TunnelBear VS Private Internet Access Comparison
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Choosing your new VPN service provider is an important task that should not be taken lightly, considering your online privacy and anonymity are at stake. Still, it is comforting to know that you have narrowed your choice down to two excellent providers. TunnelBear and Private Internet Access are among the best VPNs around. Now, all that is left for you to do is find out which one possesses all the handy features you want to find in your VPN.
This detailed TunnelBear vs. Private Internet Access comparison is based on 7 crucial aspects of VPN protection. It will show you exactly how well these two VPN service providers do in each of these aspects and help you choose the one that better suits your needs.
Highlights
TunnelBear is a VPN service provider that brings you average speeds and smooth performance with no DNS leaks. It is equipped with a range of handy security features and protects your anonymity by not keeping logs of your activity.
- Strong encryption
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Limited free version
- Payments via BitCoin
If you are looking for a reliable VPN with plenty of servers all across the globe and rock-solid connections at decent to excellent speeds, you should definitely check out Private Internet Access, a US-based VPN service provider.
- Zero user logs kept
- Offers SOCKS5 proxy
- Unlimited bandwidth
- P2P sharing allowed
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Company
1 Month
3 Months
6 Months
1 Year
2 Years
Compare Features
Based In
Canada
Number Of Servers
20
Number Of Countries
20
Protocols
OpenVPN, IPsec/IKEv2, IPsec
Encryption
AES-256-CBC, SHA-256, RSA-4096
Simultaneous Connections
5
Logs Policy
no logs
Dedicated IP
Killswitch
DNS Leak Protection
Allows Torrenting
Torrenting Servers
SmartDNS
Based In
US
Number Of Servers
3079+
Number Of Countries
28
Protocols
PPTP, OpenVPN, and L2TP/IPSec
Encryption
256-bit AES
Simultaneous Connections
5
Logs Policy
no traffic logs
Dedicated IP
Killswitch
DNS Leak Protection
Allows Torrenting
Torrenting Servers
SmartDNS
Supported Devices
Windows
OS X
Android
iOS
Windows
OS X
Linux
Android
iOS
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Compare User Reviews
- Submitted By Turtl3dud3 on 11/29/2019Fantastic, easy to use. Occasional connection problems, but ususually works great. It pretty much never has problems on my iPhone 6 (Impressive considering how old it is) but sometimes glitches on my Windows 10 computer.
- Submitted By Felix Z. on 09/29/2019Works perfectly, 500MB for free is actually pretty neat, if you recommend it you can get 1GB extra. I also can't complain about the speed.
- Submitted By Peter Anderson, on 04/10/2017Good set of features but too slow for my taste.
- Submitted By Farah Giles, on 03/17/2017It’s real simple, a monkey could use it. On the downside, it stopped working on my Android phone a few weeks ago and I still haven’t managed to fix it, user support sucks.
- Submitted By JJ Sanders on 11/15/2019Private Internet Access does NOT protect your identity - it leaks your IP address. I really like the ease of use and the interface, but now have received several Copyright Infringement letters from my ISP while using PIA, even after their customer service suggested several fixes and adjustments. At first it was leaking my Ipv6 data, and we fixed that. I found that even though their suggested test site said it was OK, other sites shows the data was still leaking. Even after stopping that - PIA continues to leak my IP address causing me more problems. I used a simple Anonymizer previously for years with no problems. DON'T USE PIA IF YOU NEED TO PROTECT YOUR ISP ADDRESS.
- Submitted By Anonymous of course on 10/19/2018I love this VPN. I highly doubt I'll use any other VPN ever. The only thing I dislike about this provider is that Amazon streaming and Netflix streaming are blocked but that's fine. I use other streaming services. I cancelled my Netflix subscription and I'd cancel my prime membership to Amazon too if not for the free 2 day shipping. I'll sign up again when they let me be anonymous on the internet like everyone should be. Anyways this VPN has never had downtime for me and the Killswitch means I can p2p with no worries. Torrent freak has 2 articles about PIA being taken to court and PIA informing they have a no log policy and being unable to help with any logs. I'll trust these guys with my privacy for sure. Conclusion: if you can survive without streaming Netflix this VPN provides the best privacy and security and has had it's no log policy tested. 5 stars without a doubt.
- Submitted By Jose Cuervo on 10/02/2018I have been using PIA for several years now and am satisfied with the service. I originally used Viscosity as my client but the one from PIA has improved enough to make it the best option. Though I have not yet tried the Linux client, the ones on Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android work well. Since I stared using PIA, they have added a bunch more servers and the performance has never been an issue for me. The combination of features, compatability and server locations represents the best value for me....YMMV. PIA was my third and so far best VPN experience.
- Submitted By Maria Martonioni on 06/22/2017I liked this service for a while but I feel that lately they have started to slack a bit, especially when it comes to connection reliability. No matter what kind of server I connect to (I usually connect to US and UK ones, sometimes some European ones) the connection keeps dropping and I keep losing my protected connection which is definitely not cool.
Winner
Read our unbiased Private Internet Access review to learn more about this premium VPN service and see the results of our exhaustive performance tests.
Comparison Breakdown
Our experts can easily say which of these two VPN services is better overall. However, only you can determine which one is a better choice for you personally. In this TunnelBear vs. Private Internet Access comparison breakdown, every detail of their offers is displayed side by side. This allows you to see which one is compatible with all the devices you use, better suited for your favorite activities, offers better value for your money, and more. Let’s take a look.
Apps
- TunnelBear offers client software for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. It also offers plug-ins for Opera and Google Chrome. You can install it on all your devices and use it on up to 5 devices at the same time.
- Private Internet Access is compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Linux. It allows 5 simultaneous connections and offers customized security for all of the supported devices.
Support Type
- TunnelBear has an excellent Help page with specialized article sections for different operating systems and general topics. Navigation is made easy by the search button. You can contact the support staff via the online contact form and normally, you can get an answer within 24 hours. Unfortunately, TunnelBear does not offer live chat.
- Private Internet Access has a great support section, where you can find answers to the most basic questions. It allows you to interact with other users via the forum and get quick answers to all of your questions via the 24/7 live chat.
IP Type
- TunnelBear offers shared/dynamic IP addresses to its users.
- Just like TunnelBear, Private Internet Access does not offer static but only shared IPs.
Pricing Options
- TunnelBear offers 3 different plans: Little, Giant, and Grizzly. The Little plan is free and comes with 500 MB of bandwidth per month (tweet and get 1 GB as a gift). The giant plan is a monthly plan that comes with unlimited data and costs $9.99. The Grizzly plan offers the same benefits as the Giant plan, only it is billed yearly and costs $4.99 per month.
- Private Internet Access also offers 3 plans – monthly, semi-annual, and annual. The monthly plan is $6.95, the semi-annual is $35.99 ($5.99 per month), and the most affordable annual package costs $39.95 per year ($3.33 per month).
Protocols
- TunnelBear uses OpenVPN UDP and TCP and IPSec/IKEVv2 protocols.
- Private Internet Access uses OpenVPN, L2TP, IPSec, and PPTP protocols.
Performance & Reliability
- TunnelBear operates servers in more than 20 world countries. It offers great speed with a minimal increase in latency and solid performance. It prevents VPN blocking and offers unlimited bandwidth with a subscription. P2P is not allowed.
- Private Internet Access has more than 3260 servers in 25 countries worldwide. It allows you to enjoy a smooth performance and excellent speeds, with no DNS leaks. Your subscription comes with unlimited bandwidth. P2P sharing is allowed.
Security & Protection
- TunnelBear uses advanced 256-bit AES encryption with SHA256 authentication, brings you the special GhostBear feature for harder detectability, as well as a kill switch, and does not keep any logs. You can stay completely anonymous by paying with BitCoin (you can even pay with jars of honey!).
- Private Internet Access also features strong encryption and a kill switch and does not keep logs of your activity. Just like TunnelBear, it offers you absolute anonymity by allowing you to pay with BitCoin.