Malwarebytes vs Bitdefender: which antivirus is better?

Malwarebytes and Bitdefender are two of the most popular antivirus software available. Both are known for keeping systems secure and are used by individuals and businesses alike. This makes picking between the two potentially hard.

That's why, to help you pick between the two, I tested and evaluated Malwarebytes vs Bitdefender in key areas, including malware detection, system performance, features, ease of use, and pricing. By reading this article, you'll have all the information you need to make a decision on which product to pick.

Malwarebytes vs Bitdefender at a glance

Malwarebytes vs Bitdefender testing revealed a clear difference in protection quality. On macOS, Malwarebytes offers quick and full scanning options, though detection rates can be lower than Bitdefender’s comprehensive scans. Bitdefender identified all malware samples in our in-house testing, while Malwarebytes’ macOS scans were faster but less thorough.

On Windows, Malwarebytes performed slightly better but still fell short of Bitdefender’s consistent real-time and full-scan detection. With lower system impact and more complete threat coverage, Bitdefender offers stronger overall protection.

	Bitdefender Antivirus	Malwarebytes
⭐ Rating:	4.9 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★	4.6 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
🥇 Overall rank:	#1 out of #30	#4 out of #30
🔥 Coupons:	Bitdefender coupon 78% OFF	Malwarebytes coupon 50% OFF
💵 Price:	From $12.99/year	From $44.99/year
✂️ Free version:	Yes	Yes
🖥️ Platforms:	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS	Windows, Android, macOS, ChromeOS, iOS

Malwarebytes vs Bitdefender: company background

Let’s quickly recap how Malwarebytes and Bitdefender came to be.

Malwarebytes

Founded in 2008 by Marcin Kleczynski, Malwarebytes began as a response to ineffective antivirus tools. Originating from a high school project, it grew into a global cybersecurity company known for malware removal. Over the years, it expanded through acquisitions, product innovation, and a strong focus on both consumer and enterprise protection.

Bitdefender

Bitdefender started as AVX antivirus software developed by SOFTWIN, Romania’s first major post-communist IT company. In 2007, Bitdefender became an independent company with external investors. Since then, it has grown globally, employing over 1,800 people and providing advanced cybersecurity products for consumers and enterprises.

Malwarebytes vs Bitdefender: which offers better protection?

Multiple Bitdefender vs Malwarebytes tests tend to favor Bitdefender, and the data backs it up. On Windows, Malwarebytes' performance was average, detecting 95 out of 150 threats during a full scan. In comparison, Bitdefender showed stronger performance across both platforms. In our recent in-house evaluations on macOS, Bitdefender’s full system scan detected all 10 out of 10 malware samples in 19 minutes.

Malwarebytes performed a faster scan on macOS but detected fewer threats compared with Bitdefender’s full system scan. While still offering solid protection, Malwarebytes generally trails behind Bitdefender in comprehensive threat detection across platforms.

Feature	Bitdefender	Malwarebytes
Scanning	100%	~63.3% on Windows, full scan unavailable on macOS
Real-time protection	100%	0%
Firewall	Effective on Windows	Not included
Lab test results	6/6 AV-TEST (December 2025), 99.1% AV-Comparatives	~5.5 AV-TEST, 98.1% AV-Comparatives

That said, independent lab results give a more positive perspective for Malwarebytes, but still place Bitdefender ahead overall. Malwarebytes achieved a solid 98.1% protection rate in AV-Comparatives’ July–October 2025 real-world protection test, along with respectable scores in AV-TEST for protection, performance, and usability.

Bitdefender, meanwhile, edged slightly higher with a 99.1% protection rate in the same AV-Comparatives test and earned perfect scores across all categories in AV-TEST’s December 2025 evaluation. These findings reinforce Bitdefender’s reputation as a consistently dependable antivirus solution with strong performance in both in-lab and lab-based tests.

It’s worth noting that independent test labs tend to show higher scores since they focus on active, widely known threats that most major products can detect.

Real-time protection

This is an essential feature as it helps protect your device in real-time against cyber threats before they even get a chance to infiltrate the system.

During our in-house real-time tests, Bitdefender demonstrated strong and consistent defense, blocking all 10 malware samples on both macOS and Windows with a perfect 100% detection rate. Bitdefender even includes this level of protection in its free plan, making it accessible to any user.

Meanwhile, Malwarebytes’ real-time protection struggled, failing to detect any live threats during our macOS testing despite its web protection features.

Scanning

Both Bitdefender and Malwarebytes offer quick, full, and custom scan options for flexible protection. On macOS, Bitdefender’s full system scan took about 19.56 minutes, detected 100% of malware samples, with CPU usage between 1.7% and 20%, and RAM usage around 45MB, rising moderately during threat detection.

Malwarebytes' full scan on macOS works more like a quick-style scan that completes almost instantly, but misses malware. Malwarebytes’ full scan on Windows was faster but detected fewer threats than Bitdefender.

Although both antivirus suites give flexible scanning methods, Bitdefender also includes Vulnerability assessment. It is designed to scan the operating system for outdated and vulnerable software, unsafe system settings, and missing Windows security patches. So, it truly gives the all-round security for your device.

Firewall protection

Firewall is another equally important feature of a reliable antivirus suite. It is designed to continuously monitor all incoming and outgoing network traffic to reduce the risk of potential attacks. Unfortunately, Malwarebytes doesn’t have a firewall. Instead, it relies on your device’s built-in firewall. For Windows users, there’s a free add-on called Malwarebytes Windows Firewall Control, which gives more control over the Windows firewall, but it’s not integrated into the main app.

On the contrary, Bitdefender has a great firewall that allows you to customize application access, security rules, and network adapter settings. You can get it with the Premium Security and Total Security subscription plans. On top of that, it also includes port scan protection, which doesn’t allow hackers to check your network for open ports and exploit them for attacks.

Bitdefender vs Malwarebytes pricing

Malwarebytes offers three paid plans and a free version that allows manual scans and malware removal, though real-time protection requires a paid subscription. Bitdefender has three premium plans and a free antivirus edition for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.

Plan	Malwarebytes	Bitdefender
Free plan	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS	Windows, macOS, Android
Standard/Antivirus Plus	$44.99/year, 1 device	$12.99/year, 1 Windows PC
Plus/Total Security	59.99/year, 5 devices	$19.99/year, 3 devices
Total/Premium Security	$139.99/year up to 5 devices	$64.99/year up to 10 devices
Money-back guarantee	60 days	30 days
	Check pricing	Check pricing

Malwarebytes focuses on core antivirus protection, covering malware and phishing defense. VPN and identity protection come only with the higher-tier plans. Bitdefender includes more features even in its mid-level plans, like a built-in firewall, parental controls, VPN, and support for multiple devices and platforms, offering fuller protection.

While Malwarebytes’ plans and protection may be less comprehensive, it offers a more generous 60-day money-back guarantee than Bitdefender’s 30-day guarantee, giving users extra time to decide if it’s the right fit.

It’s worth noting that while both providers offer the essentials, you can get even more protection for less with other top providers in the market. TotalAV’s entry plan starts at $19.00/year and adds system optimization and safe‑browsing tools, while Norton 360 begins at $29.99/year and bundles VPN and a password manager, features you won’t find in the basic tiers of Malwarebytes or Bitdefender.

Bitdefender vs Malwarebytes: features

Bitdefender grants more security features than Malwarebytes, making it the winner in this category. Unlike Malwarebytes, Bitdefender includes extra perks like a password manager, vulnerability assessment, a file shredder, and social media protection. There’s also a fair number of tools common between the two, such as ransomware protection, malicious site detection, Wi-Fi security, and more.

	Bitdefender	Malwarebytes
Ransomware protection	✅ Included	✅ Included
Detects scam and phishing sites	✅ Included	✅ Included
Wifi security	✅ Included	✅ Included
Anti-tracker technology	✅ Included	✅ Included
VPN	✅ Included	✅ Included
Protection against brute force attacks	✅ Included	✅ Included
Vulnerability assessment	✅ Included	❌ Not included
Password manager	✅ Included	❌ Not included
Parental controls	✅ Included	❌ Not included
Anti-theft	✅ Included	❌ Not included

While Malwarebytes does provide essential attributes to help you protect your device from ransomware, malware, online threats, and even a VPN, its premium plan doesn’t compare to what you’d get with Bitdefender. You can see what features are included in every subscription plan by reading our Malwarebytes review.

The Bitdefender Antivirus Plus is the cheapest plan, which includes only the fundamental features that the developer offers. Yet, it’s still more feature-rich than Malwarebytes Premium, as you also get a password manager, a file shredder, social media protection, a system vulnerability assessment, anti-spam, parental controls, and safe online banking tools. A detailed overview of these perks is available in our extensive Bitdefender review.

Since these perks are considered a must by Bitdefender, listen to this – more advanced plans even offer parental controls, webcam and microphone protection, as well as unlimited VPN usage. Therefore, Bitdefender is definitely a better choice than Malwarebytes in terms of functionality.

Impact on PC performance

To evaluate the impact on system performance, I tested both antivirus apps on a macOS 14.7 virtual machine running on a MacBook Air M2 with 8GB of RAM, 4GB allocated to the VM.

Bitdefender, while more demanding during real-time detection (up to 31% CPU and 72MB RAM), ran a full system scan in 19 minutes and caught all threats. When idle, it stayed light, using just 0.2–1% CPU and 50MB RAM.

Bitdefender allocates its efforts to provide antivirus services that do not deteriorate your computer’s performance when scans are not running. For that, it includes the game, movie, and work modes, which pause unnecessary background activity and stop notifications when you’re watching movies or completing work tasks. It also has a Battery Mode to temporarily tweak system settings to save power on laptops and tablets.

Malwarebytes used very little CPU (about 0.1%–1.5%) and around 63MB of RAM when idle, but its scan is very quick and lightweight, though it failed to detect malware in testing. Malwarebytes also has a Play Mode that disables notifications when you’re playing games or watching movies. Apart from that, no other features would help improve your PC performance.

Apps and interface: which is more user-friendly?

From the compatibility standpoint, both Malwarebytes and Bitdefender support all popular desktop and mobile devices. They also have browser extensions for a seamless experience. Here is the detailed list of supported devices:

	Bitdefender	Malwarebytes
Supported OS:	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS	Windows, Android, macOS, ChromeOS, iOS
Browser extensions:	Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Explorer	Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge
Simultaneous connections:	1, 3, 5, 10 or 15 devices	1, 3 or 5 devices

Yet, one thing worth mentioning is that the installation of Bitdefender takes relatively more time. Its installation files are 400MB, and you should be prepared to wait until you can fully set up the software and get it running.

Even though Malwarebytes installation is quicker, you should remember that Bitdefender offers more features, such as a password manager, vulnerability assessment, parental controls, and a firewall. So, I wouldn’t say that an extended installation process is a drawback since you get beneficial security perks essential for strong security.

Apart from that, both antivirus suites offer an easy-to-use interface on their dedicated apps for desktop and mobile devices. A single mutual downside of Bitdefender and Malwarebytes is that the functionality on iOS and macOS is limited compared to what you get on Windows and Android gadgets.

Desktop apps

Bitdefender has very simplistic and easy-to-navigate interfaces on Windows and macOS apps. They are not cluttered with unnecessary visuals and include 3 different categories to help you find anything you need within a few clicks. Besides the main dashboard, you will find Privacy, Protection, and Notifications tabs on its menu.

The Privacy section includes access to tools that help you secure your browsing experience, such as a VPN, a password manager, and parental controls. If you want to find antivirus-related features, such as real-time protection, malware scanning options, and firewall monitoring, they’re located in the Protection tab.

Malwarebytes also has user-friendly desktop applications for macOS and Windows, which visually do not differ. You can find the real-time protection features, VPN, malware detection history, and scanning options directly on its dashboard.

Additionally, you can easily customize the software according to your needs through the Settings section. For example, there are options to select the light, dark, or default visual theme, choose from over 20 languages, and disable or completely turn off the notifications.

Mobile apps

When it comes to mobile apps, it’s pretty common that Android and iOS versions differ in terms of their functionality. Unfortunately, Bitdefender and Malwarebytes are no exception.

For example, Bitdefender for Android offers the Autopilot feature to scan all new apps for malicious programs, a Malware Scanner, a VPN, an App Lock, and an Anti-Theft technology. On the contrary, its iOS app only has protection against fraudulent websites, a personal data leak checker, and a VPN.

The same situation is with Malwarebytes mobile apps. Its Android version includes all of the useful protection features while the iOS app only has protection against malicious URLs, unwanted caller blocker, scams, and text message filtering.

Customer support

Professional customer support is crucial when purchasing any software, including antivirus suites. It’s great to have multiple options to contact the agents for help whenever needed. Luckily, both Malwarebytes and Bitdefender have many customer support choices, which are listed below.

	Bitdefender	Malwarebytes
24/7 live chat	✅ Available	✅ Available
Email support	✅ Available	✅ Available
FAQ	✅ Available	✅ Available
Guides	✅ Available	✅ Available
Phone support	✅ Available	❌ Not available

However, as evident in the table above, Bitdefender provides more customer support options, ranging from live chat, email, and phone queries to FAQs and how-to guides, which you can manually find on its website.

The most significant difference is that it has phone support, where users can call and ask questions anytime and get answers immediately. It’s one of the most popular options among users, and every top-notch malware protection service provider should have it.

Malwarebytes, on the other hand, offers live chat support with human agents and email ticketing, but it does not provide phone support. Users primarily rely on the chat, knowledge base, FAQs, and guides to find answers, which can take longer to resolve issues compared to direct phone conversations. So, Bitdefender takes the lead in this category.

Video comparison

Tired of reading? Check out our comprehensive video comparison of these two providers:

Final verdict

After thoroughly comparing both antivirus providers, Bitdefender stands out as the clear winner. It offers stronger protection, a wider range of features, and better overall value, making it the more reliable choice for most users in 2026.

Category	Bitdefender	Malwarebytes
Features	✅	❌
Protection	✅	❌
PC performance	✅	✅
Pricing	✅	❌
User interface	✅	✅
Support	✅	❌

Malwarebytes still appeals, especially to those who want a simple, easy setup. It runs light and offers decent core protection against known threats, but its limited functionality and weaker malware detection leave it behind compared to Bitdefender.

Backed by our in-house testing and independent lab results, Bitdefender consistently performs better. With reliable real-time protection, useful extras like a firewall and parental controls, and flexible pricing, it's the more complete security solution this year.

How we tested Malwarebytes vs Bitdefender

To clearly compare Malwarebytes and Bitdefender, we conducted thorough in-house testing with real-world malware samples, supplemented by results from independent labs to ensure a balanced and reliable assessment. Here is what else we looked at:

• Malware detection
• Real-time protection effectiveness
• Pricing and overall value
• System performance
• False positive rates
• Security features and extra tools
• Cross-platform compatibility
• Quality of customer support

We carefully test each antivirus to ensure our results are accurate and trustworthy. For more details on our evaluation methods, see our complete testing methodology.

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