CyberGhost vs Norton Secure VPN in 2026

CyberGhost vs Norton Secure VPN are two well-established cybersecurity brands that have successfully expanded into the VPN space. Both providers offer solid security tools, global server networks, and user-friendly apps designed to protect everyday browsing.

That said, CyberGhost and Norton Secure VPN aren’t built the same. Differences start to show when you look at performance, pricing, server coverage, and advanced features. To get a clear picture, I put both VPNs through a series of hands-on tests, evaluating speed consistency, security, streaming capabilities, ease of use, and overall value for money.

If you’re unsure which one fits your needs better, I break it all down in this CyberGhost vs Norton Secure VPN comparison. Read on to see how they stack up and which service comes out ahead.

CyberGhost vs Norton Secure VPN

Although CyberGhost and Norton Secure VPN are both great solutions, each is better suited for different types of users. CyberGhost has a lot more servers in comparison to Norton Secure VPN. It is also the cheaper option if you sign up for a two-year contract. Having said this, both can unblock region-restricted content. And they each offer a range of strong security features to keep your data anonymous and safe online.

But after all, throughout our testing, CyberGhost consistently outperformed Norton in a number of key categories. As a result, CyberGhost also ranks higher on our curated list of best VPNs.

	CyberGhost VPN	Norton VPN
⭐ Rating:	4.2 ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆	4.2 ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
🥇 Overall rank:	#5 out of #41	#6 out of #41
🖥️ Servers:	9,800+ servers in 100 countries	2,000+ servers in 65 countries
📖 No logs policy:	Independently-audited	No logs
💵 Price:	From $1.75/month	From $3.33/month
🔥 Coupons:	CyberGhost VPN coupon 87% OFF	Norton VPN coupon 54% OFF
🔒 VPN protocols:	WireGuard, IKEv2, OpenVPN (TCP/UDP)	OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec
🍿 Streaming services:	Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Disney+	BBC iPlayer, HBO Max
🖥️ Platforms:	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
📥 Simultaneous connections:	7	10
💁🏻 Support:	24/7 live chat, Knowledge base, FAQs	Live chat, 24/7 phone support, FAQ

Recent Updates

Key differences between CyberGhost and Norton Secure VPN

There are a few key differences between CyberGhost and Norton Secure VPN. CyberGhost offers more streaming support and stronger privacy features including an audited no-logs policy and RAM-only servers. Norton Secure VPN tends to be faster and may cost less on short-term plans.

Choose CyberGhost if:

• Privacy is your top priority. CyberGhost operates out of Romania, a country known for its privacy-friendly laws, whereas Norton Secure VPN is headquartered in the US, a member of the Five Eyes alliance.
• You’re after specialized servers. CyberGhost delivers dedicated options for streaming, torrenting, and gaming.
• You need full-scale security. CyberGhost packs a strong lineup of features, including NoSpy servers, smart rules, a dedicated IP option, and built-in ad and tracker blocking.

Choose Norton Secure VPN if:

• You want more than just a VPN. Norton Secure VPN scales into a full cybersecurity suite, with higher-tier plans adding antivirus, password management, dark web monitoring, and even parental controls.
• You prefer no-hassle protection. Norton Secure VPN automatically connects you to the fastest available server and keeps setup minimal, making secure browsing quick and effortless across devices.
• You rely on essential safety features. Built-in tools like a kill switch, Wi-Fi Security alerts, and split tunneling help keep your data protected without overcomplicating the experience.

Speed, performance, and streaming

To see how CyberGhost and Norton Secure VPN compare, I tested their speed, performance, and streaming abilities.

Speed comparison: CyberGhost vs Norton Secure VPN

When comparing the speeds for CyberGhost vs Norton Secure VPN, we tested the speed of each protocol in the US, the UK, and Australia to determine which provider had a faster average speed.

• Baseline: 940Mbps download, 940Mbps upload speed

	CyberGhost	Norton Secure VPN
Local	741Mbps/291Mbps	879Mbps/559Mbps
United States	593Mbps/167Mbps	529Mbps/189Mbps
United Kingdom	856Mbps/491Mbps	830Mbps/440Mbps
Australia	601Mbps/78Mbps	359Mbps/57Mbps
Japan	476Mbps/77Mbps	558Mbps/76Mbps

As seen from the results in the table, the difference in speed between Norton and CyberGhost is not significant. Norton excels locally and in Japan for download speeds, but CyberGhost outperforms Norton in the UK, Australia, and the US. Yet, CyberGhost has more consistent high speeds across international locations, while Norton shines in local and selective regions.

CyberGhost uses the WireGuard protocol, which is one of the most popular options for delivering fast, smooth, and reliable VPN speeds. Whereas Norton uses L2TP/IPSec and OpenVPN to allow for safe, buffer-free browsing.

Netflix and streaming performance

Depending on the content you want to watch, both Norton Secure VPN and CyberGhost can unblock a range of region-restricted streaming services from other countries. However, CyberGhost can access more streaming services.

During testing, I found that CyberGhost could successfully get around location restrictions. Meanwhile, Norton Secure VPN was detected and blocked by both Hulu and Netflix. This is particularly frustrating, as these streaming apps are incredibly popular and offer large content libraries that aren’t available everywhere.

	CyberGhost	Norton Secure VPN
Netflix	✅ Yes	❌ No
Amazon Prime Video	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Disney+	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Hulu	✅ Yes	❌ No
HBO Max	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
BBC iPlayer	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Apple TV	✅ Yes	✅ Yes

Another reason why CyberGhost is great for watching region-restricted content is that it has dedicated streaming servers and even specialized servers for Netflix. These worked wonderfully in testing by quickly and easily unblocking every streaming service I tried it on. Better still, CyberGhost offers a SmartDNS, which gives you the ability to unblock geo-restricted content on a range of media devices, including game consoles and smart TVs, even if they don’t support VPN apps. By contrast, Norton Secure VPN has neither Smart DNS nor specialized streaming servers.

Torrenting

You can torrent on either CyberGhost or Norton Secure VPN, as they both offer specialized servers for P2P connections. But that’s where the similarity ends.

CyberGhost makes torrenting easy, with a separate tab for its torrenting servers, allowing you to filter according to the distance to your location. It was easy to set up and worked well, although there was a drop in speeds while we were connected.

On the flip side, Norton Secure VPN isn’t a good option for torrenting. Despite the fact that it has a handful of P2P-friendly servers, the speeds are pretty slow and unreliable, hovering between 2Mbps and 8Mbps.

So, if you want to download a film in under three hours, CyberGhost is definitely a better choice for torrenting than Norton Secure VPN.

Plans and pricing

It might not surprise you to learn that a VPN subscription almost always works out cheaper if you sign up for a longer-term contract. And this is the case with both CyberGhost and Norton Secure VPN.

CyberGhost is cheaper than Norton, but only if you sign up for a two-year subscription. If you don’t want to be tied in for that long, Norton Secure VPN will be a lot more cost-effective for you.

Plan	CyberGhost	Norton Secure VPN
Monthly	$12.99	$4.99/month
One year	$6.99/month	-
Two years	$1.75/month	-

If you only want to pay for a VPN for one month at a time, CyberGhost is a lot more expensive than Norton Secure VPN. Similarly, if you sign up for a year’s subscription with CyberGhost, it is still more expensive. In short, Norton is much better value for money if you want flexibility.

However, if you’re ready to commit to a long-term VPN subscription, CyberGhost is more affordable. Its two-year plan costs just $1.75 a month. Norton, on the other hand, doesn’t offer a two-year plan.

Having said that, it’s worth noting that Norton Secure VPN comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee for its annual plans. Meanwhile, CyberGhost offers either a 14-day or 45-day money-back guarantee, depending on the plan you’ve selected. It also has a 1-day free trial for desktop, a 3-day trial for Android, or a 7-day trial for iOS users. So, whichever provider you choose, you’ll be able to test it thoroughly before signing up for a lengthy contract.

Another noteworthy thing – Norton’s cheapest plan for $3.33/month covers 5 devices. If you want more simultaneous connections, you can get up to 10, but you’ll have to pay more. CyberGhost offers 7 simultaneous connections included in all plans. So, consider how many devices you’re likely to need your VPN for before choosing a plan.

In addition to looking at plans and pricing, it’s also worth thinking about your payment method. CyberGhost accepts cryptocurrency payments, as well as credit cards, Amazon Pay, and PayPal. While Norton will only let you pay using a major credit card, Google Pay, or PayPal. So if you don’t want to enter your personal payment details, CyberGhost will suit you better.

Server locations

	CyberGhost VPN	Norton Secure VPN
Number of servers	Undisclosed number of servers	2,000+
Countries (total)	100	65
Virtual locations	Yes	Yes
Specialty servers	Yes	No

When comparing VPNs, one of the biggest considerations is the quality and quantity of servers it has to offer. After all, the more server locations available to you, the more countries you can choose from when searching for region-restricted content to watch. But just as important, the more servers available to you, the less chance there is of overcrowding on the server you connect to, which will ensure faster and more reliable speeds.

Features overview

	CyberGhost	Norton Secure VPN
Kill switch	✅	✅
Split tunneling	✅	✅
Smart DNS	✅	❌
Specialized servers	✅	✅
Ad blockers	✅	✅

Given how competitive the VPN market has become nowadays, most providers offer a feature-rich solution that’s jam-packed with extras to improve the user experience and deliver better value for money. As such, you might expect to find antivirus software, RAM-only servers, split tunneling, Smart DNS, obfuscated servers, password managers, and more.

Kill Switch

Like any respectable VPN, both CyberGhost and Norton Secure VPN offer functional kill switches. A kill switch is a useful feature to avoid any accidental IP or DNS leaks when a secure VPN connection drops. In case such a scenario unfolds, the kill switch turns off your device’s access to the internet until a safe connection is restored.

CyberGhost’s kill switch is enabled by default. If you want to turn it on or off, though, it might be a little hard to find, as it is buried deep among other privacy settings. Nevertheless, it is fully functional and worked perfectly during our testing rounds.

Norton Secure VPN offers a kill switch for Android and Windows users. It is a little easier to find than CyberGhost’s kill switch, right next to split tunneling settings. However, in terms of functionality, we didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. It is a well-functioning feature.

Split tunneling

Split tunneling is an incredibly useful addition that gives users the option to select which apps are connected to the VPN and which ones aren’t. For example, this means that you can connect to a server in another country to stream geo-blocked content, while also connecting to local sites and services.

CyberGhost and Norton Secure VPN come with split tunneling, both of which make it relatively easy to use.

However, it’s worth mentioning that split tunneling on CyberGhost can be found via its Smart Rules feature. While this gives you the ability to specify which websites you want to connect to the VPN, it’s not always clear how to set it up unless you know to look within Smart Rules.

Smart DNS

Yet another feature that makes life with a VPN that much more straightforward, Smart DNS enables you to bypass location restrictions on geo-blocked sites and services without using traffic encryption or routing your connection via a VPN server. This results in faster speeds, as well as the ability to stream content on devices that don’t otherwise support VPNs, such as smart TVs, game consoles, and streaming sticks.

The good news is that CyberGhost has smart DNS capabilities, so it’s a much better choice if you want to use your VPN for streaming. Norton doesn’t have smart DNS support, making it a less desirable option if you want to watch geo-blocked content on a range of devices.

Specialized servers

Specialized servers are often what make or break a VPN in terms of additional features. Both Norton Secure VPN and CyberGhost offer specialized servers. However, one does it better than the other.

You can choose between three types of special servers with CyberGhost – for gaming, streaming, and downloading. The downloading servers are optimized for torrenting and work perfectly well with a majority of P2P clients. Streaming servers are optimized for unblocking geo-restricted streaming platforms, and the gaming servers offer the lowest possible latency and the most stable connection.

Norton Secure VPN has a few servers dedicated specifically to torrenting. However, during our testing, the speeds were slow and unstable. This VPN doesn’t offer any servers for streaming or gaming.

Ad blockers

One area where both solutions are equally matched, however, is ad blockers. This is because both CyberGhost and Norton Secure VPN employ robust blockers and filters that help to get rid of intrusive ads while you’re online.

CyberGhost offers a web filter that uses DNS filtering to enable you to filter out your search results. It means that you can block ads, trackers, and other malicious content. Although, having said that, when we tested this out, we were still able to see occasional ads.

Norton’s version is just as helpful, allowing you to eliminate pop-up ads, redirects, and banners that can slow down your browsing. It also keeps you safe from potentially harmful websites and other malicious content.

CyberGhost vs Norton Secure VPN: which is more secure?

	CyberGhost	Norton Secure VPN
Encryption	AES-256	AES-256
RAM servers	Yes	No
Based in a member of the 5-9-14 Eyes Alliance?	No	Yes
No-logs policy	Audited	Not audited
Kill switch	Yes	Yes
Ad blocker	Yes	Yes

Although Norton is one of the most recognizable names in cybersecurity, its VPN is by no means the most privacy-focused option on the market. In fact, CyberGhost outperforms Norton in several key security areas.

Both VPNs use industry-standard AES-256-bit encryption, and both include additional security features, such as a kill switch and an ad blocker.

However, if you’re security-conscious, CyberGhost is a much safer solution. For one thing, it has a strict no-logs policy that’s independently audited. This means that CyberGhost doesn’t keep any records of any of your traffic or data, so you can rest assured that no one will ever be able to see it.

Norton, by contrast, claims to have a no-logs policy but it hasn’t been independently audited. And perhaps more troubling, Norton is based in the US, a member of the 5 Eyes Alliance. This means that your data could be viewed by your government and shared with other countries.

Infrastructure

Unlike Norton Secure VPN, CyberGhost runs on RAM-only servers. This means that there is no hard drive on which user logs could be saved. And even better, it reduces the chance of its servers being breached thanks to RAM-only servers wiping themselves every time they restart. They’re also a lot harder to hack into, as they don’t have a conventional design.

Given all this, Norton’s lack of RAM-only servers makes its infrastructure a lot less secure than that of CyberGhost.

Privacy

Although CyberGhost and Norton Secure VPN use sophisticated protocols to keep your data secure while you’re online, CyberGhost is much more privacy-focused.

For one thing, CyberGhost is based in Switzerland, which is a privacy-friendly country that doesn’t have strict data retention laws. Meanwhile, Norton is based in the US, a member of the 5 Eyes Alliance, meaning that the government can collect data on its citizens and share it with other countries within the alliance as and when requested.

Another strike against Norton is that it has been known to have DNS leaks. Whereas CyberGhost offers robust DNS leak protection to keep your data secure.

Logging

Both Norton Secure VPN and CyberGhost claim to operate strict no-logs policies, thereby signaling to customers that their data will never be stored or shared.

CyberGhost’s no logs policy was audited independently by Deloitte in 2022 and 2024, so you can rest assured that your data isn’t being stored by your VPN provider. On the flip side, Norton’s VPN hasn’t undergone any independent auditing.

Platforms, interface, and ease of use

	CyberGhost	Norton Secure VPN
Supported OS	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS
Other software and devices	Android TVs, Amazon Fire TV Sticks	SmartTV
Browser extensions	Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave	-
Simultaneous connections	7	10

As you can see from the table, CyberGhost once again has a lot more to offer, with dedicated browser extensions, as well as support for Android TVs and Amazon Fire Sticks.

Having said that, though, Norton does give you more options for the number of simultaneous connections you might want. So if you need more than seven or if you only want one connection, Norton might be the better option for you.

Desktop apps

CyberGhost has dedicated desktop apps for Windows and macOS. No matter which one you’re using, you’ll find the app to be intuitive, clean, and easy to use, with a huge array of security features at your fingertips. Everything is well organized, so you shouldn’t struggle to find the things you need.

By contrast, Norton Secure VPN has two separate desktop versions. One is the dedicated VPN app, while the other is bundled in with Norton’s antivirus suite. The dedicated app for Windows has additional features, including a kill switch and split tunneling.

Overall, though, CyberGhost’s offering is much more intuitive and it’s available on a wider range of devices.

Mobile apps

CyberGhost and Norton Secure VPN have dedicated apps for Android and iOS.

CyberGhost apps for Android and iOS are pretty much identical, with an easy, intuitive experience on both. On the Android version, you can pick either the OpenVPN or WireGuard protocol, while on iOS, you can choose between WireGuard and IKE2.

Norton’s mobile app, meanwhile, is much stronger on Android because the iOS version doesn’t include a kill switch or split tunneling.

If you’re an iOS user, you should definitely choose CyberGhost over Norton Secure VPN.

Customer support

	CyberGhost	Norton Secure VPN
24/7 live chat	✅	✅
Email	✅	❌
Phone line	❌	✅
Guides or articles	✅	✅
FAQs	✅	✅

Last but not least, I compared the customer support between CyberGhost and Norton Secure VPN. And, on the whole, I found them fairly evenly matched. During our research, we got in touch with both providers using the live chat option and found that they responded quickly and helped to resolve my issues efficiently.

The main difference between the two is that CyberGhost has an email option, while Norton has a phone line. Both proved to be pretty helpful, so it comes down to personal preference, whether you find it more reassuring to email or call customer support.

CyberGhost vs Norton Secure VPN – which one wins?

After putting both providers through rigorous testing, I’ve established that CyberGhost is the easy winner, having come out on top over Norton Secure VPN in pretty much every category except for speed.

This is because CyberGhost delivers a much more privacy-focused service, with stronger security features and offers more consistent speeds.

Having said that, Norton Secure VPN does offer a comprehensive security suite. It can be bundled with antivirus for better security and covers essentials as a VPN pretty well.

Feature	CyberGhost	Norton Secure VPN	Verdict
Pricing	5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★	4 ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆	CyberGhost offers a lower entry price and better value than Norton, which is pricier and provides only the basics.
Speed	5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★	5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★	Both VPNs deliver great speeds across various regions, making either a good choice for streaming.
Privacy	5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★	3 ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆	CyberGhost is a more privacy-focused VPN due to its privacy-friendly jurisdiction and independently audited no-logs policy – characteristics Norton Secure VPN lacks.
Features	5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★	4 ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆	CyberGhost offers a variety of advanced features, while Norton covers the basics.
Streaming	5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★	4 ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆	CyberGhost unblocked all major streaming platforms, while Norton Secure VPN was detected by Hulu and Netflix.
Torrenting	5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★	3 ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆	CyberGhost is a superior torrenting option compared to Norton Secure VPN due to its faster speeds and torrenting-specialized servers.
Support	5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★	5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★	Both providers offer responsive and helpful customer support.

FAQ