Updated on: May 6, 2024
Short on Time? Here’s the Final Verdict:
- 🥇 NordVPN — Winner in Extra Features, Speeds, Streaming, and Gaming. It has a lot of useful additional features, provides fast for all online activities on all servers, and comes with great streaming and gaming support.
NordVPN is a very popular VPN, and Bitdefender Premium VPN is a pretty solid choice, too. Each provider has great security and privacy, good speeds, and user-friendly apps.
Both come with industry-standard security features such as 256-bit AES encryption, a kill switch, and a no-logs policy, as well as extra features like:
- Full leak protection.
- Perfect forward secrecy.
- Split-tunneling.
- Ad and tracker blocker.
- Obfuscation.
- Tor (The Onion Router) support.
But they’re different in a lot of ways. NordVPN has really fast speeds on both nearby and more distant servers, has a lot of really well-integrated extra features for both convenience and security, provides a great gaming experience, and comes with great streaming support for all popular streaming services. Bitdefender Premium VPN, on the other hand, is a little slower on distant servers, doesn’t have a lot of extra features, works with fewer streaming platforms than NordVPN, and isn’t as good for gaming as NordVPN.
I tested and compared NordVPN and Bitdefender Premium VPN in many metrics, including security, extra features, privacy, server network, speeds, streaming and torrenting support, gaming, bypassing censorship, user-friendliness, pricing, and customer support. NordVPN outperformed Bitdefender Premium VPN in most of my tests, but I still think you should read the whole comparison to find out which one is better for you.
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NordVPN vs. Bitdefender Premium VPN — Quick Overview
Security — Both VPNs Are Very Secure
Both NordVPN and Bitdefender Premium VPN offer industry-standard features:
- 256-bit AES encryption. Military-grade encryption that scrambles your traffic and makes it unreadable.
- A no-logs policy. Neither VPN collects information about your web activities, like the sites you visit or the files you download, and they don’t log your IP address either. But only NordVPN has had its no-logs policy audited and confirmed by an independent reviewer.
- Kill switch. Automatically disconnects you from the internet when your VPN connection drops to prevent your IP address from leaking.
NordVPN also offers an app-level kill switch, which shuts down selected apps if the VPN connection drops. I’ve tested this feature with 5+ P2P clients and gaming apps, and it accurately closed down each app when disconnected from the VPN.
Both VPNs use perfect forward secrecy, a feature that changes the encryption key for each VPN connection, so hackers can’t compromise past or future encryption keys to spy on your traffic. But only NordVPN uses RAM-only servers, which wipe all data upon reboot.
I like that each VPN offers full leak protection, too, but only NordVPN protects you against WebRTC, DNS, and IPv6 leaks on all platforms. Bitdefender has DNS leak protection on all apps, but you only get WebRTC and IPv6 leak protection on Windows.
Both VPNs use really secure and fast protocols. NordVPN uses OpenVPN, which is really secure, and its own proprietary NordLynx protocol that’s based on WireGuard, which is super secure and fast. On the other hand, Bitdefender Premium VPN uses the Hydra protocol, which is one of the fastest and most secure protocols on the market.
Lastly, NordVPN also offers multi-factor authentication (MFA), while Bitdefender doesn’t. MFA adds an extra layer of protection by requiring more than just a username and password to access an account. This could be a fingerprint, a mobile device, or a code sent via email.
Winner (Security): It’s a tie
Both NordVPN and Bitdefender Premium VPN are very secure VPNs. They come with secure protocols, industry-standard, and advanced security features, including military-grade encryption, perfect forward secrecy, and full leak protection. NordVPN also has RAM-only servers and multi-factor authentication.
Extra Features — NordVPN Has More & Better Extras
Bitdefender Premium VPN has convenient extra features, but it’s no match for NordVPN. NordVPN has a lot more additional features that are better integrated.
Both NordVPN and Bitdefender Premium VPN have split-tunneling. This feature allows you to select which apps use the VPN and which apps use your regular traffic, but Bitdefender’s split-tunneling only lets you exclude apps and IP addresses from the VPN.
They also offer obfuscation. Obfuscation makes your VPN traffic look like regular HTTPS traffic, which is useful if you’re in a country that restricts VPN usage or if you want to hide the fact you’re using a VPN.
Both VPNs have Tor support, but I prefer NordVPN. Having Tor support means you browse on the Tor browser while connected to the VPN, for an extra layer of privacy. That said, NordVPN also has dedicated Onion Over VPN servers, which allow you to browse the dark web in regular browsers like Chrome.
I like that both VPNs have an ad and tracker blocker, but only NordVPN protects you against malicious sites on the web. What’s more, NordVPN’s ad blocker also protects against malware-infected downloads. That said, I was impressed to find out that Bitdefender lets you whitelist sites that can show you ads and use trackers, which is useful in case where the site malfunctions because it can’t use trackers.
But only NordVPN has a smart DNS feature so you can use the VPN on devices that don’t natively support VPNs, like certain smart TVs, or your PlayStation and Xbox gaming console.
NordVPN also has these features that Bitdefender Premium VPN doesn’t:
- Double VPN. Routes your traffic through 2 different VPN servers instead of 1 for additional security.
- Dark Web Monitor. Alerts you if your personal information appears on the dark web.
- Tapjacking Protection. Alerts you if a mobile app is using a screen overlay to trick you into revealing information that can compromise your data.
- Meshnet. Lets you connect up to 60 devices and share files with each other, all while protected by the VPN.
- SOCKS5 proxy support. Changes your IP address but doesn’t encrypt your traffic, which allows for faster P2P speeds.
- Dedicated IPs. A unique IP address that only you use, which helps you avoid CAPTCHAs and access sites that ban VPN traffic, like bank sites.
And Bitdefender Premium VPN comes with unique features, such as:
- App Traffic Optimizer. Lets you choose up to 3 apps that the VPN should prioritize in terms of bandwidth, so if you open more apps on your device, these will still perform best.
- Public Wi-Fi Protection. Automatically connects you to the VPN when you connect to an unsecured public Wi-Fi network. I tested this feature at a local coffee shop, and it worked as advertised.
- Apps and domains. Automatically connects you to a server of your choice for certain apps and websites, like Netflix.
- Peer-to-peer apps. Connects you to a VPN server whenever it detects a torrenting app running on your device.
- Website categories. Auto-connects you to a preferred server location when you visit websites that host certain content categories, including Financial, Online Payments, Health, File sharing, Online Dating, and Adult Content.
Winner (Extra Features): NordVPN
Although Bitdefender offers really useful extra features, NordVPN has a lot more. Both VPNs have split-tunneling, obfuscation, Tor support, and ad and tracker blocker, but NordVPN also comes with a malicious site blocker, double VPN connections, Dark Web Monitor, Meshnet, and a feature that lets you surf dark web sites in regular browsers.
Privacy — Both Offer Great Privacy
NordVPN and Bitdefender Premium VPN protect your privacy very well. Each has a strict no-logs policy, so neither VPN keeps records of any of your online activities or your IP address.
However, only NordVPN’s no-logs policy has been independently audited and confirmed through multiple independent audits. I’d like to see Bitdefender Premium VPN’s policy have its no-logs policy audited as well, as it adds an extra level of transparency.
NordVPN has undergone other security audits, too — it has had its proprietary NordLynx protocol audited, as well as its iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS apps. Plus, its Linux app is open-source, meaning anyone can inspect the code for security issues.
It’s great that both VPNs are headquartered outside of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliances, which is a collective of countries that share intelligence data with each other. NordVPN is based in Panama and Bitdefender Premium VPN is based in Romania.
Finally, only NordVPN accepts cryptocurrency payments, which provide much better privacy than standard payment methods like credit cards and PayPal.
Winner (Privacy): It’s a tie
You get top-notch privacy with both NordVPN and Bitdefender Premium VPN. They each have a no-logs policy and are headquartered outside of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliances. NordVPN has also had its protocol and its mobile and desktop apps audited as well.
Servers — Both VPNs Have Good Server Networks
Both providers come with great server networks — NordVPN has 6,266 servers across111 countries, while Bitdefender Premium VPN has 4,000+ servers in 50+ countries. So it’s easy to use a nearby server and avoid overcrowded servers with both VPNs.
And both VPNs have great P2P support — NordVPN has 4,500+ P2P servers in 45+ countries, while Bitdefender Premium VPN allows torrenting on all of its servers. Also, both VPNs allow streaming, obfuscation, and Tor traffic on their servers. But only NordVPN has Onion Over VPN servers and double VPN servers.
NordVPN also offers dedicated IP addresses, while Bitdefender Premium VPN doesn’t. Dedicated IP addresses are available for a small extra cost, and you can choose an IP from 10+ countries.
Winner (Servers): It’s a tie
I couldn’t pick a winner since both VPNs have large server networks. What’s more, they both allow torrenting on a large number of servers and support streaming, obfuscation, and Tor traffic on their servers. However, NordVPN also has Onion Over VPN servers, double VPN servers, and much more
Speeds — NordVPN Is Faster
NordVPN provides faster speeds than Bitdefender Premium VPN. While Bitdefender Premium VPN also offers good speeds, it was not able to match the performance of NordVPN.
NordVPN’s speeds were impressive on all servers. On nearby servers, websites, HD and 4K videos loaded instantly without buffering, and it took just 11–12 minutes to torrent a 20 GB file. On distant servers, websites and HD videos loaded almost immediately, and even 4K videos loaded pretty fast, in just 1–2 seconds. Also, I downloaded the same 20 GB file in around 19–22 minutes.
Bitdefender Premium VPN has fast speeds on local servers. Websites loaded instantly, HD videos on YouTube started right away without buffering, and I downloaded a 20 GB file in about 25 minutes. When connected to distant servers, it took 1–2 seconds for websites and HD videos to load, and about 4–5 seconds for 4K videos to load, which is still pretty fast, but not as fast as NordVPN. Torrenting a 20 GB file on local servers took around 15 minutes and around 30 minutes when connected to a distant server.
Winner (Speeds): NordVPN
NordVPN and Bitdefender Premium VPN offer good speeds, NordVPN is simply faster, especially on distant servers. It provided me with fast browsing, streaming, and torrenting speeds on nearby servers, and I only experienced minor slowdowns on distant servers. Bitdefender Premium VPN’s speeds were also impressive on both local and distant servers, but still slower than NordVPN.
Streaming — NordVPN Is the Better Option
If you stream a lot, NordVPN is the better choice — it works with more streaming services and more Netflix libraries.
Both VPNs work with Netflix, but only NordVPN claims to work with 10+ content libraries. Bitdefender Premium VPN is only a good choice for Netflix if you’re in the US — that’s the only Netflix library it works with. Both providers also work with other top streaming sites, including Amazon Prime, Max, Disney+, and BBC iPlayer (confirmed by my UK colleague).
But NordVPN is the only one that has a smart DNS feature. The smart DNS feature means you can use the VPN even on devices that don’t have native VPN support, like your PlayStation or Xbox, and even some smart TVs. And it also comes with SmartPlay, which mixes smart DNS and VPN tech to provide additional encryption.
Winner (Streaming): NordVPN
NordVPN is a bit better for streaming. Although both VPNs work with many popular streaming platforms, including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and BBC iPlayer, NordVPN works with more Netflix libraries and has a smart DNS feature alongside SmartPlay.
Torrenting — Both VPNs Have Great P2P Support
Both NordVPN and Bitdefender Premium VPN are great for torrenting. NordVPN allows P2P traffic on 4,500+ servers in 45+ countries, while Bitdefender supports torrenting on all of its 4,000+ servers in 50+ countries.
They both work with popular torrent clients like Vuze and qBittorrent. However, only NordVPN comes with SOCKS5 servers, which change your IP address but don’t provide encryption, so you get significantly faster P2P speeds.
Each VPN includes top-notch privacy tools for torrenting, such as a kill switch, a no-logs policy, an ad blocker to stop annoying ads from loading on torrenting sites, and leak protection. I ran 10+ leak tests with both, and I never experienced any leaks. NordVPN also prevents you from accessing malicious P2P sites and protects you from malware-infected torrent files.
Winner (Torrenting): It’s a tie
I recommend both VPNs for torrenting. They allow P2P traffic on a large number of servers in a lot of countries and have the necessary security features to ensure safe P2P file sharing. NordVPN also has SOCKS5 servers in case you need to prioritize speed over security, but both VPNs protect you against ads on torrenting sites and malicious P2P websites.
Gaming — NordVPN Is the Better Choice
I had a better gaming experience with NordVPN than with Bitdefender Premium VPN. Although they are both pretty fast, my speeds with NordVPN were much faster on both nearby and distant servers, and I rarely experience any lag when playing Dota 2. When I did, it didn’t really affect my game. Bitdefender was slower on both nearby and distant servers, but I had low ping on nearby servers and noticeable ping on distant servers. I noticed more frequent lag, and it did affect my game.
Both protect you against DDoS attacks, but neither has anti-DDoS protection on their servers. This means a sore loser won’t be able to DDoS your IP address, but they can still do that to your VPN’s IP address and force you to disconnect from it.
I think NordVPN’s Meshnet is really great for gaming. It allows you to link up to 60 devices and protect all of your friend’s devices when you host LAN parties.
NordVPN is the only one of the two that has router support. This means you can protect all of your devices under 1 connection, including your gaming console that doesn’t support VPNs.
Winner (Gaming): NordVPN
I prefer NordVPN over Bitdefender for gaming — it’s overall faster and maintained good ping on all servers in my tests. What’s more, only NordVPN has Meshnet, which is good for securely hosting virtual LAN parties, and router support, so you can safely game on your PlayStation or Xbox console.
Bypassing Censorship — Neither VPN Is Good in Restrictive Countries
Although they both offer obfuscation, I can’t recommend either for using in restrictive countries, such as China, Russia, Iran, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia. Both of the VPN’s live chat reps have confirmed to me that they can’t guarantee the VPNs would work in countries that ban or restrict VPN usage.
If you really need a VPN for restrictive countries, I suggest checking out ExpressVPN. It works in restrictive countries with no issues.
Winner (Bypassing Censorship): None
Neither NordVPN nor Bitdefender Premium VPN are ideal choices in restrictive countries. If you’re located in or intend to visit a restrictive country, consider ExpressVPN — it consistently works in regions like China and Iran.
Apps & Ease of Use — Both VPNs Are User-Friendly
NordVPN and Bitdefender have apps for all major platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. NordVPN also has apps for Linux, Android TV, Fire TV, and Chromebook, and supports manual setups on routers.
Each VPN’s mobile apps are user-friendly — they’re really easy to navigate and have a quick-connect feature that connects you to the fastest server for your location. The biggest difference I noticed is that NordVPN’s Android and iOS apps are more feature-rich.
I’m happy with their desktop apps, too. All settings in each VPN’s desktop apps come with brief explanations, making it super easy to figure out what each feature does, and all it takes is a couple of clicks to get connected to any server location they offer. Both VPN’s Windows and macOS apps are feature-rich.
Winner (Apps & Ease of Use): It’s a tie
Both NordVPN and Bitdefender Premium VPN have easy-to-use apps for all major OSs, though NordVPN also has apps for Chromebook, smart TVs, and Linux, and comes with router support. Their mobile apps are simple to navigate and their desktop apps come with plenty of useful features.
Plans & Pricing — Both Are Equally Good
NordVPN and Bitdefender offer great plans — Bitdefender is cheaper, but NordVPN offers an overall better value. Bitdefender also allows 10 simultaneous connections, which is more than NordVPN’s 10-connection limit, but they’re both within the industry-standard range of 5–10 simultaneous connections.
NordVPN has 4 tier-based plans, called Standard, Plus, Complete, and Ultimate, which you can get for 1 month, 1 year, or 2 years. If you just want a great VPN product, I recommend the Standard subscription, which provides access to all VPN features and costs $3.09 / month. The Plus subscription adds NordVPN’s password manager, NordPass. The Complete subscription adds its cloud encryption service, called NordLocker. And the Ultimate subscription adds a personal data removal tool.
Bitdefender Premium VPN has a 1-month plan and a 1-year plan, which offers the best value — it starts at just $2.92 / month. Both plans include all the VPN features that Bitdefender offers.
With Bitdefender, you also get a free plan, but only as part of some of its antivirus packages, including Antivirus Plus, Internet Security, and Total Security. The free plan is very limited — you can only use it on 1 device, you get 500 MB of bandwidth a day, and access to one random server location.
They both accept multiple methods of payment, but NordVPN is the only one of the two that you can pay for with cryptocurrencies, which is much more private. Other options include credit cards, PayPay, Google Pay, and Amazon Pay. Like NordVPN, Bitdefender Premium VPN accepts credit cards and PayPal, but it also accepts wire transfers.
Each VPN backs all plans with a 30-day money-back guarantee, and Bitdefender also offers a 30-day free trial that includes all the premium features. I tested their refund policies and had no problem canceling and getting my money back with either VPN.
Winner (Plans & Pricing): It’s a Tie
I can’t pick a winner here — NordVPN is a really good VPN that offers a lot of value, but Bitdefender is cheaper and allows a bit more simultaneous connections. Apart from that, both VPNs have affordable plans, back their plans with a 30-day money-back guarantee, and accept multiple methods of payment. However, only NordVPN accepts cryptocurrencies.
Customer Support — Both Offer Great Support
Both NordVPN and Bitdefender Premium VPN have great customer support. Their support agents are quick to respond, knowledgeable, and helpful.
I like that each VPN has live chat and email support. The reps I spoke to were friendly and answered all of my questions. Email support took about a day to get back to me, and all of their answers were detailed, which I found helpful. However, I prefer NordVPN’s live chat a bit better because I didn’t have to go through an online form to get connected to them.
But Bitdefender Premium VPN is the only one that has phone support, which not a lot of VPNs offer (IPVanish is the only other good VPN that has phone support).
Having said that, I prefer NordVPN’s support articles. Despite both providers offering support libraries, NordVPN offers a significantly larger number of troubleshooting articles, as well as video tutorials and screenshot guides.
Winner (Customer Support): It’s a tie
Both VPNs offer excellent customer support, including live chat and email support, and great support libraries. NordVPN’s live chat is a bit easier to get to, and it has a more comprehensive support library, but only Bitdefender Premium VPN has phone support.
NordVPN vs. Bitdefender Premium VPN: Overall Winner
NordVPN has strong security and privacy, fast speeds on all servers, and a large server network of 6,266 servers in 111 countries. It works with top streaming services, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, supports torrenting on 4,500+ servers in 45+ countries, and comes with a lot of additional features like a malware blocker and smart DNS.
Bitdefender Premium VPN also has a good server network of 4,000+ servers in 50+ countries, great speeds on nearby servers, good streaming and torrenting support across all of its servers, solid security and privacy, easy-to-use apps for major OSs, and very affordable plans.
Although they’re both pretty good, I prefer NordVPN. It has a lot of useful extra features, is faster on both nearby and distant servers, and provides better streaming support, additional features for torrenting, and great gaming support.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bitdefender VPN better than NordVPN?
No. In my tests, NordVPN outperformed Bitdefender Premium VPN in a lot of aspects. NordVPN is faster than Bitdefender on both nearby and distant servers, it provides better streaming and gaming support, and it has a lot more useful extra features, like a malware blocker, Meshnet, and Dark Web Monitor.
Do NordVPN and Bitdefender Premium VPN support torrenting?
Both NordVPN and Bitdefender Premium VPN support torrenting. Bitdefender allows P2P traffic on all 4,000+ servers in 50+ countries, while NordVPN supports P2P file sharing on 4,500+ servers in 45+ countries. This makes them both a great option for torrenting, as you can easily find nearby servers for the best possible speeds no matter where you are in the world.
Do NordVPN and Bitdefender Premium VPN work with Netflix?
Yes, both NordVPN and Bitdefender Premium VPN work with Netflix. However, NordVPN works with more libraries than Bitdefender — its support reps confirmed that it works with 10+ Netflix libraries, while Bitdefender only works with the US library.
Is NordVPN more secure than Bitdefender Premium VPN?
Not really. Both NordVPN and Bitdefender Premium VPN provide excellent security, including industry-standard security features such as a no-logs policy, a kill switch, and 256-bit AES encryption. They also offer full leak protection, use perfect forward secrecy and secure protocols, and come with an ad and tracker blocker.