TunnelBear user reviews: where the free plan and the connection let people down
1,523 reviews of TunnelBear collected from Trustpilot, App Store and Google Play. Most come from App Store: 3.18 of 5 after smoothing. Reviews never change our score.
Ratings by source
Smoothed: a source’s average across all VPNs counts as 50 extra reviews, so a few five-star reviews cannot outrank thousands.
Trustpilot
2.86 of 5, smoothed
From 123 collected reviews (raw average 2.53; all VPNs 3.66). Last 90 days: 2.25 from 4.
The company replied to 0 of 74 negative reviews (1–2 stars).
App Store
3.18 of 5, smoothed
From 1000 collected reviews (raw average 3.16; all VPNs 3.54). Last 90 days: 3.71 from 28.
Google Play
2.77 of 5, smoothed
From 400 collected reviews (raw average 2.63; all VPNs 3.90). Last 90 days: 2.59 from 253.
The company replied to 229 of 230 negative reviews (1–2 stars).
Ratings shown on the platforms
As displayed by each platform; shown as text only.
- Trustpilot TrustScore
- 1.9 (123 reviews)
- App Store (US)
- 4.67 (85103 ratings)
- Google Play
- 3.4 (326K ratings, 10M+ installs)
Latest reviews
Short excerpts with a link to the original. We do not reproduce reviews in full.
App Store · 5★ · 12 Oct 2026 · US
Blkacre1fit
App Store · 1★ · 11 Oct 2026 · GB
Pile of Bears**t
App Store · 4★ · 10 Oct 2026 · US
Good app
Google Play · 1★ · 14 Oct 2026
This app was so great back in the day, now it's just unbearably stingy. You can't pick the place you want to connect with the expense of 500mb, now it's…
Google Play · 1★ · 13 Oct 2026
no longer free
Google Play · 5★ · 13 Oct 2026
cheap and good
Trustpilot · 1★ · 29 Sep 2026 · NL
It was nice, but no longer (free user)
Original reviewTrustpilot · 2★ · 28 Aug 2026 · US
Used to be good
Original reviewTrustpilot · 5★ · 27 Aug 2026 · GB
Great
Original review
On Reddit and forums
38 Reddit and forum threads mention TunnelBear (we keep titles and search snippets only).
Written TunnelBear reviews sit below the all-VPN average on every platform VPNRadarLab collects from, and they split at the extremes: one- and five-star reviews together make up 76% of the Trustpilot sample, 78% on the App Store and 84% on Google Play. Two complaints dominate: connections that drop or fail, and, in 2026, a free plan without country choice. The friendly bear design is what fans praise most often. None of these reviews change the VPNRadarLab score of 3.59 out of 10.
TunnelBear's numbers on Trustpilot, the App Store and Google Play
VPNRadarLab collected 1,523 written reviews: 1,000 from the App Store (500 US, 500 UK), 400 from Google Play and 123 from Trustpilot, plus 38 forum threads. Each source's all-VPN average is added as 50 extra reviews so small samples cannot drift.
| Platform | Collected | Smoothed avg | All-VPN avg | Last 90 days | Negatives / replies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trustpilot | 123 | 2.86 (raw 2.53) | 3.64 | 4 reviews, avg 2.25 | 74 / 0 |
| App Store | 1,000 | 3.18 (raw 3.16) | 3.54 | 28 reviews, avg 3.71 | 421 / 0 |
| Google Play | 400 | 2.77 (raw 2.63) | 3.91 | 253 reviews, avg 2.59 | 230 / 229 |
Google Play is where TunnelBear sits furthest below the all-VPN average. Store listings (App Store 4.67 from 85,103 ratings, Google Play 3.4 from 326K ratings) look friendlier because store totals count star-only taps, and the Trustpilot TrustScore of 1.9 is harsher still.
What pushes reviewers to one or two stars
The shares come from approximate keyword counts over all 725 low ratings; one review can touch several themes. Two reasons stand out: a tunnel that drops, slows or refuses to come up (about 41%), and billing, from charges to refused refunds (about 17%).
| Theme | Trustpilot | App Store | Google Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drops, slowness, app not working | ~45% | ~44% | ~36% |
| Billing and refunds | ~28% | ~18% | ~11% |
| Free plan without country choice | ~20% | ~11% | ~22% |
| Sign-in and account trouble | ~9% | ~12% | ~13% |
| Support not answering | ~28% | ~5% | ~4% |
Streaming sites (about 6%) and running out of free data (about 4%) are two smaller themes of the negative reviews, and since themes overlap they do not account for everything else.
The free-plan change behind the 2026 reviews
Before 2025 the country lock appeared in about 3% of negatives; in 2026 it is about 25%, and across the whole sample it ranks second on Google Play at roughly 22%. The terms explain it: the free plan gives 2 GB a month but no country or city selection and no split tunneling. Choosing a location, SplitBear, premium servers and priority support are paid features, and paid plans remove the data cap.
Renewals, refunds and replies that never come
Auto-renewal is on by default, and the 30-day refund covers only a first-year annual subscription bought directly from TunnelBear. Monthly plans, Teams seats and store purchases are excluded. Cancelling happens on the My Account page, the only listed payment method is a bank card, and support runs on email tickets with no live chat published. That is what Trustpilot reviewers describe when they say nobody answered (about 28% of its negatives).
What four- and five-star reviewers like
Across 693 positive reviews, the bear theme and design come first (about 16%), then ease of use (about 15%) and the free option (about 13%); on Trustpilot, roughly 39% of positive reviews mention the free tier. Reliability (10%), speed (9%) and price (5%) trail behind.
Are TunnelBear reviews getting worse?
On the App Store, yes: the yearly average fell from 3.44 in 2024 to 3.32 in 2025 and 2.40 in 2026, though the last 90 days look kinder. Google Play reviews all date from June to mid-October 2026 and stayed low, with a mild lift in early October. The forum threads repeat the same topics: the reshaped free plan, random disconnects, manual OpenVPN setups on Linux and routers, and long waits for support replies. For a comparison with other services, there is a ranking of VPNs by user reviews.
Why the 3.59 score ignores the reviews
The score is built only from published facts, and reviews never move it. Its stronger sub-scores are price and terms (4.8), platforms (4.7) and network (4.3, 8,000+ servers in 46+ countries). Bypass scores 1.9 because only the GhostBear obfuscation mode is published among the anti-censorship protocols the ranking checks, and privacy scores 3.0: Canada sits in the Five Eyes alliance, no independent no-logs audit is published, and the privacy policy lists email among collected data. Security gets 3.9, with VigilantBear (the kill switch), WireGuard and yearly audits counting in its favour. Connection complaints have their own fixes page.
FAQ
Is TunnelBear still good as a free VPN?
For light use, yes: 2 GB a month is enough to try it, but a specific location requires paying.
Why does the App Store listing look better than the written reviews?
Star-only taps pull the listing up, while people with a problem are the ones who write.
Does TunnelBear reply to bad reviews?
On Google Play, to 229 of 230 negative reviews. On Trustpilot and the App Store, no replies are recorded.
Can I get my money back after an App Store purchase?
No. Store purchases are not eligible for TunnelBear's 30-day refund.
TunnelBear reviews, briefly
Below-average written ratings on every platform, with one- and five-star reviews dominating. Connection failures are the oldest complaint, the locked free plan the newest, and billing anger traces to auto-renewal and the narrow refund rule. Fans name the design and the easy app. The developer answers nearly every negative review on Google Play and none elsewhere. The score ignores reviews.