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# of Servers
5000
# of Servers
5000
Server Locations
47
Server Locations
47
Unlimited Bandwidth
Yes
Price Per Month (From)
$3.33
Price Per Month (From)
$3.33
Free Trial
500 MB every Month
Free Trial
500 MB every Month


7.9/10
Informr score
The TunnelBear currently has an Informr score of 7.9 out of 10. This score is based on our evaluation of 46 sources including reviews from users and the web's most trusted critics.

The "1-Minute" Review

Verdict

While it’s not the largest or most powerful VPN service available, TunnelBear VPN is great for people who don’t want or need a lot of customizability or features. 

What's good

  • Excellent privacy policy
  • Super easy to set-up and use
  • Moderately priced with a decent free plan
  • Strong security features

What's bad

  • Not much content in help pages
  • Only 20 server locations
  • Not a lot of features

You might not have heard of TunnelBear, but you’ve probably heard of their parent company, McAfee. The service is known for its user-friendly interface, low pricing, and bear puns. How does TunnelBear stack up to the competition? Let’s see what others have to say.

Pricing

TunnelBear is one of the only VPN providers that offer a completely free version.

It’s not a free trial, it’s a free monthly plan. But, as you might expect, the free version is very limited with only a 500MB/month bandwidth. You can add to your bandwidth allotment though if you tweet something about TunnelBear.

If you want faster service, you’ll need to pay. But their monthly prices are reasonable. They also offer a discount when you opt for yearly service.

Supported Devices

TunnelBear supports Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices. You can use browser plug-ins for Chrome and Opera as well. Unfortunately, there’s no support for Firefox, Safari, or other browsers.

Ease of Use

If you’re looking for something simple, you’ve come to the right place.

Reviewers found TunnelBear incredibly easy to set up and start using thanks to the software available. All they needed to do was start the app and choose their location.

There aren’t a lot of settings. If you’re a power user, this might not be the service for you. But TechRadar states, “... The few [features] you get are very useful.

Simultaneous Connections

Each account allows for up to 5 simultaneous connections on either the free or paid plans. This is par for the course with popular VPN options. If you need to connect more devices you might be better off with something like NordVPN or VPN Unlimited.

Included Features

Despite its simplicity, TunnelBear offers useful features such as:

  • Load on start
  • Auto-activation on non-trusted networks
  • VigilantBear -- a kill switch to prevent identity leaks
  • GhostBear -- a service makes your activities look like standard internet traffic
  • P2P support

Privacy and Logging

While you might not be able to change your protocol, critics note you probably won’t need to as the client uses OpenVPN, offering government-grade encryption. Unfortunately, iOS users cannot access this protocol and can only use IKEv2. But most experts consider IKEv2 good enough.

For added flexibility, you can use TCP or UDP connections. However, reviewers noticed that they could not get online using the Windows client unless they enabled TCP connections.

In terms of logging, TunnelBear provides an in-depth privacy policy covering what they do and do not log.

Overall, while they collect information, they do not store IP addresses, DNS queries, or information regarding other activities how you use TunnelBear.

More importantly, the company promises they will not disclose, sell, or trade personal information with third-party companies.

If that’s not enough, TunnelBear also completed two independent code audits to find potential security issues with their service. They also explained every aspect of the company’s operation in a recent transparency project.

While all of this is voluntary, PC Mag notes, “Both of these efforts go along way to establishing TunnelBear as a company that takes its role as a security company very seriously…

Performance

While limited to only 20 countries, TunnelBear offers more than 1,500 servers to route your traffic through.

Reviewers had no problems connecting to a server. While their ping times varied depending on which server they used, reviewers made no mention of significant slowdowns using the standard service.

But performance dropped noticeably when using GhostBear. The company itself suggests using this mode only when necessary as it can reduce performance up to 50 percent.

Support

TunnelBear’s help site is the first line of support.

While it appears user-friendly and clear, reviewers found the documentation offered lacking. However, most reviews found that the information available was well presented.

For other questions, TunnelBear has a contact page to message the support team. Though TunnelBear states that support requests may take up to 48 hours, most reviewers received responses to their questions in around an hour. Better still, the replies they received generally provided helpful information and even some documentation.

Summary

TunnelBear doesn’t offer a ton of features but reviewers enjoyed using it with many recommending it for most users as a basic level of protection.

Tom’s Guide notes, “It’s moderately priced, has user-friendly software, and offers decent network performance.


What the Critics Are Saying...


Mashable
Mashable

It's not a great value for VPN veterans, but TunnelBear is a trustworthy, approachable, and refreshingly fun service that can win over newbies with an easy-to-use app and a free subscription tier.

- Haley Henschel, Mashable
Expert Reviews
Expert Reviews

TunnelBear is simple, fast, packed with personality and quite reasonably priced. However, the client software feels clunky, platform support is limited, and the service doesn’t work with BitTorrent – nor, indeed, most streaming services. In addition, support is disappointingly hands-off, and the Can...

- Darien Graham-Smith, Expert Reviews
TechRadar
TechRadar

TunnelBear doesn't have the largest network, or the most apps, or the longest of feature lists. But it does a good job of simplifying VPNs for novice users, plus new WireGuard support has doubled speeds on Windows, and not only has the service gone through the most thorough independent audits in the...

- Mike Williams, TechRadar
PC Magazine
PC Magazine

Forget complicated apps and edgy graphics and let the cute-but-powerful TunnelBear VPN defend your web traffic. It's easy to use and protects your entire household with just one account.

- Max Eddy, Kim Key, PC Magazine
Money.com
Money.com

TunnelBear is a solid VPN that offers enough customizability to be a fit for beginners and advanced users. It’s also a relatively affordable option with good reviews overall and accessibility across all major platforms. The biggest downside to the service is its lack of real-time customer support.

- Kellan Jansen, Money.com

Details


Overview
Headquarters Canada
Pricing/Sign Up
Starting Price (per Month) $3.33
Plans and Pricing Visit Site
Free Trial 500 MB every Month
Money Back Guarantee No
Payment Options Credit Cards
ID Required Valid email address
Features
Server Locations (# of Countries) 47
Number of Servers 5000 +
Devices Per License 5
Simultaneous Connections 5
Unlimited Bandwidth Yes
Double-Hop / Double VPN Yes
Accesses Netflix No
P2P / Torrenting Allowed No
Accepts Bitcoin Yes
Non-US Company Yes
Protected
Protocols IPSec, IKEv2, OpenVPN, WireGuard
Encryption AES-256
No Logs / No Tracking Yes
Dedicated IP Available No
VPN Over Tor No
Wi-Fi Leak Protection No
Private DNS Server No
DNS Leak Protection Yes
IP Leak Protection Yes
WebRTC Leak Protection Yes
IPv6 Leak Protection No
Kill Switch Yes
Supported Platforms
Operating Systems Windows, Mac OSX, iOS, Linux, Android
Mobile App Yes
Router Yes
Browser Extension Yes
Customer Support
24/7 Support No
Live Chat Support Yes
Telephone Support No
Email Support
More
Additional comments Other Names (AKA): Tunnel Bear

Terms & Conditions Official Terms & Conditions

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