Bitdefender GravityZone vs. Malwarebytes vs. McAfee Total Protection (discontinued)

Bitdefender had been a great replacement for our previous product - it was painless to make the switch with very few issues. We tested in a VM lab a few different offerings, but Bitdefender was the one that covered everything we required at the time and allowed us to be able to expand the offering simply.

Incentivized

Now, I gave it that rating because it's a handy tool for diagnosing issues. Quarantining them, and most of the time, it does fix the problem. Though with rootkits, it's been hit or miss, and sometimes perfectly valid software gets flagged erroneously. However, once you've run it, it tends to run continuously, consuming far too many resources and being a real pain to uninstall, sometimes even causing issues.

Incentivized

I think McAfee is great to have whether it's for work or for personal use. While it has some drawbacks, I like the peace of mind of feeling safe when I'm browsing the web/email, especially when my computer has sensitive/confidential information, knowing that McAfee will immediately detect any threats. The UI is extremely easy to navigate, which makes it easy for users regardless of how tech-savvy they are.

Incentivized

• Once installed, Bitdefender [GravityZone] runs silently in the background with little to no need for user interaction.
• The cloud-based console provides for easy computer management and deployment.
• Bitdefender [GravityZone] is extremely flexible, with a policy-based system wherein different profiles can be created (i.e. a policy to deactivate the firewall, a policy to allow for admin control on a machine, etc.) and pushed out to individual computers.
• Computers can be grouped into different categories, with different policies automatically deployed to each category.
• Bitdefender [GravityZone] is relatively resource-light and runs well even on lower-end computers.

Incentivized

• Low system resources, it does not slow down the whole computer when scanning or when real-time protection is enabled
• Quick and frequent updates, usually people hate updating, but for malware/viruses, you want to be updated as possible. It takes less than 15 seconds and usually does it automatically. They usually send a few updates a day as they find more.
• Protection features actually work when visiting known bad websites. The page will be blocked and nothing will be downloaded. It may not be what the user wants, but it's what the user needs (as the user can't know every bad website)

Incentivized

• Excellent protection of all internet connected assets on our VPN.
• Constant updates of needed security patches that ensure our network and systems are protected from current and emerging/potential threats.
• Prompt and reliable customer service that provides needed answers and expertise in a crisis.
• Strategic whitepapers on emerging cyber threats and McAfee solutions to resolve them before they become a problem for my team or our clients.

Incentivized

• Who do I ask? This is my chief complaint is once the initial licenses were purchased through Bit Defender, there was no one to contact that could help navigate some of the initial questions I had with regard to specific policies to implement for our file server. The parent web site is, well, hard to navigate when one is trying to "learn" the system.
• The second issue is in increasing the licenses. It took several days for the parent company (by contact and phone) to inform me that they could not increase the licenses and I would have to go through a private vendor. There was no intent to connect me to a vendor or provide a vendor list until I asked specifically. YET I continue to get email from the parent company reminding me to pay an annual fee for the licenses purchase through the private vendor. The parent company can see the number of licenses yet did not sell them to me.
• Gravity Zone Dashboard, while excellent for those who have experience, is not particularly intuitive for those who have never used it. There does not seem to be a lot of documentation for those responsible for implementation.

Incentivized

• One of the main things that malwarebytes is missing as a company, is phone support for its clients. All support questions has to go thru email only. This is not acceptable for issues that needs to be resolved quickly.
• There is an issue when installing the client on a machine, it has a set amount of time where the software can register with the management server. The issue with this is, with machines that are over a wide area network, slow connection speeds can cause the software not to register. When that happens, it never re attempts to register in the future.

Incentivized

• Price - Extremely high price tag for many of the solutions.

Incentivized

It works. I rely heavily on my vendors to provide a product that works, is easy to implement, and that they support. As well as be a decent value for the money

Incentivized

The last time we renewed Malwarebytes, we renewed for a 3 year renewal. That should describe the confidence we have in the product. Plus the cost savings impact year after year.

Incentivized

McAfee has consistently delivered on its stated goals of providing comprehensive protection for our networks and systems. Due to their excellent work and follow through I have been, and will continue to be a loyal customer.

Incentivized

On the whole I find the product very easy to use but some features need me to do some digging about in the console menus to find everything. I think if the interface used a bit less jargon and more clear plain language, it would be easier to find how to do things within the console.

Incentivized

Usability-wise, it's pretty good, and it gets the job done. But once that's finished, the nags, the pop-ups, and the fact that it slows older systems down recklessly really cost it rating points. It becomes a clutter, and one of the first things we check when we receive reports that a PC is slow is whether it's running malware. Once we uninstall it, the PC is usually easily 40-50% faster. That's too much in the way of resources for something that wants to always run in the background.

Incentivized

Yes its very available. The software continues to protect you even if you are offline. It constantly runs in the background and will check for updates again once back online.

Incentivized

The console is quite fast and responsive, and once you start to get used to it, it is easy to use and you can see the main dashboard status at a glance. You can then dig deeper into the individual Companies / Endpoint clients and check the status of each. The software itself is not heavy on system resources in each PC.

Incentivized

Support is an area Bitdefender has always struggled with. While their products work great, the GravityZone dashboard is very technical in nature. If you aren't IT inclined, it could be difficult to setup. While most times support is helpful, we tend to work with them over email because of their very thick accent, they are hard to understand over the phone.

Incentivized

The Malwarebytes customer support team is awesome! They really go above and beyond to help you with whatever issue you may experience. It is not that we need to contact their support team often, but the few times we did, we would speak to someone who knew what they were talking about and able to solve our problem. It is a comfort knowing that aside from a great product, you are getting a reliable support structure.

Incentivized

The trainer went through everything in the console an showed me what each setting did. If I had any questions on how to do something, he showed me where to go and how to do it. The trainer was very helpful and knowledgeable, and also professional and patient. Highly recommended.

Incentivized

The trainer went through everything in the console an showed me what each setting did. If I had any questions on how to do something, he showed me where to go and how to do it. The trainer was very helpful and knowledgeable, and also professional and patient. Highly recommended.

Incentivized

We were a Kaspersky shop for years. Kaspersky was a resource hog and it didn't even block half of what was thrown at it. We had more outbreaks and more end-user complaints in a year of Kaspersky then we have had in almost three years of Bitdefender.

Incentivized

Avast and Norton's products were part of the testing for us but the cost was very high for them and the products were not light on the machine. They took up a lot of memory and slowed the computers down. Malwarebytes although may lack some feature, is a very light software.

Incentivized

I haven't used Norton for a while, but when I did use it I felt that it slowed down my computer and had constant pop-ups, which were both equally frustrating and annoying. It was also very difficult to remove from my computer. Malwarebytes is a great, straightforward program I've used for virus scanning. It's pretty bare bones but I think if you just want something to scan for viruses it gets the job done quickly and reliably. In my opinion McAfee offers similar benefits as Norton but its more intuitive and doesn't impact system performance.

Incentivized

I give it this rating because one you have the console running, you can add or remove whole companies, add computer endpoints (and remove them), and easily create and deploy endpoint packages to the machines that need the software. Once installed, the software starts to report back to the Bitdefender servers and the number of active licences is then seen and billed.

Incentivized

• The ROI for Bitdefender is hard to quantify except that it requires very little maintenance time from our staff.
• We've spent no time troubleshooting user complaints or issues from users, so it has been a big time-saver over our previously used anti-malware software.
• Bitdefender's customer service is usually pretty good and also very responsive, so I don't have to wait by the phone or to keep checking email to resolve a problem--although our issues have been mostly informational and not a problem with functionality.

Incentivized

• Positive Impact: Have not had to remediate malware/virus infections since installed.
• Positive impact: As far as browsing goes, we can boldly go where no man has gone before. No, really, I am confident when I am clicking on search engine results that if something get past my trained eye, Malwarebytes will pick of the slack.

Incentivized

• Blocks unsafe websites
• Virus detection and removal
• Protects sensitive data

Incentivized