NordVPN vs CyberGhost is one of the most common VPN comparisons in the industry. Both services have been around for a long time. They are well-known, well-respected, and they both belong to the top-level VPN services.
Keep one thing in mind â whichever service you choose, they are both good even though in different ways. This comparison is simply for determining which of the two is better for your personal needs.
You may also read: Cyberghost Review and NordVPN Review
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Security & Privacy | ||
Speed | ||
Servers | ||
Streaming | ||
Compatibility | ||
Ease of Use | ||
Torrenting | ||
Price | ||
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OVERALL SCORE | ||
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How Are We Comparing VPNs?
In order to find out which of the two has the upper hand over the other one, we will take a look at several different categories. We will see how both services perform in each category, and in the end, we will decide which one wins the category in question.
Then, once that is done, we will see the overall winner. While no single provider can win each category, the one with the most wins will be a better option. The categories we will look into include:
- Streaming
- Speed
- Servers
- Security and privacy
- Compatibility
- Ease of use
- Torrenting
- Plans and prices
After that, all that will remain is to choose the victor. With that out of the way, let’s begin our CyberGhost vs NordVPN battle.
Which is Better ? – NordVPN vs CyberGhost
1. Security and Privacy
Both, NordVPn and CyberGhost are known for top security and privacy features. They use pretty much the same top-quality security protocols, dominated by OpenVPN, which is the best one.
They also both use the strongest known encryption, which is 256-bit AES encryption. It was never broken, and with it, you will know that your data is perfectly safe. We have discussed the server networks of the two providers, their capabilities and usefulness in keeping you safe.
Now, it is also important to mention that the two services are based in privacy-friendly jurisdictions, as well. NordVPN is based in Panama, while CyberGhost has its headquarter in Romania. This is important because neither of the countries is a member of, or closely tied to 14 Eyes surveillance alliance, or any of its individual members.
As such, the members of the alliance cannot just show up one day and demand user data. Even if someone did demand it, neither of the two VPNs would be able to provide it, as neither of them keeps user activity logs, or any other information, apart from your email and billing data. This is a necessary minimum so that you could be serviced by the providers.
Your browsing information is getting stored on the server you are connected to, and then deleted immediately when your session ends, and that goes for both services. There is not much more to say, both are equally as safe and offer a no-logging guarantee, and they have extra features such as kill switches and DNS leak protection that will stop your data from accidentally leaking if the app malfunctions.
In other words, as far as security and privacy go, our CyberGhost vs NordVPN clash ends with a tie.
2. Speed
Next, let’s talk about speeds. Speeds are very important for a VPN, whether for streaming or for downloading, uploading, torrenting, and similar activities.
Obviously, you need to protect yourself while doing so, considering that ISPs tend to throttle internet speeds of users who use too much bandwidth. Not to mention their displeasure with anyone who uses torrent for pretty much any purpose, even if you are sharing completely legitimate files.
Now, VPNs will slow down your default internet speed. There is no point in denying that. This happens because they encrypt all of your traffic in real-time and send it protected towards the servers you are requesting information from.
However, some of the best VPNs are fast enough so that you won’t feel that the speed is slowing down that much. In fact, you might not feel the impact at all, depending on the server you connect to. Because, you see, the physical distance between you and the server you connect to plays a large part, as well.
Now, when it comes to NordVPN and CyberGhost, they both have excellent speeds. They also have pretty similar speeds across the board. No matter where in the world you are, and where in the world you connect to, you will get relatively similar results when conducting speed tests with both of these excellent VPNs.
Of course, they both have places where one is stronger than the other by default. For CyberGhost, that is Romania, Germany, and Portugal. NordVPN displayed better performance in the UK. But, since most people would likely aim to connect to the US, we have decided to see how they perform in American locations.
This is where we started seeing a bit of a difference, with NordVPN coming out on top. CyberGhost did not do particularly bad, but NordVPN definitely performed slightly better, which is why we have to give a point to NordVPN here, as well.
3. Servers
Next, let’s talk about servers.
Servers are one of the three features, let’s say, that define a VPN. You cannot have a VPN without a server network, security protocols, and encryption. Even if it only has these three things and nothing else, a service can be called a VPN. It wouldn’t be the best, or even a particularly good VPN, but it would be a VPN.
Servers are important for a number of things, such as hiding your IP, bypassing censorship, overcoming geo-restrictions, preventing your data from being stored with your ISP, and more.
They need to be fast, and the more you can access â the better. There are reasons for this, as well. If a popular VPN has many users, but only a few servers â they will quickly get overcrowded and slow. As mentioned, if servers are few in number, they might be located far away from you, in which case, your speed will suffer once again, as mentioned before.
NordVPN is one of the services with the largest number of servers out there. It has over 5800 of them in 59 different countries. This is a massive network that guarantees that you can unblock anything without having to use a busy server. It also guarantees excellent speeds due to server optimization itself, but also due to the likeliness of close proximity of the servers.
In other words, no matter where in the world you are, there are likely a few servers close by, in a neighboring country, or maybe even in your own.
However, while there is only a handful of VPNs that can even compete with NordVPN’s server network, CyberGhost is actually one that can beat it, in both, the number of servers, as well as the number of covered countries.
CyberGhost has over 6,500 servers in 90+ countries, which allows it to outperform even a giant such as NordVPN. It has servers dedicated to streaming, as well as those for torrenting, all of which allow for unlimited bandwidth and give you blazing fast speeds.
As mentioned, not all of them will work with services like Netflix, but that can’t really be helped, considering that Netflix is actively hunting down VPNs. But, more than enough of them should be able to unblock the service to be worth your while. Meanwhile, you can enjoy protection and anonymity, and that’s really all that matters in the end.
So, while NordVPN is definitely not to be underestimated, we would give this point to CyberGhost.
4. Streaming
To start off, let’s see how the two compare when it comes to streaming.
First of all, streaming is one of the biggest and most common use cases of a VPN. With a lot of online streaming services being geo-restricted, popular movies and TV shows were made entirely unavailable to some regions.
NordVPN offers excellent speeds, a large variety of servers that are all perfect for streaming high-quality videos, and it can unblock Netflix in many different countries. Apart from Netflix, it is also great for services like BBC iPlayer, Hulu, HBO, various Australian channels, and many others.
Meanwhile, CyberGhost was mostly able to match NordVPN’s streaming quality, although it does show lesser flexibility when it comes to Netflix. Access to some Netflix libraries is blocked, despite the fact that CyberGhost offers a dedicated streaming profile.
It can still unblock some Netflix libraries, including that of the US, which is the largest one you can access. As for other services, you can definitely use it for unblocking things like BBC iPlayer, or Amazon Prime Video. But, due to slightly lesser flexibility, we have to give this point to NordVPN.
5. Compatibility
When it comes to compatibility, both of these VPN providers are rather good and universally available. This matters, because the number of devices that we can use to browse the web is growing all the time, and you need to be able to protect as many of them as possible.
Of course, it is also convenient to be able to browse the web freely from a device and system of your choice.
Now, when it comes to NordVPN, this service supports a rather decent number of devices and systems. You can use it on any device that uses:
- Windows
- macOS
- Android
- iOS
- Linux
- Android TV
- Chrome
- Firefox
Thanks to the Chrome and Firefox extensions, any device that can run either of the two browsers can also use NordVPN, which is a big plus.
Now, let’s take a look at which devices and systems CyberGhost supports. Those include:
- Windows
- Mac
- Linux
- iOS
- Android
- Chrome
- Firefox
- Amazon Fire TV
- Android TV
- Apple TV
- Other Smart TVs
- Routers
- Xbox 360
- Xbox One
- PlayStation 3
- PlayStation 4
As you can see, NordVPN has a great app span, but CyberGhost actually outperforms it by supporting gaming consoles, a greater number of Smart TVs, a dedicated app for routers, and alike.
So, we would give another point to CyberGhost as a result.
6. Ease of use
Of course, it is important for VPNs to be user-friendly. Their usefulness matters little if they are too complicated for new users to find their way around and navigate the apps.
However, that is not a problem when it comes to NordVPN. The service’s app is extremely easy to install, and it is ready to be used as soon as you first log into it.
It will present you with a map of the world that dominates the app, and all you need to do is find a location you wish to connect to, and click on the one of the servers in that location. After that, you are ready to browse the web. There are, of course, settings that you can change and modify to your liking, provided that you know what you are doing.
If you do not, it might be best to just keep the app’s settings on default.
CyberGhost does not feature a map of the world for you to navigate, but on the left side of the app, you have a panel with servers that allows you to choose which ones you want to use. You can mark servers as favorites in order to find them quickly and see them under the Favorites category, or you can just browse all servers.
There are also categories for torrenting or streaming, as well as two called Connection features and Smart rules, which do exactly as the names suggest.
All in all, it is very easy to use and set up, so you should not have any problems or difficulties with this app, either.
As a result, we would call this another tie.
7. Torrenting
Torrenting is a great way to share files with others online, but often frowned upon due to its ties to online piracy. As a result, ISPs do not like it, and they tend to throttle users’ internet, even though they always deny doing so.
Not only that, but sometimes, it is not that clear whether a file you are downloading or sharing is copyrighted or not. There is a major lack of clarity which could lead to trouble for the user, even if there is no bad intention behind their move.
This is why it is best to protect yourself, ensure that your speeds will remain unaffected, and that no one will know what you are doing.
Now, when it comes to CyberGhost, we have already mentioned several times that it has special servers for torrenting. This, of course, implies that the VPN allows you to download torrents, and promises protection for those who do it. Of course, that doesn’t mean that it supports piracy. However, once again, it is important to understand that piracy and torrenting are not the same.
Still, you get to use special servers for torrenting which will let you download torrents faster and stay safe at all times.
Like CyberGhost, NordVPN also supports P2P traffic, and it also features specific servers that you can find within its app under the P2P category. You will see which countries feature torrenting servers, as well as which specific locations offer them. After that, all you need to do is hit the ‘Connect’ button, and you will be ready to share files in seconds.
While NordVPN is a bit more precise than CyberGhost, as it allows you to pick a specific server, whereas CyberGhost only lets you choose a country and picks a server for you, this extra precision likely won’t matter too much for most people.
With that in mind, we would say that the two are, once again, equally good.
8. Plans and prices
Last, but not least, let’s discuss the prices.
Prices of VPNs are important, and often a feature that can decide which VPN is better for specific users. After all, if two are equally good but their prices differ, people on a budget would always go for the cheaper service.
So, how do the two compare?
Let’s start with NordVPN. This service offers four different plans.
- 1-month plan for $11.95 per month
- 1-year plan for $6.99 per month (Save 41%)
- 2-year plan for $4.99 per month (Save 58%)
- 3-year plan for $3.49 per month (Save 70%)
As you can see, NordVPN offers mostly long-term plans, apart from the monthly subscription. While this is great for the users who wish online protection, and only care for securing it for as long as possible, it is not that great for those who do not want to commit for more than a few months.
Such users will have to buy a monthly plan over and over again, which will cost more, but they will have control over how long they will stay subscribed.
And, of course, each plan comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Now, let’s see how CyberGhost compares. This service has four plans as well.
- 1-month plan for $12.99
- 1-year plan for $5.99 per month
- 2-year plan for $3.69 per month
- 3-year plan for $2.75 per month
Obviously, CyberGhost also features the same long-term plans, and its monthly plan is about $1 more expensive. However, each of the longer plans are about $1 cheaper per month. The longer plan you choose, the greater the discount when compared to NordVPN, so for a 3-year plan, you can save as much as $30 just by choosing CyberGhost.
Another thing worth mentioning is that CyberGhost offers a money-back guarantee that is longer than most in the VPN industry, and it lasts for 45 days.
Because of that, and greater discounts on long-term plans, we have to once again give a point to CyberGhost.
Who Is the Winner?
In the end, we can see that the two are pretty evenly matched. NordVPN is slightly better in some areas, and there are plenty of cases where the two resulted in a tie. However, the last category brought us CyberGhost as a winner of the overall comparison.
Of course, this doesn’t mean much, in truth. When choosing a VPN, you will want to use the one that is best for the specific purpose that you need it for.
For example, you can choose any when it comes to torrenting, but you should likely go for NordVPN if you want to watch Netflix. At the same time, if you want long-term security, simply choose CyberGhost’s 3-year plan and you will be all set, and you can even pay a bit cheaper price.
In the end, it all comes down to you and your own needs and desires. One thing is for certain, though â these two truly deserve to be among the best VPNs in the industry, and you definitely won’t make a mistake by choosing either of them.
