Club Benefits
TunnelBear has announced it will no longer support certain features on its free plan. Split tunneling, country selection, and "upcoming customization features" are now exclusively available for paid users only.
Despite being a solid all-rounder, TunnelBear can't really compete with the best VPNs. However it's one the few VPNs to offer a genuine free product – TunnelBear Free. These removed features make TunnelBear Free drift even further from best free VPNs, so it's disappointing to see them go.
What's changing?
TunnelBear's free VPN users will lose access to:
- SplitBear (app/website split tunneling)
- Country selection
- Upcoming customization features
These changes are now in effect. Google Play Store release notes for TunnelBear version 4.8.1 said: "Paid user experience updated to include exclusive access to country selection and SplitBear."
You can still securely connect to TunnelBear Free and the 2 GB monthly data limit remains. Country selection will now be random.
This brings TunnelBear Free in line with Proton VPN Free, with the latter also not allowing you to select your own server location. Proton does, however, have an unlimited data plan. Other leading free VPNs, PrivadoVPN Free and Windscribe VPN Free, allow you to freely select a server from a limited list of countries – both also have a 10 GB monthly data limit.
TunnelBear's paid users and users of its anti-censorship Bandwidth Program will see no change. Bandwidth Program users will keep access to all features and their 10 GB monthly data limit.
Free users will also remain protected by VigilantBear and GhostBear. VigilantBear keeps your data and location private in the seconds it takes TunnelBear to reconnect – for example, when changing servers or if your VPN connection drops. GhostBear is TunnelBear's version of VPN obfuscation and makes VPN traffic less detectable.
Why is TunnelBear doing this?
TunnelBear has been upfront about the reasons for these changes – costs. It said the changes allow TunnelBear "to keep up with the costs of maintaining and keeping the lights on" in its tunnels, without compromising its values.
Having been launched in 2011, TunnelBear has been in the VPN industry for a long time and it said "the VPN world has changed a lot." TunnelBear said many free VPNs rely on ads or data collection, something it "has never done, and never will." It added that it "still offers a truly free option without ads, or tracking, and selling your data."
Removing these features and potentially driving more users to its paid plan will allow TunnelBear to to do the following:
- Improve speed, reliability, and security
- Continue to conduct regular independent audits
- Expand its network and invest in features
- Keep its free plans "safe, simple, and honest"
- Avoid the need for non-subscriber funding
A three-year TunnelBear subscription costs $3.33 per month ($120 upfront). There's no definitive money-back guarantee but TunnelBear says it "may offer refunds on a case-by-case basis." There is also a free trial limited to 500 MB.
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
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