ExpressVPN Vs. CyberGhost VPN - In-Depth Comparison

The feature lists of commercial VPN providers keep getting bigger and bigger. This is because VPNs have gone mainstream in recent years.

And the reasons people use VPNs have grown as well. From bypassing geo-restrictions to blocking ads, VPNs are doing a lot more today than simply encrypting your traffic.

Given the massive feature sets that are becoming the norm for commercial VPN providers, it can be difficult to determine which VPN provider is right for you.

So in this CyberGhost VPN Vs. ExpressVPN post, we compare both VPN service providers to see if one outperforms the other.

ExpressVPN vs CyberGhost VPN - Side By Side

1. Speed

Speed is always going to be towards the top of the list of priorities for VPN providers. Privacy (read: encryption) will of course create some overhead and cause a certain slowdown. But it should be as subtle as possible.

Let’s see how ExpressVPN and CyberGhost VPN compared on speed in our 2020 tests.

ExpressVPN

Tested on a 60Mbps (Download) and 30Mbps (Upload) network

Server: U.S.A., New York

Average Download Speed: 60.76Mbps

Average Upload Speed: 26.91Mbps

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

What we want to look at is the difference between my ISP bandwidth and the speed test results.

With ExpressVPN, there was barely any speed hit at all. My download speeds averaged 60Mbps, which is exactly the bandwidth supplied by my ISP. Upload took a small hit, but nothing worth worrying about.

On CyberGhost VPN’s side, the download performance was also very good. We took a small speed hit, but nothing major.

On the upload side, however, the speed hit was very significant. I could see this being a problem for video calls, uploading large files or certain network-intensive online games.

Both networks have changed since then. ExpressVPN now uses its own Lightway protocol by default, and CyberGhost has added WireGuard to its apps. Both protocols are fast, so expect better speeds from both than in our test, especially on fast fibre connections. Your result will also depend on how far you are from the server.

2. User-Friendliness

User-friendliness is more important than ever to commercial VPN providers because VPN users are no longer exclusively tech geeks in search of digital privacy.

A lot of non-technical people also now use VPNs for various reasons.

Both ExpressVPN and CyberGhost VPN provide native client applications on all major platforms. And of course, they both provide unlimited bandwidth.

Both providers support:

• Windows
• macOS
• Linux (CyberGhost's Linux app works from the command line)
• iOS
• Android
• Fire TV and Android TV

And they both provide Chrome/Firefox browser extensions.

Both apps include a VPN kill switch and both apps support split-tunnelling on most platforms, which is more and more popular these days.

Split-tunnelling enables you to selectively route certain traffic through the VPN and other traffic through your ISP connection.

And each provider’s app is well designed, easy to navigate, and clearly laid out. Both offer 24/7 live chat support.

As far as simultaneous connections go, CyberGhost allows 7 devices at once. ExpressVPN used to allow only 5, but now allows at least 8, and more on its higher plans.

3. Streaming

Streaming over a secure VPN connection enables you to bypass geo-restrictions and to circumvent ISP throttling, on top of the security benefit you get from the encryption.

And since certain providers, such as Netflix, have started banning VPNs from accessing their content libraries, unblocking Netflix access has become a major concern for VPN providers.

ExpressVPN and CyberGhost VPN both make the claim that they’re streaming-friendly providers and that claim extends to unblocking Netflix.

ExpressVPN and CyberGhost VPN both provide a dedicated page on their respective websites that explains how to unblock Netflix over their networks. CyberGhost also labels servers in its app by the streaming service they're optimized for.

As you can read in my Netflix reviews of ExpressVPN and CyberGhost VPN, they both do what’s written on the box and they both do it extremely well.

4. Security & Encryption

ExpressVPN and CyberGhost VPN both support only secure, modern VPN protocols today.

ExpressVPN supports:

• Lightway (its own protocol, open source)
• OpenVPN
• IKEv2/IPSec

CyberGhost VPN supports:

• WireGuard
• OpenVPN
• IKEv2/IPSec

Both providers support AES-256, the industry-standard cipher that has no known vulnerabilities.

WireGuard and Lightway are the modern options. WireGuard uses modern ciphers such as ChaCha20 and Curve25519, and has a small code base that is easy to audit. Lightway is ExpressVPN's answer to WireGuard: also light and fast, built on the wolfSSL library, open source and audited by an outside firm (Cure53).

When we first wrote this comparison, both providers still offered weak, obsolete protocols: L2TP/IPSec, and in ExpressVPN's case also PPTP. Both have since dropped them, and we're glad they did.

Both apps also come with a kill switch and DNS leak protection, and both include a blocker for ads, trackers and malicious sites.

5. Logs & Privacy

Both ExpressVPN and CyberGhost VPN commit to a strong no-logging policy. Both say they don't log your browsing history, traffic destination, data content or DNS queries, and don't keep connection logs tied to your IP address, connection timestamps or session duration.

ExpressVPN's privacy policy is clear, contains little legalese, and can be understood by non-techies. CyberGhost's privacy policy states the same no-logging promise just as firmly, but much of the rest reads like a template privacy policy you could download from the Web.

A policy is only a promise, though. So let's look at what backs it up.

ExpressVPN has had its no-logging claims and its servers checked by several outside firms, including PwC and KPMG, and its apps and Lightway audited by others, such as Cure53. Its servers run entirely from RAM (it calls this TrustedServer), so nothing is stored on a disk. And in 2017, Turkish investigators seized one of its servers and found no logs on it, which is about the best real-world proof a VPN can get.

ExpressVPN isn't spotless, though. In 2021, it emerged that its then chief information officer, Daniel Gericke, had worked on hacking operations for the United Arab Emirates before joining the company, and had settled charges over it with the U.S. Department of Justice. ExpressVPN chose to keep him on.

CyberGhost publishes a regular transparency report listing the requests it receives from authorities, and had its no-logging policy audited by Deloitte. Its NoSpy servers in Romania are owned and run by CyberGhost itself.

And then there's the owner. Both providers belong to Kape Technologies, formerly Crossrider, which has an AdTech and adware past. In 2020, that was our main reason not to trust CyberGhost. Since Kape bought ExpressVPN in 2021, it's a reason to be careful with both, not a reason to pick one over the other.

6. Pricing

Let’s focus our attention on price now. VPN prices change all the time, with frequent promotions, so we won't list exact amounts that may be out of date by the time you read this. Here's how ExpressVPN and CyberGhost VPN compare:

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN offers monthly, yearly and two-year subscriptions. The monthly plan costs around 13 USD; the longer plans work out much cheaper per month. ExpressVPN also sells plans with extras, such as more devices and its Keys password manager.

Payment Methods

• Credit card
• PayPal
• Bitcoin
• Other local methods, depending on your country

CyberGhost VPN

CyberGhost VPN offers monthly plans and long subscriptions of up to two years (often with a few free months added). Its monthly plan also costs around 13 USD, but its two-year plan is one of the cheapest from any major provider, typically around 2 USD per month.

Payment Methods

• Credit card
• PayPal
• Bitcoin

On the long plans, CyberGhost VPN is cheaper by a wide margin. CyberGhost also gives you more time to change your mind: 45 days on its longer plans, against 30 days for ExpressVPN.

With both, check the renewal price: the low first-term price usually goes up when the plan renews.

7. Torrenting

This one may be a tie as well…

Both providers support torrenting extremely well.

ExpressVPN allows torrenting on all its servers, and as I wrote in my torrenting review of ExpressVPN, it just works.

CyberGhost VPN takes a slightly different approach by offering a subset of dedicated P2P VPN servers on their network. These servers are grouped within the CyberGhost app.

And again, as written in my torrenting review of CyberGhost VPN, it just worked really well.

For more information, be sure to check out our torrenting reviews of ExpressVPN and CyberGhost VPN.

8. Other Features

Both providers add a few extras on top of the VPN itself.

ExpressVPN has RAM-only servers, its own Lightway protocol, a password manager (Keys) on some plans, and its own VPN router, Aircove.

CyberGhost VPN has servers optimized for specific streaming services, NoSpy servers it owns in Romania, and an optional dedicated IP address.

Outstanding Features

ExpressVPN

• Diskless Servers: ExpressVPN’s servers run from volatile memory (RAM), rather than from disk. Hence the expression “diskless servers”. Nothing is ever written to a hard disk, and every reboot wipes the server and starts it from a fresh, known software image. If a vulnerability is ever discovered on a server, rebooting it is all that’s required to restore it to its original (pre-vulnerability) state. Many other providers have followed ExpressVPN’s example since.
• Lightway: ExpressVPN's own protocol connects quickly and holds the connection when you switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data. It's open source and has been audited.

CyberGhost VPN

• Streaming-optimized servers: Instead of trying servers until one works, you pick the streaming service (Netflix, Disney+, BBC iPlayer and many others) and the country, and the app connects you to a server meant for it.
• NoSpy servers: For a small extra fee, you can use servers in CyberGhost's own data center in Romania, which it owns and runs itself, rather than rented servers in someone else's data center.

Conclusion: ExpressVPN vs CyberGhost VPN

And the winner is…

We had eight categories:

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

The breakdown is as follows:

• Speed – (ExpressVPN)
• User-Friendliness – (Tie)
• Streaming – (Tie)
• Security & Encryption – (Tie)
• Logs and Privacy – (ExpressVPN)
• Pricing – (CyberGhost)
• Torrenting – (Tie)
• Other Features – (ExpressVPN)

So that’s 7 points for ExpressVPN and 5 points for CyberGhost VPN.

ExpressVPN is the better provider: it was faster in our test, it's more thoroughly audited, and its whole network runs on RAM-only servers.

But CyberGhost VPN is a solid runner-up that costs much less, especially on a long plan. And since both now belong to Kape, trust is no longer a reason to choose one over the other. If you'd rather avoid Kape altogether, look at providers outside the group, such as NordVPN or ProtonVPN.

CyberGhost VPN

Go With CyberGhost VPN if:

• You want to pay less than ExpressVPN users pay.
• You want a longer money-back period (45 days).
• Your main reason for using a VPN is for streaming or torrenting.

ExpressVPN

Go With ExpressVPN if:

1. You want to connect to diskless VPN servers across the whole network.
2. You want a provider whose no-logging claims have been checked the most, by audits and in practice.
3. You are disposed to pay a bit more for the best speed and polish.

For more information on these two VPN providers, check out our ExpressVPN review and our CyberGhost VPN review.