Surfshark vs CyberGhost

These two compete for the same reader: somebody who wants a VPN, does not want to think about it much, and is choosing on price. Both prices are real and both are temporary. What separates them is which corners each one cut.

Two cheap headline rates, two different catches

Surfshark's advertised rate covers twenty-seven months and then roughly doubles. CyberGhost bills one charge covering twenty-six months and then a second covering twelve, which is a different shape of surprise but the same surprise. Neither is unusual in this market and neither is a reason to pick one over the other.

CyberGhost has been owned by Kape Technologies since 2017 and does not mention it anywhere on its site. Kape owns two other VPNs sold as separate brands. Surfshark's ownership is a matter of public record and its site does not hide it.

What each one does about IPv6

Surfshark does not support IPv6 and advises disabling it on your network. CyberGhost protects it. This sounds technical and is not: it means one of these asks you to switch off part of your connection so the privacy tool works, and the other does not.

They also break differently on protective features. Surfshark's kill switch allowed traffic through after a restart under testing. CyberGhost's kill switch holds but it has no obfuscation at all, so any network filtering VPN traffic will stop it — Surfshark's obfuscation works.

Surfshark's advantages are unlimited devices and multi-hop, neither of which CyberGhost offers. CyberGhost's are streaming servers chosen per service and a Smart DNS for televisions that cannot run an app.

Which should you choose?

Choose CyberGhost if the job is streaming to a television on an unfiltered home connection, and you want IPv6 handled rather than disabled. Pick Surfshark if you need to cover an unlimited number of devices or you might be on a network that blocks VPNs, and you will check the kill switch yourself after a restart.

If neither set of compromises appeals, that is a reasonable conclusion. Both are priced to be chosen quickly, and the cost of choosing quickly here is a feature that does not do what its name says.