In an era where online privacy and security are paramount, choosing the right VPN can be daunting.
Amidst the sea of options, TunnelBear has emerged as a popular choice, known for its quirky bear-themed branding and its promises of simplicity and robust protection.
But is TunnelBear VPN truly worth the hype in 2024?
Let’s examine its features, performance, and overall value to help you decide whether It is the right VPN for your needs.
🚀 Bottom Line Upfront:
TunnelBear is a user-friendly VPN service known for its charming branding and strong commitment to online privacy and security.
It is a lovable virtual private network that will protect your online activity without making you deal with cumbersome programs or jarring visuals.
TunnelBear Review 2024
TunnelBear was founded in 2011 in Toronto, Canada, by startup veterans. Its team consists of former employees from tech giants like Microsoft, RIM, Goldman Sachs, and Fixmo.
Currently, they have servers spread across 12 countries: the UK, Canada, the US, Germany, France, Ireland, Spain, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, and Italy.
With their top-notch security, cutting-edge technology, and high-speed servers, they have become one of the most reputed VPN service providers.
TunnelBear Key Features:
1. Streaming Capabilities:
TunnelBear’s premium version has shown notable improvement in unblocking streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, and more.
It offers good streaming quality with minimal buffering, making it suitable for HD content. However, it may not unblock some services like Sky TV and Sky Sports.
Users can stream content in HD quality with TunnelBear, thanks to its fast speeds which reduce buffering and ensure smooth playback.
| Platform | Does it work? |
| Netflix | ✔Yes |
| BBC iPlayer | ✔Yes |
| HBO Max | ✔Yes |
| Amazon Prime Video | ✔Yes |
| YouTube TV | ✔Yes |
TunnelBear can unblock full libraries of services like Netflix in certain regions (e.g., Netflix US and Netflix France).
However, it may not work across all its servers for every streaming service, showing some limitations in accessing content from regions like Japan, Australia, Germany, and the UK.
2. Speed:
TunnelBear provides excellent speeds on local servers, making it a viable option for activities requiring fast internet, such as streaming or gaming.
The speeds are comparatively slower on distant servers, which is common among VPNs. The “Fastest Tunnel” feature helps users connect to the best server based on their location.
3. Gaming:
With low ping rates on local servers, TunnelBear is suitable for gaming. The VPN maintains a stable connection with minimal latency, ensuring a smooth gaming experience.
4. Mobile Apps:
TunnelBear offers user-friendly mobile apps for Android and iOS. The app’s simple design makes it easy to connect to servers and manage settings.
5. Pricing and Plans:
TunnelBear offers both free and paid plans. The free plan provides access to all servers with a data cap of 2GB per month.
Paid plans include “Unlimited” and “Teams,” with the former offering more affordable rates for long-term commitments. The Teams plan is tailored for businesses, providing features like centralized billing and an account manager.
6. Privacy and Security Features:
Key privacy features include VigilantBear, which blocks unsecured traffic if the connection is disrupted, and SplitBear, which allows users to control which apps use the VPN connection. TunnelBear also assures that its users’ activity is not logged.
Vigilant Bear (Kill Switch)- Vigilant Bear ensures your data stays secure even if your VPN connection drops. It protects your data when the VPN reconnects or goes offline, keeping your information safe.
GhostBear- GhostBear is an obfuscation technology that adds a layer of security to TunnelBear. It scrambles VPN connections, making them undetectable by ISPs and protected from firewalls. GhostBear encrypts data and can bypass firewalls, allowing access to blocked sites. If TunnelBear meets your requirements, you can continue using it, as it also provides strong encryption.
7. Encryption and Protocols:
The VPN uses AES 256-bit encryption and supports multiple protocols, including WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2. This strong encryption ensures secure and private online activities.
| Protocol | OS Support |
| WireGuard | Windows, iOS |
| IKEv2 | Windows, iOS |
| OpenVPN | Android, macOS |
| IPsec | iOS |
8. Server Network:
TunnelBear offers a network of over 5,000 VPN servers in more than 47 countries, providing users with various options for connecting globally.
Initially, TunnelBear had servers only in the United States and the United Kingdom, but it has now expanded its reach.
Apart from the US and UK, TunnelBear has strategically set up its servers in Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Australia, Germany, France, and Canada.
Unlike other VPN service providers, which limit the amount of data, TunnelBear does not have any sort of limit.
9. No Logging Policy:
Here’s another reason you would feel secure while using this VPN service provider: It keeps no logs or records of its users, so the company cannot track their online activities.
It asks for relevant information only, such as email addresses or whether you are a paid member. The company keeps some operational data, which is encrypted.
This VPN server may keep data on the time duration of the connected user and information about the bandwidth so that it can use this data to optimize the VPN.
It does not keep track of your:
- The IP address of the visiting website
- IP addresses upon service connection
- DNS while connected
- Information related to the websites, applications, or servers.
10. TunnelBear Blocker:
Using this VPN, you can block anything in Chrome. You can block almost anything, including ads, trackers, and emails tracking your traffic.
You can unblock the blocked contents or block the information you don’t want to share.
Have you ever seen those annoying pop-ups asking you to enable Flash or some annoying video ads that do not pause or mute?
This VPN server can block all these things by blocking the plugins on these web pages.
TunnelBear Pricing:
Pricing is one of the most important factors; we all have a budget for everything, and adhering to it is important for financial stability.
We see a lot of great things we want, but if it is not in our price range, we don’t go for it. But don’t worry; you won’t have that issue if you want to sign up for TunnelBear.
Its prices are affordable, probably among the lowest in the world. TunnelBear has three different plans; let’s examine them one by one.
Although TunnelBear VPN does not guarantee a refund of your money, you can benefit from a free account with some limitations.
This free account gives you access to monthly data limited to 500 MB, which is enough to use this free VPN.
You need a paid premium account for extra features like unlimited bandwidth and concurrent connections.
| TunnelBear plans | Monthly cost |
|---|---|
| Free | $0.00 |
| Unlimited | $3.33 |
| Teams | $5.75/user |
If you want to get their one-year subscription plan, it costs you $ 4.99 per month. The payment methods available include MasterCard, Bitcoin, Visa, and American Express.
Apart from having a limited free version, the premium subscriptions aren’t too pricey.
| Version | Price |
| Free Plan | $0.00 |
| 1-year plan | $4.99/month |
| 2-year plan | $4.17/month |
| 3-year plan | $3.33/month |
TunnelBear Benefits✨:
1. Fully Private Internet
With TunnelBear, users can enjoy safe and private surfing and online sharing in the best possible way.
The application ensures that no one monitors a user’s computer or network, whether it’s hackers, internet service providers, government agencies, employers, or others.
In addition, the VPN application is always active and alert, avoiding downtime to protect privacy on the Internet.
2. Secure Public Connections
Public access points and free Wi-Fi networks are nuisances to any private user. Although they can benefit from a seemingly secure connection to the Web, they are still victims of malicious threats.
For this reason, TunnelBear installs encryption barriers around a user’s computer or device to ensure viruses, malware, and other online threats do not attack them.
3. Parameters Without Registration
There’s a reason why TunnelBear is an award-winning VPN. It vigorously protects the privacy of its users.
For this reason, the application has the No Registration setting, which prevents users from worrying about the websites and programs they have visited that are listed and stored somewhere.
4. Expansive Network
TunnelBear has more than 20 servers in different parts of the world. If a user needs to ignore content locked by a region, it will be enough to ask his partner to take him to another country.
Therefore, they have unrestricted access to their favorite content.
5. Fast Connections
TunnelBear provides fast server connections for its users, ensuring a smooth online experience no matter where they are. This means you won’t have to wait long to stream your favorite videos or play games.
6. Anti-VPN Application
Some areas of the web can detect when a computer is using a VPN. In this case, they block access to this system. TunnelBear has found a solution to this problem.
For this reason, it has an anti-VPN feature that allows users to continue using their open Internet.
7. Bears Team
However, TunnelBear is not limited to individual users. The VPN application also works for computers and allows them to protect their activity on up to 5 devices. It allows them to do their work anywhere in the world.
TunnelBear Customer Support ☎️:
| 24/7 live chat | ❌ |
| ✔ | |
| Phone line | ❌ |
| Guides or articles | ✔ |
| FAQs/Forums | ✔ |
TunnelBear offers support only via ticket; they do not have 24/7 live chat. You can raise a ticket under the help section on their website, they will reply on the email id you provide.
They also have a lot of step-by-step tutorials available on their website.
They have covered literally everything in their tutorials. You can also go through their FAQ page to find solutions to general problems customers face.
TunnelBear Review: Pros and Cons
Pros:
- User-friendly interface for all users.
- Affordable pricing for the basic plan.
- Strong encryption ensures data security.
- Offers a free trial version available.
- No logs policy enhances user privacy.
Cons:
- Limited server locations compared to competitors.
- Slower connection speeds at times.
- Free version has data limitations.
FAQs
✔Does TunnelBear collect data?
Yes, TunnelBear does gather certain user information. The IP addresses, DNS requests, and other information about the viewed content are not included, though.
👀Is TunnelBear reliable?
Yes. The VPN provider TunnelBear maintains that no activity logs are kept. Additionally, they have conducted independent security audits for the past five years. They are now among the reliable VPN service providers.
🤷♂️Does TunnelBear allow torrenting?
No. No matter which host we choose, TunnelBear prevented us from torrenting anything during our tests. Additionally, torrenting would be terrible with such erratic speed results. See our list of the top VPNs for torrenting to choose a VPN that is both quick and secure.
💁♀️How much does TunnelBear VPN cost?
There are various options available from TunnelBear, including a free version. Although TunnelBear is available for free, you won't have much of a user experience. The 3-year package from TunnelBear, which starts at just $3.33/month, is the best deal available.
👍 Is TunnelBear better than NordVPN?
In contrast to NordVPN, TunnelBear is not superior. In general, NordVPN is one of the best VPNs on the market right now, as you can read in detail in our comparison study of these two VPNs.
Quick Links:
- Does VPN Protect Your Online Privacy?
- NordVPN Review: Is This VPN Service Worth The Hype?
- PureVPN Review: Is It Worth The Price?
- PureVPN Pricing: How Much Does PureVPN Cost?
- Windscribe VPN Review: Is Windscribe VPN Trustworthy?
Conclusion: TunnelBear Review 2024
As my TunnelBear review in 2024 comes to an end, I can confidently say that this VPN offers a delightful blend of user-friendliness and strong security features.
Its commitment to privacy, robust encryption, and no-logs policy make it a compelling choice for individuals looking to enhance their online security.
While its server network and streaming capabilities may not be the most extensive, TunnelBear excels in providing a simple and effective VPN solution.
Ultimately, whether or not TunnelBear is worth the hype depends on your specific needs and preferences.
So, take the time to evaluate its strengths and limitations and decide if this bear is the right guardian for your online adventures.
