# TunnelBear

> McAfee-owned VPN with a 2GB free plan and pay-once multi-year plans

TunnelBear is a VPN from a Toronto team owned by McAfee since 2018, with apps for Windows, Mac, iPhone and iPad, Android and Chrome. A free plan gives 2GB of browsing, and the Unlimited plan removes the cap on any number of devices. TunnelBear for Teams adds central billing and an admin console.

- **Category:** VPNs
- **Made by:** TunnelBear LLC
- **Website:** https://www.tunnelbear.com
- **Runs on:** macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Browser extension
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 17, 2026

## Pricing

TunnelBear has a free plan. Paid plans start at $3.33 per month on the 3-year Unlimited plan ($120 paid once).

- **Pricing model:** Free plan
- **Free plan:** 2GB of secure browsing for testing and light use. The pricing page does not say how often the allowance resets.
- **Free trial:** 7-day free trial of TunnelBear for Teams.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free | $0 | 2GB of secure browsing, aimed at testing and limited use. |
| Unlimited, 1 month | $10.99 per month | Unlimited data on unlimited devices, country and city selection, split tunneling and priority support. Renews monthly. |
| Unlimited, 1 year | $69.99 per year | The same Unlimited plan, renewing every year at $69.99. |
| Unlimited, 2 years | $99.99 for 2 years, paid once, with no renewal | Two years of Unlimited for a single payment; it does not renew by itself. |
| Unlimited, 3 years | $120 for 3 years, paid once, with no renewal | Works out to $3.33 a month, the "from" price on the pricing page. A single payment that does not renew by itself. |
| Teams | $5.75 per user / month, billed annually | Unlimited plan features for 2 or more users, with one annual team invoice, an admin console and pro-rated changes. |

Read from https://www.tunnelbear.com/pricing on Oct 17, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with TunnelBear before buying.

## Key features

- **Unlimited devices:** There is no limit on how many devices can use one TunnelBear account.
- **Network in 46+ countries:** Over 8,000 servers physically located in the countries you pick, with city-level choice on paid plans.
- **GhostBear:** Makes encrypted VPN traffic harder for governments, businesses and ISPs to detect, to get past VPN blocking.
- **VigilantBear and SplitBear:** VigilantBear blocks unsecured traffic if the connection drops, and SplitBear chooses which apps and sites go through the VPN.
- **Annual security audits:** TunnelBear has independent security firms audit it every year and publishes the results.
- **TunnelBear Blocker:** A separate free Chrome extension that blocks ads and online tracking.

## Good for

- Occasional users who need a VPN for a few gigabytes
- People who want to pay once for several years with no auto-renewal
- Small teams that want one annual invoice for everyone

## Worth knowing

- The pricing page shows only "from $3.33/mo"; the term prices here come from the price list the site loads for its checkout.
- The free plan is limited to 2GB, and the download page lists no Linux app.
- TunnelBear says it can no longer be bought by users in India because of CERT-In regulations.
- Teams is billed annually per user, with additions and removals pro-rated.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 2.4 out of 4**, graded Oct 17, 2026. TunnelBear is the simple, friendly VPN, owned by McAfee, with unlimited devices and multi-year plans you pay once that don't renew by themselves. Two years are $99.99 and three are $120. But the network is smaller than most, there's no Linux app, and the free plan is just 2GB.

- **Value for money: C.** Two years of Unlimited are $99.99 paid once, about $4.17 a month, between the cheaper quarter of VPNs and the middle. Three years for $120 is $3.33 a month. Neither renews by itself, which is nice, and a single year is $69.99.
- **Free plan and trial: C.** A free plan with 2GB of browsing, which TunnelBear itself pitches at testing and light use, and the page doesn't say how often it resets. Fine for café Wi-Fi now and then, gone fast if you stream.
- **Features: C.** The basics, done properly: unlimited devices, a kill switch, split tunneling, GhostBear to get past VPN blocks, and yearly audits. But the network covers 46+ countries, far fewer than most rivals, and ad blocking is a separate Chrome extension.
- **Ease of use: B.** 4.67 from about 85,000 App Store ratings, a hair under the 4.7 an A needs. Pick a country and you're connected.
- **Platforms and integrations: B.** Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android and Chrome, but the download page lists no Linux app. There's no integration list or API on record either.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from TunnelBear's own pages on 17 October 2026, and its App Store rating. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.

## Where it stands among VPNs

- TunnelBear's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 6 of the 16 other VPNs we grade, and level with 3.
- It stands best on ease of use (B, above 6 of 16) and worst on features (C, above 0).
- Its paid plans start at $3.33 a month, against a middle price of $5 for the category: 3 of the 15 others that charge start lower.
- On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 2 tools score higher and cost less.

The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/vpn

## Keep it, or make your own?

**Keep it.** To replace TunnelBear you would be making servers in dozens of countries, kept fast and private. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. It costs $39.96 a year.

- You could make: Ad and tracker blocking: an app builder makes this well.
- You could not: Servers in dozens of countries, kept fast and private.
- You could not: Apps for macOS, Windows, iOS and Android that stay in step with each other.
- You could not: What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: roles and permissions.

A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it.

## What people say

- **App Store rating of the iPhone and iPad app:** 4.7 out of 5 from 85,115 ratings in the United States, read Oct 17, 2026. This is the store's rating of the app, not a score from ToolGPA. Source: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id564842283

**Tags:** VPN, Ad and tracker blocking

## Alternatives

- [Windscribe](https://toolgpa.com/tools/windscribe): VPN with a 10GB free plan and pay-per-location pricing. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/tunnelbear-vs-windscribe)
- [Proton VPN](https://toolgpa.com/tools/proton-vpn): Open-source Swiss VPN with a free plan that has no data cap. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/proton-vpn-vs-tunnelbear)
- [Surfshark](https://toolgpa.com/tools/surfshark): VPN with no device limit, sold alone or in security bundles. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/surfshark-vs-tunnelbear)
- [CyberGhost](https://toolgpa.com/tools/cyberghost): VPN for seven devices with a 45-day money-back window on long plans. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cyberghost-vs-tunnelbear)
- [NordVPN](https://toolgpa.com/tools/nordvpn): Subscription VPN with threat protection and Meshnet device links. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/nordvpn-vs-tunnelbear)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 17, 2026:

- https://www.tunnelbear.com/pricing
- https://prod-api-core.tunnelbear.com/core/web/api/getPricingDetails
- https://www.tunnelbear.com/account/checkout
- https://www.tunnelbear.com/features
- https://www.tunnelbear.com/teams
- https://www.tunnelbear.com/download
- https://www.tunnelbear.com/blocker

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/tunnelbear
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).