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TunnelBear Review

Rob Mardisalu

Rob Mardisalu

Editor of TheBestVPN.com
TunnelBear

TunnelBear offers its users both free and paid VPN service. However, the free version is only limited to 500MB/month bandwidth.

On a good note, their VPN software uses the industry standard (strong) OpenVPN protocol, as well as 256-bit AES encryption.

Unfortunately, their VPN connection speed is a little slow compared to other VPNs like ExpressVPN or NordVPN.

But…

Is it still a good choice when compared to the other VPNs out there?

Let’s find out in this TunnelBear review.

General Information on TunnelBear

OVERALL RANK: #30 out of 78 VPNs
USABILITY: 4/5
LOG FILES: No logging
LOCATIONS: 8 countries
SUPPORT: Ticket system
TORRENTING: Allowed
NETFLIX: Not working
ENCRYPTION/PROTOCOL: 256-bit AES/OpenVPN, IPSec & IKEv2
JURISDICTION: Canada
COST: $3.33/mo
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.TunnelBear.com

TunnelBear is a provider of both free and paid VPNs.

It’s been around since 2011 when it was founded by Ryan Dochuk (Corporate Bear) and Daniel Kaldor (Quantum Bear).

Between the two of them, they have experience working at Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, RIM, and a mobile security startup. So they’ve certainly done their time in the tech world.

The company is based in Toronto, though their 350+ VPN servers spread throughout 22 other countries around the world, including servers in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

TunnelBear Pros

1. No Logging

To start off, TunnelBear has a strict no-logging policy. Their privacy policy is very clear about this:

TunnelBear explicitly does NOT collect, store or log the following data:

  • IP addresses visiting our website
  • IP addresses upon service connection
  • DNS Queries while connected
  • Any information about the applications, services or websites our users use while connected to our Service
TunnelBear Privacy Policy

Image from: https://www.tunnelbear.com/privacy-policy

That’s great news for privacy-conscious users. It means that they aren’t selling any of your data and that when law enforcement comes knocking, they don’t have anything interesting to give them.

They will hand over the personal information they’ve collected, as is required by Canadian law (like WindScribe). (Canada is not a good jurisdiction for a VPN provider.)

The privacy policy outlines things like your name, email address, OS version, amount of data used, and the last four digits of your credit card number.

They don’t store your full credit card number, though they can access it through their PCI-compliant payment partners.

2. No Leaks Detected

A user-friendly interface and rock-solid encryption make this leak-free VPN a solid choice.

TunnelBear uses OpenVPN by default, paired with the most advanced, uncrackable encryption standard on the market in AES-256.

Tunnelbear repeatedly states that your browsing activity is “protected by a bear,” using a whimsical-looking cartoon bear to illustrate that point over and over again.

Fortunately, TunnelBear held its ground throughout our testing process.

Check it out for yourself:

TunnelBear WebRTC detection results

Its installation software also persevered, delivering squeaky-clean results.

Tunnelbear Virustotal scan result

3. Free Plan & Works on Multiple Devices

It’s capped at 500mb (only), though.

Even though TunnelBear’s free plan is very small, it lets you check out the app and do a few speed tests on your own.

They provide streamlined apps for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. There’s also a browser extension for both Chrome and Opera, and a tracker-blocking extension that compliments all of their services (or can be used on its own).

4. Extremely Safe and Secure

Of course, no matter how cheap the VPN, you need to know that it’s safe.

Tunnelbear uses industry-standard OpenVPN protocol on Windows, Mac, and Android devices.

OpenVPN is a recommended option by default.

Recent iOS versions get IPSec/IKEv2, and older versions get IPSec (not recommended).

TunnelBear encryption chart for each device type

All in all, it’s the encryption you’d expect.

OpenVPN and IPSec/IKEv2 provide 256-bit AES protection, while the IPSec protocol offers still-respectable 128-bit AES encryption. The US government uses 256-bit AES encryption for data protection, so you can trust that this is a solid protocol.

The service also provides strong data authentication and secure Diffie-Hellman key exchange to ensure that you’re connecting to a TunnelBear server and not a nefarious man-in-the-middle miscreant.

One of the cool services that TunnelBear provides is called VigilantBear—this feature protects you while you’re connecting and disconnecting. If your WiFi drops or you move between access points, there’s the possibility that some of your data will go out over an unsecured connection. VigilantBear prevents that from happening (acting as a kill-switch).

In January 2017, Hackernoon took a deep dive into the TunnelBear code to see what they could find. You can read the entire breakdown if you like, but it gets quite technical. In short, they didn’t find any notable vulnerabilities or surprises. They were even impressed that TunnelBear includes functionality to detect both DNS and IPv6 leaks, which is great for protecting your privacy.

TunnelBear hasn’t had any big leaks or evidence of their encryption being cracked. All signs point to the fact that TunnelBear is extremely safe to use.

One thing to note is that the Diffie-Hellman key exchange method may have some flaws. While the desktop, Android, and iOS 9+ VPNs use 2,048-bit DH groups, which are considered safe, older versions of iOS use a 1,024-bit DH group. And it’s possible that some powerful nation-level attackers could be able to compromise that key exchange.

5. Nice Features

TunnelBear comes together with some great features, such as:

  • Anonymous IP
  • Kill-Switch (VigilantBear)
  • 5 Simultaneous Connections

Some websites are blocking traffic that appears to be coming from a VPN. It’s annoying, and a constant battle between VPN providers and those websites to gain the advantage.

For example, I found out that TunnelBear’s GhostBear feature does its best to hide the fact that you’re using a VPN. This will fool some businesses and governments, but not all.

Before you use GhostBear, it’s a good idea to see if you can connect to the site you want via the standard TunnelBear connection. If you can’t, it’s worth trying GhostBear. Hiding the fact that you’re using a VPN will slow down your connection a bit, so I don’t recommend leaving it on all the time.

6. Easy to Use

TunnelBear’s mission is to make VPN usage easy for everyone.

And in my opinion, they’ve certainly done that. The app is extremely simple and easy to use. It may not provide all the advanced settings you want from a high-end VPN, but if you’re just getting started with encrypted browsing, it makes the process much easier.

TunnelBear map showing your location and the tunnel being used

By default, it only shows you what you need to see: where you are, the tunnel you’re using, and where you appear to be browsing from.

There are additional settings you can find, but if you don’t want to dig into them, you can just enjoy the simple, clean interface.

The browser extensions are the same; just turn them on and leave them alone. It doesn’t get much easier than this.

7. Independently Audited for Security

There’s been a lot of bad press for some VPNs over the past few years.

Bandwidth selling, logging data, overstated security… it all erodes confidence in VPNs. That’s why TunnelBear has an independent organization audit their VPN for security.

This is a rather rare thing in the industry, and it takes a lot of humility for TunnelBear to give it a shot. They published the results of the audit, and you can read them online.

TunnelBear claims that it is the first and only VPN service in the world to offer this, and it’s definitely the only one I’ve ever come across. It should be noted, however, that the last audit period was in July of 2017, and the company has yet to update it again.

8. Allows Torrenting and TOR

TunnelBear used to be a service that did not allow torrenting. That all seems to have changed recently.

While there’s not much information about torrenting services on their official website, I got the low-down from a TunnelBear representative through their customer service department.

They confirmed that their service does allow both torrenting and the use of the TOR network. This is a huge change from when we first reviewed TunnelBear. Back then, their stance on the P2P file sharing was a hard no. We’re glad to see them joining us in the present and embracing one of the key services that people want to use a VPN for.

TOR stands for The Onion Router, and it is a private and encrypted web browser. A lot of users like to use a VPN in conjunction with TOR to maximize their anonymity. Some VPNs don’t allow the service to be used at all. Tunnelbear lets you use TOR but the representative I spoke with warned me that I could see severely decreased speeds while using it.

9. Responsive and Thorough Customer Support

Another service we did not love the first time around was TunnelBear’s ticketed-based customer support system.

Unfortunately, TunnelBear still doesn’t offer any live chat. So here’s how we typically assess ticket systems:

  1. How much time will they take to get back to me?
  2. Will they answer my question in a thorough and complete manner?

I was very impressed with both of those factors. TunnelBear’s new commitment to customer support ranks as one of my favorite out of all the ticketed support systems we’ve tested.

TunnelBear customer support form

First off look at that adorable cartoon bear with the little headset on! I’ll “paws” to let you appreciate it.

Enjoy that pun? Well, buckle up, because their customer service department is full of them.

TunnelBear Customer Support Response

I asked about torrenting and file sharing, as well as TOR and Netflix.

Before I dive into the actual response (and all of the delicious puns inside), I want to talk about the time it took to get it.

They give you a generic timeframe of 48 hours. I sighed and prepared to hate on this department. I got a response within two hours.

That’s lightning fast for tickets!

Now, for the response itself.

It’s complete, it has personality, and it has links to help me along. I couldn’t ask for anything more from a customer service department… (besides live chat).

But baby-bear steps…

You can’t be told to have a pawsome day and not smile.

TunnelBear Cons

1. Speed Problems (Slow)

Everything was going so well with TunnelBear until it was time to test their server speeds.

Some users have reported good download speeds. But in our test, my 100 Mbps connection dropped down to 52.26 Mbps when I was using the EU servers.

That’s a huge drop.

Here are some of the results that I achieved with a 100mb connection:

TunnelBear Download Speed
TunnelBear Download Speed (EU to EU servers)

US Server (New York)

  • Ping: 120ms
  • Download: 33.38 Mbps
  • Upload: 15.04 Mbps

EU Server (Amsterdam)

  • Ping: 39ms
  • Download: 52.26 Mbps
  • Upload: 27.20 Mbps

Asia Server (Hong Kong)

  • Ping: 345ms
  • Download: 7.54 Mbps
  • Upload: 2.63 Mbps

UK Server (London)

  • Ping: 44ms
  • Download: 50.10 Mbps
  • Upload: 48.36 Mbps

You should always expect to lose some speed. However, this is a significant drop that will affect your browsing experience.

They’re not the worst we’ve seen. But overall, they’re bad when you put them up against more reliable VPNs we’ve reviewed, like NordVPN and ExpressVPN.

2. No Netflix

Unfortunately, Netflix is getting better all the time at blocking VPNs.

They’ve successfully blocked many larger VPN providers (including PIA) with more servers in more places around the world.

TunnelBear support did tell me that many users have had success in unblocking Netflix.

But unfortunately, none of the servers we tested worked properly.

If you need a VPN for unblocking Netflix geo-restrictions, here’s a list of top 100% working VPNs for Netflix.

3. No Router Installation

TunnelBear doesn’t support installing its VPN software directly on your router. If you weren’t planning on doing this anyway, it’s no big deal. But if you’re considering using a VPN this way for the increased protection and ease of use, you’ll need to find another provider.

TunnelBear Pricing, Plans, & Facts

Tunnelbear’s pricing and plans are as simple as their app:

tunnelbear pricing

It’s always good to see a free option, as you can use that to test out the app and the service. The bandwidth you can use is only 500 MB per month, though.

The first paid plan, Unlimited, will run you $3.33 per month for unlimited data.

The biggest plan, Team, is a plan for teams of 2 people. So you’ll pay $5.75 per month of unlimited VPN service.

On each plan you buy, you can use up to five devices protected. So if you’re looking for a VPN that will cover your whole family, TunnelBear is a good bet.

Overall, this one is pretty cheap. However, a few, like the deal we have from NordVPN, has been able to surpass it.

Incredibly, TunnelBear does NOT offer any refunds, either. So no money-back guarantees here. Instead, they let you use their free version. You better be sure before you upgrade.

  • No logging: Yes.
  • Ease of the VPN software: Their app is quite simple and straight-forward.
  • Hidden fees & clauses: No refunds.
  • Upsells: No upsells.
  • Instant access after payment: Yes.
  • DNS leaks: None.
  • Jurisdiction: Canada
  • Tunneling Protocols: OpenVPN, IPSec, and IKEv2
  • Kill-switch: Yes.

As for payment options, TunnelBear allows you to pay via major credit cards like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. They also accept PayPal & Bitcoin, a digital form of cryptocurrency which is 100% untraceable.

They also claim to accept jars of honey…but we’re pretty sure that’s a joke. I think…

Do We Recommend TunnelBear VPN?

So is TunnelBear worth using?

It depends on what you need a VPN for.

If you just want something to protect your privacy while you browse without getting in your way with complicated options and interfaces, it’s a great choice.

You might suffer a bit on the speed side, but there’s no disputing that it’s very easy to use and does offer solid security.

But if you need more than that, you’ll probably want to choose another VPN.

I was impressed with their improved customer service and the new ability to torrent. They took many of our major complaints and corrected them.

But their lackluster speed means I can’t recommend this as a go-to for everyone.

So, if you’re looking for more, go ahead and buy NordVPN ($3.49/mo) instead.

Check out one of the other top VPNs here.

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    46 user reviews for TunnelBear

    Rachel 5/10 October 31, 2020

    Useless

    Paid for a two year subscription, mostly so I could follow the news from my home town newspaper in the US which is blocked in Europe to avoid having to comply with GDPR. It doesn't even work for that. Might provide some basic security but is absolutely no help accessing geo-blocked content. There's absolutely no trial period, so it's just wasted money. Also, customer service uses cutesy "bear" language in their emails that only adds to the irritation. ("Grrr sorry you're having a problem" ... ugh.)

    computer_scientist 5/10 July 27, 2020

    It leaves Windows services running behind

    After reading numerous articles on various VPNs, I installed the TunnelBear free version on Windows today, to give it a try before purchasing it. The settings have a toggle to stop running the VPN after exiting its UI. By default, the VPN will continue running even after the user exits the UI. Since I use a VPN only sporadically, I set TunnelBear to stop running when I exit its UI, but I noticed it leaves behind several services running. Eg., TunnelBear.Maintenace.exe and Telephony. Moreover, upon installation, TunnelBear. Maintenance.exe is set up to run automatically at startup. This annoys me, because I finely tuned my startup. All these apps that claim to be easy to use (Zoom is a perfect example) are too intrusive, and make changes to your system "under the wraps''.

    After uninstalling TunnelBear, I noticed there are other packages installed by TunnelBear, which I needed to remove by hand.

    Mike Law 10/10 June 11, 2019

    TunnelBear worked in Paris; ExpressVPN did not

    I only need a VPN when traveling when at hotels with unsecured internet. I went through hell installing ExpressVPN, given its ranking, and it not only did not work, it reconfigured by DNS, causing many lost hours of troubleshooting on my part (they did nothing but offer platitudes and generalities). I reverted to TunnelBear, which I had used before, and bingo, it worked like a charm for the time I needed it.

    Bobby Badger 8/10 May 30, 2019

    Fine for me

    I have used the free version for a month and it has been perfectly OK. I do not use it very much but it is all I need. Handy to have and easy to use.

    Dun 5/10 April 12, 2019

    TunnelBear not work in China

    I had a trip to China recently. Before my trip I bought monthly TunnelBear and installed on my mobile and desktop. It worked when I moved in first hotel. It no longer works when I moved to other hotels in the same country. Late I came back to the first hotel and it works again.

    Slash 10/10 March 28, 2019

    Noice ;P

    Personally, I just want to be safe online. Some things, like Netflix, and blocked, but since you can easily find your way through the interface you can disable it just while you use those apps. I am really happy with tunnelbear for my use of it! I'm not one of those bots that randomly comments, I really would like to give it a good rating <3

    Wendy 1/10 November 29, 2018

    No more BBC iPlayer or ITV Hub

    I’ve been using TunnelBear Grizzly for about 5 years with very few problems. All of a sudden, over the last few months I have been unable to access BBC iPlayer or ITV Hub, this is due to the aforementioned installing VPN blockers for certain ip addresses and Tunnel Bear is on the blacklist, as they do not constantly change their ip addresses to get round this (as some other VPN providers do). Unfortunately I renewed my subscription for the year a couple of months ago, had I have know of this VPN blocking, I would not have renewed and looked for a new VPN provider that can get round this problem, as TunnelBear has now been rendered useless for me. If TunnelBear do nothing to to get round this, I will be cancelling my next yearly subscription with them.

    JPL 12/10 November 11, 2018

    Works fine but isn't free

    I have used TunnelBear for several months and never had any issues with it. Speed was fine and the connection never dropped. But also, the free monthly plan seems to have gone. My 500 MB has never been renewed, even though the app advertised that one has a monthly free budget. Instead it appears that one gets 500 MB as a one off and after that one has to find a different app to avoid needing a subscription.

    duberdeedu 1/10 November 3, 2018

    (Bear)ter than some paid VPNs

    Tunnelbear offers decent speeds, and has important features like VigilantBear and GhostBear. Added support for torrenting and TOR browser is appreciated. However, it has occasional hiccups when it is blocked by some entity like WiFi/ISP level or government level which can take a few days to resolve. Also cannot connect to BBC iPlayer and NetFlix which is a bummer for some. Price is resonable and support, although is ticket-based, is fairly knowledgeable. Pricing is reasonable.

    Sachin 10/10 August 26, 2018

    The Bear rawrs!

    I use TunnelBear since last 3 months, and extremely satisfied with its performance. I am an occasionally VPN user mostly needing web surfing and access to web sites blocked by my ISP & some websites that didn't allow access due to my geo-location. While TunnelBear excels at accessing the data I need, at good speeds (no slowness noticed), it also does so at a great price point (that's free). further, their twitter promo adds upto 1 GB monthly usage, which is perfect for occasional users.

    Mike 1/10 August 15, 2018

    TunnelBear Going Downhill Fast

    In 2018, in my experience, Tunnelbear has dropped connections hundreds of times, today alone a dozen times in the last two hours, usually several times an hour.

    Connection speeds dropped to around 3-20mbps, which makes it impractical to use. I have tried all servers, same thing.

    Sometimes it takes 3-4 minutes just to connect, reconnect, connect, reconnect.... It sure wasn't like this at the beginning when I subscribed for a year, although their speeds were always slow contrary to their claims. I only have a month left on my subscription, and will cancel my subscription. I will gladly pay more for a decent VPN.

    It also seems with every update of their software, new and worse problems exist. Shame on me for "updating."

    It also appears that they ARE NOT based in Canada anymore after selling out to McAfee, a USA company.

    Daniel 9/10 July 30, 2018

    Are we using the same VPN?

    I've been using TunnelBear for just over a year now and the only downside to it is the speed. Granted I ONLY use it for torrents. I'm not sure why everyone else isn't able to use it for downloading torrents, but it's worked like a charm so far. No letters from ISP, no throttling. I just set the downloads and overnight it works its magic. In fact, I'm downloading Infinity War right now.

    Lia 1/10 June 11, 2018

    WHAT HAPPENED?

    I’ve been using them for about a year now ; slow speeds disconnects and whenever I check my leaks or my ISP it’s not always consistent. I’m very unhappy.. Someone mentioned McAfee I’m wondering if McAfee a different company took over TunnelBear, because I only have one device and the price has jumped and doubled for one device on Android which is all I need per month. This was a feature monthly billing which they have now eliminated $4.99 in May or June of this year. Considering the quality of their service I’m extremely unhappy in fact I had to uninstall it because it kept eating up my free data and would not stay off when I wanted it to stay off. I sent messages but have not received a reply as to how to stop this.

    RIP TunnelBear somebody killed the goose and people will be leaving in droves such a shame. My rating is less than 0.

    G 3/10 June 6, 2018

    No BBC o Netflix

    Worked well when I first subscribed about 3 years ago with prompt help from support and good access to the bbc. Now, absolutely no reply from support and no access to the BBC for a month. Have just cancelled.

    Emily 7/10 May 29, 2018

    TunnelBear, pretty good

    I have had the grizzly version for a couple years, mostly I find it fine for what I need, but more and more it is being detected as a VPN. I used to be able to get BBC player, but not anymore. I do get ITV from the UK and also have used a site from Australia, I can also get PBS from the US. Really wish I could still get BBC there were several shows I enjoyed there. I find the cost is manageable, far better then the cost of cable.

    Chris Butler 1/10 May 8, 2018

    McAfee killed the bear

    I have been using TunnelBear for nearly a year and was quite happy. Even with a sketchy connection the tunnel would stay open and keep the data encrypted. If the tunnel disconnected I would receive a popup telling me that I was no longer encrypted.

    That has all changed in less than a month after being devoured by McAfee. Now the tunnel will disconnect about once per hour and give no notification or block traffic, which makes the product utterly useless.

    I noticed that there is a long delay upon opening the application during which a lot of data is uploaded, which did not happen before.

    So I booted up another machine to see what data I could snoop and all my system info does indeed go out without encryption during the app startup and when the tunnel dies without notification everything I am doing is broadcast for all to see.

    My advice is to uninstall now before you are required to purchase the McAfee product uninstall helper app.

    James Evans 9/10 March 27, 2018

    Tunnel bear does all I need in a VPN

    I use the free version of Tunnel Bear mainly for my financial apps. I have it on my desktop and my laptop, and have not had any issues with access or speed. It does everything I need a VPN for with no hassle or complicated set ups.

    Malcolm F. Davidson 1/10 March 23, 2018

    Tunnel Bear - No technical support!

    I have been quite happy with Tunnel Bear up until now. I signed up for the annual Grizzly package and after a week or so, I cannot get a VPN. I am paid up, but keep being told my account is closed. I am away from USA right now so need VPN for access to certain websites. It’s been 2 days and I’ve heard nothing from their support team. I do not recommend this company. Technical support today is the number 1 service that has to be available for many S/W apps. TunnelBear fail regardless of their application merits.

    Zuri 1/10 January 27, 2018

    NOT reccomended. At all

    If you want an unreliable, constantly-dropping connection with horrible latency because TB couldn’t place the server in a proper location of the continent, this VPN client is great. Sarcasm aside, this VPN is among the worst paid or free services I have ever used. Living anywhere in North America will ALWAYS give you absolutely horrible speeds, and it’s just not worth using due to that fact. I have had better reliability with COMCAST! Freakin COMCAST. The VPN itself is simple to use, but is horribly designed.

    John 9/10 January 7, 2018

    My opinion..

    I initially joined the free version of tunnel bear, which provides a generous 500mb (plus an additional 1GB if you tweet them) of traffic and was genuinely impressed with both the speed of the VPN, the simplicity of the software, the choice of locations and the support provided by Tunnelbear.

    The free version included 20 worldwide locations (the 21st, Australia, is only available to paid members) and the speeds I got from pretty much all the locations I tested, around 8, was very good. I have since upgraded to a paid membership for just under $50/year (works out to something like $4.20/month) and I am very happy with my choice. I am allowed 5 devices (so computers, phone, tablet all have secure vpn) and unlimited data. And the speeds are excellent. As is the support, on one device I had a small issue and the response from support was prompt, and resolved my issue immediately. And the app is intuitive and simple to use.

    Would highly recommend to anyone wanting, a simple, speedy VPN.

    Chris 8/10 January 2, 2018

    good, but not for torrenting

    If you are someone who only uses  a VPN in small doses or for specific low-data purposes you can’t go wrong with the free “Little Bear” option offered by Tunnelbear.

    If you happen to run out of data Tunnelbear offers a free GB of data if you tweet at their official twitter account. You can do this each month to top off your free plan. The Tunnelbear desktop and browser apps allow you to easily choose a specific VPN location or let Tunnelbear choose one at random. Speed has been acceptable for general browsing and media streaming. Unfortunately Tunnelbear does not allow torrent traffic so if that is something you need you will have to look elsewhere.

    Matt 8/10 January 1, 2018

    Tunnelbear roars!

    I have used Tunnelbear on a number of iOS devices, and it’s been flawless in its operation. It was easy to use, fast to connect and supported US Netflix and UK BBC iPlayer without constant buffering.

    Would have liked if they had multiple IP addresses/cities to pick from so you could force it to change your IP – but you get what you pay, right?

    Nils 9/10 December 30, 2017

    Works well, even on the free plan

    I was looking for a VPN to watch videos that were region locked in Sweden when I found Tunnelbear through YouTube ads. I have been using the free version mainly, with a short period when I owned premium.

    Regardless if I payed or not it has worked flawlessly. I haven’t experienced any crashes or major bugs. I sometimes found it was needed to restart the app on my Moto Z to get it to work, but it’s a relatively common problem in apps like these. It has worked very well on my PC aswell. You have the option of using a addon for Chrome, so that only your browser goes through tunnelbear, or a program downloadable from their site which forces all traffic through the Tunnelbear network. The download/upload speeds when connecting through tunnelbear haven’t been ridicilously slow either. I have been able to watch and stream videos without any major slowdowns, so I can’t complain there either.

    In conclusion I have found Tunnelbear to work well for my usecase. I believe it should work well for most, especially those that prefer simplicity over features. The only complaint from my side is the relatively high price and low cap on the free plan.

    Jakub 8/10 December 29, 2017

    Works well, quite handy

    I use it quite rarely, so I don’t exceed the 500mb a month, but for what I need it is on point. The app itself is built well and looks really nice, so practically anyone can use it without prior extensive knowledge of VPNs. So far it never crashed or errored. There’s a handful of location that you can “tunnel” to in a certain region. All in all its pretty good for what it does.

    juanita 1/10 December 22, 2017

    cannot stream amazon prime video

    I got this to stream Amazon video, but it will not allow it. Still says I am outside the USA and cannot stream. Bummer.

    Alister 1/10 December 4, 2017

    Beware the bear

    I prepaid a one year subscription as the trial version is not available in my country, what a mistake. Tunnelbear never connects, tried everything, disable virus checkers etc still nothing, it simply fails to connect. First three support calls ignored until I posted probs on Facebook. I then sent email to support who obviously did not read my description of the issue and simply sent a form response. Even asked the irrelevant question has anything changed sine I used tunnelbear last time, UGHHHH. They have refused a refund even though this is covered by Ontario consumer law.

    This is one bear that Canadian hunters should feel free to shoot. Shame I could not give a score of zero.

    Lucas Hogendoorn 9/10 November 28, 2017

    Tunnelbear - Awesome!

    I like Tunnelbear. Tunnelbear is easy to control, fast and not too overpriced. When going on a vacation, my family wanted to watch certain series that were only available in the Netherlands.

    This is why we needed a VPN to pretend we were still there.

    After doing a bit of research, I found Tunnelbear. After signing up, it was almost instantly usable, easy to get a good grasp on how to use and almost a bit fun. The branding on the company made me a bit happy as well. I like the fact that they have servers all over the world, making all series on Netflix available to you that exist on there, with just the tap of a button.

    Rodrigo 7/10 November 21, 2017

    Slowish but steady

    TunnelBear might the easiest VPN i’ve ever used. Easy to install, easy to set up and very user friendly, even if you’re not super tech-savy. For most popular servers – USA, UK, the connection might take a long time and the service might be a little slow, but it never crashes and it is always steady. For not so popular servers, the connection might even make you forget you’re using a VPN. The interface is always good on one’s eyes, too.

    You always get promotions and their support is excellent. I’ve never considered looking for another VPN.

    Jack 8/10 November 11, 2017

    Great VPN..

    I started using TunnelBear a while ago after searching for a reliable free VPN and TunnelBear definitely delivers, many different connections you can choose from, no data selling (as far as I can tell), and a very helpful iOS app, I have only had to talk to customer support once and they were very helpful and solved my problem quickly and efficiently.

    You only get 500mb per month with a free license which I do understand as the developers do need to make money. However I do feel as a free user I was experiencing some slow connections at times.

    Overall a very safe, very nice, very easy to use and beautifully presented VPN that will serve almost everyone’s needs. ?

    LD Workman 8/10 November 1, 2017

    Best Free VPN..

    I have been using a vpn for the past 6 years to keep not only my personal devices, but also our work devices safe.

    Tunnelbear VPN has offered beyond what my expectations were and exceeded them!

    I have not seen a difference in terms of speed while using this VPN unlike some other company’s.

    Tunnelbear takes the cake when it comes to safe browsing without giving up internet speed.

    Temping 8/10 October 30, 2017

    Good Experience

    Tunnelbear VPN is incredibly fast and super secure. It is the most popular VPN for Kodi due to the high HD streaming performance and support on all devices. It offers 24/7 live support and servers in almost any country. You can use it simultaneously with a few devices, and it gives a strong fight to tunnelbear VPN, while others lag behind.

    Pheonix Taylor 3/10 October 29, 2017

    Slow connection in Australia

    Firstly – TunnelBear does not include Australian servers in their free trial meaning you have to contact a support personal and ask for a week/end trial. That wasn’t to bad of an issue but when I tried it out, I got completely awful ping, my ping went for 40 to over 100 on Australian servers meaning to play online with people I would have to turn it off not to lag, defeating the purpose of a VPN.

    Lorenzo Fortaleza 8/10 October 27, 2017

    TunnelBear Reliability

    I’ve been running the TunnelBear VPN app on my iPhone for a while now, and I must say, it works beautifully.

    As long as you have a TunnelBear account ( free for 500MB per month—1 GB more if you tweet about TunnelBear—and it goes up to $5/mo for unlimited data on all your devices) you can use the app to connect to any of TunnelBear’s servers around the globe, including the US and Singapore, Japan, and more. Just fiddle around the map to find the tunnel you want to connect to, or tap the country name at the bottom of the screen to bring up a list of options.

    Also, be sure to Toggle the “Always On” option to make sure your connection is secure all the time even as your phone goes to sleep and wakes up from it, or when you lock/unlock it.

    Overall, I’d give TunnelBear a solid 8/10 stars.

    Joseph Newman 7/10 October 18, 2017

    Great for low-usage users

    Tunnelbear has always been mixed for me, I’ve had issues in the past with login’s bugging, but now after updates, in my opinion, it’s one of the best free VPNs.

    The 500MB monthly allowance is a good number, and if you happen to have higher than normal usage, you can do some of the things it advertises such as “Tweet for 1GB”, which is relatively straight forward, and allows you to get more data to use. Perfect for me, and works well on iOS11, quite a surprise really considering how many apps and other VPNs don’t seem to function properly on the new iOS.

    I’d recommend it, if you’re looking for a good free VPN.

    Ondřej S. 9/10 October 8, 2017

    better than others

    I’ve been using Tunnelbear for a year now. When I can’t access some website, because it is blocked in my country, Tunnelbear always has my back. Great free service and even better paid VPN. It’s fast, easy to set up and has nice user interface. Tunnelbear is better than all other VPNs I’ve tried.

    Jim 1/10 August 23, 2017

    Never again, avoid

    I use TunnelBear on two desktop’s and one mobile cell phone. While it may be true that ‘TB’ can be easy to use, it’s also true, questions go unanswered. This has occurred each time I sent in a ticket, sorry too many to count. A quick example! Send them a ticket, you next recieve a remote reply stating your ticket will be addressed in 24-48 hrs. You may then, if at all, get another message, they need more info, please resend ticket with more info. So around and around this can go until most people, like myself, just give up. The one and only time I was able to converse with them (no phone calls) the tech had not even bothered to look at any of my messages they had repeatedly asked me to send. This tech then gave me some ‘a very good idea’. He informed me most of my answers could be found online!?! At the end of our typing session he stated my ticket would be sent on up to a ‘TIER TWO TUNNELBEAR TECH’. Again , yet ANOTHER MESSAGE, which I ignored, ASKING ME FOR MORE INFO, AHHHHH Never again…

    Warren van Niekerk 1/10 August 15, 2017

    Its crap - don't bother

    Very slow connecting. Frequent disconnects and their proxy server is already on a number of blacklists on sites you would want to visit.

    Goldilocks 9/10 June 18, 2017

    Paid TB=Great

    I’ve been using the paid version of TB for about 6 mos. The great UI was the main attraction, but the reliable connections are what keep me with this service.

    Aditya 10/10 June 15, 2017

    VPN for Novices

    I tried using Tunnelbear after seeing the sponsorship of LTT videos as I was after a simple VPN for my parents to use.

    Was delighted to see the simple to use interface, and a wide range of server locations, even for the free accounts.

    Didn’t notice a huge drop in speeds accessing website whilst using the VPN, but it takes a few minutes to change the server connection from one location to another.

    Applications for PC, Mac, android, and iPhone are very simple with one click operation to enable and disable VPN services.

    After the best part of a year using Tunnelbear, I haven’t had any issues and would recommend for anyone that wants a simple to use VPN service.

    Anonymous Guy 6/10 June 5, 2017

    Free = Not good. Paid = OK

    Just wanted to chime and tell you that TunnelBear is a solid product, but only if you opt in for their paid version. Their free version is a bit clunky and not meant for daily usage. If you’re traveling – sure, go ahead and use it. Probably does the trick and you’ll be able to use it for Netflix.

    However, if you need decent speed like me (daily user), you most likely need to use their paid version.

    Just my thoughts…

    Tim 1/10 May 2, 2017

    Too slow

    I used this VPN for some months and then the connection was unbelievably slow. It takes a minute to download 1mb file.

    I used free version.

    Luke Martin 8/10 May 1, 2017

    TunnelBear is Good

    When I first use Tunnelbear Free (Software & Android App), it has an interesting UI that you will see which country you are located along with the bear, once you chose a country for the VPN connection, the bear digs on you country’s ground then will pop out to a pipe much like Super Mario.

    Once connected, it is stable and you don’t need to worry if you got disconnected, it can reconnect to the same country or reconnect to other VPN Server. Overall, Tunnelbear is easy to use, great UI and generous for the 500MB data(Free Account) especially if you are going to tweet it for the first time, they’ll give you an additional 1GB data.

    Albert Anino 4/10 April 28, 2017

    Needs improvement

    TunnelBear was good for me for only 1 day.

    It just stops, I don’t know – perhaps I’ve just reached the limit.

    Now I’ve just uninstalled the app because it’s not working anymore. I guess that’s what you get for “free” version, ha.

    Abishek 5/10 April 27, 2017

    Mixed feelings about this software

    The things I love about tunnelbear vpn is the amount of countries you can choose when using a paid account. It’s pretty fast, too.

    The negative part of this app is sometimes it just hangs and I have to force stop and restart it to use again.

    It’d be a solid product (but it crashes too often).

    Michael 7/10 April 25, 2017

    TunnelBear looks cool, although it's not the best out there.

    I liked the UI of TunnelBear, therefore I used them for a while, until my mate told me to try out another service provider. I tried that one out and understood that it’s faster than TunnelBear.

    I can’t say bad things about TunnelBear, since it didn’t disappoint me, but there are better providers out there. Right now I’m using PIA for all of my devices. (An android phone, a Macbook, an iPad and my sons PC).

    Phil 8/10 March 11, 2017

    TunnelBear is decent

    I’ve used TunnelBear for the past 6 months. Mainly due to being a heavy Wi-Fi user (we all know the concerns of Wi-Fi, right).

    Well, till date I don’t have anything to complain about. The $3.33 option is pretty decent, though I sometimes miss the ability to download bigger files (it’s just a bit slow).