While CyberGhost remains one of the most affordable VPN providers, we’re not big fans of its pricing structure. The provider has tweaked its subscription options over the years and now offers three plans in the UK when subscribing via the web. The one-month subscription plan is still available, costing £10.89 per month, but it’s far more expensive than the longer-term options. In the UK, you’ve got a few choices. A six-month plan costs £37.14, which works out to roughly £6.19 per month. A two-year plan, which includes an additional two months for free, costs £49.92 upfront, which breaks down to around £1.92 per month.

While the two-year plan offers excellent value for long-term use, the high cost of the one-month plan and the lack of flexibility with a mid-range plan is a little frustrating. VPN speeds and reliability can change over time, and committing to a lengthy subscription might not suit everyone. If you subscribe through the mobile or Mac app, you’ll only get the option of a monthly plan, which costs £8.99 on iOS and Android – cheaper than the web’s one-month option, but still pricier than the multi-month plans.

The good thing is that CyberGhost offers a 45-day money-back guarantee on both its six-month and two-year plans, giving you plenty of time to decide if it’s the right fit. There’s also a free seven-day trial available through the app, so you can test it out before committing to anything long-term. If you subscribe to the one-month plan, you only get a 14-day money-back guarantee. Although CyberGhost is fairly affordable, other providers offer better value, bundling extra security features at no extra cost. For example, NordVPN and Surfshark include antivirus protection and a password manager as part of their standard subscriptions. While CyberGhost does offer a security suite – featuring Intego antivirus software, a privacy guard to block ad tracking on Windows and a software updater to keep your apps current, it’ll cost you £1 per month if you have the two-year plan, and you won’t be able to get it on Mac, iOS or Android.

CyberGhost got rid of its paid-for password manager in late 2022, so you won’t get that perk anymore either. However, you can still opt to purchase a dedicated IP address with your VPN plan. If you subscribe to the two-year plan, it’ll cost an additional £2.25 per month, or £3.50 per month if you choose the six-month plan. A dedicated IP address acts like a reserved parking spot – it’s exclusively yours, which means it’s less likely to be flagged as suspicious by the websites you visit.

Luckily, with the exception of the dedicated IP address, the security suite really isn’t all that worth it. Intego is owned by CyberGhost’s parent company, Kape, a developer with a reputation for creating cheap adware and tacky browser toolbars. Better and free alternatives to the security suite can be easily found elsewhere. Privacy and features. CyberGhost has all the basic security features you’d expect from a decent VPN, but very little else. It uses AES-256 encryption – the same level of protection trusted by banks and the military – so we knew our data was staying private. It also supports multiple protocols, including WireGuard and OpenVPN, with WireGuard as the default. It’s fast and efficient, and if we hadn’t needed to test the speed of its other protocols, we wouldn’t have any reason to switch protocols.

The automatic kill switch is always on and does its job quietly in the background. If the VPN connection drops, it cuts off your internet traffic instantly so nothing leaks. Split tunnelling is another handy feature, letting you pick which apps or websites bypass the VPN. This is great for banking or accessing local services while still protecting everything else. That said, split tunnelling (or exceptions on PC) is only available on Android or Windows, which feels like a bit of a letdown for Mac and iOS users.

In fact, a lot of it is a letdown for Mac and iOS users. While you still get access to streaming-focused servers, which are labelled by platform (such as optimised for BBC iPlayer and ITV), Windows users get more specialised options, such as gaming-specific servers and peer-to-peer (P2P) specific servers. It’s also easier to locate CyberGhost’s NoSpy servers on Windows than it is on other devices.

Based in Romania and fully owned by CyberGhost, its no-spy servers eliminate third-party involvement and offer faster speeds. If you want to access them on a Mac or mobile device, you’ll need to search for Romania in the server list, then click the arrow to expand and select the NoSpy servers from there. It’s all a bit clunky. Its streaming-optimised servers are a highlight, and the NoSpy servers are a nice touch for privacy-conscious users, but outside of that, it’s very much a straightforward VPN. Features like ad-blocking and malware protection, which it offers through DNS filtering, are helpful but not as robust as dedicated cybersecurity tools, and if you’re after advanced features like multi-hop, Onion over VPN, or other more premium extras, you won’t find them here. That said, it’s a decent choice for Windows users and anyone looking for a no-nonsense VPN for streaming while abroad.