CyberGhost is a Romania-based VPN giant that strives to provide millions of users with very comprehensive services. This VPN service provider boasts more than 4,800 servers across the globe.
Within this large network of servers, a significant number of them allow P2P activities and torrenting. On top of that, CyberGhost offers custom clients for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices.
Apart from typical VPN functionality, CyberGhost boasts a bunch full of extra features. This multifunctional service can help you block malicious websites, advertisements, and tracked. Their automated HTTPS redirection helps to keep your connection secure and their data compression feature helps to reduce usage bandwidth, potentially saving you more money on mobile data.
Other than that, CyberGhost allows users to connect up to seven different devices simultaneously with just one account. This is just a bit over the average five devices, but you do need to keep in mind that this comes with a little clause. You can only connect from your device once, as that will consider as one of your slots used up. If you need to open up slots, you’ll need to log out of individual devices which proves to be a bit of a hassle.
A Detailed CyberGhost VPN Review in 2023
Does CyberGhost VPN offers Logging Policy and Privacy Policy?
Similar to most VPNs, CyberGhost VPN offers a ‘strict no log policy’ with a very comprehensive Privacy Policy to back it up. It is specifically stated in their policy that the company will not log:
- Browsing history
- Traffic destination
- Data content
- Search preferences
- Connection logs (IP address, connection timestamp, or session duration)
The company even went on further to emphasize that CyberGhost does not know which user was ever connected to their VPN services, which website user ever accessed website, nor which VPN server IP was used at any time.
While they do have a clear policy, in reality, these are just words on the website. There is no actual way for users to know exactly what kind of data is recorded or stored by the service provider. Some VPN providers have started to have independent audits to run their systems and we hope that more VPN service providers will do the same soon.
Regardless, what users can do is that we can run some basic privacy checks to look for DNS and other leakages using sites like IPLeak.net.
While most VPNs maintain your privacy by providing DNS from their server IPs, CyberGhost goes on step extra by replacing your original DNS server with its own. This is not an unusual practice and providing the DNS servers are closer to your location, you could also notice some improvement in browsing speeds.
Does CyberGhost Offers Client Setup?
CyberGhost does a good job of making this process as seamless and as easy as possible for users. CyberGhost site just links you directly to each app store to install in the usual way for mobile devices.
If you’re setting up a router, you’ll need the OpenVPN configuration file and it could potentially make your life much more complicated. Other VPN service providers will give you a standard .OVPN files to download, CyberGhost will take you on a journey just to get the necessary files.
You’ll first need to log into your account, add a device profile and choose the features you require, then choose your target country and note down a server name, customer user name, and password, and finally download the .OVPN file, certificates and key files in a zipped folder.
While this method is very tedious, it does come with several advantages. This way is much more secure and gives user a high level of control over each connection.
How is CyberGhost’s VPN Windows Interface?
CyberGhost features a clean, lightweight interface on their Windows app. It is essentially just a simple console with a connection status and a list of available locations to choose to connect from.
Despite the easy-to-use layout, there is a bunch of functionalities hidden in the right-hand panel which you can expand anytime. The app has a location picker that lists all the servers along with their distance and current load for you to pick the best one. You can even apply a filter to only display servers that are optimized for streaming or torrenting.
Other than that, there’s a Connection features panel where you’re able to enable many privacy features such as ad and trackers blocking. CyberGhost automatically redirects all HTTP connections to HTTPS to keep your connection extra secured with a bonus Data Compression feature to compress images and other elements to lighten traffic and improve performance.
CyberGhost’s Smart Rules panel offers users with an unusually high level of control over how the app works. Move VPNs lets you launch the app automatically once Windows starts, but CyberGhost even lets you select your preferred server to connect to, and automatically launch a particular app that you want to use on.
Additionally, their Wi-Fi Protection panels come with a wide degree of flexibility to let users decide what happens when you connect to new networks. If the network is insecure, you can set the client to automatically connect to the VPN.
Another handy tool featured in their Exceptions feature is that CyberGhost lets you customize a list of websites that you do not want passing through the tunnel. If there is a certain streaming site that can only be accessed in your country, you can add it to CyberGhost’s Exceptions and it will never go through the VPN connection and get blocked.
The app also lets you choose your preferred protocol: OpenVPN, IKEv2, L2TP. You can even opt to let random ports to connect to bypass several VPN blocking, and enable or disable kill switch feature, IPV6 connections, and leak protection.
CyberGhost’s kill switch will immediately kill all your internet connections when it senses an issue with your VPN connection. This way, it helps to protect users from any risks of original IP exposure.
How is CyberGhost’s VPN Mobile Apps Interface?
CyberGhost’s mobile apps are much easier to use than their desktop apps. But this simple interface also means there is much less functionality included.
Other than a Connect/Disconnect button, the iOS app automatically connects you to the nearest server. You can also browse through a list of locations and check their load information and number of connected users. You also have the ability to save specific locations to your Favorites list. Other than that, the other settings on the mobile app are minimal.
On the Android app, you won’t be able to see your current wireless network on display. But it does include a web filtering option that is not available in the iOS version. More features are included here as well, such as the ability to compress data, block trackers and malicious websites.
Overall, the mobile apps are quite impressive although they’re still short of a few key functions you see in other VPN service providers.
How does CyberGhost app performs than other VPN companies?
When it comes to performance, it is not as clear cut as just running it through a link to check the speed as there are so many factors involved. Regardless, we have tested CyberGhost’s speed with other benchmarking websites.
The nearest UK servers delivered a consistent and solid connection speed at approximately 64Mbps. CyberGhost’s added OpenVPN encryption did reduce the performance but it was of minimal impact at about 6-7% only.
Running the test with s US server, we noticed a major drop in speed range. Our 475Mbps connection is reduced to only about 125-155Mbps. This is much slower than other big VPN players, but it is still better than most.
The connection speed tests in servers that are further away were less a reliable benchmark. This is mainly because there are extra routing and latency issues that will need to taken into account. Several countries had decent speed while others were quite practically unusable.
In summary, our thought son CyberGhost’s performance is a little mixed. But as mentioned earlier, these tests are not the full picture and it merely gives a snapshot of connection speeds at a certain point in time.
Does CyberGhost VPN App Unblocks Geo-Restrictions?
Unblocking major streaming sites such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, and Amazon Prime can be quite a challenge. Most service providers won’t tell you which server works to unblock media content, and which don’t, so you’re forced to slowly work your way down every server in the target country until you get it right.
This is where CyberGhost comes in to ease your burden. Their app automatically highlights locations that support the services you require. When you choose the streaming filter, you get server recommendations that work best for various streaming sites.
CyberGhost worked efficiently to bypassed BBC’s and US Netflix VPN detection right away. So, if you’re looking for an easy way to watch all your favorite content, CyberGhost could just be the top choice for you.
Is CyberGhost VPN Good for Torrenting?
CyberGhost is one of the top VPNs that are torrent-friendly. You’ll easily spot their servers which are specially titled as ‘for Torrenting’ on their apps. Other than that, you get to even change the settings to automatically be connected to your favorite CyberGhost connection whenever you launch your torrent client.
However, not every server on CyberGhost supports P2P activity. Several servers do not allow P2P protocols due to strategic or legal reasons. They will disable P2P ability if they find that the traffic will slow other user’s traffic down unnecessarily. Another reason is that the countries the servers are in, such as the USA, Russia, Singapore, Australia, and Hong Kong force them to block torrenting traffic.
If you stick to their recommended list for torrenting, CyberGhost works well to anonymize your torrenting activities.
What are CyberGhost VPN’s Subscriptions Plans and Pricing?
Signing up for CyberGhost’s monthly subscription plans will cost you US$12.99 per month. This pricing falls on the higher end of the industry standard of between US$10.00 to US$13.00. However, the monthly price falls steeply if you sign up for the longer packages.
CyberGhost might even throw in a little surprise extra for certain plans. The one-year subscription plan came with a PC Clean-up Reimage License for one-time usage. This add-on was not visible until we clicked on the one-year plan and selected a payment method.
CyberGhost accepts many modes of payment; If you’re still paranoid about having your internet connection traced back to you, CyberGhost allows anonymous cryptocurrency payments such as PayPal.
If you’re still on the fence about this service, you can always opt to sign up for the free trial to take it out for a test run. However, getting the free trial may be a little bit more complicated than usual.
If you’re downloading and creating an account via Windows, you’ll get a 24-hour free pass to their services. This is a fairly short time to test out their functions, and even then, you don’t get full access to all of their services!
CyberGhost does not allow you to connect to some of the streaming connections, and even when you do want to connect at all, you’ll most likely be warned that all the ‘free slots’ are used up and expect to wait a minute or two till it opens up for you to access.
However, if you’re signing up with an iOS app, you get seven days to test out CyberGhost’s VPN service. Another option is to install their Android app which instantly lets you start the full 7-day trial without a CyberGhost account.
In any case, if you do sign up and realized the service is not suitable for you, CyberGhost now has a 45-day money-back guarantee for you to get your money back
Does CyberGhost offers Customer Support?
CyberGhost’s support site is somewhat a little dubious as they feature outdated tech tutorials with several questionable advice. Some of the articles provided have also been poorly translated from the original but they’re still generally understandable.
If you prefer to talk to a real person, fortunately, CyberGhost offers email support or live chat support to its users. If you’re running into problems, there’s a good chance that these methods will be able to quickly point you in the right direction.
The Final Verdict – Is CyberGhost VPN good?
Being one of the more popular VPN service providers, CyberGhost comes out as a capable VPN service that features an exceptionally powerful Windows client and is packed with plenty of easy-to-use features. While their mobile apps are a little more ordinary, there’s still plenty to like here. CyberGhost works well to unblock major streaming sites at very reasonable prices for their longer-term packages.
CyberGhost VPN Review – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Can I get free CyberGhost VPN?
Yes, but only for a limited 24 hours window and only for Chrome and Firefox. However, 24 would be insufficient to fully gauge the comprehensive features offered by CyberGhost. Hence, I do recommend that you opt for their 45 day money back gurrantee to gain a better overview of the VPN service which is only applicable to their 6 months subscription plans or longer.
Does CyberGhost work in China?
No, CyberGhost could not surpass the Great Firewall of China. Though so, you can use CyberGhost VPN to access the Chinese websites from abroad as CyberGhost VPN has (limited) server locations in China which is approximately 10 servers or so which may affect the server network.
Is CyberGhost VPN safe?
Yes, it is safe as CyberGhost offers security and privacy features, encryption protocols, automatic kill switch, DNS leak protection and HTTP protection along with the the others as discussed above. If you’re still worried, you can go through their privacy and security policy. Also, bear in mind that CyberGhost’s Parent Company is the owner of Zenmate and Private Internet Access VPN which are very established VPN services among the VPN companies.
As a Master Degree graduate in the Internet Technology field, Stefan is highly dedicated towards improving the overall web security so internet users can browse freely without having to be afraid of technical loopholes. With over 15 years in the internet security industry, you should definitely take his advice seriously.