CyberGhost VPN review

Launched in 2011 in Romania, CyberGhost has built a reputation for providing one of the best VPN services that comes with a complete set of features without costing a bomb.

Headquartered in Bucharest, CyberGhost claims that its most pressing concern is the privacy and anonymity of its customers. Indeed, it promises it won’t share any of its customer’s data with “prying eyes”, ISPs, and government or state agencies. It has a strict no-logs policy and has now been audited by Deloitte, so you can be all-but-certain that CyberGhost will not log your activities. Users can even pay for their subscription in Bitcoin, adding an extra layer of security to proceedings.

CyberGhost has been working hard to expand its number of servers without losing its crown as one of the most pocket-friendly VPNs around. But has it succeeded? In my complete CyberGhost review, I'll explore whether it can really stand up to the very best on the market...

• Click to head straight through to the CyberGhost website (opens in new tab)

CyberGhost on paper

CyberGhost 1-minute review

If you’re ready to commit to a longer plan, CyberGhost will provide great value for money, and get you a generous 45-day money-back guarantee. With over 8,900 servers in over 117 locations and 91 countries, you can set your location to virtually anywhere. However, if you plan to go with a monthly plan, know that the price is somewhat steep.

CyberGhost is now independently audited by Deloitte and makes strong statements about whether it logs user activity (no, it doesn’t), and its apps appear to be well secured. A transparency report is also a nice touch.

Speed testing using the latest WireGuard protocol reveals that CyberGhost has dipped slightly, from a staggering top-end of 860Mbps to 730Mbps. That’s still well above average, making CyberGhost a fast VPN, and it's also a great streaming VPN, thanks to the fact it unblocks most major streaming services including US Netflix, BBC iPlayer and Amazon Prime Video.

If you’re looking to torrent stuff, you’ll be glad to hear that P2P is allowed on most (although not all) servers and that the company offers apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and more. Here, you’ll also find some fine features like automatic connection when using a specific app, which helps to deliver ultimate torrenting safety. Plus, with CyberGhost VPN you can connect to up to seven devices simultaneously.

On desktop (Windows in particular), CyberGhost’s client is remarkably powerful and includes a wide variety of additional features not usually found with VPNs, let alone one of the most affordable ones. However, while the mobile apps are functional, I found them lacking in some areas.

And if you find yourself in need of a helping hand, CyberGhost’s support staff will gladly lend you one. Going to live chat will get you in touch with some of the kindest and most knowledgeable operators I’ve come in contact with. On the downside, some of the company's written how-to guides seem somewhat confusing, and almost no new articles have been added in recently months.

All in all, CyberGhost is a very capable VPN with only a few rough edges (like the mobile interface) holding it back.

Latest updates

• New security measures to protect users against Lg4j exploits
• Bug bounty offered for VPN vulnerabilities
• Completion of independent audit by Deloitte
• 66 P2P locations, up from 54
• Access to your own exclusive IP address ($5/month extra)
• Optional access to standalone CyberGhost Security Suite for Windows.

CyberGhost price and payment

If you go for a longer-term plan, CyberGhost is one of the best cheap VPN services on the market today. As with most services, the longer you commit, the less it'll end up costing you each month.

If you choose a month-to-month deal, you’ll be spending $12.99 each month. At the time of writing, however, committing for two years will get you an excellent price of just $2.03 per month, including four free months. 

This price can fluctuate a little with various seasonal sales throughout the year, but CyberGhost is almost always available for less than $2.50 a month on the longest plan. There no longer appears to be a one-year option – only a six-month option that works out at $6.99 a month.

Whatever deal you decide on, there are plenty of available payment methods including all major credit cards, PayPal, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, and Bitcoin. However, these options might vary depending on your location.

The two-year and six-month plans come with a class-leading 45-day money-back guarantee, although even the one-month plan comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee. 

If you want to test the service to make sure it’s right for you, I’d recommend signing up to one of the longer plans. That way, you'll have 45 days to claim back your money if CyberGhost fails to live up to your expectations.

Does CyberGhost have a free trial?

If you fancy giving CyberGhost a whirl, a VPN free trial is available, but it’s unnecessarily complicated. On a desktop, you can sign up and use the app for a measly 24 hours for free, during which you’ll only have access to limited features.

On iOS, you can get a seven-day trial, but you’ll have to sign up, whereas on Android you can get seven days without signing up, which is probably your best bet if you’ve got an Android device.

Signing up for one of the longer plans, which come with a 45-day money-back guarantee, is more than likely the best way to dip your toe in CyberGhost's waters.

• More: Need something for your employees? See today's best business VPN

How private is CyberGhost?

CyberGhost uses 256-bit AES encryption, which is the gold standard I've come to expect from all top secure VPN providers. However, another thing I very much appreciate is the fact that CyberGhost’s apps are transparent in terms of what data the service collects about your usage. This means you can be a good scout and allow CyberGhost to collect some anonymous data to improve its apps, or simply opt out of it. Not many providers give you this option – it's a nice bonus feature.

CyberGhost is insistent about its strict no-logs policy (opens in new tab), promising "complete privacy on all devices". It assures its potential customers that their browsing history, the sites they visit, the data they transmit, and what they search for will not be monitored or recorded by the company. It also make it clear that it won’t log IP addresses, connection timestamps, or how long the service has been used.

Of course, you might wonder whether these claims can be taken at face value. Which is why, like many of its competitors (ExpressVPN and NordVPN, for example), CyberGhost has undergone a comprehensive independent audit of its servers and other infrastructure. 

The audit was conducted by Deloitte, one of the "Big Four" global auditors, which is very encouraging. The report is available to customers in theory, although I couldn’t actually find a download link to it. Still, this level of third-party scrutiny is extremely encouraging and only adds to the trustworthiness of CyberGhost's privacy claims.

How fast is CyberGhost?

Since CyberGhost is seemingly geared toward those who want to access tons of streaming media and expand their viewing wherever they are, I’d hope that connection speeds are up to the mark.

Tested on my UK and US connections (both of which top out at about 1Gbps), I took average times from several tests to judge the reliability and speed of the service.

Taking the fastest protocol first, I tested WireGuard in the UK where it peaked at a superb 730Mbps (the average speed being somewhere between 650 and 670Mbps), which puts it up there with some of the faster options (Hide.me, NordVPN and IPVanish), but some way behind Surfshark, which peaked at a lightning-quick 950Mbps.

In the US, when using OpenVPN I saw speeds of 380Mbps, which is pretty speedy for the old classic protocol. I found WireGuard speeds to be above average in general, but experienced a slow time-to-connect on Windows (10 seconds vs 1 second for the fastest competition).

Also, keep in mind that if your base internet connection is below these figures, using CyberGhost will have little to no impact on your speeds.

When connecting to farther-flung servers, I saw some unavoidable slow-down, but even CyberGhost's New Zealand server (which is over 11,000 miles away from the UK) delivered uninspiring yet serviceable speeds of 50Mbps.

So, while CyberGhost may not be the fastest VPN we’ve tested, it's by no means a slouch and offers speedy enough performance for the absolute majority of users.

How good is CyberGhost for streaming?

One of the most common reasons people sign up for a VPN is to unblock streaming services when travelling outside your home country. CyberGhost is a particularly good Netflix VPN as it caters to users by offering a superb filtering system to find the best servers to unblock the content that they wish to enjoy.

When looking at the server filters, you’ll see recommended locations for Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Amazon Prime, YouTube TV, BBC iPlayer, and even more, including other global streaming services.

After running multiple tests on US Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and and HBO Max, I was glad to find that everything appeared to work without a hitch. That said, CyberGhost did appear to struggle when it came to unblocking UK Netflix and UK Disney+. However, that may well be a temporary issue.

While customers from the USA and the UK tend to get the best coverage, my app also listed servers in Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Romania, and Sweden. Both leading platforms and regional services were covered such as RTL, MTV Finland, France TV, AI Play, and so forth.

One issue I did find was that a considerable amount of sites would hit me with the 'Are you a Human?' CAPTCHA, but other than that, everything was running nicely.

However, some competitors are also capable of unblocking various Netflix libraries across the world. So, if you want access to the UK catalogs, for example, services like ExpressVPN and Proton VPN may be smarter choices.

How good is CyberGhost for torrenting?

Much like CyberGhost’s filters for specific streaming services, it can also help you pick a good torrenting VPN server - and that’s good news. Truth be told, not every server is optimized for P2P due to some regional restrictions.

Once connected, speeds are great, and a feature that I really appreciated was the ability to choose a CyberGhost location to automatically connect to when you launch your client.  This is great for the forgetful or lazy (read: almost all of us) and is a fool-proof way of making sure that whenever you torrent, you’re properly protected.

I’d like to see full P2P support on every single server in the near future, but as it stands, CyberGhost does excellent work despite its limitations. Plus, my Windows app listed a total of 66 P2P-friendly countries, which is more than what you get with most VPN providers, and up from 54 in my last review.

Just bear in mind there are blocks on servers in the USA, Russia, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. However, thanks to a list called "For Torrenting" it's easy to find a suitable server near your location. And, with CyberGhost's malicious URL filter, even more dubious torrent downloads should be kept secure.

How good are CyberGhost's desktop apps?

CyberGhost’s desktop apps are pretty much the same on the Windows VPN and Mac VPN, with simple, useful interfaces. You’ll get a list of servers, a nice big Connect button, and your options for server filtering on the far left. A location picker, showing the distance of servers from you is a useful addition.

Seeing the current capacity/load of each server is quite useful – something omitted from lots of rivals – and can give you a quick indication of which server will provide the highest speeds. You’ll also get a favorites system, plus a system tray icon that gives you quick access to all the essentials.

Among extras, you’ll find ad and tracker blockers and protection from dangerous websites. 'Smart Rules', however, is my favorite element. It allows you to configure which server to automatically connect to on start-up, and whether to connect when you open a particular app (likely a torrent client). Plus, you can also set up split tunneling by whitelisting specific sites.

Wi-Fi controls also work well, allowing you to choose how the VPN works on connection, auto-connecting to secure, never if encrypted, as well as more custom actions for specific networks.

CyberGhost’s system tray icon also allows you to access these in submenus, and it’s a very neat way of saving you time and screen space – every little usability feature matters at this level.

CyberGhost’s system tray icon also allows you to access these in submenus, and it’s a very neat way of saving you time and screen space – every little usability feature matters at this level. That being said, there are no notifications to tell you when the VPN connects or disconnects - not ideal as you have to look at the app each time you need to check.

Above all, CyberGhost’s kill switch is superb. It never revealed my true IP address no matter how hard I tried to trick it. However, I did find one issue with the kill switch – if I failed to connect to a server in the first place, CyberGhost would say that the kill switch had been enabled when in truth it hadn’t. This is pretty misleading, but in practice, it’s unlikely to happen.

With the upgrade to CyberGhost 8, I’ve seen the interface clear up a little, but it’s worth noting that a couple of small features have been lost – namely HTTP to HTTPS redirection and data compression for slow connections. This is probably due to the fact that only a handful of people actually use them. In my experience, data compression did next to nothing in practice, and a dedicated add-on like HTTPS Everywhere is not only free but also more effective.

All in all, though, there’s not much to complain about. CyberGhost’s desktop clients are powerful and deliver some genuinely useful unique features seldom seen anywhere else.

How good are CyberGhost's mobile apps?

The iOS VPN and Android VPN apps now offer OpenVPN and WireGuard support, which is a pretty promising development.

On iOS devices, VPN apps are held back by Apple’s security design and are rarely as fully featured as their Android and desktop counterparts. Nevertheless, you’ll get a favorites list, smart server selection, and auto-connect on specific or unsecured networks, plus the choice between WireGuard and IKEv2, and a connection checker.

However, the Android app does all this and a lot more, matching the desktop apps in power. You are free to specify if you want it to use a random port when connecting, which is useful for getting around VPN-blocking tech – used by Netflix and similar streaming services.

Also, you’ll get split tunneling, which is surprising yet super useful if you just want to make sure one app is secured while all your others use your regular connection, plus ad and tracker blockers.

Another useful addition is the content blocker since it blocks ads, trackers, and malware from domains. However, it’s turned off by default and doesn't work all that well, but it might come in handy if you don't have a dedicated app or add-on installed.

The last noteworthy addition is domain fronting, which bypasses certain VPN blocking tech through a CDN (content delivery system). Although we didn’t test this, it’s surely welcome – and if anything, I can’t help but wonder why it’s not available in the desktop app.

So, while the iOS app is rather bare-bones, CyberGhost’s mobile VPN apps are pretty useful, and WireGuard support plus the powerful Android option will be a major selling point.

Thankfully, both apps come with a 7-day trial which means you can try them out before making any commitments.

What customer support does CyberGhost offer?

Whether you got stuck while setting up your VPN or simply want to ask a couple of questions about the service, there are a few ways you can reach CyberGhost’s support staff.

Much like all the big hitters, CyberGhost offers live chat support round-the-clock, and it’s your best bet. The operators I got in touch with were both kind and knowledgeable, and my issue was resolved in no time.

However, if you don’t mind waiting for a couple of hours (or days if you're unlucky) to get a reply, you can also send them an email, although I wouldn’t advise that.

If you prefer sticking to self-services, you should head to the knowledge base. There, you’ll find plenty of guides for different operating systems and lots of common issues people have. Since the knowledge base features a search box, you can hunt for specific words which could lead you to the solution you're seeking while shortening the search itself.

While going through the written guides, I noticed that the way many are written is somewhat difficult to understand and follow, which is bad news for less experienced users. Also, things are worded slightly strangely on CyberGhost’s official site in any case – likely due to a largely Romanian workforce that speaks English as a second language.

For instance, in a simple article that proclaims the benefits of WireGuard over OpenVPN, it is stated that OpenVPN ‘works at the user level using TLS', while 'WireGuard-based VPN servers under Linux run inside the kernel networking stack’. Do you find that useful? I thought not.

I don’t want to be patronized, but also these articles should be accessible to the majority of users for them to be worthwhile.

Should you buy CyberGhost?

CyberGhost offers superb VPN services through a plethora of servers that span 91 countries all over the globe. With affordable pricing, excellent security features (gold-standard encryption and a third-party 'no logs' audit), helpful customer support, and a user-friendly interface, CyberGhost gets the job done with flying colors. 

There’s no question that some of the apps could do with an update, though. CyberGhost does well as a desktop VPN, for example, but if you’re a mobile user (on iOS in particular) you might find CyberGhost a touch limiting. And while it's fast enough for most, there are faster VPNs available. 

So, CyberGhost isn’t totally flawless. But it's very nicely priced and a decent choice for individuals and small businesses alike (opens in new tab).

Sign up to CyberGhost if:

• You want one the most private and cheapest VPNs on the market
• You want a VPN that secures up to seven devices simultaneously 
• You want access to a good number of streaming services worldwide
• You want decent speeds across the board
• You expect fast, friendly 24/7 support

Avoid CyberGhost if:

• You want a VPN with an exceptionally good iOS app
• You absolutely must have the fastest VPN on the market
• You want to unblock UK streaming services
• You want regularly updated help articles