CyberGhost VPN vs Windscribe: three-year cost, free plan and Five Eyes

CyberGhost wins if you commit to a long plan: over two or three years it costs less than Windscribe, its server map spans 100 countries with 9,600 machines, its refund window runs 45 days, and its Romanian registration sits outside every surveillance alliance. Windscribe is the better match for anyone who wants to begin without paying, keep monthly billing, hook up unlimited devices without an email, or read its app source code. Overall the scores land at 4.18 against 4.09, a gap of 0.09 points.

Why four sub-score wins for Windscribe still leave CyberGhost 0.09 ahead

Windscribe leads four of the six sub-scores and still finishes second. CyberGhost's two leads, privacy (5.0 against 4.0) and the far larger network, are large enough together to outweigh Windscribe's four wins. Romania keeps CyberGhost clear of the Five Eyes group; Windscribe Limited is registered in Toronto, which places a Canadian company inside that alliance no matter how careful its logging is.

The network gap is stark: CyberGhost publishes 9,600 servers across 100 countries, while Windscribe publishes no server count at all. Of Windscribe's four wins, the leads in price terms (4.8 vs 3.6) and platforms (7.1 vs 5.2) are solid; its security edge (5.4 vs 5.0) and censorship bypass point (0.5 vs 0.0) are the small ones. That arithmetic beats the row count.

Two- and three-year cost: the table that flips the price row

Windscribe's renewal row keeps its mark because the yearly Pro plan renews at the same $69, while CyberGhost's 26-month plan at $1.99 a month renews at about $4.31. Even after that jump, CyberGhost's renewed year stays under Windscribe's first-year rate. Windscribe saves money mainly for month-to-month payers: $9 against $12.99.

What Windscribe's free plan and Build-A-Plan actually give you

Windscribe's free tier caps your data (the exact cap is not published on the pages we read) and unlocks only a portion of the location list; per its own terms the free plan differs from Pro in bandwidth and locations alone. Build-A-Plan costs $1 per location a month with 10 GB each, minimum $3, up to 7 locations, which suits a light user who needs a single country. CyberGhost has no free plan and no trial; its 45-day money-back guarantee on long plans is the substitute.

Romania versus a Five Eyes country, and what each policy keeps

CyberGhost S.R.L. of Bucharest is owned by Kape Technologies; Romania belongs to no surveillance alliance. Windscribe is independent and Canadian, hence Five Eyes. CyberGhost requires an email at sign-up, runs Google Analytics, AppsFlyer, Mouseflow and Zendesk trackers on its website, and shares data across the Kape group; Windscribe skips the email, takes crypto and even cash, and runs self-hosted Piwik only. Against that, Windscribe keeps a last-activity timestamp, session time in RAM and a 30-day bandwidth counter, while CyberGhost stores no connection IP and no session times. Against that background, neither publishes an independent no-logs audit, and neither company publishes a warrant canary.

Refund rules: 45 days against 7 business days and 10 GB

CyberGhost refunds 45 days on plans of six months or longer and 14 days on the monthly plan, app-store purchases excluded; cancel through the account area or by email (full CyberGhost refund rules). Windscribe's window is 7 business days from the start, under 10 GB used, first payment only, renewals excluded (the full Windscribe refund terms); heavy use voids it, so test through the free tier first and ask for money back soon into the period. Auto-renewal is on by default at both.

More apps on CyberGhost, more tools on Windscribe

CyberGhost lists apps for 12 platforms, including Android TV, smart TVs and game consoles; Windscribe covers 9. The platforms score still goes to Windscribe (7.1 vs 5.2), because it publishes split tunnelling for keeping a banking app off the tunnel, an ad and malware blocker called R.O.B.E.R.T., Telegram support plus Discord and Reddit, while CyberGhost publishes neither split tunnelling nor an ad blocker and offers live chat with hours not stated. On security, Windscribe's RAM-only servers and open-source apps published on GitHub earn it 5.4 against 5.0; CyberGhost answers with ISO 27001 certification from QSCert, renewed yearly since 2012. Neither publishes a stealth mode, so both score near zero against networks that block VPN protocols.

CyberGhost vs Windscribe questions

Which one is faster?

Unknown: VPNRadarLab does not test speed, it scores published facts only.

Is the free plan enough?

For casual browsing across a handful of locations, yes. Once the data cap hits, you wait or upgrade.

Which one suits torrenting?

CyberGhost names dedicated P2P and gaming servers. Windscribe sells port forwarding but publishes no torrenting policy in the data we read.

Does either promise Netflix?

Neither provider names Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Disney+ or Prime Video in its claims.

Which one to choose for your case

• A subscriber paying for years who wants many countries and a legal home beyond the surveillance alliances: CyberGhost on its longest plan.
• An anonymous tester or a light user: Windscribe Free or Build-A-Plan, no email required.
• A household of devices that wants unlimited connections, split tunnelling and ad blocking under a Five Eyes jurisdiction: Windscribe Pro.

The scores sit 0.09 apart; the multi-year bill, the free tier and the legal home of each company break the tie.