CyberGhost VPN Review 2023

In this CyberGhost Review, I’m gonna show you everything that you need to know about CyberGhost before deciding if you should get started with this VPN provider.

I will give you a quick demo of the software and point out the main unique features of CyberGhost.

I will then conduct a speed test to find out how fast this VPN really is.

Next, I will reveal to you which streaming services CyberGhost are able to successfully connect to.

We will then conduct numerous privacy tests to see how safe and secure CyberGhost is.

And lastly, I will break down the pricing structure and help you decide which plan is best suited for you. So make sure to check out my special discount link in the description below where you will receive the best deal currently available.

1. Setup & Features 9/10

CyberGhost is one of the most popular VPN software and is considered by many to be the best software for beginners. As of today, it anonymizes the online presence of 38 million users around the world. They are known for having the most number of servers with more than 6,000 servers across 90 countries.

Setting up CyberGhost and configuring the settings doesn’t eat up much of your time. In fact, you can do it in less than five minutes. CyberGhost is very easy to use and you’ll see for yourself as we go along with the video.

The type of device you have shouldn’t be a problem in setting up CyberGhost, too. You can install it in almost all types of devices, whether it be your desktop, mobile device, TV, consoles, or routers. You can also open your account using Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, or Chrome Extension.

Now, the real beauty of it is that you can use up to seven devices at the same time. If you need to use multiple devices simultaneously, I believe this VPN could be a good match for you. Just by having one account, you can guarantee total security across all platforms you are connected to.

If you want to test out the software before you buy, CyberGhost has a one day free trial. You can go to this link and test it out for free and I will also put the link in the description below. Just click the “start your free trial” button and it will download the installer automatically. Very hassle-free since there’s no payment information required– just a valid email address and your password. After confirming your email, you’re good to go, but take note, this only runs for 24 hours so make the most out of it!

The CyberGhost app is very user-friendly and to install it on your mobile device is no exception. You can download it from Google Playstore for Android users and the App Store for iOS users.

Of course, you can install the app on your desktop very easily as well. Once you open it, you will land directly to the “start a connection” page where you will also see a button that says “best server location”. This button will spoon feed you with a short list of recommended countries for you but you can still explore and choose other servers by expanding the app.

Once you’re all set with installing the CyberGhost app on your desktop or mobile device, you can also modify which apps on your device will access the Internet through VPN and which won’t, through the “split tunneling” feature.

I have given CyberGhost a rating of 9 out of 10 for this category because of the ease of installing and setting it up, plus they provide all the key features that all good VPN software should have. I did take 1 mark off them as their 1 day free trial is too short to be able to test it out properly. And considering that most VPN providers offer a 7 to 14 day free trial, CyberGhost should really have a longer trial period.

2. Speed 6/10

CyberGhost’s number of servers come with varying speeds you can choose from. To help you make a decision, I used speed test dot net to test four servers, three times each, to get the average speed of each server.

In Canada, the average web surfing experience is 10.7 mbps. This isn’t bad, as this is generally quick enough if you want to stream HD videos. The United States has the fastest browsing speed of 18.3mpbs, Australia is at 14 mbps and the United Kingdom has the lowest speed among the four servers at just 2.2 mbps.

While these speeds are good enough, there is also a dramatic decrease from my original internet speed of  17.3 mbps, except for the U.S. server which even exceeded it. This means a 19.1 percent deduction in Australia, 38.2 percent in Canada, and 87.3 percent in the UK.

Overall I have given CyberGhost a 6 out of 10 for speed. With an average reduction in speed of 40.7 percent, they are certainly not up there with the fastest VPN providers and lost a lot of marks here. However, they are not the worst either so they just get a pass.

3. Streaming & Torrenting 9/10

Speaking of movie streaming, CyberGhost has specific optimized servers dedicated if you want to unblock Netflix.

Additionally, you can successfully unblock and stream on certain platforms such as Hulu, BBC iPlayer, HBO, Disney +, ESPN, Amazon Prime, and Hotstar. 

CyberGhost also supports P2P-optimized servers that you can use in torrenting or watching peer-to-peer based sites like Popcorn Time.

When it comes to streaming, CyberGhost deserves a rating of 9 out of 10 since it can unblock almost all the significant streaming platforms easily using their specialized streaming and torrenting optimized servers. They only lost one point here as they are not fast enough to allow you to stream HD quality videos on multiple devices due to their speed reduction. But if you have blazing fast internet of over 50mbps to start with then that should not be a problem.

4. Security & Privacy 6/10

Let’s talk about your security. CyberGhost uses a 256-bit encryption type to ensure full protection of your identity. This means that your data is encrypted by a 256 character-long key that acts like a password. Up to this date, 256-bit is the strongest key.

Another great feature of CyberGhost is their app is able to automatically choose the best security protocol based on your location and the device you are using. The Windows app lets you choose from all the security protocols which are OpenVPN, TCP or UDP, IKEv2, and WireGuard. Both mobile devices support Wireguard. Android offers OpenVPN while iOS offers IKEv2. If you’re not confident with your security protocol, you can still choose what you prefer but not with the macOS app since it only supports IKEv2.

One specific thing I like about CyberGhost that you will absolutely find very important is its automatic kill switch in all its apps. Accidents are inevitable and in cases where your VPN connection temporarily goes down, the kill switch will pause all Internet activities and protect you from all possible leaks until the VPN connection is reestablished.

These security measures sound good for your general needs so far and if you’re wondering if CyberGhost has ever been hacked before, the answer is a big “NO” since their establishment in 2011. 

Wanna know why? I can name some reasons for you! The CyberGhost team has always stayed true to the words of their co-founder Robert Knapp who said, quote-unquote, the only way to secure your data is not to keep it. In addition, CyberGhost is established in Romania which isn’t part of the 14 Eyes. This is good news for you since it means their jurisdiction doesn’t mandate them to give any information in any case. Sounds just right, since CyberGhost commits to not keeping any of your IP address, DNS queries, browsing history, and all your Internet activities.

CyberGhost also allows you to choose whether to use a dedicated, static IP instead of a shared, dynamic IP. Both IPs give you the same level of privacy and security, but what’s important to take note of is that the CyberGhost Dedicated IP feature uses an innovative token system. This means that they won’t have any record of your dedicated IP address and it can’t lead back to you, your email, or your CyberGhost VPN account. Oh, before I forget, CyberGhost only has dedicated IP in eight locations which are two cities in each of the UK, the US, and Germany, as well as one city in France and Canada. One more thing, it isn’t free. You will have to pay $5 monthly to get a dedicated IP from CyberGhost VPN as an add-on to your subscription fee. 

Well, that makes sense since CyberGhost does not offer a Double VPN feature which means that there is no second VPN server in the chain that really hides your IP. 

Now, let’s do some testing. Starting off with the IP Leak Test. Here, I used an IP leak test tool from ip leak dot org and as you can see, it will show your IP address first and the result of the IP leak test. We got a positive result here as it shows no leak detected.

Let’s run the DNS leak test next. I will use a simple DNS leak tester in Google. Now, I’m connected to the Los Angeles VPN server. You will see that the DNS leak tester already identified our VPN location. Click on the standard test and it will show your IP address. You will see that only our UK VPN showed up here, that means that we don’t have a DNS leak. If you see other servers not provided by CyberGhost, then you’re in trouble. We got another positive result as it doesn’t show any DNS leaks and even on the second test, we still got another good result so that’s really great. 

Moving on, we will check the exposure of my browser to WebRTC leaks while using CyberGhost. You will see this red box that says WebRTC is not protected and my IP address is exposed to sites that I visit. I can conclude from here that CyberGhost app alone doesn’t make the cut to secure me from WebRTC leaks. Instead, what they suggest is installing plugins or extensions to prevent WebRTC leaks depending on your browser.

For instance, you can install a free plugin called WebRTC Network Limiter when using Google Chrome, it will prevent any WebRTC or Chrome Extension leaks.

With its security features, I have given CyberGhost a rating of 6 out of 10. While it has excellent measures to ensure your privacy, you will have to pay a bit extra for the dedicated IP since CyberGhost doesn’t have the Double VPN feature. It also doesn’t have a built-in feature at the moment to prevent WebRTC leaks.

5. Support & Reliability 8/10

CyberGhost has a 24 7 email and live chat support that is accessible right within their app. I’ve tested it myself and the result goes to show that they are very responsive. I only waited less than a minute before I received a reply from a representative named Darlene. I’ve tried chatting with their team multiple times and they are always quick to respond, in fact their average response time is 2 minutes. Nicko promptly answered my question about Dedicated IP and he also sent me a helpful link about my inquiry! This just proves that they are into first-contact resolution and in these modern times, I think we all love and come to expect it too, right? Additionally, So well done to CyberGhost here.

A quick note to mention is that they don’t provide phone support, so for anyone who is more comfortable speaking to a human being, you won’t be able to with CyberGhost. 

The only reason why I’m not giving CyberGhost a perfect score for their customer service support is because they don’t have phone support. They only have 24/7 live chat and email support which most of their competitors offer as well, but it will be more amazing if you could speak to a representative in urgent cases.

6. Pricing 8/10

Now, let’s talk about money. CyberGhost offers a one month subscription for $12.99. The monthly price will be heavily discounted if you choose to subscribe for a longer period. If you pick up a one-year plan, you will only pay $47.88. Technically, the monthly fee has now reduced to only $3.99 per month.

If you choose the three-year plan instead, you will have to pay $87.75. And with their current promo, you even get an additional 3 months when you get the 3-year plan. Now, this really decreased the monthly price even further to just $2.25 per month. So if you have the budget and are happy with the performance after testing out the VPN provider, I always recommend you to buy the longest plan as this will save you more money.

But if you don’t think CyberGhost is for you, you’re protected with their money-back guarantee within a certain time frame depending on your plan. If you subscribe to a monthly plan, you are entitled to a 14-day money-back guarantee. On the other hand, if you are subscribed to their annual or three-year plan, you can get your money back within 45 days from your registration date. So you have nothing to lose here.

You can pay for any of the plans through your credit card, Paypal, or bitcoins if you prefer the cryptocurrency method of payment to become even more anonymous.

CyberGhost always gets a spot if you look up the cheapest VPNs on the Internet, that’s why I’m giving it a well-deserved rating of 8 out of 10. With its features and benefits, its price ranges are not that bad but there are still other VPNs as equally good as CyberGhost with lower pricing or similar price range but better performance.

Recommendation 8/10

As a summary, I gave CyberGhost a rating of 7.5 out of 10 as it is a great VPN software for beginners. CyberGhost is able to match and beat their main competitors like NordVPN and ExpressVPN on certain features like having the most number of servers, most number of connected devices allowed simultaneously, and the automatic kill switch applicable to all types of devices. However, CyberGhost has a much lower speed compared to other top VPN software out there and it also doesn’t work in China. So, if you’re on your way to China for whatever reason, cross CyberGhost out from your VPN options here.

In general, I recommend ExpressVPN as the best overall VPN software because of its top-tier features and benefits, it works in China as well. If your sole purpose for getting VPN is streaming, then I believe you and NordVPN would make a perfect match with their blazing fast speeds. And lastly, if you want to begin with the cheapest VPN and get the most bang for your buck, then SurfShark will be your best choice. More information on these 3 VPN providers is in the description if you are interested.

If you are already confident in starting today, feel free to click the link in the description to select your CyberGhost package with the best discount. However, if you would like a step-by-step guide on how to set up and use CyberGhost then this next video is for you. But if after watching this review you think CyberGhost is not right for you then this VPN alternative would definitely be the one I recommend you strongly consider. I’ll see you over in that next video.