TunnelBear VPN: It's just right for beginners

Come for the bear puns, stay for the security.

- SAM SINGLETON

TunnelBear (fave.co/3OuQDqm) is a popular VPN service owned by the McAfee security company and based in Toronto, Canada. It’s been around for a while now and has always stood out due to its unique and kitschy bear-themed interface. The service has tried hard in recent years to add more features such as unlimited device connections in order to remain relevant in an increasingly competitive VPN market. Certainly there are ursine puns aplenty to enjoy here, but is the VPN service just right for you? I took it for a walk in the woods to find out.

FEATURES AND SERVICES

When you first open TunnelBear, you can’t help but notice how much work the designers have put into it. The main interface is a world map geographically dotted with the available servers. As you scroll across the map, even the trees change based on the continent or region you’re viewing (palm trees in the Middle East, umbrella thorns in Africa). Your actual location is signified on the map with a sheep, but once you connect to the VPN, it turns into a bear.

Each server location has an empty tunnel icon on it. To connect, just select the server icon you want. In addition to selecting the server from a map, there is also a drop-down list at the top with all of the servers as well. Somehow in the TunnelBear universe, sheep turning into bears and bears digging through tunnels makes sense, but the logic is lost on us. Still, it’s a fun and unique design element.