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McAfee Complete Data Protection vs Microsoft BitLocker comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

McAfee Complete Data Protec...
Ranking in Endpoint Encryption
4th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft BitLocker
Ranking in Endpoint Encryption
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
Mobile Data Protection (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Endpoint Encryption category, the mindshare of McAfee Complete Data Protection is 7.1%, down from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft BitLocker is 37.6%, down from 39.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Encryption
 

Featured Reviews

ObaseunAwoyinfa - PeerSpot reviewer
Encrypts the hard drive, offers data protection policies and effective part of DLP strategy
The only thing that I think could be improved is the data classifier. It's not a very robust classifier, which is where its limitation lies. For example, you see a lot of higher-end solutions where people can classify data more effectively, adding labels like transcription labels and such. McAfee’s classifier doesn't handle all those tasks. It doesn’t offer the same level of functionality as other data classification tools. You can't do things like fingerprinting and other advanced classification methods. However, if you were to make it more robust, the product could become too heavy to run effectively on endpoints and servers. So, to be honest, I can't think of anything else off the top of my head that could be added. I think it's a great solution as it stands. If anyone wants extended data classification, they can leverage other tools like Titus, Fortra's Classifier Suite (previously known as Boldon James Classifier), or even Microsoft AIP if they have the budget. You can also leverage Trellix to enhance your data protection. From my point of view, McAfee Complete Data Protection is one of the best solutions out there, if not the best, to be honest.
Ibrahin Gamal - PeerSpot reviewer
Data protection improves while users adapt to user access complexities
Recovery options are useful with Microsoft BitLocker. When we get the recovery key from Microsoft, people who we show how BitLocker works did not know the facts about BitLocker. When we tell them about recovery keys, it is very difficult for them to get to the users who have issues in their PCs and do not have the knowledge. When IT asked about the scenario, it was difficult for them. They needed something where they could go to the administration portal to unlock the PC for the user, but we tell them that when a user asks for a recovery key, it consists of 32 numbers to unlock their PC. They observed cost savings after implementing Microsoft BitLocker because they requested BitLocker with System Center. They found that it did not have a high cost, as it is a built-in feature in Windows. When they asked about other solutions, it was very expensive for large numbers in other corporates or organizations. They were very satisfied with Microsoft BitLocker with System Center Configuration Manager.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"I have found the USB part most valuable."
"We can scale the solution."
"I am satisfied with the customer service/technical support."
"In the configuration, you can restrict a user from accessing a removable drive."
"The solution is excellent for protecting users from data being exploited. It's also great for preventing data leakage."
"The interface is user-friendly and it provides a large number of options."
"The new feature for online protection does a good job of identifying traits."
"With respect to data loss prevention, I think it is helpful to the customer."
"The most valuable feature is the simplicity and integration with the Microsoft Clouds platform."
"The most valuable feature is the TPM (Trusted Platform Module), which makes the PC security stronger because somebody who is not from the team cannot access the PC without the decryption PIN."
"BitLocker is completely stable."
"The most important aspect of this solution is that if your laptop gets stolen, the information is encrypted."
"Integration with System Center Configuration Manager (C: and D: logical drives are encrypted before installing Windows via SCCM)."
"The best thing about it is the encryption type and the way it requires TPM when someone tries to access the drive."
"The solution has a feature that automatically asks the users to upgrade their password once we set up the process."
"One significant aspect is that without the BitLocker key, you can't log in to the user's laptop. I appreciate the capability to encrypt the user's hard drive, ensuring access only with the recovery key. In an enterprise setup, we store all BitLocker keys on our server. So, whenever a user attempts to log in, the architecture authenticates with the key. This ensures that our data is secure. Even if the user's laptop is lost, we have confidence that the data remains inaccessible. So far, our user data is well-protected."
 

Cons

"There's a limited coverage of operating systems. The marketing strategies need to change drastically."
"The solution needs a next generation or AI firewall that doesn't rely on signatures to detect traits."
"Some clients still receive spam and malware in their attachments, so the data protection isn't working correctly. We have configured it and enabled the features in the client's system, but some policies have failed to work once or twice."
"The product must improve endpoint encryption."
"It is difficult to manage."
"The price could be improved."
"Though there may be some ransomware detection modules now in McAfee Complete Data Protection, it's a field that McAfee should focus on, particularly having integration with some EDR or other add-ons. This is so McAfee Complete Data Protection would have more accuracy in detecting new ransomware in the market. What I'd like to see in the next release of the solution is for its pricing to be more cost-effective because some competitors have cheaper pricing, so McAfee Complete Data Protection can't compete. Sometimes, some new vendors offer other solutions rather than McAfee Complete Data Protection, to win customers over, and this is a loss for McAfee."
"The UI could be improved a bit."
"If the encryption was faster then it would make the experience more pleasant."
"The people at the first level of support refer you to articles that do not pertain to the problem at hand."
"The initial setup is complex."
"I would like to see improvement in the solution's central management of passwords. Currently, we install it separately."
"In future releases, I would like to see a feature where I can have a view of each device that has BitLocker to see if these machines are encrypted or not. So, I just want a view or a dashboard that can tell us so that I can remediate and add BitLocker to those systems or devices."
"There is room for improvement in stability."
"If integration with Active Directory are not mandatory for him, I think that there are many other solutions in the market that equal or are much stronger than Microsoft."
"The deployment process regarding prerequisites and automation could be easy to understand."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of this solution needs to be improved."
"The price is good, it's a low-cost solution."
"The cost of McAfee Complete Data Protection isn't that high but isn't that cheap as well, so it's in the middle."
"The licensing is yearly."
"This solution is reasonably priced."
"The pricing of the cloud offering seems confusing."
"When it comes to pricing, I've observed an increase recently."
"The pricing is quite reasonable compared to other vendors."
"The solution is cost efficient."
"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."
"The tool is cheap compared to the products offered by competitors. If one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the tool's price as one."
"We didn't pay for additional licenses since the solution is built into Windows."
"The product's cost is included in Windows."
"This solution is included with Microsoft Server and my clients did not have to pay for anything extra."
"BitLocker is included in our license and doesn't cost us anything extra."
"I think it's reasonably priced because I've never heard any complaints from my company about its costs."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Government
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Would you choose Microsoft BitLocker or McAfee Complete Data Protection?
Microsoft BitLocker is very intuitive and easy to maintain. It is basically the global standard solution for drive encryption and successfully fulfills regulatory needs in terms of data protection....
What do you like most about McAfee Complete Data Protection?
It worked for me: it's easy to use and has been very effective.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for McAfee Complete Data Protection?
The huge problem I see is pricing. We understand that DLP is not cheap anywhere in the world, but we constantly lose our protection because of pricing. Sometimes, this is because end users prefer t...
What should one take into account when replacing PGP with Microsoft BitLocker?
Beware to make backup of useful data, then use reverse decryption policy from Symantec panel/McAfee ePO to decrypt the DE partitions while it is sometimes more straightforward and faster to reinsta...
How does Microsoft BitLocker compare with Symantec Endpoint Encryption?
Microsoft BitLocker is very intuitive and easy to maintain. It is basically the global standard solution for drive encryption and it successfully fulfills regulatory needs in terms of data protecti...
What do you like most about Microsoft BitLocker?
Microsoft BitLocker's most valuable feature is endpoint encryption, and it's quite easy to manage.
 

Also Known As

No data available
BitLocker, MS BitLocker
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Xcel Energy
ACV, Proaxis Therapy, Choice Hotels International, adnymics GmbH, Intermedia, NMBS/SNCB
Find out what your peers are saying about McAfee Complete Data Protection vs. Microsoft BitLocker and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,825 professionals have used our research since 2012.