CyberGhost VPN
If you value security and anonymity, then Cyberghost VPN is a good VPN service that we recommend.
What we like
- Easy to set up
- Good security
- Good privacy policy – does not collect any logs
- Reliable connection
What we don’t like
- Price is more expensive than other competitors
- Connection speed is not as fast
There has been no lack of VPN services in the market. Everyday there is a new VPN service launching at a price lower than the rest and claiming to have a speed faster than the rest. How true the claim is we don’t know, but one company stands out after years of being in the VPN industry: CyberGhost. CyberGhost has been around for quite some time and is rather popular. In this review we take a look at CyberGhost VPN and see if it is a solid VPN provider that is worth your money.
Background of CyberGhost VPN
CyberGhost was founded in 2011 in Bucharest, Romania. Its current team of over 45 staff is based both in Romania and Germany. Over the years it has added plenty of servers to its service and currently has over 1700 servers all around the world. The main aim of the company is to provide unrestricted access to all its users in regards to information and data online while maintaining Internet anonymity.
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Pricing
The pricing for CyberGhost VPN includes the following options:
- $11.99 billed monthly
- $59.88 billed yearly ($4.79 per month)
- $90.96 billed every two years ($3.79 per month)
- $99 billed every three years ($2.75 per month)
As most VPN services, the longer period you contract to pay for it, the lower the cost per month. Though when compared with other VPN providers, CyberGhost’s pricing is slightly on the higher side.
Setup and OS support
CyberGhost doesn’t provide free VPN services, so you have to purchase a plan before you can start using it. Once you have purchased and set up your account, you can then proceed to set up the VPN connection.
The setup process is easy but not straightforward. Before you can download the software for your computer, you have to first go to the “My Devices” section on your account page. Click on the “Add Devices” button, and it will prompt you to select the OS of your computer. As can be seen from the screen, it only allows you to add up to seven devices.
For Windows and MacOS, you have to download the CyberGhost software and install it in your system. For iOS and Android, it will send you to the respective app store to download the mobile app. For Linux, there is no software to install, and you have to configure the VPN connection manually.
This is how the CyberGhost software looks in Windows.
There are six tabs to choose from: Surf Anonymously, Unblock Streaming, Protect Wi-Fi, Torrent Anonymously, Unblock Basic Websites and Choose My Server. Depending on what you want to do, you can click on the appropriate tab to connect to the VPN. If you are more technically inclined, you can select the “Choose My Server” option to manually select the server that you want to connect to.
From the list of servers, you can filter down to those that are “most empty” (less congested) or “most crowded,” or the fastest and most suitable for “nospy” or “torrenting.”
Connection speed
When connecting to a VPN, it is important that VPN speed is fast so you won’t experience any lag in your Internet connection. To test the VPN connection speed, I did a speed test before connecting to CyberGhost VPN that can be seen in the following image.
This image shows the speed after connecting
As you can see, the connection speed (both download and upload speed) has been cut in half.
For a comparison, the folowing is the connection speed when connected to another VPN service:
It is pretty obvious that the connection speed is not that good on Cyberghost. As I am on a Fibre broadband, the reduced speed doesn’t really affect browsing and website loading. It is only when I started to download large files that can I feel the effect of the lower speed.
Privacy
One concern when using VPN is whether the VPN provider will collect and keep logs of your browsing activity, since that is the main thing that we want to prevent when using a VPN. In the CyberGhost’s privacy policy, it states:
CyberGhost has an unequivocal company policy: the strongest observance of data protection and uncompromising protection of the user privacy. Therefore, when using the CyberGhost VPN, the user’s traffic data such as browsing history, traffic destination, data content and search preferences are not monitored, recorded, logged or stored by the Company. More than this, when using the CyberGhost VPN, we are not storing connection logs, meaning that we don’t have any logs tied to your IP address, connection timestamp or session duration.
The only information they have of you is your email address, username, password and payment information, which are essential for them to provide the VPN service. Other than that, all other data they collect (like website usage information, IP address etc.) is anonymized and not linked to the user’s activities.
Security
CyberGhost prides itself as a secure company and does provide a few tools to improve its security. When you connect to the “Surf Anonymously” option, it will block malicious websites, block ads, block online tracking, automate HTTPS redirect. In the settings you can also configure it to use Cyberghost DNS servers which will then prevent DNS from leaking your location.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Easy to set up
- Good security
- Good privacy policy – does not collect any logs
- Reliable connection
Cons
- Price is more expensive than other competitors
- Connection speed is not as fast
Conclusion
If you value security and anonymity, then Cyberghost VPN is a good VPN service that we recommend. However, if you are looking for a cheaper and faster option, then Cyberghost is not for you.
Damien Oh started writing tech articles since 2007 and has over 10 years of experience in the tech industry. He is proficient in Windows, Linux, Mac, Android and iOS, and worked as a part time WordPress Developer. He is currently the owner and Editor-in-Chief of Make Tech Easier.
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