AI image generators have come a long way from the early days of surreal distorted abominations. Leonardo.ai, one of the early players on the scene, offers a great selection of tools that cater to both hobbyist prosumers and professionals.

The Australian company has clearly set its sights on being a jack of all trades in the best AI image generator space, and from early impressions, it's got a good chance of pulling it off. The combination of some solid Stable Diffusion models foundations, and a welter of cool tools makes it pretty compelling. Sure there’s still some work to do, but the platform’s latest improvements have really thrown down the gauntlet in a big way.

You can check out Leonardo by clicking here. The service is offered primarily via an online web presence, but there’s also an IOS app available, and an Android version threatened for some unspecified time in the future. 

Leonardo.ai: Pricing & plans

Setting up a Leonardo account is pretty straightforward. You can sign in with Apple, Google, Microsoft, or plain old email. 

Next, choose your plan— ranging from $0 for the Free version up to $60 for Maestro Unlimited. There’s also a Teams Plan coming soon, but there’s no pricing given as yet. I joined up to the $12 a month Apprentice Plan, which gives 8500 image tokens a month, token rollover and the ability to keep your images private. Marketeers will also appreciate the ability to fine tune up to 10 models a month, which should cover their brand identity needs.

The account dashboard is full of tools and options, which is a little confusing at first, but it doesn’t take long to work your way through the features and find what you need.

Leonardo.ai: In use

Did I mention that Leonardo is pretty feature-packed?. There are tools to generate images from prompts, create AI images from your hand drawn sketches, edit existing images, and even turn still images into videos. One fun option is Realtime Generation. Start typing a prompt, and watch the image materialize before your eyes. It feels like magic, minus the wand.

You can fiddle with various settings to tailor the result, which is even better. The only downside is you’re limited to the models you can use, and the text generation is a bit random. But it’s a great way to quickly test out ideas before you jump into the prompt engineering in earnest.

So the million-pixel question, how does it stack up against the best AI art generators and image generators? Well, if Midjourney is the top choice in terms of solid, reliable, beautiful images, Leonardo is the Swiss Army knife. The kind of versatility the platform offers - from professional text handling to community created fine tuned models - is something others should envy. 

Leonardo.ai: Features

Leonardo can definitely produce some excellent image results. A testament to the solid Stable Diffusion models underpinning the platform.

I tested out prompts for a variety of animals, and they delivered some solid if predictable results. However it’s text generation that really stands out. Like Ideogram, Leonardo seems to have no problem with delivering consistent coherent text on demand, which is very cool.

But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. The Motion function, which aims to create video animations from stills, is still a bit suspect. I could generate clips, but for the most part they didn’t really work very well. Having already reviewed the best AI video editors, the only video shorts that worked here were camera pan type clips, similar to Apple’s Live Photos. I guess this is inevitable given the parlous state of current AI video generation in general. Other areas like inpainting (editing small image sections) can also be more tricky than necessary. On the other hand, I found outpainting, where you add sections onto the original image, to be a real breeze. The results were great. 

Leonardo.ai: Business use

Business users will be pleased to know there’s lots of stuff to keep the marketing department happy.

The Training & Datasets feature lets you train models using your own brand assets. Need new social media content that mirrors your brand identity? You got it. The caveat: it’s only useful if you have a robust brand presence or aspire to build one. Because your personal fine tuned models won’t cope with text generation, you’ll be limited to creating brand assets with the right plumage, and then have to finish off with some of the best graphic design software like Canva or Photoshop to add the text and details you need.

For some reason the fine tuned output I created - I trained a pizza dataset of course - kept throwing up NSFW errors. I understand some people can be a little over obsessed with Italy’s finest, but I fail to see why that warrants a lockdown. A bit annoying, even though the general NSFW lock can be switched off in settings.

Leonardo.ai: User experience

While the platform’s overall UI is great, there are areas where it’s a little clunky. For example the Canvas Editor - a comprehensive tool allowing inpainting, outpainting, model-swapping and more - could do with some extra help, especially in the inpainting department. I had to resort to the excellent Leonardo help guides a few times, and even then it definitely wasn’t as intuitive as it should be. I found myself struggling to erase or change small areas of an image, which probably reflects my inept prompting.

Speaking of help, the community aspect of the service is also pretty good. As well as the guide, there’s community support from the product’s Discord channel, or via Facebook or Reddit. Users can also share their work on these channels, as well as the in-app gallery.

Leonardo.ai: Final verdict

Leonardo is not just 'another wannabe' in the AI image generator crowd. It’s easy to use, versatile, and offers excellent value for money given the array of features. Professionals will appreciate the real-time editing, upscaling, and the plethora of various models to choose from. Over one hundred at last count. Speed is another forte. Leonardo is seriously fast. The Lightning XL model generations are under 30 secs per generated set, while the default Phoenix model results are not far behind.

Leonardo is rapidly turning out to be a top contender in the AI image generation space. It’s not perfect, but the impressive thing is it’s improving rapidly. Which is often a solid signpost to a product’s future potential.

For more artificial intelligence, we reviewed the best AI tools.

Last year, Canadian startup Ideogram launched an AI image generation service - with a twist. The team was determined to include text in the AI image mix, something which every other platform struggles with. What's interesting is how well they've succeeded. For the first time, designers, and those with more of an eye on typography, could use an AI tool to produce something grown up and sophisticated. Text was no longer taboo. 

A quick look at the home page spells it out. Where many of the best AI image generators we’ve reviewed offer cutesy anime and fantasy style images in their carousels, Ideogram shows off gorgeous high resolution images with a strong typeset integration. It's a subtle but important distinction, and opens up whole new design areas such as logos, humor or other image uses which have previously been off limits for conventional AI platforms. 

Of course the market is changing all the time, and already there are alternatives like Stable Diffusion 3 waiting in the wings, but for now Ideogram still holds the AI text crown. You can check it out by clicking here. 

Ideogram: Pricing & plans

The platform offers a free plan which gives 20 slow generated images a day. The speed varies according to the load on the service, but in my testing it was around 30 to 45 seconds or so, which is not too terrible. The free plan also provides access to the community image gallery, the use of the Describe tool and 70% quality JPG image file downloads. 

The Paid plans start at $8 a month for the Basic plan which gives 400 prompts a month, a basic image editor, high quality 2K image upscaling and 100% quality image downloads. Plus and Pro plan users can also keep their images private and away from the public gallery, and upload their own images to rework. Paying users also get to create seamless repeating Tile patterns, which is a boon for design work like texture or background creation. 

Ideogram: First impressions

The first surprise when you land on the Ideogram front page, is how bare it is. Unlike other AI image generators, there's no browsing here until you sign up or log in to an account. It's quite disconcerting, and probably deters a fair number of potential users. There are two clicks you can make, either a help ? icon or an Apple or Google account login button. There's not even basic email registration.

Mandating a login restricts access to the user community images which are available on the main page, and there's a simple reason for this gatekeeping. You see there are two very useful tools anyone can use once logged in to get started. The first is to click on the three dot menu under any image to copy and use the prompt which made it. 

The second more powerful method is to click the same menu but this time select the Describe option. This gives you a full blown 'magic' prompt created by the service which delivers the ultimate quality image from your basic prompt. For example, I grabbed a prompt which read:

"a dog's head in profile with a double exposure of a forest and Dalmatians playing in the background."  

The 'magic' feature upgraded that basic copied prompt to:

"a close-up of a dog's face, predominantly in shades of brown and white. The background is a blend of a dense forest and a clearing where two Dalmatians are seen playing in the grass. The juxtaposition of the dog's head with the forest and Dalmatians creates a surreal effect, as if the dog is emerging from the woods or merging with them."

Result: a vastly improved image result, which uses the power of the crowd along with some AI smarts to produce a nice looking image. It's not perfect, but it's a great start to iterate on. 

Ideogram: In Use

The above example points to one of the key benefits of using Ideogram over some of the best AI art generators and image generators that have sprung up over the last couple of years. The platform really wants to help users get the best out of their image generation credits. Even those on the free plan can benefit from these features, although you'll have to upgrade to a paid plan to edit, upscale or download 100% quality images when you're done. 

Proper prompting can be extremely tricky for non-experts, so being able to use the front page community images as a start point is very powerful. Creating a Remix of a sample image is also a great way to produce something quickly and easily, based on an existing user image. It sounds like cheating, but paid plan users have the power to keep their images private, so there is a choice of access. 

In general, creating lush, beautiful images with Ideogram is fast and painless. The addition of the 'Magic' prompt function, although it's not unique to Ideogram, is an excellent way to minimize user disappointment through bad prompting. The new upscaling function is also a powerful method of delivering professional quality images which can be used in commercial settings such as advertising and marketing. The image results may not match the consistent and coherent quality of Midjourney, but it's not far off. 

Where the platform falls a little short is in the editing area. There's no outpainting or inpainting functions, so the editing is limited to crop, zoom, color selection and changing aspect ratio. The most valuable editing function is to draw text positions on a generated image and use an updated prompt and Remix to add the actual text to the result. 

This is extremely useful for adding or adjusting precise text, as you might need when designing a logo or other brand element. It's just a shame that there's not a larger selection of image editing tools on the platform, as there is with other services.

Ideogram: Final verdict

When it comes to the best AI tools, Ideogram combines top quality AI image generation with superb typographic control. In that regard it is unique among its peers. The image quality at its best matches anything on the market, even if the editing features are a little weak in places.  

Creating art by hand? We reviewed the best graphic design software. 

PureDome is a capable business VPN from the people behind PureVPN, one of the most experienced consumer VPN providers around.

Signing up gets you all the benefits of PureVPN: easy-to-use Windows, Mac, Android and iOS apps; a vast network of thousands of servers spread across 60+ countries; WireGuard support for maximum speeds, a kill switch to protect you if the VPN drops, and plenty more.

But PureDome adds business-friendly security, remote access and team management tools of its own. You can control who uses the service, and what they can do; Single Sign On support allows your team to access the VPN using their existing credentials; you can enforce your preferred VPN settings on users for maximum security, and even prevent users accessing the VPN unless, say, they're running your preferred antivirus. 

In this review, we'll take an in-depth look at the VPN, its apps, speed and security, and especially its high-end business features.

But if you're mostly interested in PureVPN and its consumer features, you'll find more details on this in our full PureVPN review.

Plans and pricing 

PureDome is fairly priced for monthly billing at $8.45 per user billed monthly, but this only drops to a relatively high $6.74 on the annual plan.

There's also a potential catch. PureDome has a minimum subscription of five team members, which means the least you can pay is $42.25 billed monthly, or $33.70 on the annual plan.

You can add a dedicated IP for $84 per month, but this can only be assigned to one of your users. 

If you need a unique and static IP for all your users, you'll need to spend a chunky $600 per month for a dedicated gateway (essentially, your own VPN server.)

Payments are accepted via card or PayPal.

PureDome is more expensive than some of the competition, but there is some positive news. Although PureDome asked for our payment details when we signed up, it doesn't charge until the end of the billing period. That effectively means there's a free 30 day trial, and as long as you cancel before that time is up, you won't be billed.

PureDome apps

Business VPN apps are often underpowered, and with a range of usability issues. That's no surprise: business VPN providers might know how to create site-to-site network connections through every possible type of firewall, but developing quality apps requires very different skills, and it's often not a priority.

PureDome is a little different, because its apps are essentially based on PureVPN's range. That means a wide choice of platforms, with downloads for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, even Chrome support. They include all the features you'd expect from a consumer VPN - WireGuard, IKEv2 and OpenVPN protocol support, a kill switch, split tunneling, location favorites and more - and yet they're also easy to use, even for the least experienced of users.

Our in-depth tests did highlight a DNS issue. When we connected using WireGuard or IKEv2 on Windows, our checks showed no DNS leaks, with PureDome using its own DNS server to resolve queries. But when we connected using OpenVPN, PureDome appeared to use Google DNS, which means information about your browsing is leaking outside of the tunnel. This probably won't have any practical effect (Google already has far better ways to track people than analysing DNS queries), but it is still a privacy concern.

PureDome's apps scored elsewhere, though. The Windows app kill switch correctly blocked our internet access, for instance, whenever we forcibly closed its VPN connection. That already outperforms many competitors (UTunnel VPN's Windows app doesn't have a kill switch at all.) 

There's another welcome plus in PureDome's new support for Single Sign On. That's good news, as it allows users to sign in with existing credentials, rather than create yet another account for PureDome. The service only supports Okta and Microsoft Azure AD right now, but the feature has only just arrived; hopefully Google and others will land soon.

PureDome User control 

PureDome makes it unusually easy to give your team members access to the VPN. Tap a button, enter an email address, and you can send an invite with a click. Or if you've a big team, you can even import the full list in a CSV file, and send them all at once.

As usual, you're able to assign each user a Role which defines what they can do on PureDome. For example, by default, users are assigned the role Member, which allows them to use the PureDome app but nothing else. But you can also give them other roles which might allow them to, say, change your billing details, add or remove members or tweak network settings.

PureDome also supports organising users into separate teams: Sales, Accounts, Engineering, whatever works for your business structure. This allows you to restrict each team to its own gateway (Sales can't access the Accounts systems, say), and you can also apply different VPN access rules to each team (more on this below.)

While this all works as advertised, it's a little limited. We found PureDome couldn't show us which users were connected to the service right now, for instance. There's no connection history, and no information on the devices they use. PureDome is working hard on adding new features, and we've no doubt this will improve over time, but right now, at least, it doesn't have anything like the user control and logging options of the competition.

App settings control 

As we've discussed above, PureDome's apps have all the most essential VPN settings. You can set an app to load and optionally connect when your device starts; choose your preferred protocol, enable the kill switch, show connection notifications, and more. 

We've seen more configurable apps, but PureDome has a handy plus: you can enforce particular settings on your users. 

If you want your team to leave the kill switch enabled for security, for instance, all you can do with most VPNs is send a group email and ask them nicely. But with PureDome, you can enable the kill switch, set your preferred protocol or whatever other settings you need, then enforce these settings on some or all of your users.

We set up some preferred app settings, then imposed them on our test MacBook, and tried a few tests on the app to see what happened.

The results were positive. We were able to force some or all of our users to keep their kill switch enabled, for instance, ensuring they always had the best possible security. That's a very welcome feature that we rarely see elsewhere, even with some major business VPN names.

Device control 

PureDome includes a feature called Posture Check. This allows you to block or allow access to the VPN, depending on how the user's device is set up.

If users connect with Windows devices, for instance, you can choose to only allow access if they have your preferred antivirus, or a certain certificate installed; if it's using your preferred versions of Windows; if it has disk encryption enabled; if a particular file or Registry key exists, or a certain Registry key.

Mac users get almost the same level of control, but Android and iOS are far more basic. You can block rooted devices, but that's about it.

We were pleased to see that Posture Checks can run both when a user logs on, and at regular intervals (every 20, 40 or 60 minutes.) This makes it more difficult for users who might run a must-have program to connect to the VPN, but then close it down.

This system doesn't always work as well as we hoped. PureDome's Antivirus test can only check if the device is running one of an internal list of 11 antivirus tools, for instance. This excludes a lot of big names, so if you're running Avira, F-Secure, G-Data, Panda or Trend Micro, for instance, Posture Check won't be able to confirm that they're installed.

Still, PureDome says the Posture Check feature is in beta right now, so perhaps this will be addressed soon. Even right now, Posture Check gives you some useful ways to protect your server from dubious devices, and overall, it's a welcome plus for PureDome.

How fast is PureDome? 

We measured PureDome's performance by running multiple tests on several top speed test sites and apps, including SpeedTest.net, Measurement Lab and Cloudflare.

We ran our tests from a UK cloud PC with a speedy 1Gbps connection, giving us plenty of room to see what PureDome could do.

The results were very acceptable, with PureDome averaging 610Mbps on WireGuard connections. We've seen faster VPNs - NordVPN, Surfshark, Hide.me and others reached 950Mbps and more in recent tests - but, realistically, PureDome has more than enough speed for most networks, devices and applications.

Netflix and unblocking 

Like most serious business VPNs, PureDome largely avoids talking about common consumer features, such as its ability to unblock Netflix and other streaming sites. With some providers that's because they can't unblock anything at all, but is that the case here?

To find out, we checked PureDome's unblocking performance with eight streaming platforms, using locations around the world.

Netflix results were excellent, with PureDome getting us access to content in the US, UK, Australia, Canada and Japan.

The service couldn't get us into Disney Plus, but it worked with Amazon Prime, and successfully unblocked our other test platforms: BBC iPlayer, ITV and Channel 4 in the UK, and Australia's 9Now and 10Play.

That's a great unblocking result, but it could be a positive indicator in other areas, too. If streaming providers can't detect PureDome is a VPN, there's a chance that other websites will also miss it, and you'll see less 'click all the tiles containing a bicycle'-type CATCHAs.

Final verdict

Many business VPNs focus entirely on team management, permissions, auditing and high-level networking features, but forget about the usability basics. They'll have hugely powerful account management dashboards, but the most horribly basic apps.

PureDome is the opposite. It's based on the consumer service PureVPN, with its large network, decent apps and a good range of features. But it's a relative newcomer to business VPNs, and can't begin to match the best of the competition for management, access control or reporting tools.

This may not be a problem for everyone. If you're mostly looking for a VPN with easy team management, centralized billing and the ability to ensure everyone always has their kill switch on, then take PureDome's 30-day trial and see how it works for you.

But if you need fine-tuned user management, detailed audit reports or anything more advanced, we'd recommend looking elsewhere.

• Also check out our complete list of the best business VPNs

TunnelBear Teams is the business version of TunnelBear, a Canadian VPN best known for its extreme simplicity and ease of use.

TunnelBear is also well known for its lack of advanced features. If you need, say, leading-edge device management, layer after layer of access controls, and all kinds of network connectivity options, then TunnelBear Teams isn't for you. But if you're after something simpler, it's a very different story.

TunnelBear Teams is essentially the regular TunnelBear VPN product, with smarter user management. You can easily create a team, invite and manage your team members. Centralized billing helps to control your costs. And there are even potential savings to be made, with TunnelBear crediting you for any remaining team member's subscription time if they leave.

The simplicity of TunnelBear's apps is a particular plus, as it means all your colleagues should be able to use the service, no training required, even if they've no real technical expertise.

In this review we take a detailed look at TunnelBear Teams and everything it has to offer. We've plenty to say about the core VPN and its apps, too, but if you're mostly interested in TunnelBear's regular consumer service, check out our in-depth TunnelBear review.

TunnelBear VPN features 

TunnelBear isn't a very powerful or configurable VPN, but there's still a lot to like about the service.

The company has 5,000+ servers spread across 47+ countries, for instance. Many providers have far larger networks - ExpressVPN now supports 105+ countries - but TunnelBear probably has more than enough locations for most users.

The service has a decent set of apps covering Windows, Mac, Android and iOS. It has a strong range of browser extensions covering Chrome, Firefox and Edge, one area where it delivers more than most of the competition.

TunnelBear's apps don't have expert-level networking options (looking for an MTU tweak, anyone?), but they more than cover the basics. There's WireGuard support for maximum speeds (with OpenVPN as a fallback), a kill switch to protect you if the VPN drops, split tunneling to control which apps use the VPN, and a GhostBear obfuscation feature to help bypass VPN blocks and get you online.

Could these work for you? It's easy to find out, because unlike almost all of the competition, TunnelBear has a free plan. Sign up and you get 2GB of data every month, along with access to all locations and features. 2GB isn't much, but it's enough to try out the apps and get a feel for whether TunnelBear might suit your needs.

If you've gone shopping for VPNs before, you'll know how difficult it is to figure out whether a provider can be trusted. But the good news is that TunnelBear has made huge efforts to deal with that, by putting its entire infrastructure - apps, servers, website, more - through annual independent audits.

The not-so-good news is those audits have turned up plenty of problems in the past. But we have to applaud any VPN which puts itself through this level of scrutiny, each and every year. And even though the last report found a lot of issues, that does show the value of the process: the auditors really are digging deep, TunnelBear gets to fix problems before they're exploited, and the service is much safer as a result.

TunnelBear Teams prices

TunnelBear Teams has a surprisingly simple pricing scheme. Accounts are priced at $69 per year for each team member, there's a minimum of two members per team, and, well, that's it.

That's arguably taking simplicity a little too far. We'd like a monthly billing option, for instance, but TunnelBear offers annual plans only.

There are advantages in how TunnelBear handles team changes. If you remove a team member three months into your plan, for instance, TunnelBear credits you with the nine months service they didn't use. That's a welcome improvement on most consumer VPN accounts, where normally you won't get anything back if you stop using the service early. 

The system also makes it much easier to handle billing overall. Instead of employees buying plans themselves and claiming them back on expenses, you have a single centrally managed subscription which covers everyone. You can view your billing status at any time, and even download PDFs of previous invoices whenever necessary.

As we've discussed above, you can also try the regular TunnelBear VPN for free. This doesn't give you access to Teams' extra management tools, but it will allow you install the apps, test TunnelBear's features and sample speeds (up to a limit of 2GB data transfer a month.)

Managing team members 

The first step in setting up TunnelBear Teams is to add your team members to the service.

We found this very straightforward. Tap the Add button, enter an email address (or multiple addresses, separated by commas), and TunnelBear sends all the invitation emails you need with a click.

An optional Team Domain feature automatically adds members to your team if they sign up with an email address using your company domain (first.last@alwaysthesame.com.) That could make life easier, but there's also scope for problems. If an employee signs up for a personal TunnelBear account and happens to use their company email, they'll automatically be added to your team.

Every user is assigned a 'Role' which defines how they can use the service. Initially, users have the role of Member, which only allows them to use the VPN. But you can also assign users the Admin role, giving them the ability to add or remove users.

This all works as advertised. The Team Domain feature is an unusual extra which might benefit some, and there's no doubt TunnelBear Teams is very easy to use. But we think it's also very basic, and doesn't begin to match the abilities of the competition.

There's no two or multi-factor authentication, for instance, where users must enter a code sent by email or an authenticator app before they can log in.

The TunnelBear Teams dashboard shows you when a user has activated their account, but there's no other status information available. We couldn't see any way to find out whether they're currently connected, when they last connected, the devices they've used or anything else.

Most business VPNs have at least minimal logs, giving businesses an audit trail of important service events, but TunnelBear has nothing at all: no session records, no device details, not even a record of important admin events (when users are added and removed, when the billing details are changed, and so on.)

If you're running a small team, you're not so concerned about details like multi-factor authentication, then this might not matter at all. Everyone can sign in as usual with their passwords, and that could be enough.

But if you're looking for more central user management and control, there are better business VPNs around.

PureDome logs admin actions, and has excellent device controls. For instance, it can block desktop VPN access unless it's running an approved antivirus and some other must-have security software.

Perimeter 81 is vastly more complex than TunnelBear, but it also gives you hugely comprehensive control over who can use the VPN and who can't, and has detailed logs to help you track what's going on.

TunnelBear apps 

TunnelBear has apps for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS, as well as browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Edge.

These don't quite have the serious look of most business VPN apps. They're full of bear puns and animations, for instance (when we logged in and entered our password, a cartoon bear covered its eyes.) That won't be what everyone expects, but don't be fooled: beneath the bear-related humour, there's a serious and very capable VPN.

We saw this immediately from the feature list. Not only does this have a strong set of core features - a kill switch, WireGuard support, split tunneling, more - but they also proved very reliable during testing. We tried all kinds of low-level trickery to forcibly drop the VPN connection, for instance, but TunnelBear's kill switch stepped in every time, blocking our internet traffic and shielding use from snoopers.

There are unexpected technical bonuses just under the hood, too. For example, Encrypted Client Hello (ECH) is an advanced feature which prevents others spying on your initial website connections, and perhaps blocking VPN use. Many more powerful VPNs have said nothing about ECH, but TunnelBear began rolling it out in May 2023.

We're less convinced by the desktop app interface, which is mostly taken up with a huge world of TunnelBear locations. You can use this to connect, but it's just not very convenient. If the map is centered on your location in the US, say, and you want to use the map to connect to South Korea, you must click on the screen, then drag left to pan across Europe and the Middle East, before clicking on the country you need.

There is also a drop-down list of locations, which we found faster to use: click, scroll to the country you need, another click and you're done. But the app still spends a couple of extra seconds on the map, zooming in and recentering its view on your chosen location. It's not a big deal, but it just isn't necessary, and the more typical VPN app interface - a sortable text list of locations with a Favorites system - would be more efficient.

How fast is TunnelBear? 

TunnelBear now supports the ultra-efficient WireGuard protocol with all its apps, very good news if speeds are high on your VPN priority list.

We measure VPN performance by running repeated checks from an ultra-fast 1Gbps connection using the most accurate speed testing services: SpeedTest.net, the SpeedTest app, Measurement Lab, Cloudflare and more.

The results showed TunnelBear WireGuard connections reaching median download speeds of around 430Mbps.

In theory, that looks poor, because it's less than half the speed of our top five providers.

In real-world use, it's unlikely to matter to most users. If you're typically using a VPN over public Wi-Fi, or for normal internet tasks (browsing, email, messaging, streaming), then TunnelBear is likely to deliver all the speed you need.

Netflix and unblocking 

Unblocking streaming sites isn't normally high on the priority list for a business VPN, but it's still worth seeing what a service can do. If a VPN can avoid detection by streaming platforms, it's more likely to avoid detection elsewhere, which means you're less likely to see CAPTCHAs or other security alerts on any websites.

We assess VPN unblocking by checking multiple streaming platforms from locations around the world. TunnelBear got off to a bad start, and couldn't get us access to Disney Plus, Amazon Prime or Netflix in the US, UK, Australia, Canada and Japan. But it did have a handful of unblocking successes, including BBC iPlayer, ITV and Channel 4 in the UK, and 9Now in Australia. Not great, but we've seen much worse.

Next, we accessed ten general websites (not streaming) which also try to detect, restrict or block VPNs. TunnelBear allowed us to access six, a decent mid-range result.

You may see something different, of course, depending on the websites you visit. But if unblocking or CAPTCHA-avoidance is a priority for you, sign up for TunnelBear's free plan and you can try out the service before you buy.

Final verdict

If TunnelBear's ease of use matches your businesses VPN needs, then signing up for TunnelBear Teams keeps any admin to a minimum. You can add (or remove) accounts for every user you need from a single web console, see your current team setup at a glance, and you can pay for everyone with a single annual payment. It's the simplest setup around.

What TunnelBear Teams doesn't offer is any extra login functionality, device management or user access controls. If that's a problem, take a look at PureDome for a simple VPN with more security features, or check out Perimeter 81 for an array of business VPN security and management tools.

• Also check out our complete list of the best business VPNs

Tailscale is a capable business VPN which allows you to securely connect your devices, applications and employees, wherever they are in the world.

The service isn't a traditional VPN. Your devices don't route their traffic through Tailscale servers. Instead, Tailscale helps you create a zero-trust mesh network, where every device connects directly to each other via an encrypted WireGuard-based tunnel. That's much faster, and means you don't have to worry about Tailscale logging any of your activities.

The service has all kinds of applications. You could use Tailscale to connect remote and in-house teams, devices and shared resources into a single secure network. But it also works as a safe remote access method for shared resources. Another option is site-to-site networking, allowing you to transfer data between private cloud environments.

This looks impressive, but is Tailscale right for you? This review will look at its plans, features, ease of use and support to see if it lives up to expectations.

Plans and pricing 

Tailscale's free plan provides a risk-free way to try out the service. It limits you to three users, but you can connect up to 100 devices, there's email support if you need it, and it's only missing a few of the most advanced features (there's no logging of network traffic, for instance.)

Upgrading to the Starter plan supports unlimited users. You still get three users per free; each extra account costs $6 a month, and you get support for an extra 10 devices per user. That's fair value, and should be enough for most businesses.

The Premium plan is relatively expensive at $18 per user. This gets you 20x devices per user and Priority Support for faster response times, but otherwise it's mostly about high-end features for demanding users: fine-tuned access control, SSH authentication and encryption, more versatile user and device management, and more.

We browsed the plan comparison tables, and noticed one unexpected issue. Tailscale's free plan is so generous that it actually has more features than the Starter plan. Free users can restrict individual users from accessing a particular resource, for instance; Starter users can't. 

Sounds strange, but it does make sense: Tailscale sees the free plan as an advertisement for its full product, so it wants users to be able to try almost everything. But that won't help you if you've moved from Free to Starter just to get one extra user, and realise you've lost a feature you need. If that could be a problem, browse the Comparison table on Tailscale's Pricing page, and make sure you understand exactly what you're getting.

Tailscale integrations 

Tailscale is all about ease of use, and the service has 100+ integrations to make that happen.

SSO (Single Sign On) support allows you to authenticate with credentials from 20+ identity providers, for instance: Google, Microsoft Azure AD, Okta, Apple, GitHub. There's no need to create yet another account for Tailscale, just sign up with whatever you're using already.

Custom Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux and Synology apps allow you to use Tailscale just about everywhere.

The service aims to automatically connect to your network, even when you're behind the best business firewalls. To make that happen, Tailscale already works with pfSense, OPNsense, Barracuda, Check Point, Cisco, Fortinet and more.

This isn't just about making that initial connection, though. Tailscale also supports directly connecting to the platforms you use already: AWS (VPC, EC2, Lightsail, more), Google Cloud (VPC, GCE, GKE, more), Microsoft Azure (VPC, all VMs, app services), DigitalOcean, Docker and LXC containers, resources running in Kubernetes, GitHub and more.

Supporting integrations allow you to, say, raise notifications via Slack, Discord or Google Chat. And if you decide you need the private browsing features of a conventional VPN, good news: Tailscale also gives you built-in support for accessing the excellent Mullvad.

Getting started

Click 'Get started' on most websites and you're launched into the usual 'give us your details, choose yet another password, verify your email' sequence. Tailscale's SSO support meant we could sign on immediately with Google, Microsoft, GitHub, Apple or OIDC credentials, though, no further work required.

The Tailscale web dashboard didn't make it obvious what we should do next. We opted to download and install the Windows app, though, and the process couldn't have been any more straightforward. We clicked the Tailscale app; it opened a page in a browser tab; we tapped Connect, and that got our first device connected to the service.

We repeated the process on our MacBook Pro, and Tailscale connected the devices in a couple of seconds. There's no big app interface to explore, no lists of locations, no need to choose protocols or anything else: Tailscale just works.

The Tailscale web dashboard on our Windows helpfully displayed the MacBook's IP address, and suggested we ping it. We did, and it worked as expected. Tailscale then supports using whatever other network software you like to access resources, share information or anything else you want to do. (We ran a LAN messaging tool and that worked, too.)

That's a great start, and enough to make Tailscale very useful all on its own, but the service has many other features to explore.

Features

Tailscale has a built-in file transfer feature called Taildrop. It's in alpha and currently only allows you to securely copy files between your own devices, but we were keen to see how it worked.

The feature was disabled by default on our MacBook for security reasons, but we enabled it in a click from the MacOS Extensions list. After that, transfers were as easy as right-clicking a file in Explorer, selecting 'Send with Tailscale' and choosing the target device. 

Taildrop transfers were fast and secure (thanks to WireGuard encryption), and moments later our files appeared in the MacBook's Downloads folder. Taildrop is a little short on settings - okay, there are none at all - but that's no surprise for an alpha, and it's already enough to be useful.

You can use Tailscale as a sort-of VPN by using exit nodes. Install Tailscale on a computer in your home or office, for instance, and you can configure it as an exit node. Then, when you next need to browse on unsecured WiFi, connect to Tailscale and choose your exit node. 

Just like using a conventional VPN, Tailscale routes all your internet traffic through a secure connection to your exit node computer, then sends it on to its destination. Speeds may not be great, depending on your exit node's connection, but it works, and you use this right now with Tailscale's free plan.

If you need VPN functionality but don't have devices in the locations you're after, there is another option. Tailscale allows users to set up Mullvad VPN locations as exit nodes, and you can connect to the VPN as required.

This does bump up your costs, to the tune of an extra $5 a month. But that's less than half the monthly price you'll pay with some VPNs. And better still, that $5 allows you to configure up to five of your devices as able to use Mullvad's servers as exit nodes. Even if you only set this up on a couple of devices, that's a really good deal.

Access controls

Creating a secure network isn't just about establishing encrypted tunnels. Tailscale also provides a stack of essential management features to control who can access the network, which devices they can use, and what, exactly, they can do.

You can invite new members by creating a one-time use link, then sending it via email, a messaging app or whatever route you prefer. By default they can log in and use Tailscale immediately, but you can add another layer of protection by requiring admin approval. (They can connect immediately, but not access other devices until an admin says it's okay.)

Users are assigned 'roles' which define exactly what they can do on Tailscale. By default new users are sensibly set at 'Members', which means they can access the network but not view or change any settings, but there are other roles available. Setting someone as 'IT Admin' allows them to add new users, for instance, and similar new management tasks, but not change any technical settings.

An extremely flexible Access Controls system allows you to organise your users into custom groups, if necessary ('sales', 'engineering', whatever fits), then control who can access which devices.

This has to be defined by editing a JSON configuration file, making it a little more complex than the rest of Tailscale. But the file has helpful comments, with examples, and in-depth articles on the Support site, and we figured the basics out within a few minutes.

It's a strong set of features which does a lot to keep you safe, but Tailscale does require some manual configuration to get the best results.

For example, because Tailscale allows users to log in via third-party identity provider accounts, it can't enforce multi-factor authentication. If your users all use a company Google account, that's not a problem: you can enforce logon rules there. But if they're using personal accounts, the best you can do is ask them to turn on MFA.

Although Android, iOS and macOS apps are updated automatically, we were surprised to see Linux and Windows devices require manual updates. You can use Tailscale's web dashboard to see devices which require updates, and alert the owners if they haven't spotted the issue, but the Windows app in particular really should be able to handle this itself.

Support

Tailscale doesn't offer many direct support routes. There's no live chat and no phone support. The company does offer email support, but only from 9am-6pm Monday to Friday US Eastern Time, and replies can take a while. (Issues classed as 'normal', such as a feature not working properly, might not get an initial response for two business days.)

Fortunately, there are other options for those in a hurry. Tailscale's excellent Knowledgebase is a great place to start, with its array of setup documents, How-To guides, FAQs and more advanced API and other references.

Although Tailscale closed its own web forum in the summer of 2023, you can still get support from other users via its subreddit. As we write, this has seven new posts in the past 24 hours, all of them with answers, and most replies arriving in under an hour.

Final Verdict

Tailscale is a top-notch VPN service which makes it easy to create your own private network, and gives you all kinds of access and other controls to keep it secure. Large or inexperienced teams might have an issue with the underpowered apps and limited support, but Tailscale could be ideal for small and medium-sized teams who know exactly what they're doing. Unsure? That's what the free plan is for: sign up and see for yourself. 

• Also check out our complete list of the best business VPNs

UTunnel is a capable business VPN which makes it easy to create and deploy your own VPN server and provide Zero Trust remote access to your company network and resources.

The service is largely focused on business users, with enterprise-friendly secure access control features such as Single Sign-On, Multi-Factor Authentication, team management and more.

But UTunnel is also so easy-to-use and affordable that it could appeal to more technical and demanding personal users, too.

How does UTunnel compare to the competition? We've signed up for an account, set up our own servers, installed both desktop and mobile apps, run multiple tests and dug deep into the results to see what's really going on. Read on to find out what we discovered, and if UTunnel is the business VPN for you.

Plans and pricing

UTunnel pricing starts with its Basic plan. This covers all the core VPN essentials, and costs from around $5-$25 a month per server (depending on the setup you choose), plus an extra $5 per user.

The Standard plan adds many more advanced features: site-to-site VPN tunneling, split tunneling, server-level access policies, device filtering, custom DNS servers, connection logs, priority support and more. That would be our pick for business users, but it's only a little more expensive, at around $5-$25 for the server, depending on its setup, plus $7.50 per user.

While that might sound expensive, you're getting a lot for your money. Connect to New York with a regular VPN, for instance, and you're sharing the server with thousands of users, including hackers and spammers who might get your IP address blocked. Meanwhile UTunnel creates a New York server just for you, on a top cloud provider like DigitalOcean or Kamatera. You're far less likely to have block-list issues, and it's a far better way to set up secure access to your business network.

These prices cover monthly billing, too, which makes them look like an even better deal. We found prices as low as $9 a month for a simple server and one user; ExpressVPN and a few others ask $13 a month for their monthly-billed plans.

Unfortunately, only supports one payment method: a debit/ credit card. While most users can live with that, we'd like to see a little more flexibility (Perimeter81 also accepts payment by PayPal and wire transfers, for instance.)

We would also like the option to sign up for longer-term plans to get lower rates, but, overall, the service is fair value for what's on offer. And if you sign up and disagree, that's okay too: UTunnel's 14-day money-back guarantee gives you enough time to find out if it's the right VPN for you.

Logging

UTunnel claims it doesn't log user activity, but the company Privacy Policy says something else.

The apps collect various details about your device. The policy says this includes 'information about your hardware, device manufacturer, unique device identifiers, information about software, the operating system, and version running on your system or device, browser and plug-ins, and mobile network information.'

We have no problem with that, as long as a provider's apps make it clear that this is happening and allow you to disable the feature. UTunnel doesn't mention the feature outside of the Privacy Policy, and there's no way to turn it off.

The Policy also says UTunnel keeps separate Log Data, including 'IP address, operating system, visited pages, location, hardware or device information, and cookie information.' That sounds worrying, but when asked the company, UTunnel explained that these details are logged when you visit the website; the service doesn't record any details of your VPN use.

Creating a custom UTunnel VPN server

After signing up for a UTunnel account, the website prompted us to create our VPN server. There's an option to specify an on-premises server (something you host yourself), but in this review we're interested in UTunnel's cloud VPN servers.

After entering a name for our server, UTunnel asked us to choose the cloud provider that would host our server. The list included DigitalOcean, Exoscale, Hetzner, Kamatera, Linode, Upcloud and Vultr. (AWS is supported, too, but you must sign up for UTunnel from the AWS Marketplace, rather than UTunnel's website.)

That's a decent list of providers, but there's a problem: unless you're a cloud hosting expert, you'll probably have no idea who to pick.

Once you've selected a provider, you're able to choose a location for your server. Sounds simple, but every provider has a different list of locations, so we had to choose multiple servers to see what's available.

Although the UTunnel website suggests you can choose from 30 locations, the most we found was 26 across 13 countries from Vultr. When we chose DigitalOcean, for instance, we had eight locations to choose from: Amsterdam, Bangalore, Frankfurt, London, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Toronto. 

And there's another complication. After choosing a provider and a location, you must finally select an 'Instance type', a hosting plan which defines how powerful your VPN server should be. The options vary depending on your vendor, but, for instance, DigitalOcean has three options: 1 CPU core, 1GB RAM, 1TB bandwidth; 1 CPU core, 2GB RAM, 2TB bandwidth, and 2 CPU cores, 4GB RAM, 4TB bandwidth.

The issue here is the price you pay varies depending on the provider and location. It's not displayed on the list, so you must choose a plan to see what it costs. If you're looking to find the cheapest plan, that means you must select a provider, then the location, then the instance type, then make a note of the price. Then you must do exactly the same for each of the other six providers.

We figured this out eventually, so it's not a huge problem. But it is far more awkward than it needs to be, and UTunnel really should make it easier for users to quickly see all its available plans.

UTunnel apps

After buying a plan, UTunnel created our test VPN server in around five minutes.

The UTunnel web dashboard made little effort to explain what we should do next. Install an app, we wondered? There was no obvious download link, so we opened the Knowledgebase, ran a couple of searches and found the download ourselves. That wasn't difficult, but again, UTunnel could make life far easier by signposting steps like this more clearly.

UTunnel's apps are relatively basic, and in part that's by design. The apps don't support setting a custom DNS server, for instance, because that would allow every user to have their own, possibly insecure settings. Instead, you're able to enforce your preferred DNS on all users from UTunnel's web dashboard. That's much more secure.

Still, even making allowances for UTunnel's security design, the Windows app is seriously underpowered. It supports OpenVPN and IKEv2 protocols only (no WireGuard), and there are the bare minimum of settings: a 'connect on startup' option', 'enable notifications' and 'reconnect if the VPN disconnects automatically.'

Some platforms are a little more capable - WireGuard has just arrived in UTunnel's Android app, for instance - but it still leaves UTunnel looking for less capable than most of the competition. And with the company only releasing three Android updates in the past three years, it doesn't look like we should expect an avalanche of new features anytime soon.

The app has no mention of a kill switch, but did it include one anyway? We ran some in-depth tests to find out, and the answer was a concern. When we manually closed an IKEv2 connection, the app continued to allow access to our now unprotected IP address. And despite both the 'notifications' and 'reconnect' switches, the app didn't raise an alert to try to warn us, and it didn't try to reconnect.

We noticed one partial solution for UTunnel's app issues. The service supports manual OpenVPN connections, which allows you to use third-party apps such as OpenVPN Connect.

VPN speed tests don't always mean very much. That's especially true with UTunnel, because performance will depend on your and the server's location, the provider you choose, and the power of your server. But we were keen to run our tests anyway, just to get a feel for what UTunnel could do.

We created a London-based server using DigitalOcean's cheapest plan (just one CPU core.) Our IKEv2 speed tests returned decent average download speeds of around 260Mbps. A good WireGuard VPN could be three times as fast, but, realistically, UTunnel looks more than fast enough for most devices, networks and internet tasks.

We checked our London server's unblocking abilities, and the results were mixed. It failed with UK Netflix, but unblocked BBC iPlayer, ITV and Channel 4. You may see very different results, though, depending on your location, and the provider you choose.

UTunnel VPN access management

UTunnel's apps may be limited, but the service does have plenty of interesting team security, access control and server management features.

You're able to manually invite colleagues to use the server, for instance. By default, new users are only allowed to connect to the server. You can also give specific users Administrator rights, though, allowing them to help you manage UTunnel (add more users, change settings, more.) 

UTunnel supports using Single Sign On (SSO) to authenticate users, for example allowing them to sign in with their Google, Microsoft Azure AD or Okta account. 

UTunnel requires that you set up SSO manually (via SAML, if you're curious), which is more complicated than usual. The official tutorial for Google gives you an idea of how it works. But the advantage is UTunnel should also work with any identity provider which supports custom SAML connections, something we rarely see elsewhere.

 If you're not using Single Sign On, UTunnel allows you to enforce Two Factor Authentication (2FA.) That's a security plus which requires users to log in using their password, and then enter a code sent via email or an OTP app (Google or Microsoft Authenticator.)

A comprehensive Access Policy system enables creating rules to define who can access which server. You can organise users into groups, for instance; selectively hide some servers from some users and groups, or allow access to approved devices only. 

That's a decent list of access features, but UTunnel isn't done yet. The service also has a number of logs which record server events and allow you to track what's going on. You're able to view VPN connection times, devices used, and key settings changes (user invitations, credit card changes, server configurations), ideal for making sure UTunnel is being used as you'd expect.  

UTunnel server and other features 

UTunnel's servers support a number of very useful advanced network settings.

You can set up split tunneling, for instance (called split routing here.) That allows users to connect to your business resources through the tunnel, but have all other traffic sent through their regular connection. It's a very useful feature which cuts bandwidth use, improves server speeds, and reduces the chance of user problems (if they're an app which isn't compatible with the VPN, say.)

UTunnel has some valuable expert-level DNS controls. Not only can you set up custom DNS for all your server users; UTunnel's split DNS allows you to route DNS queries from some domains to your custom DNS server, which others use your regular DNS.

A handy 'OneClick Applications' feature essentially creates shortcuts which give HTTPS, SSH and RDP access to resources on your network with a single click.

There's even support for setting up site-to-site connections. We found instructions for firewalls and network setups including Cisco, Fortinet, Sophos, Unifi, MikroTik and AWS Virtual Private Gateway.

If you have problems with any of this, UTunnel's web support site has various documents which might help. It doesn't have the depth we've seen with some VPNs, but there are tutorials explaining how to complete many common tasks.

There's no live chat or phone support, but you can raise tickets or send emails for more complex problems. The UTunnel website doesn't commit to a response time, but we sent a simple test question to try it out. Even though we asked a basic product question, which we would expect to get the lowest priority, the support team sent a helpful reply in around an hour. That's not bad for email, but it could still be an issue if you're using UTunnel for business-critical tasks.

Final Verdict

UTunnel's expert-level features, such as site-to-site networking and split DNS routing, mean it could work for experienced business users with complex networking requirements. Take a look if you'll make use of UTunnel's more advanced tools, but beware: there are plenty of technical and service issues, too. If you sign up, use the 14-day money-back period for some intensive testing, and make sure UTunnel is the business VPN for you.

• Also check out our complete list of the best business VPNs

Neo may not have the name recognition of the real major players in this space, like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or Proton Mail, but it is nevertheless making a concerted effort to join them as one of the best email hosting services around. 

Attempting to set itself apart from its competitors, Neo has set its sights on the small business market. This is an email provider that is geared towards entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses. And what it does, it does well. 

Neo comes with a good range of features, including appointment scheduling, email templates, and read receipts, and is available at an affordable price. It’s a great option if you want a custom email address, flexible cloud storage and the possibility of exploring whether some of those AI tools making headlines are really as important to business success as they claim to be.

It must be said, Neo isn’t perfect. We’ve found that the support on offer isn’t the most responsive and if you're a large enterprise you might require some of the advanced functionality that you find offered by some of the larger players out there. 

However, if you’re a small business on the lookout for a reliable, affordable email solution, then it’s certainly worth giving Neo a go. The email and marketing services on offer could help take your brand to the next level. 

Neo: Plans and pricing

Neo subscribers have access to three plans: Starter, Standard, and Max. The Starter plan costs $1.99 per mailbox, per month (when billed annually). The Standard plan is $3.99, while the Max subscription costs $7.99. 

Interestingly, although the majority of email providers let you pay either monthly or annually, offering a slightly reduced rate for the latter, Neo is the only platform that we’ve seen that also offers two-year and four-year subscriptions - again at a reduced rate. 

Although signing up for multiple years may seem like a big financial commitment, if you’re sure you’re going to stay with Neo for the foreseeable future, it could be a great way of lowering your costs. For example, signing up for a four-year plan takes the monthly cost of the Max plan down to just $4.99 a month. 

It’s also worth noting that if you need more than 50 mailboxes, you’ll need to contact Neo’s sales team directly to receive a bespoke price. This is pretty standard for business software anytime a customer has needs that go beyond the usual. As we mentioned earlier, however, if you require more than 50 mailboxes, you might have outgrown the ‘small business’ tag, so you might find that there are other email providers out there that are better suited to your needs. 

Features

As with all business email providers, the features that you receive depend heavily on the subscription you’ve signed up for. Let’s start by taking a look at the email storage on offer. With the Starter plan, you only receive 10GB of mailbox storage, which is even less than the free 15GB that comes with a personal Gmail account. We found that this amount of space filled up quickly, so if you’re a small business with big aspirations, you might find this somewhat lacking. If that is the case, you’ll probably want to look at the 50GB you get with the Standard plan or even the 100GB enjoyed by Max customers. 

In terms of the other features that Neo offers, there’s plenty on show. Subscribers to all three payment plans will receive access to Android and iOS mobile apps, a built-in calendar, and the ability to access their Neo inbox via a third-party mail platform. 

Some more advanced functionality is provided on the Standard plan, including a priority inbox and read receipts but most of the really high-level stuff requires you to be signed up for the Max plan. For instance, customers here get a plethora of powerful business suite tools, such as access to campaign mode - geat for email marketing, appointment booking and the AI Smart Write feature. 

Support

Here’s an area where Neo could do better. While there is a help center, which comes with a host of useful articles and guides like help getting started and a general FAQ, it’s when you try to contact Neo directly that things become a little more tricky. 

There is a link that allows you to create a support ticket but getting a response can take a long time. This is a shame, because for small businesses especially, any issue could cause significant reputational damage that ends up sending customers elsewhere. 

Security

Neo’s security credentials are solid and this is clearly something that the platform takes very seriously. The platform offers data encryption both at rest and in transit with 256-bit ciphers, two-factor authentication, advanced antivirus and antispam functionality, and is hosted on Amazon Web Services, which should give users a little extra peace of mind. 

Neo is also fully GDPR compliant and allows users to include a digital signature with their message to add extra authenticity whenever they are sending an email. 

The competition

Although you might think that email is a bit old-fashioned, it remains essential to the business world. Sure, most successful organizations may have adopted an omnichannel strategy these days, meaning they can contact customers via WhatsApp or a social media platform, but email remains crucial.

In terms of email providers targeting the small business market, Neo has to compete with the likes of Zoho Mail, IONOS, and a growing array of others.  Neo fares pretty well in terms of price and does offer users a free .co website domain but for advanced functionality or more response support, you might be better going with more established players. 

Final verdict

Neo is a very decent email provider - especially given that it hasn’t been around the longest. If you too are just starting out and don’t require some of the more advanced features you get with larger vendors, then be sure to check Neo out. 

If you have expectations of scaling your business rapidly, you might find that you outgrow Neo, but until then, this platform is likely to have everything you need at a very reasonable price. 

We've featured the best email hosting services.

Sharing files has become essential in both personal and professional life. Among the many options available, Smart Transfer stands out as a notable contender in file-sharing platforms. It promises a seamless and efficient transfer of files across different devices and operating systems. 

Like any technology, Smart Transfer has advantages and disadvantages. In this post, we will explore what makes Smart Transfer distinct and discuss potential drawbacks worth considering.

Smart Transfer is a solution for both Android and iOS. You can learn more about it through the Smart Transfer website. 

Features

In today's digital age, sharing files between devices can be quite a hassle. However, Smart Transfer is here to simplify the process with its intuitive and speedy solution. Users can now send pictures, videos, documents, and other files to friends, family, or colleagues with just a few clicks.

Whether transitioning to a new phone, sharing family photos, or collaborating on projects, Smart Transfer provides a hassle-free experience. Bid farewell to tedious upload times and say hello to seamless sharing!

One of Smart Transfer's most significant advantages is its ability to effortlessly facilitate cross-platform file sharing. Smart Transfer streamlines the process, whether you're transferring files from an Android to an iOS device, a Windows PC to a Mac, or any combination thereof. This universality makes it a handy tool where different devices and operating systems often coexist.

Simplicity is at the heart of Smart Transfer's design philosophy. The platform is intuitive, making it easy for users of all tech-savvy levels to navigate and perform transfers. This ease of use reduces the learning curve typically associated with new software, enabling users to share files immediately.

Smart Transfer boasts fast transfer speeds, significantly reducing the time it takes to share large files compared to other methods. This efficiency is a game-changer for professionals who need to share hefty files quickly or for anyone looking to transfer photos, videos, or documents. The Smart Transfer feature offers seamless cross-platform file sharing. It simplifies transferring files between devices and operating systems, such as Android to iOS, Windows to Mac, and any other combination. This universality makes it a precious tool where various devices and operating systems coexist.

Smart Transfer is designed to be user-friendly and intuitive, allowing people of all levels of tech-savviness to navigate and perform transfers efficiently. This user-friendly design reduces the learning curve typically associated with new software, enabling users to start sharing files immediately.

Smart Transfer also boasts fast transfer speeds, significantly reducing the time it takes to share large files compared to other methods. This efficiency is a game-changer for professionals who need to share heavy files quickly and for anyone looking to transfer photos, videos, or documents between devices without long waiting times. Between devices without excessive waiting times.

Two other bonuses: the solution offers a thorough online FAQ and blog.

Concerns

While the Smart Transfer app has numerous benefits for seamless file sharing across devices, it also has drawbacks. Awareness of these limitations is essential, mainly if you rely on digital tools for personal and professional use.

One limitation is that Smart Transfer may not work on all devices or operating systems. Older devices or less standard operating systems might not be compatible with the app, which can be frustrating for users who don't want to upgrade their hardware to use a file-sharing app.

Although Smart Transfer applies encryption to protect files during transfers, some users may still be concerned about the app's overall security architecture and data management. Data privacy is a significant concern, and users want to ensure that their information is secure and not accessible to third parties.

While the app is generally user-friendly, some users, especially those who are not tech-savvy, may find it complicated. The abundance of features and settings can overwhelm new users or those who prefer simpler interfaces.

Smart Transfer on a mobile network could consume significant data, especially when transferring large files. This could be problematic for users with limited data plans or areas with high data costs.

The app's performance heavily relies on connection quality. Users transferring files over slower or unstable networks may experience interruptions, slow transfer speeds, or failures, which can be frustrating and lead to productivity loss.

Although you can transfer files without an internet connection using Wi-Fi Direct, some features of the Smart Transfer app still require an online connection. This could be restrictive for users who often operate in areas without reliable internet access or who prefer a fully offline tool.

Costs

Smart Transfer is free for three days, after which a monthly or yearly subscription is necessary. The monthly subscription costs $4.99, while the yearly subscription costs $49.99.

Final Verdict

The Smart Transfer app is a versatile, efficient, and secure solution for all your file-sharing needs. It bridges the gap between different devices and the two leading mobile operating systems, enhancing productivity and enriching your digital lifestyle. In a world where data sharing is integral to personal and professional realms, adopting Smart Transfer is a step towards embracing seamless connectivity. 

Potential Smart Transfer users need to understand its potential downsides, however. While the app offers robust solutions for file-sharing needs, its limitations must be considered to assess its suitability for different users and scenarios fully. By approaching the app with an informed perspective, users can optimize their app use and explore alternatives if it doesn't fully meet their needs.

More from TechRadar Pro

• For two alternatives, check out our Inshare and AirDroid Personal reviews.
• See the best file transfer software and 
• the best secure file transfer solution

In today’s interconnected world, sharing files between devices has become a cornerstone of both personal and professional productivity. Among the myriad of apps offering to simplify this process, InShare stands out as a notable option. This app promises high-speed file transfer across platforms without requiring an internet connection. In this blog post, we will review the advantages and disadvantages of using InShare for your file-sharing needs.

The Inshare file sharing solution is available for Android and iOS.

Features

There are numerous advantages to consider when evaluating InShare.

Fast transfer speeds: InShare boasts remarkable transfer speeds, enabling users to share files, large or small, in seconds. This efficiency is particularly beneficial for those dealing with high-resolution images, lengthy videos, or bulky document files that other platforms struggle to handle promptly.

Cross-platform compatibility: One of InShare's standout features is its cross-platform compatibility between Android and iOS. This enables smooth, hassle-free transfers without the need for cables or additional software.

The division between Android and iOS ecosystems has long hindered seamless file sharing. InShare bridges this gap with cross-platform functionality, allowing users to share files between operating systems without issues. This means sending a photo from an Android phone to an iPhone is as easy as sending it to another Android device, promoting an inclusive environment for all users.

Offline functionality: Unlike many file-sharing applications that rely on an internet connection, InShare works offline. This feature is especially advantageous in areas with poor or no internet connectivity, allowing you to share files anytime.

InShare doesn't require an internet connection to transfer files. Utilizing Wi-Fi Direct, it can send files without a data network, bypassing the need for a stable internet connection and capably functioning in areas with poor or no connectivity.

Easy to use: The InShare interface is user-friendly and straightforward. Users can intuitively navigate the app, select files, and initiate transfers without navigating complicated settings or configurations.

Usability is a significant factor when choosing an app, and InShare shines in its simplicity. The app boasts a user-friendly interface that enables even technologically inexperienced individuals to share files easily. With clear instructions and straightforward navigation, users can quickly learn how to use the app to its full extent.

Free: InShare is a free app accessible to a broad user base. No subscription fees or purchase costs exist so that anyone can take advantage of its file-sharing capabilities without financial commitment.

Strong security measures: Users often worry about their data security when using file transfer apps. InShare understands these concerns and ensures that files are transferred securely between devices. With procedures in place to protect against data breaches or unauthorized access, users can rest assured that their personal information remains confidential.

Share all types of files: Whether it's documents, videos, music, apps, or images, InShare is versatile enough to handle various file types, making it a one-stop shop for all your sharing needs. This versatility is particularly beneficial for those dealing with multiple media and documents daily.

No size limitations: One of the most significant benefits of InStore is that it imposes no size limitations on file transfers. This is incredibly useful for sending large videos or batches of high-resolution photos that could otherwise be troublesome to share via traditional methods or when concerned about cloud storage limitations.

An efficient alternative to traditional methods: Before the advent of apps like InShare, users often resorted to Bluetooth or email attachments for sharing files, which are time-consuming and have file size restrictions. InShare provides an efficient alternative faster than Bluetooth and circumvents the size limitations of email attachments.

Save on data usage: By allowing offline transfers, InShare can save users from expending their mobile data allowances — an advantage particularly appreciated by those with limited or expensive data plans. This feature also circumvents the potential costs associated with cloud services, which typically charge fees for higher storage tiers.

Easy group sharing: InShare allows you to share files with multiple people at once, simplifying the distribution of files for groups, be it family, friends, or work colleagues. The ability to send to multiple recipients simultaneously saves time and ensures everyone is on the same page.

Concerns

There are some drawbacks to using InShare, although the positives far outnumber them. These include: 

Limited functionality without Wi-Fi Direct: InShare relies on Wi-Fi Direct for transfers, which is great for speed but means both devices must support this technology. Not all devices, especially older models, are equipped with Wi-Fi Direct, potentially limiting the app's usefulness. Those users with incompatible devices will, therefore, need to seek alternative file transfer solutions.

Device proximity requirement: For InShare to work, both devices need to be close to each other. This restriction can be inconvenient for those looking to share files from a distance, limiting the app’s use compared to cloud-based alternatives that allow remote file access and sharing from anywhere in the world.

No cloud storage integration: Unlike many file-sharing platforms, InShare does not offer cloud storage integration. This can be a source of frustration for those who wish to keep an online backup of their files for accessibility and safety. Users are responsible for their own data backups when using InShare, which might lead to potential data loss if there isn’t any backup measures in place.

Interruptions and inconsistencies: Some users report interrupted transfers due to unforeseen glitches or connectivity issues in the Wi-Fi Direct process. These disruptions can be frustrating and time-consuming, especially if large files need to be restarted from scratch.

Battery drain: Utilizing Wi-Fi Direct for file transfers can consume significant battery life on both sending and receiving devices. Users may experience a rapid depletion of their battery, which can be inconvenient if there is limited access to charging facilities, particularly when traveling or during power outages.

Ads: InShare includes advertisements that can interrupt the user experience. While ads are a common way for free apps to generate revenue, they can be invasive and irritating, prompting some users to seek ad-free alternatives, even at a cost.

Not universally compatible: InShare is tailored for mobile devices and does not directly support PC transfers. Users looking to share files with a computer must find alternative methods, which can lead to a fragmented file transfer experience across different devices.

Final Verdict

InShare is an excellent tool for sharing files between Android and iOS devices. Its outstanding speed, convenience, and security, along with its user-friendly approach, make it a great choice for those seeking a dependable file transfer solution. InShare isn't just a utility app; it serves as a bridge between platforms, people, and locations, promoting the seamless integration of our digital lives. Whether you're a professional in need of robust file-sharing capabilities or an individual wanting to share life's moments, InShare offers the efficiency, reliability, and simplicity to enhance your sharing experience.

However, it's important to be aware of InShare's limitations. From restricted device compatibility to privacy concerns and potential interruptions, there are several factors to consider before relying solely on the app for all file sharing needs. Caution and, at times, the use of supplementary services may be necessary to ensure a smooth and secure file transfer experience. As with any application, carefully evaluating the pros and cons is crucial to making an informed decision that meets personal or professional requirements.

More from TechRadar Pro

• See our AirDroid Personal review for an alternative
• Also: the best ways to share files securely

In today’s rapidly changing world of technology, effortlessly transferring files between different devices dramatically improves productivity and connectivity. AirDroid Personal is an impressive application that allows for effective file management and provides a range of features for connecting various devices. Nevertheless, like any technology, AirDroid has both benefits and drawbacks. 

In this article, we will examine the advantages and disadvantages of using AirDroid Personal for file transfers to help you decide whether it suits your digital lifestyle.

AirDroid Personal is available on various platforms, including Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS. You can also access it through the web.

Features

AirDroid Personal has emerged as a popular tool for creating a seamless connection between your phone and other devices, such as computers and tablets. It promises an array of features to enhance the user experience by making file sharing, message sending, and device management more efficient and accessible. 

Among its many features: 

Comprehensive connectivity: AirDroid Personal is noted for its capability to establish a strong connection between your phone and PC or other devices. It provides an intuitive platform allowing users to easily manage their phones from a computer. This streamlines tasks such as sending SMS, viewing app notifications, and accessing phone files.

One remarkable benefit of AirDroid Personal is its ability to wirelessly connect your smartphone to your computer, which is a game-changer for those used to juggling devices. The absence of tangled cables and the need for physical connections means that users can enjoy an uncluttered workspace and the freedom to move effortlessly between their devices.

No more exhaustive searches for compatible cables or frustration with USB ports. AirDroid Personal thrives on simplicity, offering drag-and-drop file sharing that transforms transferring files into a swift and pleasurable experience. This efficient system supports various file formats and sizes, ensuring you can move data precisely when necessary without constraints.

Versatile file management: AirDroid Personal excels in file management. Users can wirelessly transfer files between their phone and computer with no size limits. This includes photos, videos, documents, and entire folders. The drag-and-drop interface simplifies the process, making it user-friendly for everyone.

Remote device access: AirDroid Personal offers remote access capabilities, enabling users to control their mobile devices from a PC. This feature is handy for individuals who need to access their phone when it’s not physically accessible or provide remote assistance to friends or family.

Distance is no longer an obstacle with AirDroid Personal. The app's innovative remote access abilities allow users to access their phone's content from afar. Whether you're providing your phone to a family member or reading a crucial document from your phone while at the office, remote access is a productivity and problem-solving boon.

Screen mirroring: Screen mirroring is a valuable feature of AirDroid Personal. It lets users display their phone’s screen on a computer in real-time. This feature is useful for presentations, app demonstrations, and even streaming mobile games on a larger screen.

With AirDroid Personal's screen mirroring feature, presentations and personalization take on a new dimension. Users can project their smartphone display onto a computer screen in vivid clarity, perfect for showcasing mobile applications, conducting training sessions, or enjoying multimedia content on a larger canvas. This high-fidelity replication amplifies the utility of your phone, catering to both professional and personal scenarios.

Notification harmony: Integrating notifications on your computer screen is a subtle yet noteworthy positive of AirDroid Personal. This harmonious syncing ensures you're always aware of important calls, messages, and alerts without being tethered to your smartphone. It minimizes distractions and enables greater focus on tasks at hand, an essential for multitaskers.

Messaging made manageable: Imagine managing your SMS and phone calls without needing to reach for your smartphone. AirDroid Personal makes this a reality by providing a platform on your computer that allows you to seamlessly send texts, manage conversations, and handle calls. Paired with a full-sized keyboard, this messaging management introduces an era of increased efficiency.

Concerns

When considering AirDroid Personal, awareness of some concerns is important. 

Despite its functionality, AirDroid Personal has faced criticism for security issues. While the platform has improved its security measures, some users still have concerns about privacy risks when granting extensive access to their personal information and data.

Please keep in mind that the performance of AirDroid Personal can be affected by various factors, including specific hardware and network conditions. It's important to note that some users may experience lag or disconnections, especially when engaging in activities requiring high bandwidth, such as screen mirroring or large file transfers. These issues are more likely to affect users with less powerful devices or unreliable internet connections. Additionally, it's essential to emphasize that AirDroid Personal requires a stable internet connection to operate effectively. Therefore, using the app in environments with poor connectivity may pose challenges and limit its usefulness in specific scenarios.

Costs

Although AirDroid Personal has a free version, it has limitations such as restricted data transfer limits, ads, and fewer features compared to the premium version. Users who rely heavily on the app for their daily tasks might feel the necessity to upgrade to a premium subscription, incurring additional costs.

AirDroid is as little as $2.50 per month when billed annually. 

What is Airdroid Business? 

Airdroid also offers a business package called Airdroid Business. It is a comprehensive mobile device management (MDM) solution for managing, monitoring, and securing various Android devices. Whether you manage a small team or oversee an international operation, AirDroid Business provides the efficiency and flexibility necessary to keep your mobile network running smoothly.

Final Verdict

AirDroid Personal is a robust solution for those needing a versatile, secure, and user-centric application to manage their mobile device from their computer. Whether for personal use or enhancing productivity, AirDroid Personal offers an integrated approach to device management that keeps you connected and in control, no matter where you are.

By navigating the digital landscape with the help of AirDroid Personal, users can enjoy a level of convenience and efficiency that only a seamlessly connected device ecosystem can provide. Whether transferring essential documents on the go or replying to text messages from your laptop, AirDroid Personal is optimizing your digital interactions to be as fluid as your movements from one device to the next.

More from TechRadar Pro

• See the best file transfer software and 
• the best secure file transfer solution