What is a VPN?
A VPN protects one’s privacy by routing their web traffic through an encrypted connection to a remote server, shielding their personal information and making one harder to track online. It’s a powerful kind of tool. CyberGhost is one such VPN.
What is CyberGhost?
CyberGhost is one of the best VPNs to buy that the experts have tested. It boasts the largest network of VPN servers that people have yet seen. This VPN allows a generous seven simultaneous connections.
It has also expanded its reach beyond VPNs with other security tools. But the service is expensive, has yet to undergo a third-party audit, and doesn’t have the full complement of VPN features that people have come to expect from top-tier products. Let us see the CyberGhost review 2022.
How much does CyberGhost cost?
A subscription with CyberGhost starts at $12.99 per month. That’s quite a bit higher than the current industry average of $9.96 per month and significantly higher than the €5 per month ($5.99 at time of writing) that Editors’ Choice winner Mullvad charges.
Like most VPN services, this VPN offers a discount for longer subscriptions. The CyberGhost annual plan costs $47.88, its two-year plan costs $83.76, and the oddly timed three-years-and-three-months subscription costs $87.75.
Considering that the average annual plan among the VPNs that experts have tested is $72.33, CyberGhost’s plans are extremely tempting. One must note that while CyberGhost sometimes alters its billing structure, any introductory rates are listed with the future rate as well.
One must keep in mind that monthly customers must pay an additional $59.88 per year in order to access CyberGhost’s high-security NoSpy servers. Customers who sign up for any plan that’s longer than a month get NoSpy servers for free.
How to purchase a CyberGhost plan?
One can easily purchase a CyberGhost plan with major credit cards or PayPal. But they can also pay anonymously with Bitcoin. Paying with Bitcoin means giving up the chance to purchase some of the add-ons supplied by CyberGhost, however, but more on that later. If one is keen on a pure cash transaction, both Editors’ Choice winners IVPN and Mullvad VPN allow cash payments made to their respective HQs.
Benefits of a subscription to CyberGhost
A subscription to CyberGhost lets one use seven devices simultaneously, making it a good value for a household with lots of devices. The industry average for VPN companies is five devices, but that seems to be slowly changing in consumers’ favor.
Top 5 VPNs in 2022
Here is a list of the top 5 VPNs in 2022.
- ExpressVPN
- CyberGhost
- Access
- NordVPN
- Surfshark
Pros of CyberGhost
- Large, well-distributed server fleet
- Allows up to seven simultaneous connections
- Several add-ons, including antivirus
- Outstanding speed test scores
Cons of this VPN
- Expensive
- No third-party audit
- Confusing privacy policies
What does this VPN offer for the money it takes?
CyberGhost VPN offers NoSpy servers, which it says are specially tuned servers in a high-security server facility in CyberGhost’s home of Romania. This is similar to ProtonVPN’s Secure Core servers in that they also have increased physical security.
CyberGhost does not provide multi-hop connections at all. Access to NoSpy servers cannot be added to an existing subscription and experts were unable to test them this time.
In addition to VPN protection, CyberGhost boasts that it provides malware and adblocking. Noone tested the efficacy of these features in any VPN products, but generally, it is advisable to use standalone tracker blockers and antivirus software.
CyberGhost VPN cannot route one’s traffic through the Tor anonymization network—although a VPN is not required to use Tor. CyberGhost does, however, include split tunneling. This lets one exempt specific URLs from traveling through the VPN connection.
CyberGhost offers dedicated IP addresses, which ensure that their traffic always appears to come from the same IP address and perhaps look a little less like VPN traffic.
The company boasts about its tokenized system for dispensing dedicated IP addresses without maintaining records of who actually uses which IP. Dedicated IP addresses are available in Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the US for $5 per month on top of CyberGhost’s subscription fee.
What is the addition to the CyberGhost arsenal?
The biggest addition to the CyberGhost arsenal is CyberGhost Security Suite for Windows. It is an additional $5.99 per month with the purchase of a VPN subscription.
Final pricing varies based on the length of the subscription. Under the hood, Security Suite for Windows includes antivirus protection provided by Intego, a Privacy Guard tool designed to protect one’s information from Microsoft, and Security Updater.
This keeps tabs on one’s apps that need updating. This tool is available to anyone with a CyberGhost VPN account but is only supported on devices running Windows 7, 8, or 10.
CyberGhost VPN’s antivirus is powered by Intego, which has traditionally been a Mac antivirus company. Previously, it was noted that it performed particularly badly at detecting Windows malware in third-party lab testing. That’s a bit ominous for its inclusion in a Windows-only antivirus package.
VPN protocols
There are many ways to secure a VPN connection, and the new hotness is WireGuard. This VPN protocol promises better speeds and newer encryption technology compared with other VPN protocols but is so new that it isn’t widespread quite yet.
It is also open-source, meaning it can be picked over for potential vulnerabilities by anyone with the interest to do so. CyberGhost VPN is one of the few products that support WireGuard across all its platforms, which on its own is an impressive list: Fire Stick TV, Android, Android TV, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows, and various routers.
CyberGhost also supports the excellent and open-source OpenVPN on all its platforms except for macOS. IKEv2, another favorite VPN protocol, is available on Amazon Fire TV Stick, Android, Android TV, iOS, macOS, and Windows.
Servers and server locations
CyberGhost has about 7,000 servers across 91 countries, making it one of the largest and most-varied services we’ve reviewed. While the vast bulk of its servers is in the UK and US, it’s still a good global mix with a better-than-average showing for Africa and South America, two continents often ignored by VPN companies.
CyberGhost does offer servers in regions with repressive internet policies, such as China, Hong Kong, Russia, Turkey, and Vietnam. In its breadth of locations, this VPN is only outdone by ExpressVPN, which has servers across 94 countries.
