For a VPN to genuinely enhance your online privacy, you need to choose the right VPN provider. 

With so many features on offer these days, it can be somewhat difficult to cut through the marketing and get a sense of which VPN provider best suits your needs.

So in this post, we pit NordVPN against CyberGhost VPN to see which provider comes out on top. 

NordVPN vs CyberGhost VPN - Side By Side

Name	NordVPN	CyberGhost VPN
Rating	8.5/10	7.0/10
User Friendliness Score	9	7
General features
Price per month (cheapest)	$3.71	$2.25
Simultaneous Connections	6	7
Servers	5460	2000
Countries	59	180
Allows torrenting / P2P	Yes	Yes
Streaming
Netflix	Yes	Yes
Hulu	Yes	Yes
Amazon Prime	Yes	Yes
Disney+	Yes	Yes
Security
Supports TOR	Yes	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	IKEv2, OpenVPN, WireGuard, L2TP/IPSec
Encryption	AES-256	AES-256
DNS Leak Protection	Yes	Yes
VPN Kill-switch	Yes	Yes
Rent/Own Infrastructure	Both	Rent
Hacked	Yes	No
Malware/Ad Blocker	Yes	No
Privacy
Logging Policy	No-logging Policy	No-logging Policy
Privacy Policy	Good	Good
Jurisdiction	Panama	Romania
Out of 14 eyes	Yes	Yes
Warrant Canary	Yes	No
Accepts Cryptocurrency	Yes	Yes
Sign-up Information Required	Only Valid Email	Only Valid Email
Speed (average)
Avg. Ping NY	142.5 ms	284.67 ms
Avg. Download NY	Over a 60 Mbps Network (Download): 65.77 Mbps	Over a 100 Mbps Network (Download): 90.42 Mbps
Avg. Upload NY	Over a 30 Mbps Network (Upload): 22.90 Mbps	Over a 30 Mbps Network (Upload): 35.60 Mbps

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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 NordVPN and CyberGhost VPN compare on speed. 

NordVPN

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

Server: U.S.A., New York

Average Download Speed: 65.77Mbps

Average Upload Speed: 22.89Mbps

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

So what interests us here is the difference between the ISP-allocated bandwidth and the results of the VPN speed test.

And we can see that in terms of download speeds, they both do quite well – with NordVPN even going above my ISP bandwidth.

On upload, they both take somewhat of a hit and this is normal, ISPs outfit their networks with many more download channels than upload channels.

Still, we can see that the hit on CyberGhost VPN is rather big – we’re losing over two-thirds of our bandwidth. This could hamper online gaming with resource-intensive games.

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2. User-Friendliness

With more and more people turning towards VPNs, user-friendliness is quickly becoming a critical feature for VPN providers.

So what happens when we pit NordVPN Vs. CyberGhost on user-friendliness?

NordVPN and CyberGhost VPN both have native client applications, which include a kill switch, available on many platforms. And both, of course, provide unlimited bandwidth.

Both providers support:

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

And they both provide Chrome/Firefox browser extensions.

And their respective apps are both very well designed and easy to navigate and understand.

In terms of simultaneous connections, NordVPN allows up to 6, while CyberGhost VPN allows up to 7.

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3. Streaming

There are several good reasons to stream over a VPN that goes beyond simply streaming over a secure connection. Doing so also enables you to bypass geo-restrictions and to circumvent ISP throttling.

And given that certain providers, like Netflix, are now banning VPNs from their platform, unblocking Netflix access has become a major feature for VPN providers.

Do any differences emerge in a CyberGhost Vs. NordVPN standoff on streaming?

Both NordVPN and CyberGhost VPN are streaming-friendly providers and they both claim to unblock Netflix. Both NordVPN and CyberGhost VPN also have a dedicated page on their respective websites explaining how to unblock Netflix.

And, as I wrote in my Netflix reviews of NordVPN and CyberGhost VPN, they both deliver and do so extremely well.

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4. Security & Encryption

Both NordVPN and CyberGhost VPN support secure VPN protocols.

NordVPN supports:

• IKEv2
• OpenVPN
• WireGuard (called NordLynx with NordVPN)

CyberGhost VPN supports:

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

And both CyberGhost and NordVPN also support AES-256, the industry-standard cipher, with no known vulnerabilities. 

However, WireGuard uses more modern and just as secure (or perhaps slightly more secure…)  ciphers. These are:

• ChaCha20
• Curve25519
• BLAKE2s
• SipHash24
• HKDF

So this is all good. Just one thing, though… 

CyberGhost VPN also supports the weak L2TP/IPSec protocol. They probably do this for legacy reasons and for their more advanced users. 

But I feel that this can put their less technical users at risk. Weak and obsolete VPN protocols should be phased out. VPN providers should not support them.

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5. Logs & Privacy

Both NordVPN and CyberGhost VPN commit to a strong no-logging policy – at least on paper. Let’s look at how they communicate this in their privacy policies.

Here’s an excerpt of NordVPN’s privacy policy:

“NordVPN guarantees a strict no-logs policy for NordVPN services, meaning that your activities using NordVPN Services are provided by automated technical process, are not monitored, recorded, logged, stored or passed to any third party. We do not store connection time stamps, session information, used bandwidth, traffic logs, IP addresses or other data. From the moment a NordVPN.com user turns on the NordVPN.com software, their Internet data becomes encrypted. Any online traffic coming from user’s device is no longer visible to ISP, third-party snoopers or cyber criminals. Further, NordVPN have a strict no logs policy when it comes to seeing user activity online: NordVPN is based in Panama, which does not require data storage". 

It’s clear and is detailed enough. They clearly understand what “no-logging” means and this comes through in their policy.

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 is at the top of their privacy policy and it’s the best part. The rest of it reads like a template you could find on 99% of websites out there.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, CyberGhost VPN’s parent company has a past that is pretty much antithetical to privacy, so I’m not sure how much faith I have that they stand by their word… 

Time will tell, I guess…

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6. Pricing

Let’s now turn to price. I’ve listed the different packages, prices, and accepted payment methods for both NordVPN and CyberGhost VPN below:

NordVPN

Visit NordVPN (SAVE 70%)

NordVPN offers four different subscriptions:

• 11.95 USD for one month of service
• 83.88 USD for one year of service (works out to 6.99 USD per month)
• 119.76 USD for two years of service (works out to 4.99 USD per month) ***This subscription is currently on sale at 83.76 USD for two years, making it the same price as the three-year plan, below.
• 125.64 USD for three years of service (works out to 3.49 USD per month)

Payment Methods:

• Credit Card
• Apple Pay
• Google Pay
• Amazon Pay
• Union Pay
• Cryptocurrencies

CyberGhost VPN

Visit CyberGhost VPN (SAVE 79%)

CyberGhost VPN 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

So NordVPN is cheaper than CyberGhost VPN across the board – except for CyberGhost’s 18-month plan, which costs 76 cents less per month.

As far as payment methods are concerned, while CyberGhost’s options are good, NordVPN offers many more, while still accepting more cryptocurrencies than CyberGhost.

Add CyberGhost’s trust deficit to the mix and NordVPN is the clear winner.

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7. Torrenting

Given each provider’s offering in the torrenting category, I think they will be hard to distinguish on this front.

This is because both NordVPN and CyberGhost VPN offer pretty much the same thing in regards to torrenting: dedicated P2P servers, clearly marked in their respective apps, and on their websites.

Both providers were tested in my Torrenting reviews of NordVPN and CyberGhost VPN and everything was easy and clear and the downloads were fast and lag-free over both networks.

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8. Other Features

Let’s see if we can’t find other aspects that differentiate these two providers.

• NordVPN provides Tor over VPN servers.
• NordVPN can block ads & trackers.

• CyberGhost VPN doesn’t provide any features that aren’t available with NordVPN.
• CyberGhost VPN has a trust deficit.

Standout Features

NordVPN

• Onion Over VPN: Tor Over VPN servers route your VPN traffic over the Tor network. This gives you an additional layer of security and anonymity, as your traffic is bounced over multiple locations, encrypted. NordVPN puts at your disposal dedicated Tor over VPN servers that re-route your connection over the Tor network after having established the VPN connection. Very secure stuff.
• Ads & Tracker Blocker: NordVPN also puts an ads & tracker blocker at your disposal. This feature, called CyberSec, can be activated from within all of NordVPN’s apps. CyberSec is a DNS blackhole type of service. This means that your DNS requests are checked against a blacklist of ad and tracker networks. If a match is found, the request is dropped (blackholed). This gives you added security and provides you with a less annoying Internet experience.

CyberGhost VPN

• Nothing but a Trust Deficit: As I mentioned earlier, aside from their trust deficit, CyberGhost doesn’t have any distinguishing features over NordVPN. NordVPN matches all of CyberGhost’s features and offers more ( and most of the time, for less money). And being owned by a company that is known to have spread malware through AdTech is… well, less than ideal.

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Conclusion: NordVPN vs CyberGhost VPN

So who wins? 

We had eight categories:

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

The breakdown is as follows:

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

So that’s 7 points for NordVPN and 3 points for CyberGhost VPN.

I didn’t think it would be close, and it’s not. NordVPN is the better provider: they offer more features, they cost less and they have a much (much) better reputation.

We recommend NordVPN. We do not recommend CyberGhost VPN. 

NordVPN

Go With NordVPN if:

• Your VPN provider’s reputation is important to you.
• You want to use Tor with your VPN.
• You want an ads & tracker blocker.

Visit NordVPN (SAVE 70%)

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.

Visit CyberGhost VPN (SAVE 79%)

For more information on these two VPN providers, check out our NordVPN and our CyberGhost VPN reviews.

Thanks for reading!