At a Glance

Expert’s Rating

Pros

Independently verified no-log policySeriously impressive server spreadGenerous 45-day money-back guarantee

Cons

Server speeds can be hit-or-missLacks some extra security features offered by competitors

Our Verdict

CyberGhost VPN continues to be an excellent VPN. The server network is unrivaled, the interface is easy-to-use, and the no-log audits are a huge privacy strong point. Overall, it scores well in just about every major category and gives users exactly what they want from a VPN.

Based in Romania, CyberGhost is owned by its parent company, UK based security services conglomerate Kape Technologies. The service itself has seen enormous growth in recent years and is now firmly entrenched as one of the leading VPN providers.

It offers solid VPN features including seven simultaneous device connections, relatively good speeds, and a great server spread. In fact, boasting an absolutely colossal number of servers, sitting at over 9000, it dwarfs most of its competitors in this area. I’ve been impressed with CyberGhost in the past and decided to take it for another spin to see how it stacks up in an increasingly competitive VPN market.

CyberGhost VPN in brief:

P2P allowed: YesSimultaneous device connections: 7Business location: RomaniaNumber of servers: 9000+Number of country locations: 120+Cost: $12.99 per month, or $56.94 for a two year subscription

What are CyberGhost VPN’s features & services?

Sam Singleton

Sam Singleton

Sam Singleton

The CyberGhost Windows app has an easy-to-use interface that’s pleasantly simple and straightforward. It opens with just a small connection window anchored to the Windows taskbar which can be expanded into a larger, fully disconnected window by clicking the arrow button. 

On the left rail you have options for My Account and Settings. To the right of that you have all of the different server options. These include menu items for Favorites, All Servers, Dedicated IP (if you have one), NoSpy Servers, For Gaming, For Torrenting, and For Streaming servers. 

Many of these server options come from CyberGhost’s rather unique legacy as a VPN that offers servers based on use rather than location. While these options are all pretty self-explanatory, the For streaming section is noteworthy. Each server listed in this menu is optimized for a specific service and CyberGhost supports unblocking for more than 35 services. For just the U.S. alone this includes Amazon Prime, Fox, HBO Max, Sling TV, Hulu, PeacockTV, Netflix, and others. When you’re going overseas, or you’d like to access an overseas service from the U.S., CyberGhost offers an excellent selection.

The NoSpy Servers are also worth mentioning as they are all servers owned and operated in-house by CyberGhost. This is rather unique as most VPN providers work with third-party data centers to host their servers.  

Sam Singleton

Sam Singleton

Sam Singleton

Under the server menu you’ll find Privacy settings and Smart rules. The first has just a few basic features such as preventing DNS leaks, an automatic kill switch option, and a blocker option for domains that are known to serve ads, trackers, and malware.

While the service doesn’t offer a ton of tools for power users, the Smart rules section does offer a few areas to tweak. Here you can set launch rules for the app, as well as access CyberGhost VPN’s split tunneling feature to include or exclude certain websites or apps from the VPN.

These are interesting, but other top VPN providers such as NordVPN and Proton VPN offer even more features which can be considerably useful. Things such as multi-hop connections, onion-over VPN, and IP address rotation are all offered by competitors but lacking with CyberGhost.

When you choose an option from the server tabs, you’ll find a list of all the servers available which you can sort alphabetically by name, distance from your home IP address, and any favorite servers you’ve chosen. This is where CyberGhost shines. It offers a dizzying number of server locations—more than 9,000. That’s more than pretty much any of the other top VPN companies. The abundance of choice here means you have more options to choose servers that suit your needs whether that be location or speed or something else.

While connected to any of its servers you’re able to clearly see the server’s IP address and location, data downloaded and uploaded while connected, the protocol being used, and the time duration of the connection. All of this information is displayed in a very clear and tidy manner. While this may seem like a minor detail, some other VPN providers bury this pertinent information deep down in the settings or side menus.

Included with a subscription, you’ll also have access to CyberGhost’s Identity Guard feature that will scan for your email in known data breaches and alert you if it’s found. And it also provides an ad- and tracker-blocker via the “Block content” feature under Privacy settings.

CyberGhost’s VPN app is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Fire Stick TV, Android TV, and some routers.

How much does CyberGhost VPN cost?

CyberGhost offers three subscription plans: one month, six months, and two years. The one month plan is $12.99 per month and the six month plan is $41.94. The two year plan will set you back a total of $56.94, or a very reasonable $2.19 per month. With the two year plan you’ll receive an additional two free months and it will change to a yearly subscription after the initial period. It’s also worth noting that CyberGhost offers a generous 45-day refund policy on its long-term subscription plans (6 months or more) so you can give it a full test run before fully committing.

For an additional $4.50 per month you can add CyberGhost’s Security Suite which includes antivirus protection and for $5 per month you can get a dedicated IP for your VPN—currently there are 18 locations across 11 countries to choose from for the dedicated IP.

The monthly price for CyberGhost is a bit above the industry standard, even with the good feature set it offers. I wouldn’t say it’s expensive, but it is towards the high-end. When you opt for the two year plan, the price becomes much more affordable and makes CyberGhost one of the cheapest long-term subscriptions on the market. 

I generally recommend against long-term plans though as the VPN industry has a tendency to change and evolve rapidly and two years is a long commitment. Still, the price is hard to argue with.

When signing up for CyberGhost you need to supply an email address and password, and payment is accepted via credit card, GPay, PayPal, or Bitcoin.

How is CyberGhost VPN’s performance?

During my testing I rated connection speeds across CyberGhost’s servers in six different countries all around the world and then compared them to my baseline internet speed. CyberGhost server speeds were pretty good, although it didn’t fall into our top five fastest VPNs. Across all locations tested, the speeds averaged just over 47 percent of the base download speed and a much more impressive 89 percent of the base upload speed. 

That doesn’t appear great at first glance, but take those averages with a grain of salt. I saw significantly different speed averages across regions. For example, of the servers I tested, those located in Asia and Africa were particularly slow while the European and U.S. servers were much faster. This may be due to CyberGhost employing more virtual VPN servers in Asia than in its home continent of Europe, but either way it is something to be aware of if you are traveling or living in these countries.

Sam Singleton

Sam Singleton

Sam Singleton

In regards to streaming, CyberGhost’s speeds shouldn’t necessarily be a worry. When I tested its For streaming servers, while I found similar speed results, all of the content loaded without issues and streamed in buffer-free high-quality. 

Interestingly enough, even while using any non-streaming servers I never came across an issue accessing major streaming sites. I believe this makes CyberGhost a great VPN for those looking to bypass geo-restrictions or stream while out of the country. Being able to utilize its huge server network to stream anywhere in the world is a nice bonus.

How is CyberGhost VPN’s security & privacy?

Sam Singleton

Sam Singleton

Sam Singleton

CyberGhost uses the industry standard AES 256-bit encryption. For protocols, it provides WireGuard, IKEv2, and OpenVPN. WireGuard will likely be your best bet in most circumstances as it’s newer and generally known to be faster and more secure. IKEv2 and OpenVPN protocols are older, but still have their uses. IKEv2 for example, has wide compatibility and is generally a good option should you want to use CyberGhost on your mobile device as well.

As mentioned previously, there is also the option to turn on an automatic kill switch which will sever your connection to the internet should your VPN drop out for any reason. It’s a nice feature to have to ensure your actual address is never revealed should there be VPN issues. In my tests the kill switch triggered successfully when the VPN lost connection.

As for privacy, CyberGhost lays it all out in its privacy policy. The basics are pretty straightforward. Right at the top the company says it does not track browsing history or traffic. It also says it doesn’t store connection logs or timestamps, your IP address, or session durations.

It does, however, collect data on connection attempts including the time they happened, country of origin, and the CyberGhost software version. It also tracks successful connections. CyberGhost says this information is sent to a third-party who collects the information in aggregate. The company says it uses this information to maintain its service and none of the data collected contains personally identifying features.

To further back up its claim of privacy, CyberGhost had its no-logs policy confirmed via a successful audit by Deloitte in January of 2024. I always like to see a company that takes steps like this to increase transparency and foster trust among its user base. This is now the second no-logs audit CyberGhost has completed since 2022 and I hope to see them continue to do it more frequently in the future.

CyberGhost operates out of Romania which is a privacy-friendly country. While a member of the EU, it refuses to submit to EU data retention laws and is not a member of the Five, Nine, or Fourteen Eyes data sharing alliances. You can feel safe that as long as CyberGhost remains in Romania, your data (what little of it the service collects) will remain private.

Is CyberGhost VPN worth it?

CyberGhost is, as always, a very well-rounded VPN. The service has an incredibly vast server network and the interface is well designed and easy to use. It also supports a wide range of streaming services all over the world, and it ultimately makes the right privacy promises (and backs them up too).

Admittedly, the service isn’t the fastest and outside of the two-year plan, it can be a bit expensive. Power users who are dead set on optimizing and tweaking their connections might also feel a little hard done by as configuration options with the service can be a bit sparse. But for the vast majority of VPN users, CyberGhost is still a great VPN service.

Editor’s note: Because online services are often iterative, gaining new features and performance improvements over time, this review is subject to change in order to accurately reflect the current state of the service. Any changes to text or our final review verdict will be noted at the top of this article.

Author: Sam Singleton, Assistant Editor, PCWorld

Sam Singleton is PCWorld’s VPN beat reporter and jack of all trades. When he’s not on the hunt for the best computer deals he’s covering VPNs, productivity software, laptops, and a wide gamut of consumer-grade hardware and software.

Recent stories by Sam Singleton:

ProtonVPN unveils new anti-censorship features, and moreSurfshark VPN: The first 5 settings you need to changeBest free VPN for Android 2024: Which ones can you trust?