CyberGhost VPN review 2027: the renewal is the catch

Among the eight providers in our full VPN rankings, only Private Internet Access advertises a lower long-term rate than CyberGhost’s $2.19 a month. The price is real. What most reviews soften is what happens after the intro term, and how much the refund window depends on which plan you pick. Both belong at the top of any honest verdict, so that is where this one starts.

Is CyberGhost private and trustworthy?

CyberGhost S.R.L. is based in Romania, outside the 5, 9, and 14 Eyes intelligence-sharing alliances. Romania has no mandatory data-retention law that applies to VPNs, so no law forces the company to log what you do. Both points come from CyberGhost’s own no-logs page, and they are the right foundation for a privacy product.

The infrastructure matches the policy. Every server is RAM-only: data lives in volatile memory and is wiped on every reboot or power loss. The network covers 100 countries, though some locations are virtual — the IP address is registered in one country while the hardware sits elsewhere. CyberGhost flags which locations are virtual on its public server list rather than hiding it, and it publishes quarterly transparency reports on the legal requests it receives.

One genuine gap: none of CyberGhost’s own pages names the company’s owner or parent group, so this review makes no claim about it — but a privacy company that does not plainly say who owns it leaves open a question privacy buyers deserve answered. It costs CyberGhost points below.

What does the Deloitte audit actually cover?

CyberGhost’s no-logs setup has been independently audited three times — 2022, 2024, and 2025 — most recently by Deloitte Audit Romania under the ISAE 3000 (Revised) assurance standard. The 2025 engagement covered the server network, configuration and change management, incident response, and the token system behind dedicated IPs. The announcement was last updated on 24 Feb 2026.

Two details matter more than the headline. First, the scope goes beyond a policy read-through: auditing change management and the dedicated-IP token system tests how the system behaves, not just what the policy says. Second, the full assurance report is downloadable by anyone. NordVPN shows its latest Deloitte report only to logged-in account holders, and Surfshark’s is available only to paying users, so a public report is a real transparency edge.

An audit is still a snapshot of a moment, not a permanent guarantee. Our guide to how no-log VPN audits work covers what these engagements prove and what they cannot.

What does CyberGhost really cost?

The two headline plans, in US dollars:

Plan	You pay	Works out to	Renews at	Refund window
1 month	$12.99	$12.99/mo	$12.99/mo	14 days
2 years + 2 months (26 months)	$56.94 up front	$2.19/mo	$56.94 per year	45 days

A 6-month tier is also sold and carries the same 45-day guarantee — check the live pricing page for its current rate.

The $2.19 figure comes from an 83% summer promotion, and it makes CyberGhost one of the cheapest serious VPNs you can buy today. The trap is renewal: the same $56.94 that bought 26 months buys 12 months once the intro term ends. That is about $4.75 a month — roughly double the advertised rate. To be fair, nearly every big VPN plays this game, and CyberGhost’s renewal is still far below NordVPN’s $139.08 a year and below Surfshark’s $79. But the size of the jump is the single most important number in this review, so plan around it.

Two more pieces of fine print. The advertised 45-day money-back guarantee applies to 6-month and longer plans only; monthly subscribers get 14 days. And PCMag reports that NoSpy servers, a feature CyberGhost promotes, are unavailable on the monthly plan — a restriction PCMag says the pricing page does not state clearly.

The offsetting honesty: free trials that need no payment card — 24 hours on Windows and macOS, 3 days on Android, and 7 days on iOS — so you can test the apps before spending anything.

What features do you get — and what is missing?

The protocol lineup is standard and solid: WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2, switchable in the app settings. Combined with RAM-only servers across the network, the technical basics are all present.

One subscription covers 7 simultaneous devices. That was generous years ago; today NordVPN allows 10, and both Surfshark and Private Internet Access allow unlimited connections, so a full household can feel the cap. The free trials confirm native apps on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, and Mashable’s review also lists Linux and Amazon Fire support. Review coverage consistently mentions a kill switch, NoSpy servers, and specialty servers for streaming and torrenting.

What is missing matters mostly to power users. PCMag and other reviewers flag the absence of obfuscation, port forwarding, and multi-hop connections. No obfuscation means CyberGhost traffic looks like VPN traffic, which is the main reason it struggles on networks that actively block VPNs. No port forwarding rules out serious torrenting setups. Neither gap touches the typical streaming-and-browsing user — which is exactly who CyberGhost is built for.

Is CyberGhost good for streaming and travel?

Streaming is CyberGhost’s strongest use case in current review coverage. Tom’s Guide and vpnMentor both report reliable unblocking of Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, and BBC iPlayer, among other services, helped by servers optimized for specific platforms. vpnMentor also counts 11,690+ servers across the 100-country network, which leaves plenty of room to switch servers when a streaming service blocks one. Treat those results as reviewer-reported. For how the market ranks on this use case, see the best VPNs for streaming.

Travel is the caveat. vpnMentor reports CyberGhost is not reliable in China, and with no obfuscation feature there is no fallback when a network actively blocks VPN protocols. For censored regions, this is the wrong tool.

The verdict: 7.7 out of 10

Scored on our standard review rubric:

Dimension	Weight	Score
Privacy & trust	30%	8.5
Features	25%	7.5
Price honesty	20%	6.5
Streaming & use-case fit	15%	8.0
Transparency	10%	8.0
Weighted total	100%	7.7

The two lowest scores earn their place. Price honesty (6.5) reflects the renewal step from $2.19 to about $4.75 a month, the 14-day refund window hiding behind the advertised 45 days on the monthly plan, and the NoSpy restriction PCMag found undisclosed on the pricing page. Features (7.5) reflects the 7-device cap against unlimited-device rivals and the missing obfuscation, port forwarding, and multi-hop. Privacy and transparency score high on three Deloitte audits, a publicly downloadable report, RAM-only servers, and quarterly transparency reports — held back only by the unanswered ownership question.

Who should choose something else?

CyberGhost against its closest rivals (prices as of 23 Jul 2026)

Provider	Intro price	Renews at	Refund	Devices	Countries
CyberGhost	$2.19/mo (26 mo)	$56.94/yr	45 days	7	100
NordVPN	$3.49/mo (27 mo)	$139.08/yr	30 days	10	149
Surfshark	$2.49/mo (27 mo)	$79.00/yr	30 days	Unlimited	100
Private Internet Access	$2.03/mo (39 mo)	$79 per 3 years	30 days	Unlimited	50

If the 7-device cap is your problem, Surfshark is the closest like-for-like upgrade: $2.49 a month for the first 27 months with unlimited connections, and a Deloitte no-logs audit of its own in 2025. Its renewal terms have their own catches — our Surfshark review walks through them.

If price is everything, Private Internet Access advertises $2.03 a month over 39 months and renews at $79 every 3 years — about $2.19 a month, meaning PIA’s renewal price matches CyberGhost’s intro price. The trade-off is jurisdiction: PIA is a US company, and the US is a Five Eyes member. Our Private Internet Access review weighs that bargain.

If audit cadence and network size top your list, NordVPN has passed six independent no-logs verifications — most recently Deloitte in 2025 — and covers 149 countries, at a clearly higher price both up front and on renewal.

CyberGhost FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is CyberGhost VPN safe and legit?

Yes, by the available evidence: its no-logs setup has passed three independent Deloitte audits (2022, 2024, and 2025), its servers run on RAM only, and it operates from Romania, outside the 5, 9, and 14 Eyes intelligence alliances. The main open question is ownership, which its own pages do not state.

Does CyberGhost keep logs?

CyberGhost says it keeps no activity logs, and Deloitte Audit Romania verified the no-logs setup in 2025 under the ISAE 3000 standard — the third such audit after 2022 and 2024. The full assurance report is publicly downloadable, and quarterly transparency reports list the legal requests the company receives.

How much does CyberGhost cost in 2027?

The monthly plan is $12.99. The 26-month intro deal costs $56.94 up front, which works out to $2.19 a month, then renews at $56.94 per year — about $4.75 a month. A 6-month tier is also sold; check the live pricing page for its current rate.

How many devices can I use with CyberGhost?

Seven devices can connect at the same time on one subscription. NordVPN allows 10, and Surfshark and Private Internet Access allow unlimited connections, so large households have better-fitting options.

Does CyberGhost have a money-back guarantee?

Yes: 45 days on 6-month and longer plans, but only 14 days on the 1-month plan. There are also free trials that need no payment card: 24 hours on Windows and macOS, 3 days on Android, and 7 days on iOS.

Is CyberGhost good for streaming Netflix and other services?

Reviewers at Tom's Guide and vpnMentor report it unblocks Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, and other services, using servers optimized for specific platforms. We have not run our own streaming tests, so treat those results as reported by third parties.

Does CyberGhost work in China?

Treat the answer as no. vpnMentor reports CyberGhost is unreliable in China, and the service has no obfuscation feature to disguise VPN traffic on networks that actively block it.

Is CyberGhost good for torrenting?

Review coverage describes torrenting-optimized servers and P2P support, and the 45-day refund window leaves room to confirm performance yourself. The missing piece for advanced setups is port forwarding, which reviewers note CyberGhost does not offer.