NordVPN vs CyberGhost (2026): Renewal Prices and Audits

NordVPN and CyberGhost are both large services with RAM-only servers, Deloitte assurance reports and 24/7 chat. They belong to the two groups that dominate the VPN market: Nord Security and Kape Technologies.

On verified data, our score for NordVPN, shown above, is slightly higher. Its security features and payment options earn that lead. CyberGhost wins the pricing rows, because its plan renews at the price you paid and its refund window is 15 days longer. The table above comes from both providers’ data records. The sections below explain the rows that decide it.

Pricing today

CyberGhost sells one VPN tier in three terms. On 31 October 2026 its buy page carried a “Halloween deal: 83% off” label. It listed the “2 Years + 2 Months” plan at $2.19 a month, billed $56.94 for the first 26 months. That plan renews at $56.94 a year, which is $4.75 a month after the first term. The 6-month plan costs $6.99 a month, or $41.94, and renews at $41.94 every six months. The monthly plan costs $12.99.

Add-ons at checkout include a dedicated IP from $5 a month and a Security Suite for Windows from $4.50 a month. A dedicated IP is an address that only you use. There is also a password manager and ID Guard. You can pay by card, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Amazon Pay. CyberGhost’s payment-by-country article lists no cryptocurrency option for the United States. So the anonymous-payment row goes to NordVPN.

We loaded NordVPN’s pricing page the same day, during its Black Friday promotion. It showed three tiers on 27-month terms:

• Basic: $3.49 a month, or $94.23, renewing at $139.08 a year
• Complete: $3.99 a month, or $107.73, renewing at $219.48 a year
• Prime: $6.99 a month, or $188.73, renewing at $296.28 a year

The 15-month plans cost $4.99, $5.99 and $8.99 a month. The monthly plans cost $14.99, $19.99 and $29.99. NordVPN accepts cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, cryptocurrency and bank transfer. It also takes a prepaid card bought with cash in selected retail stores.

The renewal price makes the biggest difference. Buy CyberGhost’s long plan and renew it once, and you have paid $113.88 for 38 months. Do the same with NordVPN Basic, and you have paid $233.31 for 39 months. The Basic renewal of $139.08 a year is more than twice CyberGhost’s.

NordVPN’s Complete and Prime tiers bundle extras beyond the VPN. CyberGhost sells its extras as add-ons. If you want those extras, compare the bundled totals rather than the headline price. Neither provider has a free tier. NordVPN offers a 7-day trial on its one- and two-year Prime plans in listed countries, with a card or PayPal on file.

Privacy and audits

CyberGhost S.R.L. is registered in Bucharest, Romania. That is outside the 5, 9 and 14 Eyes alliances, which are groups of countries that share intelligence. Its privacy policy names Kape Technologies PLC as the ultimate holding company. Kape also owns ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access.

NordVPN is operated by nordvpn S.A. in Panama. Panama is also outside the alliances and has no mandatory data-retention law. The company belongs to Nord Security, which also owns Surfshark.

Both companies run every server in RAM, so a restart wipes the data. Both publish transparency reports, which list the requests for user data they receive. Neither maintains a warrant canary, a notice a company takes down if it receives a secret government order. NordVPN announced in October 2024 that it is phasing its canary out.

On assurance, the two are close. In an assurance engagement, an outside auditor checks whether a company does what its policy says. CyberGhost has three ISAE 3000 engagements by Deloitte Audit Romania. They were announced on 22 September 2022, 6 March 2024 and 8 December 2025. They cover the no-logs policy, the server network, incident management and the dedicated-IP token system. The 2025 report is published on CyberGhost’s site.

NordVPN has six no-logs engagements. PricewaterhouseCoopers did them in 2018 and 2020, and Deloitte every year from 2022 to 2025. The latest took place between 10 November and 12 December 2025. Its reports are available only to logged-in customers. Cure53 has also examined NordVPN’s apps and infrastructure in 2022, 2024 and 2025. No technical app audit of CyberGhost appears in our data.

The incident rows favor CyberGhost, whose record is empty. NordVPN’s record holds two entries:

• March 2018: an intruder got into a rented server in a Finnish datacenter. They used a remote-management account the host had added. NordVPN disclosed this in October 2019.
• October 2024: under a Panamanian warrant, NordVPN provided the user data it held. Its transparency report records this as one order that resulted in disclosure.

CyberGhost’s no-logs policy was updated on 18 March 2024. It lists IP addresses, browsing history, DNS queries and connection times as never logged. NordVPN keeps an email address, a username and the order ID. It says none of it is linked to activity.

Security and protocols

A protocol is the method a VPN uses to build its encrypted connection. NordVPN offers four:

• NordLynx, its version of WireGuard and the default in most apps
• OpenVPN, over UDP and TCP
• IKEv2/IPsec
• NordWhisper, for networks that block VPNs, which now also powers its obfuscated servers

Obfuscated servers hide the fact that you are using a VPN. Post-quantum encryption is designed to resist attacks by future quantum computers. NordVPN’s post-quantum key exchange is an opt-in toggle that works only with NordLynx. NordVPN also adds Double VPN, Onion over VPN, Meshnet, Threat Protection Pro and a paid dedicated IP. Double VPN sends your traffic through two servers instead of one.

CyberGhost offers OpenVPN, WireGuard and IKEv2 with AES-256, a Content Blocker for ads, trackers and malware, and a dedicated IP add-on. It does not document obfuscation, multi-hop, port forwarding or post-quantum encryption on any official page we loaded. That gap is why NordVPN wins the security rows.

A kill switch blocks your internet if the VPN connection drops. Both have kill switches on desktop and mobile, and the details differ by platform. NordVPN has an internet kill switch and an app kill switch on Windows. It has system-wide protection on Linux and Android. The Apple App Store builds use “VPN bypass prevention”, and the Fire TV Stick has nothing. CyberGhost documents an automatic kill switch in its desktop, iOS and Android apps.

Split tunneling lets you choose which apps or websites use the VPN and which do not. Neither offers much of it. NordVPN has it on Windows, Android and Android TV. CyberGhost has per-app selection on Android and website “Exceptions” on Windows.

IPv6 is the newer type of internet address. CyberGhost documents that IPv6 is switched off automatically, with leak protection. NordVPN’s help center says it does not support IPv6 yet. No page we loaded states whether its apps block it. Neither offers port forwarding on standard servers. Port forwarding opens a port so that other computers can connect to yours. Torrent users who need an open port should look at Private Internet Access.

Streaming claims

CyberGhost’s streaming pages name eleven services for its streaming-optimized servers. They are Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max, BBC iPlayer, YouTube TV, Paramount+, Hulu, Peacock, Crunchyroll and DAZN. NordVPN’s VPN pages make no claims for single services. Its SmartDNS help article lists Netflix Originals, Paramount+, Peacock and the US versions of Prime Video, Disney+ and MAX.

A smart DNS service changes the location that streaming services see, on devices that cannot run a VPN app. Both providers have one. But CyberGhost’s own help center says its Smart DNS is no longer compatible with streaming services. So on a Roku or an older smart TV, its claims do not apply.

We have not yet tested streaming access for either provider. Treat the counts as claims. Use the refund window as your test period: 45 days at CyberGhost and 30 at NordVPN.

Apps and devices

NordVPN publishes apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Android TV, Apple TV and Fire TV. Its Linux app comes in both a command-line and a graphical version. It also has extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Edge, and manual router setups. Every tier allows ten simultaneous connections. Its Linux client is open source, which means anyone can read the code. The rest are closed.

CyberGhost covers:

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

It adds Chrome and Firefox extensions and DD-WRT router setup, and allows seven simultaneous connections. There is no native CyberGhost app for Apple TV. Apple TV, Samsung and LG smart TVs, Roku and consoles are supported only through the Smart DNS, which no longer works for streaming. No CyberGhost source code is published.

NordVPN wins the apps rows. It allows three more devices and has an Apple TV app.

Support and refunds

Both run 24/7 live chat, email support and a help center. We have not yet measured response times for either.

Refunds are the clearest difference in this section. CyberGhost gives 45 days on plans of six months or longer, and 14 days on the monthly plan. NordVPN gives 30 days, on the initial purchase only. Both exclude app-store purchases, which Apple and Google refund under their own rules.

Alternatives

If you want CyberGhost’s flat renewal with port forwarding and open-source apps, read NordVPN vs Private Internet Access. Private Internet Access (PIA) shares CyberGhost’s owner and its pricing model.

If you want NordVPN’s features with unlimited devices from the same corporate group, NordVPN vs Surfshark covers it. Surfshark vs CyberGhost puts the two cheaper services head to head. ExpressVPN vs NordVPN compares NordVPN with CyberGhost’s higher-priced sibling.

Every pair is listed on the comparison hub. For streaming, see our best VPN for Netflix page.

Which should you buy?

Buy CyberGhost if the decision is mostly about money and television. You get:

• $56.94 a year for as long as you keep it
• 45 days to change your mind
• eleven streaming claims
• a clean incident record under a Romanian jurisdiction

In return, you accept seven devices, no obfuscation, no multi-hop and no Apple TV app. You also accept closed-source apps and no cryptocurrency payment for US customers.

Buy NordVPN if you need features CyberGhost does not have:

• obfuscation for restrictive networks
• Double VPN and Meshnet
• a post-quantum toggle
• 150 countries and ten devices
• an Apple TV app
• the option to pay with cryptocurrency or cash

The downsides are the $139.08 renewal on the Basic plan and the two incidents on its record. NordVPN also lacks IPv6 support, and you cannot read its audit reports before buying. If you take NordVPN’s promotional term, decide before month 27 whether the extras are worth more than double CyberGhost’s renewal.

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 31 October 2026. Scores come from our published methodology, with speed left out until our lab measures it. Both providers have affiliate programs, and that does not change any row.

Read the full CyberGhost review and NordVPN review for the detail behind each line. The CyberGhost pricing page and NordVPN pricing page list every plan and its price history.