VPNs today are being used by more users than ever before. People turn to VPNs to bypass geo-restrictions, to get through restrictive firewalls, and to block ads, for example.

So VPN providers’ feature lists are getting bigger and bigger. This can make it harder to compare VPN providers and get an accurate picture.

So in this post, we put Private Internet Access and CyberGhost VPN head to head to see which one we can recommend over the other.

CyberGhost VPN vs Private Internet Access - Side By Side

Name	Private Internet Access	CyberGhost VPN
Rating	8.5/10	7.0/10
User Friendliness Score	9	7
General features
Price per month (cheapest)	$2.69	$2.25
Simultaneous Connections	10	7
Servers	3292	2000
Countries	46	180
Allows torrenting / P2P	Yes	Yes
Streaming
Netflix	No	Yes
Hulu	No	Yes
Amazon Prime	Yes	Yes
Disney+	No	Yes
Security
Supports TOR	No	No
Split Tunneling	Yes	No
Router Support	Yes	Yes
Unlimited bandwidth	Yes	Yes
Refund Period	30 Days	45 Days
Free trial	No	No
Desktop Operating Software	Windows, MacOS, Linux	Windows, MacOS, Linux
Mobile Apps	iOS, Android	iOS, Android
Browser Extensions	Yes	Yes
VPN Protocols	IKEv2, OpenVPN, WireGuard, L2TP/IPSec, PPTP	IKEv2, OpenVPN, WireGuard, L2TP/IPSec
Encryption	AES-256	AES-256
DNS Leak Protection	Yes	Yes
VPN Kill-switch	Yes	Yes
Rent/Own Infrastructure	Rent	Rent
Hacked	No	No
Malware/Ad Blocker	Yes	No
Privacy
Logging Policy	No-logging Policy	No-logging Policy
Privacy Policy	Good, but could be easier to understand.	Good
Jurisdiction	U.S.A.	Romania
Out of 14 eyes	No	Yes
Warrant Canary	No	No
Accepts Cryptocurrency	Yes	Yes
Sign-up Information Required	Only Valid Email	Only Valid Email
Speed (average)
Avg. Ping NY	28.33 ms	284.67 ms
Avg. Download NY	Over a 100 Mbps Network (Download): 94.35 Mbps	Over a 100 Mbps Network (Download): 90.42 Mbps
Avg. Upload NY	Over a 30 Mbps Network (Upload): 25.05 Mbps	Over a 30 Mbps Network (Upload): 35.60 Mbps

1. Speed

Using a VPN will inevitably create some overhead and latency (i.e. slowdowns). But the slowdown should be as small as possible.

Let’s see how PIA and CyberGhost VPN compare on speed.

Private Internet Access

Tested on a 100Mbps (Download) and 30Mbps (Upload) network

Server: U.S.A., New York

Average Download Speed: 94.35Mbps

Average Upload Speed: 25.05Mbps

CyberGhost VPN

Tested on a 100Mbps (Download) and 30Mbps (Upload) network

Server: U.S.A., New York

Average Download Speed: 95.19Mbps

Average Upload Speed: 8.56Mbps

We’re looking at the difference between my ISP bandwidth and the speed test results. And we can see that on download, bot providers do essentially equally well.

This is good download performance on both providers’ networks.

On upload, however, Private Internet Access is the clear winner. Upload speeds are typically faster than download speeds because ISPs provide many more download channels than upload channels on their networks.

The upload speed over CyberGhost VPN gets slowed down significantly. This could even be an issue for some resource-intensive online games.

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2. User-Friendliness

As VPN use keeps growing, user-friendliness will remain a high priority for commercial VPN providers.

Private Internet Access and CyberGhost VPN both supply native client applications on all major platforms. And they both provide unlimited bandwidth.

PIA and CyberGhost support:

• Windows
• macOS
• Linux
• iOS
• Android
• FireTV

And they both provide Chrome/Firefox browser extensions - with PIA also providing an Opera browser extension.

In terms of app design, I think CyberGhost’s app does a better job. It is easier to navigate without getting lost in a sea of menus and switches. Though PIA’s app is still perfectly useable.

For simultaneous connections, Private Internet Access allows up to 10 connections, while CyberGhost VPN allows up to 6.

As far as customer support is concerned, I didn't need to contact them for either provider while writing my CyberGhost vs. Private Internet Access post. Everything just worked as expected.

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3. Streaming

Streaming over a secure VPN connection gives you the following benefits:

• The security benefit of a fully encrypted connection
• Mitigating ISP bandwidth throttling
• Bypassing geo-restrictions

And since the Netflix VPN ban which started in 2018, unblocking Netflix access has become a priority for some (though not all) VPN providers.

Private Internet Access brands itself as streaming-friendly, but they are unable to unblock Netflix. They’re not actually trying - they define themselves as a privacy company more than a media unblocking service. 

CyberGhost, on the other hand, states that it’s streaming-friendly while also unblocking Netflix easily. They also have a dedicated page on their website explaining how to access Netflix. 

You can read more about this in my Netflix reviews of PIA and CyberGhost VPN.

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4. Security & Encryption

Private Internet Access and CyberGhost VPN both support secure VPN protocols.

Private Internet Access supports: 

• IKEv2/IPSec
• OpenVPN
• WireGuard
• L2TP/IPSec
• PPTP

CyberGhost VPN supports:

• IKEv2/IPSec
• OpenVPN
• WireGuard
• L2TP/IPSec** CyberGhost has dropped support for L2TP/IPSec in the latest version of their app.

Both providers also support the industry-standard cipher: AES-256.

However, WireGuard uses more modern and perhaps more secure ciphers:

• ChaCha20
• Curve25519
• BLAKE2s
• SipHash24
• HKDF

While both providers support secure VPN protocols, including the new WireGuard protocol, until recently, they both also supported weak and obsolete protocols, like L2TP/IPSec and, in PIA’s case also PPTP.

I’ve written it before and I’ll write it again: weak protocols should not be supported by commercial VPN providers. That practice puts less technical users at risk. These protocols should be phased out.

And, I just learned that in the latest version of their client apps, CyberGhost VPN has dropped L2TP/IPSec support. This is a very good move on their part.

CyberGhost offers only secure VPN protocols to their users.And I hope to see more VPN providers go down that path.

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5. Logs & Privacy​

Private Internet Access and CyberGhost VPN both commit to a strong no-logging policy. Let’s take a look at how do they communicate this in their privacy policies.

While we know that Private Internet Access doesn’t log (they’ve proved it), they don’t make a big deal about their no-logging policy on their website.

If we turn to TorrentFreak’s Which VPN Providers Really Take Anonymity Seriously in 2020? guide, we find the following statement from PIA:

"We do not store any logs relating to traffic, session, DNS or metadata. There are no logs for any person or entity to match an IP address and a timestamp to a current or former user of our service. In summary, we do not log, period. Privacy is our policy”.

Their actual privacy policy is rather bland and generic - it feels like a legal template. And that's disappointing. Still, they’ve proven their trustworthiness.

Here’s an excerpt from CyberGhost VPN’s privacy policy:

“CyberGhost has an unequivocal company policy: the strongest observance of data protection and uncompromising protection of user privacy. When using the CyberGhost VPN, we have no idea about your traffic data such as browsing history, traffic destination, data content, and search preferences. These are NOT monitored, recorded, logged or stored by us. More than this, when using the CyberGhost VPN, we are NOT storing connection logs, meaning that we DON'T have any logs tied to your IP address, connection timestamp or session duration. We do NOT have any access to the credit card information you submitted to our payment processor and we DO NOT connect your payment or information with any kind of online activity done by you inside the CyberGhost VPN tunnel. We provide a service that protects privacy. We take your data very seriously and we put a lot of effort to ensure safe storage and protection of your data. We believe you should always know what data we collect and how we use it. This document (Privacy Policy) defines and informs you of any and all of the instances in which your data and information is collected and used”.

This does seem better than PIA’s privacy policy. However, that quote really is the highlight of the whole policy. The rest of it is just as bland and generic as PIA’s privacy policy.

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6. Pricing​

Let’s focus our attention on price now. Here’s a list of the different packages, prices, and accepted payment methods for Private Internet Access and CyberGhost VPN:

Private Internet Access

Visit Private Internet Access (SAVE 73%)

Private Internet Access offers three subscription terms:

• 9.95 USD for one month of service
• 39.95 USD for one year of service (works out to 3.33 USD per month)
• 69.95 USD for two years of service (works out to 2.69 USD per month)

Payment Methods

• Credit card
• PayPal
• Amazon pay
• Mint
• Interac
• Many cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin

CyberGhost VPN

Visit CyberGhost VPN (SAVE 77%)

CyberGhost VPN also offers three subscription terms:

• 12.99 USD for one month of service
• 47.94 USD for six months of service (works out to 7.99 USD per month)
• 49.50 USD for 18 months of service (works out to 2.75 USD per month)

Payment Methods

• Credit card
• PayPal
• Bitcoin

Private Internet Access is less expensive than CyberGhost VPN across the board. And they support many more payment options than CyberGhost as well.

I think this one is just a no-brainer…

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7. Torrenting​

Both PIA and CyberGhost VPN support torrenting extremely well. 

Private Internet Access, as it does with streaming, doesn’t really mention torrenting on their website, but torrenting it just works on all PIA servers.

CyberGhost VPN, for its part, offers a subset of dedicated P2P VPN servers on their network. These servers are grouped under the “For downloading” header within the CyberGhost app.

And torrenting over CyberGhost VPN’s network worked extremely well too.

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8. Other Features​

• Private Internet Access provides an ads & tracker blocker (MACE)
• Private Internet Access supports split tunnelling

• CyberGhost VPN has a trust deficit.

Outstanding Features​

Private Internet Access

• Split Tunnelling: PIA supports split tunneling or selective routing. Using selective routing you can, for example, route your Internet traffic through the VPN tunnel without blocking access to your LAN network in order to access internal resources you may have on your network, such as a file server. Or, you could select certain applications’ traffic through the VPN, while sending other application’s traffic through your ISP network. It is very flexible and can be set up to accommodate almost any scenario.
• MACE: Private Internet Access also provides an ads & tracker blocker, accessible from within its apps. Turning on the feature activates what is called DNS blackholing. What DNS blackholing does is check your DNS requests against a blocklist. If any of your requests match the blocklist, the connection is dropped (blackholed). This way, you won’t be assaulted with all the annoying adverts that pop up all over the Web and your privacy will be enhanced.

CyberGhost VPN

• The bottom line is that CyberGhost doesn’t have any distinguishing features over Private Internet Access. There are no features offered by CyberGhost VPN which aren’t matched by PIA. While PIA has a few features (like the ones mentioned here) that CyberGhost simply does not offer. And while both companies may be owned by the same parent company, PIA has a trustworthy history, they’ve been audited and their policies have been proven “in the wild”. So while we’re not enthusiastic about their ownership, until they breach user trust, I consider PIA to remain a trustworthy VPN provider and would recommend them over CyberGhost.

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Conclusion: PIA vs CyberGhost VPN

So who wins? 

We had eight categories

We give the winner in each category one point. And both providers get a point in the event of a tie.

The breakdown is as follows:

• Speed - (PIA)
• User-friendliness - (PIA)
• Streaming - (CyberGhost VPN)
• Security & Encryption- (CyberGhost VPN)
• Logs & Privacy -  (PIA)
• Pricing - (PIA)
• Torrenting - (Tie)
• Other Features - (PIA)

So that’s 6 points for Private Internet Access and 3 points for CyberGhost VPN.

The results reflect what I already knew: Private Internet Access is the better provider. They fare better on features, on price, and on trust.

So we can confidently (though with more caution than before their acquisition) recommend Private Internet Access over CyberGhost VPN.

CyberGhost VPN

Go With CyberGhost VPN if:

• You can live with a questionable VPN provider.
• You don’t mind paying more for less.
• Your main reason for using a VPN is for streaming or torrenting.

Visit CyberGhost VPN (SAVE 77%)

Private Internet Access

Go With PIA if:

• You want to save a few bucks while still getting a high-quality VPN service.
• You want an easy way to block ads & trackers.
• You don’t need to use a VPN with Netflix.

Visit Private Internet Access (SAVE 73%)

For more information on these two VPN providers, take a look at our CyberGhost VPN and our Private Internet Access reviews.

Thanks for reading!