parental controls, and I’m pleased to say that it lets you monitor your child’s online and offline activities remotely. I easily blocked websites and apps and got notified whenever the child’s device attempted to access them. I also set up screentime on the child’s device.

I could also access phone contacts saved on the child’s device to see if any new contacts have been added and track the device’s location. However, these two features are only available on Bitdefender’s iOS and Android apps.

I was disappointed that parental control tools were quite different across platforms. For example, you can set daily device limits and blacklist websites on Android but not iOS. Similarly, the location tracking feature is available only on its mobile apps, not desktop apps.

Panda’s parental controls are also good but not as feature-packed as Bitdefender’s. It allows you to filter search results on your child’s device and block age-restricted apps and websites. I could track all the web and app activity on the child’s device. Unfortunately, it doesn’t provide time scheduling, social media tracking, and cross-platform coverage.

Panda’s parental controls function is just a content filter. Overall, Bitdefender’s parental controls provide more features and comprehensive protection.

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6. Firewall — Bitdefender Offers a Highly Configurable Firewall

I’m a big fan of Bitdefender’s highly configurable firewall packed with advanced features. It’s one of the main reasons behind its near-perfect real-time protection scores. The only catch is the firewall is only included in 2 plans — Internet Security and Total Security.

I rigorously tested Bitdefender’s firewall and found that it keeps all online threats at bay. I tried opening multiple dangerous websites, downloading infected files, and clicking on malicious URLs in scam emails, and Bitdefender kept me safe throughout.

I particularly liked its “Alert Mode,” which analyzes all apps and programs on your device to see if they behave suspiciously. For example, one program on my PC called Origin tried to connect to the internet without my consent and Bitdefender notified me immediately.

Its “Stealth Mode” hides your device from other users when connected to a public network. This gave me peace of mind that no one can access my device when connected to a public WiFi network.

Panda hosts a powerful firewall, even on its free plan. It lets you have complete control over your incoming and outgoing traffic. I especially liked that Panda lets you configure the firewall according to your location. For instance, when I was connected to a public WiFi, the firewall automatically changed to the “Public place” configuration, which is relatively stringent in allowing incoming traffic.

In summary, Panda’s firewall is decent but lacks the advanced features of Bitdefender’s firewall. On the other hand, Bitdefender’s firewall blocks every threat you send and provides total internal and external security for your device.

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7. Password Manager — Bitdefender’s Password Manager Is More User-Friendly

After testing the password managers of both contenders, Bitdefender’s came out on top because it provided a more seamless user experience. Panda’s password manager was functionally well-equipped but was tedious to install on my PC.

With Bitdefender, you can save unlimited passwords. I liked that all my stored information was neatly organized into categories. You can also save personal information, such as your driving license number, passport number, social security details, and more, making it an excellent tool for auto-filling complex web forms.

Bitdefender’s auto-fill feature is one of a kind. Many other antivirus password managers I’ve tested before often glitch before auto-filling fields, but I faced no such problem with Bitdefender. I filled out passwords and web forms multiple times, and it never took more than a second to auto-fill fields.

Panda’s password manager includes two-factor authentication (2FA), encrypted password storage, security status monitoring, and an auto-fill function. It handles basic password management quite well, but, unfortunately, it doesn’t host many advanced features.

I could easily save my personal information, bank account and credit card information, and login details for multiple websites. However, setting it up was pretty confusing and tedious. You have to create a Panda Dome Passwords account to access the in-app password manager.

Overall, Bitdefender’s password manager hosts more advanced features and is easier to use than Panda’s. However, I was happy to learn that both provide unlimited password storage, a feature that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

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8. Gaming Mode — Bitdefender’s Game Mode Really Makes a Difference

Both contenders include a gaming mode, but I found Bitdefender’s much more effective for gaming. Bitdefender’s “game profile” automatically toggled on when I launched a game on my PC.

It also suspended background processes and unneeded programs to allocate more resources to the game. As a result, I could play Forza Horizon 5, an extremely resource-heavy game, in Ultra HD without getting any frame drops. Bitdefender’s gaming mode also features a “mute” mode that silences all non-critical notifications while you’re gaming.

Panda also offers a “Gaming/Multimedia mode,” which doesn’t optimize resource allocation to provide a seamless gaming experience. Instead, it features a mute mode that mutes all notifications while you’re gaming with full screen. The mute mode didn’t work when I played some games in windowed mode.

Given that Bitdefender features optimization tools with its gaming mode and consistently mutes notifications even when playing some games in windowed mode, I think it is the better option if gaming is important to you.

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9. Optimization Tools — Panda Offers More Tune-Up Tools

After using both antiviruses extensively, I learned that Panda’s optimization toolset is much more diverse and feature-rich. Its PC Cleanup tool consists of 4 features:

• Hard disk cleaner — Identifies and Removes junk and duplicate files your hard drive
• Boot manager — Enables you to disable unnecessary programs that you don’t want launching during reboot
• Defragmenter — Improves organization and speed of your hard disk
• System cleanup scheduler — Lets you schedule a regular cleanup

I especially liked its PC Health Checkup tool because it quickly scans your PC and identifies potential security vulnerabilities, unnecessary files, and potentially unwanted programs. I ran the hard disk cleaner, and it cleared up 1GB of junk files in under 2 minutes. After that, I used the defragmenter to clean my drive, which took about 30 seconds.

Panda’s Boot Manager was my favourite tool. It improved my PC’s boot time by disabling unnecessary applications and system processes at start-up. It also features a file shredder that lets you delete files beyond recovery. Although I would’ve liked to see more customizability to the file shredder feature, specifically the different shredding levels, I was satisfied with it.

Bitdefender offers 3 optimization tools:

• Disk Cleanup — Identifies and removes junk and duplicate files
• Registry Cleanup — Cleans Windows registry of unnecessary threads, keys, and DWORDS
• Privacy Cleanup — Removes cookies and trackers from compatible browsers

Disk Cleanup cleared up 67.45MB of space on my hard drive by removing 35 junk files and 8 duplicate files from my PC.

Overall, Panda offers more optimization tools than Bitdefender. After extensively testing all the tools from each contender, Panda’s tools made my system faster, whereas I didn’t feel a noticeable performance boost with Bitdefender’s tools.

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10. Other Features — Bitdefender Offers Plenty of Useful Extras

I was pleased to see that both antiviruses provide a range of extra features, but Bitdefender takes the lead in this round. Its additional features are more security-related, whereas Panda’s extra features are more focused on system optimization. Personally, I prefer enhanced security over performance.

Bitdefender’s “Anti-spam” feature was a pleasant surprise. I activated and linked it to my Outlook account to filter out junk emails from my inbox. It also lets you mark known email addresses as safe, so they won’t be flagged in the future.

Bitdefender also offers webcam and audio protection. It monitors any suspicious incoming connections trying to gain access to your webcam or mic. With this feature, you won’t have to tape your webcam and mute your mic in the constant paranoia that someone might be watching or hearing you.

Panda includes a rescue kit, a unique feature I haven’t seen many antiviruses offer. It has 2 functions. The first function is “Create a rescue USB drive,” designed for severely infected computers that can’t boot because of viruses. You can create a rescue USB drive on an uninfected computer and plug that USB into an infected computer to clean it of malware.

Its second function is “Detect advanced viruses,” a cloud cleaner that can detect viruses your traditional virus scanner overlooked. It identified 2 PUPs on my PC and restored about 400MB of disk space. The process took half an hour to complete but was definitely worth it.

Overall, Bitdefender wins this round by a small margin. Panda’s extra features are good but don’t necessarily enhance your device’s security like Bitdefender does. With Bitdefender, I had peace of mind that my PC was thoroughly protected in all aspects.

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11. Device Compatibility — Bitdefender Provides a Better Overall User Experience

Bitdefender’s apps were user-friendly, intuitive, and had a consistent user interface. Bitdefender and its features are compatible with: 

Its Mac app lacks some features, including webcam and microphone protection, anti-theft, and vulnerability assessment. I wasn’t too concerned about this because Apple’s own security software is sufficient to compensate for the lack of these features. However, I’d have liked to see it offer more Mac-related features like some of the other antiviruses I’ve tested before.

Bitdefender’s mobile apps are equally user-friendly and intuitive. Its Android app includes threat scanning, web protection, anti-theft, app lock, and a VPN. When I downloaded the Android app, Bitdefender ran me through a quick overview of what each feature does. Its iOS app, on the other hand, only includes web protection, VPN, and account privacy features.

Panda is compatible with Windows 7 or higher, macOS 10 or later, Android 4.0 or higher, and iOS 7 or later. So, it works on a greater range of OS versions than Bitdefender. I liked Panda’s clean user interface on its desktop apps. However, the Mac app has fewer features, mainly because Panda is a Windows-focused antivirus.

Similarly, Panda’s iOS and Android apps look similar but offer different feature sets. For example, the iOS app doesn’t include anti-malware scans because most iOS apps are “sandboxed.” On the other hand, the Android app has all the features like real-time protection, virus and SD card scanning, and application control.

I liked Panda’s graphic and dynamic user interface, but, overall, its apps across different platforms aren’t consistent enough to provide a good user experience. If you want to use it on multiple devices, expect to ride a learning curve, especially if you’re a beginner user.

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12. Customer Service — Bitdefender Offers Fast Customer Support

While Panda offers more support options, I found Bitdefender’s customer support much more responsive and helpful. The quickest way to reach out to Bitdefender’s support team is via live chat on its website. I asked the agent a question about Bitdefender’s refund policy, and they promptly provided a clear answer.

Bitdefender’s email support was even more impressive. I emailed the support team to ask them about the standard VPN package and got a reply within an hour. That’s an amazing response time, considering many other antivirus customer support teams take hours to get back via email.

Bitdefender provides phone support in 17 countries in multiple languages. I called the US helpline and had to hold for about 10 minutes before an agent got to me. The agent was helpful and professional throughout the call. Phone support is much slower than live chat and email support, so I only recommend it if you have a complex or technical query.

Panda’s 24/7 live chat is exclusive to subscribers of its most expensive plan. Even so, I was disappointed by the incredibly slow response times and the lack of helpful responses from agents.

Next, I tested Panda’s email support by clicking the “Write to us” button on its website. I filled out the form and had to wait for 5 hours for the support team to get back to me. Once again, the agent didn’t answer my query and instead asked me to contact phone support.

After that, I tried out Panda’s phone support, which is only available to users in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. I called the US helpline and had to hold for 12 minutes before an agent took my call. I asked them whether I could configure the gaming mode manually and finally received a comprehensive answer.

Overall, Panda’s customer support was disappointing. The quickest way to get answers is via phone support. In contrast, all of Bitdefender’s support options provide excellent customer service.

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13. Price — Bitdefender Provides Better Overall Value

Both Bitdefender and Panda provide competitively-priced plans, but after checking out each of their plans carefully and all their features, I concluded that Bitdefender offers better overall value for money. It provides more features and better security at a similar price tag.

Bitdefender offers 7 plans:

• Bitdefender Free: Includes a basic virus scanner with no real-time protection.
• Antivirus Plus: Provides real-time, web, network, and phishing protection with vulnerability assessment and a host of utility features.
• Internet Security: Provides extra web protection with features like webcam/microphone protection, Safe Online Banking, parental controls, and more.
• Total Security: Has the same features as the Internet Security plan.
• Premium Security: Provides unlimited VPN usage, a password manager, WiFi Security Advisor, and Social Network Protection.
• Small Office Security. Offers all the features of Premium Security except that it allows 500MB/day of VPN usage.
• Ultimate Security. Includes different work profiles, dark web monitoring, identity protection, social media protection, and much more.

I was happy to learn about its free plan, but it’s a very barebones app with a basic virus scanner and no real-time protection.

The Antivirus Plus plan is a Windows-only plan with tiered pricing based on the number of devices. It includes all the features discussed in the above sections, except a firewall and parental controls, which I think are essential for your security.

Internet Security is another Windows-only plan with all the features of the Antivirus Plus plan, plus microphone and web protection, parental controls, and a firewall. It’s a decent plan, but I recommend Total Security instead, as it offers the best value for money. Total Security protects up to 5 or 10 devices. It’s compatible with multiple operating systems and includes OneClick Optimizer and an anti-theft feature.

Premium Security gets you unlimited VPN traffic and priority support, but I think that’s not worth paying extra for because Bitdefender’s VPN isn’t as good as some of the premium standalone VPNs. I would rather get that than pay extra for Premium Security.

Panda offers 5 plans:

• Panda Dome Free: Offers real-time protection, limited VPN usage, a USB scan feature, and rescue kit USB tool.
• Panda Free Essential: Includes real-time protection, phishing and WiFi protection, web protection, and a firewall.
• Advanced: Offers parental controls, identity protection, and a ransomware shield.
• Complete: Includes PC Cleanup tool, password manager, and a Data Shield.
• Premium: Offers unlimited VPN usage and an Update Manager

Panda’s free plan is better than Bitdefender’s because it provides real-time protection. However, it’s only compatible with Windows devices.

Panda Dome Essential is a basic plan that offers real-time protection, phishing and WiFi protection, a firewall, and a safe browsing feature. It’s good for beginner users but not advanced users. It doesn’t include parental controls, a password manager, and ransomware protection, which was surprising as competitors like Norton include these features with their similar-priced plans.

The “Advanced” plan includes ransomware protection, identity protection, and parental controls, but still no password manager. I don’t think it’s worth the upgrade unless you opt for “Panda Dome Complete,” which is the best value plan. It includes a password manager, data shield, and optimization tools.

Lastly, Panda Premium offers unlimited VPN usage and an Update Manager, which isn’t a useful feature that mandates an upgrade. As far as the VPN is concerned, it’s definitely not worth the upgrade because it only offers 20 server locations.

Overall, Bitdefender’s Total Security (its best value plan) is similarly priced to Panda’s Advanced plan, which barely provides the essential features for complete security. Meanwhile, Total Security offers a password manager, parental controls, and much more, providing better value for money.

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14. Free Version — Panda’s Free Plan Offers Better Protection

I was pleased to see both contenders offer a free plan, but Panda’s free plan came out on top after using it. Panda’s free plan offers plenty of security features that Bitdefender’s free plan doesn’t.

Panda’s free plan includes real-time protection, a VPN, USB scanning, a rescue kit feature, and a gaming mode. It’s only available for Windows devices, though.

In contrast, Bitdefender’s free plan includes a virus scanner, anti-malware tools, web filtering, cloud scanning, and a few optimization tools. I was disappointed it doesn’t provide real-time and ransomware protection. Although it does include anti-ransomware protection, it didn’t provide thorough protection of my sensitive data files.

Panda’s free plan offers more security features than Bitdefender’s free plan. My only gripe is that I would’ve liked to see ransomware protection on this plan, as it’s available on many other free antivirus plans.

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15. Money-Back Guarantee — Bitdefender Processed My Refund Faster

Bitdefender and Panda offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, and I must say I was impressed by how easy it was to initiate my refund request with both. Overall, however, Bitdefender processed my request faster, refunding my money in 5 days compared to Panda’s 8 days.

I initiated a refund request via Bitdefender’s live chat. The agent didn’t try to convince me to stay or offer an extra month on my subscription. They did ask me the reason for cancelling my subscription, though. Immediately after, I received an email confirming that my refund request had been approved, and got my money back in 5 days.

Panda also provides a 30-day money-back guarantee. I filled out the form on Panda’s website, providing my email address and subscription details. The billing team got back to me in 3 hours, which was not too bad.

In summary, it was easier to initiate my refund request via Bitdefender’s live chat than Panda’s web form. Also, Bitdefender refunded my money 3 days before Panda did, so its processing time was faster too.

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And the Winner Is… Bitdefender

After rigorously testing Bitdefender and Panda across 15 different categories, I found Bitdefender to be the victor of this showdown. It outperformed Panda in most categories. It gave me near-perfect detection scores in real-time tests and provided me with a range of security features that gave me peace of mind that my PC was well-protected from all sides.

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

However, Panda wasn’t too far behind in most categories. In fact, it was lighter on my system than Bitdefender. I was also impressed by its range of optimization tools.

Panda’s free plan comprises all the necessary features to keep you safe from malware, such as real-time protection and more. If you’d like to access advanced features like parental controls and a password manager, you’ll have to subscribe to its upper-tier plan. You can try it out risk-free with its 30-day money-back guarantee.

In summary, Bitdefender provided me with excellent security. Its powerful firewall, along with other useful extras like its anti-spam filter and webcam protection function, keeps even the most advanced malware at bay. You can test it out yourself with its 30-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee.

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Top Antiviruses in 2024

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Provider name

Our score

Price

Top Ranked Top Choice

1.

9.8

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$29.99 / year Save 58%

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1.

9.8

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$249.00 / year Save 69%

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1.

9.8

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$7.93 / year Save 72%

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Top Ranked Top Choice

1.

9.8

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$24.99 / year Save 33%

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1.

9.8

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$19.99 / year Save 77%

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Top Ranked Top Choice

1.

9.8

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$19.99 / year Save 77%

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Top Ranked Top Choice

1.

9.8

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$19.99 / year Save 70%

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Top Ranked Top Choice

1.

9.8

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$19.99 / year Save 54%

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Top Ranked Top Choice

1.

9.8

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$19.99 / year Save 71%

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Top Ranked Top Choice

1.

9.8

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$14.99 / year Save 74%

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Top Ranked Top Choice

1.

9.8

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$14.00 / year Save 70%

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2.

9.0

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$39.99 / year Save 70%

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2.

9.0

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$39.99 / year Save 70%

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2.

9.0

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$34.95 / year Save 73%

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2.

9.0

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$31.27 / year Save 73%

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2.

9.0

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$44.08 / year Save 65%

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3.

8.2

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$19.00 / year Save 80%

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4.

7.0

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$23.99 / year Save 70%

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5.

8.0

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$24.99 / year Save 59%

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