Head to head
The gap
The security score is not a total of good things. It starts at 100 and eight channels each take a share of what is left, so one channel can settle a record on its own. Both records are drawn here on the same scale — the model’s own cap of 0.9 — rather than on a scale fitted to this pair, which would make every comparison look equally dramatic.
Line by line
Every field the contract publishes about a provider, in the contract’s own groups, including the rows where the two agree — a table that printed only differences would invent a disagreement, and one that printed only the interesting rows would be us choosing what is interesting. Open a group to read its rows; each one says how many it holds and how many of them the two records answer differently.
A green cell means the methodology itself prices that value below the other one, not that we prefer it. Rows the model does not price carry no mark at all: price is never marked, because nothing in the model says cheaper is safer, and neither is coverage, platform count or devices. Where a value was never established the cell says so instead of showing a zero.
What actually happened
Other pairs
Pairs within the top ten get a page — 80 comparisons in all. Records below that are not paired here: a comparison earns a page where the choice between the two is a real one, and that choice is made near the top of the register.
Security
Usability
Rank 9 of 68 in the register
Romania · Commercial VPN
Exits in 91 countries
No demand on the public record
Security
Usability
Rank 5 of 68 in the register
Malaysia · Commercial VPN
Exits in 57 countries
No demand on the public record
Notes
On the record as a whole.
Deloitte's third no-logs assurance report (the only one of three published as a full downloadable PDF rather than gated behind login or an email request to Deloitte) is a limited assurance, ISAE 3000 (Revised) engagement dated as of 31 October 2025 and signed 19 December 2025; it examines CyberGhost's description of its own no-logging controls on a sample basis, not the full fleet, and its conclusion is negative assurance ("nothing has come to our attention"), not a positive finding of no logs.
The privacy policy's non-personal-data list names the Google Advertising ID and gyro-sensor data under website-style language that only a mobile app can actually read.
On the record as a whole.
Pricing has no plain 12-month tier; the closest analogue to an annual plan is a 13-month term (12 months plus 1 bonus month) billed 54.99 USD, recorded in U04b with this note per the schema's first-term rule. A 26-month term (24+2 bonus months) also exists at 69.99 USD but is not the annual plan the field asks for. C05_payment_anonymous also lists Visa/Mastercard/Amex/PayPal on the same page; only the Coinpayments crypto option is anonymous-adjacent.
C07b_site_trackers is a self-hosted/proxied Plausible-style analytics script served from hide.me's own domain (data-api https://hide.me/api/event) rather than a third-party domain; coded as analytics since it is still a distinct analytics product, not a first-party log.
U07_protocols refresh (2026-09-14) found SoftEther added to the protocol list alongside WireGuard, IKEv2, SSTP and OpenVPN; SoftEther is third-party open-source software (not hide.me's own protocol) with a published, reviewable implementation, so it is coded vendor_open rather than proprietary.
Open questions
Still open on this record.
Owner-group history. Kape Technologies, CyberGhost's parent since March 2017, traces back to Crossrider, an ad-injection SDK platform whose services were widely abused by adware and malware distributors before the 2016 pivot to VPNs. No documented lie or claim gap ties this history to CyberGhost's own conduct, but the adverse record is why this provider is catalogued at all rather than by a neutral selection rule.
Scale and reach are undocumented. No CyberGhost-specific user count could be sourced from the provider's own pages beyond "millions of customers," so M08_user_scale stands unknown, and no clean 12-month plan exists to price against U04b_price_yearly — CyberGhost sells only 1-month, 6-month and 26-month terms.
Client and build transparency are unexamined. No official CyberGhost source-code repository, reproducible-build attestation or standalone application pentest (Cure53's public index has no entry for CyberGhost or Kape) could be found, leaving V12, V13 and V14 unknown rather than a finding either way.
A disputed breach claim was not independently resolvable. A September 2024 third-party report alleged leaked CyberGhost account credentials; CyberGhost's own response denies a service-side compromise and attributes the credentials to user-side malware, but the underlying report could not be read in this session, so X09_incident_handling stays unknown rather than taking either side's account.
Two of CyberGhost's own pages disagree on its street address: the imprint names 70-72 Dionisie Lupu street, the privacy policy names 68 Polonă street, both in the same Bucharest district and both current pages rather than one being an archived leftover. Neither was treated as authoritative over the other, and the discrepancy is left for a future refresh to resolve rather than guessed at here.
Still open on this record.
Ultimate beneficial owner. eVenture Ltd. is named and registered (Malaysia, LL09685) with a street address, but no individual owner or parent structure is disclosed anywhere in the provider's own documents; M09, M11 and the owner-jurisdiction channel stay unknown.
Seizure and court-record history. The transparency report states law-enforcement requests received nothing to hand over every year since 2013, which supports P02_disclosure_history, but no single dated seizure or court order is documented with its own record, so P01_seizure_event and P03_court_record stay unknown rather than the favourable none_known/unable_to_produce a P12 event would earn.
Mandate-country hosting. hide.me offers exit locations in three countries this catalogue's mandate table flags (AE, TR, VN); none of the three country pages state whether the hardware there is physical or virtual, so C09b_mandate_hosting is unknown.
Circumvention and streaming claims. The pricing page advertises undifferentiated "Streaming Support" and the site offers no measured circumvention evidence, so U06_censorship_circumvention, U12a_p2p_allowed and U12b_streaming_works stay unknown rather than resting on marketing copy.
Audit history before 2024. The provider's own pages assert an audit "back in 2015" and describe audits as routine, but only the 2024 Securitum PDF could be located and opened; V09_audit_regularity and V10_audit_count are scored on the one document actually read, not the claimed series.
Recent changes
No change logged on this record
1 change logged, on 14 Sep 2026
14 Sep 20261 changes
Protocols offeredU07_protocols
wireguard, ikev2, sstp, openvpn changed to wireguard, ikev2, sstp, openvpn, vendor_open
CyberGhost VPN and hide.me were assessed by the HushFleet team and both placed in the Insufficient band: CyberGhost VPN scores 21/100 for security, hide.me 28/100. They share an independent audit. The 7-point gap opens widest on Integrity — “Has it been caught saying one thing and doing another?” — taking 33% from CyberGhost VPN and 4% from hide.me.
| ChannelPressure taken from what was left | CyberGhost VPNDominant channel: Retention0 to 0.9, longer is worse | hide.meDominant channel: Retention0 to 0.9, longer is worse |
|---|---|---|
| RetentionDoes a record exist that links traffic to a person, and who checked? | 0.450 | 0.518 |
| IntegrityHas it been caught saying one thing and doing another? | 0.325 | 0.040 |
| IgnoranceHow much of this did nobody establish? | 0.181 | 0.149 |
| HygieneWhat identifying material is collected in passing, and can the client be checked at all? | 0.150 | 0.146 |
| JurisdictionCan someone compel what exists, without the provider getting a say? | 0.136 | 0.125 |
| ArchitectureWho operates the exit, and what does it do to the traffic? | 0.050 | 0.050 |
| DisclosureHas it already handed something over? | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| SilenceTen years, millions of users and nothing on record? | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| What is left of 100The channels multiply: each one takes a share of what the one before it left standing | 21 | 28 |
By circumstance
| CyberGhost VPN | hide.me | |
|---|---|---|
| Torrenting | Allowed yes | — not established |
| Streaming | Reachable yes | — not established |
| Devices at once | 7 | 10 |
| Under censorship | — not established | — not established |
| Exits in mandate countries | 7 United Arab Emirates, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Vietnam | 3 United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Vietnam |
| Hosting in those countries | Physical and virtual both mixed | — not established |
| Company under a mandate | No such mandate no | No such mandate no |
| Secret orders | — not established | — not established |
| CyberGhost VPN | hide.me | |
|---|---|---|
| Security | 21 insufficient · rank 9 of 68 | 28 insufficient · rank 5 of 68 |
| Usability | 69 out of 100 | 81 out of 100 |
| Record completeness | 76% usability 92% | 77% usability 75% |
| CyberGhost VPN | hide.me | |
|---|---|---|
| Who operates the exit | Run by the provider itself provider_operated | Run by the provider itself provider_operated |
| Retention as declared | Aggregate counts only aggregates_onlyBcyberghostvpn.com · | Session metadata session_metadataBhide.me · |
| RAM-only diskless servers | Yes, checked by someone independent yes_verified | Yes, checked by someone independent yes_verified |
| IP allocation model | Dedicated address offered as an option dedicated_option | Dedicated address offered as an option dedicated_option |
| Signup without email | No, an email address is required no | No, an email address is required no |
| Anonymous payment options | Cryptocurrency through a processor | Cryptocurrency through a processor |
| Own DNS inside the tunnel | — not establishedno source published | Yes, checked by someone independent yes_verifiedAhide.me · |
| Worst third-party SDK category in the app | Install attribution attributionBcyberghostvpn.com · | No third-party SDK noneBplay.google.com · 2 sources · |
| Worst third-party tracker category on the site | Analytics analytics | Analytics analytics |
| Who owns the hardware | — not establishedno source published | Owned by the provider ownedBhide.me · |
| Offered countries that sit under a logging mandate | 7 United Arab Emirates, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkey, VietnamBcyberghostvpn.com · | 3 United Arab Emirates, Turkey, VietnamBhide.me · |
| Hosting in the mandate countries it offers | Physical and virtual both mixedBcyberghostvpn.com · | — not establishedno source published |
| Incorporation country mandates retention | No such mandate no | No such mandate no |
| Beneficial owner sits under a retention regime | No such regime noBunikmind-holdings.com · | — not establishedno source published |
| Persistent device identifier | A resettable advertising identifier resettable_ad_idBcyberghostvpn.com · | None held noneBplay.google.com · 2 sources · |
| Weakest protocol still offered | — the question does not ariseBsupport.cyberghostvpn.com · | SSTP sstpBhide.me · |
| What the exit does to passing traffic | — not established | — not established |
| CyberGhost VPN | hide.me | |
|---|---|---|
| At least one independent audit | Yes, and the report was read yes_verified | Yes, and the report was read yes_verified |
| How the report is published | The full report is published full_pdf | The full report is published full_pdf |
| Subject of the audit | The no-logs claim itself | The no-logs claim itself |
| Server fleet coverage | A sample of servers sample | A sample of servers sample |
| Auditor name | Deloitte Audit S.R.L. (Deloitte Audit Romania)Adownload.cyberghostvpn.com · | Securitum (Pawel Rozanski, Maciej Szymczak)Ahide.me · |
| Auditor category | One of the Big Four big4 |
| CyberGhost VPN | hide.me | |
|---|---|---|
| Server seizure by law enforcement | No seizure on record none_knownno source published · | — not establishedno source published |
| Actual disclosure history | No disclosure on record none_known | No disclosure on record none_known |
| Court record of compelled production | No court record none_knownno source published · | — not establishedno source published |
| Response to a national logging mandate | — not establishedno source published | Pulled its servers out rather than comply withdrew_physicalBhide.me · |
| Transparency report | Current, with request numbers fresh_with_numbers | Current, with request numbers fresh_with_numbers |
| Reported numbers plausible for this scale |
| CyberGhost VPN | hide.me | |
|---|---|---|
| Documented gap between claim and behaviour | No documented lie noneno source published · | — not establishedno source published |
| Marketing against audit findings | No gap on record none | No gap on record none |
| Ownership structure transparency | Ownership is stated and checkable clear | Ownership is stated and checkable clear |
| Adverse events on the owner group record | A history of adware or malware adware_malware_historyCen.wikipedia.org · | — not establishedno source published |
| How the service is paid for | Paid subscriptions only paid_onlyBcyberghostvpn.com · | A free tier funded by the paid one |
| CyberGhost VPN | hide.me | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | CyberGhost S.R.L.Bcyberghostvpn.com · | eVenture Ltd. (eVenture Limited), registered in Malaysia under registration number LL09685Bhide.me · |
| Where the company sits | Romania ROBcyberghostvpn.com · | Malaysia MYBhide.me · |
| Year the service launched | 2011Bcyberghostvpn.com · | 2012Bhide.me · |
| CyberGhost VPN | hide.me | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms with a client | 9 Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Android TV, Fire TV, Routers, Browser extensionBsupport.cyberghostvpn.com · 2 sources · | 10 Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, Fire TV, Browser extension, RoutersBhide.me · |
| Countries with an exit | 91 countriesBcyberghostvpn.com · | 57 countriesBhide.me · |
| Paying monthly | $12.99 per monthBcyberghostvpn.com · | $11.99 per month |
A security specialist security_specialistAhide.me · |
| Assurance standard | ISAE 3000 isae3000Adownload.cyberghostvpn.com · | Another standard otherAhide.me · |
|---|
| Date of latest report | 2025-12-19Adownload.cyberghostvpn.com · | 2024-06-07Ahide.me · |
|---|
| Audit cadence | Repeated, at no fixed interval repeated_irregularBcyberghostvpn.com · | One-off one_offAhide.me · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Total published audits | 3Bcyberghostvpn.com · | 1Ahide.me · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Retention as the report states it | Aggregate counts only aggregates_onlyAdownload.cyberghostvpn.com · | Nothing that links traffic to a person none_linkableAhide.me · |
|---|
| Client source code published | — not establishedno source published | Some clients partialBgithub.com · |
|---|
| Reproducible builds | — not established | — not established |
|---|
| Separate pentest | — not established | — not established |
|---|
| Strength of the assurance opinion | A limited-assurance conclusion limitedAdownload.cyberghostvpn.com · | — the question does not ariseno source published |
|---|
The numbers are plausible at this scale plausibleBcyberghostvpn.com · |
| — not establishedno source published |
| Warrant canary discipline | — not established | — not established |
|---|
| Requests received | 11Bcyberghostvpn.com · | 9Ahide.me · |
|---|
| Requests that produced data | 0 | 0 |
|---|
| Secret-order regime | — not established | — not established |
|---|
| Chronology of documented enforcement events | 0 No demand on the public record | 0 No demand on the public record |
|---|
freemium_funded| Claims of 100% anonymity or military-grade crypto | Makes no such claim noBcyberghostvpn.com · | Claims total anonymity or military-grade encryption yesBhide.me · |
|---|
| Aggressive lifetime subscriptions | Does not no | Does not no |
|---|
| Coverage exists only on affiliate sites | — not established | — not established |
|---|
| Security incident and how it was disclosed | — not establishedno source published | No incident on record none_knownBhide.me · |
|---|
| Affiliate programme and payout tier | A standard payout standardBcyberghostvpn.com · | A high payout high_payoutBhide.me · |
|---|
| Owner-run review media discloses the tie | — not established | — not established |
|---|
| App store declaration | — not establishedno source published | The store form matches the published policy matches_policyBplay.google.com · 3 sources · |
|---|
| User base scale (mass >=10M, mid >=1M, niche <1M) | — not establishedno source published | Mass: 10 million users or more massBhide.me · |
|---|
| Ultimate beneficial owner as written | Teddy Sagi, sole owner of Unikmind Holdings Limited (Isle of Man), which holds Kape Technologies plc — CyberGhost's parentBunikmind-holdings.com · 2 sources · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
| Other businesses of the owner group | Antivirus · A portfolio of other apps · A review directoryBkape.com · | None disclosedBhide.me · 3 sources · |
|---|
| Country of the ultimate beneficial owner | IMBunikmind-holdings.com · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
| Owner group | kapeBkape.com · 2 sources · | independentBhide.me · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Date the current owner took control | 2017-03Bkape.com · | 2012Bhide.me · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Role of this brand inside the group | A brand the group acquired acquired_brandBkape.com · | The group's principal brand principalBhide.me · |
|---|
| Infrastructure shared with cluster siblings | — not establishedno source published | Separate infrastructure separateBhide.me · |
|---|
| Paying yearly | — not establishedno source published | $54.99 a year at renewal, billed onceBhide.me · |
|---|
| Usable free tier | No free tier noneBcyberghostvpn.com · | A free tier with limits limited_freeBhide.me · |
|---|
| Works under active censorship | — not established | — not established |
|---|
| Protocols offered | 3 WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2Bsupport.cyberghostvpn.com · | 5 WireGuard, IKEv2, SSTP, OpenVPN, A vendor protocol with published sourceBhide.me · |
|---|
| Kill switch coverage | On some platforms partialBcyberghostvpn.com · 2 sources · | On every platform all_platformsBhide.me · |
|---|
| Split tunneling available | Available yes | Available yes |
|---|
| Simultaneous connections | 7Bcyberghostvpn.com · | 10Bhide.me · |
|---|
| Friction to start using it | An email address only email_only | An email address only email_only |
|---|
| P2P allowed | Allowed yesBcyberghostvpn.com · 2 sources · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
| Major streaming services reachable | Reachable yesBcyberghostvpn.com · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
