Bitdefender VPN Premium Review 2023: 5 Cons and 3 Pros

by Petr Lippert
updated August 24, 2023 (Report a bug)

1. Bitdefender VPN Premium Is Fast but Only Supports Basic Platforms

   • It can be used on only 10 devices simultaneously
   • The VPN operator can share collected data
   • It has a very low level of compatibility
   • It offers only basic functionality
   • There is a small selection of countries (only 51) and servers (1,300)

   • A 7 days of free trial version is available
   • It has an average download speed (132 Mb/s) and upload speed (98 Mb/s)
   • It supports the Hydra Catapult protocol

   Bitdefender VPN Premium is one of the many products of Bitdefender, a Romanian company that has been on the market since 2001. It specializes in the development of antivirus programs and in protecting users as they move around the Internet. In addition to the paid version, it offers a free version called Bitdefender VPN Free.

   The biggest advantage of Bitdefender VPN Premium is its very good transfer speed. In repeated tests, we measured the average value of download speed at 132 Mb/s and upload speed at 98 Mb/s. The latter is sufficient for smooth video watching and torrent sharing. It is pleasing that the service has achieved such high values despite a relatively small supply of 1,300 servers. Users can try out Bitdefender VPN Premium for 7 days as a free trial.

   There are a few disadvantages to Bitdefender VPN Premium. The service lost points in our evaluation for its very low level of compatibility, with only basic platforms and operating systems supported. With a single subscription, only 10 devices can be protected at a time, and the feature set is small.

   Another negative is that Bitdefender VPN Premium, while applying a zero-logs policy, states that collected data can be shared with third parties.

2. Bitdefender VPN Premium Subscription: Discount Code, Free Trial, Money Back Guarantee…

   • Your Price: $6.99​40% off  $4.17 /mo (10 devices)
   • Money Back Guarantee: Yes (30 days)
   • Free Trial: Yes (7 days)
   • Cryptocurrency payments:
     No

     Bitcoin :No
     Dash :No
     Ethereum :No
     Ripple :No

   

   7.4

   ★★★☆

   Faster-than-average VPN offers its own Hydra protocol and a fairly wide network of servers. Downside is limited device support and feature range.

   $4.17 /moFree 7-day trial​30-day money back guarantee

   Get this VPN 40% cheaper

   Subscription to Bitdefender VPN Premium is available with a monthly billing period or for one year with prepayment. The annual subscription is more advantageous, with the discounted monthly price being $4.17. In contrast, the price of the least favorable option is $6.99 per month. In terms of content and features, there is no difference between them.

   For all subscription options, a money-back guarantee can be applied within 30 days. The guarantee applies only to the license purchased on the Bitdefender VPN Premium website, and the refund claim must be made before the expiry of this period. No other conditions apply to the guarantee.

   The user account required to purchase the license for Bitdefender VPN Premium is created directly on the website or in the application. A full name, email address, and a strong enough password are required. The email address is verified by sending a link. Payment can be made through the GoPay system, which includes credit cards and bank transfers. Other payment methods are not supported. Subscriptions are automatically renewed upon termination.

   A user account is also required to get the 7 days of free trial version. The trial is only available in the app and includes all features of Bitdefender VPN Premium. Other than that, Bitdefender VPN Free is available with limited features and a limit on data transferred.

3. Bitdefender VPN Premium and Supported Devices: Android, iOS, macOS…

   • Device limit: 10

   Platforms supported

   • Android:
     Yes

     Android is supported by 99 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Android TV:
     No

     Android TV is supported by 38 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Apple TV:
     No

     Apple TV is supported by 18 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Fire TV:
     No

     Fire TV is supported by 44 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Chromebook:
     No

     Chromebook is supported by 21 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Chromecast:
     No

     Chromecast is supported by 16 % of reviewed VPNs
   • iOS:
     Yes

     iOS is supported by 100 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Kodi:
     No

     Kodi is supported by 22 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Linux:
     No

     Linux is supported by 62 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Mac:
     Yes

     Mac is supported by 98 % of reviewed VPNs
   • NAS:
     No

     NAS is supported by 26 % of reviewed VPNs
   • nVidia Shield:
     No

     nVidia Shield is supported by 16 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Playstation:
     No

     Playstation is supported by 20 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Raspberry Pi:
     No

     Raspberry Pi is supported by 18 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Roku:
     No

     Roku is supported by 16 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Router:
     No

     Router is supported by 54 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Windows:
     Yes

     Windows is supported by 100 % of reviewed VPNs
   • xBox:
     No

     xBox is supported by 20 % of reviewed VPNs

   Browser Extensions

   • Brave :
     No

     The Brave browser add-on is offered by 45 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Chrome :
     No

     The Chrome browser add-on is offered by 45 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Edge :
     No

     The Edge browser add-on is offered by 19 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Firefox :
     No

     The Firefox browser add-on is offered by 35 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Opera :
     No

     The Opera browser add-on is offered by 45 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Safari :
     No

     The Safari browser add-on is offered by 0 % of reviewed VPNs.
   • Vivaldi :
     No

     The Vivaldi browser add-on is offered by 45 % of reviewed VPNs.

   One license guarantees protection for up to 10 devices at the same time. Private Internet Access, Surfshark, and some other VPNs include an unlimited number of devices in the price, so the Bitdefender VPN Premium offering can be described as below average.

   Bitdefender VPN Premium only supports Windows and macOS desktop operating systems and Android and iOS mobile devices.

   Support for smart TVs, game consoles, and alternative systems is missing. Also, Bitdefender VPN Premium cannot be used on a router, which can easily secure all devices connected to the same network.

   The extension is not available for any browsers. Compared to other services reviewed, device support for Bitdefender VPN Premium is well below average.

4. Bitdefender VPN Premium App: User-friendliness, whitelist, server selection…

   • App Languages: 🇺🇸 English +18 more🇫🇷 French 🇮🇹 Italian 🇩🇪 German 🇳🇱 Dutch 🇵🇱 Polish 🇵🇹 Portuguese 🇷🇺 Russian 🇪🇸 Spanish 🇸🇪 Swedish 🇹🇷 Turkish 🇭🇺 Hungarian 🇬🇷 Greek 🇯🇵 Japanese 🇰🇷 Korean 🇹🇭 Thai 🇨🇿 Czech 🇷🇴 Romanian 🇻🇳 Vietnamese
   • Whitelisting:
     Yes

     Whitelisting is supported by 52 % of reviewed VPNs

   Installing the app and using it are very simple. The tutorials on the Bitdefender VPN Premium website can be helpful, so even a complete beginner can handle everything. The app is available in 19 different languages. You can choose between light and dark themes, and you can also select automatic theme selection according to your device settings.

   The app interface itself is simple to navigate and has appealing graphics. Upon launching Bitdefender VPN Premium, the user is presented with a main page designed primarily for connecting to a server. The rest of the functions are hidden under an icon in the upper right corner. The user has the ability to disable individual functions, select a protocol, and manage their user account.

   The Auto-connect function to automatically connect to the server when the device starts is not available. However, Auto-connect on Public Wi-Fi is available to ensure that the server is connected whenever the device is using a public or any unsafe network. The whitelist feature then allows you to filter the websites where Bitdefender VPN Premium protection will be active.

   To connect to a server, you need to click on the blue icon, and the app will then select the best server for that location. To connect to a different server, simply select one from the given menu. After a successful connection, the icon will turn green, and the current IP address will be displayed.

5. Bitdefender VPN Premium Connection Speed: Upload, Download & Latency

   • Traffic limit: Unlimited

   Download speed

   Higher is better. The average download of all tested VPNs is 107 Mb/s.

   Upload speed

   Higher is better. The average upload of all tested VPNs is 74 Mb/s.

   Server latency

   A lower value is better. The average response rate of all tested VPNs is 61 ms.
   The amount of data transferred is unlimited with Bitdefender VPN Premium, which is standard for paid services.

   Average transfer speeds rank Bitdefender VPN Premium in the better half compared to other VPNs tested. Measured speeds didn’t differ significantly between manual and automatic server selection.

   Our measured download speed of 132 Mb/s is sufficient for torrenting and 4K video playback. For this, a limit of 50 Mbps is generally considered necessary.

   The upload speed of 98 Mb/s is above average in the context of other VPNs, so Bitdefender VPN Premium can be used for transferring large amounts of data.

   We measured Bitdefender VPN Premium to have an average response speed in repeated tests of 13 ms. Such a value promises an excellent experience when playing games or engaging in other activities that require low server response. For this, unlike transfer speeds, a lower value is better.

6. Bitdefender VPN Premium Server Locations

   • Number of servers:
     1,300

     The average number of servers for the reviewed VPNs is 1679.
   • Number of countries:
     51

     The average number of countries available for the reviewed VPNs is 40.

   Europe	🇩🇰 Denmark 🇫🇷 France 🇮🇹 Italy 🇩🇪 Germany 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇷🇴 Romania 🇬🇧 United Kingdom 🇪🇸 Spain 🇨🇭 Switzerland 🇧🇪 Belgium 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇪🇪 Estonia 🇮🇪 Ireland 🇮🇸 Iceland 🇱🇹 Lithuania 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 🇭🇺 Hungary 🇵🇱 Poland 🇦🇹 Austria 🇬🇷 Greece 🇸🇮 Slovenia 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇹🇷 Turkey 🇺🇦 Ukraine
   North America	🇨🇦 Canada 🇺🇸 USA 🇲🇽 Mexico
   South America	🇧🇷 Brazil 🇦🇷 Argentina 🇨🇱 Chile
   Asia	🇹🇭 Thailand 🇵🇭 Philippines 🇭🇰 Hong Kong 🇮🇳 India 🇮🇩 Indonesia 🇮🇱 Israel 🇯🇵 Japan 🇰🇷 South Korea 🇰🇭 Cambodia 🇵🇰 Pakistan 🇷🇺 Russia 🇸🇬 Singapore 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates 🇹🇼 Taiwan 🇻🇳 Vietnam
   Africa	🇪🇬 Egypt 🇿🇦 South Africa
   Oceania	🇦🇺 Australia 🇳🇿 New Zealand

   Bitdefender VPN Premium operates 1,300 servers in 51 countries. The number of servers is comparable to other services, and the range of countries is slightly better.

   Most servers are traditionally in Europe, with very good coverage in Asia. There is at least one server on every continent, and relatively inaccessible countries such as the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam are also covered. Bitdefender VPN Premium also has servers in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

   Of the countries where government censorship occurs, Bitdefender VPN Premium offers servers in Russia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

   All features are available on all servers. There are no dedicated servers for streaming video or torrenting. In testing the service, we did not encounter any problems with stuttering or outages. Thus, judging by the stability, the number of servers can be described as sufficient.

7. Bitdefender VPN Premium Security Features: DNS Leak Protection, Kill Switch…

   • DNS leak protection :
     Yes

     DNS leak protection is offered by 93% of the reviewed VPNs.
   • Kill Switch:
     Yes

     Kill Switch is supported by 82% of the reviewed VPNs.
   • Multi-Hop:
     No

     Multi-Hop connection is offered by 20 % of the VPNs reviewed.
   • Tor:
     No

     Tor support is offered by 16 % of the reviewed VPNs.

   Basic security at Bitdefender VPN Premium is provided by DNS protection, which proved to work during our testing as we did not detect any leaks.

   An important feature of Bitdefender VPN Premium is the kill switch, which disconnects the device from the Internet if the connection to the private network server is lost. This step prevents the user’s IP address, location, or data from being compromised.

   Bitdefender VPN Premium supports split tunneling, where applications can be selected to connect to the Internet via the VPN while others access it directly.

   The VPN supports IPSec and Hydra Catapult protocols. The user has the option to choose between them or leave the choice up to the application. The transmitted data is protected by 256-bit AES encryption, which is considered very secure.

   Unsupported features in Bitdefender VPN Premium include traffic on the Tor network.

8. Bitdefender VPN Premium & Streaming: Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime…

   • Amazon Prime:
     Yes

     Amazon Prime streaming is supported by 52 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Disney+:
     Yes

     Disney+ streaming is supported by 54 % of reviewed VPNs
   • HBO:
     Yes

     HBO streaming is supported by 57 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Hulu:
     Yes

     Hulu streaming is supported by 48 % of reviewed VPNs
   • Netflix:
     Yes

     Netflix streaming is supported by 64 % of reviewed VPNs
   • YouTube:
     Yes

     YouTube streaming is supported by 92 % of reviewed VPNs

   In a test of unblocking streaming services, Bitdefender VPN Premium performed well. We were able to unblock video from Netflix, YouTube, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, and Hulu.

   Streaming video is supported by all sites, and dedicated servers are not offered by Bitdefender VPN Premium for this purpose. Our measured average download speed of 132 Mb/s is sufficient for 4K video playback.

   Video unblocking may not always succeed on the first try, as some streaming platforms block the IP addresses of VPN services. If unsuccessful, simply disconnect from the VPN and reconnect immediately. This will change the IP address to another one that may not be blocked. We didn’t experience any problems during our testing; the playback was smooth, and skipping certain passages was not a problem either.

9. Features of Bitdefender VPN Premium: AdBlock, Static IP…

   • Blocks Ads:
     Yes

     Ad blocking is offered by 44 % of the VPNs reviewed.
   • Blocks Malware:
     Yes

     Malware blocking is offered by 35 % of the VPNs reviewed.
   • Blocks Trackers:
     Yes

     Trackers blocking is offered by 38 % of the VPNs reviewed.

   The feature set of Bitdefender VPN Premium is basic compared to other reviewed services. The application supports blocking ads, malware, and trackers, which increases the level of privacy when using the internet.

   In the settings, you can activate the automatic switching on of the VPN when connected to an unsecured Wi-Fi network. Thanks to the whitelist feature, it is possible to filter secure sites that do not require routing the connection through a VPN.

   Bitdefender VPN Premium doesn’t offer other extra features. A static IP address is not available with this VPN, even at an additional cost.

10. Bitdefender VPN Premium‘s CPU usage and App Performance

    The load on the test computer created by the Bitdefender VPN Premium application was minimal while the application was running, which is common for services of this type. It was not out of line with the average load of other VPNs tested. However, it does take up more disk space compared to them, with at least 220 MB required.

    To achieve a lower load, it is possible to disable the “Auto-connect on Public Wi-Fi” feature, which starts the application whenever it connects to a risky or public network. After closing the application, the program still ran in the background and consumed the same amount of power. This problem can be easily solved by quitting the application via the icon on the taskbar.

11. Bitdefender VPN Premium Torrenting Servers

    • Torrenting servers:
      Yes

      Torrenting support is offered by 88 % of the reviewed VPNs.

    Bitdefender VPN Premium supports torrenting on all servers in use.

    Our measured average download speed of 132 Mb/s and upload speed of 98 Mb/s are sufficient for torrenting. Bitdefender VPN Premium can hide the user’s identity, and its identity is protected by, among other things, a kill switch.

    Dedicated servers for P2P file sharing are not offered by Bitdefender VPN Premium. All commonly used clients are supported, including BitTorrent, uTorrent, Deluge, and Vuze.

12. What is the country of origin of Bitdefender VPN Premium?

    • VPN Provider: S.C. BitDefender S.R.L.
    • Country of origin: 🇷🇴 Romania

    Bitdefender VPN Premium is one of the many products of S.C. BITDEFENDER S.R.L., based in Bucharest, Romania. It has been on the market since 2001 and specializes in cybersecurity, with one of its best-known products being antivirus software. In addition to the paid VPN option, there is also a free version called Bitdefender VPN Free.

    The operator’s headquarters for Bitdefender VPN Premium in Europe is in Romania, while for US users, it is in California. Bitdefender also has offices in 16 other locations around the world.

    Being based in Romania does not pose a threat to users, as Romania is not a member of the 14 Eyes Countries group. This group includes countries such as the US and the UK, which monitor citizens’ internet activity and share it with other members in the event of a security threat.

    Romania is also a member of the European Union, which has strict laws regarding the handling of personal data. While user activity is not logged, the data collected can be handed over to authorized authorities if required.

13. Bitdefender VPN Premium and Privacy: Logging Policy, Security Issues…

    • No-Logs Policy:
      Yes

      The No-Logs Policy is followed by 79% of reviewed VPNs.

    The privacy policy states that activity associated with the use of Bitdefender VPN Premium is not logged. A similar policy is now applied by quite a large number of VPN providers.

    Thus, Bitdefender VPN Premium does not store information about the data transferred, the IP address, or the sites visited.

    Some data is still collected. This includes the information provided when creating an account, such as name, email address, password, and payment details. Data associated with the use of the application, including login sessions and data usage, is also stored. Diagnostic data is used to improve and promote Bitdefender VPN Premium. The collected data is not shared with any third parties but may be released upon request from authorized authorities.

    The website of Bitdefender VPN Premium uses cookies, which can be disabled in the browser settings.

    No data leaks related to the use of Bitdefender VPN Premium have been detected in the past.

    The overall privacy level of Bitdefender VPN Premium is good. More confidence could be gained from a security audit by an independent company. Leading services such as NordVPN or Surfshark undergo this regularly.

14. Bitdefender VPN Premium Support: Chat, e-mail…

    The Support Center at Bitdefender VPN Premium consists of a database of answers to various questions, solutions to common problems, and how-to guides.

    Information can also be found on the blog, where articles on Internet protection are published regularly. The blog is divided into three different channels: for ordinary users, for companies, and for business partners. For business users, a community is set up where individual members can communicate with each other.

    If none of the above options solves your problem, you can contact technical support directly. First, you need to visit the support center and fill in a short questionnaire. You will then be provided with the contact details of the relevant departments that can resolve your problem.

    Live chat support is available around the clock.

15. Bitdefender VPN Premium FAQ

    Is Bitdefender VPN Premium free?

    Bitdefender VPN Premium is a paid service, and the price of the most affordable subscription option is $4.17 per month. It can be used for 7 days during the trial period.

    The same company also offers a free version, Bitdefender VPN Free, which can be used indefinitely. Its disadvantages include several limitations, as not all features are available, and there is a limit on the amount of data transferred.

    Is Bitdefender VPN Premium good for streaming video?

    Bitdefender VPN Premium was able to unlock all streaming services in our tests. However, unblocking them is not 100% guaranteed, as streaming services attempt to detect and block VPN connections. Some VPNs are developing their own protocols to achieve a higher success rate. Bitdefender VPN Premium does not have a custom protocol implemented. The connection speed alone is sufficient for a smooth and fast 4K stream.

    Is Bitdefender VPN Premium worth it?

    Bitdefender VPN Premium offers basic features that work seamlessly. It doesn’t offer anything extra besides an above-average connection speed. For the average user, this is a satisfactory choice. However, there are VPNs on the market that offer a much larger selection of features at a lower or comparable price. These include, for example, NordVPN or Proton VPN Plus.