TunnelBear vs NordVPN in Australia

Winner: NordVPN

TunnelBear vs NordVPN in Australia – Which of these two widely recognized VPN is the better choice in Australia? The question we have set to answer that for which purpose you should use TunnelBear or NordVPN?

Both providers will be tested on various parameters to evaluate their key strengths and weaknesses. The VPN that wins more rounds will be deemed the victor and the better overall VPN in Australia.

TunnelBear vs NordVPN in Australia: Head-to-Head Comparison

NordVPN is the winner!

NordVPN is the clear winner over Tunnelbear for being more efficient in Australia in the following areas:

• Base Country: Panama (one of the safest VPN jurisdictions)
• Pricing:   AU$5.93/mo (US$ 3.99/mo) (Get 57% Off + 3 Months FREE on 2-Year Plan)
• Fast Speeds: 24.91 Mbps on 30 Mbps connection
• Servers: 5500 servers in 60 countries
• Steady support for Netflix in Australia

Before we go into details, here is a brief overview of 10 different categories on which both NordVPN and TunnelBear has been tested in this article:

A Quick Comparison of Tunnelbear and NordVPN in Australia

TunnelBear, for its part, has some great features of its own and some benefits that are likely to appeal to newer users of VPNs in Australia. We will draw comparisons between these two VPN providers in detail, but first, here’s a brief overview of the comparison:

You can also look at our Australia VPN comparison chart for a detailed overview of 60+ VPN providers in Australia. Let’s now take the two VPNs apart to see which has the better claim over the other.

TunnelBear vs NordVPN in Australia Overview

TunnelBear and NordVPN in Australia each possess strong capabilities. NordVPN is known for its huge server networks and excellent security features. You can see our NordVPN in-depth review in Australia and TunnelBear in-depth review in Australia.

For now, let’s explore the comparison between the two VPNs head-to-head.

1. NordVPN vs TunnelBear in Australia: Jurisdiction

Result: NordVPN is located in the safer jurisdiction of Panama as opposed to TunnelBear (Canada).

NordVPN – It is located in Panama, which is one of the strongest attributes of this VPN. Panama is free from any mandatory data retention laws, so NordVPN’s operations can run without retaining any Australia users’ data logs.

TunnelBear – It is an entirely different story. Based in Canada – a member of the Five Eyes alliance – TunnelBear has to abide by domestic laws for storing logs of Australia users, which can be used to assist surveillance programs of agencies in the country. This is the same in the case of PIA VPN as it is headquartered in the US. Therefore, both TunnelBear and PIA in Australia are not safe as far as jurisdictions are concerned.

Therefore, NordVPN is a much safer choice as shown in NordVPN review in Australia by a long shot.

2. NordVPN vs TunnelBear in Australia: Logging Policy

Result: Both providers have a safe and privacy-focused logging policy in Australia.

Fortunately, both of these services do not keep any logs. This means your activity on these VPNs remains absolutely private. You have no reason to worry about losing your personal information with either NordVPN or TunnelBear in Australia.

Although NordVPN has always focused on its logging policy by refraining from collecting any sensitive information about customers in Australia, there were some points of concern in TunnelBear’s policy in the past. However, the good thing is that the company has revised its data collection policies, and it no longer records any personally identifiable information of users in Australia.

3. NordVPN vs TunnelBear in Australia: Pricing Plans

Result: NordVPN is cheaper than TunnelBear in Australia

While its monthly and annual subscription in Australia stands at $17.72/mo and $7.30/mo, respectively, the most cost-efficient subscription is the 2-year plan at just   AU$5.93/mo (US$ 3.99/mo) (Get 57% Off + 3 Months FREE on 2-Year Plan), which includes an extra service time due to NordVPN’s birthday celebration. The longer-term subscription is clearly the affordable one, and your online security and privacy will be provided for a whole 24 months in Australia.

On the other hand, the TunnelBear monthly premium subscription in Australia will cost you $14.82/mo, and the annual subscription will cost you $7.40/mo. We also see a 3-year subscription at a good $4.94/mo rate. By all means, NordVPN is cheaper in Australia when it comes to annual and bi-annual subscriptions.

Do not forget that NordVPN price is justified by multiple advanced security techniques, strict no-log policy, a global network of over 5,400 servers in 59 countries, and state-of-the-art encryption tools for your online privacy. Whereas, TunnelBear couldn’t match NordVPN in providing similar perks against its price.

Payment options in Australia

Both providers accept multiple payment methods in Australia, including cryptocurrencies, which is great for keeping yourself anonymous. However, it is surprising that NordVPN discontinued support for PayPal. It could be inconvenient for people in Australia who rely on PayPal to make purchases online.

The good news is that you can purchase subscriptions from both NordVPN and TunnelBear through bitcoins. This makes both VPNs equally secure to purchase since payments made through cryptocurrencies offer the best secrecy and safety from possible hackers.

Refund Policy in Australia

Even though TunnelBear has a refund policy, it is subjected on a case-by-case basis. So it doesn’t necessarily mean you will receive your funds back if you have applied for a refund request. Also, they made it very clear that subscriptions that are purchased via iTunes or any other third party resellers will not be eligible for a refund as per their policy. The user in Australia will have to contact those third parties for further inquiry regarding a refund.

If we talk about the NordVPN refund policy, it clearly states that refund is liable in Australia only if the payments were made no longer than 30 days prior. They mention that they will not process refunds for recurring payments if the subscription is canceled after the renewal. However, between the case-by-case basis TunnelBear refund policy and NordVPN’s clear 30-day money-back guarantee, I would always be comfortable with NordVPN in Australia.

While selecting a VPN provider in Australia for yourself, it is always a good idea to stick to the provider with a clear refund policy. You don’t want to get associated with a provider such as TunnelBear that has a very vague refund policy and offers refunds on a case-to-case basis. Although TunnelBear has a vague refund policy, It’s fully capable of going toe-to-toe against top-tier VPN providers in Australia such as CyberGhost. Learn more about their comparison in CyberGhost vs TunnelBear Australia.

4. NordVPN vs TunnelBear in Australia: Servers in Countries

Result: NordVPN an outstandingly larger server network (5,000+ servers) than TunnelBear (22 servers)

When it comes to providing a vast number of servers, NordVPN certainly takes the cake. It provides an outstanding 5500
servers in 60 countries.

Many VPN services fail to match NordVPN’s server coverage. Hence, NordVPN wins this round by quite a margin.

5. NordVPN vs TunnelBear in Australia: Speed Results

Result: According to NordVPN speed test in Australia, NordVPN is much faster than TunnelBear in Australia

The speed tests for both providers were performed on Ookla using a 30 Mbps connection. TunnelBear offers sluggish download speed. It measured 5.56 Mbps when tested on Ookla.

NordVPN, on the other hand, is known for its fast speed. On a US server, it measured 28.45 Mbps.

6. NordVPN vs TunnelBear in Australia: Compatibility

Result: NordVPN is compatible with a wider array of devices than TunnelBear in Australia.

Both of these VPNs are compatible in Australia with Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android. Also, they both have extensions for Google Chrome and Firefox. However, NordVPN can be set up on your router, while TunnelBear does not provide such a feature.

The quality of apps is excellent for both providers. All TunnelBear’s apps house a cute-looking bear that burrows its way through the map as you connect to different server locations.

NordVPN’s app also displays a map for its huge server network and allows super-easy connectivity across the board for all devices that support NordVPN dedicated app.

7. NordVPN vs TunnelBear in Australia: Torrenting

Result: NordVPN is safer for torrenting in Australia than TunneBear

NordVPN – It has dedicated servers for users in Australia to download torrents without worrying about legal hassles. With these servers, you can unblock torrenting websites and run your BitTorrent clients smoothly in Australia. The excellent security and privacy features ensure the protection of your torrenting activities, keeping them invisible to any third parties and making NordVPN one of the best torrenting VPNs in Australia. NordVPN offers better download speeds for torrenting, as can be seen in the comparison between NordVPN vs Proton VPN Australia where NordVPN performed better owing to its fast P2P servers.

TunnelBear – It does not advertise its p2p capabilities on its site, but the VPN works perfectly well for torrenting. The strong privacy and security mechanisms built within TunnelBear, along with its unblocking capabilities, make it a good VPN for p2p.

However, considering NordVPN’s faster speeds and Panama’s piracy-friendly jurisdiction, it is a safer choice for users who regularly download torrents in Australia.

8. NordVPN vs TunnelBear in Australia: Unblocking Strength

Result: NordVPN is more efficient for Netflix in Australia

A majority of VPN services no longer supports Netflix. TunnelBear is one such VPN that has lost access to Netflix with Tunnelbear in Australia without getting detected by the streaming platform’s proxy firewall.

In fact, TunnelBear is not a reliable choice for unblocking any streaming service in Australia at all. You will likely receive an error if you try unblocking streaming services with active anti-VPN technologies in place.

However, NordVPN has the server infrastructure and technology to continue unblocking Netflix with NordVPN in Australia and other popular streaming services, including BBC iPlayer in Australia and Hulu in Australia. Therefore, you can use NordVPN to unblock major libraries of Netflix and other streaming services.

9. TunnelBear vs NordVPN in Australia: Security Features

Result: NordVPN has more value-added extra features in Australia as compared to TunnelBear

There is no use of a VPN if it does not have the features to secure your connection. This is the reason why the privacy features and security features of service should be taken seriously.

NordVPN – It is a feature-rich VPN, while TunnelBear also has sufficient tools to ensure your digital privacy. However, when it comes to features beyond the bare essentials, NordVPN goes the extra mile much farther than TunnelBear.

10. TunnelBear vs NordVPN in Australia: Customer Support

Result: NordVPN has more efficient and responsive customer support in Australia than TunnelBear

NordVPN – It has one of the best customer support in the industry in Australia out of all other VPN providers. There are many ways you can find assistance from NordVPN, such as through well-written guides, blogs, and tutorials on the official website. If you can’t find the answer to your questions through its support pages, you can reach out to the customer support team through email or live chat.

NordVPN’s support representatives are beneficial and professional. Usually, you’ll get a response within a few minutes from NordVPN’s live chat, and they are happy to talk with you until you are satisfied.

TunnelBear – It has helped support pages on its websites for tutorials and other VPN-related guides. However, it lacks live chat support. You can use an email form to reach out to the team, and they usually respond within a few hours.

Although both providers have capable and professional support teams, the convenience of live chat is lacking in TunnelBear, but readily available with NordVPN.

Therefore, NordVPN offers a better customer support experience than TunnelBear in Australia.

Final Verdict: NordVPN is the winner!

As our TunnelBear vs NordVPN comparison in Australia shows, it is hard to match the features and utilities provided by NordVPN. Even though TunnelBear has fast servers, a kill switch, and decent server coverage, NordVPN outshines it in all aspects in Australia.

The biggest edge NordVPN has over TunnelBear is the catalog of servers.  With 5,400+ servers in 59 countries, NordVPN establishes itself as the top VPN on the web. NordVPN’s unblocking power in Australia is also much stronger than TunnelBear and allows you to stream Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, and many other streaming apps in Australia.

Also, it is hard to beat NordVPN’s customer service as it has 24/7 support and 30 days refund policy.

So for our TunnelBear vs NordVPN in Australia we have concluded that, overall, TunnelBear is an exceptional VPN service that might state the privacy needs of many users in Australia. Nevertheless, NordVPN is a top VPN provider for a good reason.

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