CyberGhost VPN review 2023
Updated: 4 January 2023
From £2.15 per month
Protect up to 7 devices
Works on Windows, Mac, Android, IOS and more
Install on desktops, laptops, Smartphones, tablets
PRIVACY
9.4
SPEED
9.5
NETFLIX
9.8
VALUE
9.5
Our verdict:
“Good all round VPN that is simple and easy to use”.
Review summary
A good all round VPN with decent speed and protection at a reasonable price.
A popular choice with over 30 million users worldwide.
Protect all your devices including laptops, desktops, mobiles, games consoles, smart TVs and routers.
Committed to unblocking Netflix and other streaming services that apply location restrictions.
VPN servers specifically for torrenting and P2P sharing.
Over 6,000 VPN servers with global coverage.
Dedicated IP address available as an optional add on so you don’t have to share with other users.
45 day money back guarantee which is more than most competitors.
Privacy and security features
Hide your identity
Your real IP address is hidden when you go online so that you can keep your identity and location anonymous and prevent others tracking your activity.
Strong encryption
CyberGhost uses military grade 256 bit encryption to ensure that your data cannot be read by anyone it shouldn’t be, including your internet service provider, and your privacy is not compromised.
Strict no log policy
CyberGhost does not store any details of your online activity when you connect to one of their VPN servers. This should give you peace of mind that there is no risk of information falling into the wrong hands.
Global VPN server coverage
Over 6,000 servers across 90 different countries give CyberGhost comprehensive worldwide coverage.
Kill switch
Even if your VPN connection is lost you privacy will not be compromised.
If enabled, the kill switch feature you will automatically take you offline if your VPN connection drops. This safety net is a must have for those who are serious about protecting their privacy and particularly for those who torrent or take part in P2P sharing where anonymity is key.
Dedicated IP address
As an optional extra you can request a dedicated IP address that will remain the same whenever you connect to a VPN server.
Your real IP address and identity will still be hidden so you will still remain anonymous.
The advantage of having a dedicated IP address rather than a shared one that changes each time you logon is that some services track IP address activity, and if you are sharing one with someone else and that uses it for certain activity that IP address may be viewed with suspicion based on their activity which you have no control over.
Pay using crypto
For those determined to retain complete anonymity, CyberGhost allows payment to be made using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Protect all your devices
Install the CyberGhost application on all your online devices including Laptops and mobiles. You can also protect the trickier devices like Smart TVs and games consoles.
CyberGhost allows 7 devices to be connected to a VPN server simultaneously which should be more than enough for most households.
DNS leak protection
Prevents leaks of data when navigating to new websites.
Privacy and security – overall verdict
CyberGhost has all the privacy and security features you would expect from a top VPN.
The volume of servers and global coverage is comparable with the best VPN providers giving impressive website unblocking and speed capabilities.
Market leading 256-bit encryption makes all you online data safe from prying eyes and CyberGhost is compatible with the prominent VPN protocols including Open VPN and PPTP giving the flexibility to tailor to your requirements.
In summary, CyberGhost offers privacy protection that is up there with the best VPN services. There are areas that could be improved, such as having private DNS on their servers to increase security even further, but overall a very good VPN for protecting users online.
Wnder what legal jurisdiction does CyberGhost fall?
CyberGhost is based in Romania.
The location of a VPN provider has potential implications for the privacy of its customers.
Being based in Romania is good news for CyberGhost customers for the following reasons:
- Unlike other countries like the UK or USA, the data retention laws in Romania mean that CyberGhost is under no obligation to hold sensitive information about their customers’ online activity and can implement a strict no logging policy.
- The legal processes in Romania make it difficult for authorities or other governments to demand data about CyberGhost’s customers. This is additional reassurance against your privacy being compromised.
Streaming – get around location blocking
CyberGhost has over 6,000 servers in more than 90 countries around the world.
With that kind of volume and global coverage CyberGhost have given themselves a good chance of being able to unblock location blocked streaming content.
It is, however, not as simple as just having a lot of servers so we’ve done our own tests to make sure.
The streaming providers not oblivious to users trying to get around their content restrictions using VPNs and work hard to try and block these connections that they suspect.
The best VPNs for streaming work just as hard to stay ahead of the game any remain one step ahead of the streaming providers and keep the door open for their customers.
We’ve tested out CyberGhost’s streaming service unblocking capabilities ourselves, attempting to unblock overseas content on Netflix and other streaming services.
We’ve look at streaming quality as well as content access to content to give the complete picture.
Unblocking Netflix using CyberGhost
As part of our testing we’ve looked to open up US only Netflix content from multiple locations around Europe.
We have connected from the UK, France, Spain, Germany & Italy.
In order to trick Netflix that we are based in America we connected to the fastest available US servers.
We experienced no issues in gaining access to content, and just as importantly the streaming experience was high quality and buffer free which is impressive given how far away the VPN server was located.
Unblocking other streaming services
For completeness we also looked at unblocking content for other leading streaming services
We experienced the same good results as we did with Netflix with no issues gaining access to blocked content and quality viewing experience for Amazon Prime Video, YouTube and others.
Streaming – overall verdict
With the global coverage of VPN servers CyberGhost lives up to its promise of unblocking streaming content wherever you are based.
We’ve tested this ourselves from multiple locations and can confirm that if streaming is one of your priorities for a VPN then CyberGhost will unblock content from multiple locations and also offer a quality viewing experience.
Torrenting and P2P sharing
Copyright infringements are a big deal and can result in penalties and even jail dependent on where you are in the world.
Whilst the use of BitTorrent is not illegal, it is vitally important to protect your identity when P2P sharing.
Even if you don’t intend to breach any copyrights, doing so inadvertently would still be punishable by authorities.
On top of that, If your internet service provider spots that you are torrenting they may report to authorities or at the very least throttle your bandwidth.
CyberGhost explicitly states on its website that it supports torrenting and has servers that are optimised for P2P sharing so you can be confident in achieving the best possible speeds when torrenting.
Using CyberGhosts VPN protection when torrenting ensures that your identity remains hidden from authorities and also your internet service provider, so no risk of them detecting your activity.
Just remember to make sure you enable CyberGhosts kill switch when torrenting as this will ensure that you are taken offline if your VPN server connection is interrupted so there is no risk of your identity being compromised.
Speed and performance
Speed is an important consideration when choosing a VPN.
The added security protection you get from operating within a VPN inevitably has some impact on speed. This is true for any VPN.
The top VPNs manage to provide both top class privacy protection and high speeds through a combination of server volume, server locations, network architecture and configuration.
We’ve already taken a look at CyberGhost’s privacy features which are very impressive, but how does it stack up in terms of speed?
We’ve performed our own independent testing to find out:
How we test VPN speed
In order find out how fast a VPN is we need to measure the impact of connecting to a VPN server on a user’s internet speed for both uploads and downloads.
There are a number of elements that can impact the speed performance:
- The physical location of the VPN server you connect to. In general, the closer the server, the faster the connection.
- The load on the server you connect to when you are using it.
For the purposes of our testing we have automatically connected to the most efficient server available and averaged the results over 5 different sessions connecting at different times of the day.
We realise that you will not always necessarily connect to the fastest available server when using a VPN, particularly if you need to connect to a server far away in order to get around location blocking of services.
As part of our streaming service testing we have already demonstrated that the speeds when accessing servers physically far away are still fast enough to achieve quality and buffer free streaming, proving that even in less optimal connections CyberGhost delivers a fast service
However, what we are trying to do as part of this particular testing is to measure the speed impact in optimal circumstances in order to make a meaningful comparison with other VPN providers.
Speed test results
UPLOAD SPEED
80%
The impact of connecting to a CyberGost VPN server on internet upload speed is on average a reduction of around 20%.
This level of impact is around where we expect to see most of the top VPNs.
DOWNLOAD SPEED
80%
Similarly to upload speeds, the download speed impact of connecting to CyberGost VPN server is around a 20% reduction.
This sounds a lot, but is in fact comparable to some of the leading VPNs.
We should note the server you choose to connect to makes a difference to speed performance; Servers that are in a location physically further away are more likely to impact speed.
When trying to get access to geo-blocked services or sites you may need to connect to servers that are far away and not necessarily the most efficient available.
We have tested this part of Surfshark’s speed performance too as part of our streaming and Netflix unblocking tests and found that even connecting to Surfshark servers on the other side of the world resulted in a good buffer free streaming experience.
Speed – overall verdict
CyberGhost has impressive speed based on our independent testing.
There are faster VPNs, but you should always be mindful that to a certain extent speed goes hand in hand with the level of privacy protection, so do not judge a VPN on speed alone, look at it in conjunction with the protection offered.
We know that CyberGhost offers excellent security protection so combining that with its impressive speed makes it one of our top contenders as an all round quality VPN service.
Pricing and value for money
How much does CyberGhost cost?
The cost of a CyberGhost package ranges from around £2.15 per month to £10.50 per month.
The best value package is for a 3 year subscription, working out at a total of £75.60 in total for the whole 3 year period.
The most expensive package is the monthly subscription which is charged on a monthly basis and costs £11.99.
For comparison, the cost of this monthly subscription if kept for three years would be over £400, almost 6 times more expensive than the cheapest package, although you do have the flexibility to cancel at shorter notice.
What is the difference between each subscription plan?
There is absolutely no difference in features or functionality between each subscription plan.
The difference in price between the packages purely reflects the length of time you sign up for. The longer you commit to, the cheaper the cost of cover per month.
From a value for money perspective it makes sense to sign up to the longer package, but there is obviously the risk that you sign up long term and then find the service isn’t quite what you expected.
To help mitigate this risk, CyberGhost offer a 45 day money back guarantee so you can take advantage of the best value package safe in the knowledge that you can get your money back if you then decide it isn’t right for you
Is there a free version?
CyberGhost does not offer a free version, but like we mentioned above, they do offer a very generous 45 day money back guarantee.
Value for money – overall verdict
CyberGhost offer one of the best value for money services out of all the top VPN providers.
It comes close, but CyberGhost is not the cheapest VPN out there, but we always look at value rather than purely cost.
This means that we take into consideration what features and functionality and speed a VPN service offers in conjunction with how much it costs.
As a total package CyberGhost is up there with the best for value based on what it delivers. The cost is very reasonable and we have seen many VPNs that offer less and cost more.
Installing CyberGhost on your devices
Once you have bought a CyberGhost subscription you will need to install the application on each of the devices that you want to protect.
Installing on PCs and laptops
Once you purchase and open up your account, the CyberGhost application will automatically download onto your computer.
If you want to download onto any other computers then you can just logon to your CyberGhost account using your credentials and download the application from your account.
Installing on mobiles
The Android and IOS applications can be downloaded from the Google Play store and the App store respectively.
Once downloaded you will need to enter your logon credentials that were set when you purchased your subscription before you can start using the application..
Installing on other devices
CyberGhost can be used to protect a whole host of other online devices including smart TVs and games consoles such as Playstation and Xbox.
These devices are not able to download and install the CyberGhost application in the same way that you would do on a laptop or mobile.
The way to apply the protection is to update the DNS settings on these devices to match the details on your CyberGhost account.
It may well be easier in fact to apply the protection at your wireless router level, which in turn will protect all the devices connected to that router, including your smart TVs and game consoles.
You can actually purchase a pre-configured router from CyberGhost for this, or if you prefer you can configure your existing router yourself and CyberGhost provide detailed instructions on how to do this.
Customer support
If you experience problems as a VPN customer you want to be confident that your provider will help you resolve them as soon as possible.
We’ve tested out CyberGhost’s support and help resources to see if they come up to scratch.
Support articles and guides
There are an impressive number of guides and troubleshooting articles on the CyberGhost website.
The articles cover topics from connectivity and speed issues to account and billing problems.
Although there are a good quantity of articles, they are a bit of a mixed bag in terms of quality.
There are definitely some gaps in the topic coverage, for example, the steaming issues section only has two articles and doesn’t cover some of the more common troubleshooting steps.
The articles could be organised better to be able to find what you want, but there is a handy search functionality to help you in that respect.
Some articles could do with a bit more attention to make them easier to follow, but it looks like CyberGhost are committed to adding to and improving their help catalogue as there appear to be updates and new articles on a regular basis.
Live chat
You can access CyberGhost’s live chat support directly from their website.
We’ve tested out response times and a member of the support staff responds within a couple of minutes, which is within the expected timelines for a good service.
What about the quality of help? We tested this by asking a range of questions, some technical some account related.
Overall, the support staff seem to be knowledgeable and comfortable with technical queries as well as being friendly and polite.
Most issues were able to rectified there and then during the live chat, and if that proved difficult they raised a ticket and support continued over e-mail with the backroom support staff which also responded in a timely manner.
Submit a support request
If you prefer to submit a support ticket yourself, you can do so via the CyberGhost website.
Just fill in your contact details and details of your issue number.
Try and include as much information as you can about your problem as this will help the support staff address it without having to come back to you for more information. This will save time in getting the issue resolved.
Obviously the turnaround times for resolving tickets will vary based on the complexity, but in our experience the support staff respond quickly and treat these tickets as a high priority. Our issues tended to be resolved on the same day, which is a good user experience.
Customer support – overall verdict
The live chat and support ticket staff are knowledgeable, helpful and treat customer issues as a high priority.
There are quick turnaround times and it shows he commitment that CyberGhost have to a good customer experience.
The online support articles and guides however are an area that CyberGhost could improve on, but it looks like CyberGhost are aware of this and their offering looks to be getting better over time.
CyberGhost – Overall verdict
CyberGhost a good around VPN solution that offers privacy, speed and website unblocking all at a very competitive price.
With over 6,000 servers located around the globe it performs excellently at unblocking streaming services providing a buffer free and quality viewing experience.
It may not be the fastest out there and doesn’t offer as many features as some other VPNs but it covers all the must haves and is a solid solution at a price that offers excellent value for money.
VPN reviews and guides. Helping internet users stay safe and protected online.