CyberGhost Review

NoSpy Servers are wholly owned and controlled by CyberGhost at a secure data center near company headquarters in Romania. Eschewing third-party control limits the risk of unauthorized access to the physical hardware used to run the service.

Another benefit is that their hardware has a dedicated uplink that provides better speeds. However, the downside is that all of these NoSpy servers restrict you to a Romanian IP address. Obviously, this is problematic if you want to access geo-restricted content in other countries.

The “smart rules” feature lets you set custom rules for how and when CyberGhost should establish a VPN connection. 

You can configure the app to automatically connect in the following situations:

• Whenever you connect to a new network.
• When CyberGhost is launched.
• When you launch a specific application.

Instead of automatically connecting, you can have the app ask you what to do in certain cases. The “Exceptions” tab on Windows also functions like a split tunneling feature, letting you specify individual websites that you don’t want to pass through the VPN connection.

The Android app also includes split tunneling by name, with an interface recently revamped to be more user-friendly. Thanks to its Android features, CyberGhost stacks up well against the best VPNs for Samsung phones.

CyberGhost offers a library of servers optimized for streaming, gaming and torrenting. The streaming servers in particular proved very effective at unblocking geo-restricted content on platforms like Netflix, Hulu and BBC iPlayer. Visit our guide on how to unblock websites if you’re curious about how we did it.

These servers are specifically fine-tuned to ensure a smooth streaming experience with no buffering or lags.

CyberGhost includes a unique feature for Windows users called Privacy Guard, designed to counter some of Microsoft’s in-built invasions of your privacy. You can activate this setting from the Privacy Guard tab on the left-hand side of the Windows app.

Each time you activate Privacy Guard, you’ll choose how strict you want it to be. It’ll then walk you through a list of features you can disable to keep Microsoft from gathering information on you, which can all be managed from the CyberGhost app. You may need to reboot before some changes take effect.

The first step to private browsing with CyberGhost is to install it on the device you want to protect. In this tutorial, we’re using Windows, though the process is identical for macOS users. For those using an iOS or Android device, you can find CyberGhost in your OS’s app store and install it as you would any other app. 

1. Visit the CyberGhost Website

   Navigate to cyberghostvpn.com and click “get it now.” 

   

2. Create an Account

   Pick your preferred plan and proceed to the checkout. Once you’ve entered your email and card details, click “subscribe now” to activate your subscription and create an account.

   

3. Download CyberGhost

   Log in to your new account on the CyberGhost website and navigate to “download hub.” Choose your operating system and click “download” to save CyberGhost to your device.

   

4. Install CyberGhost

   Open the folder on your device with the saved download and look for a file named “CyberGhostVPNSetup.” Open that file to launch the installation process. Confirm that you want to install the app via your operating system’s prompts, and the rest of the installation will run automatically.

   

5. Accept the Terms and Conditions

   Finally, to complete your installation, you’ll need to click “accept” to agree to the terms and conditions.

   

With CyberGhost installed, your next task is to sign in using the account credentials you created in the steps above. With that done, the next stage involves configuring the settings and connecting to your preferred server. 

1. Choose Your VPN Protocol

   CyberGhost automatically selects a protocol for your network connection. You can change this by clicking on the gear icon on the CyberGhost home screen to open up your settings. Then, use the VPN protocol dropdown menu to select your new default protocol.

   

2. Choose a Server

   You can connect to the default “best server location” determined by the app. However, to select a specific server location, open the server location dropdown menu to find a few recommended servers or click “more servers” to open the full server menu. 

   

3. Connect to Your Server

   To select a server, simply click on it. On smartphone devices, the app will then automatically connect to the server. On desktop devices, you need to manually tap the large power button on the home screen to establish a connection. You’ve successfully connected when the power button turns from a dim purple color to a bright yellow.

   

We conducted most of our CyberGhost VPN research using the Windows desktop app but also made sure to test out the MacOS version. 

At first glance, both apps appear similar, with only minor discrepancies in the interface layout. For example, the “settings” button is located at the bottom left on Windows, whereas it’s at the top right on Mac. This can be a little confusing if you switch from one OS to another, but it’s certainly no less intuitive overall.

Once you dive into those settings, more noticeable differences emerge. For starters, there’s no OpenVPN protocol available on MacOS. The Windows version also adds an MTU setting that may improve performance on slow connections. 

The Mac version also includes leak protection features specifically designed to route Apple features through the VPN. One interesting difference we noted is that the MacOS VPN did a better job at bypassing geo-restricted content than its Windows counterpart. 

Though we broke through the likes of Netflix and Hulu on all devices, BBC iPlayer was tougher to get through on Windows. We tested this multiple times on both devices and found that Mac got us in the first time, every time, whereas Windows frequently required two or more attempts with different servers.

CyberGhost’s Android and iOS apps are essentially a slimmed-down version of the desktop apps. Each is equally easy to use, but some features are sorely missing from the mobile version. 

We tested the iOS version and found that we could use the “WiFi protection” smart rule to determine the action the app should take when it detects new secured and unsecured networks. 

As with the desktop apps, options here include:

• Automatically connecting
• Asking before establishing a connection
• Never connecting
• Terminating a connection

Those options are useful. What’s less useful is that the iOS app omits some of the more advanced smart rule features, like split tunneling and the ability to trigger a connection when you launch a particular app. 

Conversely, Android offers both split tunneling and WiFi protection, though no other smart rules are available. Your choice of protocols also varies depending on the app you use. Android has OpenVPN and WireGuard available, while iOS offers IKEv2 and WireGuard. 

Other than that, the process of choosing and connecting to a server location is essentially the same and should be intuitive no matter which device you use. 

In addition to the standard desktop (Windows, MacOs) and smartphone (Android, iOS) apps, CyberGhost has native apps for Linux, Android TV and Amazon Fire TV. Other smart TVs and game consoles that typically don’t allow VPN use can be protected by enabling the smart DNS feature, which redirects your DNS queries through CyberGhost’s servers.

This enables you to bypass geo-restricted content on those devices, but it doesn’t encrypt your internet traffic. It’s useful for streaming content but not so much for activities that require high security.

Despite having so many options available, all CyberGhost plans are limited to just seven devices. Fortunately, it’s one of the best VPNs for routers. Installing the VPN on your router is a relatively simple process that allows you to get around those restrictions and simultaneously protect all devices connected to your network, no matter how many.

Elsewhere, you can add a browser extension to both Chrome and Firefox. These are free to use and a great way to quickly enable secure, private browsing. However, the choice of server locations is limited. 

To gain insight into CyberGhost’s speeds, we used a virtual machine in the U.S. with a set, unthrottled internet speed. Working from a baseline of 100 Mbps for downloads and 10 Mbps for uploads, we tested connections using the OpenVPN protocol. The results showed that the VPN provider has a long way to go before it can catch up to some of the fastest VPNs on the block.

Download speeds may not be terrible, but the service underperforms compared to the likes of Surfshark and NordVPN. It’s not just that CyberGhost is slower than average when it comes to downloads, but also that its average speeds are widely inconsistent. Our NordVPN vs CyberGhost article has more detail on how both VPNs’ speeds compare.

CyberGhost fairs a little better in terms of uploads, with fewer fluctuations and speeds that are least competitive with other top VPN providers. In fact, our daily automated speed tests showed that it occasionally tied with or outperformed NordVPN.

CyberGhost offers a choice of three industry-standard protocols: OpenVPN, IKEv2 and WireGuard. Though it doesn’t offer any unique or proprietary protocols, these tried-and-trusted options ensure reliable security no matter which device you’re using. 

• OpenVPN — An open-source protocol that offers an effective balance of speed and security.
• IKEv2 — IKEv2 is fast, secure and stable. One of its biggest strengths is that it lets you maintain your VPN connection even when switching wireless networks.
• WireGuard — A relatively new and lightweight protocol that prioritizes speed and ease of use, WireGuard is faster than OpenVPN but offers fewer configurable options, meaning it may be unsuitable for those who prefer more finely tuned control over their VPN connection.

We ran Wireshark tests on multiple servers. Each time, the stream revealed fully encrypted our connections with zero leaks.

Even after multiple tests, we detected no DNS leaks or WebRTC leaks, and our real IP address was kept hidden at all times. 

CyberGhost has a strict no-logs policy that claims that data such as your search and browsing history, downloads and personal details aren’t tracked, stored or shared while using the VPN. 

When you access your account on the company’s website, CyberGhost collects personal data such as your name, email address, location and billing information. CyberGhost claims that this data is not linked to your VPN use but rather is used for vital service delivery and billing-related purposes. A Deloitte audit verified this claim, but only up until 2022.

One area of concern is that CyberGhost does share VPN usage data with parent company Kape Technologies and the various brands it controls. On the plus side, being based in Romania means that CyberGhost has no legal obligation to keep activity logs, and it can’t be forced to hand over information to the police due to its RAM-only servers.

So, even if CyberGhost responds to information requests from police and government agencies, it replies by revealing that it has no data to share. This is the main reason we’re not especially worried about the Kape connection.

CyberGhost’s streaming-optimized servers make it one of the best VPNs for Netflix. By connecting to a specific Netflix-ready server, we were able to stream movies and shows in full HD with zero buffering or lags. The excellent geo-unblocking capabilities allowed us to unblock Netflix in most other countries, albeit with varying degrees of streaming quality.

Netflix Canada and European versions of the site (U.K., Spain, France) all delivered the same smooth viewing experience, with no buffering even when we skipped over chunks of the movie. With Australia and Japan, however, we could still access Netflix but found that it struggled to maintain a continuous HD stream. 

Testing CyberGhost with other streaming platforms yielded mixed results. We breezed into Disney Plus, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video without any problems, but only when using the servers specifically designated for each streaming service. If we connected to a general server and then tried to access these sites, we often found that VPN detection flagged them.

BBC iPlayer gave us a bit of a challenge on Windows, though we soon cracked it by switching servers. Once we were in, iPlayer and all of the services listed above presented no issues in terms of streaming quality. There was slight buffering when we scrolled through a show on iPlayer, though no more than we typically experience with our unprotected connection. 

If you’re curious how well it functions when it comes to streaming sticks, you can find sample steps on our piece how to install CyberGhost on Firestick.