Bitdefender business antivirus: the GravityZone editions

Bitdefender for business is not the home product

Most people know Bitdefender from its home antivirus. Its business range is a separate platform called GravityZone, built for organisations that need to look after many devices at once rather than one family laptop.

The difference matters for a business:

• One console for every device. Policies, alerts, quarantine, reports and remote tasks are handled in a cloud console, so you can see which laptops and servers are protected and which need attention.
• Servers and mixed estates. GravityZone covers Windows workstations and servers, macOS and Linux, on physical machines and virtual machines, from the same agent family.
• Policies set once. Web filtering, device control and exclusions are applied by group, not device by device.
• Licences you can manage. Business licences are counted per protected endpoint, so adding a laptop or retiring a server is a licence change rather than a new purchase.

If you are comparing Bitdefender with other vendors, our guide to antivirus software for business explains what separates business products from home ones, and the vendors we supply page compares them side by side. The platform itself is explained in more depth on our sister site's Bitdefender GravityZone page.

The GravityZone editions on Bitdefender's site

Bitdefender sells GravityZone direct to organisations in several editions. The three that buyers search for most are below; Bitdefender's comparison page also lists a plain Business Security plan and higher tiers that add XDR sensors and its managed detection and response service.

All three protect Windows, macOS and Linux. Bitdefender sells extras separately, including Patch Management, Full Disk Encryption, mobile security and email security. Bitdefender changes edition contents from time to time, so we check the current comparison page before we quote.

Business Security Enterprise is mostly about detection and response, which sits outside this site's focus: for that side of the market see our EDR, XDR and MDR guidance and our page on EPP vs EDR.

The protection layers in GravityZone

Whichever edition or route you choose, GravityZone protection is built from the same layers on the agent. The ones that do the antivirus work are:

• Machine learning antimalware: local and cloud scanning that blocks known and new malware before it runs.
• Advanced Threat Control: watches running processes and stops ones that behave maliciously, which is how fileless and script attacks are caught.
• Exploit defence: blocks techniques used to hijack legitimate applications in memory.
• Ransomware mitigation: detects encryption behaviour and helps recover affected files.
• Network attack defence: detects brute-force attempts, port scans, credential theft and lateral movement on the network.
• Web filtering and content control: blocks malicious and phishing sites and restricts browsing by category.
• Device control: restricts USB storage and other attachable devices.
• Endpoint risk analytics: finds risky operating system and application settings and ranks them for fixing.

This layered approach is what Bitdefender's editions package in different combinations. It is also what people mean by next-generation antivirus: behaviour and machine learning working alongside signature checks, not instead of them.

How we supply Bitdefender: GravityZone Cloud MSP Security

We do not resell Bitdefender's direct editions. We supply GravityZone Cloud MSP Security, the version of GravityZone that IT providers deliver from a multi-tenant console, and switch on the modules that match the protection you want.

How it works commercially:

• Per protected endpoint: each desktop, laptop, server or virtual machine counts once.
• Monthly consumption: usage is measured each month, so adding or removing devices changes the next invoice without a new order.
• No minimum commitment: Bitdefender states there are no minimum commitments on its MSP licensing.
• No licence keys: devices enrol with an installer linked to your company in the console.

Feature names and packaging differ between Bitdefender's direct and MSP ranges, so we map what you need module by module and confirm it in writing at quote. For the licensing detail, see Bitdefender GravityZone licensing on our licensing site. Pricing depends on endpoints and modules: ask us for a quote.

Platforms, servers and phones

GravityZone protects:

• Windows desktops, laptops and servers
• macOS on the same console as your PCs; see antivirus for Macs in business
• Linux servers and desktops, including virtual machines and cloud workloads; see Linux antivirus
• Phones and tablets through Bitdefender's separate mobile security module for iOS and Android; see mobile antivirus for business

Servers are counted as endpoints like any other device, which keeps mixed estates simple to license. Our server antivirus guide covers what to think about before you protect a Windows server, such as exclusions for database and mail roles. Supported operating system versions change as Bitdefender updates its agent, so we check your estate against Bitdefender's current requirements list before deployment.

Moving to Bitdefender from another product

Switching business antivirus is mostly about avoiding a gap and avoiding two products fighting on the same device. A typical move to GravityZone through us looks like this:

1. Audit: we list devices by type and operating system and check them against Bitdefender's current requirements, flagging anything out of support.
2. Plan exclusions: servers running databases, mail or line-of-business software usually need exclusions; we carry over the ones that still make sense and drop the rest.
3. Remove the old product: the existing antivirus is uninstalled first, in small groups, so devices are not left unprotected for long.
4. Deploy the agent: through your RMM, Intune, Group Policy or a download link, with the installer tied to your company in the console.
5. Apply policies: separate policies for workstations, servers and remote users, with web and device control set to suit how you work.
6. Review: we can go through detections and blocked items with you in the first weeks and adjust anything that gets in the way.

If you already run GravityZone through another provider, we can talk to you about moving your company across without reinstalling from scratch, subject to Bitdefender's process at the time.

Is Bitdefender the right fit?

We do not rank vendors, but these points help decide whether GravityZone suits you:

• It fits well if you have a mix of Windows, Mac and Linux machines, want strong prevention without running a management server, and like the idea of adding patching or encryption from the same console later.
• Monthly billing suits organisations whose device numbers move during the year, such as schools, charities and project-based firms.
• Look harder at the detection and response side if your insurer or customers ask about EDR or round-the-clock monitoring: Bitdefender offers EDR and its own MDR service, and so do the other vendors on our vendors page.

Business antivirus such as GravityZone is one way to meet the malware protection control in Cyber Essentials: see the Cyber Essentials malware protection requirement.

Contact us with your device numbers by type (laptops, desktops, servers, Macs, Linux) and the edition you were considering, and ask us for a quote. We will map what you need to GravityZone modules and list each one.