We put these VPNs to the test to find out which is the best!
Editor's Note: We value our relationship with our readers, and we strive to earn your trust through transparency and integrity. We are in the same ownership group as some of the industry-leading products reviewed on this site: ExpressVPN, Cyberghost, Private Internet Access, and Intego. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.
As you can see from the chart, ExpressVPN comes out on top in most sections. The VPN however doesn’t come cheap, and so CyberGhost is a more budget-friendly option.
Nevertheless, ExpressVPN justifies its pricing with excellent performance, ease of use, and better customer support.
ExpressVPN’s average download speed reduction time is lower than that of CyberGhost.
Though VPN connection is almost always expected to slow your connection speeds, different VPNs have varied impacts on speeds.
ExpressVPN is among the VPNs with the least impact, and it’s therefore one of the fastest in the market. Though CyberGhost doesn’t lag far behind, ExpressVPN is our clear winner here.
While doing this comparison, we carried out several speed tests while connected to the UK and France servers. As you can see below, CyberGhost has a download speed reduction of 36%, while ExpressVPN only has 18% speed loss.
| VPN vendor |
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|---|---|---|
| Download speed reduction | 36% (UK) | 11% (UK) |
| Upload speed reduction | 22% (FRA) | 16% (FRA) |
| Ping time to google.com | 309,29ms | 24ms |
| Average time to connect (sec.) | 13ms | 11ms |
| Unblock successful for |
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| Visit Site | Visit Site |
Speed determines how fast content uploads, so if you're torrenting or streaming, you want the speed to be somewhat identical to your regular internet speed. Since a VPN encrypts your data, it usually takes a bit longer to send your data back and forth, which can slow down your connection. However, if your ISP deliberately slows down your connection (also known as throttling) a VPN might increase your internet speed. Testing a VPN is somewhat pointless because new servers pop up and affect speed. Your speed can also differ according to your location, so your speed test might not match ours. Having said that, we tested the speed in numerous locations to provide you with the average.
ExpressVPN has its servers spread across more countries and cities.
With 9,757+ servers, CyberGhost beats ExpressVPN by about 3,300 servers. However, ExpressVPN is far more superior when it comes to server distribution. While CyberGhost only offers 100 countries, ExpressVPN servers are spread across 160 locations in 105 countries.
When it comes to picking a particular server, CyberGhost has its servers organized into various user profiles, and these servers are labeled to make it easy to accomplish a particular task, e.g., Streaming Netflix US.
While ExpressVPN doesn’t have task profiles, it’s easier to pick a server, and you can even choose a particular city. You’ll also be able to unlock more content thanks to the many locations.
| VPN vendor |
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|---|---|---|
| Server Locations | 9757 | 3300 |
| Server Countries | 100 | 105 |
| IP Addresses | 1,300+ | 1,500+ |
| Dynamic Server Switching | ||
| Visit Site | Visit Site |
The ratio of servers to countries is an important factor to look at when choosing a VPN. Only paying attention to location or number of servers can get you in trouble. More servers generally means faster speeds, but if VPN X has a few more servers than VPN Y but twice as many users, VPN X will typically have slower speeds. Ideally, you want a VPN that has a lot of servers in every location. This way you won’t have to worry that server/country that you want will be overburdened and running slow
ExpressVPN’s support is better since it’s always available around the clock.
Both CyberGhost and ExpressVPN provide customer support through live chat, ticketing system, email, troubleshooting guides and FAQs. The two have very detailed guides, but unlike ExpressVPN, CyberGhost’s live chat support is only available during certain hours.
You can always chat with an ExpressVPN agent, and their ticket system responses are faster too.
| VPN vendor |
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|---|---|---|
| Email Response Time | 14 | 0.3 |
| 24/7 Support | ||
| Live Chat | ||
| Knowledge Base | ||
| Video Tutorials | ||
| Visit Site | Visit Site |
We personally test the customer support team of every VPN we review. This means asking technical question through the live chat feature (where applicable) and measuring the response time for email questions. Whether you need to connect to a specific server, change your security protocol, or configure a VPN on your router, finding a VPN with quality customer support should be important to you.
A notable feature of CyberGhost clients is the meticulous organization of their apps into distinct profiles, such as streaming and torrenting. Within the streaming section, each server is clearly labeled based on the specific streaming service it unblocks, simplifying the process of bypassing geo-restrictions.
Choosing the desired features is a breeze with a wide range of options available. Additionally, connecting to the VPN is as simple as a single click from the home screen. Throughout our testing, we didn’t encounter any connectivity problems, and the VPN functionalities performed smoothly as expected.
I find ExpressVPN incredibly user-friendly and straightforward to set up. The latest application showcases your two previous locations and a smart location, allowing you to connect effortlessly with a single click. Moreover, you have the option to select a different server or even specify a particular city without any hassle.
Under options, you can customize your connection and choose the features as well as the protocol that you want to use. Though you won’t find any advanced features, the most important privacy and security features are provided.
From our tests, ExpressVPN lived up to its name as arguably the best VPN in the industry.
*Please note that ExpressVPN's generous money-back guarantee applies to first-time customers only.
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