CyberGhost is a VPN app. When you switch it on, it encrypts everything your device sends and passes it through one of CyberGhost's servers before it reaches the open internet. Your internet provider, the café Wi-Fi and anyone else on the same network see a stream of scrambled data going to CyberGhost, and the sites you visit see the server's IP address instead of yours. The facts below come from CyberGhost's own site, checked on November 4, 2026.
What happens when you press connect
You open the app and either pick a country or leave it on "Best server location," which chooses a nearby server for you. When you press the power button, the app and the server agree on encryption keys and open a tunnel between them. CyberGhost uses perfect forward secrecy, so each session gets a brand-new key. If someone broke one session key, they would see that session only, and nothing before or after it.
From then on, the app encrypts every packet on your device before it leaves. The server decrypts it, sends the request to the website on your behalf, and returns the reply through the same tunnel. Because the server makes the request, the site records the server's address and location.
The protocols and encryption CyberGhost uses
A protocol is the set of rules the app and the server use to build the tunnel. CyberGhost offers three:
- WireGuard encrypts with ChaCha20-Poly1305. CyberGhost describes it as leaner and often faster than the others, especially on phones.
- OpenVPN encrypts with AES-256 and is the oldest and most widely supported of the three.
- IKEv2 also uses AES-256 and reconnects quickly when a phone moves between Wi-Fi and mobile data.
The app chooses a protocol for you by default, and you can switch by hand. Not every protocol is available on every system. On Windows, for example, you pick IKEv2 or WireGuard in the app and set up OpenVPN manually. If a network refuses to connect, trying a different protocol is the first fix to reach for.
How your IP address changes
Your internet provider gives your connection an IP address, and that address points back to your home or your phone's network. While CyberGhost is on, websites see the address of the CyberGhost server instead. Pick a server in Canada and you appear to be in Canada.
Most VPN servers share each address among many users, which helps hide who is who. The downside is that some banks and sites ask shared addresses for extra checks. CyberGhost also offers a dedicated IP, an address that only you use, in 21 locations.
What stops leaks if the connection drops
A tunnel can drop when Wi-Fi flickers or your laptop wakes from sleep. Without protection, your device would carry on over your normal connection and expose your real address. CyberGhost's kill switch cuts your internet until the tunnel is back. It is on by default, and you can turn it off in the privacy settings.
The same settings hold DNS and IP leak protection. Every time you type a web address, your device asks a DNS server where that site lives, and those lookups can reveal your browsing even when the pages themselves travel through the tunnel. CyberGhost sends them inside the tunnel too. Its own setup guide recommends turning on all three privacy settings: blocking DNS domains, DNS leak protection and the kill switch.
Servers for streaming, torrenting and gaming
On November 4, 2026, CyberGhost listed 9,600 servers in 100 countries and more than 125 locations, and said its servers run on 10 Gbps connections. The server list marks some servers as optimized for streaming, gaming or P2P (torrenting), and many locations carry the P2P label.
Streaming services block VPN addresses they spot, so a server that works with a service this month may not work next month. Test the services you care about inside the refund window. A VPN also does nothing to make sharing copyrighted files legal; it only hides the traffic from your internet provider.
Smart Rules and automatic Wi-Fi protection
Smart Rules decide what the app does on its own. You can set how it behaves when it launches, which apps skip the tunnel (split tunneling), and what happens when you join a Wi-Fi network. The Windows app can connect automatically whenever you join a new Wi-Fi network, which covers the moment people most often forget: sitting down in a hotel or airport and opening a laptop.
What CyberGhost says it keeps
CyberGhost says it never logs your IP address, browsing history, DNS queries, the servers you use, how much data you transfer, or when and how long you connect. It does process connection attempts, how often you use the service, your email address, billing details and order history, and says it stores these in an anonymized format.
CyberGhost says Deloitte inspected its servers and management systems and found them in line with its no-logs policy. Its servers run from RAM only, so a reboot wipes them. It also publishes regular transparency reports on the legal requests it receives; the latest one it linked covered the last quarter of 2025. The company is based in Romania, which it says sits outside the Five, Nine and Fourteen Eyes intelligence-sharing alliances and does not require VPN providers to store browsing activity.
What a VPN does not hide
The tunnel moves trust from your internet provider to CyberGhost, because CyberGhost's servers handle your traffic. Sites you sign in to still know who you are, and cookies and browser fingerprints can still track you across sites. A VPN will not stop you from typing your password into a phishing page or downloading malware either. Treat it as one layer, alongside a password manager and up-to-date software.
Devices, apps and refunds
One subscription covers up to seven devices at the same time. CyberGhost has apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV, extensions for Chrome and Firefox, and setup guides for routers, smart TVs and game consoles. A router counts as one device and covers everything connected to it, which is the usual way round the seven-device limit.
Plans longer than a month come with a 45-day money-back guarantee, and the monthly plan has 14 days. ExpressVPN, by comparison, gives first-time users 30 days. Either way, you have time to test speeds and streaming at home before the refund window closes.
Is CyberGhost the right VPN for you
CyberGhost suits people who want a large server list, sensible defaults and a long refund window. Look elsewhere if you need more than seven devices on one account: ExpressVPN allows up to 14 on its top plan. If you are still comparing, see our CyberGhost listing, or set it against NordVPN and Surfshark.
