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Developer Tools · head to head

Earthly vs TunnelBear

Earthly logo

Earthly

Developer Tools

Engineering guardrails for the AI era

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
T

TunnelBear

Cybersecurity

Consumer VPN with a limited free tier and a bear-themed, beginner-friendly app

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Earthly pricing model not published; requires sales contact; TunnelBear free plan's data cap is small compared to competitors offering more generous free allowances.
  • They diverge on capability: Earthly covers Policy as code, TunnelBear covers Encrypted VPN tunnel.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Earthly and TunnelBear actually diverge.

Attributes where Earthly and TunnelBear differ
AttributeEarthlyTunnelBear
Pricing modelNo pricing published on websitefreemium
PlatformsWeb, CLIwindows, mac, linux, ios, android
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity
Founded2020Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Earthly

  • Policy as code
  • Multi-stage enforcement
  • AI agent governance
  • Repository-wide policies
  • Incident response automation
  • Compliance management
  • Earthfiles build tool
  • Satellites

Only in TunnelBear

  • Encrypted VPN tunnel
  • Server location switching
  • GhostBear obfuscation
  • Browser extensions
  • Teams account management

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Earthly

  • Enforcing engineering standards across AI and human developersnot TunnelBear
  • Automating incident response procedures across all repositoriesnot TunnelBear
  • Embedding compliance requirements into development workflowsnot TunnelBear
  • Standardizing build processes with Earthfilesnot TunnelBear

TunnelBear

  • Casual browsing protection on public Wi-Finot Earthly
  • Occasional geo-unblocking with a light free allowancenot Earthly
  • Bypassing network-level VPN blocking via obfuscationnot Earthly
  • Managing VPN access for a small team with centralized billingnot Earthly

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Earthly

  • Pricing model not published; requires sales contact
  • Earthly Lunar is a recent launch (2025) with limited track record
  • Primarily GitHub-focused; limited integration with other platforms
  • No public documentation on pricing or feature tiers

TunnelBear

  • Free plan's data cap is small compared to competitors offering more generous free allowances.
  • Lacks advanced features like dedicated IP addresses or split-tunneling controls found in some rival VPNs.
  • Server network is smaller than large competitors like NordVPN or ExpressVPN.
  • No standalone router-level app, limiting whole-network protection options.

Pricing, plan by plan

Earthly

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Earthly review.

TunnelBear

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 2GB of data per month
    • Access to VPN servers
    • Unlimited devices
  • Unlimited$9.99/month
    • Unlimited monthly data
    • All server locations
    • Cheaper on annual/3-year billing
  • Teams$undefined/month
    • Unlimited data
    • 5 connected devices per user
    • Dedicated account manager

Which should you pick?

Choose Earthly if

  • You need policy as code.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, CLI.
  • You also want multi-stage enforcement.
Earthly review

Choose TunnelBear if

  • You need encrypted vpn tunnel.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on windows, mac, linux, ios, android.
  • You also want server location switching.
TunnelBear review

Questions people ask

Is Earthly or TunnelBear better?
Neither clearly leads. Earthly starts at Free and TunnelBear at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Earthly or TunnelBear?
Earthly starts at Free and TunnelBear at Free.
Does Earthly or TunnelBear run on more platforms?
Earthly runs on Web, CLI. TunnelBear runs on windows, mac, linux, ios, android.
Can I use Earthly for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Earthly best used for?
Earthly is most often used for enforcing engineering standards across ai and human developers, automating incident response procedures across all repositories, embedding compliance requirements into development workflows, standardizing build processes with earthfiles. Of those, enforcing engineering standards across ai and human developers and automating incident response procedures across all repositories are not what TunnelBear is typically brought in for.
What can Earthly do that TunnelBear cannot?
Earthly covers Policy as code, Multi-stage enforcement, AI agent governance, Repository-wide policies. TunnelBear covers Encrypted VPN tunnel, Server location switching, GhostBear obfuscation, Browser extensions.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Earthly: What is the difference between Earthfiles and Earthly Lunar?

Earthfiles is an open-source build tool that reached 12,000 GitHub stars and is used by companies like NVIDIA, Intel, and Databricks. Earthly Lunar is a separate governance platform launched in 2025 for enforcing standards across development workflows.

Source
Earthly: How does Earthly Lunar enforce standards?

Lunar converts engineering standards, compliance requirements, and processes documented in AGENTS.md files, wikis, and incident postmortems into enforceable guardrails that apply consistently across repositories and development stages.

Source
Earthly: What is the pricing for Earthly Lunar?

Pricing is not published on the website. Interested customers should contact Earthly's sales team for current pricing and feature tiers.

Source
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