Microsoft Defender vs Bitdefender Total Security
Bitdefender Total Security: Both protect personal devices against malware, the device protection Microsoft Defender offers for families.
Microsoft Defender
Always-on protection for you and your family's data and devices
As of 13 November 2026, Microsoft Defender starts at $12/month. Microsoft's antivirus and threat protection, bundled free into Windows and sold as paid add-ons for individuals and businesses. Softwr lists it under Cybersecurity.
Overview
What Microsoft Defender does
Microsoft's antivirus and threat protection, bundled free into Windows and sold as paid add-ons for individuals and businesses.
What people use it for
- Endpoint security and threat protection
- Identity and access security
- Email threat protection
- SaaS application security monitoring
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Microsoft Defender.
- Defender Suite requires existing Microsoft 365 E3 or equivalent base licensing
- Some Defender products use pay-as-you-go pricing with variable costs
- Prices vary based on Microsoft agreements, requiring sales contact for custom quotes
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Microsoft Defender
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
Microsoft Defender vs Norton 360
Norton 360: Both protect devices and personal data with antivirus for households, the protection Microsoft Defender provides.
Pricing
What Microsoft Defender costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Microsoft Defender Suite
$12 /mo
- Endpoint protection
- Identity threat detection
- Email security
- SaaS application monitoring
- Requires Microsoft 365 E3 or equivalent base licensing
Microsoft 365 E5 with Defender
$60 /mo
- Includes Defender Suite
- Microsoft Teams included
- Comprehensive security and compliance
- Advanced analytics
- AI capabilities
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management Add-on
$2 /mo
- Vulnerability scanning and management
- One-month free trial available
- Annual commitment required
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
How much does Microsoft Defender Suite cost?
Microsoft Defender Suite costs $12/user/month (paid yearly), but requires existing Microsoft 365 E3 or equivalent base licensing. It includes endpoint protection, identity threat detection, email security, and SaaS application monitoring.
SourceWhat add-ons are available for Microsoft Defender?
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management Add-on costs $2/user/month with annual commitment and includes a one-month free trial. Additional pay-as-you-go products include External Attack Surface Management, Cloud Security Posture Management, and Sentinel.
SourceIs Defender included in Microsoft 365 E5?
Yes, Microsoft Defender Suite is included in Microsoft 365 E5 at $60/user/month (paid yearly with Teams). Prices may vary based on Microsoft agreements, requiring contact with Sales for customized quotes.
SourceKeep looking
Where to go from Microsoft Defender
- Microsoft Defender alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Microsoft Defender pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Microsoft Defender badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Cybersecurity softwareThe full category
- Best Cybersecurity softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Cybersecurity software for
Compare Microsoft Defender with
- Bitdefender Total Security
- Norton 360
- McAfee Total Protection
- Proofpoint
- CrowdStrike Falcon
- Avast One
- ESET NOD32 Antivirus
- Cybereason Defense Platform
- Fortinet FortiGate
- Jamf Pro
- Semperis
- Zscaler Internet Access
- 1Password
- Okta
- OneTrust
- Snyk
- HashiCorp Vault
- Bitdefender VPN
Other Cybersecurity software
- From $19.99/yr10 researched notes
- From $29.99/yr10 researched notes
Email security and data protection suite from a private company owned by Thoma Bravo, licensed per user with modules sold separately.
From $6/mo10 researched notesStop breaches with AI-native cybersecurity
Free, then $7.99/device/month8 researched notesNext-generation firewall with AI-powered threat protection
From $500/yr6 researched notesApple-only device management for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, licensed per device by a public US vendor.
Pricing on request10 researched notesIdentity threat detection and Active Directory forest recovery for AD, Entra ID and Okta, from a privately held US vendor.
Pricing on request10 researched notesThe identity platform for builders
Free, then $6/user/month (annual minimum $1,500)11 researched notesConsumer VPN sold by Bitdefender that runs on network infrastructure licensed from a third party rather than its own.
12 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Microsoft Defender, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Microsoft Defender
Microsoft Defender alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Microsoft Defender pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Microsoft Defender
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Microsoft Defender badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
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