Overview
CyberGhost VPN is one of the longest-established names in the consumer VPN category, having operated continuously since 2011. The service is operated by CyberGhost S.A., headquartered in Bucharest, Romania. CyberGhost is part of the Crystal Lake Networks group, better known by its parent brand Kape Technologies plc — a multi-brand consumer privacy group whose portfolio also includes ExpressVPN, Private Internet Access and Zenmate.
The product is positioned around three pillars that distinguish it from other large-network consumer VPNs: one-click activity-based profiles (streaming, gaming, torrenting, privacy) that route the user to servers tuned for that purpose; an industry-leading 45-day money-back guarantee on longer plans, materially longer than the 30-day standard; and a Deloitte-audited no-logs policy backed by Romanian jurisdiction outside the 5/9/14 Eyes intelligence-sharing alliances.
Plans, pricing and renewal terms are set by CyberGhost and may change over time — current details should always be verified on the provider's website. This review reflects publicly available product information, our own hands-on testing of the apps where access was available, and neutral external sources at the time of writing.
Streaming profilesOne-click servers tuned for Netflix, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, Prime & more
Deloitte-auditedNo-logs policy independently audited by Deloitte
11,000+ serversOne of the largest networks in the category, across 100 countries
45-day refundIndustry-leading risk-free window on 6-month and longer plans
Pros & cons at a glance
Strengths
- 11,000+ servers — among the largest networks in the consumer VPN category
- One-click streaming and gaming profiles labelled by target service
- 45-day money-back guarantee on 6-month-plus plans (industry-leading)
- Deloitte-audited no-logs policy with public transparency reporting
- Romania jurisdiction — outside 5/9/14 Eyes, no VPN data-retention
- Established privacy brand with continuous operation since 2011
- Reliable for major streaming platforms across multiple regions
- Competitive long-term pricing on 2-year plans
Considerations
- Device limit of 7 — generous, but lower than unlimited-device competitors
- 1-month plans have a shorter 14-day refund window (45 days only on longer terms)
- Renewal pricing is materially higher than the long-term introductory rate
- Kape Technologies parent group ownership is a consideration for users tracking corporate ties
- No double-VPN or Tor-over-VPN routing — single-hop only
Speed & performance
Speed has historically been a moving target for CyberGhost — early in the WireGuard era the apps lagged the fastest competitors — but the 2026 product is competitive. WireGuard is the protocol that delivers near-baseline performance and should be the default for almost every user. CyberGhost has continued to upgrade server-side capacity in line with the rest of the category.
On gigabit fibre lines, well-located WireGuard servers (same country, low latency) typically retain 78–90% of the unencrypted baseline. Cross-continental connections (e.g., EU → US East Coast) generally hold 50–65% throughput — competitive but not class-leading. The 11,000+ server network means there are plenty of low-load options in popular regions, which helps maintain headroom during peak hours.
OpenVPN remains available as a fallback, with the expected speed penalty (often 30–50%) compared to WireGuard. IKEv2/IPSec is offered on mobile platforms and is a sensible compromise when battery efficiency matters more than peak throughput.
The activity-based "streaming" and "gaming" profiles are not magic — they are pre-curated server lists tuned for low latency to specific endpoints — but in practice they consistently land users on faster, less-congested exits than blind country-level selection. For non-technical users, that abstraction layer is a meaningful quality-of-life improvement over scrolling a 100-country list.
Privacy, jurisdiction & logging
CyberGhost states it operates a strict no-logs policy and has commissioned an independent audit by Deloitte. The provider also publishes regular transparency reports documenting law-enforcement requests received and how the no-logs posture has been applied — a long-standing practice that predates many competitors' transparency efforts. Readers should consult the most recent transparency report and audit summary directly via CyberGhost's privacy documentation for current details.
Corporate operations are based in Romania. Romania is outside the 5/9/14 Eyes intelligence-sharing alliances and has no mandatory VPN data-retention laws — both factors that CyberGhost cites consistently in its privacy positioning. Romania is also an EU member state, which the provider points to as an additional consumer-protection advantage compared with offshore-only jurisdictions.
Encryption uses AES-256-GCM on OpenVPN and IKEv2/IPSec, and ChaCha20 on WireGuard — both modern, well-vetted ciphers. Perfect Forward Secrecy is implemented via session-based key exchange. The kill switch operates at the application level, blocking traffic if the tunnel drops, and DNS leak protection is enabled by default.
One ownership consideration worth flagging: CyberGhost is part of Kape Technologies. Kape's portfolio also includes ExpressVPN, PIA and Zenmate. For most consumers this is irrelevant, but readers tracking corporate ties across the privacy industry should be aware of the consolidation pattern in this corner of the market.
Modern protocols & server architecture
WireGuard protocol
CyberGhost supports the modern WireGuard protocol across all native apps, alongside OpenVPN and IKEv2. WireGuard is the recommended default for most users — its lean codebase and ChaCha20 cryptography deliver excellent throughput for streaming, conferencing and general browsing on modern broadband and fibre lines.
RAM-only server architecture
CyberGhost operates dedicated RAM-only NoSpy servers from a Romanian datacenter the provider runs directly. NoSpy nodes are designed for users with elevated privacy thresholds — server state is not written to persistent storage, so nothing remains after a reboot. The broader server fleet uses standard configurations; the NoSpy tier is the explicitly RAM-only / disk-less option.
Features & security tooling
According to CyberGhost's product documentation, the service includes:
- WireGuard, OpenVPN (UDP/TCP) and IKEv2/IPSec protocols
- Server network advertised at 11,000+ servers across 100 countries
- One-click streaming profiles labelled by target service (Netflix, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, Prime, Hulu, others)
- One-click gaming profiles for low-latency routing to game servers
- Torrenting profile with P2P-optimised servers
- NoSpy servers — Romania-based servers operated directly by CyberGhost (premium add-on)
- Kill switch at the application level
- Auto-connect on untrusted Wi-Fi networks
- Split tunnelling on Windows and Android
- Dedicated IP available as a paid add-on
- Up to 7 simultaneous devices per subscription
- 45-day money-back guarantee on 6-month-plus plans per the provider's terms
Streaming & geo-unblocking
Streaming is where CyberGhost most clearly differentiates from peers. Rather than asking users to pick a country and hope a given server unblocks a given service, the apps surface a "For streaming" tab containing labelled, pre-curated server profiles — "US Netflix", "BBC iPlayer", "Disney+ UK" and so on — that route through servers actively maintained for that service. When a profile is in good standing, connecting is genuinely one click.
In practice this works well for the major rights-holder regions (US, UK, Germany, France, Australia, Canada, Japan) and for the major services (Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, HBO Max, Hulu, Apple TV+). When a profile temporarily breaks because the streaming platform updates its detection logic, CyberGhost's larger network gives the team plenty of fallback IP ranges to rotate.
Smart-DNS support is bundled into the apps and is particularly useful on Smart TVs, game consoles and other devices where running a full VPN client is impractical. For sport, regional broadcaster access during major tournaments is well-covered, with low-latency servers in most key broadcast regions. As with every VPN, streaming reliability is a moving target — platforms continually update their VPN-detection systems and individual servers may be temporarily blocked.
Apps & usability
CyberGhost's apps lean strongly into the activity-based metaphor. The desktop apps (Windows, macOS) open to a "Smart Rules"-driven dashboard, with sidebar navigation between "All Servers", "For streaming", "For downloading", "For gaming", "Dedicated IP" and "NoSpy servers". For non-technical users, this is materially friendlier than a 100-country alphabetical list — it answers the actual question ("how do I watch BBC iPlayer?") instead of presenting infrastructure.
The mobile apps (iOS, Android) follow Apple's and Google's design conventions and integrate cleanly with system VPN APIs, including Always-On VPN on iOS and per-app split tunnelling on Android. The Linux client is command-line-driven; advanced users will be comfortable, but Linux desktop users expecting a polished GUI will need to look at third-party WireGuard configs.
Onboarding is straightforward: account creation, app install and one-click connect take well under five minutes. The apps offer sensible defaults (WireGuard, auto-connect on untrusted Wi-Fi, kill switch enabled), so non-technical users get a secure baseline without configuration. Browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox provide a lightweight HTTPS proxy mode for users who only need to spoof their browser's location.
Pricing & plans
CyberGhost's pricing is structured by plan length rather than by tiered feature bundles — the same product feature set is available on every plan length, with the main differentiator being monthly cost. 2-year plans typically come in at around €2.19 per month, which puts CyberGhost firmly in the budget-friendly bracket of premium VPNs alongside Surfshark.
As with most premium VPNs, the introductory price applies only to the first term. Renewal is billed at CyberGhost's standard rate, which is materially higher — set a calendar reminder before your term expires if you want to renegotiate or churn. The 45-day money-back guarantee on 6-month-plus plans is the longest in the consumer VPN category and provides genuinely generous risk-free testing. 1-month plans typically carry a shorter 14-day refund window.
For European users, all plans are billed inclusive of VAT. Payment is accepted via card, PayPal, Bitcoin and other channels for users who prefer pseudonymous billing.
At-a-glance specifications
OperatorCyberGhost S.A. / Kape Technologies
JurisdictionRomania
ProtocolsWireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2
EncryptionAES-256-GCM, ChaCha20
Server count11,000+ (advertised)
Countries100
Server typeNoSpy (RO) + global fleet
Simultaneous devices7
No-logs auditedYes — Deloitte
Refund window45 days (6-month+ plans)
Streaming supportNetflix, Disney+, BBC iPlayer +
Kill switchYes — application level
Customer support
CyberGhost provides 24/7 live chat as the primary support channel, supplemented by an extensive online knowledge base, email ticketing and a community forum. Live-chat response times are typically under a minute during business hours; technical issues are escalated to specialists when first-line agents cannot resolve them.
The knowledge base is well-organised by topic (setup guides, streaming-profile help, troubleshooting, billing) and is generally kept up to date with current app versions. Setup guides for routers, Smart TVs, Fire TV and game consoles are detailed enough for non-technical users to follow without external help. The streaming-profile category in particular is updated frequently as platforms shift their VPN-detection posture.
Refund window & cancellation
CyberGhost advertises a 45-day money-back guarantee on subscription terms of 6 months or longer — among the longest refund windows in the consumer VPN market and a meaningful differentiator versus the 30-day industry standard. 1-month plans typically carry a shorter 14-day refund window; the exact eligibility conditions and cancellation procedure are documented in CyberGhost's terms of service. Read these terms before purchase to understand the refund process.
Cancellation can be initiated from the user's account dashboard or via live chat. Auto-renewal can be disabled at any time without affecting the active subscription term — meaning users keep VPN access until the end of the paid period, then simply lapse without being re-billed.
Who CyberGhost is for
- Streaming-first users who want one-click profiles labelled by service
- Cautious buyers who value the longest refund window in the category (45 days)
- Users who want a Deloitte-audited no-logs policy with regular transparency reporting
- Users who prefer EU/Romania jurisdiction outside the 5/9/14 Eyes alliances
- Households needing up to 7 simultaneous connections across mixed devices
- Non-technical users who want activity-based servers ("for gaming") rather than country lists
- Gamers wanting low-latency profiles routed to popular game-server regions
Users who need unlimited simultaneous connections should consider providers that explicitly advertise that — see our comparison for alternatives like Surfshark. Users who prioritise the absolute fastest WireGuard performance and double-VPN routing may prefer NordVPN.
Editorial verdict
CyberGhost is the most natural recommendation in 2026 for streaming-led, value-conscious users who want a friendly, activity-based interface and the longest refund window in the consumer VPN category. The combination of an 11,000+ server network, labelled streaming/gaming profiles, a Deloitte-audited no-logs policy, Romanian (non-Eyes) jurisdiction and a 45-day money-back guarantee on longer plans delivers a coherent product that punches above its long-term price.
The main considerations are the 7-device limit (vs. unlimited at some competitors), the Kape Technologies parent group ownership for users tracking corporate ties, and the absence of double-VPN routing for the highest threat models. None of these are dealbreakers for typical users, and the 45-day refund window provides exceptionally comfortable risk-free evaluation.
Frequently asked questions
Where is CyberGhost VPN based?
CyberGhost VPN is operated by CyberGhost S.A., headquartered in Bucharest, Romania. Romania is an EU member state and has no mandatory VPN data-retention laws, which the provider cites as a privacy advantage.
How long is CyberGhost's refund window?
CyberGhost advertises a 45-day money-back guarantee on subscription terms of 6 months or longer — among the longest refund windows in the consumer VPN market. 1-month plans typically have a shorter 14-day window. Verify the current terms on the provider's site.
Has CyberGhost been audited?
CyberGhost states its no-logs policy and security posture have been audited by Deloitte. The audit summary is referenced in CyberGhost's transparency documentation, which is published on the provider's website.
Who owns CyberGhost VPN?
CyberGhost is part of the Crystal Lake Networks group, also known by its parent brand Kape Technologies. Kape's portfolio also includes ExpressVPN, Private Internet Access and Zenmate.
How many devices can connect simultaneously?
The provider advertises up to 7 simultaneous device connections per subscription. Verify the current device limit on the CyberGhost pricing page.
Does CyberGhost work for streaming?
CyberGhost offers dedicated one-click streaming profiles labelled by service (Netflix, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Prime Video and others). Streaming reliability can change as platforms update VPN-detection systems — check the provider's current support documentation.
How much does CyberGhost cost?
CyberGhost pricing varies by plan length. Long-term plans (2-year) typically offer the lowest monthly rate, often around €2 per month. Always verify current pricing and renewal terms on the provider's checkout page.
Does CyberGhost keep logs?
CyberGhost states it operates a strict no-logs policy that has been audited by Deloitte. The provider operates from Romania, a jurisdiction without mandatory VPN data-retention obligations.
Does CyberGhost support the WireGuard protocol?
Yes. CyberGhost supports WireGuard across all native apps alongside OpenVPN and IKEv2. WireGuard is the recommended default for most users.
Does CyberGhost use RAM-only servers?
CyberGhost operates dedicated RAM-only NoSpy servers from a Romanian datacenter the provider runs directly. The broader server fleet uses standard configurations; the NoSpy tier is the explicit RAM-only / disk-less option.
