TunnelBear: Secure VPN & Wifi Reviews

This VPN has never worked properly since I’d purchased it in February. The biggest issue being it doesn’t allow communication from my five iOS devices and two Mac OS devices to Google search engine. And customer service is pretty much redundant. You know, “is TunnelBear current?” or “did you turn it off and turn it back on again?” Okay, the latter is something Apple does. Be advised that this app does not refund one bloody zinc Abe’s head (US) for this alleged VPN. They politely guide you to Apple, and Apple has become the largest money grubbing, fraudulent, don’t give one half a care about their customers. So one has to fill out the “report a problem” on the Apple site. And, suspiciously, at least in my case, the “refund” portion is greyed out. And then Apple responds with brilliant links to forums, etc. Gosh, why didn’t I think of that? I asked Apple to stop jerking me around and refund my $63 and some odd cents USD. I was told it would have to be elevated to the BoD because, clearly, Apple and their crony developers need the money.
EDIT: As suspected, Apple denied my refund request.
As far as this app goes, I just tried opening a .PDF email attachment and after 15-20 seconds, I was greeted with the all too familiar “no connection” banner. This happens when TB is active. Turn off TB and BAM! The doc opened immediately.
No sense in contacted TB no-support.

this is my 2nd year/2nd device using this app VPN & i really do like it. it has an awesome macOS app for my MacBook as well, so that’s great. i pay for the Yearly Unlimited (2nd year now) & i do love it.

the only complaints i have is that i can’t use the VPN switch inside the Settings app, i have to open the this app app. there isn’t even a widget for the Today View to easily turn it on.

also, it doesn’t offer any type of ad blocker at all. it has BlockBear as a little brother, but that’s more of a content blocker that works only within Safari. i would give it 5 stars & recommend it 100% , *IF they added an Ad Blocker (iOS-wide/all apps, not just in Safari) feature within this app like other VPN’s have. we pretty much have to chose whether we want privacy or want to block ads. why can’t we just have both? this app doesn’t seem to work simultaneously with other adblocker VPN’s like AdBlock by FutureMind for example. only one at a time. please consider adding this, so we don’t have to choose anymore. that aside, i really would recommend it. it’s pretty great otherwise. 4stars for now!

The company responded to my concern within about 24 hours, very timely, especially over the weekend. They informed me that they were aware of the issue and a fix was already in place, pushed to an update: 2.7.1. I updated and voila! it appears to have been resolved. Thanks for your positive and timely response! Very happy with the performance of TunnelBear , as well as the ethics and care from this company so far.

I absolutely love this app. After researching a ton of VPNs and their behaviors and perks, I decided upon TB. No logging. Excellent encryption. Auto connect. No speed loss that I’ve noticed.
I only have one gripe with the latest update / move to iOS 11. The VPN never seems to auto connect anymore. Every time either the device loses or sleeps the connection, or switches between cellular and WiFi, this app disconnects and never attempts to reconnect like it used to.
Please fix this. It’s now incredibly frustrating to have to manually go to TunnelBear to reconnect to VPN every time this happens. And it happens way more often than I thought or ever noticed. Thanks.

Unfortunately bought a yearly subscription as I had read great reviews. It works on my iPhone that has AT& T, but I don’t get it for my iPhone. I got it for my iPad that is WiFi only so I could use my iPad on public WiFi such as hotels, coffee shops etc. TunnelBear either goes wild (on my home WiFi) and the switch starts going on and off every 1/2 seconds or when on a public WiFi, I just can’t do anything on my iPad: can’t check e-mails, can’t get onto ANY websites using Safari etc. I turn it off and immediately I can surf the net. I contacted support and their solution could not even be done on the iPad. Do not bother getting this if u have an iPad or PLEASE only get free one and do a long trial first!

Updated review:
The technical staff worked with me non-stop till it worked. Moreover, the update so far works well with iOS13. So far TB has worked on public WiFi and at home. Hopefully it will work next time I go to s hotel.

... like most VPN’s I’ve tried, if the bandwidth isn’t big enough, it’ll block WiFi access until you turn it off ... But for the most part, very little hesitation experienced for its automatic operation when joining WiFi networks ... Developer has to work on settings access: I have to either turn-on or turn-off VPN operations in order for the settings node to highlight and become available for access ... - don’t know why ... (???)

... it just doesn’t work very well for public WiFi’s. I’m sure it’s a bandwidth problem that prevents VPN activation and internet access ... works great at home, and in other household/private locations. But if I end-up using cellular service - which I trust - then why bother having VPN service ? ...

TunnelBear is overall great, connection is generally reliable and fast. However, the way TunnelBear manages Trusted Networks is clunky and often downright annoying. Instead of prompting a user to add a network to the trusted networks when they try to turn off the VPN while connected to that network, please add the option to temporarily disable the VPN for the network. Unfortunately, many web developers either intentionally or unintentionally make it difficult to use a VPN with their site, which ends up forcing me to turn off the VPN occasionally. That said, just because I get forced to turn off my VPN to have a feature/site work does not mean I necessarily trust the network forever in the future. There would be a few ways to implement temporary VPN disables (time limit, session limit, etc), which I leave to your expertise, but please change this and I will give 5 stars and not switch to another VPN when my subscription expires.

TunnelBear works as expected, it’s a simple VPN. If you go with the free plan, and run out of data you are given the option to download on a computer for an extra 1GB of data. Except they only give you half that amount. They also say to tweet at them for another 1 GB and they will reply and reward it within an hour. It’s now been two tweets and days later with no reply or extra data given to me. If you’re going to pay for a VPN, there are ,ich better ones (basically all of them) that won’t lie to you about what they offer. If they lie about the simple amount of data you’ll get, why would you EVER trust them to keep your personal information safe?
Update for the developer response: obviously nothing is stopping the data from going to my account because I still received HALF the amount promised. If something were preventing me from getting data, I wouldn’t have gotten any.

TLDR; TunnelBear lies, don’t expect any of your information to be safe because what they say isn’t true.

so I trust that this, as a VPN, is doing its job. I haven't seen a particular decrease in spam activity or performance (maybe I'm not aware of it), but I also haven't had any issues with fraudulent activity 🤞. Four stars bc TunnelBear turns itself off regardless of my device frequently. I glance up and the VPN has been turned off when I switch connections like at home or work, and I have to manually turn it back on multiple times per day. Not a deal breaker for me but also not ideal.

Edit june10,21 - hey team, thank you for your initial responsiveness. The same problem above is actually worse now than in my original review. The VPN is disconnecting more frequently and with more difficulty reconnecting.

I used the free service and happily found that it solved problems I was having with my previous well-known VPN. So despite still having a few paid months left on that service, I decided to switch to this app and paid for a long-term subscription. Unfortunately, after using it successfully for a few days, it then failed completely. Just won’t sustain a connection. I’ve not been able to figure out how to get customer support either. At this point, I feel like I’ve wasted my money. I now have two paid subscriptions - one which is slow and oversubscribed - and this app which is inoperative. I realise that there may be issues with how it’s configuring but in the absence of customer support how can I address those? Where can I get assistance? Or failing that, a refund. After all, I’ve paid my dues and the clock is ticking on my subscription but but I am getting absolutely nothing for it, except frustration.

I tried to use TunnelBear over the past couple of months but finally had to delete it. The problem is that on the default setting using openVPN it used over 20% of my daily battery capacity, causing my phone to run out of battery before the end of the day. By switching to IKEv2, it could use much less, but performance was a problem, taking far longer to connect. Sometimes it would never connect and I’d be on plain WiFi. And at the same time TunnelBear still showed up in my list of apps using the most battery (albeit only at 1%). The last update before I deleted it had a bug that kept switching back to the unusable openVPN.

Now I use the free version of a competitor VPN app on iOS, and that app always connects, does so fast, and doesn’t even show up in my list of apps using battery it uses so little. this app support was great and responsive, but there must be a serious problem with their iOS app development process.

Please keep in mind my review for tunnel bear is a customer who is used it for years.
I never rate this high but honestly I feel tunnel bear deserves this high rating, any problem I’ve ever heard with their services has always been resolved. They have the best customer service I’ve ever experience for software product.
You can use their services for free however keep in mind the data is limited. It’s not one of these apps where the free service is terrible, it’s actually not bad and their vpn has never doubted me.

I hope tunnel bear continues down this path, from what I’m witnessing they are only getting better and better day by day. I strongly believe they deserve far more recognition than they get

The title pretty much sums it up. I am not a techy nor am I 100% technologically challenged. I live on the internet, but not doing anything that requires Tor or anything that I don’t even pretend to understand the meaning or function of. If you want fast affordable and easy to use protection simply because it is nobody’s business what you are doing on the internet or where you are while you are doing it, then this app is the VPN for you. I used the free version to begin with, just to check it out. Worked great but kept dropping signal. I signed up for the Grizzly account for a year the beginning of December 2018 and never looked back. Highly recommend.
Update December 2019: I renewed my Grizzly subscription through this app directly instead of Paypal. Hasn't worked correctly since. Causes iphone XR to drop wifi when it is connected, but most of the time it disconnects. I've contacted vustomer support.. we'll see.

Have had this VPN for couple of years and overall satisfied. Easy to use but at times does not always automatically connect when open iPads or iPhones. Have all the correct settings on. More an issue with iPads.
Wish it was more seamless as have to double check that VPN on especially when traveling and many times have to go into app and manually connect. Gets to be a pain as we have 5 devices using the Bear. Have reinstalled but still have periodic issue. Did contact customer service but not great response.
Looking at other VPN options though appears none are perfect and have other problems. Hope this can be resolved as prefer not to change.

So for the past day I was completely without internet access, even with WiFi. I was really confused, so I tried deleting this app and that’s exactly what it was. TunnelBear only allows you to use 500MB of VPN use per month, which lasted me less than a day. TunnelBear does not even notify you when you have ran out. Even when you have the VPN disconnected on the phone it still doesn’t allow internet use, you have to completely delete TunnelBear . This VPN is useless, the free version only allows you 500MB which lasts less than a day and then it forces you to put in your password to purchase the premium version. I will never use TunnelBear again and I recommend it to no one.

this app was great, but I do not trust McAfee to not run it into the ground, and more importantly now that they have a US parent company they will certainly be required to hand over all of your browsing history to the US government without a warrant and without informing the user. I will be unsubscribing, uninstalling, and with any luck getting a pro-rated refund.

Edit: I understand that this app as a company would like to continue operating independently, and maybe you will. That does not change the fact that you are now subject to US law as your parent company is based in the US, and no matter how much you don't want to surrender browsing data at some point you'll either do it willingly or the Feds will just come take it. I have reached out to support regarding a partial refund but I have not received a response yet. I guess after this app gets your money they no longer care, which doesn't inspire much hope regarding your future.

Sadly this just doesn’t work well, it might for a minute or until you leave TunnelBear but after that in the background it doesn’t work. I want a refund honestly because it’s $60 which is ridiculous but Apple won’t refund it even though it’s a year subscription to a completely broken service.
Slows Internet down or stops it completely and I’ve tried it now with 3 different routers, also I have excellent internet speed without it and I always have. Tested it across multiple devices too, same thing. The other very annoying feature in TunnelBear is not allowing you to just turn off the VPN, it forces you to put the network into your “trusted” section and then to re-enable the VPN you have to remove it from the trusted status. Ridiculous, just let me switch it on and off so I can try to fix TunnelBear which barely functions as it is.

The VPN bar has been set very high with the exit of Opera VPN. I can wholeheartedly say, this app, has exceeded my needs and expectations. I started on the free trial, that ‘YES’ does limit the data to 500mb, p/month. A. I have yet to find ANY TRULY FREE, VPN, and I mean free of ads that interfere with my experience directly.{Especially the speed and ease of integration of the VPN client within iOS’s feature utilizing a VPN Service. As well as free as in ,’no cost ever at any point’, so tunnel bear for my needs, is my, highly scrutinized decision, #1 choice. BONUS NOTE:* Spread the Tunnel Bear word on Twitter and receive a Gig, of EXTRA MONTHLY DATA =1500mb!! If you need more, their subscription service is again, priced more competitively than any other “COMPARABLE” VPN. Tunnel Bear, ‘Ballistic VPN’, that is THAT.

this app has to be the first VPN I downloaded on my phone that actually works. It stays connected, and unlike the other ones I tried it has a option to connect the VPN on demand instead of having to reconnect it yourself when it disconnects. It never disconnects, and when it does it turns its self back on, it has fast service, and doesn’t take awhile to connect unlike some others I tried, actually has more than a few options to choose from when you want to connect than just 3-4. I currently have been using it for only a few days, but I am loving it so far, and I am going to continue to use it.

I’ve been using Tunnel Bear for years and have been extremely happy until recently. I don’t feel that Tunnel Bear is keeping up with the changing Internet landscape and customer needs. Recently Tunnel Bear started pushing my VPN connection point to San Francisco, but I live in Central Time, which means you can’t watch prime time streaming shows as they come on after I’m in bed. Previously my connection point was always NYC area. Tunnel Bear’s response? Log off and on until you win the lottery and get NYC. I do that now, but after 10 attempts, I usually give up. Other VPN services are cheaper with user-selectable connection points. Tunnel Bear also doesn’t offer smart DNS and has given up on outsmarting Netflix and other services. Basically, Tunnel Bear grew a huge customer base, but now they are resting on their laurels and have forgotten us.

I’m a technical person, but if I was setting up a VPN for someone who wasn’t, this is what I would use. Everything that CAN be put into Grandma-friendly language is, and it Just Works.

The feature that I probably use the most on iOS and macOS is the option to automatically connect on anything that isn’t your home WiFi. (On iOS, you can even connect automatically on cellular.) It’s literally the “set it and forget it” option.

I wouldn’t mind if TunnelBear supported larger font sizes, but that’s about it. I also use ProtonVPN for when I need more granular control, but this is a good option for 99% of the population.

Update May 17: I have noticed that since Mcafee bought them out TunnelBear has not functioned as well. Before Mcafee, it would smoothly connect in the background and the kill switch was visibly working - disconnecting the WiFi and then reconnecting once the VPN was active - now it allows my device to be connected to untrusted WiFi for long periods of time before the VPN kicks in. Is my data stream compromised at that point? Furthermore I have had a much more difficult time connecting to networks than I ever did before and have had to delete and reinstall TunnelBear a couple of times. TunnelBear worked flawlessly last year. Now, not so much.

I used the free 500mb allotment for several months before buying a year long membership. Very easy to use, lowest price I could find for a year long VPN, passes all the DNS leak and IP tests I could find and depending on which server I choose doesn’t slow down my connection much at all. I really like the kill switch, auto-connect and trusted network features. My only concern is the shortage of servers. Most other VPNs have dozens or even hundreds worldwide. In a practical sense though this hasn’t impacted me at all.

So, I thought having a VPN to add extra security, especially while I’m using public WiFi (which is rare) would be great, but I have had nothing but trouble with this app.
I can live with using Safari’s version of Google and it recognizing me in the country I have tunneled to, so at least I know it’s working but that’s only about a quarter of the time. The rest of the time TunnelBear is disconnecting and I’m constantly having to manually open TunnelBear and turn it off/on or tunnel to a different location to get it to connect again and it’s a major pain.
When you try to access some of your other apps, if this app is on, it may not grant you access, and internet pages take longer to download, even in WiFi!
My phone is not that old and my software is up to date and all that jazz, blah blah. There is no reason I should be having this much difficulty. I bought one a month subscription and am so glad I didn’t get the full year because I will not be renewing it.

The VPN bar has been set very high with the exit of Opera VPN. I can wholeheartedly say, this app, has exceeded my needs and expectations. I started on the free trial, that ‘YES’ does limit the data to 500mb, p/month. A. I have yet to find ANY TRULY FREE, VPN, and I mean free of ads that interfere with my experience directly.{Especially the speed and ease of integration of the VPN client within iOS’s feature utilizing a VPN Service. As well as free as in ,’no cost ever at any point’, so tunnel bear for my needs, is my, highly scrutinized decision, #1 choice. BONUS NOTE:* Spread the Tunnel Bear word on Twitter and receive a Gig, of EXTRA MONTHLY DATA =1500mb!! If you need more, their subscription service is again, priced more competitively than any other “COMPARABLE” VPN. Tunnel Bear, ‘Ballistic VPN’, that is THAT.

this app is a great VPN! It has a very simple user interface that anyone can figure out! Even though it has a limited number of servers, it is a fast VPN. I have had nothing but success with all of the servers I have used, but I prefer to leave it on automatic.

500MB per month might seem a little bit low, but that's for free! I did do the review which gave me 1GB additional for the first month. I have read that you can do that every month for an extra 1GB. I only use VPN for things that are extremely sensitive, so I am perfectly fine with the 500MB.

All in all, it's a fantastic application and it's very inexpensive! If I could give this six stars, I would! Great job this app! As the Bear 🐻 says, Rawr!

I work in the technology sector. When I talk with people about using a VPN on their mobile device or computer, I get a naive response that they aren’t doing anything that requires privacy. So does that mean you are willing to have cameras installed in your house where people can see what you are doing 24/7? I understand the leap in that logic but EVERYONE should be concerned about their privacy and do everything they can to protect it. Once information is “out there”, you don’t get to take it back. this app is so easy to use and there service is fairly priced. Their service is great. Please get TunnelBear and use it.

I've tried dozens of vpns but tunnel bear makes using a vpn quick and easy. I'm able to use my account across multiple devices and have never run into an issue with anything software related yet. The interface is polished and clean which I like. The performance is what I like best: I get the security of a vpn without any compromise in wifi or data speed. I appreciate that they share how they're audited and very throughout in their description of how and what they collect data wise (which btw is not a whole lot) from users. I bought the $10 a month plan and have zero regrets. Well done tunnel bear 🐻!