CyberGhost Review

Last update: 03.13.2019

CyberGhost is a case of “almost great,” with shortcomings keeping this VPN from reaching the very top.

CyberGhost is a Romanian VPN provider, whose product is mentioned on most Top 10 lists. Although it had a clean reputation for the most part, CyberGhost was caught in some scandals back in 2018. The Isle of Man, a self-governing British Crown dependency, is where CyberGhost owner Kape Technologies is registered.

Check out our in-depth CyberGhost VPN review and see if this service fits all your needs.

Security and privacy

Let’s start with the most important aspect of every VPN – how it can secure your privacy online.

Here are CyberGhost’s main features security-wise:

• AES-256 military-grade encryption
• No DNS or IPv6 leaks
• Automatic kill switch
• Works well with TOR
• Allows cryptocurrency payments

While this sounds great, we have to warn you that CyberGhost VPN has had some security issues in the past.

For example, in 2016 CyberGhost added root certificates to its Windows and Android versions. These certificates can be used to access user’s web traffic and are far from common among VPN providers.

Also, there isn’t much in the way of bonus security features, such as multi-hop, TCP 443 port support, or a “stealth” mode.

Despite its somewhat chequered past, CyberGhost certainly seems to be a very secure solution nowadays, especially if you’re not relying on it to hide you from the world’s top intelligence agencies.

To learn more about the privacy and security credentials of CyberGhost, check out our article “Is CyberGhost safe?”

Does CyberGhost VPN log your data?

On paper, CyberGhost’s no-logs policy looks great. According to it, they do not log:

• Real IP addresses
• Assigned servers (that you log onto via their network)
• The times you log in or log out
• Traffic data
• Conversations carried out over the CyberGhost network

Despite this, they do still log some of your data, even though it’s not personally identifiable strictly speaking. Also, their readiness to hand over your data to authorities is concerning:

We also reserve the right to disclose your Personal Data as required by law and when we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights and/or comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process served on our Web site.

CyberGhost VPN is also not shy about using third-party trackers, pixels, and cookies. In addition to the standard Google Analytics, you will also find MixPanel, HotJar scripts, Sift Science, Visual Website Optimizer, and Facebook pixel.

The conclusion is that CyberGhost is not a no-logs VPN. The lack of clients’ privacy protection shown in its policies leads us to believe that this service still needs to prove itself.

Is CyberGhost VPN leak-proof?

In 2017, Comparitech.com disclosed that the CyberGhost Windows client has been leaking DNS and IP over WebRTC. However, CyberGhost users will be glad to hear these are no longer an issue.

Speed and performance

When testing speed, there are too many variables to account for. As such, try for yourself to get an idea of the speed in your location.

Our original speeds for download and upload settled around 280 Mbps. CyberGhost shows each server’s load, so we’ve always chosen the least loaded one.

UK, London

• Download: 89 Mbps
• Upload 133 Mbps

US, New York

• Download: 102 Mbps
• Upload: 33 Mbps

US, Los Angeles

• Download: 102 Mbps
• Upload: 79 Mbps

Japan, Tokyo

• Download: 71 Mbps
• Upload: 9 Mbps

Australia, Sydney

• Download: 49 Mbps
• Upload: 3 Mbps

Overall, we conclude that CyberGhost offers good speeds across the globe, but we are aware that results may vary using a different connection.

Server coverage

While amounting to a solid 3,600+ in 60+ countries, CyberGhost servers are less numerous than those of Nord and cover less of the globe than Express. In particular, the VPN has a limited presence in East Asia and Africa.

The good news is that CyberGhost is rapidly expanding its server fleet, growing it a whopping 150% in 2018. If th trend continues at this pace, the service might overtake all but the largest VPN server counts in the industry this year.

Ease of use and multi-platform support

CyberGhost VPN has apps for:

• Windows
• Mac
• Android
• iOS
• Amazon Fire TV & Fire Stick
• Android TV

It has browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox, while also providing full support for Linux, routers, NAS, and Chromebooks.

The CyberGhost Mac app differs from the Windows version by not allowing to choose the protocol and the lack of some security features.

CyberGhost for Android and iOS look good – the GUI seems a perfect fit both for computers and mobile devices.

Downloading and installing CyberGhost

You can get the CyberGhost app from their website. Once you’ve selected a pricing plan,  entered your email address and paid, you download the app.

Installing CyberGhost is very easy. The only unusual thing is that you’ll get a “PUK code” which is needed in case you lose login information.

How to use CyberGhost

The home screen features four main interactive elements:

• Power button
• Settings cog-wheel
• Favorite server drop-down menu
• The Arrow button, which switches between the Compact and the Expanded views

Servers can be sorted by their distance, load percentage, name, and tagged as Favorites.

In the For downloading and For streaming sections, you’ll find servers for torrenting and watching geo-blocked content.

Connection Features, among other options, offer to block malicious websites, ads, and online tracking.

The Connection tab gives you the choice of the protocol, DNS servers, and protection against IPv6 leaks.

The kill switch is on by default, and you cannot deactivate it.

Unblocking Netflix and other streaming platforms

Cyberghost’s Netflix capabilities are a mixed bag – the speeds are OK if you have a fast internet connection, but geo-unblocking may be inconsistent.

Users can access the US Netflix library via specialized For streaming servers.

In-depth CyberGhost for Netflix tests, however, reveal some issues. For one thing, the Optimized for Netflix US server worked one day ceased to do so. Furthermore, the speeds are comparatively average – this service managed to drain two-thirds of our regular speed.

CyberGhost for Kodi

CyberGhost for Kodi does a great job of unblocking content, offering you:

• Hulu
• Amazon Prime
• BBC iPlayer
• YouTube
• YouTube Red
• Sky
• ZDF
• TF1
• CBS
• MTV
• Pandora
• Spotify
• Zattoo

And that’s just some of the media platforms that you can access with CyberGhost!

Connection speed tests gave mixed results, but European and North American audiences should be fine.

To learn more, check out our dedicated CyberGhost for Kodi article

P2P and torrenting

CyberGhost’s torrenting capabilities are decent: the tool offers enough security for P2P users, has a good distribution of servers, and doesn’t block or throttle P2P traffic.

This tool doesn’t allow torrent traffic on all servers to avoid the attention of copyright enforcers.

The only issue is speed. CyberGhost torrenting works well, but not if your regular connection is slow!

To find out more on this subject, see our CyberGhost for torrenting article

Customer support

CyberGhost is pretty good in terms of customer support, especially if you compare it to the lower tier of VPN services on the market. Compared against higher-tier VPNs CyberGhost support is almost as good but lacking a bit in the self-help section.

CyberGhost offers how-to Guides, a Troubleshooter, FAQ, and 24/7 live chat. There’s no phone support, but you can submit a request form on the website.

How-to Guides provide instructions on dealing with the most common issues not only on the most popular platforms but also on game consoles, Kodi, or Linux.

Troubleshooter addresses general questions, such as connection and speed problems or issues with the user’s account and subscription.

The FAQ answers some of the basic inquiries about the VPNs and CyberGhost in general, privacy, servers, P2P, and such.

We tried asking customer support some questions and found the 24/7 live chat agents helpful, knowledgeable, and quick to reply. We’ve encountered reports of support reps telling customers to wait for an email, but this is normal with problems that require complex solutions.

Pricing

There are four different pricing plans you can choose from:

• 1 month ($12.99/month)
• 1 year ($5.25/month)
• 2 years ($3.69/month)
• 3 years ($2.50/month)

You can also get a dedicated IP for $5/month.

All options offer the same features, including seven simultaneous connections and a 45-day money-back guarantee (14-days for a 1-month subscription). This refund policy works very well – we had no problems with it during trials for this CyberGhost review.

There’s also a CyberGhost VPN lifetime subscription deal (which currently seems to be inactive). Other reviewers have pointed out that this pricing model is often a red flag that the product may be a scam. They illustrate this with one common-sense observation – it’s not your lifetime the subscription is for, it’s the company’s. In this case, the lifetime subscription seems like a strange business decision at worst.

But there’s also a 24-hour CyberGhost free trial. It has a lot of the features available to paying customers and will give you a good sense of what you’re getting into without the need to enter your credit card details or other personal info. This is a substantial advantage over many premium VPN services that sport only money-back guarantees.

CyberGhost has a list of payment methods that covers all the main bases – credit card, PayPal, Bitcoin, as well as some other location-specific options.

Bottom line

For one of the most popular VPNs in the market, CyberGhost VPN is a tool that is “good, but…“:

• It will get you into streaming platforms, but with less success than the top 3 tools in the industry
• It can work in China, but we cannot wholeheartedly recommend it
• It’s secure on paper, but it’s marred by some privacy concerns

This service has a good set of features for novices – the sleek and user-friendly interface makes everything rather straightforward, eliminating the need to spend more time than necessary when trying to find the right server for your needs. It’s good for streaming and torrents and is currently one of the more expensive tools at the top end of the market.

In short, there certainly is a time and place for this tool. Hopefully, our article has helped you to make up your mind about this VPN.