Virtual Private Network or VPN for short is something that has become the talk of the town for people who use the internet on their PCs and smartphones. It has gained popularity in the last couple of years after people have become aware of the security and privacy threats posed by using the internet. In other words, if you want to use the internet, then you need an Antivirus that offers 24/7 online protection and a secure VPN subscription. In this blog, we will discuss the best VPN for Windows and compare the three best VPN services available: ExpressVPN vs Cyberghost vs Systweak VPN.
What Exactly Is A VPN And Why Do We Need It?
For those who don’t know, a VPN is a secure tunnel that facilitates the movement of internet data packets from our computer to the server requested and vice versa. This means that all your internet browsing activities are secured because they become anonymous due to tunneling and encryption.
Now, the million-dollar question is that why do we need this sort of anonymity, security, and privacy?
The simple answer would be to prevent our personal information and data from being leaked to hackers, marketing agencies, and eCommerce giants by masking our IP address. VPNs also help bypass geolocation restrictions to stream blocked content and facilitate torrent downloads. Here are a few features (or you may also call them benefits) of VPN:
- Helps provide privacy from a website that gathers information about you.
- Aids to mask your IP Address.
- Protects against the risks of using public Wi-Fi.
- Guard your data and info from Hackers.
- Access hidden deals and offers available to a particular country while shopping.
- Download anonymously using torrents.
- Stream geo-restricted content on various streaming websites like Netflix.
- Avoid ISP tracking.
How To Compare ExpressVPN vs Cyberghost vs Systweak VPN
Before we begin our competition it is necessary to decide the criteria on which the VPN services would be compared. In addition to comparing the products, this article also acts as a Cyberghost review and an ExpressVPN review. The table below would help understand the basis of the comparison.
| Basic Features | Country Of Origin | Price | Chat Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technical Features | No Of Servers | No Of Devices | Encryption Standard |
| Kill Switches | Split Tunneling | Leaks | |
| Recreational Features | Torrenting | Netflix Access | Online shopping from abroad |
Basic Features: This category of features includes the country, price and there is support available for the product.
Technical Features: This section deals with all the technical features of the VPN services.
Recreational Features: These features are important only when you want to use the VPN to have some fun and view content blocked in your country.
Lets Begin: ExpressVPN vs Cyberghost vs Systweak VPN
Basic Features: Country of Origin & Price & Chat Support
The basic features which must be considered before purchasing the VPN are Country of Origin, Support, and Price. The country where it is based is important because VPNs based out of certain countries are bound by law to share the information with the government. This makes it pointless to use the VPN in the first place if our data is being collected and shared. The second factor is the support available along with the final factor which is the cost.
Country of Origin: This is an important feature as certain countries are bound to share user data under surveillance alliances policy. All the three VPNs score a point each as the country of origin is not a member of the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and Fourteen Eyes group.
| ExpressVPN | The British Virgin Islands | CyberGhost | Romania | Systweak VPN | India |
Price: This is the next important feature as it is important to know whether the product falls into our budget. There is not much difference between the prices of CyberGhost VPN vs ExpressVPN when compared but the monthly price of Systweak VPN is much lower which gives it an advantage over others.
| Name Of VPN | Monthly Price | Yearly Price | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
| Systweak VPN | $9.95 per month | $4.76 for 12 months | |
| Express VPN | $12.95 per month | $6.67 for 12 months | |
| CyberGhost | $12.99 per month | $3.99 for 12 months |
Chat Support: The final factor in the Basic Features of any VPN is whether the service providers offer technical support to their customers. While ExpressVPN and CyberGhost have a chat support service, Systweak VPN offers Email support only with a quick response within 24 hours. Thus the competition here is between CyberGhost VPN vs ExpressVPN as to which VPN service offers better chat support.
Conclusion: The country of origin doesn’t seem to be an issue when it comes to all the VPNs but the Price is a major factor here. And, it seems Systweak VPN offers the best bargain to its users for now and can be considered as the best VPN for Windows.
Technical Features: Servers, Devices, Encryption, and more.
The second set of features is important as they compare the technical specifications of ExpressVPN vs Cyberghost vs Systweak VPN. It is important to understand what these technical features mean, and what is the purpose or function that they deliver.
VPN Servers: This feature reflects the capability of a VPN server to complete its task with efficiency as the number of servers in different countries would aid users to surf the internet with ease. The below table will help you understand how many servers, different locations, and different countries each VPN is located in:
| VPN | Servers | Locations | Countries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Systweak VPN | 4500+ | 200+ | 53+ |
| Express VPN | 3000+ | 160 | 94 |
| CyberGhost | 6689 | 111 | 89 |
Number of Devices allowed: While ExpressVPN review states that it allows unlimited devices to connect to your subscription, CyberGhost restricts the connection to up to seven devices only. Systweak VPN also has no limit to the number of devices connected.
Encryption Standard: While Cyberghost VPN vs ExpressVPN vs Systweak VPN is discussed here all of them offer AES – 256-bit military-grade encryption. This means the data that leaves our computer and enters in cannot be decoded and read by hackers or any other entities that have access to it.
Kill Switches: Kill Switches are designed to cut off our internet connection instantly if the VPN fails or loses connection. This is a 0.01% chance for VPN servers to fail but in case if it happens then the data and request sent from your computer over the internet will no longer be encrypted or hidden. A Kill Switch is installed to make sure that if this happens, then the internet connection to your computer cuts of and no data is revealed. All the VPNs discussed here contain a Kill Switch feature.
Split Tunneling: As you already know, all the data or requests that move out from our computer to their destination pass through a Secured Tunnel. Although this is important for privacy and security, this tends to decrease the speed of your internet by a little proportion. Hence if you want to maintain your bandwidth and do not have any personal data that can be leaked, you can avoid using the tunnel. Split Tunneling helps users to select which data to pass through the tunnel while diverting all the other traffic like playing online solitaire outside the tunnel which will not hamper the speed. This was taken from the CyberGhost review published sometime back.
Leaks: All the VPNs discussed in this article pass off with flying colors when it comes to the no-leak policy. This includes, hiding domain names, IP addresses, and keeping online activity anonymous.
Conclusion: After analyzing all the technical features of the three VPNs it seems there isn’t much difference besides the fact that CyberGhost only allows 7 devices which I believe is sufficient for many. The main deciding factor here is the maximum number of locations to which the VPN is spread as it gives more coverage to the user. And Systweak VPN is the best VPN for Windows here with 200 + locations and further increasing countries.
Recreational Features: Torrenting, Netflix Access, Online shopping from abroad, and more
The final set of features are recreational features which may not be considered important for business purposes but when it comes to personal use of VPN, these are of the utmost importance and people can pay a premium price to take benefit of these features.
Torrenting: It is a common misunderstanding that torrenting is illegal whereas the fact is that downloading a copyrighted content like movies, songs, E-books, etc. is strictly prohibited. However, it is perfectly fine to download non-copyrighted content or personal content shared between family friends. Hence, All VPNs discussed here to allow users to download anonymously from torrent websites using torrent apps or clients. This point has been taken from the ExpressVPN reviews, Cyberghost reviews and tried personally on Systweak VPN
Netflix Access: Netflix has a strange policy of restricting certain content based on geolocations around the world. It is quite understandable if the content is locked in one particular region as it may hurt the sentiments of a particular culture or society. But I have seen animation and movies locked and restricted for monetary reasons. It was then I realized I could use a VPN and connect to a server of the country where the content was available and watch it from my home. I have tried all the VPNs and received success with the blocked content that I wanted to watch but cannot guarantee the same would apply to all content.
Online Shopping: When you use a VPN and connect to the server of a particular country, you can trick the website servers and streaming sites that the request coming from your computer is coming from a different country (the country you have connected to). This way you can access online shopping websites in Europe while sitting in the United States and get offers applicable in Europe only. Remember to check for transatlantic shipping though!
Conclusion: All the recreational features are the same in all the three VPNs and it is possible to break the geo-restrictions applied by Netflix but again there is no guarantee that you might be able to access the content of all countries across the globe. This criterion comes to a draw when competing for the best VPN for Windows
Which One To Choose: ExpressVPN vs Cyberghost vs Systweak VPN?
The comparison between the best VPNs has proved to be a close one and this makes it difficult to decide which VPN is the best of them all. Most of the features discussed are identical in all the VPNs with the major difference in Pricing and Number of Servers. With the lost price and a fair amount of servers, I think Systweak VPN wins this race by an inch and hence becomes the most recommended VPN for you.
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