Surfshark vs. Bitdefender VPN: Rivals in More Markets Than One

Surfshark and Bitdefender are strong competitors in the antivirus and personal digital security space. Both have products included in our list of the best antivirus software. They also offer a number of other digital tools that can help users take their digital safety and security to the next level.

In this article we’re going to be taking a look at Surfshark and Bitdefender’s respective virtual private networks. We’ve personally worked with both of these, and obviously, we have a lot to say about both. Surfshark is one of our favorite VPNs of all time, while the Bitdefender Premium VPN is a very popular add-on that supplements an already powerful antivirus software well. It’s going to be interesting to see how these two products look head to head.

Buying Surfshark vs. Buying Bitdefender VPN

Buying a VPN subscription is usually straightforward. Just choose the subscription length you like, pay for the service, and then install and set up the VPN app. However, since Surfshark and Bitdefender offer other digital security tools, the buying process might look a little different depending on what you’re looking for.

Here’s Surfshark’s breakdown:

And here’s Bitdefender:

Right off the bat, we can see that Surfshark is more expensive than Bitdefender. That’s not to say that Surfshark is overpriced. In fact, its subscription options fall well within the average cost of VPNs. It’s just that Bitdefender is more affordable.

If you’re looking for a VPN plus antivirus software, it makes more sense to bundle. Surfshark offers VPN and antivirus bundles for as low as $3.49 per month if you choose a two-year subscription or $17.95 if you choose to pay month-to-month. On the other hand, the Bitdefender Premium Security bundle includes the antivirus software trusted by brands like Microsoft and Netgear,1 access to the VPN, and a password manager. It costs $49.99 for the first year, which is about $4.17 per month. You can read more about this bundle in our Bitdefender antivirus review.

It’s pretty clear that the Bitdefender VPN is the more affordable choice, but how does it fare against Surfshark in terms of features?

Server Comparison

One of the first things we look at when comparing VPNs is their server networks. A VPN with a large server network and has servers in more locations is the most ideal. For example, NordVPN, our highest-rated VPN, has over 5,000 servers in more than 60 countries.

Surfshark and Bitdefender’s server networks aren’t too far off from NordVPN. Surfshark has over 3,200 servers in 100 countries, while Bitdefender has over 4,000 servers in 50 countries. Of course, you’re not going to connect to all those servers. Those numbers simply illustrate how big each VPN’s server network is.

Related: Bitdefender vs NordVPN

Think of it like an interstate highway where the number of lanes represent the number of servers, and the exits represent the server locations. More lanes means smoother and faster flow of traffic, while more exits means more chances that you’d be able to get off in the exact city you need to be. In VPNs, having more servers usually translates to faster connections, while having more locations means that you’re more likely to find a server for your specific needs, like streaming a certain country’s Netflix library.

In terms of server size, Surfshark and Bitdefender are evenly matched. Bitdefender has more servers, but Surfshark offers more locations.

Features and Technology

As we go into more detail, you’ll start to see the real difference between Surfshark and Bitdefender’s VPNs. This becomes quite apparent if we examine their features and technology.

By all means, Bitdefender is not a bad VPN. It can protect your online privacy using state-of-the-art 256-bit AES encryption. It also comes equipped with standard privacy features like a kill switch and split tunneling, and when it comes to preventing IP address leakage, it passed all our tests. However, that’s about it for Bitdefender.

Remember that the VPN is mostly advertised as an add-on to the antivirus software. The company probably doesn’t spend as much time developing the VPN as it does developing its antivirus, and that’s understandable.

Conversely, Surfshark’s VPN is one of the most feature-rich VPNs out there. It comes with all standard VPN features. It has a kill switch, split tunneling, and multi-hop. Surfshark, however, goes a step further by offering a host of useful extra features, such as:

• Dynamic MultiHop: Connects you to two VPN servers for extra privacy; unlike most multihop VPNs, Surfshark lets you choose the two servers you’ll connect to
• Camouflage Mode: Also known as obfuscation2; camouflages your VPN traffic so anyone monitoring your network doesn’t even know you’re using a VPN
• CleanWeb: Blocks ads, trackers, malware, and phishing attempts from websites you visit
• NoBorders Mode: Connects you to servers only in privacy-friendly countries and territories (such as Romania, British Virgin Islands, etc.)
• RAM-only servers: All servers run on RAM, not a hard drive like most VPN servers do; RAM-only servers are reset periodically and don’t retain any usage-related data

So you see, Surfshark is more than just a VPN. It’s far ahead of the competition, particularly Bitdefender, in terms of technology and features. Again, though, Bitdefender is an antivirus-first brand with a VPN, whereas Surfshark is the exact opposite, so it makes sense that Surfshark is more well developed. We’d probably say the same about Bitdefender if this were an antivirus comparison.

Performance and Speed

Extra features matter only if you have a need for them. If you want to genuinely compare VPNs, testing their performance is an objective way to do so.

Using a VPN will naturally slow down your internet connection simply because it adds extra stops for your online traffic. That’s why we measure VPN performance based on how much it affects our internet connection. More specifically, we determine how much it slows down our download and upload speeds as well as increases our network’s latency.

Our baseline reading when not connected to a VPN is 169 Mbps for downloads and 183 Mbps uploads, with a 6 ms network latency. Here’s how Surfshark and Bitdefender affected those numbers.

With Surfshark, we noticed only a 30 percent drop in download speed and a 10 percent drop in upload speed. The latency, however, shot up to 164 ms. Keep in mind that we connected to a server in Australia, so if you’re using a VPN for gaming, be sure to choose a server closer to your location to lower that latency.

With Bitdefender, there was slightly less drop-off in terms of upload speed; it was only 26 percent. The upload speed decrease was also acceptable at just 19 percent. Lastly, the latency was excellent. We recorded a reading of 71 ms, which is good enough for casual online gaming.

Overall, there wasn’t a huge difference between Surfshark’s and Bitdefender’s speed. Surfshark was slightly faster, but if your online use requires low latency (e.g., gaming, P2P downloads, torrenting), Bitdefender is more reliable.

Privacy

Last, but definitely not least, let’s talk about privacy. VPNs are made to protect your privacy, but the way VPNs work necessitates your online traffic to go to a VPN server. That means while others won’t be able to see what you’re doing online thanks to the VPN’s protection, the VPN itself will have access to your unencrypted online data. That’s why you should use only a VPN you can trust.

Surfshark is a trustworthy VPN. It is a truly “no-logs” VPN, and whatever you do online will remain within the walls of the server you’re connected to. Surfshark will not record your IP address, the websites you visit, what you download, and so on.

On the other hand, Bitdefender doesn’t claim to be a “no-logs” VPN. Instead, in its privacy policy, it mentions that it applies a “data minimization principle.” That’s to say that it logs some data, but it tries to keep it at a minimum. Checking further, we found that Bitdefender logs:

• User IDs
• Device IDs
• IP addresses
• Connection tokens

The most concerning item on that list is the IP address. It’s a unique identifier, and although Bitdefender logs it in a hashed format, its privacy is still not guaranteed. There are a number of things someone can do with your IP address, so we’re wary of recommending Bitdefender to privacy-conscious users.

Bottom Line: Who Wins?

Bitdefender and Surfshark are both respected names in the digital security industry, but when it comes to offering VPN services, Surfshark is the clear winner.

Of course, Bitdefender is in no way a bad VPN. It covers the basics, it has a vast server network, it’s affordable, and it performs well. That said, Surfshark can also do all those while also delivering advanced digital protection and features as well as a true “no-logs” privacy policy.