CyberGhost VPN Review – Can This VPN be Trusted

This is another slow-speed test result from CyberGhost VPN.

10 Best VPNs for Torrenting in 2023: Safe, Fast + Hidden

I torrent a lot but hate when my internet service provider throttles my P2P speeds. It’s also infuriating when my ISP randomly decides to restrict access to a popular torrenting site. Plus, I hate that random creeps in the torrent swarm can see my IP address and use it to track my online activities, which compromises my privacy.

Using a VPN solves all those problems, but choosing a good VPN for torrenting isn’t easy — many VPNs don’t allow P2P traffic on most of their servers, and the ones that do lack essential security features or have very slow download speeds.

So, I tested the top VPNs in 2023 to see which ones are actually good for torrenting. All the VPNs on this list allow torrenting on tons of servers, provide strong security features, and have fast P2P speeds.

Please Note: Neither I nor anyone at SafetyDetectives condones doing anything illegal. Please consult with local rules and regulations to ensure you are aware of the law as it pertains to your jurisdiction.

Quick summary list of the best VPNs for torrenting in 2023:

• 1.�� ExpressVPN — Best overall VPN for torrenting in 2023.
• 2.�� Private Internet Access — Great for blocking ads on P2P sites.
• 3.�� CyberGhost VPN — Great for automating secure P2P connections.
• 4. NordVPN — Great for avoiding malicious downloads.
• 5. Surfshark — Good server network for torrenting.
  
• Plus 5 more!
• Comparison of the Best VPNs for Torrenting in 2023

��1. ExpressVPN — Best VPN for Torrenting in 2023

ExpressVPN is the best P2P VPN on the market — it allows torrenting on servers in 90+ countries, has the fastest download speeds out there, provides industry-leading security features, and is extremely easy to use.

Since it has P2P servers in so many countries, it’s easy to use nearby servers for fast downloads. In fact, ExpressVPN provided me with blazing-fast P2P speeds on both nearby and distant servers — on average, it only took me 10 minutes to download a 30 GB file on local servers in my home country of Romania (I downloaded the same file without ExpressVPN in 9 minutes, so the slowdown was almost non-existent), and about 15 minutes to download the same torrent on distant servers in the US, Japan, and Australia.

ExpressVPN offers excellent privacy and security while torrenting — it has a strict no-logs policy that has been verified by independent security audits and also comes with:

• Full leak protection — All of ExpressVPN’s apps provide built-in protection against DNS, IPv6, and WebRTC leaks. I ran multiple leak tests while torrenting on servers in 20+ countries, and I never experienced any leaks. Only ExpressVPN’s IP addresses showed up, while my real IP address remained hidden.
• Threat Manager — This feature stops your device from communicating with ad trackers (which could log your P2P site preferences) and blocks connections to malicious sites, so it can protect you from shady P2P websites.
• RAM-only servers — This means none of your data is saved to the hard drive, so every time a server reset is performed, all data is wiped.
• Perfect forward secrecy — Changes the encryption key for each VPN session so that hackers can’t compromise past or future encryption keys to spy on your P2P traffic.

I also like that ExpressVPN comes with split-tunneling, a convenient feature that lets you pick which apps use the VPN connection and which apps use your local network. I used this feature to only send P2P traffic from my qBittorrent app through ExpressVPN, while I used my local network to surf social media and access Netflix.

ExpressVPN has very intuitive apps for all devices, including a router app (very few VPNs have this) that supports port forwarding, which lets you connect to more peers to get faster downloads — the router app is very easy to install and use, so it only took me around 6–7 minutes to set it up on my router and enable port forwarding.

ExpressVPN is a bit pricey, but it honestly offers the best value — especially if you opt for the yearly plan that costs €6.26 / month and includes 3 additional months for free! Also, ExpressVPN comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

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Bottom Line:

ExpressVPN is my favorite P2P VPN in 2023 — it allows torrenting on all of its servers in 90+ countries, has the fastest download speeds on this list, provides high-end security and privacy features that protect your P2P traffic, and also has very user-friendly apps, including a router app that supports port forwarding. ExpressVPN backs each purchase with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

��2. Private Internet Access — Great VPN for Blocking Ads on P2P Sites

Private Internet Access (PIA) has P2P servers in 80+ countries and comes with the best ad blocker, which is called PIA MACE. So it’s a good pick if you want to avoid pop-up and potentially malicious ads on P2P sites.

I tested PIA MACE on most of my favorite torrenting sites, and it always got rid of all ads. And on top of blocking ads, PIA MACE can also block connections to malicious torrenting sites (like ExpressVPN’s Threat Manager feature).

I also really like that PIA provides high-end privacy while torrenting — its no-logs policy has passed independent audits, and it has been proven true many times in court. In addition, all of PIA’s apps are open-source, meaning anyone can inspect the code for security vulnerabilities. I also like that PIA comes with advanced security features like full leak protection and RAM-only servers.

Like ExpressVPN, PIA supports port forwarding, but I think PIA is more convenient, as it offers built-in access to port forwarding on all platforms, except iOS — you only have to enable an in-app setting and connect to a VPN server, and PIA will automatically assign a port to you. My only minor complaint is that PIA doesn’t support port forwarding on its US servers (ExpressVPN allows port forwarding on all server locations).

You also get SOCKS5 proxy support, which changes your IP address but doesn’t encrypt your traffic — so you get much faster P2P downloads.

And PIA has pretty fast torrenting speeds — it only took 15 minutes to download a 30 GB torrent on local servers and 20 minutes to download it on distant servers. Plus, I like that the VPN displays the server ping (how long it takes for your device to exchange data with a VPN server), as this metric helps you find servers with fast speeds. Even so, ExpressVPN still provided me with faster P2P speeds, as the same 30 GB file took 5 minutes less to download on local and distant servers.

PIA also allows unlimited connections, so everyone in your household is able to download files at the same time on their devices. And I confirmed this works — all my family members connected to a PIA server (we had 11 total devices), and we all had stable connections.

Private Internet Access has very affordable plans that start at just €2.06 / month. It backs each purchase with a 30-day money-back guarantee

CyberGhost VPN Review – Can This VPN be Trusted?

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 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 is 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….

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. Unfortunately, the Crossrider platform was also being used by bad actors to spread malware. What is important to point out here is 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 that 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.

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 $2.19 per month, but you’ll have to purchase the 2 Years + 2 Months plan. Monthly plans will be significantly more money at $12.49 per month, with the 6 Months plan at $6.99 per month, as you can see below.

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:

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. And if you need a VPN for Apple TV, you can try using CyberGhost on a router.

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:

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.

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.

Speaking of servers, CyberGhost also does not have any double VPN servers. We find double-VPN servers with NordVPN, as well as Surfshark and Proton VPN.

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 on the bottom-right cover of the desktop, just above the tray. Unlike with the 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:

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:

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:

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):

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:

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 Logging

On their homepage, CyberGhost proclaims a No Logs Policy.

Here you can see their claims:

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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 Netflix and streaming

Viewing content from Netflix regional libraries is one of the most popular uses for a VPN. To view content from multiple regions requires a VPN that can defeat geo-blocking software. Some VPNs can, others can’t. CyberGhost can, to a limited extent. 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:

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

When it comes to streaming in general, CyberGhost does have a few 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 app works well enough, but there is still the problem that the performance of the network is so slow that it may result in buffering and playback issues.

Torrenting and P2P with CyberGhost

Officially, CyberGhost is a torrenting-friendly VPN service with a specific set of servers available for torrenting. They are based in Romania, which does not have the kind of stringent copyright laws we have in the United States with the DMCA. Many VPNs restrict torrenting, as we noted in the TunnelBear review so by definition, CyberGhost is better than them.

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.

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.

CyberGhost support

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

I tested out the chat support and it seemed alright.

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.

CyberGhost VPN FAQ

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about the CyberGhost VPN:

Is CyberGhost good for torrenting?

We would not recommend using CyberGhost for torrenting. During our testing, we didn’t find any leaks that could jeopardize your privacy while torrenting. However, several CyberGhost users have complained of receiving DMCA notices while torrenting, which makes us very nervous. In addition, CyberGhost is extremely slow uploading and downloading data, which could make torrenting tedious.

Is CyberGhost good for Netflix and streaming?

CyberGhost supports Netflix and other streaming services. But most of the time CyberGhost failed to connect to Netflix using their special streaming servers. We had similar results with other streaming services. While we were sometimes able to get through, most of the time we were blocked. We do not rate CyberGhost as good for Netflix or streaming.

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.

Does CyberGhost work in China?

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

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 slow down internet?

All VPNs slow down your internet connection to some extent. But CyberGhost had a very large impact in our testing. It slowed our internet connection drastically in all tests. If you need a fast internet connection, CyberGhost is not a good option for you.

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 68% 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 May 30, 2023, with new information.

About Sven Taylor

Sven Taylor is the lead editor and founder of Restore Privacy, a digital privacy advocacy group. With a passion for digital privacy and accessible information, he created RestorePrivacy to provide you with honest, useful, and up-to-date information about online privacy, security, and related topics.

Reader Interactions

Comments

1. Roland Wright September 10, 2023

10/09/2023 Hi installed CyberGhost yesterday ,had trouble getting it to work every time i stared it my internet wifi stopped, sent Cyber a message, I got it to work but could not get good speeds( i have a 1 Tb virgin service running at 525 download and 100 upload with VPn 42 download and 50 upload sent message to Cyber, then could not get Cyber to start up again so sent another message to Cyber.The worst thing is apart is apart from auto reply Cyber Ghost has never replied, The Speed is all over the place very poor and unstable I am trying to cancel my account but CyberGhost never reply, In my opinion stay away.
Roland

TCIA August 24, 2023

Thanks Sven
for this article.
Based on a year experience with CyberGhost VPN
The product was not only found dubious, unreliable and untrustworthy.
Fair trade is an expression they have no idea of, know nothing about, never heard of?
Rip off seems to be their expertise, skill, talent.
Support vocabulary is one of impostors.

Roberto July 15, 2023

I do not trust them when it comes to their no log policy. In their Transpareny reports on privacy hub, they mention that they block“ domains and ips“ which they think are connected to something illegal or malicious. How would they know though if they truly kept „no-logs“? At the very least, this means that traffic HAS to be monitored unless I‘m missing something? Care to clarify Sven?

al July 12, 2023

Avoid this company at all costs.
They have been secretly charging us for 2 months after we informed them in writing that we wish to unsubscribe.
Users be aware that they make it impossibly hard for you to unsubscribe and when you even sent them a letter telling them YOU DO NOT want to be subscribed and keep getting charged, they still go on charging you for 2 more months.