TunnelBear vs. ExpressVPN

We all love a good underdog story, but when it comes to choosing a VPN, we have to stick to the option that is objectively better. In this comparison, ExpressVPN has the clear upperhand. It offers more servers, has more advanced features, and has a better-established reputation. The underdog is TunnelBear because it has fewer server locations and less features.

That being said, we don’t want to assume that ExpressVPN is better just because it’s larger and more popular, which is why we compare them directly in terms of encryption, IP addresses, privacy policies and other essential features. Who will come out on top? Keep on reading to find out.

Servers

Let’s start with a general overview. ExpressVPN operates a network of around 3,000 servers in 105 countries. It doesn’t have the largest network, but its 105 locations is the second most we’ve seen overall. It’s next only to NordVPN’s 111 countries. Meanwhile, Tunnelbear has a slightly larger network of 5,000 servers, but those servers are dispersed in only 45 countries.

You’re probably wondering how that affects your VPN experience. Well, with more servers, TunnelBear is poised to offer better performance. Servers are what routes encrypted traffic back and forth to VPN users. So when there’s an equal amount of traffic being routed through ExpressVPN and TunnelBear servers, you’re less likely to experience slow flow with TunnelBear. It’s like driving on a four-lane highway versus one with only two lanes.

That said, location matters more to most VPN users. While encryption is the core function of every VPN, changing a device’s location is another important feature. VPNs do that by giving you an anonymous IP address tied to the location of the server you’re connected to. So with 105 locations, ExpressVPN can change your IP address to more than twice as many locations as TunnelBear.

Devices and Browsers

First, let’s talk about compatibility, as you don’t want to buy a VPN that doesn’t work with the device or browser you want to encrypt. While both VPNs work with Windows, macOS, Android, iOS and Linux, TunnelBear only works with Linux in a pretty limited capacity and ExpressVPN also works with:

• Chromebooks
• Wireless routers from Sabi, DD-WRT, Asus and Tomato
• Apple TV
• PlayStation 3
• PlayStation 4
• Xbox One.

Both VPNs have browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox, but while ExpressVPN supports Safari, TunnelBear explores Opera. Since 17.2 percent of Internet users globally use Safari as their web browser versus just 1.5 percent of global Internet users who use Opera,1 this probably means that ExpressVPN will be compatible for more people than TunnelBear.

Also check out: Best VPN for Chromebook

Score: ExpressVPN one, TunnelBear zero.

Encryption Standard

No matter which VPN you choose, you’ll get the industry standard in encryption, namely AES-256. This protected our web traffic and IP address in either VPN’s encrypted tunnel.

Score: Express VPN two, TunnelBear one.

IP Addresses

Another thing that TunnelBear and ExpressVPN have in common? Whenever we signed onto either VPN, we got new IP addresses, which felt a bit like putting on a new wig every time we left the house to escape the paparazzi (in our fantasies). We prefer dynamic IP addresses over static IP addresses, which make us much easier to follow online.

Score: ExpressVPN three, TunnelBear two.

Kill Switches

Being digital security experts, we’re always looking for back up plans in case our software fails. What if TunnelBear or ExpressVPN got disconnected? Would that leave our web activity open to the prying eyes of our Internet Service Provider? Thankfully, the answer is no with both VPNs due to their kill switches, which shut down our web browsers if they failed. Think of the kill switch as a curtain that comes down in case the show literally can’t go on.

Score: ExpressVPN four, TunnelBear three.

Multi-Hop

Since neither VPN encrypted our traffic multiple times through a couple or more different servers, a practice called multi-hop, the scores stayed the same for this round.

Score: ExpressVPN four, TunnelBear three.

Netflix

Netflix accounts for a quarter of all TV-watching and 34 percent of all streaming platforms,2 which is why we tested TunnelBear and ExpressVPN to see if Netflix still worked with the VPNs on. You see, connecting to a VPN server in a different location will allow you to access Netflix shows available only in that location. That’s because Netflix thinks you’re actually in that location because of your IP address. However, Netflix blocks – or more accurately, prevents – users from accessing locally available shows when it detects accounts using IP addresses. So watching Netflix with a VPN doesn’t always work.

While we got to watch Netflix with ExpressVPN, the streaming service had our TunnelBear server blocked. Rats!

Score: ExpressVPN five, TunnelBear three.

Number and Locations of Servers

ExpressVPN has a larger global presence than TunnelBear, with servers in 105 countries compared to just 45. But while ExpressVPN says they have 3,000 servers, TunnelBear boasts more than 5,000 servers total. So who wins this one? Well, you’re not going to need thousands of servers – you connect to only one each time you turn on your VPN – but you’re going to need multiple locations if you want to access sites blocked in your country. So with ExpressVPN offering more locations, it wins this round.

Score: ExpressVPN six, TunnelBear three.

Prices and Subscriptions

So far, ExpressVPN has twice the number of points as TunnelBear, but the scale is about to tip a bit more in favor of TunnelBear. Why? Because of their lower prices, not to mention their free option, one of the best free VPNs, and their option for teams.

While we had to pay a minimum of $8.32 a month with ExpressVPN, TunnelBear’s paid options started out at only $3.33 a month, or $5.75 per user per month if we got the VPN for teams. It’s clear that TunnelBear is cheaper than ExpressVPN no matter how you slice it but if you want to know more, read our pages on ExpressVPN’s costs and TunnelBear’s costs.

Score: ExpressVPN six, TunnelBear four.

Privacy Jurisdiction

Unfortunately for TunnelBear, the pendulum swung in the other direction when it came to its privacy jurisdiction. Unlike ExpressVPN, which is based in the Five Eyes non-member country the British Virgin Islands, TunnelBear is based in Toronto, Canada, a Five Eyes member. That means that the Canadian government could force TunnelBear to give them information about their customers, while ExpressVPN is under no such obligation. When it comes to privacy, ExpressVPN is a far safer bet.

Score: ExpressVPN seven, TunnelBear four.

Privacy Policy

We were pretty pleased with both VPNs when it came to their privacy policies; neither logged the IP address of our device that we connected to their service, nor the web activity we did while connected. However, TunnelBear did log the IP address of the device we used during payment, making the transaction slightly less private. They also logged our operating system version as well as whether we used the app or not this month. This isn’t a huge deal in our book, but since ExpressVPN logged less of our information, they win this round.

Score: ExpressVPN eight, TunnelBear four.

Speeds

Rarely do we see VPNs with so little impact of Internet speed as TunnelBear. We barely saw differences in download speed, upload speed and latency (ping) when TunnelBear was connected, unlike ExpressVPN. Of course, these speed tests were our experiences and may be different from other users. Factors like device make and model, operating system version, and distance to the server can also affect speed, but according to our tests, TunnelBear is much faster than ExpressVPN.

Score: ExpressVPN eight, TunnelBear five.

Split Tunneling

It’s not always necessary for us to route all of our web traffic through an encrypted tunnel, especially if the web pages don’t contain any sensitive information. While we could split tunnel, or access private and public networks simultaneously, with both ExpressVN and TunnelBear, split tunneling only worked on TunnelBear’s Android application. With ExpressVPN, we used split tunneling with all of their apps, which is obviously preferred.

Score: ExpressVPN nine, TunnelBear five.

Torrenting

Last but not least is torrenting, which has become increasingly popular since the COVID-19 lockdown; in the U.S, torrenting usage has increased by over 40 percent,3 so we wanted to ensure that we could torrent while connected to both TunnelBear and ExpressVPN. Fortunately, we could torrent with either VPN, although we had to do it through ExpressVPN using uTorrent, a separate download. For this slight inconvenience, we’ll give the point to TunnelBear.

Score: ExpressVPN nine, TunnelBear six.

Our Pick

If you can do basic math, then you know that we much prefer ExpressVPN to TunnelBear. In a nutshell, it’s a service that more people can use, due to its global presence and a large number of servers; it’s private, based in the British Virgin Islands with a strict data logging policy, plus, we got split tunneling on all apps and Netflix access. We’d only recommend TunnelBear if you’re on a budget, want a free VPN or a VPN for teams, as ExpressVPN lacks group options, but for individual use, ExpressVPN is a much better option.

Hopefully, this comparison helped you reach your purchase decision, but if that’s not the case, we’d recommend checking out our best-of lists, such as the best VPNs for Netflix, the best VPNs for torrenting, the best VPNs for Fire TV Stick, the best VPNs for Mac and the best VPNs for Chrome. Or, type in “best VPNs” in our search bar to find even more compilations.