TunnelBear VPN Pricing & Plan Cost

Many VPNs can only unblock Netflix Originals; TunnelBear bypasses these limitations

TunnelBear Review 2023 — Free Plan, but Is It Good and Safe?

TunnelBear is a beginner-friendly VPN that offers a limited free version. It uses industry-standard security features and has an independently audited no-logs policy. But is that enough to compete with some of the best VPNs available today?

I thoroughly tested TunnelBear to find out how fast it is and how good it is for unblocking content. I tried all its apps and security features and checked if it works for gaming and torrenting.

After extensive tests, I can confirm that TunnelBear is a good VPN with great potential. It’s straightforward to use, works with most streaming services, and delivers impressive speeds over short distances. It also has a free plan that includes 2GB of data. However, it doesn’t have live chat support or a money-back guarantee.

Short on Time? Here Are My Key Findings

Pros

• Excellent speeds. TunnelBear reduced my speeds by less than 5% on nearby servers. See my detailed test results here.
• Good unblocking abilities. I could access almost every streaming service I tested. Find out which platforms TunnelBear works with here.
• User-friendly interface. The VPN is great for beginners with its bear-themed design and uncomplicated apps. Learn how easy it is to download TunnelBear here.
• Strict no-logs policy. TunnelBear has an independently audited no-logs policy and doesn’t share your data with anyone. Read the results of its independent audits here.
• Decent free version. TunnelBear’s free version comes with the same security features as the premium tier. Find out how secure TunnelBear is here.
• Unlimited device connections. You can use TunnelBear (both free and paid) on an unlimited number of devices at the same time. See which devices TunnelBear supports here.

Cons

• No 24/7 live chat support. You can only contact TunnelBear by filling out a web form, which takes away from its friendly image. See how quickly support replied to my requests here.
• No standard money-back guarantee. TunnelBear only issues refunds on a case-by-case basis. Find out what happened when I asked for a refund here.

TunnelBear VPN Features — 2023 Update

9.0

&#x1F4B8 Price	3.33 USD/month
&#x1F4DD Does VPN keep logs?	No
&#x1F5A5 Number of servers	5000+
&#x1F6E1 Kill switch	Yes
&#x1F5FA Based in country	Canada
&#x1F6E0 Support	24/7 live chat
&#x1F4E5 Supports torrenting	Yes

Streaming — Works With Most Streaming Services

9.6

TunnelBear’s premium version unblocks most of the streaming services I tested. I could also easily stream in HD, thanks to its fast speeds. The VPN didn’t work with many streaming platforms in the past, but it has improved dramatically. While it doesn’t unblock as many libraries as ExpressVPN, or provide streaming-optimized servers like CyberGhost and PIA, it’s still a solid choice for streaming.

With only 2GB of data, you won’t be able to watch a full movie

While the free plan doesn’t work with Amazon Prime Video, I accessed Netflix with a free account. Free VPNs don’t usually work with streaming services, so this didn’t surprise me. Additionally, watching Prime Video in the best video quality uses over 6GB per hour, so you’d run out of data in only 20 minutes.

Unblocked: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, RTL+, ESPN, BBC iPlayer, Showtime, Discovery Plus, and Peacock TV

I unblocked full Netflix libraries with TunnelBear’s premium version. I could unblock Netflix US and Netflix France. Unfortunately, the VPN doesn’t work with Netflix on all its servers. I was blocked from accessing libraries from Japan, Australia, Germany, and the UK.

Many VPNs can only unblock Netflix Originals; TunnelBear bypasses these limitations

I was also happy to see that premium servers can unblock Amazon Prime Video. It’s one of the toughest services to access, so it’s clear TunnelBear has really improved its unblocking abilities.

I watched Pulp Fiction in the highest quality while connected to Los Angeles

The great streaming quality I got on every platform impressed me too. With each service I watched, videos loaded nearly instantly in the best quality. I never had to deal with buffering. This was true with Disney+ too. While I was blocked on the Washington D.C. server in my first test, I could access it with plenty of other servers.

I could also watch Disney+ with servers from Norway, the UK, and the US

Most other streaming services I tested work with TunnelBear. I watched Go Hard or Go Home on BBC iPlayer while connected to TunnelBear’s UK server. I also accessed All 4, ITV Hub, and Hulu.

Blocked By: SkyTV and Sky Sports

The only platforms I couldn’t access were Sky TV and Sky Sports. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to watch Penny Dreadful on Sky TV or cheer for your favorite Premier League team on Sky Sports. If you’re looking to access platforms in the country, get one of the best VPNs we tested for the UK. Otherwise, TunnelBear is a solid choice for streaming.

Speed — Excellent Speeds on Nearby Servers

9.8

TunnelBear has great speeds on local servers, but it’s not as fast on distant ones. It’s not unusual for your speeds to drop when using a VPN since your connection is being routed through VPN servers and encrypted.

When analyzing the speed tests, I pay attention to the following:

• Ping/latency. This measures how fast your data travels. It’s very important during gaming because a high ping results in lag.
• Download speed. This measures the time you need to download files and information from the internet. It’s important for things like streaming or loading websites.
• Upload speed. This measures how long it takes to send files from your device to another location – including messages, images, and video files.

We test all VPNs from the same UK location and connection, with the fastest protocol (WireGuard in this case). To make sure the results are fair, we run around 10 tests per server.

It reduced my speeds by 5% on nearby servers, and 50% on distant ones

To get the fastest connection, you can use the Fastest Tunnel feature. It connects you to the best server for your location. What surprised me was that the free and paid versions have similar speeds. Now that the free plan has increased from 500MB to 2GB of data, you can use TunnelBear’s free version to stream short videos without buffering.

My worst result was a speed drop of 53% on a server in Japan

In the past, this VPN’s poor speeds were one of its main drawbacks. However, TunnelBear has made some significant improvements in this area. It’s one of the fastest VPNs we’ve tested on nearby servers. Its long-distance speeds aren’t bad on most servers, either. I could easily see it becoming one of the fastest VPNs.

Gaming — Good for Gaming on Local Servers

8.0

With ping rates under 25 ms on all servers in Europe, TunnelBear is excellent for gaming. I played CS:GO on these nearby servers without even noticing I was connected to a VPN. Using the “Fastest” option from the server menu gave me the best speeds.

My ping rate went from 7ms to 8ms on the nearest server, which is impressive

Unfortunately, the ping rates on distant servers aren’t as good. My ping was over 230 on servers in Australia and Japan, which makes playing any competitive game impossible. However, that’s pretty common. I haven’t found any VPNs that give you great ping results at those distances, so TunnelBear is super impressive in this area. There’s also no option to install TunnelBear on a router or gaming console, so you can only use it for gaming on your PC.

Server Network — 5,000 Servers in 47 Countries

9.8

TunnelBear offers a decent network. The servers are spread all over the world, but most are in Europe and North America (Canada, the US, and Mexico). For example, there are only servers in 3 countries in Africa. You also get access to several city-level locations in the US and Canada, but only with the premium plan. The free version lets you access all the countries available with the paid plan, which I really appreciated, as it’s not very common.

This means you can’t pick a server closest to you to get the best speeds

All its servers are physically located in their respective countries, so there aren’t any virtual servers. TunnelBear also owns all of its servers, which is great for privacy because there’s no third-party involvement.

Security — Solid Security, but Few Additional Features

9.6

Even though it doesn’t have as many features as the top VPNs, TunnelBear is completely safe to use. It passed all of my leak tests, making it a good choice for anyone new to VPNs that wants a hassle-free service.

These tests never detected any IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks on servers around the world

I also like that it offers a free ad-blocker as a Chrome browser extension. However, this isn’t technically a part of the VPN (you download it separately).

Encryption and Protocols

Like most premium VPNs, TunnelBear uses the AES-256 encryption level. It’s the same technology governments use to encrypt their files, making the VPN very secure. You’re protected with military-grade encryption on both its free and paid versions.

TunnelBear also uses the safest available security protocols. VPN protocols can be described as a set of rules used to safely connect you to a VPN server. TunnelBear automatically picks a protocol for you, but you can also choose. These are your options:

• OpenVPN. The industry-leading open-source protocol that’s currently regarded as the safest VPN tunnel. It’s the only protocol that works with GhostBear, TunnelBear’s obfuscation feature that helps you bypass VPN blocks and tough firewalls.
• IKEv2. This is one of the most popular security protocols, and it comes with an auto-connect feature. It’s very useful on mobile devices, as it can automatically resume your VPN connection when you switch between networks.
• WireGuard. This is a newer protocol that provides the best balance between speed and security.

Unfortunately, TunnelBear doesn’t offer the same protocols across all platforms:

Auto	OpenVPN	IKEv2	WireGuard
Windows	✅	✅	✅	✅
Mac	✅	✅	❌	❌
iOS	✅	✅	✅	✅
Android	✅	✅	❌	❌

However, I appreciate that TunnelBear offers OpenVPN for all devices, since it’s the safest protocol and my top-choice for security. The VPN also runs all its servers through its own Private DNS for added security.

VigilantBear Kill Switch

TunnelBear’s VigilantBear kill switch stops your internet traffic if the VPN suddenly disconnects. For example, when you switch servers or your device goes into sleep mode, you might get disconnected. So, to prevent data leaks, I recommend turning on VigilantBear in the app’s connection settings.

The kill switch is available on Windows, Mac, and Android, but not on iOS. While it’s common for VPNs to have fewer features on iOS, there are a few providers that offer kill switches for that OS. It’s one of the most important security features, so I recommend checking out this list of the best VPNs for iOS if an iPhone is your main device.

TCP Override

The TCP Override mode is useful if your connection is unstable after connecting to the VPN. The feature is only available for Windows and macOS, and it works by forcing TunnelBear to use the TCP protocol instead of UDP (versions of OpenVPN). The TCP protocol is a little slower but more reliable — it checks every piece of data for consistency before passing it through. The UDP protocol is faster, but it doesn’t perform these checks.

GhostBear

GhostBear makes it easier to bypass VPN firewalls. By enabling GhostBear, you can make your encrypted data look more like regular traffic, so you’re less likely to be blocked. The feature can only be enabled if you’re using the OpenVPN protocol, and it’s not available on iOS.

Encrypted Client Hello (ECH)

The Encrypted Client Hello helps you reach the TunnelBear site on restricted networks. This is an updated version of its Encrypted Server Name Indicator (ESNI) feature (that it still uses as well). Basically, some countries may use DNS-level blocking to prevent you from accessing TunnelBear’s website. ECH uses encryption to help you avoid these blocks. It’s currently only supported on Android devices, but a version for Windows is being worked on.

SplitBear

This feature is available for mobile devices only, and it lets you select the apps you want to exclude from your TunnelBear connection. It has additional options for iOS — you can also select websites and subdomains you want to access with your real IP address. This can be useful for streaming your local Netflix library, while the rest of your phone traffic stays protected.

Privacy — Doesn’t Store or Share Usage Data

8.0

TunnelBear is a private VPN. It only logs the minimum amount of data required for running the service, and it doesn’t share this information with anyone. I also love how simple and transparent its privacy policy is.

I like that TunnelBear lets you know why it needs this data to run the VPN

You can request access to your personal data, and you can ask TunnelBear to delete it. The VPN also publishes a transparency report, which lets you know it’s never given out anyone’s information, even when it’s been requested

Does TunnelBear Keep Logs? No

The VPN doesn’t log your browsing history, IP address, or connection timestamps. However, almost all VPNs log some technical data, and TunnelBear does too. For example, it logs your email address and payment details since that’s required for creating your account and activating your subscription. I hope it lets you pay with cryptocurrency in the future, so you can pay anonymously.

It also stores your OS version, the TunnelBear app version you use, if you’ve been active this month (1 or 0), and how much data you’ve used in a month. Operational events like creating an account, making a payment, or upgrading are also logged. This makes it possible to discover that you’re a TunnelBear user, but no one can see what you’re doing while connected to its servers.

Was TunnelBear Audited? Yes

Yes, TunnelBear has has been audited 6 times. All its audits were conducted by Cure53, a reputable German cybersecurity firm. These VPN publishes these yearly reports on its website and uses them to improve its security and privacy practices.

While there were no serious vulnerabilities revealed in previous reports, the latest audit in 2022 was more thorough. This enabled Cure54 to identify some issues that hadn’t been detected before. Thankfully, TunnelBear resolved every vulnerability found in its latest audit.

Based in Canada

With its headquarters in Toronto, Canada, TunnelBear is subject to the 5 Eyes Agreement. That means that the company is not only required to hand over your data to the authorities if requested, but also that this data will then be accessible to all the 5 Eyes countries. This includes Canada, the US, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

Additionally, the company has been bought by the US antivirus software company McAfee, which means that TunnelBear is also subject to US laws. However, this isn’t a huge deal due to TunnelBear’s excellent privacy policy. It doesn’t store any identifiable information, so it can’t share anything that would compromise your online privacy

Does TunnelBear Work in China? Uncertain

The availability of TunnelBear in China remains uncertain. When inquiring with a customer support agent, their response was somewhat ambiguous. While TunnelBear’s GhostBear feature is specifically designed to bypass geoblocks, it is regrettable that I cannot confidently confirm its effectiveness in China.

I also asked about Iran, Russia, and Turkey, but didn’t get a concrete response

China constantly blocks new VPNs, and VPNs are always working on adopting new technologies to avoid those blocks. However, the Chinese government rarely goes after individuals for using VPNs. We don’t condone any illegal activities, so we recommend reading up on the laws of whatever region of the world you’re currently in. If you decide to use a VPN in the country, check out this list of providers that currently work in China.

Torrenting — Safe and Fast on All Servers

8.2

You can torrent on all TunnelBear servers. To get the best download speeds, I suggest connecting to nearby servers with the Fastest server feature. The VPN has a strict and audited no-logs policy and high-grade security features, so there’s no need to worry about your safety while torrenting.

I had no issues downloading Night of the Living Dead while connected to my fastest server. I can normally finish this 1.62 GB file in 20 minutes, and it only took 25 while connected to TunnelBear, which is a great result.

Customer service advises that to achieve the best P2P speeds, one should utilize servers situated in Canada, the US, the UK, Romania, the Netherlands, Germany, or Sweden. Although the act of torrenting is legal, downloading copyrighted material is not. To remain within the boundaries of the law, I recommend limiting your downloads to files that are in the public domain.

Installation & Apps

9.0

TunnelBear is easy to install and use. Plus, its entire website and all its apps are loaded with adorable bear puns. The VPN doesn’t have many complicated features, which makes it a good choice for beginners. However, it still covers all the essentials.

I like that it can be minimized to just a toggle switch and server selection screen

The free app looks the same as the premium version. The only difference is it shows how much free data you have left, which I appreciate. I’ve been caught by surprise running out of data with other VPNs that don’t offer this great feature.

Setup & Installation

You can install TunnelBear in a couple of seconds. I clicked on Get TunnelBear on the VPN’s website, and then picked the free version. It automatically started downloading the appropriate app for my operating system.

For mobile devices, I find it easier to download the apps from the appropriate store

When I finished testing the free app and bought a subscription, I didn’t need to do anything else. My app was automatically updated to the premium version, and I could use all the additional features that come with the paid plan.

Device Compatibility

TunnelBear is compatible with the most popular operating systems. It has native apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android, as well as browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox. Since TunnelBear is competitive with the top VPNs, I expected it to at least support routers. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. On top of that, I’m also a little frustrated that there’s no easy way to connect smart TVs, streaming devices (like Rokus), or game consoles.

Desktop — Apps for Windows and Mac, and Limited Linux Support

TunnelBear’s desktop apps are simple and user-friendly. There are slight differences. For example, you can’t switch between protocols on Mac.

Everything else is the same. Unless you pick a specific location, the VPN will automatically connect you to the fastest server. You can pick another server from the drop-down menu, or click on the country you want directly on the main screen’s map.

You can access all additional settings by clicking on the cog icon. The General tab contains simple options like launch on start-up and notifications. Additional security options can be found in the Connection tab. I also like that there are question marks next to each feature that link you to helpful articles from the TunnelBear site.

Overall, TunnelBear offers solid desktop apps for beginners. The only downside is that there’s no Linux native app, but you can install it manually. If you’re looking for a user-friendly option for Linux, I recommend getting a VPN with a native Linux app instead.

Android and iPhone (iOS)

Mobile apps are similar to desktops but have fewer settings. Like with most VPNs, the iOS app is particularly limited. Unlike the Android app, it doesn’t include a kill switch or obfuscation. The Android app doesn’t have TCP Override (available on Windows and Mac) but does come with split tunneling. In the past, its bear sounds were automatically enabled on mobile apps. I’m glad that this is now toggled off by default because it could be a little jarring to hear an unexpected roar when you connect.

Browser Extensions for Chrome and Firefox

TunnelBear’s browser extensions are very simple. You can only pick servers and connect or disconnect. There are no additional security settings. To stay fully protected, I recommend avoiding browser extensions and installing apps that can protect your entire device and not only your browser traffic.

Simultaneous Device Connections

TunnelBear allows you to connect to its servers on an unlimited number of devices simultaneously. This is great, as most premium VPNs can only be used on up to 5 devices at the same time. If you want to share your subscription with others, but don’t feel comfortable disclosing your account login info, you can get a Teams plan. All users still get unlimited device connections.

TunnelBear VPN Pricing & Plan Cost

When it came to TunnelBear’s subscription options, we had three to choose from overall, two of which are designed for individuals, and one of which is designed for teams, most likely as part of a business. Since we wanted to test out TunnelBear for personal use, we went with the unlimited plan so we wouldn’t have that cap on data usage, but the free option didn’t hurt, either.

Plan costs

TunnelBear plans	Monthly cost
Free	$0.00
Unlimited	$3.33
Teams	$5.75/user

Free Subscription

TunnelBear is one of the best free VPNs that we’ve tested, despite its limitations; the plan only allows for 500 MB of data, so it’s a good way to test it out before buying the VPN. The free plan has the same amount of devices you can use with the VPN, which is five. The only other difference from the paid plan, aside from the data limit, is customer support; with our paid subscription, our customer support requests were answered first. Otherwise, the services are exactly the same!

Did You Know: TunnelBear’s free subscription has a lifetime limit of 500 MB of data, which translates to 21 hours of surfing the web or watching five episodes of TV on your phone. 1

For Businesses

TunnelBear also offers a subscription, Teams, which would work well for commercial use, so long as your business has two or more users. Again, the business plan has unlimited data and five connected devices per user, but it also throws in a dedicated account manager and puts all the billing and management in one convenient location.

The business plan costs $5.75 per user per month, a little more than the personal plan, which costs $3.33 monthly. However, what you’re really paying for is convenience; the convenience of the account manager if you have any questions, plus the convenience of not having to keep track of multiple VPN accounts.

Price-wise, TunnelBear falls way below the industry average, with personal subscriptions costing $0 to $3.33 a month. They don’t have discounted yearly plans, but with prices this low, they don’t seem necessary; plus, we loved the flexibility of the month to month subscription. On top of that, TunnelBear lets teams try out its service for seven days, completely free. No complaints here!

Discounts

TunnelBear’s prices are already low, but there are a couple of ways to make them even lower if you’re a student or part of a non-profit organization that protects the Internet from censorship. Let’s go into detail.

Students

If you’re in school and part of the Student Beans network, 2 which is free, you can get 70 percent off a two-year subscription of TunnelBear, which wouldn’t put a cap on data. We couldn’t see exactly what this pricing would be, as we’re not in school and thus can’t sign up for Student Beans, but given TunnelBear’s already affordable prices, we’re sure this is a great day for students who don’t want to pay full price for a VPN.

Non-profits Against Internet Censorship

There are a lot of reasons why someone would download a VPN like TunnelBear in the first place, as we learned in our annual VPN usage research; in fact, eight percent of VPN users work in journalism, research, whistleblowing, or activism and want to hide their activities from their Internet Service Providers. In addition, nine percent of people want to bypass restrictions, whether they’re from a college, school or office, while another nine percent want to bypass government web censorship specifically. In sum, VPNs are a tool to fight against Internet censorship of any kind, and that’s really important to TunnelBear’s mission.

Note: Countries like China, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen censor online political content, 3 so VPNs are a great way to bypass these filters and access the entire Internet in these countries.

If you’re part of an organization that helps journalists or human rights activists fight Internet censorship, you can get your team free annual subscriptions to TunnelBear. Organizations like the Open Technology Fund, Internews and AccessNow are part of this program, and TunnelBear is always looking for new NGO partners.

More Security.org Recommendations

Check out more of our favorite VPNs.

Editor’s Rating:

9.7 /10

Editor’s Rating:

9.5 /10

Editor’s Rating:

9.4 /10

What We Liked

Pricing aside, we really liked TunnelBear after we tested it out for several reasons:

• Kill switch: The WiFi at our office can be spotty, but when it went out one morning, TunnelBear made sure our web browsers did too, keeping our traffic safe and protected.

• Torrenting: Even with TunnelBear firmly turned on, we torrent TVs and movies without worrying about getting in trouble (not that we were doing anything illegal, of course).
• Strong encryption: We felt safe knowing that our web traffic was encrypted with military-grade, 256-bit encryption.
• Dynamic IP addresses: Every time we connected to TunnelBear, we got a new IP address. That’s like a new disguise every time we walked out of the house, making us harder to be tracked.
• Free option: Although there’s a 500 MB data limit, TunnelBear’s free option is a risk-free trial that we had fun taking advantage of.
• Fair pricing: Even the paid subscription option didn’t do much damage to our wallets at only $3.33 a month.
• Flexible contracts: TunnelBear didn’t make us commit to longer than a month, which is good for us as we’re commitment-phobes when it comes to technology.
• Unlimited data: The paid plan let us use as much data as we wanted while connected to TunnelBear, leaving us free to stream, surf, and shop online without worrying about a limit.
• Unlimited server switches: We also jumped on as many servers as we liked, which came in handy when we were traveling in the Philippines and Poland.

More Digital Security from TunnelBear

TunnelBear doesn’t stop with their VPN. They also have two other services available, a password manager and a tracking blocker. While we didn’t test either out for ourselves, we provided some basic information about these services below.

RememBear

We’re huge fans of the Internet, but what we’re not huge fans of is remembering tens of usernames and passwords. However, if we used the same password for each account, that wouldn’t be great for our digital security, which is why we love password managers. Password managers store all of our usernames and passwords in an encrypted vault; they make sure all of our passwords are long, complicated, and unique to each account, and they generate new passwords for us when we need them.

TunnelBear’s take on the password manager is called RememBear. With RememBear, instead of entering passwords, we could either use a passcode sent to our mobile device or use face and fingerprint ID on our iPhones, which made accessing accounts worlds easier. RememBear is available on Androids, iOS devices, Windows and Mac computers; there are also browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox, while RememBear is installed automatically on the Mac Safari app. RememBear comes with a free, 30-day trial. After that, you’ll need to pay for a one or two year plan, but prices are pretty reasonable.

Term Length in Years	Monthly Cost	Total Amount Billed	Savings
1	$3	$36	$0
2	$2.50	$60	$12

While we wish they offered a monthly plan, these prices are super low compared to other password managers on the market.

TunnelBear Chrome Blocker

TunnelBear also offers a free Chrome extension that blocks ad tracking and cookies. While the browsing isn’t anonymous, as our Internet Service Provider could still see the websites we visited and our private IP address, the blocker may be good for someone who wants a bit more privacy without downloading a whole VPN. Hey, privacy is a spectrum!

Need Help?

Let’s face it: we all need help sometimes, whether that’s with a love interest or with connecting to a VPN. If it’s the latter, TunnelBear can help. Their website features a help section with a bunch of articles on setting up your account, paying for it, and troubleshooting issues. If those articles aren’t enough, you can contact support by logging into your account and emailing support directly. Another option is to use the live chat on their website, although you will be talking to a Bot from ZenDesk, which isn’t ideal. TunnelBear doesn’t offer a phone line, but sadly this is the case for most modern VPN companies.

TunnelBear: Behind the Scenes

Co-founders Daniel Kaldor and Ryan Duchok started TunnelBear in 2011; seven years later, the software giant McAfee purchased it. At that time, the VPN company had over 22 million customers all around the world. Two years later, TunnelBear is still based in Toronto, Canada, with servers in 22 countries.

Don’t get us wrong; we love Toronto (and we’re huge Drake fans to boot). But because Canada’s part of the Five Eyes international surveillance alliances, we wish it was based somewhere else. Part of the membership means that TunnelBear could be forced to hand over customer data to the federal government. Although the company doesn’t log our web traffic or IP addresses when we connect to their service, they do log certain account data such as:

• Email address
• Twitter (optional)
• Payment expiration date
• Operating system version
• App version
• Whether or not we were active each month
• Total data used each month
• Device type
• IP address at the time of payment (which could be on the same device as we signed up for TunnelBear on).

This is definitely a bit more data than absolutely necessary, as the bare minimum would be our payment information and email. So if you want to be as private as possible, TunnelBear’s Toronto headquarters and logging policy may remove it from being a contender.

Payment Methods Accepted

To pay for TunnelBear, we used a Mastercard, although they also accept:

• Mastercard
• Visa
• American Express
• Bitcoin

Which Devices Can I Use With TunnelBear?

TunnelBear has apps for iPhones, iPads, Macs, Androids, and Windows devices. They also have browser extensions for Opera, Firefox and Chrome. But if you have a Linux device or want to encrypt your web traffic directly from your router, TunnelBear may not be the best VPN for you.

Cancelling TunnelBear

When it comes to cancelling TunnelBear, the company is a bit less sweet than honey, which makes sense given their free and monthly options. Basically, once we paid for TunnelBear, we couldn’t go back and cancel it for a refund; however, it would keep the payment from recurring.

See how TunnelBear measures up in the industry

For a closer look at how TunnelBear performs, we compared it with other popular VPNs.

• TunnelBear vs. NordVPN
• TunnelBear vs. ExpressVPN

Conclusion

TunnelBear’s pricing is right, from totally free to only $5.95 per user a month with business plans and $3.33 a month with personal plans. To learn more, read our TunnelBear review, where we go deep into our testing process and in the ins and outs of the VPN app.

FAQs for TunnelBear

TunnelBear has a free subscription option, but it is limited to 500 MB of data. Beyond that, personal subscriptions cost $3.33 a month while business subscriptions cost $5.75 per user per month.

TunnelBear is safe in general; they don’t log our web activity or IP address when we log on, but since the company is based in Canada, they could be forced to hand over customer data to the federal government.

TunnelBear is free for up to 500 MB of data, but for unlimited data, the cost is $3.33 a month for personal use or $5.75 per user per month for individual use.

TunnelBear isn’t good for Netflix, as Netflix has blocked many of its servers. However, TunnelBear does allow torrenting, which could be used as an alternative to Netflix.