ExpressVPN vs CyberGhost: which should you buy?

Three gaps decide this matchup. Price: CyberGhost’s “2 Years + 2 Months” deal costs $56.94 for the first 26 months and renews at $56.94 a year — about $4.75 a month — while ExpressVPN’s two-year Basic deal runs $89.32 for its first 28 months, renewing at $99.95 a year — about $8.33 a month. Refunds: CyberGhost gives 45 days on six-month and longer plans; ExpressVPN’s 30-day guarantee sits paused through its Summer Tech Sweepstakes promo, 11 Jul – 11 Aug 2026. Reach: ExpressVPN lists servers in 113 countries and covers 10 to 14 devices depending on tier, against CyberGhost’s 100 countries and 7 devices.

Both providers place well in our full VPN rankings: each runs a RAM-only server fleet, and each completed an independent no-logs engagement in 2025. The sections below show where the differences actually bite.

Every spec that separates them

ExpressVPN vs CyberGhost, as of 23 Jul 2026

Spec	ExpressVPN	CyberGhost
1-month price	$14.99 (Basic)	$12.99
Long-term intro rate	$3.19/mo ($89.32 for 28 months)	$2.19/mo ($56.94 for 26 months)
Renewal after intro term	$99.95/year	$56.94/year
Simultaneous devices	10, 12, or 14 by tier	7 on every plan
Server countries	113	100 (virtual locations flagged)
Protocols	Lightway, WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2	WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2
No-logs audit	KPMG, 2025	Deloitte Audit Romania, 2025
Registered in	British Virgin Islands	Romania
Free trial	3 days, mobile apps only	24 h desktop, 3 days Android, 7 days iOS
Money-back guarantee	30 days, paused 11 Jul – 11 Aug 2026	45 days (14 on the monthly plan)

The tie rows matter too. Both fleets are RAM-only: ExpressVPN’s TrustedServer design reloads its full software stack from RAM on every reboot, and CyberGhost holds all data in volatile memory that wipes on restart or power loss. Neither offers a permanent free plan.

What each one actually costs

CyberGhost is cheaper at every stage, and the gap survives renewal:

Term	ExpressVPN Basic	CyberGhost
1 month	$14.99, renews at $14.99/mo	$12.99, renews at $12.99/mo
Long-term deal, first term	$89.32 for 28 months ($3.19/mo)	$56.94 for 26 months ($2.19/mo)
Every year after	$99.95 (about $8.33/mo)	$56.94 (about $4.75/mo)

Read the renewal row twice. CyberGhost’s 26-month deal — an 83% summer promo as of 23 Jul 2026 — autorenews at $56.94 per year, so its effective price roughly doubles to about $4.75 a month. That is still 43% less than the $99.95 a year ExpressVPN Basic renews at. Both advertised rates are intro prices; CyberGhost’s is the one that stays low afterwards.

ExpressVPN’s higher tiers widen the gap further. Advanced costs $16.99 a month and renews at $119.95 a year; Express Pro costs $22.99 and renews at $199.95. What the extra money buys is mostly bundle, not VPN — identity tools, eSIM data, a password manager — plus two or four more device slots. CyberGhost sells a single tier; the only choice is the billing term. All figures are in US dollars, from the two order pages as of 23 Jul 2026.

What if you change your mind?

With CyberGhost, you have longer than the industry standard: 45 days on six-month and longer plans, 14 days on the monthly plan.

With ExpressVPN, right now, you may have nothing. Buy during the Summer Tech Sweepstakes promo — 11 Jul – 11 Aug 2026 — and the 30-day guarantee does not apply; its own pricing table marks it “Not applicable” for the window. In ordinary periods it takes first-time users only, will not cover Apple App Store or Google Play in-app purchases, and limits unintended renewals to 14 days.

Trials tilt the same way. ExpressVPN offers 3 days through its iOS and Android apps only. CyberGhost offers a trial on every platform without payment details: one day on desktop, 3 days on Android, a week on iOS. Until 11 Aug 2026, CyberGhost is the only one of the two you can buy and still back out of.

Which covers more devices?

ExpressVPN wins this one, which is unusual for the pricier option. Basic covers 10 simultaneous connections, Advanced 12, Express Pro 14. CyberGhost caps every subscription at 7. Seven is fine for one person; a household with phones, laptops, and TVs hits that ceiling sooner than ExpressVPN’s 10. If no cap at all is the requirement, that is a different matchup — see ExpressVPN vs Surfshark compared.

Whose network reaches further?

ExpressVPN lists servers in 113 countries across 214+ locations. CyberGhost lists servers in 100 countries and marks which locations are virtual — an IP registered in one country, hardware elsewhere. The 13-country gap is real, but it only matters if it includes a country you need; check both live server lists before paying.

Protocols separate them more clearly. ExpressVPN defaults to Lightway — open source, written in Rust, carrying post-quantum ML-KEM encryption — and backs it with a post-quantum-protected custom WireGuard, plus OpenVPN and IKEv2. CyberGhost offers the standard trio: WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2. What that choice changes in practice is in WireGuard vs OpenVPN explained.

On speed, third-party results split. Tom’s Guide’s comparison put CyberGhost ahead on OpenVPN throughput, 360 Mbps to ExpressVPN’s 210. vpnMentor, TechRadar, and Cloudwards describe ExpressVPN as the steadier performer across locations, with CyberGhost’s results varying more. Neither pattern predicts your connection — and CyberGhost’s 45-day window currently makes it the cheaper one to test on your own line.

Whose privacy case is stronger?

The paperwork is closer than the prices.

Registration. ExpressVPN’s corporate home is the British Virgin Islands — strong privacy laws, by its own description. CyberGhost operates as CyberGhost S.R.L. in Romania — outside the 5, 9, and 14 Eyes intelligence alliances, with no mandatory data-retention law for VPNs — and publishes quarterly transparency reports.

Audits. ExpressVPN’s 2025 KPMG engagement — its third with the firm — was an ISAE (UK) 3000 Type 1 assurance over its no-logs claims and TrustedServer as of 28 Feb 2025, with no issues identified. CyberGhost’s 2025 audit by Deloitte Audit Romania — its third, after 2022 and 2024 — ran under ISAE 3000 (Revised) and covered the server network, configuration and change management, incident response, and its dedicated-IP token system.

Report access. CyberGhost’s full assurance report is downloadable from its announcement page. KPMG’s report downloads after you accept the firm’s terms. Either way, both are readable before you pay.

Ownership. ExpressVPN’s trust page places it in the Kape Group. None of the CyberGhost pages cited here names a parent company.

The deeper history on each is in our ExpressVPN review and our CyberGhost review.

Which should you choose?

Choose CyberGhost if:

• price decides it — $2.19 a month across the first 26 months and $56.94 a year from then on, roughly half of ExpressVPN at every stage
• you want time to change your mind: 45 days on long plans, plus trials on every platform without payment details
• you’re buying before 11 Aug 2026, while ExpressVPN’s refund guarantee is paused

Choose ExpressVPN if:

• you need a country location CyberGhost doesn’t offer — it lists 113 countries to CyberGhost’s 100
• one subscription must stretch across more screens: 10 to 14 connections against 7
• you want Lightway’s post-quantum encryption as the default protocol
• steady long-distance speeds matter more to you than peak numbers — the pattern vpnMentor, TechRadar, and Cloudwards report

Common questions

Frequently asked questions

Is ExpressVPN better than CyberGhost?

It depends on what you're paying for. CyberGhost costs about half as much at every term and refunds for 45 days on long plans. ExpressVPN lists 113 server countries to CyberGhost's 100, allows 10 to 14 simultaneous connections against 7, and defaults to its open-source Lightway protocol. Neither wins across the board.

Which is cheaper, ExpressVPN or CyberGhost?

CyberGhost, at every term. Monthly: $12.99 against ExpressVPN's $14.99. Long term: $56.94 for the first 26 months against $89.32 for 28. After the intro period, CyberGhost renews at $56.94 a year while ExpressVPN Basic renews at $99.95.

Which is faster, ExpressVPN or CyberGhost?

Third-party tests disagree. Tom's Guide clocked CyberGhost ahead over OpenVPN — 360 Mbps to ExpressVPN's 210 — while vpnMentor, TechRadar, and Cloudwards describe ExpressVPN as more consistent across locations. Test on your own connection inside the refund window; CyberGhost gives 45 days, and ExpressVPN's guarantee is paused until 11 Aug 2026.

Which is better for streaming, ExpressVPN or CyberGhost?

vpnMentor and Cloudwards more often recommend ExpressVPN for streaming reliability, while noting CyberGhost's dedicated streaming servers. Reproducible unblocking data exists from neither provider, so take those reports as direction and check your own accounts inside the refund window.

Which has more servers, ExpressVPN or CyberGhost?

Country coverage is the comparable number: ExpressVPN lists 113 countries across 214+ locations, while CyberGhost lists 100 countries and flags which locations are virtual. Neither provider's pages cited here publish a total server count, and third-party tallies conflict too widely to settle it.

Which is better for torrenting, ExpressVPN or CyberGhost?

Both support P2P, per vpnMentor and Cloudwards. Those outlets favor ExpressVPN for consistency across servers and point to CyberGhost's dedicated P2P servers as its advantage. CyberGhost's 45-day refund window leaves more time to test real torrent speeds on your own connection.

Does ExpressVPN have better privacy than CyberGhost?

The evidence is close to a draw. RAM-only fleets on both sides, and 2025 no-logs engagements on both sides — KPMG for ExpressVPN, Deloitte Audit Romania for CyberGhost, its third since 2022. ExpressVPN is registered in the British Virgin Islands and is part of the Kape Group; CyberGhost is Romanian, outside the 5/9/14 Eyes alliances, and publishes quarterly transparency reports.