Avast SecureLine VPN vs TunnelBear

The internet has made it possible for people to share information beyond geographical borders through social media, online videos and sharing platforms as well as online gaming platforms. This has necessitated online security and protection of all this personal and private information. One way to safeguard your personal data on the internet is through Virtual Private Networks.

With the ever-growing list of VPNs, it requires extra vigilance to ensure you get the best service for your money. In this Avast SecureLine VPN vs TunnelBear review, these two services go head to head based on a number of key features.

Avast SecureLine VPN is best suited for beginners because it is very easy to use. It is also useful to users who do not have much security in mind. On the other hand, TunnelBear VPN is an excellent choice for those more concerned with their anonymity. Let’s see why.

TunnelBear vs. Avast SecureLine VPN: specifications

TunnelBear strives to become one of the leading VPN providers. Due to this, it has 1800+ servers in 48+ countries and an entirely free version. Besides this, it offers commendable streaming and torrenting capabilities, along with fast speeds and consistent connections.

Compared to it, Avast SecureLine VPN has a drastically smaller server range of only 700+ servers in 34 countries. However, it works with OpenVPN, as well as with its unique Avast Mimic protocol. As a result, you’ll get decent speeds for at least browsing.

However, we decided to test them thoroughly, and we noticed that TunnelBear is the overall winner of this Avast SecureLine VPN vs. TunnelBear comparison.

TunnelBear vs Avast SecureLine VPN: pricing

Just from the start, we encounter a challenging decision. Both TunnelBear and Avast SecureLine VPN are affordable and have great perks, like free versions and trials. However, TunnelBear is slightly better than its rival, despite not having a money back guarantee. Let’s discover why!

TunnelBear pricing

TunnelBear offers a completely free plan. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with any sort of money-back guarantee. At least the subscriptions are quite affordable and don’t hurt the wallet much:

• Monthly plan for $9.99/month
• Annual plan for $4.99/month
• Three years plan for $3.33/month

You’ll need to use either a credit card or Bitcoin to purchase TunnelBear. The latter option gives you the chance to make anonymous payments, which we always welcome.

As for the free version, it comes with a 2 GB/month data cap and 1 simultaneous connection. And if it stops working or glitches, customer support won’t prioritize your ticket.

Avast SecureLine VPN pricing

Compared to TunnelBear, Avast SecureLine VPN has a 60-day free trial and also a 30-day money-back guarantee. On top of that, its prices are very affordable, and it offers three different plans. So, let’s explore them:

• $4.60/month for the annual plan
• $4.20/month for the two-year plan
• $3.75/month for the three-year plan

Regarding payments, this provider enables you to utilize credit cards and PayPal. Unfortunately, it doesn’t accept cryptocurrencies.

Speed comparison

Moving on with our Avast SecureLine VPN vs. TunnelBear comparison, we have the speed aspect. This is crucial for a fantastic experience without lags and buffering issues. The winner in this round is TunnelBear.

TunnelBear comes with numerous servers worldwide, which is the first essential difference. In addition, it also implements strong VPN protocols that provide smooth performance. More precisely, TunnelBear works with WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2.

On the other hand, Avast SecureLine VPN utilizes OpenVPN, IPSec, and its unique protocol Avast Mimic. However, it seems that none of these protocols are enough to beat TunnelBear. Also, Avast SecureLine has fewer servers than its competitor, significantly contributing to slower speeds.

TunnelBear vs. Avast SecureLine VPN: which is more secure?

When it comes to security, both services aren’t the best here. But before we see why, let’s have a look at the features TunnelBear and Avast SecureLine VPN share:

• AES-256 encryption
• IP and DNS leak protection
• Kill switch

TunnelBear is based in Canada, which isn’t ideal, but at least it adheres to a no-logs policy, albeit an unaudited one. Avast SecureLine VPN, on the other hand, is headquartered in a great country privacy-wise, but it logs some user data.

Privacy

TunnelBear headquarters is in Canada, making it a part of a country that belongs to the 5-Eyes Alliance. More precisely, this country has strict surveillance measures, and the VPN may even collect and share data about your browsing activities with the government.

On the contrary, Avast SecureLine VPN is located in the Czech Republic. This means that it’s not part of the 5, 9, or 14-Eyes Alliance, and the service isn’t pressured by outside sources to spy on its users.

Logging

Regarding logging, TunnelBear claims that it has a no-logs policy, although it hasn’t been audited. Avast SecureLine VPN, on the other hand, does some minimal logging. It mostly concerns data useful for improving its services.

Servers location

The next section of our TunnelBear vs. Avast SecureLine VPN concerns server location. Therefore, TunnelBear is the winner in this round.

TunnelBear has 1800+ servers in 48+ countries, while Avast SecureLine VPN offers only 700+ servers across 34+ countries. Plus, all of them are physical. However, this fact doesn’t redeem such a low server count and poor country coverage. And it doesn’t help with connectivity either, resulting in barely average performance.

Features

If you want to spice up your online experience, you need a VPN with unique extra features. Due to this, TunnelBear wins once again.

Smart DNS

The Smart DNS feature allows you to use your chosen VPN on any device you want. However, not all VPNs come with this feature, leaving you with limited access to your preferred online activities. Unfortunately, neither competitor includes Smart DNS.

Ad & malware blocker

An ad & malware blocker is a handy feature that can take care of adware, user trackers, and malicious websites. Depending on the service, some even come with additional perks.
Unfortunately, Avast SecureLine VPN doesn’t offer an ad & malware blocker, but TunnelBear does. And even then, it’s only available on the Chrome add-on.

Split tunneling

Thanks to this feature, you can choose which apps use the secure VPN tunnel and which don’t. As such, split tunneling helps avoid unnecessary VPN server congestion. Again, only TunnelBear has this feature.

Obfuscated servers

If you want to bypass online censorship, you must select a VPN with obfuscation. In other words, such providers hide your VPN usage and trick Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) into thinking you’re just regularly browsing. Only TunnelBear is capable of this.

Specialized servers

Avast SecureLine VPN also includes specialty hardware:

• P2P servers optimized for file-sharing and torrenting
• Streaming servers that are designed to provide the best performance for streaming content

Netflix and streaming comparison

Streaming is one of the most common activities that require VPN usage if you want to access restricted services. Therefore, you need a VPN that unblocks most of the popular streaming platforms. As you may guess, TunnelBear takes the win again.

TunnelBear effectively unblocks Netflix US, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and Max. Unfortunately, it’s not compatible with Disney+ and BBC iPlayer, and we encountered issues trying to access foreign Netflix libraries.

Avast SecureLine VPN, on the other hand, works mostly with Netflix US, Amazon Prime Video, Max and Disney+. You won’t be able to unblock any of your other favorite content.

Device compatibility

If device compatibility is essential for your decision, then you need to consider choosing TunnelBear. Let’s see why it has a minor advantage.

Desktop applications

Both TunnelBear and Avast SecureLine VPN offer dedicated apps for Windows and macOS. TunnelBear keeps it simple yet cartoonish with bear animations and roaring sounds. Avast Secureline VPN just keeps it simple and intuitive.

TunnelBear keeps the Windows and macOS identical both security and feature-wise. So, no matter what operating system your PC runs on, you’ll have the same VPN experience.

Avast SecureLine VPN comes with great security across the board, yet the service simply lacks any distinctive features. You can just mostly pick a server and that’s it, making this provider quite underwhelming.

Mobile applications

When it comes to mobiles, both VPN providers also have apps for iOS and Android devices. TunnelBear sticks to its bear theme, while Avast SecureLine VPN unexpectedly goes for a more visually-packed design.

Sadly, while TunnelBear’s desktop apps work as expected, the mobile clients are simply subpar. They are cluttered and we encounter lag even when simply browsing the settings. Worst of all, the iOS application lacks a kill switch.

Avast SecureLine VPN, apart from the starkly different design, doesn’t come with any extras for mobile users. You can just switch the VPN server.

Torrenting

The next section of our detailed comparison is torrenting. Unsurprisingly, TunnelBear wins again by being more torrent-oriented.

TunnelBear supports torrenting across the whole server fleet and offers split tunneling. Avast SecureLine VPN only supports P2P file sharing on servers dedicated for it, and there’s no split tunneling to speak of. Both don’t come with a SOCKS5 proxy, which isn’t a must, but a nice perk great for securing torrent clients.

China

As we’re heading toward the end of our TunnelBear vs. Avast SecureLine VPN comparison, we encounter yet another win for TunnelBear.

The Chinese Firewall imposes strict online censorship. Luckily, TunnelBear comes with the Stealth protocol able to overcome it. In other words, it can trick Deep Packet Inspection that you’re just regularly browsing the web without the help of a VPN. Avast SecureLine VPN lacks any sort of tool to break through restrictive firewalls.

Customer support

The last round is about customer support, and Avast SecureLine VPN emerges as a winner. This is because Avast SecureLine VPN has a live chat, knowledgebase, forum, and academy support. Although it doesn’t provide 24/7 support services, it still has a broad range.

On the contrary, TunnelBear offers only email and knowledgebase support. While it can be enough for those who are tech-savvy and don’t have huge VPN issues, it’s not ideal for beginners.

TunnelBear vs. Avast SecureLine VPN – which is better?

After detailed testing, we decided TunnelBear won the Avast SecureLine VPN vs. TunnelBear comparison. This is because the provider has an extensive server fleet, better streaming abilities, faster speeds, and more additional features. It’s basically a great package that fulfills a lot of the basic VPN needs.

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You may also like to read:
Avast Secureline VPN review
TunnelBear review

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FAQ

Is TunnelBear better than Avast SecureLine VPN?

Yes, TunnelBear is better than Avast SecurLine VPN. More precisely, TunnelBear has more servers worldwide, faster speeds, more robust streaming abilities, and is more affordable.

Which is faster – TunnelBear or Avast SecureLine VPN?

TunnelBear is faster than Avast SecureLine VPN. The main reason for this is that TunnelBear has 1800+ servers in 48+ countries and incorporates WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 protocols.