Stephen is a UK-based freelance technology writer with a background in cybersecurity and risk management.
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Private Internet Access (PIA) is a premium VPN service based in the US that focuses on being simple and easy to use for a targe...
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CyberGhost is a premium VPN service based within the European Union in Bucharest, Romania. It claims to offer the 'Fastest VPN ...
Read all | Private Internet Access VPN Server Locations | Download | Upload |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdon | 173.79 Mbit | 87.37 Mbit |
| Australia | 240.41 Mbit | 20.21 Mbit |
| China | 340.28 Mbit | 1.4 Mbit |
| South Africa | 16.38 Mbit | 35.44 Mbit |
| California, USA | 316.32 Mbit | 14.23 Mbit |
| New York, USA | 147.4 Mbit | 25.34 Mbit |
| Germany | 79.82 Mbit | 149.91 Mbit |
| Taiwan | 167.48 Mbit | 0.94 Mbit |
| Spain | 82.95 Mbit | 122.37 Mbit |
| Brazil | 130.67 Mbit | 30.3 Mbit |
| CyberGhost VPN Server Locations | Download | Upload |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdon | 110.13 Mbit | 60.27 Mbit |
| Australia | 23.24 Mbit | 11.69 Mbit |
| Taiwan | 217.49 Mbit | 13.91 Mbit |
| South Africa | 38.26 Mbit | 8.36 Mbit |
| California, USA | 222.27 Mbit | 11.74 Mbit |
| New York, USA | 94.86 Mbit | 25.83 Mbit |
| Germany | 246.1 Mbit | 62.73 Mbit |
| Spain | 242.2 Mbit | 131.09 Mbit |
| Brazil | 73.23 Mbit | 8.3 Mbit |
| Philippines | 201.78 Mbit | 7.3 Mbit |
| Private Internet Access VPN Server Locations | Download | Upload |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdon | 173.79 Mbit | 87.37 Mbit |
| Australia | 240.41 Mbit | 20.21 Mbit |
| China | 340.28 Mbit | 1.4 Mbit |
| South Africa | 16.38 Mbit | 35.44 Mbit |
| California, USA | 316.32 Mbit | 14.23 Mbit |
| New York, USA | 147.4 Mbit | 25.34 Mbit |
| Germany | 79.82 Mbit | 149.91 Mbit |
| Taiwan | 167.48 Mbit | 0.94 Mbit |
| Spain | 82.95 Mbit | 122.37 Mbit |
| Brazil | 130.67 Mbit | 30.3 Mbit |
| CyberGhost VPN Server Locations | Download | Upload |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdon | 110.13 Mbit | 60.27 Mbit |
| Australia | 23.24 Mbit | 11.69 Mbit |
| Taiwan | 217.49 Mbit | 13.91 Mbit |
| South Africa | 38.26 Mbit | 8.36 Mbit |
| California, USA | 222.27 Mbit | 11.74 Mbit |
| New York, USA | 94.86 Mbit | 25.83 Mbit |
| Germany | 246.1 Mbit | 62.73 Mbit |
| Spain | 242.2 Mbit | 131.09 Mbit |
| Brazil | 73.23 Mbit | 8.3 Mbit |
| Philippines | 201.78 Mbit | 7.3 Mbit |
Even though CyberGhost and PIA are both top-rated VPNs, they are widely different. Today, we will compare these two providers across different key categories, including security and privacy, speed, apps, streaming, ease of use, customer support, and pricing.
Do we have a winner? Let’s get into details!
First things first, PIA is headquartered in the US, which is not that great for privacy. On the positive side, the company provides a no-logs policy and anonymous payments by cryptocurrencies and gift cards.
CyberGhost allows for even greater peace of mind since it’s based in Romania. It’s a privacy-friendly country that is not a member of the Fourteen Eyes alliance. Similar to PIA, CyberGhost offers a no-logs policy and bitcoin payments.
Source: https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/online-privacy
However, the owner of CyberGhost is Kape Technologies (UK), which some link to a “dark past.” In turn, PIA might be the better alternative in this regard.
Both CyberGhost and PIA are serious when it comes to protecting their users. Both VPNs offer military-grade encryption, WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2 protocols. They also provide for IP, DNS, and WebRTC leak protection, along with the necessary Kill switch feature.
Furthermore, CyberGhost offers Malware Blocker, Split tunneling, SOCKS5 proxy, and Tor over VPN. In turn, PIA comes with HNS, Shadowsocks, Split tunneling, and SOCKS5 proxy.
Whichever you choose as a user, you can rest assured, you won’t be exposed.
CyberGhost has a well-established server network with 7,264 servers in 91 countries. PIA takes things to another level. It has 29,300 servers in 78 countries, all of which are physical P2P servers.
Still, keep in mind, more servers don’t always mean better speeds. It’s the server distribution that plays the key role. The rule of thumb is, the lower the distance to the VPN server, the lower the latency.
Now, the thing is, Private Internet Access has only a few servers in Africa, South America, and Asia. So, it’s safe to say, CyberGhost takes the lead in speed.
Source: https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/vpn-server
Both CyberGhost and PIA work with all major apps, such as Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, Apple iOS. Still, “the devil always lies in the details.”
CyberGhost offers a better app selection, including Chrome and Firefox, TV Apps, Consoles, Routers, and more. PIA, in turn, is limited to browsers only in this regard. You wouldn’t be able to set it up on your TV unless you set it up on the router first.
Source: https://www.cyberghostvpn.com/en_US/apps
There’s not a significant difference in terms of ease of use. Both VPNs provide for more or less the same setup. Even so, PIA has a slight edge in the number of simultaneous devices. You can set up to ten devices at the same time, while with CyberGhost, you can go up to seven. Still, it’s enough, even if you share the account with friends and family.
Source: https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/download
CyberGhost VPN leaves PIA way behind when it comes to streaming options. The provider comes with streaming-optimized servers for full HD videos with zero buffering for over 40 platforms, including Netflix, BBC Player, NBC, HBO Now, etc. Better yet, CyberGhost comes with a Smart DNS feature.
Private Internet Access doesn’t provide any of those, as mentioned earlier.
Source: https://www.cyberghostvpn.com/en_US/unblock-streaming
CyberGhost provides 24/7 customer support via live chat and email, along with a helpful knowledge base. On the other hand, PIA lacks these qualities. The VPN allows for a ticketing system instead. Even with it, it doesn’t offer helpful responses but robotic and mostly unhelpful ones.
So, this is yet another easy win for CyberGhost VPN.
At last, it would be best to consider pricing.
CyberGhost offers discounts on longer-term plans. It also allows for a 14-day money-back guarantee in the monthly plan and 45-day money-back guarantees for 6-month and 2-year plans.
Source: https://www.cyberghostvpn.com/en_US/buy/cyberghost-vpn-2
PIA is the far more affordable alternative. Many consider it the “ultimate budget VPN.” Better yet, all of its plans are subject to a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Source: https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/buy-vpn-online