CyberGhost VPN Review

CyberGhost VPN is one of the legacy VPN apps on the market. It is based in Romania, which is the only EU state that doesn’t allow ISPs to collect logs.

It has one of the largest server networks among all VPNs, beating ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and other big names in the industry. Moreover, the servers are located in 90+ countries, which means great global coverage.

All CyberGhost’s servers are RAM-based, which adds an extra protective layer, and there are some dedicated NoSpy servers.

This CyberGhost VPN review will inspect how well is the Romanian-based provider doing against competitors and if it provides a good run for the money.

Customer Experience

User experience matters more than anything else when talking about VPN services. But how does CyberGhost go against other providers?

Being one of the old members of the industry, CyberGhost VPN receives 4.6 from 5 stars, which is a great result, only beaten by ExpressVPN and PrivateVPN. Provided that there are more than 15,000 reviews left, it’s a terrific number.

What we also liked is that over 95% of the reviews are either 4 stars or 5 stars, with only around 3% claiming it is bad. Most reviews seem genuine from what we have seen. The customer service team tries to resolve issues internally but often provides explanations in the reply sections in Trustpilot, which is a good sign.

CyberGhost VPN offers 24/7 customer support both over email and live chat which is a must-have in the industry, and there is a vast documentation section with many helpful guides that consist of screenshots and step-by-step explanations.

We can rate CyberGhost’s customer support team as one of the most responsive and helpful among all VPNs.

Usability

CyberGhost VPN is available on many different devices. The CyberGhost app can work with Windows, Mac OS, and Linux, as well as Android and iOS. You can also connect it to a router.

Unfortunately, split tunneling is only available on Android, but that’s fine since you can connect it to Smart TVs. Whether you pick the Romanian-based service for Windows or you stick with CyberGhost for Mac, the user interfaces and features will remain similar, with the only exception that Mac OS doesn’t support OpenVPN, which is rare.

While you do get WireGuard, having an option for OpenVPN should have been in the cards. The same story happens with iOS, but CyberGhost offers OpenVPN on Android. For users who value security, it’s essential to have a variety of choices for protection.

In general, both CyberGhost mobile phone versions are optimized to be lightweight and have a simple user interface without many excessive windows, which we liked a lot.

Price

CyberGhost VPN comes with 4 different pricing plans which is a general exception of the rule, since most VPNs come up with three options.

The monthly subscription comes at $12.99 a month which is more than than NordVPN, Private Internet Access, and even ExpressVPN which is considered an expensive one. But something that applies to all plans and is very important is that VAT is included.

The annual subscriptions comes at $51.48 which equals $4.29 a month. This places CyberGhost’s annual plan somewhere in the middle of the pack. However, the biennial subscription will see you pay $78 each 2 years, or $3.25 per month. That’s still more than what many providers offer.

However, we should admit the 3-year subscription is the most promoted CyberGhost plan. It costs just $2.29 a month ($89.31 each 3 years) which places CyberGhost ahead of Surfshark, and just below PIA, PrivateVPN, and AtlasVPN.

You can use up to 7 devices at the same time, which is below the industry standard of 10, but it is still more than ExpressVPN and NordVPN.

CyberGhost VPN has a 45-day money-back guarantee which is 15 days more than what most providers offer!

Security features

CyberGhost offers a variety of security features that include a military-grade AES-256 encryption, DNS leak blocking, IPv6 leak blocking, and a kill switch.

Of course, there are a lot of other features that we could stress on – like an ad blocker, and even a private browser. You can also download an antivirus software from CyberGhost (for which you should pay extra).

You have split tunneling available, a Smart DNS tool for TVs, WireGuard & OpenVPN protocols, and Dedicated IP which allows you to download torrents more safely. You can even support Tor over VPN which isn’t very common for VPNs.

On the downside, CyberGhost VPN uses a SHA256 hash algorithm, which we find insufficient today. Many VPN providers are already using SHA384 (like NordVPN), and Surfshark and ExpressVPN even go the distanc with their SHA512 hashing algorithms.

CyberGhost doesn’t do well with The Great Firewall, either. In fact, it’s an unreliable VPN for countries with VPN bans, so we’d advise you to pick something more reliable if you travel or live in a country with restrictions.

Streaming

CyberGhost is a decent option for streaming, but this is not its main strength. Unfortunately, its servers are inconsistent and sometimes get banned which is frustrating for customers. If you’re a subscribed CyberGhost VPN user, don’t worry, though. It will work for the most part.

It unblocks successfully US Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu. In fact, it is one of the VPN for Hulu options that we would recommend. However, watching BBC iPlayer, HBO Max, and many Netflix libraries is a task that we cannot accomplish with CyberGhost consistently. PrivateVPN, ExpressVPN, and even ProtonVPN are much better options.

On top of that, since it isn’t a great option in countries with restricted access to VPNs (China, Middle East, etc.), we would not recommend you using CyberGhost to stream your favorite movies and TV series while visiting such places.

However, CyberGhost can stream in Full HD and 4K quality without buffering issues.

Torrenting

CyberGhost VPN is an amazing option for torrenting. There are many features which makes it an amazing option. First of all, the speeds are more than decent. The WireGuard protocol helps you a good run for your money.

The kill switch works great and one features that we really love about CyberGhost is that you can see the load on each server, so you can find less congested servers to use for download. There are also dedicated P2P servers which is a good idea for torrent fans.

There is no port forwarding which is bad for seeding, so if you value your torrent site ratings, you might be slightly disappointed. There are many good options on the market that offer port-forwarding, like PrivateVPN, and Private Internet Access. But even without port forwarding, it’s fine.

Being based in Romania isn’t exactly safe haven, but it is considered the safest country for log protection within the whole European Union.

Speeds

CyberGhost is an amazing and fast VPN service provider. With WireGuard on, we recorded small speed losses of 7-9% most of the time, but occasionally, it went up to 13%.

With almost 9,000 servers worldwide and 90+ countries across the world, we would expect CyberGhost VPN to offer supreme speeds. Well, we can’t say the same.

Connecting to a farther location would see the speeds drop by 55-60% which is much worse than what you’d see in NordVPN and ExpressVPN.

While we can recommend CyberGhost for European and US customers, we would believe ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access will both give a better value.

Verdict

Just like a good pair of running shoes, CyberGhost VPN is reliable, trustworthy and comfortable. It’s a secure service that you can use to surf the net, watch videos online and access online services while protecting your privacy. Sure, it might not have the flashiest looks in the market, but it’s still worth taking for a run!