CyberGhost Review 2023: Does it deserve its status as the best VPN?

As the competition intensifies, CyberGhost VPN continues to rise. However, is this VPN above all its competitors? In our full test below, we are going to share our opinion on CyberGhost VPN. At the end of this article, you will know all the specifics of the tool which aims to be a complete cybersecurity solution.

Introducing CyberGhost VPN

CyberGhost VPN was established in 2011 in Bucharest, Romania. Its success is quite dazzling since it brings together 67,000 users in its first year. Its infrastructure is growing rapidly and in 2015 the provider has 5 million users. Even if these figures are impressive, we are still a long way from 6,500 servers and the 15 million users around the world that it has today.

Over time, this VPN has earned a great reputation for online security and anonymity. In 2011, it was even the first player in the sector to publish a Transparency Report. As you will see below in our CyberGhost review, it is also the VPN that offers the largest network of servers. So you can connect virtually anywhere in the world, with ease.

CyberGhost clearly displays its objective: to defend digital freedoms and preserve the privacy of Internet users thanks to its Virtual Private Network service. Today, we must recognize that it is thanks to actors like him that freedoms are better respected. It is one of the most premium VPNs at the moment, with proven reliability and security.

Comment installer le VPN CyberGhost ?

Before installing CyberGhost VPN on a computer (or a smartphone), it is necessary to subscribe to one of its subscriptions in order to create an account . Then this VPN installs like any other software. It will not take you more than a few minutes to be able to use it. The entire installation is easy to understand, even for the most novice.

For your computer (Mac or Windows), first download the file from the official website. Then open the file and follow the instructions of the installation guide by validating the different steps (introduction, license, destination, type of installation and installation). To finalize the operation, you must authorize the addition of the VPN configuration to your electronic device. A window to validate this will automatically appear.

From then on, the logo will appear in your menu bar and you will have easy access to the application. To install the app on iPhone or iPad, you will need to go to the App Store. For Android smartphones and tablets, it will have to be downloaded from the Google Play Store. You will only have to log in to the application using your credentials.

Note that in its “Help” section, CyberGhost VPN provides many installation guides for several platforms. You can find the detail of each step with many screenshots. That said, if you’ve ever installed software in your life, everything will be intuitive. With millions of users, CyberGhost has really worked the procedure. Our opinion on CyberGhost is very positive, from the first steps.

How to use this VPN?

As soon as the application is installed on your device (computer, tablet, mobile), it is functional. And the advantage with CyberGhost is that there is no need for instructions to use it. Thanks to the intuitive interface of its application, getting started is quick: this is the key to use without the hassle. At this level, CyberGhost is clearly one of the best VPNs in 2022 .

After selecting the location of your choice from the list of countries offered, you can connect to it in one click. There are servers in 89 countries, you will have a wide range of possibilities.

READ ExpressVPN Review: Should You Be Wary of This VPN in 2022

We did the test with a server in France. Between clicking the connect button and connecting to the VPN, barely 5 seconds passed. We can then easily see the new French IP address that has been assigned to us as well as our connection time. In short, a flawless start to our review of CyberGhost VPN.

Connecting to the Paris server of CyberGhost VPN

It is also possible to automate the connection by clicking on “Best Server” if you do not need a particular location. It will then provide you with the fastest server taking into account your physical location and the load distribution of nearby servers. It is a tool to be anonymous as quickly as possible, while enjoying the best connection speed of the moment. Depending on your location, the best VPN server chosen by CyberGhost may therefore vary.

In the settings, the provider relies on simplicity by offering only a few basic features. By the way, note that the Kill Switch is already integrated. This mode allows you to automatically disconnect from the internet if CyberGhost records a disconnection. This way, your ISP won’t be able to see (even for a few seconds) what sites you’re browsing. It is an additional security that becomes a standard over time.

Unsurprisingly, CyberGhost supports major VPN protocols, namely iKEv2, WireGuard, and OpenVPN. This may not tell you much, it’s normal. By default, the VPN selects the most suitable protocol for you. Most users are unfamiliar with these concepts, so you don’t have to worry about them.

This test was performed on Mac but the application is similar on Windows, Android and iOS. We will now begin our CyberGhost review by focusing on the security of the software. As you can imagine, this part is in itself the most important for such software. You have to be able to be totally anonymous and confident.

Security analysis according to CyberGhost

We could not make an opinion on CyberGhost without mentioning its security aspect, a notion that is put forward by the latter. The VPN is by definition a cybersecurity software, so it must be irreproachable on this. And in relation to this, there are several points to consider.

Is the “No log” policy respected?

The first good point we wanted to highlight is that CyberGhost is not part of the 5 Eyes alliances (nor of the 9 Eyes or 14 Eyes) since it is based in Romania. This country therefore does not enter into these demanding data retention laws, as one might have in the United States. This allows CyberGhost to fulfill its mission well and to apply a true no-log policy.

CyberGhost users are therefore guaranteed that no connection logs or activity logs will be kept. Its privacy policy confirms this strict commitment to the confidentiality and protection of its customers’ data. CyberGhost is placed in our comparison of the best no-log VPNs on the current market.

In addition, only a minimum of personal information is collected. They are linked to the user account: name, e-mail address and only partial payment data for possible refund requests (or cancellations) of orders. This information is never associated with any activity on the VPN’s servers anyway, since no backups are made.

On its website, CyberGhost VPN provides its Transparency Reports published each year since 2011, which reinforces its legitimacy. If you do not believe the word of the VPN service provider or our opinion, we invite you to read them for free. Our CyberGhost VPN review is really very positive: it is one of those that pays the most attention to security.

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Screenshot CyberGhost

Comment CyberGhost garantit votre protection ?

In addition to its strict privacy policy, CyberGhost VPN works daily to maintain a high level of protection service. For this, it supports several key features to ensure your safety (and anonymity) on the web.

Hiding your IP address

Today, it is increasingly difficult to be anonymous when surfing the Internet. You are immediately spotted and betrayed by your IP address, this identification number assigned to each of your connected devices. The websites visited are then able to identify you, as well as your geo-location. Likewise, your ISP will know precisely what you watched. He may, if necessary, forward it to the competent authorities.

Fortunately, CyberGhost VPN is able to hide your IP address by replacing it with one belonging to its large private and completely secure network. You are therefore anonymous and drowned among all the connections, making your detection impossible. You can also select yourself the IP address of your choice among the thousands of IP addresses available across 89 countries.

By activating your Virtual Private Network you will therefore be completely anonymous: no websites or hackers will really be able to know where you are. It is also particularly useful for unblocking geo-restricted content, but we will come back to this a little later in our CyberGhost review.

Discover CyberGhost

State-of-the-art encryption

As soon as you connect to CyberGhost VPN, you enter a kind of secure tunnel between you, your VPN’s independent servers and the net. All of your online activity is then encrypted using the AES 256 key, one of the strongest in 2022. This military-grade encryption prevents anyone from observing what you do online, including very nosy advertisers and your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Moreover, did you know that the latter had the obligation to keep the connection logs of each client for 2 years?

Coupled with the camouflage of your IP address, this encryption secures your traffic which is impossible to decipher. You can carry out so-called risky activities such as online banking without fear, even connected to Wi-Fi terminals in public places. In short, our CyberGhost review is still positive on this point.

Screenshot CyberGhost

La fonction Kill Switch

L’application CyberGhost peut être utilisée en toutes circonstances tant elle est fiable. Pour preuve, le fournisseur possède une fonction Kill Switch qui, comme un bouton d’arrêt d’urgence, va bloquer votre trafic web en cas de déconnexion du VPN.

Far from being there to annoy you, the Kill Switch aims above all to protect you. Indeed, by cutting your web traffic during an interruption of your VPN connection, you will no longer be able to access the site, software or mobile application on which you were. Thus, no data will pass through and your real IP address will always remain hidden.

We were able to experience this and as soon as it returned to normal, the internet connection was restored on its own. In general, these interruptions occur only rarely: in the event of a power outage, network outage, VPN failure or sometimes when your computer goes to sleep.

Without this Kill Switch feature that can save you, our CyberGhost review would definitely not have been so good.

A blocker of dangerous sites, trackers and advertisements

More than a simple VPN that would just hide your IP address and encrypt your traffic (which is already very good), CyberGhost goes further by offering features that are supposed to add an extra dose of confidentiality. It positions itself as a real cybersecurity solution with tools that could be found elsewhere. This is not found among its competitors.

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By checking certain boxes, you will be able to:

• Block ads for a better user experience
• Block sites and malware for optimal protection
• Block online tracking and storage of your activities
• Be automatically redirected to the https version of websites for enhanced security

CyberGhost login features

All of this is accessible from the settings in the “Connection features” tab. As soon as your CyberGhost VPN is connected, these functions apply immediately. It’s a good way not to multiply the software / applications on your device, to gain speed.

CyberGhost peut-il contourner les blocages ?

When browsing the internet from home, from work, from school or from a foreign country, you may face blockages. They may be related to your geographical location, network filtering or government censorship.

Whatever the reason, the VPN is certainly the best solution to remedy this and access the desired content. Is it still necessary that the Virtual Private Network be powerful enough to circumvent all these blockages. This is what we will see with the CyberGhost VPN in the rest of our review.

geo-restriction

Each territory has its own content. Most of the time, copyright and distribution rights limit the access of Internet users according to their geo-location. By changing your IP address and locating yourself in one of the 89 countries available, CyberGhost VPN is perfect for enjoying unlimited internet.

Thanks to its dedicated streaming servers, you can access several French and international TV channels, no matter where you are located. It will also be of great help to you to access your favorite streaming platforms with its dedicated servers for platforms like Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, etc. During our tests, no proxy or VPN detection messages appeared and we were able to enjoy the US, Canadian and English Netflix catalogs without problems.

Blocking network administrators

Sur certaines connexions internet opérées via les réseaux d’entreprises, d’universités, d’écoles ou même d’hôtels, il n’est pas rare de se heurter à certaines censures. Pour contourner les blocages administrateurs, le VPN CyberGhost est parfait car il chiffre toutes vos activités lorsque vous naviguez sur internet. Ne sachant pas ce que vous faites, le réseau ne pourra rien vous interdire et aucun site ne sera inaccessible.

In addition to filtering, public access points are not secure and it is necessary to activate your VPN to prevent certain malicious people from seizing your personal information.

Tester le VPN CyberGhost

Internet censorship

In Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Tunisia, Turkey or China, government authorities have implemented digital censorship and actions aimed at controlling the activities of Internet users. Many people use VPNs to circumvent these blocks.

For an objective opinion, we also have to talk about the negatives and it turns out that CyberGhost VPN fails to work in all these countries. While this isn’t a problem for the majority of users, it’s still a shortcoming. If you are planning a visit to one of these territories, you should turn to ExpressVPN instead.

On the other hand, in the United Arab Emirates – a country in which VPNs, sports betting sites and online casinos are banned – the provider works smoothly and with disconcerting stability. So you have to test on a case-by-case basis. In any case, CyberGhost remains the VPN with the largest network of servers in the world, far ahead of ExpressVPN.

READ Malwarebytes

Will this VPN slow down your connection?

We thought it was relevant to mention speed in our CyberGhost VPN review because it is a question often asked by internet users. To find out what impact VPN will have on your connection speed, we ran a series of speed tests from France.

To start, we first calculated our ping without a VPN connection, which was 9 ms and recorded our download (241.49 Mb/s) and upload (202.10 Mb/s) speeds.

We then connected to a French server on the CyberGhost VPN app and took these same steps. Here are the results obtained: 14 ms, 144.80 Mb/s and 193.16 for a nearby server. At this point, it’s really hard to feel the difference in throughput and response time. We had no issues or slowdowns performing our usual activities or streaming video.

Finally, we carried out the experiment with a server based in the United States, a little further than our geographical area. The results vary a little: we obtained a higher ping of 110 ms, a download speed of 80.00 Mb/s and 67.19 Mb/s in upload, a connection speed which remains very correct. You should know that the further away the server you choose, the slower the speed will be. This is normal, and it is for everyone.

We found many irregularities during our tests with speeds that varied from server to server in the United States. The results above are therefore an average that we have observed over several tests. You may get better results or slower speeds.

Par ailleurs, si vous voulez les meilleures vitesses, il est possible de trier les serveurs selon leur pourcentage d’occupation. Moins les utilisateurs seront nombreux, moins les serveurs seront chargés et plus la connexion est censée être rapide. Bien que ça ne marche pas toujours aussi bien qu’on l’aimerait, c’est tout de même un outil très intéressant.

Overall, the VPN didn’t greatly impact our connection speed. Although we observed rather good throughput and no latency, our opinion of CyberGhost is a little more mixed on this level when compared to ExpressVPN , for example. That said, it definitely ranks in the Top 3 fastest VPNs on the market.

Is this VPN good for streaming?

CyberGhost est l’un des rares VPN à posséder des serveurs dédiés au streaming et au téléchargement, ce qui rend l’expérience agréable. En cliquant sur l’onglet de votre choix, vous pourrez y accéder rapidement. De plus, ses serveurs possèdent une bande passante illimitée et le VPN ne ralentira pas vraiment votre connexion.

With its servers dedicated to streaming, the provider will be able to meet your needs and your search in record time. You won’t have to look for the server that works for this or that platform since it’s indicated directly below the country: “optimized for Netflix UK” or “optimized for Disney+”. You will be able to unblock any site by simulating a new IP address, regardless of your actual location. This is specific to CyberGhost that is not found in others, such as ExpressVPN for example. Another good point in our CyberGhost review.

CyberGhost servers optimized for streaming

Regarding remote machines for downloading, it works the same way. Moreover, in view of the risks for downloading content protected by copyright, many Internet users use CyberGhost for torrenting. Its private and secure network guarantees a flawless connection by hiding the IP address and encrypting user activities. There’s no way to trace them back. That said, we can only strongly advise against using a VPN for this.

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Discover CyberGhost

What is the price of CyberGhost VPN?

To complete our CyberGhost VPN review, we necessarily had to talk about its price. Is this supplier often referred to as the best option in terms of quality / price ratio worth its title? Let’s find out now.

Three offers available

CyberGhost plans are adapted to everyone’s budget and needs. To subscribe to its service, you have 3 choices:

• l’offre 1 mois à 11,99€ / mois
• the 12-month formula costs you €3.75 / month
• the 3 years + 3 months free will only cost you 2€ / month

All these packages are to be paid at once.

© CyberGhost

If the supplier highlights its long-term offer at -83%, it is because it is worth the detour and offers a real advantage for your wallet. If you’re on a tight budget or just don’t want to spend huge amounts of money on a VPN, the 3-year plan is the best compromise in our opinion.

You will benefit from all the features of the VPN, namely optimal security and anonymity, unlimited access to its 6,500 servers and excellent connection speed. Before finalizing your purchase, the supplier also offers an optional password manager. The price is €19.99 for one year, which is quite reasonable. This is quite useful when Internet users are asked to better secure their access with complex passwords.

45-day “satisfied or refunded” guarantee

If the subscription for 3 years + 3 months free is the most interesting, it is because it also gives you the right to a 45-day trial. This duration is more than enough to get an idea of ​​the application. If it does not suit you, you can request a full refund of your purchase (i.e. €78 if you have chosen the 39-month subscription) from customer service.

The 45-day money-back guarantee applies to all users, without any conditions. In the end, you won’t have paid anything. On the contrary, you will even have been able to use the application for 45 days for free. CyberGhost VPN is the only technology provider to offer such a long trial period. It’s a small advantage worth highlighting in this CyberGhost review.

Tester le VPN CyberGhost

Please note that if you subscribe to the monthly subscription, your trial period is shortened to 14 days. This is completely normal, and CyberGhost does not need to justify itself for it.

Is CyberGhost support effective?

Si notre avis sur le VPN CyberGhost est plutôt favorable jusqu’à présent, cette partie consacrée à son service client devrait le rendre encore plus positif. Pour résoudre un problème sur l’application ou pour poser une question, plusieurs possibilités :

• live chat for instant response
• the online application form
• the guides from the “Help” section

The preferred way to get in touch with CyberGhost technical support members is via live chat available 24/7. To get an immediate response and resolve your query in minutes, this is one of the best options. The VPN is also faster than most of its competitors. Whether you are a customer or not, the support is of the same quality.

In addition, this instant messenger has a portal in several languages: English, German or French. You will therefore have no problem in expressing your complaint. When testing its customer support, we were surprised by the speed of the connection and the fact that the exchanges are carried out with a real adviser, and not a robot.

For the slightest question, it’s really practical to know that we can count on competent technical teams who even speak our language.

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What to do in case of a bug with CyberGhost?

In this CyberGhost review, we also want to tell you what to do if you ever encounter a problem while using the software. CyberGhost may be an excellent VPN provider, but it can run into a few issues from time to time.

The first may be related to conflicts with other VPN apps you may have installed on your device. If ever there are such conflicts, remember to remove the other VPN connections in the network settings to avoid any difficulty.

Of course, also remember to always have your application up to date to take advantage of the latest versions of the application and thus avoid any problem related to an outdated version.

Finally, as we saw earlier in this CyberGhost review, the provider may experience significant operating difficulties in censored countries such as China or Russia. In these cases, unfortunately, there is not much you can do. Indeed, this is not a technical problem related to the application, but rather a larger problem that is related to the very functioning of the VPN.

Therefore, if you have problems with CyberGhost in a censored country, it is better to choose another VPN, which works in all countries, such as ExpressVPN. Apart from the latter, the others are also struggling to position themselves anywhere in the world. That doesn’t mean they aren’t secure if you log in from anywhere else in the world.

Sur combien d’appareils peut-on installer l’application CyberGhost ?

You will certainly be happy to know that your CyberGhost subscription is not intended to cover just one device. Thanks to your subscription, you will have the possibility to install and use the VPN application on 7 devices in parallel .

The 7 simultaneous connections are perfect for protecting all your devices and allowing family and friends to enjoy them. Since it is possible to activate it at the same time on different connected media, there is no need to restrict your access or that of your loved ones. Everyone can benefit from the VPN simultaneously.

To best adapt to all profiles, the application is available on several operating systems: macOS, iOS, Windows, Android and Linux. It is also compatible on many devices: computers, tablets, smartphones, connected television, game consoles and it can even be configured on a router. Note that we also tested it on the big screen and we can validate the speed and efficiency of CyberGhost VPN on Smart TV and via the Amazon Fire TV Stick.

Verdict: Why we recommend CyberGhost

Most user testimonials agree that they are very satisfied with the service and that CyberGhost meets their expectations. It also gets a very good rating from a reference review site.

Screenshot Trustpilot

Today, after this complete test, we are not going to contradict these CyberGhost reviews since we have not found any elements that really go against them. On the contrary, we were very positively surprised by the supplier’s comprehensive service and the sleek design of its application. Its infrastructure of 6,500 servers located in 89 countries convinced us perfectly. Aside from circumventing censorship in some extreme countries, CyberGhost clearly deserves its status as a world leader.

Visit CyberGhost

The quality / price ratio is quite incredible when you think of all that this VPN can offer us on a daily basis in terms of security, anonymity on the internet and activities such as streaming and downloading.