Are you tired of being restricted from accessing your favorite websites and streaming services due to location or censorship? A virtual private network, or VPN, can help you gain online freedom and privacy by encrypting your internet connection and masking your IP address. But with so many VPNs to choose from, it can be tough to know which one is the best fit for you. That’s where our CyberGhost VPN review comes in.
In this comprehensive review, we’ll take an in-depth look at one of the leading VPN service providers on the market. We’ll examine the features, performance, and security of CyberGhost, including its support for torrenting and its ability to unblock popular streaming services like Netflix and BBC iPlayer. But we won’t stop there. We’ll also delve into the potential drawbacks of CyberGhost. Plus, we’ll examine the controversy surrounding CyberGhost’s parent company, Kape Technologies, and its alleged connections with malware distribution.
So, is CyberGhost the right VPN for you? Stay tuned as we answer that question and more in our thorough CyberGhost VPN review.
CyberGhost VPN – Features
CyberGhost VPN is a popular VPN service that offers a variety of features to enhance your online privacy and security. In this review, we will examine some of the standout features of CyberGhost, including:
- Specialized Servers: CyberGhost has a selection of server types designed for specific tasks, such as torrenting, streaming, and gaming. These servers are optimized for their respective purposes, providing the best possible speeds and performance.
- Dedicated IP: For an additional fee, CyberGhost offers a dedicated IP option that assigns you a unique IP address for your exclusive use. This can be useful for whitelisting specific IPs or maintaining a consistent IP address for certain connections. CyberGhost also uses a unique token system to maintain anonymity and has no records of dedicated IP ownership.
- Ad-Blocker: CyberGhost’s ad-blocker aims to protect users from annoying ads and malware distributed through ad networks, as well as save data on mobile devices by preventing ads from loading. However, the effectiveness of this feature may vary.
- NoSPY Servers: CyberGhost’s NoSPY servers are fully managed by the company and located in Romania, providing advanced privacy measures and extended bandwidth for faster speeds. They also support P2P connections for torrenting.
- Smart Rules: CyberGhost’s smart rules feature helps to automate certain tasks, such as connecting to a specific country or server upon system reboot. Users can also create custom rules to suit their needs.
- WireGuard Protocol: CyberGhost offers the WireGuard protocol, a new and more secure VPN protocol that aims to provide faster speeds and better security than traditional protocols.
- 45-Day Money-Back Guarantee: CyberGhost offers a longer-than-average money-back guarantee, giving users 45 days to try out the service and request a refund if they are not satisfied.
In addition to these features, CyberGhost has received criticism for bugs in its VPN apps and a lack of third-party security audits. The company’s parent company, Kape Technologies, has also faced controversy due to alleged past connections with malware distribution.
CyberGhost VPN – Speed
CyberGhost is a VPN service that aims to provide online privacy and security by encrypting internet connections and masking IP addresses. In this CyberGhost review, the performance of CyberGhost was evaluated using various speed tests. The results showed that, on average, CyberGhost caused a loss of 49% of internet speed. This was better than Norton Secure VPN’s speed loss of 57% but worse than NordVPN’s 32% loss.
CyberGhost’s speed also fell behind other VPNs such as Surfshark and ExpressVPN. However, the addition of more than 2,000 servers to CyberGhost’s fleet over the past year suggests that the company may be improving in terms of speed.
During testing, CyberGhost performed best on Australian servers and reached peak speed on Paris servers. It also had higher average speeds on French servers compared to German servers and UK servers. In the US, New York servers had slower speeds compared to Singapore servers. It was also noted that CyberGhost’s Windows client did not achieve the same speeds as its MacOS client during testing.
CyberGhost VPN – Security
Encryption and Tunneling Protocols
- CyberGhost uses AES-256-CBC encryption to keep connections private.
- Authentication is processed with SHA-256.
- CyberGhost supports tunneling protocols such as WireGuard, IKEv2, and OpenVPN.
Kill Switch
- CyberGhost has a kill switch that activates when the connection to the server is lost.
- The kill switch cannot be customized on a per-app basis or turned off on mobile devices.
Privacy and Logging
- CyberGhost does not log traffic data or connection logs.
- Their no-logs policy has not been audited.
- The privacy policy states that personal data may be disclosed to other companies within the group, including Kape Technologies.
- CyberGhost is based in Romania, a privacy-friendly jurisdiction.
CyberGhost VPN – Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| The company has a large network of servers that are widely distributed. | The service is on the pricier side compared to some other options. |
| The service allows for up to seven devices to connect simultaneously. | Some users may find the privacy policies confusing or hard to understand. |
| In addition to the basic service, there are several optional add-ons available, such as antivirus protection. | |
| In our testing, the service had impressive speed test results. | |
| The company has recently undergone a third-party audit, which adds to its credibility. |
CyberGhost VPN – Pricing
VPN Subscription Options
| Month-to-month: $12.99 per month, flexible |
| Six-month: $41.94 ($6.99 per month) |
| Two-year: $57.12 ($2.37 per month) or $78.96 ($2.03 per month with the current deal) |
Additional Add-Ons
- CyberGhost Security Suite: $1 per month or $24 over two years, includes antivirus protection and security updater (Windows only)
CyberGhost VPN – Torrents
CyberGhost does not allow P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing on all of its server locations, but it still offers a good selection. Using the “For torrenting” filter in the Windows app, we found 70 countries that allow P2P file sharing. This is more than many other VPN providers offer in total. We tested this by connecting to three P2P-friendly locations and successfully downloaded a torrent file from each without any issues or connection problems.
The Windows app also has some useful bonus features, such as the ability to automatically connect to your preferred CyberGhost server whenever you start a torrent client. Additionally, the app includes a malicious URL filter, which can help protect you from dangerous threats when accessing torrents from potentially unreliable sources.
CyberGhost VPN – Customer Support
CyberGhost offers support through its web guides, which provide instructions for setting up the service on various devices such as Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, and more. These guides do a decent job of explaining the basics with screenshots and helpful tips, but they may not be as detailed as those offered by other VPN providers like ExpressVPN or Surfshark VPN.
The knowledgebase search engine is not very effective and requires you to carefully choose the right keywords to find relevant information. Additionally, the results are not sorted by relevance or usefulness. The “Recent activity” panel lists recently added or changed support documents, but we noticed that only one article had been added in the past year, indicating that the knowledge base may not be frequently updated.
However, if you have questions or run into issues, you can contact a live support agent via email or live chat. We tested the live chat support and were pleased to receive a quick response from an agent who understood our technical question and provided clear explanations. Overall, CyberGhost’s live chat support is reliable and helpful.
CyberGhost VPN Review: Final Verdict
From this CyberGhost VPN Review, we conclude that the platform has some limitations, such as the limitation on using the service on seven specific devices. However, it still offers many of the key features that most people look for in a VPN, including fast connections, effective unblocking, a range of features, and helpful live chat support. Overall, it is worth considering as a VPN option.
FAQs for CyberGhost VPN
Is CyberGhost a trusted VPN?
CyberGhost is a VPN service that is generally considered to be secure, but it has recently been acquired by Kape Technologies, a company that has a history of distributing malware. To enhance its reputation, CyberGhost should consider having its logging policy and applications independently audited. This would provide greater transparency and reassurance to users regarding the security and privacy of the service.
Which is better NordVPN vs CyberGhost?
Both NordVPN and CyberGhost use the WireGuard VPN protocol, which should result in similar speeds. However, NordVPN has a larger server network, which may give it a speed advantage due to its colocated (self-owned) hardware and greater bandwidth. These updates to the NordVPN server network may also contribute to its reliability.
Is CyberGhost VPN malware?
CyberGhost is a reputable VPN service that offers strong security and follows a no-logs policy. However, it should be noted that it is owned by Kape Technologies, which has a history of distributing malware and also owns other VPNs such as ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access. Therefore, while CyberGhost itself does not contain malware, its parent company’s track record may be a cause for concern for some users.
Is CyberGhost a Russian company?
CyberGhost is a VPN service provider based in Bucharest, Romania. It has a large user base of over 10 million and offers a range of features to protect privacy and security, such as military-grade encryption, a no-logging policy, and an easy-to-use interface.
Why do people use CyberGhost?
People use CyberGhost for several reasons. CyberGhost VPN encrypts a user’s traffic and routes it through a secure tunnel, making it difficult for even the user’s ISP to see their online activity. The encryption provided by CyberGhost also prevents Deep Packet Inspection, meaning the ISP cannot determine whether the user is streaming, torrenting, or simply browsing the web.
