TunnelBear VPN Review (2022): Is It Secure and Easy to Use?

TunnelBear is a great security tool with a user-friendly interface (with adorable bears all around) and very fast speeds to allow for seamless browsing and uninterrupted streaming.

TunnelBear can access streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and BBC iPlayer. It also works in countries with restricted internet access, such as China and Iran.

TunnelBear offers industry-standard VPN security features, such as 256-bit AES encryption and a strict no logs policy. It also has a kill switch.

• Split-tunneling.
• Torrenting on all server.
• Obfuscation.
• More…

TunnelBear is a great service. However, there are some issues. It doesn’t give a clear picture of how many servers it runs, doesn’t provide a money back guarantee, and doesn’t offer 24/7 live chat. Split-tunneling would be a great addition to TunnelBear’s Windows and Mac apps, as well as WireGuard (WireGuard being the fastest protocol).

TunnelBear offers a 1-month, 1-year and 3-year payment plans, as well as a plan that can be used for testing the product.

TunnelBear Full Review

TunnelBear was a VPN that I tested for a few weeks. It has fast speeds, good security, and intuitive apps. To determine if TunnelBear is a good value, I also compared it to other top VPNs.

TunnelBear’s website and apps are full of cute animated bears. TunnelBear’s playful approach to design should not be mistaken for being lighthearted when it comes security, privacy and performance.

TunnelBear is one the most transparent VPN providers. It offers top-quality security features and conducts an independent audit every year. Although you don’t get many extra features, TunnelBear is intuitive, simple to use and fun. This makes it a great choice for those who are just starting to use VPNs.

TunnelBear Features

TunnelBear offers the following standard VPN security features.

• 256 bit AES encryption. This encryption method is used by military and government agencies around the world.
• No logs policy. TunnelBear does not store any personal data. This includes the websites you visit, files that you download and IP addresses. TunnelBear has an easy to understand and transparent Privacy Policy.
• Kill switch. This feature, called VigilantBear, shuts down your internet access in the event that your VPN connection drops. Once TunnelBear locates an internet connection, it automatically connects to it. This prevents any data leaks.

TunnelBear supports OpenVPN as well as IKEv2 internet protocols. TunnelBear’s automatic selection of the best protocol for your connection is great. However, it doesn’t tell which protocol you are using. OpenVPN and IKEv2 can be found on iOS, Android and Windows. Mac users have IKEv2. Although IKEv2 and OpenVPN are both reliable protocols, I would like TunnelBear to offer WireGuard.

I like the fact that TunnelBear uses its own encrypted DNS servers to prevent DNS leaked. This is in contrast to VyprVPN, which requires you to disable IPv6 traffic manually on your device.

TunnelBear supports The Onion Router, (Tor), on all of its servers. All you have to do is connect with a TunnelBear Server and then start using the Tor network. TunnelBear hides your IP address from Tor users when you surf the Tor network. This includes the entry node. If your IP address is compromised, Tor users can only see the VPN’s IP address and not your real IP address. TunnelBear’s Tor support can be quite good. However, I prefer ProtonVPN as it allows you browse the Tor network using regular browsers such as Chrome and Opera.

TunnelBear offers a few additional features as well.

Split-Tunneling (SplitBear)

SplitBear lets you choose which apps will be routed through the VPN tunnel, and which through your local network.

TunnelBear’s split tunnelling tool is quite good and worked well in my tests. However, it’s only available to Android.

SplitBear was tested by connecting to a US server in order to download a large file. I then routed Disney+ through my Internet Service Provider to test it. SplitBear enabled me to torrent at lightning speeds and still watch my favorite Disney+ movies and TV shows without interruptions.

SplitBear by TunnelBear is similar to CyberGhost VPN and ExpressVPN’s split tunneling features. It also allows you to redirect apps. ProtonVPN is my favourite VPN for split tunnelling because you can exclude web browsers from the VPN tunnel and IP addresses.

SplitBear works well for redirecting apps to the VPN tunnel. It’s simple to use and worked great in my tests. Split-tunneling to Windows would be a nice feature for TunnelBear. It’s rare to find a VPN with split-tunneling on Mac and none on iOS.

Obfuscation (GhostBear)

GhostBear, TunnelBear’s obfuscation software that hides your VPN connection to prying eyes is

It acts like your ISP and makes it appear that you are browsing the internet while not being connected to a TunnelBear Server.

GhostBear can be used to bypass internet firewalls in countries like Iran and China.

GhostBear can slow down your internet speed slightly because it adds additional encryption. My tests showed that websites took 5 extra seconds to load, and Netflix content experienced a little lag. Although TunnelBear’s obfuscation tools are capable of maintaining decent speeds, ExpressVPN’s obfuscation features is significantly faster.

Overall, I love TunnelBear’s GhostBear function. It’s reliable in overcoming VPN blockages, it’s easy to use, and it is very fast.

Password Manager (RememBear)

RememBear, a free password manager, allows unlimited passwords to be stored on one device.

Although RememBear may be adorable, there are better password managers available, such as LastPass, Avira Password Management, RoboForm, and RoboForm.

RememBear protects your passwords using 256-bit AES encryption. It has been independently audited and includes a decent password generator, as well as excellent auto-save/auto-fill functionality. You can also learn how RememBear works by unlocking achievements. This section teaches you how you can use RememBear.

Upgrade to RememBear Premium Adds multi-device sync and cloud backup, but no other features such as password auditing, password sharing, dark web monitoring or password sharing. These are all available in the top competitors, like Keeper, 1Password and Dashlane.

RememBear’s interface is easy to use, secure and full of adorable bears. This is a great option for those who want a simple password manager that has basic functionality. But if you are looking for something more powerful to manage all your logins and sensitive information, we recommend our list of top password managers for 2022.

TunnelBear Privacy & Security

TunnelBear offers one of the clearest and most straightforward no-logs policies.

TunnelBear’s Privacy Policy is easy to understand. It uses simple language instead of using complex and confusing language like other VPNs. TunnelBear also has charts that display what data it collects, and a explanation for why. TunnelBear claims it collects as little information as possible to run its service. It only keeps your email address (to contact you) and your payment information (to process refunds or prevent fraud).

TunnelBear also conducts an independent audit each year for any holes in its codewear, infrastructure and apps. Each audit is published on its website.

TunnelBear, like CyberGhost VPN, also publishes an annual transparency report that shows how many times the government or law enforcement agencies have requested user data. It also lists how many times TunnelBear has responded to those requests (none). TunnelBear’s headquarters is in the USA, which is part the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliances, an intelligence-sharing agreement among various countries. However, TunnelBear would not have any user data to hand over to the US government, as the VPN does not store it.

TunnelBear’s transparent, no-logs policy has been audited numerous times. It also has an easy to understand Privacy Policy. TunnelBear releases a transparency report each year to back up its no-logs policy.

TunnelBear Speed & Performance

To determine the average speed of TunnelBear’s VPN, I ran speed tests in 45+ countries. I saw a decrease of 42% in my download speed from my baseline speed. This is quite good — I was able to browse, stream, make Voice over IP (VoIP), and torrent on most servers.

My tests began by setting my baseline speed and connecting to my local network.

Next, TunnelBear’s Quick Connect tool was used to connect me to the fastest server. TunnelBear then connected me to a New York server. I was able to download at a rate of 10% which is quite good for a local VPN server. My internet activities were not affected. I was able to browse the internet and stream Netflix content, and also had a 2-hour Zoom Call without any problems.

Then, I tried a server in Germany. My download speed was faster than the US. I experienced a speed drop of only 5%. I was able to surf the internet, play video games, and download files almost as if there wasn’t a VPN.

Finally, I was able to connect to an Australian server (which is the farthest from my home). TunnelBear significantly reduced my internet speed by 80%. Websites took between 5-7 and 10 seconds to load, while TV shows and movies took around 10 seconds to start. However, I had no interruptions or buffering once the videos started.

In general, I found that TunnelBear’s VPN speeds were very fast on both local servers (the US) and servers in Central and South America, Europe, and vice versa. Only very distant servers in Australia or New Zealand had slower speeds.

TunnelBear Servers & IP Addresses

TunnelBear offers servers in over 45 countries.

Although the number of countries served is lower than many of the best VPNs, such as HMA (200+ Countries), ExpressVPN (90+ Countries), CyberGhost VPN (90+ Countries), and CyberGhost VPN (90+), Private Internet Access (78) and CyberGhost VPN (90+), TunnelBear has a great job of distributing its server locations around the globe so that most users can connect to servers in their country, or one that is close (to achieve faster speeds).

TunnelBear does not publicly disclose the number of servers it has around the world. TunnelBear support was able to help me via email. A representative from TunnelBear stated that the provider adds or removes servers depending on demand. The rep stated that the server count total would fluctuate due to this constant fluctuation. However, this is not enough for me. Many top VPNs make their server counts public, and many of them update it on a daily or weekly basis. TunnelBear would be a great choice to provide an even more transparent server count in future.

TunnelBear does not list the cities in which its servers are located, like ProtonVPN or CyberGhost VPN. TunnelBear allows you to connect only to one country. However, I checked the city where I was connected while I did my speed tests to determine which city it was. TunnelBear offers multiple servers in different cities for large countries like the US. I was connected to servers in New York, Virginia, San Francisco. I was connected to the exact same city in smaller countries such as Portugal, Greece, Colombia and Colombia.

TunnelBear does not provide information about server load percentage (how many active users are connected) and latency (how long the internet signal takes to travel from your device into the VPN server).

Despite this, TunnelBear supports torrenting from all its servers– this allows for you to connect to a local server for the fastest speeds. Some VPNs, such as ProtonVPN or CactusVPN, have limited P2P servers. This could make it difficult to locate a server nearby.

TunnelBear does not offer dedicated IPs. Private Internet Access and CyberGhost VPN offer dedicated IPs at a slightly higher cost. PrivateVPN offers dedicated IPs free of charge.

Although TunnelBear’s servers are only found in 45+ countries worldwide, they are well-spread all over the globe. To be more transparent, TunnelBear should release the server count.

TunnelBear Streaming & Torrenting

TunnelBear is compatible with Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu.

— and less-known streaming sites such as Pluto TV, CBC (in Canada) and ABC. Although TunnelBear is a good streaming site, it was disappointing to discover that it does not work with ESPN+ or Disney+.

TunnelBear can be used to torrent— . It allows P2P traffic from all locations but recommends connecting with a server in Canada or the US, UK, Romania and the Netherlands if you have problems downloading files from other countries. TunnelBear was able to download files from all locations in my tests. It also worked with the most popular torrenting clients, such as BitTorent and Deluge. qBittorent had the fastest speeds. TunnelBear does not include port forwarding, which provides faster speeds.

Before I downloaded files, I did leak tests on 10+ TunnelBear servers. All of the leak tests came back clean.

TunnelBear is a good streaming site and supports torrenting. My colleague in the UK was able access BBC iPlayer. TunnelBear does not work with ESPN+ or Disney+.

TunnelBear Bypassing Censorship

TunnelBear uses GhostBear to bypass internet censorship.

It claims it works in countries such as China, Iran and Russia.

TunnelBear Plans & Pricing

TunnelBear offers three plans

• Free.
• Unlimited (includes three subscription options).
• Teams for businesses

While the free plan includes all the premium features, you get only 500 MB per month

In my tests, it was sufficient for just a few hours of browsing to test TunnelBear’s product. ProtonVPN is a great free option. It offers unlimited data and bandwidth, access servers in the USA, Japan and the Netherlands, as well as good speeds.

The Unlimited Plan starts at D76,080 per month. It includes unlimited data, 5 connections, and unlimited data.

The Teamsplan includes unlimited data, 5 connections and a dedicated account manager. It also offers centralized billing and management.

TunnelBear accepts Bitcoin and credit cards. You can also pay with honey jars! TunnelBear does not accept Paypal.

TunnelBear is also one of the few VPNs that does not offer a money back guarantee. However, it may consider offering a full refund depending on each case. ProtonVPN and CyberGhost VPN are also top VPNs that back all purchases with a money back guarantee.

TunnelBear’s payment plans compare favorably to many top VPNs. TunnelBear accepts Bitcoin and credit cards, but it would be great if it accepted PayPal payments. Although there is no money back guarantee, TunnelBear can be tested with the free plan.

TunnelBear Ease of Use: Mobile & Desktop Apps

TunnelBear has apps for Android, iOS and Windows as well as macOS and browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox.

TunnelBear apps were easy to install. It took me just 1-2 minutes on my Android and iOS phones, and 3-4 minutes on Windows 10 PCs and MacBooks.

Android

TunnelBear Android app is my favorite TunnelBear App

It’s feature-rich and well-designed. It was also easy to use (I took about 1 minute to get used it).

TunnelBear’s Android application is so easy to use. The Fastest Server option allows you to connect to a server in just one tap. Tap on the small arrow in the bottom to select a server. This will display all TunnelBear server locations. Or tap on a country marked by a small honey jar on the map. What’s more, when you connect with a server, a bear digs out a tunnel from where you are currently located and then pops out of a small jar of honey in that country. The bear lets out an adorable roar!

It’s also great that only one section is under the Settingstab. You can enable the bear sounds by clicking Options. You can enable the bear sounds by clicking on i>Options (of course you will! You have no other options in the Setting tab. These links will take you to TunnelBear’s Help Support, where you can post a review, view the privacy policy and log out.

TunnelBear’s Android apps don’t offer convenient connections options, unlike the desktop apps. TunnelBear won’t launch automatically when your device is powered on or add trusted networks TunnelBear will connect to automatically.

Despite this, TunnelBear’s Android application is a lot fun. An animated bear roars every time you establish a connection.

iOS

TunnelBear’s iOS app is weakest of all VPNs. The iOS TunnelBear iOS app lacks GhostBear, VigilantBear and SplitBear. However, the app does have an option to connect to TunnelBear over Wi-Fi networks or cellular networks. You can also add trusted networks to your account, something that is not possible on Android.

The iOS app’s design is almost identical to the Android app. Because there are so few features it is even simpler to navigate than the Android. You can also change the icon on your iOS device by selecting a cute option.

Although there are other iOS apps that offer more features than TunnelBear, TunnelBear’s iOS application is easy to use and includes cute bears!

Windows/Mac (Desktop)

TunnelBear’s desktop applications are almost identical to their mobile apps. Not surprisingly, I love both the Windows and Mac versions of TunnelBear. You can connect to the fastest server in just one click thanks to their intuitive interface.

It’s simple to manually locate a server, just like with the mobile apps. Click on the drop-down Arrow next to the on/off slider for a list or click on a jar filled with honey in a country. Unfortunately, the bear won’t roar when you connect to the Windows or Mac apps. However, your connection will be confirmed by a bear wearing a hat similar to that country’s.

The Windows and Mac apps allow TunnelBear to be enabled on startup. You can also enable notifications if the VPN server is connected or disconnected. If an unsecured network has been detected, you will receive an alert. You can disable TunnelBear from trusted Wi-Fi networks using the desktop app.

Split-tunneling is something I miss on both desktop apps, and the macOS application only has OpenVPN.

Overall TunnelBear offers good desktop apps. They’re user-friendly and fun to use, with lots of great features.

TunnelBear’s Apps: Is TunnelBear Easy to Use?

TunnelBear has undoubtedly some of the best apps on the market.

They all have simple interfaces that take only a few minutes to learn. While the Android app has the best features, it is also the most popular. However, there are excellent apps for iOS, Windows, Mac and Mac.

TunnelBear Customer Support

TunnelBear’s Help section has a large number of guides, frequently asked questions (FAQs), important announcements and an email portal. There’s also a search option where a cute bear type on a keyboard while you enter your question. However, there is no live chat available.

The support guides are very well organized into three categories: Accounts, Getting to Know Your Bear and Troubleshooting. Each category has sub-categories. For example, Getting To Know Your Bear contains sections for FAQs Privacy and Security and Features. I found the majority of my questions answered by the guides, or via the search option.

TunnelBear’s email service was helpful when I couldn’t find an answer to my questions with the guides. My emails were answered within 1-2 hours during TunnelBear office hours in the US. However, when I emailed support outside of these hours, I did not receive a response until the following morning. I received a response that was friendly and personal. It provided me with the solution to my problem or question.

However, TunnelBear should have 24/7 live chat, like ExpressVPN, CyberGhost VPN and PrivateVPN. Although email responses are usually quick, they don’t compare to the support you receive in real-time with knowledgeable chat representatives. TunnelBear should offer a live chat service that is available 24/7.

TunnelBear’s customer service is not great but it is still quite good. Although I miss the live chat, the email support is great as long as you contact them during business hours.

Is TunnelBear One of the Best VPNs in 2022?

TunnelBear offers security, privacy, and a fun interface. It is also very secure.

TunnelBear is compatible with many streaming sites like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer and Amazon Prime Video. It’s P2P-friendly and bypasses firewalls in countries like Iran and China that limit internet access.

TunnelBear was not the fastest VPN in my speed tests. However, I was impressed by the speed TunnelBear offered on local servers in the US, Europe, Central and South America. My average download speed decrease was 42%. This is well above the average. TunnelBear’s fast speeds allowed me to stream content in HD without buffering, make VoIP calls that didn’t freeze, download large files quickly, and browse the internet with very few delays.

TunnelBear’s security measures include 256-bit AES encryption and a kill switch. It also has a strict no logs policy that was independently audited. TunnelBear publishes an annual transparency statement that shows it has not provided any user data to law enforcement or the government.

I love TunnelBear. However, there are some downsides. TunnelBear does not publish a server count and it doesn’t work in Disney+. The split-tunneling feature can only be found on the Android app. There is no 30-day money back guarantee.

TunnelBear is a user-friendly and top-rated VPN. TunnelBear offers three affordable payment options and allows you to connect up to five accounts.

Is TunnelBear free?

TunnelBear offers a free plan. It is however not very useful. It is limited to 500MB per month, which is not enough to surf the internet for more than a few hours. TunnelBear offers a free trial of the VPN. You also get all premium features. TunnelBear’s Free Plan allows you to connect 5 devices to the VPN and connects to servers across 45+ countries.

VPNs that are free of charge are not recommended. They can be dangerous and keep logs of your internet activity, download files, limit data, and even block your access to your data. It offers unlimited bandwidth and data, as well as good speeds.

TunnelBear is compatible with Netflix.

TunnelBear is compatible to Netflix. In my tests, I was able access Netflix without interruptions. TunnelBear’s high speeds allowed me to stream HD TV shows uninterrupted.

TunnelBear is compatible with Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu. It is however unable to block Disney+ or ESPN span>

Is TunnelBear safe?

TunnelBear is a reliable and secure VPN. It has industry-standard security features like 256-bit AES encryption and a kill switch (to prevent data being lost if the VPN connection is cut). There’s also a no-logs policy.

TunnelBear has had many issues with its codewear, infrastructure, and apps since 2017. Every year since 2017, TunnelBear has been subject to independent audits. TunnelBear’s independent audits every year since 2017 have revealed many flaws in its codewear, infrastructure and apps. TunnelBear also offers DNS leak protection, secure protocols, and obfuscation that will help you bypass firewalls to hide your VPN connection.

Does TunnelBear work in China?

TunnelBear is able to bypass the Great Firewall and can also bypass internet censorship in Iran.

TunnelBear’s GhostBear VPN obfuscation tool works well to hide your VPN connection. It disguises your VPN connection so that it appears you are surfing the web without one.

Source : #safetydetectives
Editor by : BEST Antivirus Review Team