CyberGhost vs PureVPN: where each VPN wins on price, privacy and features

PureVPN comes out ahead in our scoring, 5.30 against 4.18 out of 10, and the reasons are concrete: an independent no-logs audit by KPMG, obfuscated servers, ten simultaneous devices, split tunnelling and 24/7 chat. CyberGhost answers with a cheaper first term, a longer refund window on longer plans and a bigger server map. VPNRadarLab scores what providers publish; speed is not part of this comparison.

Where the gap of about one point comes from

PureVPN's privacy lead rests on one thing: KPMG audited its no-logs claim, and CyberGhost publishes no independent audit of its own. CyberGhost partly compensates with a transparency report and a policy that keeps session times out of its records, but that narrows the distance without closing it. The second swing is censorship bypass: CyberGhost lists no stealth mode, so that sub-score sits at zero, while PureVPN's obfuscated servers, which disguise traffic as HTTPS, lift it to 1.9. Neither provider publishes VLESS, Trojan, Shadowsocks or Hysteria2, so even PureVPN's bypass score stays low.

CyberGhost's one sub-score lead is security, and it comes from paperwork: ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certification held since 2012 and renewed yearly, counted as its security audit. PureVPN publishes no security audit but runs post-quantum encryption on quantum-resistant servers. Day to day, both offer a kill switch, DNS leak protection, WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2, and neither has developed its own protocol.

What each costs in the first term and after renewal

Prices in dollars, tax excluded. CyberGhost undercuts PureVPN at the start but renews at x2.17 of the intro rate against x1.86. From the second bill the picture flips: $47.95 a year beats $51.74. PureVPN sells Plus (a password manager added) and Max (an eSIM with 3 GB for 30 days, data removal, dark web monitoring); CyberGhost bundles its password manager plus ID Guard, Privacy Guard and NoSpy servers into multi-year plans instead.

Refunds, trial and payment: the fine print that changes the deal

CyberGhost refunds 45 days only on plans of six months or longer; the monthly plan gets 14 days, and app store purchases are excluded. Details are on the CyberGhost refund page. PureVPN offers 31 days from the first purchase, but pay through CoinPayments crypto, the App Store or Google Play and that refund is gone. Its 7-day trial converts to a paid plan automatically unless you cancel, and auto-renewal is on by default at both providers. Both take cards and PayPal; PureVPN accepts Bitcoin and other coins openly, while CyberGhost names Bitcoin via BitPay only in its privacy policy, not at checkout.

Romania or the BVI: what each policy keeps about you

CyberGhost S.R.L. is based in Bucharest, Romania, under Kape Technologies; PureVPN belongs to GZ Systems Limited in Road Town, British Virgin Islands. Both jurisdictions sit outside the 5, 9 and 14 Eyes alliances, and both policies say they hand over data when a court order or binding law demands it. Neither logs the connection IP, and both require an email to sign up. The differences are in the small fields: PureVPN keeps the connection date for support, per-user bandwidth totals, crash reports and dedicated IP records for 25 days after a subscription ends. CyberGhost's list covers the account email, device info, app analytics, an anonymised sign-up IP used against fraud and optional diagnostics sent through support; it does not mention session times or bandwidth. Neither company runs a warrant canary. More on the audit itself at PureVPN's safety page.

Devices, apps and network for everyday use

A household with several phones, laptops and a TV hits CyberGhost's limit first: seven simultaneous devices against ten. CyberGhost does not publish split tunnelling or an ad blocker, and it offers live chat without stating 24/7 hours; PureVPN ships both features plus the round-the-clock chat. CyberGhost answers with wider coverage, 100 countries and 9,600 servers against 65+ countries and 6,000+, plus a Smart TV app. Torrenting runs on P2P servers for both, and PureVPN restricts file sharing to those servers while selling port forwarding from $1.49 a month and dedicated IP from $2.49.

Which one to pick for your case

• Someone who will not keep the VPN beyond the first 26-month term: CyberGhost, with its cheaper intro rate and the longest refund safety net.
• Someone who wants an audited no-logs policy or has to use networks that block VPNs: PureVPN, though its bypass score is still low.
• More than seven devices, or a plan to stay subscribed for years: PureVPN, which gets cheaper after renewal.

CyberGhost vs PureVPN questions

Which one is faster?

Unknown from our side: VPNRadarLab does not run speed tests. PureVPN advertises 20 Gbps ports; treat that as the provider's own claim.

Which is better for torrenting?

Both allow it on dedicated P2P servers. Port forwarding, which helps with seeding, is a paid PureVPN add-on.

Does either one promise Netflix or BBC iPlayer?

No. CyberGhost advertises streaming-optimised servers without naming services, and PureVPN names none either.

The short answer

PureVPN scores higher thanks to its KPMG audit, obfuscated servers, ten-device limit and support. CyberGhost is cheaper at the start, refunds long plans for 45 days, covers more countries and holds ISO certifications. If you keep it past the first term, PureVPN becomes the cheaper pick; for a shorter run, CyberGhost costs less.