Surfshark vs CyberGhost: price decides it

Most comparisons call this one for Surfshark. The renewal math says otherwise. CyberGhost undercuts Surfshark on the monthly plan ($12.99 against $16.45), on the long-deal intro rate ($2.19 a month against $2.49), and — the number that decides multi-year cost — at renewal, where CyberGhost bills $56.94 a year and Surfshark Starter bills $79.00. Surfshark’s reply is device count: unlimited simultaneous connections against CyberGhost’s seven. The third separator is audit access: CyberGhost’s Deloitte no-logs report is downloadable in full, while Surfshark’s is readable only after you become a customer.

Beyond those three, the services mirror each other: 100 server countries each, the same protocol trio, RAM-only fleets on both sides, and a current Deloitte engagement apiece. Figures below come from the two providers’ own pricing, server, audit, and legal pages as of 23 Jul 2026, plus two attributed third-party claims. If neither fits, our full VPN rankings cover six alternatives.

Surfshark vs CyberGhost at a glance

All prices in USD, taken from each provider's own pages on 23 Jul 2026

	Surfshark	CyberGhost
Cheapest monthly plan	$16.45 (Starter)	$12.99
Best intro rate	$2.49/mo — $67.23 for 27 months	$2.19/mo — $56.94 for 26 months
Renewal after the intro term	$79.00/yr	$56.94/yr
Simultaneous devices	Unlimited	7
Server countries	100	100
Servers	4,500+	11,690+ (per Surfshark's comparison page)
Jurisdiction	Netherlands (terms governed by BVI law)	Romania
Protocols	WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2	WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2
RAM-only servers	Yes	Yes
Latest no-logs audit	Deloitte, 2025 (its second)	Deloitte Audit Romania, 2025 (its third)
Audit report access	Customers only, behind login	Downloadable in full
Money-back window	30 days (initial purchase only)	45 days (14 on the monthly plan)
Free trial	7 days on 12- and 24-month plans, card required	24 h desktop, 3 days Android, 7 days iOS — no card

What will you actually pay?

CyberGhost’s list price is lower in every row. Month to month it charges $12.99 while Surfshark Starter costs $16.45. On the long deals, CyberGhost’s “2 Years + 2 Months” plan bills $56.94 upfront for 26 months — $2.19 a month on the 83% summer promotion live as of 23 Jul 2026 — while Surfshark’s 24-month deal plus three free months bills $67.23 for 27 months, or $2.49 a month.

Both are intro rates, and what they renew at matters more than the banner:

Period	Surfshark Starter	CyberGhost
Intro term	$67.23 for the first 27 months	$56.94 for the first 26 months
Each renewal year	$79.00 (about $6.58/mo)	$56.94 (about $4.75/mo)
First four-plus years	$225.23 over 51 months	$170.82 over 50 months

The intro terms differ by one month, so the multi-year totals are not perfectly aligned — but even carrying an extra month, Surfshark costs about $54 more over that stretch. At renewal the gap settles at $22.06 a year in CyberGhost’s favor.

Two fine-print items temper the numbers. Surfshark runs price experiments — under its terms, the renewal rate a given account sees can differ from the published $79.00, a clause our Surfshark review quotes in full. And CyberGhost’s headline rate rides on a rotating promotion; the stable number is the $56.94-a-year renewal on its buy page.

How many devices can one plan cover?

Every paid Surfshark plan takes unlimited simultaneous connections; the sole cap sits on its free trial, which allows three devices. CyberGhost protects seven devices per subscription.

Seven covers one person comfortably, and most couples. It gets tight for a household pushing phones, laptops, TVs, and tablets through one account. If that is your situation, this line alone justifies Surfshark’s higher price; if you can count your devices on one hand, it buys you nothing.

Whose network is bigger — and is either faster?

Both advertise servers in 100 countries. Surfshark lists 4,500-plus servers, all upgraded to 10 Gbps ports. CyberGhost’s own pages skip a headline total, but Surfshark’s comparison page credits it with more than 11,690 servers — and a vendor conceding the size race to its rival is worth noting. One asterisk on CyberGhost’s coverage: some of its 100 country locations are virtual — the IP registers in-country while the hardware sits elsewhere — and its public server list flags which.

The protocol stacks will not separate them: both run WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 across their networks.

Speed is the thinnest evidence in this matchup. No neutral benchmark covering both services on equal terms appears among the sources here. Surfshark’s comparison page says independent tests show it retains download speed better than CyberGhost — a vendor citing tests in its own favor. Security.org, reviewing both, also sides with Surfshark on speed. Direction: probably Surfshark. Margin: unmeasured.

Who has the stronger privacy paper trail?

On infrastructure they match: both fleets are RAM-only, wiping all data at every reboot. The differences are jurisdiction, audit depth, and what you are allowed to read.

CyberGhost operates from Romania, outside the 5/9/14 Eyes intelligence alliances and, per its no-logs page, under no mandatory data-retention law for VPNs. Deloitte Audit Romania completed its third no-logs audit of the service in 2025 — after 2022 and 2024 — under the ISAE 3000 standard, covering the dedicated-IP token system, the server network, configuration and change management, and incident response. The full assurance report is downloadable, and the company publishes quarterly transparency reports.

Surfshark’s registration takes more words. The company is Surfshark B.V. in Amsterdam, while its terms of service run under British Virgin Islands law, so “Dutch VPN” oversimplifies it. Deloitte completed its second no-logs engagement for Surfshark in 2025, after a first audit in January 2023 — but both reports are accessible only to paying customers who log in. You can confirm the engagements happened; you cannot read the findings before buying. One more structural fact: Surfshark merged with Nord Security, NordVPN’s parent, in February 2022, and both say they run as autonomous companies on separate infrastructure — NordVPN vs Surfshark compared covers how it fares against its sibling.

What an ISAE 3000 engagement establishes — and what it doesn’t — is its own topic; no-log VPN audits explained walks through it. The short version: an auditor checked that the no-logs policy matched what it was shown, on the dates it looked.

How do the refunds and trials compare?

CyberGhost’s 45-day money-back guarantee is the longest of the pair, but it applies only to plans of six months and up; monthly subscribers get 14 days. Surfshark offers 30 days on any plan, with its own catches: the guarantee is limited to the initial purchase, renewals cannot be refunded, and reseller purchases outside Paddle, Google Play, and Cleverbridge — along with anonymous dedicated IPs, prepaid and gift cards, and Alternative Number purchases — sit outside it.

Trials run in opposite directions too. CyberGhost’s need no payment method: 24 hours on macOS and Windows, 3 days on Android, 7 days on iOS. Surfshark’s 7-day trial requires a card, exists only on the 12- and 24-month plans, caps you at three devices, and charges the full plan automatically when the week ends.

Which one should you buy?

Choose CyberGhost if

• Total cost drives the choice: $56.94 for the first 26 months, then $56.94 a year — $22.06 a year under Surfshark at renewal
• You want time to change your mind: 45 days to refund on plans of six months or longer
• You want to read the audit before paying: the Deloitte report downloads in full, alongside quarterly transparency reports
• You want to test without handing over a card: app trials on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS

Check current terms at CyberGhost, and see the full picture in our CyberGhost review.

Choose Surfshark if

• Seven devices will not cover you: unlimited simultaneous connections on every paid plan
• Third-party speed reviews sway you: Security.org sides with Surfshark on performance
• You pay month to month and want refund room: 30 days against CyberGhost’s 14 on monthly billing
• You want bundled extras: per Surfshark, its larger bundles add antivirus, data-leak monitoring, and a private search engine

Check current terms at Surfshark, and see the trade-offs in depth in our Surfshark review.

Frequently asked questions

Is Surfshark better than CyberGhost?

Only if you need what it uniquely offers: unlimited simultaneous connections against CyberGhost's seven, plus a speed edge that Security.org's review supports. On price, refund window, and audit accessibility, CyberGhost leads — $56.94 a year at renewal against $79.00, 45 days to refund on long plans against 30, and a Deloitte report anyone can download.

Which is cheaper, Surfshark or CyberGhost?

CyberGhost, at every term as of 23 Jul 2026: $12.99 a month against $16.45, $2.19 a month against $2.49 on the long intro deals, and $56.94 a year against $79.00 once the intro terms expire. Over roughly the first four years that compounds to about $54 less.

Does Surfshark really allow unlimited devices?

Yes — unlimited simultaneous connections come with every paid plan, per Surfshark's pricing page; only its 7-day free trial is capped, at three devices. CyberGhost protects seven devices per subscription.

Which has more servers, Surfshark or CyberGhost?

Both advertise 100 countries. Surfshark lists 4,500-plus servers on 10 Gbps ports; Surfshark's own comparison page credits CyberGhost with more than 11,690. Some CyberGhost country locations are virtual — in-country IP, hardware elsewhere — and its public server list marks which ones.

Which VPN is faster, Surfshark or CyberGhost?

No neutral benchmark covering both services appears among the sources here. Surfshark's own comparison page claims better download-speed retention, and Security.org's review also sides with Surfshark. Take the direction as probable and the margin as unmeasured.

Has CyberGhost passed a no-logs audit?

Yes — three, all by Deloitte Audit Romania under the ISAE 3000 standard: 2022, 2024, and 2025. The 2025 audit spanned incident response, configuration and change management, the dedicated-IP token system, and the server network, and the full report is downloadable. Surfshark holds two Deloitte engagements (2023 and 2025), readable only by logged-in customers.