TunnelBear — Free Service Overview

TunnelBear is a consumer VPN service operated by TunnelBear LLC, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The product launched in 2011 and has been continuously offered since, building one of the longer track records in the consumer VPN community. TunnelBear's defining commitment is annual independent security audits — the company describes itself as "the only consumer VPN provider to perform annual security audits," with the most recent at launch of this description being the 7th consecutive annual independent security audit. TunnelBear positions on a friendly, accessible product experience built on transparent security review and a genuinely free tier suitable for occasional VPN use.

Quick facts · Jurisdiction: Canada · Protocols: WireGuard / OpenVPN / IKEv2 · Money-back: contact support · Multi-device: unlimited (no device limit) · Free tier: 2 GB/month · See live pricing table below for current rates.

What is TunnelBear?

TunnelBear routes user traffic through encrypted tunnels with a published priority on independent security review. The product launched in 2011 in Toronto and has been continuously offered since, with the company stating it has performed independent third-party security audits every year — the most recent being the 7th consecutive annual audit. TunnelBear ships native client apps across desktop, mobile, and browser-extension platforms with a deliberately friendly, jargon-light user experience. The product is offered in three tiers: a free tier suitable for occasional use, an unlimited paid tier, and a Teams tier for small businesses.

Why choose TunnelBear

Privacy by design

TunnelBear's no-logs policy is detailed on its own site, and the company has commissioned independent third-party audits every year — the most recent being the 7th consecutive annual independent security audit. The company describes itself on tunnelbear.com as "the only consumer VPN provider to perform annual security audits." The Canada jurisdiction is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing arrangement, which is a relevant consideration for users in adversarial threat models — TunnelBear's structural answer is the multi-year published-audit commitment rather than offshore corporate residency.

Security beyond encryption

• Modern protocols — WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 are supported across TunnelBear's client apps; specific protocol availability varies by platform.
• AES-256 encryption — industry-standard cryptographic primitives across all tunnels.
• VigilantBear — TunnelBear's kill switch implementation that automatically blocks all internet traffic if the VPN connection drops.
• GhostBear — TunnelBear's obfuscation feature designed for use in networks that block standard VPN traffic by signature.
• SplitBear — TunnelBear's split-tunnelling implementation that lets specific apps use the VPN tunnel while others use the regular internet connection.
• Annual independent security audits — the company has commissioned independent third-party audits every year, with the most recent being the 7th consecutive annual cycle.
• City-level server selection — most server countries offer city-level server-selection granularity rather than country-only.

Global access

TunnelBear's network spans servers across multiple continents — see tunnelbear.com for the current server count and country list. The product supports connecting from one country and appearing to be in another for region-licensed content access.

Pricing in 2026

TunnelBear sells subscription plans across three tiers: a Free tier with 2 GB of secure browsing per month suitable for occasional use, an Unlimited paid tier from $3.33/month with no bandwidth caps, and a Teams tier at $5.75/user per month for small-business deployments.

The free tier is one of the few credible no-cost VPN options that does not require a credit card and is not bandwidth-throttled — though it caps total monthly traffic at 2 GB. The Teams tier ships with centralised account management and team-wide policy controls suitable for small-business VPN deployment.

TunnelBear apps and platform support

TunnelBear states "There is no limit on the number of devices you can use with TunnelBear" — a single subscription covers every device on the account with no per-seat cap. Manual configuration is supported for routers and other platforms via the published OpenVPN config files.

Security audits and transparency

• Annual independent security audits — TunnelBear has commissioned independent third-party audits every year for 7+ consecutive years (most recent: 7th consecutive annual audit). The vendor describes itself on tunnelbear.com as "the only consumer VPN provider to perform annual security audits."
• Published audit summaries — TunnelBear publishes audit summaries on its own site, available under the trust / security section. See tunnelbear.com for the most recent edition.
• Transparency report — TunnelBear publishes a periodic transparency report on warrant requests received. See the vendor's transparency-report page for the most recent edition.

Use cases TunnelBear fits

• Privacy-curious newcomers — TunnelBear's deliberately friendly, jargon-light UX is one of the most accessible introductions to consumer VPN use; the bear-themed mascot and plain-English settings panel reduce the learning curve compared with typical VPN clients.
• Occasional / no-cost users — The 2 GB/month free tier is a credible no-cost option for users who need occasional VPN access (public Wi-Fi protection on a coffee-shop visit, occasional region-licensed access) without committing to a paid subscription.
• Independent-audit-conscious users — Users who weigh security audits more heavily than other purchase criteria fit TunnelBear's published 7+ consecutive annual cycle. The published audit cadence is unusually long-running for the consumer VPN market.
• Small-business deployments — The Teams tier provides centralised account management and team-wide policy controls suitable for small offices, remote-first teams, and freelance collectives.
• Browser-only use — TunnelBear's browser extensions cover Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Edge for users who only need to tunnel browser traffic rather than system-wide.

Users for whom Five-Eyes-jurisdiction avoidance is the deciding factor, or for whom anonymous account creation without an email address is the deciding factor, should evaluate TunnelBear's Canadian corporate jurisdiction and standard signup flow against those specific requirements before subscribing.

Frequently asked questions

Does TunnelBear keep logs?

TunnelBear's published policy details the company's no-logs commitments, and TunnelBear has commissioned independent third-party audits every year for 7+ consecutive years. See the audits page on tunnelbear.com for the most recent audit cycle.

How many devices can I connect on one account?

TunnelBear states "There is no limit on the number of devices you can use with TunnelBear" — a single subscription covers every device on the account with no per-seat cap.

How does the free tier work?

The TunnelBear free tier provides 2 GB of secure browsing per month at full connection speed across all available server countries. It does not require a credit card. When the 2 GB monthly cap is reached, the connection is paused until the next monthly reset; users can upgrade to the Unlimited tier at any time to remove the cap.

Is TunnelBear good for streaming?

TunnelBear's network covers servers across multiple continents and supports connecting from one country to appear in another. Use of any VPN with streaming services is subject to the streaming platform's terms of service. The 2 GB/month free tier is generally insufficient for sustained streaming; the Unlimited paid tier removes the cap.

What is GhostBear?

GhostBear is TunnelBear's obfuscation feature designed for use in networks that block standard VPN traffic by signature. It disguises VPN traffic to look more like ordinary HTTPS traffic, allowing connections to succeed in networks that detect and block standard VPN protocols.

What is VigilantBear?

VigilantBear is TunnelBear's kill switch implementation. It automatically blocks all internet traffic if the VPN connection drops, preventing IP-address leaks in transit between connected and disconnected states. VigilantBear is available across TunnelBear's desktop and mobile clients.

Where is TunnelBear based?

TunnelBear is operated by TunnelBear LLC, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The Canada jurisdiction is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing arrangement — TunnelBear's structural answer to this is the published 7+ consecutive annual independent security audit cycle.

Can I share my TunnelBear account with family?

The unlimited-simultaneous-connections model means there is no per-device cap on a single subscription, so the same account can be installed on every device in a household. TunnelBear's terms of service govern the standard household-use scope; review them before sharing more broadly.

Are there ads on TunnelBear?

There are no ads in the TunnelBear VPN client itself. The free tier is supported by the same business model as the paid tier (paid subscriptions; the free tier is a marketing on-ramp rather than ad-supported).

What payment methods does TunnelBear accept?

TunnelBear accepts standard payment methods including major credit cards. For the current full list of accepted payment methods, see tunnelbear.com.

Get started with TunnelBear

For the live pricing table in your country, scroll up to the pricing tiers section. The free tier is also available without a credit card if you want to evaluate the product first.

Related Subger guides

• How to cancel TunnelBear — step-by-step cancellation walkthrough
• TunnelBear deals — current promotional offers
• TunnelBear promo codes — active discount codes
• TunnelBear true-price tracker — intro-vs-renewal math
• VPN comparison hub — Subger's editorial VPN pillar