ExpressVPN vs CyberGhost (2026): Same Owner, Different Deal

ExpressVPN and CyberGhost are sold as rivals, but they have the same owner. CyberGhost’s privacy policy names Kape Technologies PLC as its ultimate holding company. ExpressVPN’s about page says it joined the Kape Technologies family in 2021. Kape also owns Private Internet Access.

The shared owner has not made them the same product. We verified both on 5 November 2026. They differ on price, renewal, refund window, protocols, split tunneling, obfuscation, TV apps and the depth of their audit records. The table above comes from both providers’ data records. The sections below explain what the rows mean and where the Kape connection matters.

Pricing today

CyberGhost sells a single tier. On 5 November 2026 its buy page ran an “Early Access Deal: Save up to 83%” promotion. It replaced the Halloween promotion we saw on 31 October. It listed three plans:

• a “2 Years + 4 Months” plan at $2.19 a month, billed $61.32 for the first 28 months
• a 6-month plan at $6.99 a month, or $41.94 in total
• a monthly plan at $12.99

ExpressVPN’s pricing page the same day showed one term, “2 Years + 4 Months”. You pay for all 28 months up front:

• Basic: $2.99 a month, or $83.72
• Advanced: $4.49 a month, or $125.72
• Express Pro: $7.49 a month, or $209.72

ExpressVPN’s support page says every tier also comes as a monthly or 12-month plan. Their prices appear only at checkout, so our data layer records none. That is why the table shows “not published” for the monthly plan.

The renewal terms separate the two more than the headline prices do. CyberGhost’s 2-year plan “autorenews at $61.32 annually”. That is the same amount you paid for the first 28 months. The 6-month plan renews at $41.94 every six months, and the monthly plan at $12.99. ExpressVPN Basic renews at $99.95 a year, Advanced at $119.95 and Express Pro at $199.95.

Say you buy the cheapest plan from each and renew it once. Both then cover 40 months. CyberGhost costs $122.64, about $3.07 a month. ExpressVPN Basic costs $183.67, about $4.59 a month. In the first term alone, CyberGhost costs $22.40 less.

Neither accepts an anonymous payment method. CyberGhost’s checkout listed cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Amazon Pay. Its payment-methods-by-country article lists no cryptocurrency option for the United States. ExpressVPN takes cards, PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay. It stopped accepting cryptocurrency, including BitPay, in August 2026.

Both sell extras at checkout. A dedicated IP is an address that only you use. CyberGhost offers one from $5 a month, and a Windows security suite from $4.50 a month. ExpressVPN bundles its password manager, a US identity-protection service and an eSIM into Advanced and Express Pro. Express Pro also includes a dedicated IP.

The device allowance follows the tier too. CyberGhost’s only plan allows 7 devices. ExpressVPN allows 10 on Basic, 12 on Advanced and 14 on Express Pro. The full plan tables and price histories are on the CyberGhost pricing page and the ExpressVPN pricing page.

Privacy and audits

Ownership matters more in this comparison than in most. Kape Technologies owns both companies. If you leave one because you no longer trust it, switching to the other gains you nothing. The operating companies, jurisdictions and policies are separate, but the final decision-maker is the same.

CyberGhost S.R.L. is registered in Bucharest, Romania. Express Technologies Ltd. operates under British Virgin Islands law. Neither country belongs to the 5, 9 or 14 Eyes alliances, which are groups of countries that share intelligence. Both providers run every server in RAM. A RAM-only server keeps its data in memory, so a restart wipes it.

Both have had their no-logs policies checked by Big Four firms, the four largest accounting firms. They differ in how often and how openly. In an assurance engagement, an outside auditor checks whether a company does what its policy says.

CyberGhost has three ISAE 3000 assurance engagements by Deloitte Audit Romania. They cover its no-logs policy and server infrastructure. They were announced on 22 September 2022, 6 March 2024 and 8 December 2025. The first report was available only on request from Deloitte. The second was inside the customer account. The third is published on CyberGhost’s site.

ExpressVPN has KPMG audits of its privacy commitments from September 2022, December 2023 and June 2025. PwC audited its policy and TrustedServer technology in 2019. It also has a long run of technical work: our record lists 18 engagements in total. Cure53, Praetorian, F-Secure and Nettitude examined the Lightway protocol, the desktop and mobile apps, the browser extension and the Aircove router. CyberGhost’s apps and protocol implementations have no published independent audit beyond the Deloitte infrastructure work.

CyberGhost has the cleaner incident record. It has no documented incident in our data. ExpressVPN has four:

• January 2017: a server seizure in Turkey yielded nothing, because no logs existed.
• September 2021: a disclosure about its CIO’s earlier work on a UAE surveillance program.
• February 2024: a Windows split-tunneling bug sent some DNS requests to the internet provider’s resolver instead of through the VPN.
• July 2025: a disclosure that debug code in Windows app versions 12.97 to 12.101.0.2-beta let remote desktop (RDP) traffic bypass the tunnel.

Outsiders found both app bugs, and ExpressVPN fixed them within days. Nettitude verified the DNS fix. Bugs like these are one reason ExpressVPN’s apps are audited so often. They also show the kind of problem that can stay hidden when no one audits the apps.

Both companies publish transparency reports. A transparency report lists the requests for user data a company has received. Neither keeps a warrant canary, a notice a company takes down if it receives a secret government order.

ExpressVPN’s privacy policy was updated on 2 October 2026. It says ExpressVPN keeps aggregated usage statistics, such as which apps were activated and whether a connection succeeded on a given day. CyberGhost’s no-logs policy was updated on 18 March 2024. Its no-logs page lists IP addresses, browsing history, DNS queries and connection dates as never logged.

Security and protocols

A protocol is the method a VPN uses to build its encrypted connection. ExpressVPN’s default protocol is Lightway, its own design, written in Rust on wolfSSL. Since January 2025 it has used a hybrid post-quantum ML-KEM key exchange by default. Post-quantum encryption is designed to resist attacks by future quantum computers. WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2 are also available.

CyberGhost offers OpenVPN, WireGuard and IKEv2 with AES-256 and documents no post-quantum protection. Both run their own DNS resolvers with leak protection. Both block IPv6, the newer type of internet address, rather than send it through the VPN.

A kill switch blocks your internet if the VPN connection drops. Both providers have one on every platform. ExpressVPN’s Network Lock is on by default on Windows, macOS, Linux and Android, and always on for iOS. It blocks IPv4, IPv6 and DNS traffic outside the tunnel. CyberGhost documents an automatic kill switch in its desktop, iOS and Android apps.

CyberGhost falls behind on split tunneling. Split tunneling lets you choose which apps or websites use the VPN and which do not. ExpressVPN offers it on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. CyberGhost offers per-app split tunneling on Android and a website “Exceptions” list on Windows. It has nothing on macOS, iOS or Linux.

The second gap is obfuscation, which hides the fact that you are using a VPN. ExpressVPN applies it automatically on every server. That helps on hotel, campus and workplace networks that block VPN traffic. CyberGhost documents no obfuscation feature on its official pages.

Neither has a multi-hop or double-VPN option, which would send your traffic through two servers. Neither offers port forwarding on its standard servers. Port forwarding opens a port so that other computers can connect to yours. ExpressVPN has it only on its router app and Aircove, and outside the tunnel. Torrent users who need an open port should look at Private Internet Access, the third Kape brand, which offers it.

Both sell a dedicated IP. Both bundle a blocker for ads, trackers and malware. CyberGhost calls it Content Blocker, and ExpressVPN calls it Advanced Protection. CyberGhost also runs 44 NoSpy servers in Bucharest that it owns itself. They are for people who want hardware the provider controls end to end.

Streaming claims

Both providers document Netflix support on their official pages. We have not yet tested streaming with either, so what follows are claims. CyberGhost’s streaming page says its streaming-optimized servers support Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max, BBC iPlayer, YouTube TV and Paramount+. Its dedicated pages add Hulu, Peacock, Crunchyroll and DAZN, eleven services in all. ExpressVPN’s support guide and dedicated pages cover twelve: the same eleven plus ESPN+.

The main difference is TV support. ExpressVPN has native apps for Apple TV, Fire TV and Android TV. It also has MediaStreamer, a smart DNS service for Samsung TVs, Roku, Chromecast and games consoles. A smart DNS service changes the location that streaming services see, on devices that cannot run a VPN app.

CyberGhost has Android TV and Fire TV apps but no Apple TV app. Its help center says its Smart DNS feature is no longer compatible with streaming services. That leaves Apple TV, Samsung and LG sets, Roku and consoles with a router setup.

If you buy mainly to stream on a TV, ExpressVPN covers more devices. If you watch on a phone, laptop or Fire Stick, both claim the services most people want. Use the refund window as your test: 45 days at CyberGhost and 30 at ExpressVPN. Read our best VPN for Netflix page first. It explains how Netflix blocks VPN addresses and why a documented claim is the most any provider can offer.

Apps and devices

CyberGhost publishes apps for:

• Windows 10 and later
• macOS 10.13 and later
• Linux, command line only
• Android 7 and later
• iOS 15 and later
• Android TV and Amazon Fire TV

It also has browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox, and router setup through DD-WRT and OpenVPN. ExpressVPN adds an Apple TV app, an Edge extension and a router app for Asus, Linksys and Netgear models. It also sells its own Aircove and Fortify routers.

CyberGhost allows 7 simultaneous connections. ExpressVPN allows 10, 12 or 14, depending on the tier.

CyberGhost publishes no app source code. Open-source code is public, so anyone can check it. ExpressVPN open-sourced its browser extension under GPLv2, and the Lightway core. Its main apps remain closed.

CyberGhost publishes the larger server count: 9,600 servers in 100 countries and 125 locations. ExpressVPN does not publish a server count, but it lists more countries and locations: 113 countries and 214 locations. Both use virtual locations for part of the map. A virtual location gives you an address in one country from a server that sits in another.

Support and refunds

Both run 24/7 live chat, email support and a help center. CyberGhost also takes web tickets. We have not measured response times for either.

The guarantees differ by 15 days. CyberGhost refunds within 45 days on plans of six months or longer, and within 14 days on the monthly plan. ExpressVPN refunds first-time users within 30 days of purchase. It says eligibility follows the terms shown at checkout for your plan or promotion. Both exclude purchases made through Apple’s App Store or Google Play, which follow Apple’s and Google’s rules. If you have already had one ExpressVPN refund, you cannot get another.

Neither has a free tier, but both offer free trials. CyberGhost gives 24 hours on desktop without a card. Its Android and iOS apps give 3 and 7 days, and both need a payment method. ExpressVPN offers a 3-day free trial in its iOS and Android apps. Our best VPN free trials page compares the terms.

Which should you buy?

If price decides it, choose CyberGhost. It is cheaper on the long plan, at $61.32 against $83.72. It is far cheaper at renewal, at $61.32 a year against $99.95. Its 45-day guarantee also gives you longer to check whether the streaming claims hold for the services you watch.

If features decide it, choose ExpressVPN. It wins nearly every security row that is not a tie:

• split tunneling on five platforms instead of two
• obfuscation on every server instead of none
• post-quantum encryption by default, where CyberGhost documents none
• an Apple TV app
• a smart DNS that still works
• an audit record that covers its apps and protocol as well as its servers

Ownership does not separate them, because both belong to Kape. Mac and iPhone users should pay the ExpressVPN premium. So should people on restrictive networks and anyone who watches on an Apple TV. Windows, Android and Fire TV users who want the lowest long-run cost should take CyberGhost and write the renewal date down.

Alternatives

If you want to leave the Kape group entirely, NordVPN is the obvious comparison for both. See CyberGhost vs NordVPN and ExpressVPN vs NordVPN.

Surfshark costs less than ExpressVPN and allows unlimited devices. See CyberGhost vs Surfshark and ExpressVPN vs Surfshark.

Private Internet Access (PIA) is the third Kape brand. It adds port forwarding and open-source apps at $2.03 a month on a 40-month plan. See the PIA review and PIA vs Surfshark.

For open-source apps from an independent company, see Proton VPN in ExpressVPN vs Proton VPN. Every pair we have published is on the comparison hub.

How we compared them

Every row in the table comes from the two providers’ data records. We checked those records against their official pricing, feature, server, policy and audit pages on 5 November 2026. Scores come from our published methodology, with speed left out until our lab measures it. Our scores shown above will move when the data changes. That is why this page describes the differences instead of quoting the numbers.

Read the full CyberGhost review and ExpressVPN review for the detail behind each line. Our how we make money page explains the affiliate relationships involved. They do not affect the verdict.