Trailing by a whisker at 9.1, CyberGhost answers a narrower question better than anyone: how do I watch RTÉ Player without thinking about it? It keeps a dedicated RTÉ Player server on Irish IPs, backs it with physical Dublin hardware and a menu of streaming servers labelled by service, and wraps the lot in a 45-day money-back guarantee — half again as long as Surfshark’s 30 days.
Read it this way: Surfshark is the budget all-rounder, CyberGhost is the budget streamer. Pick Surfshark for value, device count and speed; pick CyberGhost for one-tap Irish streaming and the longest trial window in the category. The one footnote for privacy-minded readers is ownership — CyberGhost belongs to Kape Technologies while Surfshark sits under Nord Security. Both feature among the strongest budget choices in our best VPN for Ireland guide.
Quick comparison
The short version, side by side — every figure from our hands-on testing in Dublin, the same data behind our best-VPN ranking. Green highlights show which provider takes each round.
| Surfshark | CyberGhost | |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 9.3 / 10 | 9.1 / 10 |
| Best for | Best value | Best for Irish streaming |
| Price from | €1.99/mo | €2.19/mo |
| Money-back guarantee | 30-day | 45-day |
| Avg Dublin speed | 440 Mbps | 390 Mbps |
| Netflix unblocking | Yes | Yes |
| Simultaneous devices | Unlimited | 7 |
| Servers | 4,500+ | 11,500+ |
| Countries | 100 | 100 |
| Works in China | No | No |
| No-logs policy | Yes | Yes |
| Jurisdiction | Netherlands | Romania |
| Support | 24/7 live chat | 24/7 live chat |
€1.99 Surfshark Starter vs €2.19 CyberGhost: 20 cent apart
On the headline number these two are almost level. Surfshark’s Starter plan opens at about €1.99/mo on a two-year commitment; CyberGhost’s two-year plan lands near €2.19/mo. That is roughly 20 cent a month between them — a rounding error over a long contract, and not the figure that should decide your purchase.
What tips the value rating Surfshark’s way is what each euro buys: at its lower entry price it still throws in unlimited devices and CleanWeb, which is why it scores 9.7 to CyberGhost’s 9.4 on value. Both prices balloon at renewal, so kill auto-renewal the day you sign up to either. If you want the real tie-breaker on risk rather than price, that lives in the refund section below.
| Surfshark | CyberGhost | |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | €1.99/mo | €2.19/mo |
| Free trial | 7-day (Android, iOS, macOS) | 1-day desktop / 7-day iOS / 3-day Android |
| Data cap | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Value rating | 9.7 / 10 | 9.4 / 10 |
Unlimited connections vs CyberGhost’s 7-device cap
This is the single biggest gap on the spec sheet. One Surfshark plan covers unlimited simultaneous devices, so there is no tally to keep — add a flatmate’s phone, a second TV, a work laptop, and nothing changes. CyberGhost stops at 7 simultaneous connections, which is comfortable for a solo user or a couple but starts to pinch in a four-person house where everyone carries a phone and a laptop.
Feature parity is otherwise close: both build native apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Linux, and both ship Fire TV, Apple TV and Android TV apps for the living room. The only variable is the counter. Once your connected-device count climbs past seven, CyberGhost makes you choose what to drop; Surfshark simply never asks.
| Surfshark | CyberGhost | |
|---|---|---|
| Simultaneous devices | Unlimited | 7 |
| Native platforms | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux |
| TV / streaming-box apps | Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV | Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV |
CyberGhost’s named RTÉ Player server vs Surfshark’s 54 Dublin servers
CyberGhost wins this on workflow. Open the app, scroll to a server literally labelled RTÉ Player sitting on an Irish IP, click it, and the stream loads — and the same hand-picked treatment covers Netflix, BBC iPlayer and the rest through servers named after the service they target. For an Irish viewer abroad who just wants the Late Late Show to play, that removes every guess, and it is why CyberGhost holds the higher streaming rating.
Surfshark gets you to exactly the same content, but the route is manual. Its 54 physical Dublin servers hand you a genuine Irish IP that reliably unblocks RTÉ Player, BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video — you just connect to "Ireland" or "United Kingdom" and let it sort itself. Capable, slightly less spoon-fed. If you would rather pick a stream by name than pick a country, CyberGhost is the smoother experience.
| Surfshark | CyberGhost | |
|---|---|---|
| Netflix unblocking | Yes | Yes |
| Streaming rating | 9.4 / 10 | 9.5 / 10 |
| TV / streaming-box apps | Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV | Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV |
440 Mbps Surfshark vs 390 Mbps CyberGhost on a Dublin line
Surfshark is the faster engine. In our Dublin testing it averaged about 440 Mbps on nearby servers against roughly 390 Mbps for CyberGhost, and it gives up less over distance too — a 17% global speed loss versus CyberGhost’s 22%. Both clear the bar for 4K, gaming and big downloads with room to spare, so nobody will feel throttled either way.
Where the 50 Mbps gap actually shows is at the edges: routing through a far-off server, or pushing a saturated home connection during peak hours, Surfshark stays steadier. CyberGhost is perfectly happy carrying an RTÉ Player or BBC iPlayer stream all evening — but if raw throughput is your yardstick, Surfshark’s higher speed rating settles it.
| Surfshark | CyberGhost | |
|---|---|---|
| Avg Dublin speed | 440 Mbps | 390 Mbps |
| Speed rating | 9.3 / 10 | 8.6 / 10 |
| Global speed loss | 17% | 22% |
11,500 CyberGhost servers vs 4,500 Surfshark — and who owns Dublin
Raw scale belongs to CyberGhost: roughly 11,500 servers to Surfshark’s 4,500, each spread across about 100 countries. A bigger fleet can mean less congestion at peak times, though both run physical Dublin hardware rather than the virtual Irish locations weaker VPNs fake.
The Irish detail is how each arranges that local presence. CyberGhost stacks a dedicated RTÉ server and Irish P2P servers on its Dublin location, tuned for the diaspora; Surfshark answers with 54 physical Dublin servers grouped under one Ireland entry. CyberGhost’s combination of sheer count and Irish-specific tuning takes the round.
| Surfshark | CyberGhost | |
|---|---|---|
| Servers | 4,500+ | 11,500+ |
| Countries | 100 | 100 |
| Works in China | No | No |
Romania (Kape) vs Netherlands (Nord Security): jurisdiction and owner
On the technical basics they are level: both are independently audited no-logs VPNs, both audited by Deloitte in 2025, both running RAM-only servers that wipe on reboot. The separation is geographic — CyberGhost operates from Romania, outside the main intelligence-sharing alliances and backed by three Deloitte audits, which reads marginally cleaner on paper.
Surfshark sits in the Netherlands, a 9 Eyes member, and keeps a temporary session identifier for a short window, so it is not strictly zero-logs. Then ownership flips the calculus for purists: CyberGhost answers to Kape Technologies, a name some privacy advocates eye warily, while Surfshark belongs to Nord Security. For ordinary Irish browsing, either is comfortably more than enough.
| Surfshark | CyberGhost | |
|---|---|---|
| No-logs policy | Yes | Yes |
| Independent audit | Deloitte (2025) | Deloitte (2025) |
| Jurisdiction | Netherlands | Romania |
| Privacy rating | 9.0 / 10 | 9.1 / 10 |
CyberGhost’s task-labelled servers vs Surfshark’s clean apps + CleanWeb
Both are the friendliest names in the budget tier, and they tie on our ease-of-use rating — but they get there differently. CyberGhost organises everything by task: a list where you tap "RTÉ Player" or "Netflix" and connect, which is ideal for someone who never wants to think about what a server is.
Surfshark goes for uncluttered consistency instead, with near-identical apps across Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Linux and CleanWeb ad-, tracker- and malware-blocking switched on in the same menu. Both back it with real 24/7 live chat. So it is a matter of taste: CyberGhost steers you by what you want to watch, Surfshark keeps one tidy screen and a built-in blocker.
| Surfshark | CyberGhost | |
|---|---|---|
| Ease-of-use rating | 9.4 / 10 | 9.4 / 10 |
| Native platforms | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux |
The money-back guarantee: 45 days vs 30
Here is the cleanest reason to lean CyberGhost regardless of which one suits you on paper. Its money-back guarantee runs 45 days against Surfshark’s 30 — and on a budget pair where price, speed and streaming all land close, an extra fortnight-and-a-half of no-questions refund is a genuine differentiator rather than fine print.
Practically, those 45 days are a proper trial: long enough to sit through a few RTÉ Player evenings, test BBC iPlayer at the weekend, and check the connection holds up at peak times before a single euro is locked in. Surfshark’s 30 days still cover a normal test run, but if you want the longest possible safety net on a new Irish subscription, CyberGhost hands it to you.
Which should you choose?
It comes down to what you value most. Here's the quick way to decide.
Choose Surfshark if…
- check_circleYou want the best value, from around €1.99/mo on the two-year plan.
- check_circleYour household needs unlimited simultaneous devices on a single plan.
- check_circleYou want the faster VPN — about 440 Mbps on Dublin servers — for 4K streaming and gaming.
- check_circleYou like bundled extras such as CleanWeb ad-, tracker- and malware-blocking.
Choose CyberGhost if…
- check_circleEasy Irish streaming is your priority — it has a dedicated RTÉ Player server on Irish IPs.
- check_circleYou want the longest safety net, with a 45-day money-back guarantee.
- check_circleYou prefer point-and-click, platform-labelled streaming servers over picking your own.
- check_circleYou value a huge network — roughly 11,500 servers — and beginner-friendly apps.
Advertiser disclosure: we earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. This never affects our scores or the winner of each round.
