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CyberGhost calls itself a "truly complete VPN solution". I put the service to the test and examined CyberGhost and the rumors surrounding it. I'm based in Australia, so my local internet is both slower and subject to more censorship than countries like the US.
Read allHotspot Shield is a popular VPN service with over 650 million users and multiple servers in 55+ countries. In fact, the website claims it is the #1 grossing app for productivity in the US App Store. (When we checked the App Store source, it actually indicated #8, which is still an impressive ranking.
Read allCyberGhost calls itself a "truly complete VPN solution". I put the service to the test and examined CyberGhost and the rumors surrounding it. I'm based in Australia, so my local internet is both slower and subject to more censorship than countries like the US.
Read allHotspot Shield is a popular VPN service with over 650 million users and multiple servers in 55+ countries. In fact, the website claims it is the #1 grossing app for productivity in the US App Store. (When we checked the App Store source, it actually indicated #8, which is still an impressive ranking.
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| Starting price |
| $2.75/ month |
| Money Back Guarantee (Days) |
| 45 |
| Number of devices per license |
| 7 |
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| $2.99/ month |
| Money Back Guarantee (Days) |
| 30 |
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| Starting price | $2.75/ month | $2.99/ month | 121332/ |
| Money Back Guarantee (Days) | 45 | 30 | 0 |
| Number of devices per license | 7 | 5 | Unlimited |
| See Plans & Pricing | See Plans | See Plans |
| Best VPNs Overall | |
CyberGhost VPN has the greater number of servers, offers greater security with a kill switch, IP and DNS leak protection, and 256-bit AES encryption throughout. Both offer fast and reliable connections with unlimited bandwidth and can be used on all major operating systems. Both offer a 45-day money-back guarantee. CyberGhost and Hotspot Shield can both be used to access geo-restricted content, including Netflix, however, CyberGhost does run into problems with BBC iPlayer. Hotspot Shield’s users benefit from the vendors Catapult Hydra data compression technology; however, these need to be weighed against its logging policies and previous investigations into its use of data. You can get CyberGhost for a great price if you use one of these coupon codes. |
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CyberGhost VPN has the greater number of servers, offers greater security with a kill switch, IP and DNS leak protection, and 256-bit AES encryption throughout. Both offer fast and reliable connections with unlimited bandwidth and can be used on all major operating systems. Both offer a 45-day money-back guarantee. CyberGhost and Hotspot Shield can both be used to access geo-restricted content, including Netflix, however, CyberGhost does run into problems with BBC iPlayer. Hotspot Shield’s users benefit from the vendors Catapult Hydra data compression technology; however, these need to be weighed against its logging policies and previous investigations into its use of data. You can get CyberGhost for a great price if you use one of these coupon codes.
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| Best VPNs for Torrents | |
CyberGhost allows torrenting across specific servers and is registered in Romania, which does not have very strict censorship or surveillance laws currently. Hotspot Shield does not allow torrenting / P2P on any of its servers. |
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CyberGhost allows torrenting across specific servers and is registered in Romania, which does not have very strict censorship or surveillance laws currently. Hotspot Shield does not allow torrenting / P2P on any of its servers.
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| Best VPNs for Windows | |
Both CyberGhost and Hotspot Shield work well with the Windows operating system and offer easy to download and install apps. Both offer unlimited bandwidth and stable connections. CyberGhost’s technology allows users to connect to the best server for their needs by setting up a distinct profile based on their main reason for using a VPN. Hotspot Shield users benefit from faster speeds through the use of Catapult Hydra technology. However, Hotspot Shield users have no live chat customer services option and user guides provided on the website are unclear. |
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Both CyberGhost and Hotspot Shield work well with the Windows operating system and offer easy to download and install apps. Both offer unlimited bandwidth and stable connections. CyberGhost’s technology allows users to connect to the best server for their needs by setting up a distinct profile based on their main reason for using a VPN. Hotspot Shield users benefit from faster speeds through the use of Catapult Hydra technology. However, Hotspot Shield users have no live chat customer services option and user guides provided on the website are unclear.
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| Best VPNs for Android | |
Both services work on Android and the app from Hotspot Shield allows users to automatically connect to a proxy browser. CyberGhost’s users benefit from excellent speeds, military grade encryption, and a 7-day free trial on this operating system. |
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Both services work on Android and the app from Hotspot Shield allows users to automatically connect to a proxy browser. CyberGhost’s users benefit from excellent speeds, military grade encryption, and a 7-day free trial on this operating system.
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| Best VPNs for Mac | |
CyberGhost and Hotspot shield both offer apps for the Mac operating system. Both offer fast connection speeds and Hotspot Shield users have the additional benefit of Catapult Hydra technology to improve the speeds they can achieve. CyberGhost users, however, benefit from better security, strict no logging policies, and better customer services. |
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CyberGhost and Hotspot shield both offer apps for the Mac operating system. Both offer fast connection speeds and Hotspot Shield users have the additional benefit of Catapult Hydra technology to improve the speeds they can achieve. CyberGhost users, however, benefit from better security, strict no logging policies, and better customer services.
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| Best VPNs for iOS | |
Both vendors provide native apps for iOS that are simple to set up and use. CyberGhost users have the additional benefit of a 7-day free trial for this operating system. |
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Both vendors provide native apps for iOS that are simple to set up and use. CyberGhost users have the additional benefit of a 7-day free trial for this operating system.
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| Best VPNs for USA | |
Both vendors have servers throughout the USA and both are able to bypass geo-restrictions to stream content, including US Netflix. However, CyberGhost users have the additional benefit of strict no logging policies and DNS leak protection. |
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Both vendors have servers throughout the USA and both are able to bypass geo-restrictions to stream content, including US Netflix. However, CyberGhost users have the additional benefit of strict no logging policies and DNS leak protection.
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Both vendors offer fast speeds, stable connections, and easy to use apps for all major operating systems. However, CyberGhost offers the better security with 256-bit AES encryption, an automatic kill switch, strict no logging policy, and IP and DNS leak protection. Combined with its superior customer services approach, including live chat options and easy to follow guides, it is the clear winner between the two vendors.
Interestingly, if you compare CyberGhost VPN with NordVPN, which is our top ranked vpn, you'll see that CyberGhost VPN can learn a lot from NordVPN. Compare CyberGhost VPN with NordVPN
Cybersecurity Researcher
Which VPN is better?
Ratings
Features |
4.7
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4.0
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0.0
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Pricing |
4.7
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4.5
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0.0
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Ease of Use |
5.0
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4.5
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0.0
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Reliability & Support |
4.8
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4.3
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0.0
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Reviews
Review by our expert
Cybersecurity Researcher
Technology Researcher
Latest positive user review
Gaming and Streaming
This is the best VPN I could find. I could with it play on Minecraft servers where I have banned on IP. I could stream game without lags :).
Used it for a Month - Perfect
I've been using hotspot shield for about a month now. Very easy to connect and speed is amazing, Doesn't slow down any of my streaming, I used different vpns in the past and they all slowed down my internet speed.
Latest negative user review
Disconnects Often. Killswitch Fails, which defeats the entire purpose...
I bought (renewed) an 18 month subscription to CG recently. I had been using it for a year prior and had some issues, but on renewal, I was required to install an update (v7 for Windows, I think) Disconnects several times each day, and regular crashes. In many cases when the app crashed, the killswitch was not activated, leaving my online activity exposed. I actually wrote a script to attempt to compensate for this that would ping test 8.8.8.8 for connectivity and reboot the PC if not connected. This was an OK workaround. it caught disconnects normally 4-6 times daily and rebooted, thereby restoring the connection. This process failed though, when the killswitch failed to activate, exposing my connection. This happened 5 times during the 2 months I used it. I received DMCA alerts from my ISP each time, and was told that my service will be cancelled if it happened again. I immediately switched to NordVPN. Connection speed is exponentially faster, and the connection has not disconnected once in over a week since I installed. I think that the most direct cause for the speed increase (and probably less frequent disconnects) with NordVPN is that CyberGhost has no (or limited, I wasn't able to find any) servers in USA that allow P2P. I wasn't aware of this when I signed up for their service, and was always required to connect to a VPN server in a different country with a huge performance hit. With NordVPN, I get many blazing fast, reliable server options that support P2P in a city nearby. I hope this is helpful to some. I wish I had seen this review before I signed up for CyberGhost's service.
This program sucks. App store wouldn't let it open.
Absolute failure to launch. I spent time downloading, offering my credit card info for this 'free' app, and it wouldn't even open despite repeated clicks. I am looking for a free VPN that actually functions. This one didn't.
Pricing
Starting price
$2.75 / month
$2.99 / month
121332 /
Money Back Guarantee (Days)
45
30
0
Number of devices per license
7
5
0
Best VPNs by category
CyberGhost VPN has the greater number of servers, offers greater security with a kill switch, IP and DNS leak protection, and 256-bit AES encryption throughout. Both offer fast and reliable connections with unlimited bandwidth and can be used on all major operating systems. Both offer a 45-day money-back guarantee. CyberGhost and Hotspot Shield can both be used to access geo-restricted content, including Netflix, however, CyberGhost does run into problems with BBC iPlayer. Hotspot Shield’s users benefit from the vendors Catapult Hydra data compression technology; however, these need to be weighed against its logging policies and previous investigations into its use of data. You can get CyberGhost for a great price if you use one of these coupon codes.
CyberGhost allows torrenting across specific servers and is registered in Romania, which does not have very strict censorship or surveillance laws currently. Hotspot Shield does not allow torrenting / P2P on any of its servers.
Both CyberGhost and Hotspot Shield work well with the Windows operating system and offer easy to download and install apps. Both offer unlimited bandwidth and stable connections. CyberGhost’s technology allows users to connect to the best server for their needs by setting up a distinct profile based on their main reason for using a VPN. Hotspot Shield users benefit from faster speeds through the use of Catapult Hydra technology. However, Hotspot Shield users have no live chat customer services option and user guides provided on the website are unclear.
Both services work on Android and the app from Hotspot Shield allows users to automatically connect to a proxy browser. CyberGhost’s users benefit from excellent speeds, military grade encryption, and a 7-day free trial on this operating system.
CyberGhost and Hotspot shield both offer apps for the Mac operating system. Both offer fast connection speeds and Hotspot Shield users have the additional benefit of Catapult Hydra technology to improve the speeds they can achieve. CyberGhost users, however, benefit from better security, strict no logging policies, and better customer services.
Both vendors provide native apps for iOS that are simple to set up and use. CyberGhost users have the additional benefit of a 7-day free trial for this operating system.
Both vendors have servers throughout the USA and both are able to bypass geo-restrictions to stream content, including US Netflix. However, CyberGhost users have the additional benefit of strict no logging policies and DNS leak protection.
The Bottom Line
Catherine Ablett
Cybersecurity Researcher
Time to decide which one is best for you
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Kate Veale
Anonymously
Katie Kasunic
