TunnelBear vs VyprVPN: Which wins?

It’s not easy to know which VPN to use. This is in part due to the sheer number of VPN services now on the market. Many VPNs claim to be the best. However, it’s not until you actually use a VPN that you can find out for sure whether what it’s saying is fact or fiction. The trouble with this is that trying out multiple VPNs is time-consuming, not to mention expensive. Fortunately, there’s a better way.

With this VPN comparison post, we put two popular VPN providers side-by-side, looking at everything including the speed and location of their servers, streaming services they can (or can’t) unblock, security features, and even their average response time to emails. All of this is broken down into easy-to-find categories with even easier-to-understand comparison tables. We’ll then conclude by determining a winner based on our findings.

Need a VPN right now and don’t have time to read the full post? Here’s a quick summary of the best features of each VPN. If you don’t have time, VyprVPN comes out on top.

Highlights

TunnelBear

• Good variety of subscription plans available
• Unlimited simultaneous connections per account
• Browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox
• Unlike many VPNs, it works in China

VyprVPN

• Risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee
• Supports up to 10 devices at once
• Consistent unblocking of streaming services
• Lots of security features including auto wifi protection

TunnelBear vs VyprVPN pricing

With most VPNs, you can choose between short-term (monthly) and long-term (annual or multi-year) subscription periods. Both have their own pros and cons. With a rolling monthly plan, you’ll pay more on average per month. However, you don’t need to commit long-term which means paying less money up front. TunnelBear and VyprVPN’s one month plan costs $10, which is around what you can expect to pay with most VPNs.

The two VPNs also provide one year plans. In the case of TunnelBear, this works out at $4.99 a month ($59.99 a year) while VyprVPN is almost exactly the same at $5 a month or $60 per year. However, the key difference is that TunnelBear also has a three year plan which, at a discount of 67 percent, means you pay just $3.33 a month ($120 for the full three year term). Needless to say, this option makes sense if you don’t mind commiting long-term.

One disadvantage of TunnelBear is that it doesn’t offer a money-back guarantee. Instead, it states that it “may offer refunds on a case-by-case basis.” A free trial is available although it’s worth noting that this is limited to just 500 MB of data a month. In contrast, VyprVPN includes a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to try out the full VPN unrestricted and risk-free.

Best Deal for TunnelBear:Get 67 percent off and pay just $3.33 a month with the TunnelBear three year subscription.

Best Deal for VyprVPN:Save 50 percent when you choose the VyprVPN one year plan. This works out at just $5 each month.

TunnelBear vs VyprVPN features

Whether you choose TunnelBear or VyprVPN, you’ll have access to apps for desktop and mobile: Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. If you’d like to use your VPN on Linux or your wireless router, VyprVPN is best. That’s because TunnelBear only offers limited Linux support (Ubuntu 16+ and Fedora Workstation 25+) while it doesn’t support routers at all. However, you can use VyprVPN with Linux and select routers with manual configuration.

There’s no limit to the number of devices you can connect at the same time with TunnelBear while VyprVPN allows up to 10 simultaneous connections per account. In comparison, most VPNs only allow up to five or six devices at once. Both VPNs also offer split tunneling which gives you the option to choose which apps use the VPN connection and which don’t.

Streaming and unblocking

The difference between the two VPNs is night and day when it comes to unblocking. VyprVPN is by far your best bet if you’re traveling abroad and looking to access your favorite streaming services as normal. It works with multiple Netflix libraries including the US and UK, as well as Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, and more. In fact, it only failed to access DAZN, which isn’t uncommon – most VPNs struggle with it.

TunnelBear didn’t work with most streaming services we tested it with. It’s not a reliable choice for Netflix, Disney+, or DAZN, for example. However, we were able to use it with BBC iPlayer. Of course, geographic restrictions (and government censorship) extend beyond streaming platforms and can include news sites, social media services, and even online banking accounts. That’s why it’s so important to choose a VPN with consistent unblocking.

Which of these VPNs work in China?

While you should be able to use a VPN in most countries worldwide, it’s particularly difficult in China due to strict censorship restrictions. Many VPNs don’t work within the country because the Chinese government’s Great Firewall employs multiple methods to block them. This includes deep packet inspection and DNS spoofing. You’ll find that the vast majority of VPN websites are blocked in China, and they include those of TunnelBear and VyprVPN.

Despite the fact that you can’t access the websites of TunnelBear and VyprVPN from China, both VPNs work within the country. TunnelBear has its own GhostBear feature for obfuscating traffic. This is available Windows, Mac, and Android. In VyprVPN’s case, it has a proprietary protocol called Chameleon. This serves to scramble OpenVPN packet metadata so that it’s no longer recognizable even when subjected to deep packet inspection.

Whether you use TunnelBear or VyprVPN while in China, you’ll need to ensure the VPN is downloaded and installed ahead of your visit.

Setup and interface

Signup and setup with TunnelBear and VyprVPN is quick and easy. An automatic setup wizard means downloading and installing the app shouldn’t take more than a minute. Once inside, you’ll find both VPNs have simple, easy-to-navigate apps. Each features a dropdown list of server locations for you to choose from. There’s also a button for connecting to the fastest available server in both cases.

There are some key differences between the apps of TunnelBear and VyprVPN. In particular, TunnelBear features a map view (complete with tunneling bear animation!). VyprVPN lets you filter servers by country, region, and speed while you can also favorite specific ones to find them faster next time. In the TunnelBear settings menu, you can toggle on and off the various features such as GhostBear (obfuscation) and VigilantBear (kill switch).

Overall, we found VyprVPN’s apps to be the most beginner-friendly. A big part of this is that it doesn’t have the map feature of TunnelBear, providing a cleaner, less cluttered UI. We particularly like the footer menu for one-click access to the settings page, which is very well organized with explanations of each feature so you understand exactly what it is you’re adjusting.

Servers and performance

TunnelBear isn’t transparent about how many servers it offers. What we do know is that its servers can be found in 48 countries. This is a respectable number. although the likes of ExpressVPN and CyberGhost have servers in more than 90 countries. VyprVPN operates more than 700 servers located in 64 countries.

You don’t have to worry about server speed with these VPNs. Indeed, both have introduced WireGuard, a newer and faster VPN protocol. In our most recent speed tests, VyprVPN averaged 258 Mbps while TunnelBear averaged 368 Mbps. This makes them ideal for streaming and torrenting. The two VPNs offer unlimited bandwidth so there’s no limit to what you can do, unlike many free VPNs (and even some ISPs) that engage in bandwidth throttling.

Here’s the full list of countries in which TunnelBear and VyprVPN provide servers:

Security

You can choose between various VPN protocols with TunnelBear and VyprVPN. In particular, both recently introduced WireGuard. This is ideal if you’re looking to maintain a fast connection. They also support OpenVPN, a secure and highly configurable protocol, as well as IKEv2. The key difference is that you can also use L2TP with VyprVPN, as well as Chameleon, its proprietary protocol which helps bypass VPN blocking.

Both VPNs secure your internet traffic from hackers and snoopers with 256-bit AES encryption with 2048-bit keys. Unlike many VPNs, TunnelBear and VyprVPN offer cloaking technology for navigating internet censorship (such as in China). This feature is called GhostBear in TunnelBear’s case, while VyprVPN has its own protocol called Chameleon.

Another important security feature offered by TunnelBear and VyprVPN is a kill switch. This blocks your internet connection when the VPN is disconnecting or reconnecting, preventing data from being exposed. With TunnelBear, this is referred to as VigilantBear. You can find the kill switch feature via the Windows, Mac, and Android apps of both VPNs. Notably, VyprVPN also has auto wifi connection which ensures it switches on before you connect to public wifi, preventing any data from being exposed.

Privacy

TunnelBear is headquartered in Canada, a Five Eyes member. Were any of your data to be obtained by the Canadian government, it could be shared with other countries within the intelligence agreement. However, TunnelBear doesn’t keep any identifying logs of its users, so this shouldn’t be anything to worry about too much. It’s worth knowing that TunnelBear does keep some connection logs such as your operating system and total data used per month.

The headquarters of VyprVPN are located in Switzerland, which is outside of the Five, Nine, and Fourteen Eyes agreements. In contrast to TunnelBear, it doesn’t keep any logs. In fact, VyprVPN’s no-logs policy has been independently audited by Leviathan Security Group to prove it.

Signup with TunnelBear requires providing an email address. VyprVPN also requests this as well as your name, which is commonly required. However, you do invariably end up giving your name during the payment process anyway.

Configuration

When you use TunnelBear or VyprVPN, you’ll benefit from the privacy of having a shared IP address. Connecting to a server sees you assigned the same IP address as other users on the server. All of your online activity is essentially mixed together with that of other users, making it much harder to trace your movements and link them back to you. Neither service offers a dedicated or static IP address.

There’s no specific anti-DDoS feature with either VPN, although the very fact you’re using a VPN means you’re protected regardless. When you use a VPN, your actual IP address is hidden. Any DDoS attacks would impact the VPN server to which you’re connected instead. You’d then be able to switch servers and continue browsing as normal.

Customer Service

Should you have any questions, both VPN providers offer customer support. Of the two, only VyprVPN offers live chat, making it quicker and easier to get help. Both have email support that can also be fast, depending on the VPN in question. Of course, it may be that you prefer to troubleshoot issues for yourself. TunnelBear and VyprVPN have help sections for you. These consist of setup guides with screenshots, troubleshooting issues, and FAQs. There aren’t any video guides available, however.

The live chat support of VyprVPN is the fastest way to get an issue resolved (usually within a matter of minutes). The response time to emails can vary by VPN provider. That’s why we tested TunnelBear and VyprVPN by sending them three emails and timing the speed of their replies. There was little to separate the response times of the two VPNs. TunnelBear had a response time of 30 minutes on average while VyprVPN was slightly quicker at 27 minutes.

The Winner: VyprVPN

TunnelBear certainly has some things going for it. In particular, it provides fast speeds thanks to the WireGuard protocol. There’s no limit to the number of devices you can secure and it’s one of a relatively small number of VPNs that actually works in China thanks to its traffic obfuscation feature, GhostBear. However, it has a relatively small network of servers, keeps some connection logs, and doesn’t offer live chat support.

Overall, it’s VyprVPN that comes out on top. It has beginner-friendly apps and can also be manually configured to work with Linux and routers. While it doesn’t have the largest server network, it has more than TunnelBear. It’s also much more compatible with streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and HBO Max. Unlike TunnelBear, it doesn’t keep any logs (not even connection logs) and has been audited to prove it.

Perhaps the key difference is that of these two VPNs, only VyprVPN is backed by a money-back guarantee (30 days), providing a risk-free way of trying out the full paid service.

See also:

• Tunnelbear vs AtlasVPN
• CyberGhost vs Tunnelbear
• PrivateVPN vs VyprVPN
• ProtonVPN vs VyprVPN