Tunnelbear vs CyberGhost comparison in 2024

Both TunnelBear and CyberGhost are reputable VPN services. These providers offer great solutions for anyone looking for enhanced internet privacy, increased security, access to content that is blocked in certain regions, and many other advantages.

However, they still have their differences, and one has to be better than the other. Well, between the two, that would be CyberGhost, as it has a vast server infrastructure, faster speeds, and extensive security and other features.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’ll be comparing in detail how each provides fares across different categories in our in-depth TunnelBear vs. CyberGhost comparison!

TunnelBear and CyberGhost: specifications

CyberGhost has one of the most extensive server networks, is based in a privacy-friendly country, and has a no-logs policy that is independently audited. Furthermore, it supports a wide range of devices, is excellent for streaming, and comes with a versatile toolkit.

Conversely, TunnelBear offers unlimited simultaneous connections and uses the same VPN protocols as CyberGhost. However, the biggest drawback of TunnelBear is that it does not maintain servers for streaming, gaming, and torrenting. The jurisdiction isn’t the best either, and the provider does collect some log data.

As such, it is safe to say that CyberGhost is clearly the winner in our TunnelBear vs. CyberGhost comparison.

CyberGhost vs TunnelBear: pricing

When prices are concerned, CyberGhost is the overall winner. It might seem unfair when TunnelBear comes with longer subscriptions and a free version at that, but it still comes up as a more expensive option. Even when picking the longest plan. Plus, it lacks a money-back guarantee, and the payment options are severely limited, too.

CyberGhost pricing

With CyberGhost, Windows and macOS users can get a 24-hour free trial, Android users get a 3-day trial, and iOS users get a 7-day free trial. Additionally, the long-term plans are covered with a 45-day money-back guarantee. These are the three regular plans you can choose from:

• $6.99/month for six months
• $2.03/month for two years

You can use a credit card, PayPal, and Amazon Pay to purchase a CyberGhost plan. You can also buy it anonymously via Bitcoin.

And if you need extra features to customize your subscription to your needs, CyberGhost offers certain perks at an extra cost:

• Dedicated IP. A VPN IP address that only you can use. It costs extra.
• CyberGhost ID Guard. Alerts you in case your email address is exposed in a data breach. Free.
• Privacy Guard. A security suite for Windows that lets you disable the intrusive functionalities of your operating system. Free.
• Premium MAC Optimizer

TunnelBear pricing

While TunnelBear does not offer a money-back guarantee, and there’s no free trial to test the premium service, it does come with a free version. Here’s what you can get with TunnelBear:

• $9.99/month for the monthly plan
• $4.99/month for the annual plan
• $3.33/month for the three-year plan

Speaking of the free version, don’t expect much. Free tier users get 2 GB/month of data and 1 simultaneous connection. It won’t be easy to contact customer support either, as they’ll be prioritizing premium users. As for the payment methods, you can buy a TunnelBear subscription with your credit card. Also, you can get it anonymously via Bitcoin.

What’s most disappointing is the lack of any sort of money-back guarantee. You can’t really experience what TunnelBear is capable of with the free version, so the only option would be to dive right into premium. However, you’re risking losing out on money, which is far from ideal.

Speed comparison

In terms of speed, CyberGhost performed better than TunnelBear across multiple regions. So, CyberGhost is the winner of this category. Its speeds are quite above average, and this achievement can primarily be attributed to the great implementation of the WireGuard tunneling protocol.

Moreover, CyberGhost has the upper hand in this category due to its extensive server network, with servers located in 100+ countries. As such, CyberGhost provides a more reliable and stable performance to a wide range of users globally.

Compared to CyberGhost, TunnelBear just can’t catch up, even with the WireGuard tunneling protocol. Another drawback is the server spread – just 48+ countries, which is significantly less. Connecting to another side of the globe noticeably decreases performance.

TunnelBear vs CyberGhost: which is more secure?

At first glance, the two providers may seem somewhat similar regarding security. However, CyberGhost is the winner of this category. But before we see why, let’s first see what the two have in common:

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

However, what gives CyberGhost an advantage is that it’s based in a privacy-friendly jurisdiction and adheres to an audited no-logs policy. In turn, it doesn’t make TunnelBear so trustworthy, seeing as it’s headquartered in a country a part of the 9 Eyes alliance, and there’s no verification that its no-logs policy is true.

Privacy

CyberGhost is based in Romania, which is a privacy-friendly country and jurisdiction. Additionally, it is not part of the 5/9/14-Eyes Alliance, which means it does not have to log, store, or share user data or online activity with the government.

On the other hand, TunnelBear is based in Canada, which is a member of the 5/9/14-Eyes Alliance, meaning that data-retention laws are in place. And it doesn’t help that there are no RAM-only servers to speak of, which would make collecting and storing user data impossible.

Logging

To make sure that your VPN does not collect logs, you need to check whether the provider has been independently audited. CyberGhost was recently audited by Deloitte, which proves that it does not collect any logs.

TunnelBear is audited yearly by a German security agency called Cure53, but it tests the service’s security level instead. And it does log some data, including the OS version, client app version, when the user connected, how much data they used in the ongoing month, and payment and transaction information. At least TunnelBear does not log the user’s IP address, DNS queries, or traffic content, but that’s not enough.

Servers location

Having a vast server fleet is beneficial to the user in several ways. It helps avoid network congestion and ensures subscribers benefit from low latency and great connectivity no matter which side of the globe they find themselves on. The other perk is the ability to unblock a larger amount of foreign content.

As mentioned, CyberGhost has one of the most comprehensive server fleets on the market – 11700+ servers spread across 100+ countries globally. And with the commendable security toolkit in tow, getting access to almost anything you want without issues is more than possible with this provider.

On the other hand, TunnelBear covers fewer regions with its servers. Additionally, CyberGhost uses 10 Gbps servers, while TunnelBear doesn’t, making this category yet another win for CyberGhost.

Features comparison

From this list alone, we can easily see that CyberGhost is the winner of the features category. However, the above-mentioned features are not the only ones this superb VPN service has to offer.

Smart DNS

You cannot use a VPN on a device that doesn’t support it without Smart DNS. As such, this feature is very handy for those who own streaming peripherals, which usually don’t include native VPN support. In essence, it helps you bypass geo-blocks automatically on such devices.

CyberGhost’s Smart DNS feature makes the provider easy to use and accessible on numerous devices. Meanwhile, since TunnelBear does not provide Smart DNS, it makes the provider quite limited. Which is a big drawback, as this service already supports a very limited number of devices.

Ad & malware blocker

CyberGhost and TunnelBear both come with an ad & malware blocker. However, CyberGhost adds a little extra security.

Namely, the TunnelBear Blocker blocks ads, pop-ups, tracking attempts, and is available only as a browser extension. And only on Chrome, too.

On the other hand, not only does CyberGhost provide an ad blocker & malware blocker, but it also offers a feature called the CyberGhost security suite, which is an antivirus and a security updater. Thus, you’re protected both from adware and various online threats associated with it, but from malware as well.

Split tunneling

Here is where the two providers are similar, as both offer split tunneling. It’s a feature that allows you to choose which website you’ll visit or application you’ll use with VPN protection and which you won’t.

One thing worth noting regarding CyberGhost’s split tunneling is that it is only available on Windows and Android devices.

Meanwhile, with TunnelBear, it is a bit more complicated. Namely, SplitBear is available for both websites and apps on Windows. On macOS and iOS, you can only use website split tunneling. Finally, on Android, you can only use the application split tunneling.

Specialized servers

TunnelBear servers use GhostBear, which makes your encrypted data less detectable to governments, IPs, and businesses by obfuscating your encrypted traffic to look like regular Internet traffic. However, this feature is only available on Windows, macOS (v4), and Android apps.

On the other hand, CyberGhost comes with several different specialized servers that are optimized for streaming, gaming, and P2P.

Other features

In this case, only CyberGhost offers extra perks. Namely, these are a free SOCKS5 proxy and Smart Rules for customizing how the VPN behaves in certain situations. TunnelBear, on the other hand, doesn’t include anything else beyond what we covered above.

Netflix and streaming comparison

This category is another no-brainer, with CyberGhost as the clear winner. And it shouldn’t be surprising as it’s one of the best VPNs for streaming. Additionally, not only does CyberGhost unblock numerous different streaming services in multiple countries while TunnelBear struggles, but it also allows you to stream in 4K quality with no buffers.

Sure, TunnelBear is able to unlock one streaming service or another, but it runs into roadblocks more often than not. With it, you can’t get access beyond the regular ol’ Netflix US library, and other platforms usually suss out that a VPN is being used quite quickly. And because of the average speeds, we can’t say that what you’ll be able to watch is going to be lag-free.

Device compatibility

This category marks yet another win for CyberGhost, as it is compatible with a wider range of devices. TunnelBear might seem appealing with its unlimited simultaneous connections, but what good are they if you can’t use them on everything you want.

Desktop applications

In the case of desktop apps, both CyberGhost and TunnelBear are compatible with Windows and macOS. However, CyberGhost has the upper hand here because it also supports Linux. The biggest difference here is that while TunnelBear is more cartoony with all those bear animations and sounds, CyberGhost is more sleek and simple.

The level of security on CyberGhost’s desktop applications is equal across both clients. And the VPN provider has taken great care to ensure subscribers get the same features no matter which OS owner you are. However, the split tunneling feature is missing on the macOS application.

TunnelBear is identical across the board, too. But what’s concerning is that there’s no way to manually select the tunneling protocol on the macOS version. Moreover, the bear sounds get annoying really fast whenever you’re connecting to the servers.

Mobile applications

TunnelBear and CyberGhost support the same mobile devices – iOS and Android. While CyberGhost manages to maintain the streamlined design, TunnelBear is a whole different piece of cake.

CyberGhost’s applications are different feature-wise. The Android client includes split tunneling, Port Randomization, and Data compression, while iOS doesn’t. Alas, at least there’s a Private Browser.

TunnelBear, on the other hand, has a critical mistake – the iOS client has no kill switch. As for ease of use, you’ll likely get a headache as everything is all over the place. Again, the bear sounds don’t help.

Torrenting

It might seem like a tie in the torrenting category, but we dare say otherwise. Sure, TunnelBear allows P2P traffic across the board and offers split tunneling on all of its apps. But when you throw average speeds into the mix, don’t expect your downloads to finish any time soon. And the lack of a SOCKS5 proxy isn’t such a bad thing, but it’s a nice perk to have for torrenting enthusiasts.

CyberGhost primarily takes the cake with the P2P-optimized servers that boost your torrents even further. And it can be made even faster by configuring the SOCKS 5 proxy on your torrent client. Finally, the speed is where it’s all at, and CyberGhost is as fast as they come. As such, it’s not surprising that CyberGhost is the winner in this case.

China

Finally the tables have turned in this comparison, and in the China category no less. As expected CyberGhost isn’t really suited for bypassing the Great Firewall of China and its strict Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) as it lacks obfuscation features.

Namely, TunnelBear has servers in Hong Kong, which means you can browse the web quickly while you are there. Additionally, it has a Stealth VPN (obfuscation) feature that can bypass China’s DPI methods and allows you to fly under the radar. Still, it might not work as fast in regions further away from Hong Kong.

So, TunnelBear is the surprise winner of this section.

Customer support

And the last win in today’s TunnelBear vs. CyberGhost comparison goes to CyberGhost.

Namely, both TunnelBear and CyberGhost come with email support and a vast knowledge base. However, TunnelBear’s support is not available 24/7 and there’s no live chat, while CyberGhost’s is. You can contact the CyberGhost experts via live chat and get your issues sorted, even in the middle of the night.

CyberGhost vs TunnelBear – which is better?

After testing and comparing both VPN providers across many categories, we can confidently say that CyberGhost is the better option of the two! It delivers faster and more stable speeds, a broader server fleet, more features, better security, 4K streaming, and expert customer support that is always available.

Although if your main criteria is accessing the free internet from China, TunnelBear definitely is the better option out of the two.

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TunnelBear vs NordVPN
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FAQ

Is CyberGhost better than TunnelBear?

Yes, CyberGhost is better than TunnelBear. It offers many benefits, including powerful security features, faster speeds, and many different specialized servers for torrenting, gaming, and P2P, while TunnelBear lags behind.

Which is faster – TunnelBear or CyberGhost?

While both providers offer excellent speeds and many server locations, CyberGhost is the faster option. It covers more countries than TunnelBear and performs better across all regions.