With so many cheap services on the market, it’s extremely hard to find the one that won’t cost you a fortune and be great at the same time. CyberGhost VPN is among our favorite VPN services in 2024 but many people complain about its inability to bypass censorship. With that in mind, the question is – does CyberGhost VPN work in China in 2024?
Well, the answer is no, and in 2024, the provider isn’t working in China. In this article, we’ll explain why, talk more about CyberGhost VPN, and provide you with a few alternatives that will work reliably if you’re planning to travel to this beautiful country.
Why CyberGhost Isn’t Working in China?
Okay, so at the start of this analysis, I mentioned that you can’t use CyberGhost in China and sadly, this is indeed the case even in 2024. Long ago, the provider used to work in this country when the Great Firewall wasn’t at its peak.
During this time, people used the provider successfully in the country, although it still wasn’t as reliable as some of its rivals. However, for years now, CyberGhost has failed to bypass the Great Firewall and is all but a dependable choice for people in China.
If you contact its customer support, you’ll also get the same response. They’ll say that the provider isn’t working in this country but that it works in countries like Turkey, the UAE, Russia, and a few others. Although, during severe VPN bans in Turkey, the provider isn’t particularly reliable.
The answer to why CyberGhost in China isn’t working lies in the lack of obfuscation. Obfuscation is used to mask your VPN traffic and make it look like ordinary traffic, which helps bypass firewall restrictions and pretend that you aren’t using a VPN.
The Great Firewall of China is extremely effective at detecting VPN traffic, so it’s vital to mask it to be able to connect to the internet. However, CyberGhost won’t obfuscate your connection, so it’s useless in a highly-censored country like this.
Besides, although it offers OpenVPN, IKEv2, and WireGuard protocols, they’re not enough in “harsh” working conditions like extreme censorship. It might work thanks to pure luck but to be honest, our testers had no luck with it no matter how many times they tried to use it in China.
Are There Any Alternatives to Using CyberGhost VPN in China?
The good news, however, is that there are great alternatives to CyberGhost if you’re planning your trip to China. While we’re talking about pretty much the best cheap service in 2024, it has a big downside of not being able to bypass censorship, which can be remedied by using another VPN service.
In 2024, we suggest using these services if you want to make sure you’re safe, secure, and censorship-free in China.
1. ExpressVPN
By far the most reliable pick for circumventing censorship is ExpressVPN. As CyberGhost’s sister company, ExpressVPN is slightly more expensive but offers much more in pretty much every scenario. For one, it has obfuscation which is automatically applied every time you connect to a server.
This means ExpressVPN can be used in China without any particular settings and tweaks, as is the case with the other providers below. Simply get it, open the app, and connect to any server you like. As long as you’re using Automatic settings for the protocol, you’ll have zero issues.
ExpressVPN automatically obfuscates your traffic, making it look like non-VPN traffic, and thus, it works in China 10/10 times. In addition, it’s faster than CyberGhost and offers servers in 160 worldwide countries, so people in this country have plenty of choices.
Its Lightway protocol proved to be excellent and the provider is fully capable of torrenting and streaming on BBC iPlayer or other streaming services. With no particular downsides, ExpressVPN is actually the best provider your money can buy.
Yes, it’s more expensive than CyberGhost but think about its 49% discount and 3 free months for the annual plan. This, along with a 30-day refund policy makes ExpressVPN an extremely good offer if you’re willing to pay slightly more for a provider that’ll work in China 100%.
2. NordVPN
Does CyberGhost work in China? No, but NordVPN does. This affordable service offers 6,000+ servers in 60+ countries, which isn’t on par with CyberGhost VPN. However, it offers obfuscated servers that do exactly what I explained previously.
Best of all is that you get these servers in 15+ countries, so when in China, you can easily get an IP from Canada, Germany, the US, the UK, and other locations. Moreover, NordVPN is very reliable and thanks to its OpenVPN TCP protocol used with obfuscated servers, bypassing censorship is a breeze.
NordVPN also offers the NordLynx protocol – an in-house solution for faster speeds and shorter connection times. This is complemented by a modern-looking app with features like CyberSec, antivirus, malware protection, and Dark Web Monitor.
This service is also capable of torrenting and with Double VPN servers, you can double your encryption in no time. Besides, NordVPN is also very cheap and for the price, it packs 6 simultaneous connections, 24/7 live chat support, and excellent device compatibility.
If you’re willing to give it a go, NordVPN’s longest plan comes with a juicy discount to save you some money. If that’s not enough, a 30-day refund policy applies to all plans, so even if you get a monthly plan, you can get a refund in case of dissatisfaction.
3. Surfshark
The last alternative would be Surfshark. However, this provider isn’t better than CyberGhost as it’s not faster and it’s known to have occasional kill switch issues. But, if you need a VPN that’s working in China and you don’t want to pay a fortune, Surfshark is still a viable option.
This provider has a NoBorders mode, which, when enabled, obfuscates your traffic and makes it look like ordinary traffic. As a result, it allows you to circumvent the Great Firewall of China and enjoy the internet without restrictions.
Surfshark isn’t overly fast but I found that it’s great for streaming in 4K or downloading torrents. It has bank-grade encryption and offers a no-logs policy. Above all, it comes with unlimited simultaneous connections for protecting every device at no additional costs.
We like Surfshark because of its modern design, feature-richness, and 24/7 live chat support. It also comes with fairly affordable prices and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for all plans. Once again, it’s not better than CyberGhost, ExpressVPN, and NordVPN.
However, for the money, it does its job more than fine and it works in China. Thus, if you’re traveling to this country and your budget is constricted, considering Surfshark is still a smart idea.
Is There a CyberGhost China Server That I Can Use?
Unfortunately, the provider doesn’t offer any servers in China. In fact, safe and secure VPNs like these avoid having servers in this country due to its data-retention laws. Having Chinese servers would mean the authorities could access them and extract relevant data.
Even if the provider stores no logs – which is the case with CyberGhost – the authorities in this country would still request full access to be able to collect and process user-related information. That’s why services like ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, NordVPN, and Surfshark have no Chinese servers.
The good news is that the provider offers plenty of servers in Hong Kong. As a result, you can get an IP address from Hong Kong, which is great, as we’re talking about a non-censored region of the country in which CyberGhost will work.
If you want servers in China Mainland… well, you’ll have to seek another provider. However, providers with servers in China usually aren’t very privacy-friendly and don’t offer the same level of quality as the aforementioned choices.
Summary
All in all, we can safely say that CyberGhost isn’t working in China in 2024 and that’s a shame because we’re talking about a VERY good VPN. I’d say that CyberGhost is almost on par with ExpressVPN, and since it’s very affordable, it surely is a hell of a deal.
If you need a VPN for China, though, I recommend avoiding it because it’s not working. For this purpose, you’re much better off with ExpressVPN. NordVPN and Surfshark are going to work too but if you seek maximum reliability, fast speeds, and stable performance, ExpressVPN should be your go-to option.
And if you need a VPN for anything else than China, CyberGhost is a highly recommended provider.
FAQ
Let’s finalize this guide and answer some important questions related to the subject.
Is it legal to use CyberGhost VPN in China?
Yes, it’s legal but it doesn’t matter because the VPN isn’t working in China either way. Chinese authorities heavily restrict VPN usage and despite that, using a provider of your choice won’t produce any legal issues.
People in China use VPNs daily to browse the web, unblock geo-restricted content, download torrents, and perform their typical online activities. Be careful not to use a VPN for illegal purposes or distribute VPN subscriptions, as this is officially illegal and can be extremely dangerous.
As long as you’re using any VPN in China for legal activities, you’ll have zero issues. That, unfortunately, couldn’t be said about Belarus or North Korea where VPNs are illegal and banned.
Are there any free alternatives to CyberGhost that work in China?
No, unfortunately. Windscribe is one VPN that people often recommend for China but I can tell you that its free version is no good. Not a single free service works in China, so don’t expect any miracles. As long as you stick to ExpressVPN, NordVPN, or Surfshark, you won’t have any problems.
Will CyberGhost ever work in China?
Well, that’s not exactly known. We contacted CyberGhost on multiple occasions with the same question but the support team couldn’t confirm anything. At the moment, it’s not working, and since we can’t extract any information, it’s highly unlikely it won’t work any time soon.
Regardless, we’ll keep you posted and change the article accordingly if CyberGhost starts working in China at any particular moment.
