CyberGhost review 2026: Fast streaming servers at a low long term price

Is CyberGhost good in 2026?

CyberGhost is a fast, easy VPN with one of the best long term prices we have seen. It is run by CyberGhost in Bucharest, Romania, a country with no data retention law, and its no logs policy was checked by Deloitte Audit Romania in 2024 and again in 2025. The network spans more than 11,000 servers in 100 countries, with 10 Gbps servers and dedicated servers for streaming, gaming and torrenting.

Its weak spots are clear too. There is no obfuscation and no multi hop, Disney+ and BBC iPlayer only work on selected servers, and the monthly plan is expensive. To weigh it against every other provider first, see our best VPN rankings, or compare it with our NordVPN review.

Speed and performance

CyberGhost is now one of the faster VPNs we track. It uses WireGuard by default, the lean open source protocol described on the official WireGuard site, and runs 10 Gbps servers that easily handle 4K streams.

Download and upload speeds

In PCMag testing CyberGhost lost just 13.96 percent of download speed and 4.46 percent of upload speed, better than average in every category. Cybernews retested it in February 2026 on a 930 Mbps line and kept 78 percent of base speed on average across major countries. The table below summarises their published results.

Nearby servers come close to your full line speed, while long distance routes to Asia and Australia drop more than they do on NordVPN. If you use the NoSpy servers in Romania, PCMag found them far faster than standard Romanian servers, with a 56.66 percent download loss instead of 98.27 percent.

Latency and gaming performance

CyberGhost is one of the few VPNs with dedicated gaming servers. Cybernews played Counter Strike 2 on the Frankfurt gaming server with a ping of 35 ms, only 10 ms above its baseline, and Quick Connect was close behind at 37 ms. PCMag measured a 92.46 percent median latency increase overall, which is better than average.

• Pick a gaming server near the game server, not near you
• Stay on WireGuard, the lowest latency protocol CyberGhost offers
• Use Smart Rules to connect automatically when you launch a game
• Note that all US gaming servers are in New York, so West Coast players may see higher ping

For competitive shooters, NordVPN still adds slightly less ping, which is why it leads our best VPN for Warzone list.

Does CyberGhost work with streaming services?

Mostly. CyberGhost labels its streaming optimised servers by service, so you choose a server for a specific platform instead of guessing. PCMag found open Netflix catalogs in every region it tested, and Cybernews streamed Netflix in the US, UK, Australia and Japan with no buffering. Disney+ and BBC iPlayer are less reliable.

Netflix recommends at least 15 Mbps for 4K in its internet speed guide, which CyberGhost cleared easily on every nearby server. If a stream shows a proxy error, our guide on how to fix the HBO Max VPN error covers the cache and DNS steps that work for most services. CyberGhost has native apps for Android TV and Fire TV, and its labelled servers are easy to pick with a remote, which is why it features in our best VPN for onn 4K Pro guide.

Security and encryption

CyberGhost encrypts traffic with AES 256 and supports WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2. Its servers run in RAM only, so nothing is stored on a hard drive, and PCMag and Cybernews both found no DNS or IP leaks. An automatic kill switch and DNS leak protection are on every plan.

Key security tools include:

• NoSpy servers, owned and run by CyberGhost in a secure facility in Romania
• Kill switch and DNS leak protection on all apps
• Content blocker, which filters ad, tracker and malware domains on WireGuard
• Privacy Guard on Windows, which turns off telemetry in Windows, Edge, Chrome and Firefox
• ID Guard, which alerts you when your email appears in a data breach

What is missing matters. There is no obfuscation, so CyberGhost is a poor choice on networks or in countries that block VPNs, and there is no multi hop option. The content blocker is also hit and miss, and testers saw YouTube ads get through.

Privacy, logging and audits

CyberGhost's privacy policy says it does not log IP addresses, DNS queries, browsing history, connection timestamps, session length or bandwidth. It does collect anonymous, aggregate counts of connection attempts to plan capacity. Romania does not require VPNs to keep user data, and CyberGhost publishes a quarterly transparency report. In Q1 2025 it received three police requests and had no user data to hand over.

The audit reports are only available to logged in customers, which is less open than Proton VPN, which publishes its reports for anyone. CyberGhost also belongs to the same group that owns ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access, and that group began life as an adware company, which some reviewers, including CNET, still treat as a reason for caution. The EFF guide to choosing a VPN explains why audits and ownership matter.

Apps and devices

Every plan covers 7 devices at once, more than the industry average of five but fewer than Surfshark, which has no limit. The apps share one clean blue and grey design, with a big connect button and server lists grouped by task.

The Windows app is the most complete, and setup takes a couple of minutes, as covered in our best VPN for PC guide. Linux users get a command line tool only, and there is no custom DNS option on any platform.

NoSpy servers and plan limits

NoSpy servers are CyberGhost's premium locations. They run on hardware CyberGhost owns, inside its own data center in Romania, rather than in rented racks. They are faster than standard Romanian servers, but they come with a catch:

• NoSpy is only included on the 6 month and 2 year plans
• You cannot add NoSpy to the monthly plan, even for a fee
• The pricing page does not mention this limit
• Nearby standard servers will still be faster for most people

Torrenting and P2P

CyberGhost has dedicated P2P servers in countries where torrenting is not heavily penalised, with unlimited bandwidth. Cybernews downloaded a 5.27 GB Ubuntu image in just under four minutes on a standard WireGuard server, and CNET had no issues with torrent clients. There is no port forwarding, so heavy seeders may prefer Proton VPN. Keep the kill switch on so your real IP never leaks if the tunnel drops.

Extra features worth knowing

• Dedicated IP add on, from $2.50 a month on the 2 year plan
• Antivirus add on built on the Intego engine, from $1 a month on the 2 year plan
• Smart Rules that auto connect on unknown Wi-Fi or when an app launches
• Browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox that work as a lightweight proxy
• Free trials of 24 hours on Windows and macOS, 3 days on Android and 7 days on iOS

Using CyberGhost for travel and remote work

CyberGhost works well for travel to open countries. On hotel, airport and cafe Wi-Fi it encrypts banking, logins and work email, and with servers in 100 countries you can reach home streaming libraries and banking apps from most places.

For remote work, these features help the most:

• Smart Rules connect the VPN automatically on any new Wi-Fi network
• Dedicated IP keeps one fixed address for company tools that allowlist IPs
• Split tunneling keeps local printers or video calls outside the tunnel
• Seven devices cover a laptop, phone, tablet and more on one plan

Because there is no obfuscation, CyberGhost is not a good fit for countries or networks that block VPNs. Always check local laws before you travel. For a trip to Japan, see how it compares in our best VPN for Japan guide.

Customer support

CyberGhost offers 24/7 live chat, email and a large library of setup guides, but no phone line. Chat starts with an AI assistant, and you can ask for a human agent at any time. PCMag found the agent knowledgeable, while Cybernews waited about 10 minutes at a busy time. Refunds need a chat with an agent rather than a button in your account, and can take up to 10 business days to arrive.