CyberGhost VPN is a provider that has been around for as long as we can remember.

It used to be a fun VPN with a novelty logo, but in recent years, they’ve been pushing hard with both expansion and features in a move to be seen as serious premium provider.

The question is how has all this expansion affected the service they offer?

We’ve been taking a fresh look at this popular VPN service to see if CyberGhost is still living up to its reputation as a top-quality VPN in 2023.

Service

Speeds

First up in our CyberGhost Review we looked at speed.

When it comes to VPNs, connection speeds are extremely important. Nobody likes slow internet and the last thing you want is your new VPN causing you to have speeds reminiscent of the 90s.

A good connection speed will allow you to access video content with ease and in high quality, so websites such as Netflix will work seamlessly.

We have been using CyberGhost VPN services over a number of years for everything from browsing websites, using Skype, to downloading and streaming movies. We have had no problems with download speed for any of this.

We didn’t notice any slowdowns for everyday tasks nor any unexpected service dropouts when connected to CyberGhost for long periods.

To put CyberGhost to the test, we wanted to push their service to the limit and so we ran some speed tests.

We downloaded a test file from a residential connection in the UK and then ran the same speed test across a random selection of CyberGhost VPN’s servers. During this speed trial, we were using a Windows PC at the time with Wireguard using 256-bit encryption.

Our speed without being connected to the VPN was: 442.06 Mbps

We achieved the following download speeds during our speed tests while connected to CyberGhost VPN’s servers:

• UK – 260.7 Mbps
• France – 250.8 Mbps
• Netherlands – 113.3 Mbps
• Switzerland – 174.3 Mbps
• Sweden – 176.1 Mbps
• New York, US – 140.8 Mbps
• Australia – 25.7 Mbps

As you can see from our internet speed test CyberGhost VPN’s speeds are respectable when you connect to a server and will allow you to use the service for a wide range of uses.

There is a marked improvement in speed from last year’s results in which we used OpenVPN but the connection speed to a server as far away as Australia is lacking.

It’s worth noting that the further a server is from your location, the slower the speed test results will be. But this is true of almost all VPNs, not just CyberGhost VPN.

Streaming video at high-quality on streaming platforms like Amazon Prime won’t be an issue even when you connect to a server at a distance, such as in the US.

CyberGhost’s optimized servers are ideal to unblock Netflix and other streaming services. We found the speeds to be good, but not amazing.

Logging

CyberGhost VPN claims to be a fully no-logging policy VPN service. They clearly state in their privacy policy that they store no records of what you do while connecting to a server nor any metadata about you either.

Metadata is the who (you) and the where (your location).

This means CyberGhost VPN doesn’t record VPN traffic details of the date you connect to the internet, what times you connected, or what servers you connected to, keeping your internet traffic confidential.

This can be as important as actually logging content because the times you connect and other such details can reveal a lot about your usage.

In the past CyberGhost failed to have their no-logging policy claims independently tested, but this has recently changed when CyberGhost was audited by the independent company Deloitte.

This impressed us as it’s something CyberGhost had been lacking over the past few years, and now it ensures that their service is a reliable VPN.

In 2011 CyberGhost were one of the first VPN companies to release a transparency report. In 2019, they upped their game and now release an updated transparency report every 3 months.

The report discloses any requests that have been made from governments, ISPs, etc, and details the actions taken by CyberGhost to ensure your privacy.

Equally, there have been no legal cases to suggest that their no logs policy claims aren’t sound either, which when paired with the third party audit is a pretty good sign they can be trusted.

We are confident that CyberGhost VPN offers a dependable no logs guarantee. Your data and browsing history should be safe with CyberGhost, so you can browse the internet with private internet access.

Simultaneous Connections

Your CyberGhost VPN subscription allows you to use their service on up to seven-devices at the same time.

This is a decent number simultaneous connections and will be more than sufficient for most CyberGhost VPN customers. But it certainly isn’t the highest.

CyberGhost works slightly different from other services in that the type of device connected is tied to your account.

If you hit the 7-device limit, then you will need to de-register one device before being allowed to connect any further devices.

This isn’t common and a little bit inconvenient and unnecessary although it’s a way of stopping users from abusing the service by sharing it easily with others.

Jurisdiction

CyberGhost is registered in Bucharest, Romania which is part of the EU. It is owned by Kape Technologies, the VPN behemoth that also owns ExpressVPN, Private Internet Access, and ZenMate.

This is great if you’re trying to avoid services in either the 5-eyes or 14-eyes surveillance networks.

Romania is part of neither which means they don’t actively work with countries like the US and UK to share intelligence data. It also has decent domestic data retention laws. But as a member of the EU, it is possible that some data sharing takes place.

There are however no legal requirements for CyberGhost VPN to retain data on their user’s activity.

They have a host of servers based in Romania that they call ‘nospy servers’. This is a great feature and adds more weight to their no log privacy policy.

Customer Support

CyberGhost’s customer service allows you to contact their teams via three methods:

• 24/7 Live Chat
• Direct Email
• Support Ticket

We were pleased to see a live chat customer service option that will enable you to get quick answers to any questions you have. This is how most customers like to engage with their VPN provider. We particularly liked that this service was available around the clock.

In our testing of their expert customer service, we found their 24/7 live chat to be knowledgeable and helpful although we were referred to fill in a support ticket on odd occasions when the query was more advanced and live chat need specialised advice.

When this happened, the email and customer service ticket response times were quick, with answers taking no more than a few hours to come through even on weekends.

CyberGhost VPN’s service support team are great, providing you with helpful and knowledgeable VPN experts to help you with all your VPN related problems.

There is also plenty of information, guides, and FAQs available on the CyberGhost website too.

Overall, the CyberGhost support is excellent.

Server Locations

The CyberGhost VPN server network has exploded over the past few years, growing from 60 countries in our 2018 CyberGhost VPN review to 91 countries this year.

In 2018 there were 2,747 server options and in the space of a couple of years, this has increased to more than over 9,700 individual VPN servers.

This means CyberGhost now has one of the largest VPN server bases in the world, full of IP addresses for you to connect to.

CyberGhost’s owners Kape Technologies also owns Private Internet Access, which is a rather large VPN service that has the largest network of VPN servers in the world. So it’s clear that Kape are pushing CyberGhost in the same direction, which is no bad good thing.

The more servers you have available to you, the more content you’ll be able to unblock. We found having multiple servers in each country is useful, so you don’t have to keep using the same server.

CyberGhost’s broad network has good coverage across North, Central and South America, Europe, Asia and the Australian region. Their provision of US servers is particularly impressive and have a growing UK server list.

Africa and the Middle East are somewhat under-resourced, which is common in the VPN industry but there is even a handful of locations across these regions too.

It is important to note that not all servers are physically located in the country itself, but some are virtual locations which are also known as virtual servers. These get a negative press sometimes as they can impact speeds but in our testing, we don’t find any problems with CyberGhost.

This is a massive increase and shows that CyberGhost VPN is continuing to invest in its infrastructure. This is a VPN that will allow you to hide your real IP Address (static IP address or dynamic) and change it to one of many IP addresses from different locations.

CyberGhost even offer a selection of dedicated IP addresses, allowing you to use the same IP address each time you connect to the VPN apps. A dedicated IP address is available for an additional monthly fee of $2.50 (£2.05).

This is quite a decrease from last year’s price, saving you a few dollars (or pounds).

Optimized servers

CyberGhost’s servers also include one of the broadest ranges of optimized server lists for specific needs. For example, torrenting has a range of optimized servers for this task and don’t block torrent traffic.

There is also a fantastic specialized servers for streaming which are optimized for speed to give you the best possible streaming experience.

These ‘Streaming Friendly’ optimized servers are located across the world including places like the US. They are specially selected local servers to enable you to access specific TV services.

They’ve got servers in the US and beyond to unblock and access everything from Netflix to BBC iPlayer, Hulu to Sky Go and much more. Dedicated streaming servers are popular with users and definitely looks like the way to go.

I made use of the specialized servers to stream Supernatural on Amazon Prime, I found the experience seamless.

There are also gaming optimized servers available too. These gaming servers are something that most VPN services don’t offer but are designed specifically for gamers to optimise the features they need.

Security and Safety

Protocols & Encryption

The CyberGhost VPN service offers access to the usual VPN protocol options, OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec and IKEv2. In the past year, they have also added the new WireGuard VPN protocol to the roster as well.

There are different levels of protocol availability depending on what device you’re using but this is standard across the industry. The full range of VPN protocols is offered on the CyberGhost desktop app.

The WireGuard protocol is particularly worth taking a look at.

It mixes OpenVPN’s tight security with the IKEv2’s fast speeds. It’s easy-to-configure on CyberGhost and extremely secure, as well as delivering high performance and excellent VPN protection. Using the desktop’s ability to use a random port can help bypass VPN blocking on certain platforms.

PPTP hasn’t been available on the CyberGhost app for some time but if you need to use it then it can still be configured manually. We would advise against this though since it is much less secure than the protocols that remain.

All CyberGhost’s protocols now offer 256-bit encryption, which is top grade ‘military encryption’. OpenVPN makes use of AES-256-CBC encryption.

Authentication is handled by a 4096-bit RSA key which is at the top end of the scale. While one or two other providers do offer this, it’s not common and credit to CyberGhost for offering it as standard.

These high-level security features are great for many reasons including using public Wi-Fi.

When you use a public Wi-Fi internet connection, you need a VPN that is secure, fast and lightweight. CyberGhost ticks all these boxes meaning it is ideal for use on public Wi-Fi networks.

Cyberghost servers are also secure core servers which will mean nothing to most VPN users but basically means they far more secure than regular servers.

DNS Leak Testing

In running a DNS leak test, we discovered none when using CyberGhost VPN’s range of clients.

Their applications all come with a dedicated ‘DNS Leak Protection’ option but even when this wasn’t enabled, our tests discovered no leaks using all the most popular leak testing services.

These included ‘Extended Tests’.

It’s worth remembering that DNS leaks can be privacy critical as they allow outside services (including your Internet Service Provider) to monitor the names of websites you’re visiting.

It is also a requirement to retain logs of sites visited in some countries including the UK, so this is something you definitely want to avoid.

We were pleased to see that CyberGhost actively protects against this issue with an effective DNS leak test feature.

Have there been any security incidents?

There are no known security incidents related to the CyberGhost service.

In December 2022, CyberGhost was independently audited by Deloitte and passed with flying colours. We were impressed with this move and it makes CyberGhost’s no-log claims even more credible.

CyberGhost was initially started and owned by German entrepreneur, Robert Knapp.

In 2017 CyberGhost was purchased by a company called Crossrider which rebranded shortly after to Kape.

Kape is owned by billionaire businessman Teddy Sagi who along with owning many business interests was jailed some 20-years ago for 9-months in Israel and “convicted of bribery, securities fraud, and aggravated fraud”.

Parent company Kape owns CyberGhost alongside VPN services, PrivateInternetAccess, ZenMate, and most recently ExpressVPN.

Crossrider has been fingered in the past for installing adware and malware on user’s systems which may give some cause for concern to the uber-privacy-conscious among our readers.

But rest assured there are no suggestions that CyberGhost is being used for any such purposes. We are keeping a close eye and if this changes, our readers will be among the first to know.

Is CyberGhost suitable for Torrenting?

Yes, CyberGhost is an excellent choice for use with Torrents and P2P and is completely and totally safe for this type of usage.

In fact, CyberGhost’s optimized server offering which is available on all their clients come with a number of dedicated servers for this very purpose.

Open up one of their applications and you’ll have access to their ‘for torrenting’ servers. While these don’t include the entire CyberGhost network, it does include a large range of server locations across the world.

At current count, there are around 73 different countries with a server available for torrent use with CyberGhost, keeping you protected wherever you’re downloading in the world.

Security features like the kill switch also make this an ideal VPN for torrenting too. I was impressed with CyberGhost’s malicious URL filter which blocks dangerous threats from dodgy links.

Apps

Mobile Apps

CyberGhost offers easy to use mobile VPN apps for both Android and Apple iOS mobile devices. So no matter what type of phone or tablet you’ve got, you can protect your internet connection by connecting to a VPN location.

The applications are straightforward to use and even if you’re not good with technology you could, if you wanted, click to Connect and let the mobile apps (Android apps and iOS app) automatically connect doing the work for you.

We found the app ease of use has been kept in mind for the end-user.

It’ll connect you to the best location available allowing you to then forget about it.

If you want to choose a server then there’s a dedicated area that opens in a new window displaying a server by country. You can either click to connect to the best available there or drill down even deeper and select an individual server.

The “Streaming friendly” choices are also available on the CyberGhost mobile apps too so if you’re after unblocking and watching a streaming platform, then you’re covered too.

Behind the scenes, there are a few options you can play around with. As detailed earlier, these are all based around blocking malware, adverts, online tracking and data compression.

A split-tunneling feature allows you to select applications to fall outside the VPN connection which is useful and you can switch between TCP and UDP protocols if needed.

We tested this with our banking app which usually throws up security issues when it looks like it is being accessed overseas and it worked perfectly.

A kill switch is also available too.

Overall the apps are well designed and we liked the fact you could choose a dedicated streaming service server for specific purposes. This made unblocking apps like Netflix a breeze.

Desktop Apps

CyberGhost VPN’s desktop application is available for Windows and Mac OS computers and also now for Linux too.

They can either be used in a slimline window that looks similar to the mobile app and deals directly with connection or expanded to a larger window that gives you more options to play around with.

Connection and limited server selection can be made from the reduced window but anything more and you’ll need to expand.

You can select servers by country including individual servers, servers ‘for torrenting’ or servers ‘for streaming’.

Like the mobile counterpart, the ‘for streaming’ option comes in use, allowing you to connect to the correct server to unblock whatever streaming site you’re trying to access.

There’s a section dedicated to ‘Smart Rules’ and a neat feature is allowing you to have Windows client or the Mac app fall outside the VPN connection.

If, for example, you wanted to protect your online privacy but for some reason needed your email client to use your regular connection, then this feature covers your needs. I regularly use this feature on CyberGhost’s Windows app while I’m working, it’s pretty handy.

Further options on the iOS and Windows app include DNS Leak Protection and an option to disable IPv6 connections to prevent leaks from occurring there.

The CyberGhost iOS and Windows app sports an automatic kill switch feature that has not always been present and is a vital tool for any VPN to offer.

A kill switch cuts your connection to the internet if your VPN connection is interrupted. If you are using a VPN in countries where your online activity could get you in trouble, a kill switch is an essential feature on Windows and Mac devices.

As with the mobile app, CyberGhost provides you with easy to use options such as split tunneling to help you with using native apps such as banking applications or even betting apps, both often require you to be in your native country to use them.

Overall the desktop apps for Windows and Mac devices are easy to use. The only downside is that we’re not a massive fan of the layout of the apps. While the slimline mode takes up little space, when you expand this it is three sections long covering much of your desktop even on widescreen monitors.

We would love to see this layout improved in future to be a little more compact but overall, with security features like the automatic kill switch and good speeds, these apps are very impressive.

Plus, if you’re a bit of a technophobe, then you can use the auto-connect feature to automatically connect you to a VPN server without you needing to configure anything confusing.

We even tested the app with our parents and they didn’t struggle to make a connection to the US so they could access Netflix US.

Other Apps

Alongside the desktop and mobile apps we have already profiled, CyberGhost also has a Google Chrome and Firefox browser extension, console apps for Xbox Series X/S, One & Xbox 360.

They also support PlayStation 3 & PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and have a TV app for Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, and various other smart TV models.

The Amazon Fire TV CyberGhost VPN app works across Fire TV, Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Cube devices. It’s one of the best designs we’ve come across so far.

Navigating around the CyberGhost VPN app works well on a large TV screen and connection can be made quickly just by clicking the connect button. If you need to select a specific country then that’s just one click and a menu away.

We like that the ‘Streaming Friendly’ options are available in the Fire TV app because after all, it’s unblocking streaming sites that you’re mostly going to be interested in on your TV.

CyberGhost has several browser extensions that you can use on your web browsers such as Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Through these browser extensions, CyberGhost has some useful features but sadly their built-in password manager to help keep your passwords extra secure has been retired.

You can also install CyberGhost onto a range of VPN-enabled routers although these require manual installation rather than simply downloading an app.

Streaming

Does CyberGhost work with Netflix?

Yes, CyberGhost works with Netflix, especially the most sought after region, the US Netflix catalogue.

They also have specific servers to access Netflix UK, Germany, Canada, Italy, Spain, and France.

These dedicated VPN servers make it easy to connect and start streaming without the need for server hopping to find one that works. This is often the case when accessing Netflix with other VPN providers.

Simply connect to a Netflix optimized server and you’re good to go.

As you know, server location is directly linked to connection speed (closer servers will mean faster speeds, and servers that are further away will have some additional speed loss), luckily CyberGhost has a large server base which you can use with Netflix, helping you unblock lots of new content.

This was useful while I was travelling across Asia, I could connect to many nearby servers while maintaining a fast connection speed. I even used a dedicated IP address while travelling.

Does CyberGhost work with BBC iPlayer?

BBC iPlayer works fine on the CyberGhost service and just like Netflix, there’s a dedicated server option for accessing the BBC iPlayer quickly and easily.

So if you love to watch some British TV, then you’ll want to use CyberGhost to access BBC iPlayer from anywhere in the world.

Does CyberGhost work with Amazon Prime Video?

Again, there is good news for fans of Amazon Prime Video. CyberGhost also offers a range of dedicated VPN connections that can unblock this streaming service around the world too.

Countries where CyberGhost is able to unblock Amazon Prime Video include France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the USA.

In our testing all of these services could be accessed seamlessly using CyberGhost. It’s more hit and miss when using on a Fire TV Stick or similar device.

Does CyberGhost work with Disney+?

The other really big streaming platform is Disney+ and this too can be unblock just about anywhere in the world if you are using CyberGhost.

There are dedicated and optimised servers for Disney+ in India, Italy, and the USA, and we had no trouble unblocking Disney+ in the UK using these servers too. I loved watching The Mandalorian from start to finish without any annoying geo-restrictions.

Price

The CyberGhost VPN subscription options follow the industry-standard VPN package choice in that there’s one standard package that differs only by price.

What you’ll immediately be bowled over by is the offer prices available. If you subscribe to CyberGhost for what are admittedly long periods, then you’ll make some huge savings.

The current prices at the time of writing are:

• 2-Years: $2.03 /month + 4 months free (£1.65)
• 6-Months: $6.99/ month (£5.73)
• 1-Month: $12.99 /month (£10.65)

CyberGhost has dropped their 3-year package and brought back their 6 month deal which offers excellent value for such a short term deal. This would be perfect if you’re travelling for several months and want to use CyberGhost to access your home TV content while overseas.

We would recommend avoiding the one month package because, in comparison to other providers, it’s pretty expensive.

While the 2-year package offers fantastic value, it’s worth remembering that the quality of VPNs can differ over time. While the VPN client provides an excellent all-around service right now, there’s no guarantee that this will be the case in two years.

That’s not to say anything will change but it’s a consideration you’ll need to factor. These prices are quite a reduction on last year which is excellent for your pocket.

The only other notable feature is that the 1-month package has a 14-day money-back guarantee while the longer packages have a much longer 45-day money-back guarantee.

14-days is well below average while the 45-day money-back guarantee available with the other packages is one of the best around.

Payment is accepted via Credit Card, Paypal, Apple Pay or Bitcoin, the latter of which is best if you want to maintain near-perfect privacy. There are some other country-specific payment options available.

Verdict

In conclusion to our CyberGhost VPN review, we found that CyberGhost is one of the most improved VPNs in recent years. We commended them last year for upgrades, introducing new features and overall improvements.

This year they have continued to go from strength to strength.

We have found more improvements and only a few things have deteriorated. We’re also pleased to see that pricing continues to be competitive and their 2-year deal offers unbeatable value for money.

What we’re most impressed with in this CyberGhost review beyond the price is the huge rang of specialised servers on offer.

As well as offering servers in a wide range of countries, including many US server options (although it’s worth remembering some of these new servers are ‘virtual locations’) there are a growing number of servers specifically designed to unblock streaming services and facilitate other platforms.

CyberGhost even offer the option of a dedicated IP address. A dedicated IP is a really progressive feature and something that only a handful of VPNs provide.

We especially like their streaming feature that includes optimised streaming servers to unblock all of the most popular streaming services. Everything from Netflix to Hulu, Disney+ to Amazon Prime Video, and BBC iPlayer to Sky Go works with the service.

By using CyberGhost, you can connect to a US server and watch US Netflix, along with being able to access many other US streaming channels that are restricted to those in the United States.

You’ll have so much content at your fingertips, you won’t know what to watch first.

Their strict no-logs policy is always something that we like to see from a VPN provider. Having a no-logging policy gives you peace of mind knowing your privacy, personal data, and security is in good hands. Nobody wants their activity being stored in the form of connection logs etc.

This has been improved even further by the third party audit by Deloitte, which confirmed CyberGhost’s no logging claims. We were pleased to see CyberGhost finally has had their claims fully audited. It’s a step in the right direction placing them up there with the best.

CyberGhost has also received a boost in encryption by adding the much-vaunted WireGuard protocol to their roster.

With user-friendly apps available you can encrypt your web traffic on all of your devices.

This is the case whether you are using a Windows client, macOS, iOS, Android, Android TV, or others. You also get 7 simultaneous connections which is not bad at all and more than enough for most people.

Each app has user-friendly privacy tools such as a built-in kill switch and split tunneling, so whether you are using your phone, or a desktop such as a Windows client, you can ensure you have private internet access on all of your devices and the kill switch and split tunneling options protect you if you have any problems.

They even have some browser extensions which provide you with the protection you need on your web browser, which isn’t just convenient, but also an additional layer of security for you while you use the internet.

The CyberGhost security suite features such as their handshaking key have been strong for the longest time and other providers should be aiming for the same heights too.

The connection speeds on the service were good and while there are faster services out there the speed loss incurred won’t impact your day-to-day usage.

If you use CyberGhost you’ll have no trouble carrying out speed intensive tasks such as streaming high-quality video or downloading large files quickly.

Overall it’s hard to find too much fault in this CyberGhost review.

We were not huge fans of the layout of the CyberGhost desktop app (such as Windows) when expanded but that’s more of a personal niggle than a significant problem and their monthly pricing is a little on the steep side when you compare it to some of its competitors.

But the CyberGhost service is definitely one you want to be considering as it’s one of the best VPN providers around, it is easy to use and won’t confuse you with too much technical jargon.

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