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TunnelBear vs Astrill shows two very different answers to internet censorship. TunnelBear, owned by McAfee since 2018 and based in Toronto, has had its apps and infrastructure audited by Cure53 every year since 2017. It allows unlimited devices, offers a free plan of 2 GB a month and costs about $3.33 a month on a three-year plan. Its GhostBear mode disguises VPN traffic. Astrill has no audit and costs $180 a year or $300 for two years, but GreatFirewallGuide rates its StealthVPN at 98% bypass confidence on China Telecom’s CN2 GIA route.
This guide compares censorship tools, evidence, price, devices and fit.
Two Approaches to Censorship
TunnelBear’s GhostBear makes its traffic harder to spot, and its free plan has given users in censored countries extra data, up to about 10 GB, our tables record. Astrill builds its whole service around filtered networks, with StealthVPN and OpenWeb and a strong China rating.
For China specifically, Astrill’s independent rating is far stronger. Our China VPN guide covers more.
TunnelBear vs Astrill on Evidence
TunnelBear has had Cure53 audit its systems every year since 2017. Astrill has no independent audit, and during a session it keeps your IP address and connection time, which it says it deletes afterwards, VPN.com reports.
On evidence, TunnelBear is clearly ahead. Our VPN audit tracker compares providers.
What Each Costs
TunnelBear costs about $3.33 a month on three years, roughly $120, and has a 2 GB monthly free plan. Astrill costs $30 a month, $180 a year or $300 for two years.
TunnelBear is several times cheaper and free to try.
Refunds and Devices
TunnelBear refunds only the first year of a yearly plan bought on its site, within 30 days; monthly plans and app-store purchases are excluded, its terms say. Reviewers disagree on whether Astrill refunds at all.
Test with the free options first, before paying for a year.
TunnelBear allows unlimited devices. Astrill’s page says unlimited in your household, but Security.org and VPN.com report five at once on its standard plan.
For many devices, TunnelBear is the safer bet of the two.
Routers, TVs and Ownership
TunnelBear does not officially support routers and has no TV apps. Astrill supports DD-WRT, Tomato and Asuswrt-Merlin routers, which cover TVs behind them.
For living-room devices, Astrill’s router support helps a great deal.
McAfee has owned TunnelBear since March 2018. Astrill Systems Corp. has run Astrill since 2009, placed in the Seychelles or Liechtenstein depending on the source.
Our VPN ownership guide explains why ownership matters.
Split Tunnelling and Paying
TunnelBear moved split tunnelling to paid plans in early 2026, TheBestVPN reports. Astrill’s desktop apps split traffic by app and website, and its Smart Mode sends local traffic outside the tunnel, which suits users in China reaching local sites.
Astrill’s split options are more detailed than TunnelBear’s.
TunnelBear takes cards on its site, with Google Pay and Apple Pay only through app stores, Tom’s Guide notes. Astrill accepts cards, PayPal, bank transfer and cryptocurrency including Monero.
For paying without a card, Astrill offers more options.
Streaming, Speed and Browser Extensions
Testers disagree on TunnelBear’s streaming, with Top10VPN finding US Netflix working and Cloudwards finding most services blocked. Astrill does not market streaming, and its latency rose sharply in Security.org’s tests.
Neither is a streaming-first choice for most viewers.
TunnelBear’s Chrome extension covers browser traffic only, in 20 countries, its store listing says, with extensions for Firefox and Edge too. TunnelBear added two-factor sign-in in January 2025, Tom’s Guide notes. We found no browser extension for Astrill in our sources.
Extensions protect only the browser, so use the full app for everything else on the device.
Free Options and Jurisdiction
TunnelBear’s free plan gives 2 GB a month, and it has offered users in censored countries up to about 10 GB. Astrill’s Android listing describes a one-device free plan in Europe and North America and seven days free without a card.
Both let you test before paying, in quite different ways.
TunnelBear is based in Canada, a Five Eyes member, and relies on its yearly audits for reassurance. Reviewers place Astrill in either the Seychelles or Liechtenstein.
Our Five Eyes guide explains what jurisdiction means.
Who Each Is For
Students, casual users and people on public Wi-Fi fit TunnelBear: cheap, audited and simple. Residents and frequent visitors to mainland China fit Astrill, accepting its cost and lack of audits.
If you rarely face censorship, TunnelBear is the sensible and cheaper default.
TunnelBear’s Free Plan Since 2026
Early in 2026, TunnelBear stopped letting free users pick a server, assigning one automatically, and made split tunnelling a paid feature, TheBestVPN and The High Tech Society report. The 2 GB monthly allowance resets on your account’s anniversary date.
That still leaves enough for testing GhostBear on a filtered network.
How We Research
This page draws on TunnelBear’s terms, Tom’s Guide’s and TheBestVPN’s TunnelBear coverage, Security.org’s, VPN.com’s and GreatFirewallGuide’s Astrill coverage and our price tables. We cross-checked these sources against each other, and where they conflict or something can’t be verified, we say so in the text rather than guessing. We checked time-sensitive figures, including prices in US dollars, on 8 October 2026. The main source we relied on is TunnelBear’s terms of service. Our full approach lives on the About Us page.
TunnelBear vs Astrill FAQ
TunnelBear for audits, price and many devices; Astrill for China.
No; TunnelBear has yearly Cure53 audits.
Astrill, with 98% bypass confidence on CN2 GIA in GreatFirewallGuide’s rating.
TunnelBear, about $120 for three years against $300 for two.
Not officially; Astrill does.
The Verdict
TunnelBear vs Astrill: TunnelBear for audited, cheap, easy privacy with light censorship help; Astrill when China is the reason for a VPN.