CyberGhost VPN Review

Updated January 5, 2021:

OVERVIEW

People need privacy when they go to the online world. That is not a secret, and every day that requirement is becoming more evident. Hackers are incredibly adept at stealing identities, passwords, and credit numbers, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, are growing in relevance and importance. They are prepared to protect the shared content online and location of the users, so they can fend off the advances of hackers, cybercriminals, geoblocking measures, online advertisers, Internet Service Providers, and governmental surveillance agencies.

One of the most widely renowned VPN brands in the market is CyberGhost. While not quite at an elite level, it is a very serviceable VPN app, with connectivity to seven simultaneous devices, an excellent log policy, a somewhat neutral jurisdiction (Romania), a 24/7 live chat feature with French and German, and a 7-day free premium trial, plus a 45-day money back guarantee.

CyberGhost is perfect for privacy-conscious people, but even better for those that love to stream: it supports P2P activity and thus torrenting. It can unblock content in 61 nations, and it works with Netflix and other platforms.

We are talking about a world-famous VPN app with top-end features. While it can be considered somewhat pricey (at least the monthly plan), CyberGhost is a quality option in the VPN industry, and you are about to see why.

PRICING & PLANS

CyberGhost is one of the priciest VPN clients in the market, and there is no way around it. The monthly plan has a cost of $12.99, which puts it right behind ExpressVPN and alongside NordVPN in the quest for the most expensive VPN apps.

However, it is all good news from there: there are very enticing discounts for long-term plans. For a yearly subscription, users have to pay $63 + they’ll get 6 months free, that makes it 18 months for $63!

There is also a two-year plan, worth $45.48 per year (or $3.79 per month,) and an even better 36-month paying mode ($33 per year and $2.75 per 30 days.) Fortunately, there are ways of trying CyberGhost VPN services before signing up with a plan (more on that later.)

As for payment methods, users can enjoy all the major credit cards, PayPal, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, prepaid gift cards, and even through money orders or cash.

PRIVACY & LOG POLICY

CyberGhost’s privacy policy receives mixed reviews. There are those that don’t consider it clear and transparent enough, while others laud its clarity, length, and attention to details. The reality is that it may be so long that most users don’t bother reading it completely.

However, that doesn’t mean it is bad. The good thing is that there are no catches, false publicity or misleading sentences in the privacy policy as it happens with other VPN brands. CyberGhost clearly states that it doesn’t collect users’ information and data while they are using the VPN’s encryption.

“When using the CyberGhost VPN, the user’s traffic data such as browsing history, traffic destination, data content and search preferences are not monitored, recorded, logged or stored by the Company […] we are not storing connection logs, meaning that we don’t have any logs tied to your IP address, connection timestamp or session duration,” the documents reads.

To the contrary of what numerous VPN do, CyberGhost does not collect even the slightest bit of data: they don’t keep origin IP addresses, times of connection, or the server’s IP address. Small pieces of data are kept for billing purposes.

Be sure to use CyberGhost VPN for healthy and regular purposes, and not for crime though: they can keep personal information and disclose it “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 [website].”

The good thing is that CyberGhost VPN is based on Romania and works under Romanian jurisdiction and data retention laws. Since there are no legal documents in the country forcing online companies to collect or share data logs, users don’t have to worry.

SERVER NETWORK

The server network is a vital aspect of evaluating VPNs and their service quality. The term refers both to the number of servers that the company administrates and the number of countries in which these servers are located.

The more services, the most options users have to find satisfactory speeds, performance, and bandwidth; and the more countries available for connection, the more international content is available for the VPN subscriber.

CyberGhost has 2,900 servers, which is significantly better than the average, but a cut below some of the elite brands. Other companies have more than 3,000, while there are a couple that surpasses 3,500. Still, 2,900 is nothing to sneeze at.

When it comes to the number of countries, a similar development presents itself: CyberGhost is comfortably above average with 61 nations, but since there are companies that offer more than 90, 140 or even 200 nation states, it can’t be considered to have a truly elite server network.

The 2,900 servers are located across the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, and Asia, the latter being available only in Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

SPEEDS & PERFORMANCE

CyberGhost VPN speeds are a cut above average. Not too slow that it can be considered a problem, but also, not too fast to be mistaken as one of the quickest in the vast VPN industry.

The company’s average and peak velocities when it comes to downloading are middling and somewhat disappointing. However, if you can connect to a server near your actual location, you could enjoy a “burst” rate of a little over 70 Mbps.

CyberGhost does score well in DNS lookup time, which means that it takes little time to load pages. When it comes to performance, CyberGhost does an acceptable job of protecting your system against leaks.

There are few documented cases of DNS, IPv4, IPv6, or WebRTC leaks, so the encryption power is notable, and the company fulfills its promise of protecting your privacy against prying eyes and external agents in the web.

PROTOCOL & ENCRYPTION

VPN brands use technologies called protocols to build their virtual tunnels, which are the elements in which the IP address and shared online content will travel, away from any threats and hazards related to web use.

The most famous, widespread, and effective VPN protocol is OpenVPN since it is open source and the community has been audited and checked for possible vulnerabilities. It is speedy and reliable, and CyberGhost has it available.

In fact, CyberGhost supports OpenVPN in Android, linux, macOS, and Windows. There are other protocols as well, including IKEv2 (Internet Key Exchange, version 2) on iOS, Linux, and Windows, and L2TP on Windows and Linux.

As for encryption, CyberGhost’s OpenVPN offers this:

Data channel: an AES-256-CBC cipher with SHA256 hash authentication.

Control channel: an AES-256 cipher, RSA-4096 key encryption, and SHA384 hash authentication.

Perfect forward secrecy: ECDH-4096 key exchange.

FEATURES

What CyberGhost may lack in server network or other things, it more than makes it up in features obtainable for subscribers. For starters, there is split-tunneling and website exemption, as well as malicious sites blocking, ads and online tracking, and HTTPS forcing when available.

Another piece of good news is that P2P activity is allowed on selected servers, which means that users can torrent in peace. The service also works with the American Netflix region as well as British BBC iPlayer.

The “Extra speed” allows you to connect to faster premium servers. It is exclusively for paying customers. CyberGhost’s plans come with the availability of seven simultaneous connections, an elite figure in the market since the “average” is five.

There are servers specialized in streaming, which is perfect to perform one of the trendiest activities of our current world. Double encryption is also available, protecting authentication and VPN data.

EASE OF USE

CyberGhost is highly compatible, and it can run smoothly on Windows, MacOS, iPhone, and Android. The VPN and encryption company offers guides and tutorials about how to install and use specific protocols in those devices and operating systems.

There is also the chance of getting free proxy browser add-ons for Chrome and Firefox web browsers. While it is not as user-friendly as TunnelBear, for example, CyberGhost’s app is very straightforward to set up and use.

The app’s primary page shows the usual menus: Surf Anonymously, Unblock Streaming, Protect Network, Torrent Anonymously, Unblock Basic Websites and Choose My Server. Users won’t get lost while searching for configuration options.

The Unblock Streaming page shows links to streaming platforms, including Netflix, as well as the ideal servers to perform this activity. The Choose My Server part assists you in finding the most suitable, fast, and stable server for your required task.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

While it is true that the VPN industry is filled with enterprises with unresponsive, unfriendly customer service and support departments, CyberGhost VPN has taken the step to improve in this area.

What was once known as a very bad customer staff with no live chat feature, now CyberGhost has the service available in case you have an urgent issue or requirement. The ticket method, however, can take a lot of time to respond to a simple query.

The problem is not submitting tickers, though: the issue is getting a timely response that can help you solve your issue in time. You want a VPN brand to respond in a matter of minutes, not hours or even days.

The live chat feature, though, is now “on air,” and in native French and German, no less.

REFUND POLICY

It is crucial for a VPN, especially one that offers plans for the long-term, to provide the potential customers and subscribers the opportunity to test the services and offerings for free for a significant period of time.

Thankfully, CyberGhost VPN delivers on that front. Not only the company has a week-long free trial to the premium service, which is incredibly helpful, but also, there is a handy 45-day money-back guarantee.

With the month-long refund card, users can ask for their money back after the 45 days are up, no questions asked.

NEGATIVES

The privacy policy, while explicit and detailed, can be considered too long for the average user to read. Of course, this depends more on the potential customer than on the company, but an argument can be made that it should make things easier.

The server network, albeit sufficient, cannot be considered elite, especially when there are options out there approaching 4,000 servers.

Despite the company having configured their live chat feature, there are complains about the lack of responsiveness via the ticket support system. On the other hand, speeds are nothing to write home about. It can also be considered a bit expensive.

CONCLUSION

All things told, CyberGhost VPN is a quality offering in the VPN field, and its feature-rich apps and clients can offer enough to keep most users happy. However, the speeds aren’t overly exciting, as one would believe from a VPN that costs $12 per month.

The options have a good distribution of servers, including some in remote Asian locations. The features are excellent and, in some cases, unique. The fact that CyberGhost offers the availability of seven simultaneous connections is excellent.

The app and client are easy to use, and there is compatibility with most platforms, devices, and operating systems. And the fact that it fosters both torrenting and streaming, including maybe the top two platforms in the world (Netflix and the BBC iPlayer) is huge.

CyberGhost VPN may not be the absolute best, but is comfortably in the top 10 of paid VPN companies and it deserves a long look.