Windscribe vs CyberGhost: Which Wins?

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) can help improve your online security, boost your ability to stay private, and get access to blocked services. But with so many to choose from, where do you start?

We’ve done an in-depth comparison of two leading VPN providers, Windscribe and CyberGhost, to see which is the best option for you. We’ll discuss the features each product has as well as how they all work. We’ll also consider subscription cost, server network, speeds, and more.

If you’re in a rush, we can tell you now that CyberGhost came out on top in our comparison.

Want to know how we came to that conclusion? Keep reading for all of the details.

Highlights

Windscribe vs CyberGhost pricing

CyberGhost’s two-year plans represents excellent value for money, with charges equivalent to just $2.19 a month for the first two years. Windscribe does not offer any specific deals or discounts.

Windscribe’s build-a-plan option is the cheapest per month, as it can cost as little as $1 a month. However, this only gets you access to one server location. Every additional location costs an extra $1.00 per month. Whether this represents good value depends on how many locations you need, or would like, access too. Bear in mind that CyberGhost plans give you access to 11,000+ servers in 100+ countries.

Alternatively, you can opt for a monthly Windscribe plan, which costs $9 a month and gives you access to servers in 69+ countries. CyberGhost also has a monthly plan, which is more expensive at $12.99.

A yearly Windscribe plan costs the equivalent of $5.75 a month. CyberGhost doesn’t have an equivalent annual plan, but it does have a six-month plan. This is relatively pricey at the equivalent of $6.99 a month.

Both of these services include a money-back guarantee. CyberGhost offers a generous 45-day period in which you can get a full refund. This is much higher than the industry average of 30, which is the period for Windscribe.

Overall, Windscribe’s $1-a-month build-a-plan offering is about as little as you can spend on a good quality VPN. However, if you want access to more than one location, CyberGhost becomes the better option, thanks to its competitively priced two-year plan.

BEST DEAL FOR WINDSCRIBE:Only $5.75 per month on the one-year plan.

BEST DEAL FOR CYBERGHOST:83% discount on the two-year plan plus get two extra months for free.

Windscribe vs CyberGhost features

Both VPNs are available widely across many platforms, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. CyberGhost is additionally compatible with Linux, Android TV, and Fire TV.

Some programs will not allow you to connect if they detect you are running through a VPN. To get around this, you can use split tunnelling. Split tunneling allows you to run some programs through the VPN and others through a direct, unencrypted connection. CyberGhost has split tunneling over their entire range of supported devices.

Windscribe’s split tunneling feature only works with the Android app. Lack of this feature is disappointing for many potential VPN customers. A VPN needs to be able to offer easy to use split tunneling and CyberGhost does this much better.

Windscribe allows more devices connected on their paid accounts. While technically it doesn’t have a device limit, it will enforce a limit if it suspects account sharing, which is prohibited by the terms of service.

CyberGhost allows up to seven devices however this is still more than the market average. With many other VPNs you may only get a maximum of five.

Streaming and unblocking

Both VPNs work well with most streaming services. Windscribe offers a speciality streaming server named Windflix that works well with Netflix but not so well with other services.

If your main reason for using a VPN is to access streaming services, CyberGhost is the better choice. It’s proven to work with Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, and many others. It also has servers that are labeled with the streaming platforms they work best with.

Which of these VPNs work in China?

Neither VPN provider has a working service in China. China is constantly ensuring that VPNs struggle to get around the Great Firewall of China.

The Great Firewall prevents VPNs being used effectively. If you want to use a VPN, it is best to test before arriving in China. Manual configuration is sometimes reported as being successful using certain methods that operate via third-party scripts. In the end it is a very difficult system to bypass.

CyberGhost states that using the L2TP protocol is your best chance of connecting.

Setup and interface

Both providers’ installers worked fine. Basic settings showed a clear overview. The menus are intuitive to navigate and I had no issues finding what I needed. On a different page, advanced configurations can be accessed.

CyberGhost and Windscribe have mobile apps. This is the only way to access split tunneling for Windscribe’s offering.

Servers and performance

Windscribe has a far smaller reach in terms of servers, with a presence in around 69 countries compared to the 100+ of CyberGhost. It also has far fewer servers overall.

CyberGhost has one of the largest server networks of any VPN, with more than 11,000+ at the time of writing. Its consequently able to offers faster speeds than Windscribe. In fact it’s one of the fastest VPNs available.

Because Windscribe has a significantly smaller server network, you have fewer options if a server gets blocked, and more potential slow down at peak times. With CyberGhost, everyone connecting is spread over a significantly larger quantity of servers. This helps guarantee low-latency and consistently high-speed connections.

Below, we list every country where these VPNs have servers:

The comparative country list shows you the specific locations from all over the world.

Security

Windscribe and CyberGhost use common encryption techniques. Both providers support a wide range of protocols and use industry standard 256-bit AES encryption.

CyberGhost and Windscribe offer a VPN kill switch as part of their plans. This feature cuts off all traffic and disconnects you from the internet if the VPN connection goes down. This is one of the most crucial features for a VPN from a security and privacy point of view.

The Windscribe VPN uses a firewall to act as a kill switch and does not offer a kill switch function separately.

Consumer reports for both VPN providers do not reveal any information being compromised via DNS leaking. Both providers operate private DNS servers to keep your web history safe from your ISP.

Privacy

CyberGhost complies with the GDPR as it is subject to European Union jurisdiction. Previous requests to CyberGhost for customer information have revealed no usable or identifying customer information. It issues quarterly transparency reports where it details information requests.

Windscribe’s location is in Canada, which is a member of the Five Eyes Alliance. This is a big concern as the Five Eyes is a collaboration of intelligence services that have an information-sharing network between the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Canada also has mandatory data retention laws and abusive surveillance practices.

CyberGhost does keep limited logs but this is just to keep track of data, which is anonymized anyway. This is generally for enforcing device connection policies which only require logging of non-specific user data.

The privacy concerns relating to any company subject to Canadian jurisdiction mean that CyberGhost is the better choice by far.

Configuration

With services such as these, it is expected that they use their large server network to leverage further privacy and security. This means they both make use of shared address allocation, meaning your individual connection is obfuscated. Because many users share a single IP address, it’s impossible to trace online activity back to an individual.

Both allow you to connect via a static IP, although this costs extra.

Customer service

CyberGhost has a manned live chat feature allowing you to directly contact support or accounts. Windscribe relies primarily on a chatbot and ticket system.

We tested both support schemes via questions and a recording of response times. Three questions each were sent to Windscribe and CyberGhost. We list their average response time below, as well as whether our question was answered or not:

CyberGhost’s offering of live support makes it a better choice. Chatbots can handle some queries fine but missed the nuance in certain questions. CyberGhost’s replies were knowledgeable and the agents also provided links to guides on their website which were up to date.

The winner

CyberGhost

Although Windscribe is clearly a good VPN, CyberGhost is the clear winner in this comparison. It’s faster, has a significantly larger network of servers, and has more security and privacy features too. Users benefit from a kill switch, AES encryption, and more. The best part? It’s incredibly cheap when you take out one of the longer-term plans.

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