In-Depth CyberGhost VPN Review for 2024 – Is CyberGhost Legit?

Why Trust Tech Report

Tech Report is one of the oldest hardware, news, and tech review sites on the internet. We write helpful technology guides, unbiased product reviews, and report on the latest tech and crypto news. We maintain editorial independence and consider content quality and factual accuracy to be non-negotiable.

In this CyberGhost VPN review, we delve into all the nitty-gritty details about this top VPN service, compare it to other popular options, and more — because by using one of the best VPNs, you can keep yourself safe online and also use them for gaming, torrenting, and unblocking streaming sites. But is CyberGhost the best choice?

CyberGhost unblocks the majority of well-known online streaming services, including Netflix and BBC iPlayer, and supports torrenting. Plus, it runs with the WireGuard protocol and includes specialized servers for streaming, a dedicated IP address, and a 45-day money-back guarantee. But there’s more.

In this CyberGhost VPN review, we’re going to explore everything you need to know about CyberGhost, including the pros and cons, its features, pricing, security, and server options. Let’s dive right in.

What is CyberGhost VPN?

CyberGhost is a popular VPN service that’s renowned for being user-friendly. The company that owns Private Internet Access, ZenMate, and Kape Technologies, also owns CyberGhost, which shows that they have a strong portfolio of online safety tools.

A number of human rights issues, including the right to privacy, a free society, and unrestricted internet access, have received the company’s unwavering support, something that you want to see from a company claiming to keep you anonymous.

CyberGhost was first established in Romania back in 2011, where it immediately established a reputation as one of the top free VPN service providers available. Since then, it’s gone on to offer some top premium plans that rival some of the key market leaders in the VPN world.

Overview of the CyberGhost’s Specs

CyberGhost is well-known for having one of the largest server fleets out of any VPN service on the market right now, and it has some other pretty good specs to go alongside this, including the key metrics listed below:

CyberGhost VPN Origins & 14-Eyes Alliance: What’s the Story?

A surveillance alliance is an arrangement between multiple countries to exchange their intelligence. This includes a user’s browsing history if it’s relevant to one of the member nations. Two alliances, the Five Eyes, and the Fourteen Eyes, each consist of five and fourteen nations, respectively.

These alliances have agreed to share information when doing so will benefit all parties. They still exist today; however, they were first developed during the Cold War as a way of cooperating to defeat a shared foe (the Soviet Union).

These are two of the biggest and best-known surveillance coalitions in existence and are frequently used in discussions about internet privacy. Before being sold to Kape Technologies, the same business that controls ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access, CyberGhost was first established back in 2011 in Bucharest, Romania.

CyberGhost has offices in Germany and a Romanian base, and it isn’t governed by any organization that coordinates monitoring. As a defender of civil rights, a free society, and unrestricted internet culture, the corporation views privacy as a fundamental human right, making it the perfect place for a VPN to be birthed.

Did CyberGhost VPN Leak Personal Data in the Past?

CyberGhost has a pretty impeccable past when it comes to data breaches and leaked personal data, and they have a ton of measures in place to ensure nothing goes wrong. There was one small blip with the Typeform breach, but this was on a very small scale, and the company was quick to address this and own up to any issues.

Due to the DNS and IP leak prevention available in its apps and browser extensions, CyberGhost is incredibly secure. You should keep your DNS requests and IPv6 traffic private because your ISP can use them to monitor your online activity.

In order to prevent websites from seeing your actual IP address, CyberGhost makes sure that your DNS requests are routed through its own DNS servers and that any IPv6 requests are prevented. It’s fantastic if you’re unfamiliar with VPNs because these features are already enabled.

Is CyberGhost VPN Safe?

Overall, CyberGhost is an incredibly safe and reliable VPN to use, and it has tight encryption and security protocols in place to back this up. Let’s take a quick look at the aforementioned encryption and security protocols that make up the CyberGhost system that ensures your safety when using it.

Supported VPN Protocols

Three VPN protocols are supported by CyberGhost VPN: OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPSec, and WireGuard. These protocols all offer high security and fast speeds and are the norm in most of the best VPNs on the market.

Logging Policy

Neither connection logs nor traffic data are recorded by CyberGhost, and the independent audit conducted in September 2022 by Deloitte confirmed this. In fact, CyberGhost doesn’t keep any logs at all, so hackers and ISPs have nothing to track your online activity when you’re using CyberGhost.

Overall, CyberGhost does collect basic information upon signing up, like your email, but it’s a VPN with a tight no-logs policy, and a strong stance on privacy and security.

Jurisdiction

Although Romania (where CyberGhost is based) is a part of the European Union, it is a privacy-friendly country. Romanian courts have ruled that data retention measures promoted by the EU are unlawful.

Additionally, Romania is not a member of the Fourteen Eyes information-sharing alliance, making it safe for you to use CyberGhost and one of the key reasons many opt for this VPN provider.

Encryption

Simply put: CyberGhost VPN scrambles your data into a jumble of symbols by using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256-bit encryption that no one can decipher. This is the core security measure used with all leading VPNs, as it’s incredibly safe and virtually impossible to crack. In fact, banks use this encryption too.

CyberGhost VPN Features

Being one of the leading VPNs on the market, CyberGhost has all the premium features you’d expect. Below, we’re going to further analyze these features and break down what they mean and how they’ll benefit you. Let’s dive right in.

Split-Tunneling

Split-tunneling is a practical feature that lets you select precisely which apps and programs your VPN should protect and which ones shouldn’t pass through the encryption.

Both of CyberGhost’s desktop applications for Windows and macOS come with a straightforward split tunneling capability where you can choose which websites (but not apps) you want to block from the VPN tunnel.

The split tunneling function on Android is a little more advanced, as it allows you to also choose which applications you want to keep out of the VPN connection. This enables you to use some apps without a VPN (like your banking app) while securely routing data like websites or streaming activity through the VPN tunnel.

Kill Switch

Leak protection, a crucial component of your secure connection, is maintained by kill switches. The default setting on most OSes is to fall back to another active connection if your connection to your VPN is lost for any reason. This isn’t ideal.

Without the security of VPN encryption, you might now be at risk of disclosing personal information to the internet if you were in the process of transferring sensitive data. Thankfully, CyberGhost employs a software-enabled kill switch that instantly stops all network activity while your VPN connection is down.

Private DNS

The DNS protocols are a group of servers with open access that keep track of the records connecting IP addresses and domain names. Unfortunately, crucial security issues like what happens if someone gives a false IP address for a domain weren’t given much thought when DNS was built.

For instance, a hacker may reroute your search for www.google.com to their virus distribution service while you’re actually looking for Google. But, by running a collection of authoritative DNS servers and using a secure connection to send DNS traffic, CyberGhost resolves this issue.

Dedicated IP Address

For an additional cost, CyberGhost provides a dedicated IP address function. Most individual VPN providers don’t offer dedicated IPs, but this is a standard feature of most commercial VPN plans. With a dedicated IP address, each time you join the VPN network, just you will be assigned a fixed IP address.

The majority of VPNs employ shared IP addresses by default, which means that many other VPN customers also share the IP addresses. In most circumstances, this isn’t inherently negative, but it could result in the “bad neighbor effect“.

For example, other VPN users may do things that are against the law or the terms of service of specific websites, which can result in an IP address being blacklisted. You can completely prevent this situation if you have your own dedicated IP address.

NoSpy Servers

CyberGhost’s NoSpy servers are seen as even safer and more dependable than standard servers, as they’re housed in the organization’s exclusive Romanian private data center. There are several reasons why this is advantageous.

First, because they’re physically situated in Romania — which has no regulations governing data retention — they’re immediately subject to Romanian law, which is added peace of mind on top of the fact that CyberGhost doesn’t keep any user data, anyway.

Additionally, as CyberGhost is in charge of and responsible for maintaining its own servers, any server outage may be fixed right away. Since no one else can access these systems, physical security is also increased.

WireGuard Protocol

WireGuard is a free and open-source software application and communication protocol that implements VPN techniques to create secure point-to-point connections in routed or bridged configurations.

CyberGhost uses this VPN protocol, and although it’s still considered a work in progress, it offers improved security, speeds, and reduced power consumption over older technologies like IPsec and OpenVPN. As a result, any VPN with WireGuard is a huge plus.

CyberGhost VPN Pricing

Prices for CyberGhost vary according to how long a subscription is for. Plans that are shorter cost more, and vice versa. That said, CyberGhost is among the least expensive VPNs available, plus it lets you have 7 simultaneous connections. Here are your options:

Their 1-month plan is neither too expensive nor too cheap. This is the only plan with a shorter money-back guarantee policy of 14 days. All other plans have a lengthy 45-day guarantee, which is one of the most generous policies for any VPN service.

In addition to credit cards, Amazon Pay, and PayPal, cryptocurrency can now be used to make payments. The possibility to select anonymous payment methods when purchasing a membership is a wonderful touch.

Is CyberGhost VPN Free?

Although CyberGhost VPN doesn’t offer a free edition, it does offer a free trial that lasts for 1 day on a desktop, 3 days on Android, and 7 days on iOS without requiring any financial information. This is unexpected, considering that most high-end VPN service providers only provide money-back guarantees.

Of course, CyberGhost also offers a 14 or 45-day guarantee depending on the length of the plan, so trying the software is completely risk-free.

A Look At CyberGhost’s Device Compatibility

One area where CyberGhost truly excels is in its support for a huge range of devices, including the usual platforms of Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac, but also going one step further with support for Linux, Android TVs, routers, and games consoles.

CyberGhost allows you to install the app on 7 different devices, or you could just configure it onto your router to support all the devices on that network. The choice is yours. This is generous when compared to other VPN providers like ExpressVPN, which only allows for 5 simultaneous connections.

Below, we’ll take a closer look at CyberGhost’s apps for the major platforms — Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS.

Windows App

The Windows client for CyberGhost opens with a simple, lightweight interface that has a Connect button, a list of locations, and a connection status. But don’t let that deceive you; there’s a right-hand panel that contains a tonne of capability.

All nations are listed together with their proximity to you in a location picker. A “Favorites” system makes it simple to create your own personalized list. This can be filtered by continent or to find servers optimized for gaming, streaming, or torrenting.

You also have an exceptional amount of control over when the app launches, thanks to the app’s Smart Rules tab. Most VPNs offer the option to run when Windows starts, but with CyberGhost, you can also select a favorite server and launch a specific app, such as your default browser, in incognito mode, after selecting a server.

CyberGhost gives you even more control under the Wi-Fi Protection panel, where you may specify in detail what occurs when you connect to new networks. If the network is unsafe, you can set the client to automatically connect to the VPN, or you can set it to never join if the network is encrypted.

Overall, the CyberGhost Windows app is one of the most highly-customizable options out there, with a ton of useful features that make it possible for you to finely tune it to run the way you want it.

Mac App

The CyberGhost Mac app launches with a minimal mobile VPN window that only includes the location that is presently selected and a Connect button. This offers a very clean and easy-to-navigate dashboard that’s slightly more aesthetically pleasing than the Windows offering.

Unlike what we saw on the Windows app, the distance to each server isn’t listed on the Mac location list. However, it also includes a “server load” number that lets you know which areas are busy to prevent server congestion and customers experiencing slow speeds.

Like most Mac VPNs, it does lack some of the functionality seen on Windows. For example, when you select Privacy Settings, the only options available are those for banning malware, trackers, and ads. There’s no automatic kill switch or adjustable DNS leak option.

The start-up guidelines are also far more straightforward than what we observed with Windows. When the app first begins, or whenever you connect to an untrusted Wi-Fi network, you can configure the app to connect automatically.

So whilst the aesthetics are certainly to be enjoyed, the Mac app does offer fewer customizations and features, but overall, it offers a pleasant experience with all the necessary features accessible easily enough.

Android App

When compared to their desktop counterparts, mobile VPN apps are frequently wimpy, yet CyberGhost’s options are surprisingly strong. The software launches with the customary very straightforward portrait layout, which includes only a Connect button and the name of the location you’ve chosen.

However, if you switch to the tablet-friendly landscape orientation, the location list and Connect button appear on the same screen, making it simpler to select the server you need and log on.

The app supports OpenVPN and WireGuard protocols (but not IKEv2), and you can set it to automatically connect when you connect to unsecured Wi-Fi. It also incorporates the desktop client’s ability to connect to the VPN using a random port, a handy trick that might be used to get around VPN blocking.

A content blocker enables the blocking of URLs linked to malware, advertisements, or trackers. Split tunneling is perhaps the standout feature here, allowing you to quickly select which apps use the VPN and which don’t.

All-in-all, the Android app for CyberGhost is very user-friendly and comes with some decent customization settings. Sadly, there’s no kill switch included in the Android app, something we hope will be addressed in the near future.

iOS App

The iOS app has the same appearance and feel as the Windows and Android versions, plus it’s simple to get started, simply log in, then tap Connect to access your closest location.

Even while Apple’s security approach prevents them from having the same level of control as Android VPN apps, some iOS VPN apps still provide a few handy capabilities. For instance, you can configure the app to connect automatically when you access certain networks.

Alternatively, you can use a connection checker to examine your internet connectivity, determine whether CyberGhost’s VPN servers are reachable, and generally troubleshoot any issues by setting your protocol to IKEv2 or WireGuard (no OpenVPN).

Overall, all the apps for CyberGhost are user-friendly, packed with features, and also include a 7-day free trial, so there’s a lot to like here, hence why it’s one of the best iPhone VPNs.

Other Devices

The list of compatible devices doesn’t stop there, as CyberGhost is readily available on just about any piece of tech you own. To save time, we’ve compiled a useful list of all the other devices you can install this VPN on:

CyberGhost’s Speed — How Does it Compare to Competition?

CyberGhost boasts some of the quickest speeds we’ve seen in testing, with the average sitting between 300Mbps-450Mbps, depending on where you are in the world. It’s renowned for having some of the fastest VPN servers and among the best overall speeds for seamless streaming, gaming, and torrenting.

However, these speeds will be different for everyone, and your proximity to the server you’re connecting to plays a huge part in the speeds you’re likely to get. Let’s take a closer look at how CyberGhost speed averages compare to other top VPN providers:

Not only does CyberGhost’s speeds fare with the more expensive VPN services, but it also boasts one of the largest server fleets on offer, giving users ample options while minimizing the chances of you ending up in an overcrowded server.

Can CyberGhost Unblock Streaming Services?

CyberGhost is a great VPN for unblocking and streaming your favorite content across a range of platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer, in main thanks to the WireGuard protocol and the specialized streaming servers that are included.

Overall, it’s proven capable of unblocking any streaming service you put in its way, and there are no reported issues with any of the following websites; Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Channel 4, Disney +, Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, and YouTube.

That’s a pretty good list of streaming services to unblock, and it’s one of the best Netflix VPNs as it can access various Netflix libraries around the world, so you can unlock the door to a whole new world of content and enjoy it in crystal-clear HD.

Is CyberGhost VPN Good for Torrenting?

CyberGhost stands apart from the competition as one of the few VPNs with specialized P2P file-sharing servers for quick, secure, and secret file-sharing. Because of its high bandwidth support configuration, large file downloads on P2P networks are made possible, and it’s compatible with a variety of torrent clients.

To get the quickest P2P speeds, choose the optimized server that’s nearest to you by comparing the distance between them. Next, select it as a favorite by clicking the star for subsequent quick access.

Overall, CyberGhost a solid VPN for torrenting, as it’ll provide you with the protection you require. However, the servers are relatively ordinary in terms of connection speeds — comparable to those you’d experience while using Surfshark to torrent, which isn’t stellar.

Is CyberGhost VPN Ideal for Gaming?

There are several server types available through CyberGhost VPN that are suitable for various tech-based tasks, including low-latency options for gamers. The fact that not all providers take advantage of this makes it a welcome inclusion. Also, even less tech-savvy VPN customers can easily understand the features and how they work.

The servers best suited for gaming have the least latency, which roughly describes how quickly your internet connection responds. Long response times will cause lag, which will damage your online game experience and make things a little frustrating.

Overall, the CyberGhost specialized gaming servers have a positive impact on the performance of the game, reducing lag and allowing for a pleasant and stress-free gaming experience.

CyberGhost VPN’s Virtual Server Locations – Full List

Here’s a quick breakdown of all the continents and countries where CyberGhost has servers: