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
Security
Usability
Rank 2 of 68 in the register
Sweden · Commercial VPN
Exits in 50 countries
1 documented demand, none of which produced data
No demand on the public record
Recent changes
No change logged on this record
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.
The audit cadence. Mullvad publishes an audit index in the app repository and it is honest about cadence: the index states outright that the main app audits happen every two years, with extras in between, which is why regularity is recorded as repeated at no fixed interval rather than as an annual series — no annual cadence is claimed by anyone.
Two reports, one date. Two separate engagements share 2026-02-17 and the record names both: Assured's code review of GotaTun, the userspace WireGuard implementation (no critical, high or medium issues; two low and nine notes), and Leviathan's Mobile App Profile assessment of the Android app, whose compliance report gives February 17, 2026 as its date of evaluation and AL2 as its assurance level. One date, two reports, no contradiction.
Why the count reads eight. The audit count is eight because the GotaTun review sits outside the app repository's own list. Before them, a 30 person-day X41 D-Sec review across all five platforms found six vulnerabilities — three high, two medium, one low, none critical.
What no engagement covers. What none of these engagements covers is the server fleet: every one of them examines the app or the tunnel protocol, which is why fleet coverage is recorded as not applicable rather than as a sample. The no-logs claim on the infrastructure side therefore rests on the April 2023 search warrant — Swedish police came for customer data and left without it — and not on any audit.
Reproducible builds, Android only. Reproducible builds are Android-only, from version 2025.2 onward, so the field stays partial; the desktop and iOS builds are not verifiable bit-for-bit. Turkey is the one mandate country on the offered list and the hosting behind it is not established.
Nothing published about demands. Nothing on record rests on anything the provider publishes about demands it receives: there is no transparency report and no warrant canary, so the April 2023 seizure carries that ground alone. Kill-switch coverage and P2P policy are unestablished; the latest audit is a protocol code review, not a no-logs engagement, so V11 is silent and retention leans on the declaration.
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.
The April 2023 search warrant is the strongest single item in this record: police attended the office and left with nothing, which is practice evidence rather than paper and ages far more slowly than an audit. Pricing is a flat 5 EUR/month on every term; U04_price_monthly carries 5.80 (the USD equivalent Mullvad states on its own page); U04b_price_yearly is 69.60, the full year at that rate.
25 Sep 20261 changes
Monthly price USD, month-to-month plan, as chargedU04_price_monthly
5.8 changed to 5.69
12 Sep 20264 changes
Security scoresecurity.score
65 changed to 64
Security scoresecurity.score
64 changed to 60
Works under active censorshipU06_censorship_circumvention
none changed to claimed
Usability scoreusability.score
55 changed to 64
CyberGhost VPN and Mullvad VPN were assessed by the HushFleet team: CyberGhost VPN scores 21/100 for security, in the Insufficient band, and Mullvad VPN 60/100, in the Acceptable band. They share an independent audit. The 39-point gap opens widest on Integrity — “Has it been caught saying one thing and doing another?” — taking 33% from CyberGhost VPN and 0% from Mullvad VPN.
| ChannelPressure taken from what was left | CyberGhost VPNDominant channel: Retention0 to 0.9, longer is worse | Mullvad VPNDominant channel: Retention0 to 0.9, longer is worse |
|---|---|---|
| RetentionDoes a record exist that links traffic to a person, and who checked? | 0.450 | 0.218 |
| IntegrityHas it been caught saying one thing and doing another? | 0.325 | 0.000 |
| IgnoranceHow much of this did nobody establish? | 0.181 | 0.103 |
| HygieneWhat identifying material is collected in passing, and can the client be checked at all? | 0.150 | 0.050 |
| JurisdictionCan someone compel what exists, without the provider getting a say? | 0.136 | 0.050 |
| 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 | 60 |
By circumstance
| CyberGhost VPN | Mullvad VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Torrenting | Allowed yes | — not established |
| Streaming | Reachable yes | — not established |
| Devices at once | 7 | 5 |
| Under censorship | — not established | Claimed to work claimed |
| Exits in mandate countries | 7 United Arab Emirates, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Vietnam | 1 Turkey |
| 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 | Orders go through a judge judicial_only |
| CyberGhost VPN | Mullvad VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Security | 21 insufficient · rank 9 of 68 | 60 acceptable · rank 2 of 68 |
| Usability | 69 out of 100 | 64 out of 100 |
| Record completeness | 76% usability 92% | 87% usability 75% |
| CyberGhost VPN | Mullvad VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 · | Nothing that links traffic to a person none_linkableBmullvad.net · |
| RAM-only diskless servers | Yes, checked by someone independent yes_verifiedAdownload.cyberghostvpn.com · | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declaredBmullvad.net · |
| IP allocation model | Dedicated address offered as an option dedicated_optionAdownload.cyberghostvpn.com · | Exit address shared between users sharedBmullvad.net · |
| Signup without email | No, an email address is required noBcyberghostvpn.com · | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declaredBmullvad.net · |
| Anonymous payment options | Cryptocurrency through a processorBcyberghostvpn.com · | Cash · Cryptocurrency paid directly · Prepaid voucher or gift cardBmullvad.net · |
| Own DNS inside the tunnel | — not establishedno source published | Yes, on the provider's word yes_declaredBmullvad.net · |
| Worst third-party SDK category in the app | Install attribution attributionBcyberghostvpn.com · | No third-party SDK noneBmullvad.net · |
| Worst third-party tracker category on the site | Analytics analyticsBcyberghostvpn.com · | No third-party tracker noneBmullvad.net · |
| Who owns the hardware | — not establishedno source published | Owned and rented both mixedBmullvad.net · |
| Offered countries that sit under a logging mandate | 7 United Arab Emirates, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkey, VietnamBcyberghostvpn.com · | 1 TurkeyBmullvad.net · |
| 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 no | No such regime no |
| Persistent device identifier | A resettable advertising identifier resettable_ad_idBcyberghostvpn.com · | None held noneBplay.google.com · |
| Weakest protocol still offered | — the question does not arise | — the question does not arise |
| What the exit does to passing traffic | — not established | — not established |
| CyberGhost VPN | Mullvad VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 itselfAdownload.cyberghostvpn.com · | The protocol · The app's securityAassured.se · 2 sources · |
| Server fleet coverage | A sample of servers sampleAdownload.cyberghostvpn.com · | — the question does not ariseno source published |
| Auditor name |
| CyberGhost VPN | Mullvad VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Server seizure by law enforcement | No seizure on record none_knownno source published · | Seized, and nothing usable was on it seizure_no_dataBmullvad.net · |
| Actual disclosure history | No disclosure on record none_known | No disclosure on record none_known |
| Court record of compelled production | No court record none_known | No court record none_known |
| Response to a national logging mandate | — not establishedno source published | Was never present in that country no_presenceBmullvad.net · |
| Transparency report | Current, with request numbers fresh_with_numbers |
| CyberGhost VPN | Mullvad VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Documented gap between claim and behaviour | No documented lie none | No documented lie none |
| 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 · | Nothing adverse on record cleanCmullvad.net · |
| How the service is paid for | Paid subscriptions only paid_only | Paid subscriptions only paid_only |
| Claims of 100% anonymity or military-grade crypto | Makes no such claim no |
| CyberGhost VPN | Mullvad VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | CyberGhost S.R.L.Bcyberghostvpn.com · | Mullvad VPN AB, Box 53049, 400 14 Gothenburg, SwedenBmullvad.net · |
| Where the company sits | Romania ROBcyberghostvpn.com · | Sweden SEBmullvad.net · |
| Year the service launched | 2011Bcyberghostvpn.com · | 2009Bmullvad.net · |
| CyberGhost VPN | Mullvad VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms with a client | 9 Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Android TV, Fire TV, Routers, Browser extensionBsupport.cyberghostvpn.com · 2 sources · | 5 Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, WindowsBmullvad.net · |
| Countries with an exit | 91 countriesBcyberghostvpn.com · | 50 countriesBmullvad.net · |
| Paying monthly | $12.99 per monthBcyberghostvpn.com · | $5.69 per month |
| Assured Security Consultants (GotaTun code review) and Leviathan Security Group (Android Mobile App Profile assessment) — two engagements, both reports dated 2026-02-17Aassured.se · 3 sources · |
| Auditor category | One of the Big Four big4Adownload.cyberghostvpn.com · | A security specialist security_specialistBgithub.com · |
|---|
| Assurance standard | ISAE 3000 isae3000Adownload.cyberghostvpn.com · | Another standard otherBgithub.com · |
|---|
| Date of latest report | 2025-12-19Adownload.cyberghostvpn.com · | 2026-02-17Aassured.se · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Audit cadence | Repeated, at no fixed interval repeated_irregular | Repeated, at no fixed interval repeated_irregular |
|---|
| Total published audits | 3Bcyberghostvpn.com · | 8Bgithub.com · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Retention as the report states it | Aggregate counts only aggregates_onlyAdownload.cyberghostvpn.com · | The report does not address retention not_statedBgithub.com · |
|---|
| Client source code published | — not establishedno source published | Every client allBgithub.com · |
|---|
| Reproducible builds | — not establishedno source published | On some platforms partialBmullvad.net · |
|---|
| Separate pentest | — not establishedno source published | Yes, and the report was read yes_verifiedAx41-dsec.de · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Strength of the assurance opinion | A limited-assurance conclusion limitedAdownload.cyberghostvpn.com · | — the question does not ariseno source published |
|---|
| — not establishedno source published |
| Reported numbers plausible for this scale | The numbers are plausible at this scale plausibleBcyberghostvpn.com · | — the question does not ariseno source published |
|---|
| Warrant canary discipline | — not established | — not established |
|---|
| Requests received | 11Bcyberghostvpn.com · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
| Requests that produced data | 0Bcyberghostvpn.com · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
| Secret-order regime | — not establishedno source published | Orders go through a judge judicial_onlyBmullvad.net · |
|---|
| Chronology of documented enforcement events | 0 No demand on the public recordBcyberghostvpn.com · | 1 documented demandBmullvad.net · |
|---|
| — not establishedno source published |
| Aggressive lifetime subscriptions | Does not no | Does not no |
|---|
| Coverage exists only on affiliate sites | — not establishedno source published | Covered outside affiliate sites too noBmullvad.net · |
|---|
| Security incident and how it was disclosed | — not establishedno source published | Disclosed by the provider, promptly self_disclosed_promptBmullvad.net · |
|---|
| Affiliate programme and payout tier | A standard payout standardBcyberghostvpn.com · | No affiliate programme noneBmullvad.net · |
|---|
| Owner-run review media discloses the tie | — not establishedno source published | — the question does not ariseno source published |
|---|
| App store declaration | — not establishedno source published | The store form matches the published policy matches_policyBapps.apple.com · 3 sources · |
|---|
| User base scale (mass >=10M, mid >=1M, niche <1M) | — not establishedno source published | Mid: a million users or more midBmullvad.net · |
|---|
| 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 · | Amagicom AB, 100% owned by founders Fredrik Stromberg and Daniel BerntssonBmullvad.net · |
|---|
| Other businesses of the owner group | Antivirus · A portfolio of other apps · A review directoryBkape.com · | None disclosedBmullvad.net · |
|---|
| Country of the ultimate beneficial owner | IMBunikmind-holdings.com · | SEBmullvad.net · |
|---|
| Owner group | kapeBkape.com · 2 sources · | independentBmullvad.net · |
|---|
| Date the current owner took control | 2017-03Bkape.com · | — the question does not ariseno source published |
|---|
| Role of this brand inside the group | A brand the group acquired acquired_brandBkape.com · | The group's principal brand principalBmullvad.net · |
|---|
| Infrastructure shared with cluster siblings | — not establishedno source published | Separate infrastructure separateBmullvad.net · |
|---|
| Paying yearly | — not establishedno source published | $69.60 a year at renewal, billed onceBmullvad.net · |
|---|
| Usable free tier | No free tier none | No free tier none |
|---|
| Works under active censorship | — not establishedno source published | Claimed to work claimedBmullvad.net · |
|---|
| Protocols offered | 3 WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2Bsupport.cyberghostvpn.com · | 1 WireGuardBmullvad.net · 2 sources · |
|---|
| Kill switch coverage | On some platforms partialBcyberghostvpn.com · 2 sources · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
| Split tunneling available | Available yes | Available yes |
|---|
| Simultaneous connections | 7Bcyberghostvpn.com · | 5Bmullvad.net · |
|---|
| Friction to start using it | An email address only email_onlyBcyberghostvpn.com · | No account needed no_accountBmullvad.net · |
|---|
| P2P allowed | Allowed yesBcyberghostvpn.com · 2 sources · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
| Major streaming services reachable | Reachable yesBcyberghostvpn.com · | — not establishedno source published |
|---|
