TunnelBear
A friendly free VPN, audited every year
$3.33/mo
from $3.33/mo /mo
- Servers
- 5,000
- Countries
- 47+
- Devices
- Unlimited
- No-logs
- Yes
- Kill switch
- Yes
- Free plan
- Yes
Our verdict
TunnelBear is one of the friendliest VPNs to start with, offering a free tier and unlimited devices, but McAfee ownership, Canadian 5 Eyes jurisdiction and inconsistent kill-switch coverage temper its privacy appeal.
Speed test & performance
- Download retention
- 80%
- Nearby download
- 400 Mbps
- Long-distance
- 210 Mbps
- Latency increase
- +22 ms
of unprotected baseline on nearby servers
WireGuard on a 500 Mbps line
Europe to US
vs. unprotected connection
Pros & cons
Pros
- Genuinely easy, friendly apps for beginners
- Free plan with 2GB of data every month
- Annual independent security audits
- Unlimited simultaneous connections
- Around 5,000 servers across 47 countries
Cons
- Canada is part of the 5 Eyes alliance
- Owned by McAfee, a large US-linked security firm
- Kill switch is missing on some platforms
Compatibility
Platforms
Protocols
Overview
TunnelBear is the approachable, bear-themed VPN that has introduced countless newcomers to online privacy, pairing playful design with a genuinely useful free tier.
\nSpeed and performance
\nWireGuard connections retain about 80% of the unprotected baseline nearby, roughly 400 Mbps on a 500 Mbps line. Long Europe-to-US routes come in around 210 Mbps with latency rising by about +22 ms, which is fine for browsing and streaming if not the fastest on the market.
\nPrivacy and security
\nTunnelBear commissions annual independent security audits, a rare commitment for the category, and secures traffic with AES-256. The trade-offs are its Canadian base, a member of the 5 Eyes alliance, its ownership by McAfee, and a kill switch (VigilantBear) that is not available on every platform.
\nStreaming and torrenting
\nThe roughly 5,000 servers across 47 countries handle Netflix and general streaming reasonably well, though TunnelBear is not marketed as a torrenting powerhouse and lacks advanced P2P tooling.
\nPricing and plans
\nA free plan offers 2GB of data per month, while paid plans drop to about $3.33 per month and unlock unlimited data plus unlimited simultaneous connections.
\nWho it's for
\nTunnelBear is perfect for privacy beginners and casual users who want a friendly free VPN, but power users and the privacy-conscious may be put off by its jurisdiction and McAfee ownership.
Features & capabilities
VigilantBear kill switch
Blocks unsecured traffic if the connection drops, on supported desktop platforms.
GhostBear obfuscation
Disguises VPN traffic to help bypass censorship and throttling.
Annual audits
Cure53 performs yearly public security audits of the apps and infrastructure.
Unlimited devices
Connect as many devices as you like on a single account.
SplitBear split tunneling
Exclude chosen apps or sites from the VPN tunnel.
Free 2GB tier
A no-cost plan with 2GB of monthly data to try the service.
Browser extensions
Lightweight Chrome, Firefox and Edge extensions.
WireGuard protocol
Modern protocol for faster, more efficient connections.
Privacy & compliance
Frequently asked questions
Yes, the free plan includes 2GB of data per month with the same encryption as the paid plans.
TunnelBear is owned by McAfee, a large security software company.
In Canada, which is a member of the 5 Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance.
No, it follows a no-logs policy that is verified by annual independent audits from Cure53.
Paid plans drop to about $3.33 per month and unlock unlimited data.
Unlimited simultaneous connections on the paid plans.
Yes, it is called VigilantBear, though it is only available on some platforms.
It works for basic P2P but lacks advanced torrenting features and is not optimised for heavy use.
It unblocks Netflix and general streaming reasonably well, but is less consistent than dedicated streaming VPNs.
WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2.
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