A VPN protects your privacy by routing your web traffic through an encrypted connection to a remote server, shielding your personal information and making you harder to track online. It's a powerful kind of tool, and CyberGhost VPN is one of the better VPNs we've tested. It boasts the largest network of VPN servers we've yet seen and allows a generous seven simultaneous connections. But the service is expensive and doesn't have the full complement of VPN features we've come to expect from top-tier products. Proton VPN, our overall Editors' Choice for VPNs, gives you more features at a lowered price.
How Much Does CyberGhost VPN Cost?
A subscription with CyberGhost VPN starts at $12.99 per month. That's quite a bit higher than the current average of $9.78 per month that we've seen across all the VPNs we've reviewed, and significantly higher than the 5 euros per month ($5.32 at time of writing) that Editors' Choice winner Mullvad VPN charges.
Like most VPN services, CyberGhost VPN offers a discount for longer subscriptions. A 28 month plan costs $56.94, and renews annually at the same price. That might be confusing, and buyers should be aware that their two-year plan effectively becomes an annual plan. Considering that the average annual plan among the VPNs we've tested is $65.82, CyberGhost VPN's plans are extremely tempting. However, we always recommend starting with a monthly plan so you can see how well the VPN works for you. Note that CyberGhost VPN sometimes alters its billing structure.
Note that monthly customers must pay an additional $59.88 per year to access CyberGhost's high-security NoSpy servers. Customers who sign up for any plan that's longer than a month get NoSpy servers for free. We discuss these specialized servers in greater detail below.
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Cost doesn't have to be a hurdle when it comes to security, as there are many serviceable free VPNs available. TunnelBear VPN has a free offering that restricts the amount of data to 500MB per month, but allows users to access all of its global server network. Editors' Choice winner Proton VPN supplies our favorite free subscription, limiting you to only a few servers but without a data cap.
You can easily purchase a CyberGhost VPN plan with major credit cards or PayPal, but you can also pay with Bitcoin. Paying with Bitcoin means giving up the chance to purchase some of the add-ons supplied by CyberGhost, however, but more on that later. If you're keen for a purely cash transaction, both Editors' Choice winners IVPN and Mullvad VPN allow cash payments made to their respective HQs.
A subscription to CyberGhost VPN lets you use seven devices simultaneously, making it a good value for a household with lots of devices. The industry average for VPN companies is five devices, but that seems to be slowly changing in consumers' favor. Atlas VPN, Avira Phantom VPN, IPVanish VPN, Surfshark VPN, and TunnelBear VPN place no limit on the number of devices you can connect at the same time.
(Editors' Note: IPVanish is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company.)
A VPN is a powerful tool, but it won't protect you from every threat. We highly recommend using standalone antivirus and a password manager, as well as enabling multi-factor authentication wherever it is available.
What Do You Get for Your Money?
CyberGhost VPN offers NoSpy servers, which it says are specially tuned servers in a high-security server facility in CyberGhost VPN's home of Romania. This is similar to Proton VPN's Secure Core servers in that they also have increased physical security. Proton VPN, however, uses its Secure Core servers for multi-hop connections while CyberGhost does not provide multi-hop connections at all. Access to NoSpy servers cannot be added to an existing subscription and we were unable to test them this time. We will update this review once we are able to try the NoSpy servers out for ourselves.
In addition to VPN protection, CyberGhost boasts that it provides malware and ad blocking. We don't test the efficacy of these features in any VPN products, but generally advise readers to use standalone tracker blockers and antivirus software. Unlike Proton VPN and Editors' Choice winner NordVPN, CyberGhost VPN cannot route your traffic through the Tor anonymization network—although a VPN is not required to use Tor. CyberGhost does, however, include split tunneling. This lets you exempt specific URLs from traveling through the VPN connection.
CyberGhost VPN offers dedicated IP addresses, which ensure that your traffic always appears to come from the same IP address and perhaps look a little less like VPN traffic. The company boasts about its tokenized system for dispensing dedicated IP addresses without maintaining records of who uses which IP. Dedicated IP addresses are available in Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the US for $5 per month on top of CyberGhost VPN's subscription fee.
Some VPN companies are beginning to expand their array of products. Editors' Choice NordVPN, for example, offers a password manager and encrypted file locker along with integrated antivirus protection. A free email monitoring service called ID Guard will alert you if an email address shows up in a data breach. CyberGhost is also bundling a license for the cloud storage file encryption service Boxcryptor with subscriptions of one year or longer. We did not evaluate these additional services in our testing. Note that CyberGhost VPN used to also offer a password manager, but is no longer accepting new sign ups and will shut down the service completely on January 1, 2023.
The biggest addition to the CyberGhost VPN arsenal is CyberGhost Security Suite for Windows, which is an additional $5.99 per month with the purchase of a VPN subscription. Final pricing varies based on the length of the subscription. Under the hood, Security Suite for Windows includes antivirus protection provided by Intego, a Privacy Guard tool designed to protect your information from Microsoft, and Security Updater, which keeps tabs on your apps that need updating. This tool is available to anyone with a CyberGhost VPN account but is only supported on devices running Windows 7, 8, or 10.
We were quite surprised to see the CyberGhost VPN's antivirus is powered by Intego, which has traditionally been a Mac antivirus company. When we last reviewed Intego's Mac product in 2017, we noted that it performed particularly badly at detecting Windows malware in third-party lab testing. That's a bit ominous for its inclusion in a Windows-only antivirus package, but we're reserving judgment as we have not tested the efficacy of CyberGhost Security Suite for Windows.
What VPN Protocols Does CyberGhost Offer?
There are many ways to secure a VPN connection, and the new hotness is WireGuard. This VPN protocol promises better speeds and newer encryption technology compared with other VPN protocols is quickly becoming a new standard. It's also open-source, meaning it can be picked over for potential vulnerabilities by anyone with the interest to do so. CyberGhost VPN supports WireGuard across all its platforms, which on its own is an impressive list: Fire Stick TV, Android, Android TV, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows, and various routers.
CyberGhost VPN also supports the excellent and open source OpenVPN on all its platforms except for macOS. IKEv2, another favorite VPN protocol, is available on Amazon Fire TV Stick, Android, Android TV, iOS, macOS, and Windows.
CyberGhost's Servers and Server Locations
The more and more varied server locations a VPN offers, the more choices you have for picking the perfect server and for spoofing your location. Large server networks can also mean better odds of finding a server close to wherever you happen to be.
CyberGhost VPN has about 9,200 servers across 91 countries. That's easily the most servers we've seen, but not the most number of countries. HMA VPN boasts servers in 190 countries and ExpressVPN supports 94 countries.
While the vast bulk of its servers are in the UK and US, it's still a good global mix with a better-than-average showing for Africa and South America, two continents often ignored by VPN companies. CyberGhost VPN does offer servers in regions with repressive internet policies, such as China, Hong Kong, Russia, Turkey, and Vietnam.
Not all VPN servers are the same, however. Virtual servers are software-defined, meaning that a single hardware server can play host to many virtual ones. All kinds of servers can be configured to appear as if they are somewhere other than where they are truly located, making them virtual locations. Neither virtual servers nor virtual locations are inherently problematic, but we prefer VPN services that are transparent about where your data is headed and how it's handled. We like that CyberGhost VPN has a list of all its server locations that clearly indicates whether they are virtual locations.
A company representative explained that some of CyberGhost VPN's server infrastructure is rented, but some servers—like its NoSpy servers—are owned directly. Regardless of ownership, CyberGhost VPN's servers are encrypted and run in RAM only, which means no data is stored on a hard drive. Even if an attacker physically removed the server, there would be no data to examine.
How Does CyberGhost VPN Protect Your Privacy?
Using any security or privacy software requires that you trust the product to not expose you to other dangers. This is particularly important for VPNs, because a VPN could have as much insight as your Internet Service Provider into your online activities. Protecting those activities is one of the key reasons to use a VPN in the first place. In general, CyberGhost VPN appears to do a good job of protecting user privacy. We'll attempt to summarize below.
The information CyberGhost VPN collects, its use, and what information it does not collect, are all laid out in its privacy policy. While the policy has an excellent and easily understandable preamble, it quickly falls into something far denser and more difficult to read. The company should follow Editors' Choice winner TunnelBear VPN's lead and produce a simplified and educational policy for its customers.
The company's documentation says that CyberGhost VPN does not store user IP addresses, DNS queries, browsing history, connection/disconnection timestamps, session duration, bandwidth, or the VPN server with which you connect. That's excellent. The company does appear to collect information regarding connection attempts and successes, but only in aggregate form. A company representative told us that the CyberGhost VPN not only does not log user activity, it also does not know the identity of the customers connected to a given server.
A company representative assured us that CyberGhost VPN only generates revenue from customer subscriptions. That's what we want to hear, as a VPN should protect your information, not monetize it.
Issues involving law enforcement and VPN companies can be tricky, which is why it's important to know what country the VPN company is headquartered in and under what legal jurisdiction it operates. For its part, CyberGhost VPN has offices across Europe, but is headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, and operates under Romanian law. A company representative told us that because the company has no personal user data, it has no way to comply with legal requests for information. This is backed up by the company's transparency report, which is now compiled quarterly.
The company's full name is CyberGhost S.R.L., which is owned by parent company Kape Technologies PLC. Kape, which also owns ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access VPN among other privacy and security companies. In a previous incarnation, Kape was an adware company called Crossrider.
In September 2022, the company announced it had completed an independent audit with Deloitte. Unlike its previous evaluations, this audit was intended to look at whether the company's privacy policy is actually supported by its infrastructure. Although audits are imperfect tools, we believe they're a useful way for companies to demonstrate their dedication to protecting users. The terms of the Deloitte audit mean that the full document is only available to subscribers. However, we were unable to locate a copy. The company should rectify this.
Hands On With CyberGhost VPN for Windows
We tested the CyberGhost VPN windows app on an Intel NUC Kit NUC8i7BEH (Bean Canyon) desktop running the latest version of Windows 10. During installation, CyberGhost VPN informed us we had hit the maximum number of installations. Before we could proceed, we had to visit the online client portal and delete some devices from our account. A CyberGhost VPN representative explained that you can only be logged in on seven different devices and must log out manually or remove the device, as we did. The representative also said that CyberGhost VPN records only the operating system and device model. We would rather that the service only limit simultaneous connections rather than installations.
A recent visual refresh has moved away from flat colors to a more subtle dark blue and gray color scheme, punctuated with orange highlights that seem to glow on the screen. A large button sits in the center of the app, inviting you to click and connect to what the app believes is the best server. Clicking the arrow on the left side of the app expands to reveal a more detailed server selector and extensive settings. The app doesn't have the distinctiveness or friendliness of TunnelBear VPN, but we appreciate how much it matches the look and feel of Windows 10. Note that the app's Dark and Light modes only refer to its expanded panel; the main panel is always darkly colored.
You can change VPN location from the pulldown menu beneath the connection button. Expanding the list shows all the servers in a given location, and lets you add the servers you prefer to a list of favorites. We like the flexibility this affords users. From the server list you also can see the load on specific servers, and the precise number of users connected. Server lists for gaming, torrenting, and streaming further break down CyberGhost VPN's network options.
The Privacy Settings panel has toggles for preventing DNS leaks and a kill switch that prevents your computer from transmitting data in the event the VPN unexpectedly disconnects. The Block Content toggle says that it blocks DNS domains associated with ads, trackers, and malicious activity. PCMag does not test the efficacy of ad blocking for VPNs.
The Smart Rules panel lets you set specific behaviors for CyberGhost VPN. This includes connecting immediately at startup,or what the app should do when a new Wi-Fi network is detected, among others. If you want a truly set-and-forget experience, you'll want to edit these.
The Smart Rules Exceptions tab is where you can designate URLs that CyberGhost VPN should route outside the VPN connection. That's useful for banks and streaming services, which might block VPN traffic. You might expect that the App Rules tab lets you do the same for app traffic, but that's unfortunately not the case. Instead, this automatically launches and connects CyberGhost VPN when you launch the apps you've added to the list.
A deeper settings menu has a collection of surprisingly advanced security features. You can, for example, have CyberGhost VPN connect via a random port, change the VPN protocol used by the app, or block IPv6 connections. Most of these you won't need to touch, but we like that they're there. By default, the app selects what it thinks is the best VPN protocol, but you can manually select IKEv2, OpenVPN, or WireGuard.
Netflix is extremely aggressive when it comes to blocking VPNs. Unfortunately, CyberGhost VPN had some issues with Netflix in our testing. We could only stream a subset of Netflix content while connected to a New York-based VPN server, and we had the same problem when connected to one of CyberGhost VPN's servers optimized for Netflix streaming. That said, blocking VPNs is a bit of a cat-and-mouse game, so a VPN that works with Netflix today might be blocked tomorrow.
VPNs should not leak DNS or IP address information. Using the DNS Leak Test tool, we found that our IP address was hidden and our DNS information secure. Keep in mind we only tested one server. Other servers may not be properly configured.
Hands on With CyberGhost VPN for Android
We tested CyberGhost VPN on a Samsung A71. CyberGhost VPN's Android VPN app looks very similar to the iOS client, with a purple interface and yellow highlights.
CyberGhost VPN for Android’s features include split tunneling and a content blocker. You can also choose your MTU size, select the VPN protocol, and enable random port connections. CyberGhost VPN also has Domain Fronting, which the company says is necessary if their API is unreachable due to censorship.
We used the DNSLeakTest.com tool to check that our information was not being exposed while connected to a server in Mexico City. The VPN server did not leak our real IP address.
While connected to the same server in Mexico, we went to Twitch.tv and watched a few live streams. Each stream took about 4 or 5 seconds to load, but the video looked good and there were no interruptions. We then went to YouTube and watched a few videos. Each one had a near instant load time, and we didn’t experience any lag or buffering.
Hands on With CyberGhost VPN for iPhone
We didn’t have any trouble installing the CyberGhost VPN iPhone VPN client on an iPhone XS running iOS 14.4.2. The purple, yellow, and grey color combination is a far cry from the delightful and colorful whimsy of TunnelBear VPN, but the app is easy enough to navigate.
There’s a giant connection button with a label reading Best Connection underneath. With the iPhone app, you can view a list of individual servers to choose from. That high level of control over server choices is hard to find in an iOS VPN app.
Most of the features found in the Windows version of the service are not present in the iOS version. You can change your VPN protocol, and there’s something called the Connection Checker, which will tell you if your internet connection is working and if CyberGhost VPN’s servers are reachable.
The most important aspect of any VPN service is the ability to protect your information. We used the DNSLeakTest.com tool and performed an extended test while connected to a server in the Bahamas to confirm our information was secure. We found that our DNS information and IP address were hidden.
We logged into YouTube Premium while connected to the same server in Nassau, Bahamas. YouTube informed us that, despite our monthly membership, we might still see ads due to our location. Regardless, we had no trouble loading videos quickly, and they all played without incident. Notably, we did not see any ads. We then went to Twitch.tv and played a couple of streams. Each stream took about 5 seconds to load, but once it did, they played without buffering or stuttering.
Hands on With CyberGhost VPN for macOS
CyberGhost VPN does not have a MacOS VPN app in the App Store, so we downloaded it from the vendor’s website. We installed the app on a MacBook Air (2020) running Big Sur 11.2.2.
The version of CyberGhost VPN’s service for MacOS features a flat purple and yellow interface. The tiny window can expand to be much larger, making it easy to see all the servers available. Like the Windows version, you can choose which individual server you want to use, or you can use servers that are best for certain activities, like streaming on Netflix or downloading files. The CyberGhost VPN MacOS app doesn’t have nearly as many features as the Windows version, but some of the core features made the leap.
During testing, we were surprised to find that a CyberGhost VPN connection continued after we uninstalled the CyberGhost VPN client. The developer explained that a dialog box should have warned us and prevented this issue. The entire problem can be avoided by completely quitting the application before uninstalling it, but we'd like to see CyberGhost address this in future updates.
As always, we checked to make sure the VPN server did not leak our IP address or DNS information by visiting DNSLeakTest.com and running an extended test. The Sao Paolo, Brazil based server was not leaking our information.
While still connected to the server in Brazil, we logged into a YouTube Premium account and watched a few videos. The videos took about two seconds to load, and it played without interruptions. We then went to Twitch.tv to watch a live stream, and the stream took about 4 seconds to load the source-quality video. We did not experience any lagging or buffering while watching the stream.
Hands On With CyberGhost VPN on ChromeOS
We installed the CyberGhost VPN Android app on a Dell Chrome 3100 with an Intel Celeron Processor. The VPN app is unusual in that it has a much larger screen footprint than its competitors. The app takes up the entire screen on Chrome OS, but it can be minimized to the toolbar.
As far as features go, CyberGhost VPN on Chrome OS only offers split tunneling and a content blocker to use while browsing. There’s also an option to set up a dedicated IP address.
Speed and Performance
Using a VPN will almost certainly have a negative impact on your internet speeds. We try to get a sense of how large that impact is by running a series of comparative tests with Ookla's internet speed test tool. Read our feature on how we test VPNs for more on our methodology and the limits of our testing.
(Editors' Note: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, which also owns PCMag.)
CyberGhost VPN yielded excellent speed test results, besting much of the competition. We found that CyberGhost VPN reduced download and upload speed test results by 13.3% and 26.7%, respectively. It increased latency by 11.2%.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has limited our access to the PCMag Labs, necessitating some changes in how we test VPN speeds. We have since moved to a rolling testing model and will update with the latest results as they become available. You can compare CyberGhost VPN with all the VPNs we've tested in the chart below.
Our testing is useful for comparison, but these should not be taken as a complete evaluation of each service. The same tests performed at different times or different locations will surely be different from ours. Also, we discourage anyone from deciding on a VPN based on speed alone. The service's cost, features, and privacy protections are far more important.
A Solid Choice
With its gigantic server list, CyberGhost VPN is best suited for someone who needs a VPN for specific activities. Perhaps that's video streaming, spoofing your location very precisely, or something similar. Its excellent speed test scores may help enable those activities, as does the company's deployment of WireGuard. We're also pleased with the overall design of CyberGhost VPN's apps, and especially happy that the company has completed a third-party audit of its policies and infrastructure.
With an expanding set of security tools, CyberGhost VPN is working to provide more value for its high price. It mostly succeeds, but we'd like to see it match some of the features of competitors, such as multi-hop or split tunneling for app traffic. While we believe it's trustworthy, the company should spruce up its privacy policy to make it more accessible.
The competition can't match CyberGhost VPN's size, but many can give it a run for its money on features or price or, in some cases, both—as is the case with Proton VPN, our overall Editors' Choice winner.
CyberGhost offers the largest VPN server network, has a snazzy client, and is powered by the latest VPN technology. It's expensive for a VPN that doesn't include all the privacy features found among top competitors, however.
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