Which is better Surfshark vs Cyberghost? [Test Results 2020]
Although Surfshark is a fantastic VPN service to use with a PS4, there are other VPNs out there that offer more servers. For example, PureVPN offers 2000+ servers, and a 31-day refund policy for just $3.33/mo. So, if servers matter to you, go for PureVPN and get access to more servers. Best VPN for PlayStation 5 (PS5) While the age of the console may have numbered days, Sony is set to release its latest incarnation, the Playstation 5 (PS5). Instead of just being an upgrade or a step up from the PS4, Sony seems committed to getting into the next generation (and possibly the last) of consoles.
Statistics and surveys show that a lot of people around the world are starting to make use of VPNs to keep themselves and their loved ones safe and protected online, while also enjoying a whole range of extra advantages like unrestricted access to streaming platforms and more secure online gaming.
But there are so many different VPNs out there, picking the right one for you can feel like quite a challenge, and you may find yourself hesitating between the following two brands: SurfShark and CyberGhost. Both have some big similarities, offering high quality protection at affordable prices, but there are some serious differences between them, too.
Our Surfshark vs Cyberghost comparison will aim to get to the bottom of this debate once and for all, putting Surfshark and Cyberghost to the test in several key areas like speed, security, privacy, customer support, pricing, and key features in order to discover which one is really the best option for you to choose.
In this Surfshark vs Cyberghost comparison report, we will cover the following areas:
• Top selling points
• Speed tests
• Prices
• Features
• Streaming
• Security and Encryption
• Privacy
• Simultaneous Connections
• Customer Support
• Speed tests
• Prices
• Features
• Streaming
• Security and Encryption
• Privacy
• Simultaneous Connections
• Customer Support
Now let’s dive into the details of our comparison report.
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Top Selling Points – Let’s get to know them
Before we get into a more detailed look at some of the key categories that separate Surfshark and Cyberghost, let’s first begin with a simple look at each brand, focusing on their main selling points and most popular features.
We’ll begin with SurfShark. This brand is something of a newcomer to the VPN industry, and it hasn’t been around quite as long as other leading players. But it’s done a lot during its short existence to climb to the top of the pile as one of the best VPNs you can buy today.
It’s regarded as one of the fastest and most reliable VPNs of all, with many servers spread out across more than 60 different countries, and it’s also famed for its many features, including ad-blocking, dual server protection, malware scanning, anonymous searching, and unlimited simultaneous connections.
Next, let’s consider CyberGhost. As the name of this brand implies, it’s all about keeping you anonymous and private online, focusing massively on user protection and allowing everyone to feel like a veritable ‘ghost’ while browsing through cyberspace and carrying out online activities.
Like other leading VPNs, CyberGhost is famed for its speeds, security settings, privacy protocols, and its prices. It’s regarded as one of the top budget options and has a huge server network, with more than 6,000 servers spread out across over 90 unique locations, according to the latest available data.
Speed Tests
When it comes to choosing a VPN, many people like to focus on speed as one of the key factors, as nobody wants to deal with a VPN that slows them down and prevents them from enjoying their favorite online activities like streaming movies or playing games. So how do these two providers compare in the speed department?
Well, in general, both Surfshark and Cyberghost are regarded as being among the fastest VPNs money can buy right now. They’ve both got big networks of servers, although CyberGhost does have the larger network overall, and they both attract users to their services by promising solid speeds.
We put them to the test to see how they really work in action, and we got some surprising results. In our tests, which involved connecting to different servers around the world on each VPN and then testing speeds, we saw that it was actually SurfShark that reported the stronger speeds overall. Download and upload speeds were great with both providers, but SurfShark consistently had the edge.
So, if you really care about speeds or if you’re someone who simply needs fast speeds to enjoy gaming, streaming, downloading, and so on, SurfShark might be the right option for you between these two providers.
Another key factor to take into account when looking at the general quality and overall value of any VPN is its cost and pricing system. Many of the best VPNs give you some flexibility and freedom by offering a few different subscription plans at various prices, and the best providers usually keep their prices fair and low, with SurfShark and CyberGhost renowned for their affordability.
Let’s start with SurfShark, which offers three different subscription plans: a monthly plan, a six-month plan, and a two-year plan. If you opt for the monthly plan, you’ll be paying a pretty high cost of $12.95 per month, but if you choose one of the longer plans, that price can drop right down to under $3 per month, which is simply amazing.
In terms of payment methods, SurfShark lets you use credit card, PayPal, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, or cryptocurrencies. It offers a 30-day money back guarantee period for new subscribers, and you’ll also have the option of paying a little extra each month to benefit from its email protection and private search engine features.
CyberGhost goes a little further with its payment plans, offering four different subscription options in total: monthly, yearly, two-year, and three-year. As with other providers, the longer plans work out a lot cheaper per month, so if you choose the base monthly package, you’ll pay $12.99/month, but if you opt for the three-year plan, you’ll be paying less than $3 per month.
This brand also offers a 45-day money back guarantee, as well as offering a lot of promos and sales to help you save or get free months throughout the year. New subscribers can pay via card, PayPal, or Bitcoin, and you can pay extra for additional features like the CyberGhost security suite, a dedicated IP address just for you, and a password manager.
Overall, the cheapest plan between the two providers is actually SurfShark’s two-year subscription, and SurfShark is slightly cheaper overall no matter which kind of plan you’re choosing, so it just about gets the age, but the difference in price between the two is very small.
All trusted VPNs carry out the same basic function of encrypting your connection across a range of different devices and keeping you safe online, but some of them can come with a variety of extra features, usually focused on security and privacy for advanced and intermediate users alike.
SurfShark has a great range of extra features, such as double VPN servers to get a secondary layer of encryption, obfuscated servers that allow you to use your VPN all over the globe, and a CleanWeb feature that is focused on blocking ads and keeping you away from suspicious sites or malware sources. You can also opt to pay extra for the SurfShark Alert, which provides real-time alerts if your data is compromised, and email protection.
When it comes to features, CyberGhost also has plenty to offer, such as kill switches, split tunneling, a dedicated IP for those who pay extra, ad blocking, malicious site blocking, and more. However, it doesn’t offer obfuscated servers or double VPN protection, so there are a couple of gaps in its feature list that could be addressed in a future update.
Comparing these two providers in terms of features is quite difficult, as they both have pros and cons. SurfShark probably has slightly more useful features for advanced users, but most people will be more than satisfied with CyberGhost’s feature list.
One of the best reasons to get a VPN if you’re an entertainment lover is that they can give you unrestricted access to the world’s many streaming platforms and services. Usually, these services have geo-blocks in place to detect where a user is located and prevent them from viewing certain films, shows, and content, but VPNs are able to get around those blocks.
Some VPNs are much more effective at this than others, and both SurfShark and CyberGhost are two of the top options you can choose when it comes to streaming performance. It doesn’t matter whether you’re trying to access Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, BBC iPlayer, NBC, Sky Go, Amazon Prime Video, or something else entirely, these two providers should be able to deliver.
They both might struggle now and then on certain platforms and you might have to play around with a few different servers to get one that works consistently, but you can usually access any and all of the big sites with both of these brands, so we’re going to call this particular category a tie, as neither SurfShark nor CyberGhost outperforms the other.
As well as the fun and games of streaming sites, one of the main reasons to get a VPN is to help you feel safer online. The best VPNs can encrypt your connections across a range of devices and protect you from hacking, tracking, and so on. Many VPN’s also offer other features to keep you safe from ads, malware, and more. So how do these two providers compare in the security stakes?
Well, SurfShark does a very solid job in security. It utilizes state of the art 256-bit cipher technology, along with some of the strongest protocols in the form of OpenVPN and IKEv2 VPN to keep users totally safe. It also incorporates the WireGuard VPN protocol feature for advanced encryption and it runs independent security audits of its services to confirm their reliability.
CyberGhost is also very solid in this area, using 256-bit encryption and also making use of the best protocols: OpenVPN and IKEv2. CyberGhost doesn’t yet make use of WireGuard but is working on it according to recent reports. Cyber Ghost doesn’t work in China either, doesn’t have the more advanced security features mentioned earlier like, double VPN protection.
Overall then, SurfShark is the winner in this category. Both brands make use of similar security technology and standards, but SurfShark just goes a little bit further in the key areas to offer a slightly stronger and more impenetrable package than its ghostly counterpart.
Want to learn more about security? Read our ultimate guide for VPN security.
As well as considering the security features and advantages of each VPN provider, we also have to take into account what levels of privacy and user protection they can offer, and some are a lot stronger in this particular area than others.
SurfShark is based out of the British Virgin Islands, which is one of the absolute best locations on the planet for privacy. It’s not part of any big surveillance alliance like Five Eyes or Nine Eyes, and even though it has ‘British’ in the name, it’s not under the jurisdiction of the UK and is a fully independent place with a belief in data retention and user privacy. SurfShark also has a no logs policy, so it won’t store any user data.
CyberGhost, meanwhile, is based out of Romania in Europe. It’s not a bad location for privacy, but it’s not quite on the same level as the British Virgin Islands. Still, it’s not part of any big surveillance alliances whatsoever and the CyberGhost team promises not to store or use its users’ data in any way. It has a firm no logs policy, and even though there was some trouble with CyberGhost’s parent company in the past, the brand itself has proven to be reliable overall.
SurfShark and CyberGhost are quite evenly matched when it comes to privacy. Perhaps the location of SurfShark’s headquarters just about gives it a narrow edge, but the difference between the two, once again, is minimal.
A lot of VPN users like the idea of just having to pay for one subscription and being able to share the benefits with friends and family. In the same way that many people share Netflix accounts or other subscriptions, a lot of people like to share VPN access with other members of their household, but many providers will limit how many devices can be connected at once.
Not SurfShark! This company actually allows you to have unlimited simultaneous connections, basically giving you the freedom to protect as many devices as you want and share your subscription with the whole family, if you choose. This is a major selling point and one of the biggest benefits of SurfShark overall.
If you choose CyberGhost, on the other hand, you’ll be limited to a maximum of seven simultaneous connections at once. This is still quite an impressive number and better than most other VPNs on the market, but it simply can’t compete with SurfShark’s unlimited offering, so SurfShark definitely takes the crown in this category.
Whether you’re a total newbie to the world of VPNs or a seasoned pro, you might need a little help getting set up, adjusting your payment method, or finding out more about one of your VPN’s features. Most VPN providers have customer support departments to answer these questions and help out their users.
SurfShark offers a live chat system right on its official site, so you can instantly chat with a friendly customer service representative whenever you like and get immediate answers to your questions. There’s also an email you can contact with less urgent demands and a Help Center section with tutorials and guides.
CyberGhost also has a live chat system with pretty speedy responses to user questions and queries, as well as several other ways to get in touch with the team. It offers lots of articles, FAQs, and tutorials to guide you through all the features and functions of the CyberGhost VPN service.
All in all, both of these providers offer very similar standards of customer help, with easy to access live chat windows and detailed guides.
Surfshark vs Cyberghost – Which One’s Better?
As we look back through this comparison of SurfShark and CybeGhost, one thing is clear: both of these providers can be fully recommended and both of them do a wonderful job in pretty much all of the key areas, from speed to security and streaming performance, too.
They have a lot in common, making use of much of the same technology to protect their users and keep people safe, and they both perform well in all the main areas, like pricing and customer support.
However, if we have to pick an overall winner, SurfShark is the one to take the crown. It’s not vastly superior to CyberGhost, but it does slightly better in several areas like speed, security, and privacy.
Not sure yet?
Read our SurfShark full Review
Read our CyberGhost Full Review
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Best VPN for PlayStation 5 (PS5)
While the age of the console may have numbered days, Sony is set to release its latest incarnation, the Playstation 5 (PS5). Instead of just being an upgrade or a step up from the PS4, Sony seems committed to getting into the next generation (and possibly the last) of consoles. If you are going to try out and play this latest generation of the Sony Playstation, we suggest that you connect to a VPN. We can tell you more about that shortly. First, though, please have a look at the best VPNs for Playstation 5.
Read moreHow To Use Surfshark On Ps4
We have been using Surfshark for several years and have been impressed with the many new features the company has added over the years.
From two-factor authentication, which protects your account, to RAM-based servers (and much more), the subscription just got better.
Other features introduced last year include GPS spoofing for Android users, which is another measure to prevent apps and websites from detecting your real location, and WireGuard, the latest encryption protocol. which offers super-fast speeds.
Surfshark is one of the VPN services that came together to form the VPN Trust Initiative with the aim of bringing more transparency to VPN services and also to set standards for security, privacy and other factors.
Put simply, this is a good thing because you need to trust that a VPN service will do its job well and keep your IP address and location hidden.
The service also offers apps for a number of popular devices (including Amazon Fire TV), it places no restrictions on the number of devices that can connect to the service at the same time, and it gives you additional features. that we usually do not find. with competitor services, such as Whitelister and CleanWeb. We will talk about this later.
Features and applications
Over the past six months, the number of servers has grown from 1,700 to over 3,200 in 65 countries, including the UK and US.
- The list of features is impressive:
- Unlimited connections
- P2P support
- WireGuard support
- RAM-based servers
- Two-factor authentication
- GPS spoofing (on Android)
- Stop switch (Windows, macOS, Android, iOS)
- Unblock Netflix, iPlayer, and other streaming services
It’s hard to think of another VPN service that can tick all of these boxes and only charge for what Surfshark does. With unlimited connections, you can connect and use the service on as many devices as you want. Plus, Cleanweb and Whitelister add to that.
CleanWeb blocks ads and trackers while browsing websites, while Whitelister (available on Windows and Android) lets you allow certain apps and websites to bypass VPN. Other VPN services call this a shared tunnel, and it can be useful if you don’t want data-hungry games or apps running on the VPN. However, it is currently only available in Windows and Android apps.
The apps are available for Windows, macOS, Android, and iPhone / iPad, as well as Amazon FireTV and Linux, as well as browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox. They have a clean looking interface and are as easy to use as you might expect.
There are two quick connection options: closer and faster servers. Many VPN apps only offer the former under the guise of “best,” but Surfshark lets you choose which one you prefer.
If you want to enable 2FA to protect your account, you can do so through the website or in the settings section of the app. There are two methods to get a code: Google Authenticator or email.
It certainly adds a bit of annoyance every time you want to log in, but since it happens quite rarely, it is worth enabling as it helps prevent anyone from logging into your Surfshark account.
You can choose the server you want to connect to in the Locations tab, and you can expand the list for countries that have more than one server, such as UK and US. Next to each of these is a useful circle that shows how full or empty a server is.
In addition to servers in physical locations, Surfshark (like many VPNs) has virtual locations, so you can trick the internet into thinking you’re in Argentina, for example, even though Surfshark doesn’t have a server in that country. And this fact is not hidden: virtual servers are marked with a V in the list.
There is also a MultiHop list that routes your connection through two servers for better protection and better hiding of your true location.
Surf Shark Playstation
Surfshark uses IKEv2 by default, but you can now select WireGuard, which should give you much better speeds, especially when connecting to servers that are physically close to you, for example less than 1000 km away.
The kill switch will turn off Internet access if the VPN connection suddenly drops. If there is one criticism here, it’s that in the Windows app it’s a system-wide kill switch that you can’t customize so that only certain app connections are terminated like you can with. some rivals.
In the Android app, you can choose between Android’s native kill switch or Surfshark’s, and on iOS, the kill switch is enabled by default.
NoBorders is a toggle switch that you can use in “Restricted Areas” to unblock the internet where it is usually blocked.
confidentiality
![Surfshark Playstation Surfshark Playstation](/uploads/1/3/7/4/137450252/830421324.jpg)
To be outside the jurisdiction of the 14 Eyes, Surfshark is based in the British Virgin Islands. The UK government is highly unlikely to exercise its power to request that data be published there, but even if it did, there shouldn’t be any anyway.
This is because Surfshark does not have a logging policy. It collects email address and billing information when creating an account, but other than that it doesn’t know if apps are used after plan purchase, or what it’s chosen. to do when the service is used.
Surfshark collects anonymous information, including “aggregated performance data, how often its services are used, reports of app crashes and unsuccessful login attempts,” but the company states that none of this data can be traced back to accounts or accounts. People.
When we asked Surfshark about this policy, we were told that the user’s location is taken from their IP address to use features like Quick Connect, but is not logged anywhere.
Although an audit was performed, it was limited to web browser extensions, so from this review. Surfshark told Tech Advisor that it plans to “conduct a new independent audit of its product” in the first half of 2021, so we expect this to be a much more in-depth exercise confirming the policy. no-logging, as well as overall security. offer all your applications and servers.
Alert and research
Surfshark offers two additional features that are not part of the VPN service: they have an additional cost with the subscription.
![Surfshark Playstation Surfshark Playstation](/uploads/1/3/7/4/137450252/857004665.png)
The first is Alert (formerly HackLock). You can enter email addresses, credit / debit card numbers, and social security numbers and Surfshark will monitor them and alert you in the event of a data breach.
Second, Search (formerly BlindSearch), which is a bit like DuckDuckGo in that it lets you search the web privately and without ads. Since there is no filtering, you will only see organic results. It has been recently improved and is much less clunky than before.
Performance
W hen it comes to testing the performance of a VPN, there are many factors and variables involved. Also, as this review was written during closure, when we did not have access to our offices, we limited ourselves to using a 35 Mbps home broadband connection.
This means that any speed we see would be limited by broadband and not by Surfshark. And since we know that Surfshark’s WireGuard speeds on average exceed 600 Mbps for both upload and download, trying to run tests at home was almost pointless.
We did some testing with various servers in or near the UK to see if there were any slowdowns and indeed there weren’t. Even connecting to Sydney on the other side of the world, we saw over 30 Mbps downstream and 6 Mbps upstream, both slightly lower. Very impressive.
There were no IP or DNS leaks. However, there is a slight problem, because currently Surfshark does not support IPv6. This means that it will block all IPv6 traffic and force your devices to use IPv4. Fortunately, he says he will add support for IPv6 this year.
Unlocking
When connected to a UK server, BBC iPlayer worked without a hitch, which cannot be said for many VPN services at the moment.
It is also capable of unlocking 15 Netflix regions and many other services like Amazon Prime, Disney +, HBO Max, and Hulu. Surfshark is a great option for video streaming.
Way
Whenever we tried the 24/7 online chat, a representative responded in less than a minute and was able to answer our questions quickly and efficiently with a friendly and cheerful demeanor.
Price
Surfshark’s prices are very competitive, with a two-year subscription costing $ 2.11 per month. There are also six month and one month plans, but they are much more expensive per month, so unless you can afford to pay for a two year subscription ($ 50.59) up front, there is no reason. .
You can sign up for Surfshark here.
And like we said, most competitors don’t allow unlimited connections and limit you to a few devices connecting simultaneously.
There is no free trial, but there is also a 30 day money back guarantee if you are not happy with the service.
Payment options include your standard credit card, PayPal, and Google Pay, as well as cryptocurrency options for those who wish to pay anonymously.
For alternative VPN services, check out our roundup of the best VPNs.
Verdict
Surfshark meets a lot of requirements and it’s hard to find anything to criticize. Two of the drawbacks we listed at the top of this review should be fixed in a few months, and the third one might not bother you: this split tunneling is not available on macOS, iOS, Fire TV, and Linux.
For the vast majority of people, who just want a VPN to unblock and have a little more online privacy, Surfshark is a great option.
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