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CyberGhost VPN Review – Can This VPN be Trusted?

April 22, 2022 By Sven Taylor — 57 Comments
VPNCyberGhost
Based inRomania
LogsConnection logs
Price$2.75/mo.
SupportEmail and Chat
Refund15/45 days
WebsiteCyberGhostVPN.com
CyberGhost VPN review

CyberGhost is a larger VPN service that you’ll often see recommended on various websites. But in this new CyberGhost VPN review for 2022, we’re going to take a closer look and put this VPN through some rigorous testing.

First, we should point out that a lot has changed with this VPN over the years. The CyberGhost of today is now owned by Kape Technologies, a security conglomerate that also owns ExpressVPN, Private Internet Access, Zenmate, and a collection of “review” websites.

Interestingly, the parent company of CyberGhost (Kape Technologies, formerly Crossrider) is often associated with malware and adware — but there’s more to this story than you would suspect. We’ll take a closer look at this situation below, but first, let’s examine the pros and cons of CyberGhost.

+ Pros

  • Competitive prices
  • Good leak protection features (kill switch)
  • Live chat support

– Cons

  • Clunky VPN apps
  • Slow speeds
  • Website uses aggressive tracking
  • Broken ad blocker for HTTPS sites
  • Connection logs
  • Overloaded servers
  • Now owned by a conglomerate

After covering the pros and cons, we will examine some frequently-asked questions (FAQs) and discuss a few CyberGhost alternatives.

As with all VPN reviews on Restore Privacy, I begin by thoroughly researching the parent company and the history of the VPN service. In the case of CyberGhost VPN, this research revealed some very interesting issues, which is where we will start…

Who owns CyberGhost? Kape Technologies (formerly Crossrider)

Officially, CyberGhost operates under the company CyberGhost S.A. in Bucharest, Romania. That being said, there’s an interesting history with the ownership of the company and outside investors.

CyberGhost was previously owned by Robert Knapp – a German tech entrepreneur – and based/operated out of Romania. However, that all changed when Knapp sold CyberGhost VPN to outside investors.

In 2017, CyberGhost was acquired by an Israeli company called Crossrider for €9.2 million.

Crossrider Kape CyberGhost

Crossrider changed its name to “Kape Technologies” in 2018 in a move to signal a shift to the privacy and security industry.

Then in October 2018, Kape purchased Zenmate, a German VPN provider, for an undisclosed amount. Later, in December 2019, Kape acquired Private Internet Access. Most recently, Kape bought ExpressVPN for nearly $1 billion, as well as a collection of VPN review websites. This lines up with the trend we’ve observed where VPNs get bought up by outside investors. This a trend in consolidation.

Now here’s where things get interesting…

Crossrider, CyberGhost, and malware

When you research the company Crossrider, you find numerous articles about Crossrider malware and adware, such as this article from Malwarebytes:

Crossrider offers a highly configurable method for its clients to monetize their software. The common method to infect end-users is software bundlers. The installers usually resort to browser hijacking. Targeted browsers are Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and sometimes Opera. Crossrider not only targets Windows machines but Macs as well.

PUP.Optional.Crossrider installs are typically triggered by bundlers that offer software you might be interested in and combine them with adware or other monetizing methods.

According to Malwarebytes and many other reputable online security websites, the Crossrider platform was being used to infect the user’s computer with “adware or other monetizing methods”.

Now let’s look at an example. This article from 2018 illustrates how the “Crossrider adware” was infecting computers through fake Adobe Flash updates:

A new variant of the Crossrider adware has been spotted that is infecting Macs in a unique way. For the most part, this variant is still quite ordinary, doing some of the same old things that we’ve been seeing for years in Mac adware. However, the use of a configuration profile introduces a unique new method for maintaining persistence.

…This new Crossrider variant doesn’t look like much on the surface. It’s yet another fake Adobe Flash Player installer, looking like the thousands of others we’ve seen over the years….

cyerghost malware crossrider kape

Then, in 2018, Crossrider decided to change its name to Kape Technologies.

As the CEO said here, the name change was an attempt to distance Kape from shady “past activities”:

The decision to rename the company, explains Erlichman was due to the strong association to the past activities of the company as well as the need to enhance the consumer facing brand for the business.

CyberGhost even hinted at this ironic conflict of interest in their blog post:

While CyberGhost focused on privacy and security from day one, Crossrider started out as a company that distributed browser extensions and developed ad tech products. Quite the opposite of what we did.

Did Crossrider ever produce malware?

After news broke about Kape purchasing ExpressVPN, we decided to investigate the issue in more detail. For an in-depth analysis, see this article on Crossrider, Kape, and malware.

Ultimately, we learned that Crossrider produced a development platform, which was used to create legitimate apps. However, the Crossrider platform was also being used by bad actors to spread malware. However, it is important to point out that Crossrider was never the creator or owner of the malware.

After seeing this abuse of its platform by third parties, Crossrider completely shut everything down in 2016, changed the leadership of the company, and pivoted to the privacy and security industry. Today, we can see that Kape is continuing to expand its influence in the privacy and security industry, with the latest acquisition of ExpressVPN.

VPNs, malware, and trust

Ultimately, there is no evidence (that I could find) of Crossrider or Kape ever publishing malware. Similarly, I cannot find any indication that CyberGhost VPN is doing anything shady or malicious. I also noted the same in my Private Internet Access review.

With all that being said, there have been other VPNs who were called out for bad privacy practices. I discuss this in my Hotspot Shield review, a VPN that was found to be embedding tracking libraries in its VPN apps. Similarly, malware is often hidden in free VPN services to collect your data, which is then sold by the parent company.

The most recent development with all of this is that Private Internet Access (PIA) has been added to the portfolio of Kape.

Ultimately, choosing a good VPN largely comes down to trust, which is a subjective topic that only you can decide. So now let’s examine the VPN itself.

CyberGhost price and refund policy

The cheapest that you can get CyberGhost for right now is $2.75 per month, but you’ll have to purchase the three-year plan. Monthly plans will be significantly more money at $12.99 per month, as you can see below.

CyberGhost VPN prices

This is on the lower end of the price spectrum, particularly for the longer plans. This makes CyberGhost one of many cheap VPN providers.

The key question with pricing is always value, or what you get for your money. I’d say there are other VPNs that offer more value with certain coupons. NordVPN is comparably priced to CyberGhost, and they also offer a NordVPN coupon for more savings. Similarly, Surfshark is also another cheap option, as we noted in our Surfshark vs CyberGhost comparison.

Refund policy – CyberGhost offers two different refund windows, depending on the subscription plan you choose:

  • 45 day refund window for all plans that are 6 months or longer.
  • 14 day refund window for monthly plans.

This is a pretty good refund policy, and it is apparently “no questions asked” – so they don’t require troubleshooting before the refund is issued. For this CyberGhost review I purchased a one-month subscription via Bitcoin. Getting a refund was not very difficult. There are other VPN coupons here.

CyberGhost VPN apps

CyberGhost offers dedicated VPN apps for:

  • Windows
  • Mac OS
  • Android
  • iOS

Additionally, CyberGhost offers support for Linux, routers, NAS, and Chromebooks. However, without a dedicated Linux app, it’s not the best VPN for Linux you will find.

We’ll take a closer look at the Windows app below to see how it performed in real-world testing.

CyberGhost encryption and VPN protocols

CyberGhost currently supports three VPN protocols in the desktop and mobile VPN apps: OpenVPN, IKEv2, and WireGuard. For encryption, they use an AES 256-bit cipher with a 4096-bit RSA key and SHA256 for authentication with the OpenVPN and IKEv2 protocols. With the WireGuard protocol, CyberGhost uses the ChaCha20 cipher.

CyberGhost now supports WireGuard

CyberGhost also now supports the WireGuard VPN protocol. This protocol usually offers faster speeds and better reliability over legacy VPN protocols. For example, in our OpenVPN vs WireGuard tests, we found WireGuard to significantly outperform OpenVPN with all locations. With CyberGhost, you can use WireGuard with the desktop and mobile apps. You can change VPN protocols in the settings area of the CyberGhost VPN apps:

CyberGhost with WireGuard
CyberGhost supports the OpenVPN, IKEv2, and WireGuard VPN protocols.

As you will see below, however, speeds with CyberGhost were not very good, even when using the WireGuard protocol.

CyberGhost VPN servers (overloaded)

According to the CyberGhost website, they offer about 7,900 servers in 90 countries. This is about on par with ExpressVPN, which we noted in the ExpressVPN vs CyberGhost comparison report. When testing out the CyberGhost VPN apps, I noticed that many servers were overloaded with users. This may explain why speeds were so slow.

In the screenshot below, you can see that many CyberGhost UK servers were overloaded, between 75% to 100% + capacity. And when servers are overloaded, performance suffers and things online take longer.

CyberGhost VPN servers
Many CyberGhost servers were overloaded.

If you need a VPN for the UK, or a UK VPN server, CyberGhost probably isn’t the best choice as you can see above.

CyberGhost servers in Europe seemed to be more congested than servers in the US.

CyberGhost VPN Windows test results

For this CyberGhost review, I tested out the CyberGhost version 8 app on a Windows machine. The app has a minimized design that sits in the bottom-right cover of the desktop, just above the tray. Unlike with previous version, the client can now be moved if you don’t want it stuck above the desktop tray. Here’s the CyberGhost Windows VPN app that we tested for this review:

CyberGhost VPN windows

While minimized, it doesn’t take up too much space. To adjust settings or change servers, you need to click the arrow pointing left, which will expand the app. Unfortunately, the expanded VPN client takes up an enormous amount of space on your desktop. I found this design to be clunky and inefficient. Here is the full layout of the CyberGhost VPN app, which takes up most of the desktop space:

CyberGhost desktop VPN
The CyberGhost Windows VPN client takes up lots of space on the desktop.

When selecting different servers, you can see that CyberGhost categorizes servers for different use cases. This may be useful in certain cases, such as when using the VPN for torrenting, streaming, gaming, or with a dedicated IP. While some people want a VPN with a dedicated IP, there are drawbacks to this as your traffic is not getting mixed with other users (such as with shared IPs).

Overall, I liked the general design when the apps are minimized. However, when changing settings or switching the servers, the apps are quite clunky and take up lots of space. Therefore I would not consider this to be the best VPN for PC.

CyberGhost can be slow to establish VPN connections

Another problem that I had when testing CyberGhost is that it could be really slow to establish connections. This wasn’t always the case, but in many instances, it could take several seconds to connect to a VPN server.

Normally, the WireGuard VPN protocol would solve this problem, since WireGuard has been designed to quickly establish connections (the handshake). And we have even noted this in testing out other VPNs with WireGuard, including NordVPN and Surfshark.

With CyberGhost, however, we found that it was very slow to establish connections, regardless of which VPN protocol we were using. You’d see a “Connecting” notification that would continue for several seconds:

CyberGhost connecting slow

The problems with CyberGhost not connecting seemed to occur randomly. Changing the VPN protocols did not seem to make much difference. I’m not sure exactly what was causing these issues, and support was not able to help much, either.

CyberGhost leak protection settings and kill switch

On a positive note, the new CyberGhost version 8 VPN client offers some good leak protection settings and a functioning kill switch to block VPN traffic if the connection drops. If you are in the CyberGhost Windows client, you can click the arrows on the left side to access the client settings and features.

By default, CyberGhost has the kill switch feature and DNS leak protection options enabled under the “Privacy Settings” tab.

With the kill switch and DNS leak protection settings enabled, I ran some basic VPN tests. These are to check for any data leaks with the VPN apps.

Here were the test results with the Windows VPN client (no leaks):

CyberGhost ip leak test

Similarly, I also tested the CyberGhost Mac OS VPN client and did not find any leaks. The kill switch and leak protection settings seem to be working well.

CyberGhost ad blocking feature

CyberGhost offers an ad-blocking feature, but there are some problems with this VPN ad blocker.

You can find the ad blocker feature under the Privacy Settings in the VPN client. It is an option called “Block content” to block domains for ads, trackers, and malware, as you can see below:

cyberghost ad blocker

I took a close look at this feature and even tested it out in comparison to other VPN ad blockers. The results were not good. Here’s what I noted about CyberGhost in my guide on different VPN ad blockers:

CyberGhost is an interesting case, but not in a good way. Instead of filtering ads and malicious content via DNS requests, they actually look inside the traffic and modify requests to certain domains so they display content from Cyberghost instead.

This is problematic for a few reasons. First, manipulating traffic is something a trustworthy VPN provider should not do – even with good intentions. Secondly, this only works over http since https connections are encrypted and Cyberghost cannot (easily) access that content.

With the CyberGhost version tested for this article, there is no root certificate being installed. But because they are still using the same methods to filter traffic, that means their “ad blocker” does not effectively work on HTTPS websites. Basically, CyberGhost’s ad blocker is barely working, especially since it will be ineffective on all HTTPS websites.

If you want a good VPN ad blocker, there are some better options to consider. I’d recommend checking out other options, see for example CyberSec in the NordVPN review.

CyberGhost VPN speed test results (slow)

For this updated CyberGhost review, I ran all new speed tests with servers in the United States and also the United Kingdom. All tests were conducted on a 500 Mbps baseline connection using the official CyberGhost VPN client.

Note: To test CyberGhost with the fastest speeds possible, I used the WireGuard VPN protocol.

First, I tested servers in the United States. Here was a CyberGhost server in Seattle at about 12 Mbps.

cyberghost VPN speed

This is really bad when you consider that my baseline speed is 500 Mbps. Most VPNs can easily get over 100 Mbps, some can even get over 400 Mbps. This isn’t a good start to the speed tests.

Next I tested a CyberGhost server in Los Angeles, and the speeds were slightly better at 32 Mbps.

CyberGhost VPN speed tests

This is another slow speed test result from CyberGhost VPN.

The last CyberGhost VPN server I tested in the United States was the New York location. It gave me download speeds of 46 Mbps.

CyberGhost server speeds

Ok, so we’re not looking good with US servers. And with 46 Mbps being the fastest speed test result, I’m starting to think CyberGhost is just a slow VPN. Maybe servers in the UK are faster?

For my final CyberGhost VPN speed test, I connected to a server in the UK. The results were dismal at around 6 Mbps.

CyberGhost slow servers in the UK

At 6 Mbps, it’s clear that CyberGhost is not the best VPN for the UK if you value performance.

I’m not sure you can reliably stream video with speeds like this. Even the Tor network is faster (see the VPN vs Tor tests).

To summarize these tests, CyberGhost is not the fastest VPN we have tested. In fact, it’s far below the industry average. One factor affecting speeds is server loads. And as we noted above, many of CyberGhost’s servers are loaded with users, which can slow down performance for all users.

CyberGhost speeds compared to NordVPN

To put the CyberGhost speed tests in comparison, let’s take a quick look at NordVPN. Like CyberGhost, NordVPN also uses the WireGuard VPN protocol. Unlike CyberGhost, however, NordVPN is seriously fast. Above we found the CyberGhost server in Seattle to have download speeds of about 12 Mbps. Here is the NordVPN server in Seattle with download speeds of 445 Mbps:

CyberGhost speeds are slow
NordVPN is significantly faster than CyberGhost.

If you want to see how these VPNs compare in different categories, check out our CyberGhost vs NordVPN comparison guide.

CyberGhost website tracking

Although nearly every VPN service runs Google Analytics to track the effectiveness of their Google ads (which can be important for acquiring customers), some VPNs go overboard with tracking.

Unfortunately, CyberGhost falls into the second category, and I’ve pointed this out before. Here’s what I found when visiting CyberGhost’s website: a whole mess of trackers and third-party cookies.

CyberGhost VPN tracking

This lines up with previous CyberGhost reviews and trackers I found. Not long ago, I found CyberGhost to be utilizing Hotjar session recording scripts on their website. These session recording scripts literally record every interaction you have with the website in a video, which can include payment details and credit card info, and this data is stored on third-party servers.

To be fair, nearly all VPNs have some basic tracking and analytics on their websites, which usually includes Google Analytics. Running a website without any analytics doesn’t work well, because you have no idea what to improve and fix for your readers. Unfortunately, CyberGhost goes a bit overboard here.

CyberGhost support

For support, CyberGhost offers chat, email, and various guides on their website.

I tested out the chat support and it seemed alright.

CyberGhost live chat support

The chat representatives were prompt and helpful in my tests.

CyberGhost offers 24/7 live chat and I was able to connect with a chat representative in under 30 seconds every time I tested it out. I did not test out the email support, but I did find some helpful guides on the website.

Is CyberGhost good for torrenting?

Officially, CyberGhost is a torrenting-friendly VPN service. They are based in Romania, which does not fall under any stringent copyright laws (unlike the United States and DMCA, for example). Many VPNs also restrict torrenting, as we noted in the TunnelBear review.

Regarding their torrenting policy, CyberGhost explained this on their website:

We also have servers optimized for torrenting ensuring a smooth and seamless torrenting experience.

Torrent through a secure encrypted VPN tunnel and leave any surveillance worries behind. Say goodbye to any throttling from your Internet Service Provider and unblock restricted torrent domains!

Within the CyberGhost VPN client, you can select any of these torrenting servers. That being said, not all servers work with torrenting and P2P traffic:

None of the current P2P technologies are illegal per definition, but we have to block P2P protocols on certain servers, either due to strategic (this is traffic that unnecessary slows down other user’s traffic) or due to legal reasons in countries where we are forced by providers to block torrent traffic, among them USA, Russia, Singapore, Australia and Hongkong (China).

In the list of servers you will find a check mark on P2P/Torrent compatible servers.

However, in my research for this CyberGhost review, I also found some complaints. Some CyberGhost users are complaining in forums about getting DMCA notices while using Cyberghost VPN. This could be caused by data leaks, as we noted earlier.

cyberghost VPN for torrenting
Some CyberGhost users are still getting DMCA notices.

There are many better VPNs for torrenting that allow torrenting traffic on every server in their network, while also keeping your connection secure. And let’s not forget the slow speeds, which will also be a drag when torrenting.

Does CyberGhost keep logs?

On the homepage, CyberGhost claims to be a “no logs” VPN provider with a “strict no logs policy”.

Here you can see their claims:

CyberGhost no logs VPN
How “strict” is the CyberGhost no logs policy?

But this is not really accurate.

The CyberGhost privacy policy explains how some connection logs are being recorded.

Additionally, when you log in to your account, you can see that the devices you use with CyberGhost are being logged. Here’s a screenshot from my test account, showing that two of my devices are being logged:

CyberGhost logs account

Based on this information, it is clear that there are some connection logs being maintained. Many VPNs maintain some basic data to enforce the connection policy. CyberGhost, however, goes so far as to log the devices you use and then save this under your account info — all while claiming to be “no logs”.

If you want to see alternatives, there are some good VPNs with no logs that have been verified in real life.

Does CyberGhost work with Netflix?

CyberGhost has generally not worked well with unblocking Netflix. While they always claim to work with Netflix, many of their streaming servers are blocked and unable to get through to Netflix and other sites.

Here’s a previous example of CyberGhost’s streaming server getting blocked out by Netflix:

CyberGhost VPN Netflix

With the latest round of tests, however, I found one CyberGhost server to get through to US Netflix. Overall, it seems that CyberGhost is hit or miss with streaming. It’s not the best Netflix VPN, but it does offer some dedicated streaming servers.

Aside from Netflix, CyberGhost does have a few other servers for different streaming channels around the world. For example, they also have a server if you need a VPN for BBC iPlayer.

Firestick streaming – Streaming on a Firestick with a VPN is increasingly popular, especially since a VPN will unlock more streaming channels for you. Fortunately, CyberGhost does offer an app in the Amazon Store for Firestick. This makes it easier, but there are still the performance issues that may result in buffering and playback issues.

Does CyberGhost work in China?

Because I am not physically in China, I cannot test VPNs there. Nonetheless, I posed the question to CyberGhost staff.

CyberGhost China VPN

The answer is no. CyberGhost does not work in China.

If you are in China or going to China, not to worry. There are still some VPNs that work in China.

Does CyberGhost work for gaming?

When selecting the best VPN for gaming, you’ll want to look for these characteristics:

  • Fast speeds
  • Low latency (ping)
  • Large server network

While CyberGhost does have a large server network, it does not do well with performance. This could really be a problem with gaming, resulting in lag and interruptions. We would not recommend CyberGhost for gaming.

CyberGhost Review 2022 Conclusion

Taking everything into consideration, CyberGhost is somewhat of a mixed bag. They offer user-friendly VPN apps with secure encryption, but there are lots of drawbacks to consider before signing up for this VPN.

Here’s what keeps me from recommending CyberGhost VPN:

  • Troubling history with parent company (Kape, formerly Crossrider)
  • Slow to establish connections and below-average speeds
  • The website uses aggressive tracking
  • Broken ad blocker for HTTPS sites
  • Connection logs
  • Does not work well with Netflix, or in China

One recurring theme I stress here at Restore Privacy is that trust is a major factor when it comes to selecting privacy tools. This is because these tools can also be undermining your privacy and security. With the history behind the parent company (Crossrider / Kape) and the issues with root certificates, there are some red flags, in my opinion. Of course, only you can decide which products and services to trust – and this is a subjective decision.

At the end of the day, CyberGhost still has a lot of work to do – and there are some other great alternatives you could instead consider using.

Alternatives to CyberGhost VPN

Click the VPN name below to read our full review – or grab the discount for the best savings. All three of these VPNs have a 30 day refund window.

  1. NordVPN review  (with a 60% discount coupon)
  2. Surfshark review 
  3. ExpressVPN review
  4. VyprVPN review

You can also check out our guide on the top VPN services for other recommendations.

If you have used CyberGhost VPN, feel free to share your honest review (good or bad) below.

This CyberGhost VPN review was last updated on April 22, 2022 with new information and test results.

About Sven Taylor

Sven Taylor is the founder of RestorePrivacy. With a passion for digital privacy and online freedom, he created this website to provide you with honest, useful, and up-to-date information about online privacy, security, and related topics. His focus is on privacy research, writing guides, testing privacy tools, and website admin.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Felipe

    March 17, 2022

    Connections drop constantly. That cheap 3 years deal looks good until you realize this service is useless.
    Seriously.

    Reply
  2. Ozzy

    March 4, 2022

    I say this,I am a careful reader of your reviews and I always take them seriously.
    I am not using Cyberghost ​​but another vpn you suggest.
    Your review of Cyberghost ​​is complete and thorough and your rating (1.6 / 5) clearly underlines the result that would prevent me from buying it.
    In diameter,on the contrary,the reviews of “users” on a well-known and “trusted” website rate Cyberghost ​​with 4.8 / 5 (96% in favor and 4% against) and I wonder,what is finally happening?
    My question is of course philosophical and I can give some interpretations but maybe yours will reassure me more.

    Reply
    • Sven Taylor

      March 4, 2022

      I have seen “user reviews” gamed in the past, but I’m not accusing CyberGhost of this, I’m just saying that it happens on many venues. I’ve even had some VPNs attempt to bomb the comments section on this site with fake positive reviews, or in the case of one unscrupulous VPN a few years ago, tell their users to go write a bunch of positive reviews to get more free time added to the subscription. We can only write reviews based on our own test results, but test results can vary so it’s up to you to make up your own mind. Fortunately, nearly every VPN has some kind of refund window.

      Reply
      • Ozzy

        March 5, 2022

        Hello,I am satisfied with your reply and I honestly did not expect it to be different.
        I would very much like you to continue writing reviews based on your own test results because that way readers learn the truth and do not make the wrong choice.
        I believe that a good vpn is good everywhere and objective and true review helps the most.
        Greetings from a troubled Europe.

        Reply
  3. Vincent

    February 3, 2022

    Hello,

    and good morning.

    I discover your web site as I am searching for answers about Cyberghost recently installed on my system, that’s causing mega trouble..

    You may not have the answers as I work on Mac OS. I installed this vpn late December, and it appeared to work fine, with however all the caveats that you outlined in your comments above, but overall looked to work OK. I used before that ExpressVPN, but found renewal of my account a bit too pricy, so I switched to Cyberghost.

    Anyway, since a couple of days (is it 45 days ? I need to check) Cyberghost is basically killing the Imac on which I installed it. The reason ? Using 100% of my CPU capacity, which results in basic shut-down of all other functions that have nothing left to operate. (I am sending this mail from my MacBook on which it is not installed…). I trust this CPU overload may be a specific Mac issue that you may not know or have the experience of.

    This problem started suddenly a couple of days ago, and, after some checks, I realized the insane CPU usage issue. I trashed the application, and the Mac started to work fine again. This morning, I reinstalled the app. and bingo, same issue, the Mac almost froze, 100% CPU overload again…

    Do you have experience from Mac users about this issue ? I am ready to completely uninstall the app. but it is cumbersome and not easy, as I need to have Cyberghost open to do so, and of course, this eats up all of my CPU and the computer is so slow that I can barely make it work to undergo the uninstall process.. Managing the CPU issue would at least give me back the functionalities to get rid of the app. This needs to be thorough as the installation of Cyberghost dispatched a lot of files throughout the system, and only a smooth working system can handle a clean uninstall process.

    Thanks for your attention. I’d appreciate any info or advice you may have on this problem. Once again, this might be a specific Mac issue, perhaps some of the users and contributors on this site have an answer and a solution to offer.

    Best regards,

    Vincent

    Reply
    • Sven Taylor

      February 3, 2022

      I would recommend trying a different VPN for your Macbook.

      Reply
  4. Kristijan

    December 22, 2021

    Installed their software about a week ago and from the start nothing but troubles with their Windows version.
    I can get a good connection only from German servers. Others block some of my regular websites I own.
    The main software is full of bugs. It wouldn’t start with Windows, always reporting some error and tech support was completely useless, advising me to do unnecessary steps that had nothing to do with the startup.
    Also, CyberGhost8 was almost always hanging when shutting down Windows. I could never do shutdown and leave because this app would prevent it for some reason.
    Tried many solutions, none produced any results.
    I would not recommend this software. Not at all.
    I am yet to see if they will refund my money.
    Peace!

    Reply
  5. Ivan

    December 2, 2021

    refusal to return the money, in the absence of registration. CyberGhost received all the payment data, the account, the user data, the bank statement on the payment, however, pretended that he did not understand what was wanted from him. Since the office is registered in Romania, in Bucharest, the contact details of the Department of the Directorate General for Tax Fraud on the page: http://www.antifrauda.ro/Direc%C5%A3iile-regionale-antifraud%C4%83-fiscal%C4%83-c-39.html Who has not yet returned the money, write there, according to another, this situation obviously cannot be corrected

    Reply
  6. patrick meehan

    November 30, 2021

    ive used cyberghost for a year now and generally have no issues however many times ghost stops and my torrents are still downloading all the options are enable as per ghost support this leaves me in a very nasty situation i now use VPN watcher which when set up very simple will stop any program listed when the vpn stops now i have no issues as my downloads are overnight speed doesnt matter now im aware some logs are maintained does make me retrhink to renew with cyberghost

    Reply
  7. Raoul

    October 22, 2021

    My experience has not been the same as your’s,I have this browser to be excellent
    and in general Cyberghost Vpn to also be an excellent preformer.
    The internet and reviewers need to stop this reference to Kape,sure they
    may have had some issues in the past/the past is the past,look forward.
    There are more good reviews about Cyberghost than there are bad,and when Kape Technologies
    is mentioned and the reference to a questionable past about injecting malware into programs
    for advertising.Then lets look at the internet in general and also the big guns like Facebook,
    Amazon,and all the others who have been caught doing something underhanded.
    And stop focusing on a company because of the past /look at what they are doing now,
    Cyberghost are one of the top VPN’s in the world.Your are entitled to your opnion,although
    I say your opnion is incorrect,and you mention Cyberghost,s association with Kape and then recommend
    Express VPN who are also under the Kape Umbrella.

    Reply
    • Sven Taylor

      October 22, 2021

      Yes we’re in the process of updating all of our old recommendations.

      Reply
    • RIch

      October 23, 2021

      I agree. The performance with speeds to USA is excellent. It also works where ever I go on business. Nord VPN failed completely in Nairobi and they could not fix it. The pricing is very nickel and dime. You have to leap on any offer as the auto renewal rate jumps up.

      Everyone recommended Nord VPN bu I found it very problematic with failure on MacBook in many countries in Africa.

      Reply
  8. Dipesh Virani

    October 19, 2021

    Cyberghost is the worst VPN service, Their servers are poor and always keep crashing. They say its 45 days money back guarantee so basically they provide good service until 45 days after that they start showing tru colours, VPN stopped working and no one is able to resolve the issue and they will just keep saying you need to format your PC and blah blah and when asked for refund they say its been over 45 days we cannot refund you the money! guys please do not go for cyberghost I was charged to 2 years and I have no service now! I would recommend Surfshark VPN I have used it for 3 years and never had an issues, i just thought to switch to another vpn which was cheaper but i ended up donating the money to Cyber ghost. Alert please do not use cyberghost

    Reply
  9. Grace

    October 2, 2021

    Don’t try this VPN unless you want to lose your payment. I tried the “free” trial which I cancelled on the second day and they refuse to return the payment deducted from my credit card. I should have read the reviews before trying this VPN

    Reply
  10. J Langridge

    September 8, 2021

    If you’re looking for a VPN provider, stay away from CyberGhost. They’ll provide reasonably good service for the first 45 days, then the service will gradually degrade to the point that it’s worthless. You see, they’ll only refund your subscription during the first 45 days.
    I’ve used CyberGhost May 2020 and live in the US. Initially the service was good, but after a couple months, speeds decreased, problems increased, and even though I was supposedly connected to US servers, my connections to other US sites were constantly being blocked because I “was not in the US”. Often times CyberGhost would crash without notice or any type of report, leaving me unknowingly unprotected. I was constantly having to connect to different servers due either to bandwidth issues or issues with the origin of my IP address. Communicating with CybergGhost’s tech support is like playing (email) ping-pong in the dark and only turning the lights on for a second every now and then. It appears to be a one man operation. I’ve cancelled my subscription. My last emails reporting a problem bounced back by the postmaster@kape.com saying the recipient’s mailbox was full.

    Reply
  11. Ian Patterson

    August 30, 2021

    I installed Cyberghost for 24 hours to evaluate. Too slow and didn’t support my NOW subscription in UK from France.
    I uninstalled the app in the usual way. After that I lost my Internet.
    Took me 1/2 day to get the internet back. Tried all sorts of stuff and finally removed all network drivers, etc. and re-installed.
    CB altered something inside the PC and didn’t restore to previous level when removed.
    Not recommended at all.

    Reply
  12. db cooper

    July 11, 2021

    Make sure you read which Linux-based distributions are supported by Cyberghostvpn!!

    I commented earlier re: Cyberghostvpn’s third-party servers. But I want to state that the company advertises Linux compatibility but this is really not the case – at least with Fedora.

    Fedora 34 was released in April (I think) but you cannot use it with Cyberghostvpn. If you try to use Cyberghostvpn’s Fedora command-line connection “app” after installing Cyberghostvpn on Fedora 34 you will get an error message that says, in effect, no compatible version of Fedora softrware was found – and it lists Fedora 29, 30, and 31 as the compatible versions – which is exactly what it shows here https://www.cyberghostvpn.com/en_US/apps/linux-vpn if you scroll down.

    So, Cyberghostvpn is at least three releases behind when it comes to Fedora and – perhaps more importantly – releases up to Fedora 32 are no longer updated by the Fedora developers.

    I chatted with a Cyberghostvpn tech support person about this. He/she apologized but said there was no information when or even if Cyberghostvpn will update its software re: Fedora.

    I haven’t tried to connect using Cyberghostvpn’s command-line tutorial for generic Linux OSes. I want to use Wireguard and the other features that supposedly come with the Cyberghostvpn program.

    Reply
  13. Charles Mowery

    June 13, 2021

    Went from Nord to cyber Ghost. Worst mistake I could make. Ghost takes at least 3 times as long to load, screws up connection so i cannot get on line at all. has very limited slots. is truly a major piece of s**t!!! Only about 4 months into 2 year contract, going back to Nord. Cyber can keep their balance. I will at least have my computer back!!!

    Reply
  14. Bram Lagerweij

    May 2, 2021

    Thanks for the article, my 3y subscription with CyberGost is coming to an end, and I’ll be looking for a different provider because of the privacy concerns. These were clearly set apart in your review.

    I have different experience with the speeds however, mine have been excellent. Both the Dutch and Swizz servers that I’ve been using are working as intended and obtain speeds that I consider reasonable:
    The tests that I performed are using the Ookla speedtest to PhoenixNAP Global IT Services server in Amsterdam.
    No VPN: Ping 70ms, Down 694.54 Mbps, Up 513.50 Mbps
    CG to NL: Ping 70ms, Down 291.02 Mbps, Up 28.50 Mbps
    CG to CH: Ping 99ms, Down 123.75Mbps, Up 30.29 Mbps
    Clearly my upload speed was heavily reduced, but that is not an issue I care about. The download speeds where certainly acceptable. And this was using the OpenVPN connection.

    The slow connection handshake and setup is something that I can agree with, it is especially noticeable from the W10 and mobile app. Weirdly this is caused by the App, not the Server. I noticed this because I also use CyberGosht on Linux (Ubuntu 20.04) using the integrated VPN options of Gnome. There the connection initializes in less then a second. Making me ask why they build such a slow app.

    Then on the topic of Linux support, it is actually better than you might think. And with that I do not mean the horrible command line interface program they offer. But because Linux comes with support for vpn out of the box in a way that ties in nicely with CyberGhost’s way of providing setups for ‘other devices’.
    Take the following actions:
    1. Log in on CyberGhost and in VPN Devices you need to go to “Other”
    2. There you create and save a new connection using OpenVPN (sadly WireGuard is not available)
    3. Then go to view configuration and click the green “Download Configuration” button also write down the “username” and “password” texts, you’ll need these at the end.
    4. Store and unpack the resulting *.zip in an appropriate location (I use “/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/” I know it’s not nice to store it in a root directory, but here are my other nmconnection files)
    5. Go to the network manager in the Gnome settings panel and press the “+” button for VPN’s
    6. The nice trick here is to use the “Import from file” option, where you have to select the “openvpn.ovpn” from the previously unpacked zip.
    7. Everything except for the “User name” and “Password” are now pre-filled. This username and password should be those that you got from your Server Configuration.
    The result is a VPN connection that is remembered by your OS. You can activate it whenever you want directly from you OS without the need to use 3rd party software. The only drawback is that this does not allow you to swich from one country to another, but I prefer this above any the “vpn application” method.

    Reply
  15. Josef

    March 27, 2021

    Hi Sven,

    thank you for this thorough review. I am a customer of CyberGhost for more than 2 years and have 140 days left of my 3-year plan, which I just cancelled.

    I will research more and get a new VPN through one of your links!

    Reply
    • Sven Taylor

      March 27, 2021

      Thank you Josef, I appreciate your support to help the site.

      Reply
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