NordVPN vs ProtonVPN vs CyberGhost: Streaming VPN 2026

Picking the best VPN for streaming Ireland shoppers can actually trust used to come down to one question: does it unblock Netflix. In October 2026 that question has changed. Irish viewers now ask whether their VPN leaks DNS requests, how many times its no-logs claim has been independently audited, and who actually owns the company routing their traffic. NordVPN, Proton VPN and CyberGhost all pass the basic streaming test, opening Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Disney+ and RTE Player without much trouble. What separates them is what happens underneath: five consecutive audits against three, a Swiss privacy law against a Kape Technologies ownership structure, and a six-test DNS leak record with zero failures.

This comparison pulls together specs, pricing, leak-test results and real streaming outcomes for all three services, then lays out a plain verdict based on the data rather than brand reputation. If you stream through a VPN for privacy as much as access, the differences below will matter more than raw Mbps numbers.

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Why a Secure VPN for Streaming Matters More Than Speed Alone

For years, VPN reviews for Ireland focused almost entirely on whether a service could reach a US Netflix catalogue. Streaming platforms have since tightened detection, and Irish ISPs have become more transparent about traffic shaping on certain services, so a VPN now does two jobs at once: it has to get past geo-blocks, and it has to not leak the very data it is meant to hide while doing so.

A DNS leak happens when a device sends domain lookup requests outside the encrypted tunnel, often straight to an ISP’s own DNS servers. For someone using a best VPN for streaming Ireland setup to watch a UK-only program from Dublin, a leak defeats the entire purpose: the streaming platform, and the ISP, can still see which site is being requested even while the VPN app shows a secure connection. A kill switch is the backstop for this problem. It cuts all internet traffic the moment the VPN tunnel drops, rather than letting a device fall back to an unprotected connection mid-stream.

No-logs audits matter for a related but separate reason. A VPN provider can promise not to log browsing activity, but a promise is not proof. Third-party auditors such as Deloitte and Securitum examine a provider’s server configuration and infrastructure to confirm that no identifying logs are actually retained, then publish a report. The number of audits a provider has passed, and how recently, is now one of the clearest signals of how seriously that company treats its own privacy claims. This is also why cybersecurity readers increasingly treat VPN selection as a security decision first and a streaming convenience second, which is the lens this comparison uses throughout.

Jurisdiction plays into this too. A VPN headquartered in a country outside intelligence-sharing alliances such as the Five Eyes or Fourteen Eyes has one less legal avenue through which a government could compel data disclosure. Proton VPN operates under Swiss law, CyberGhost under Romanian law, and NordVPN under Panamanian law, and all three sit outside those alliances, though their ownership structures and audit histories differ enough to change the practical picture.

NordVPN, Proton VPN and CyberGhost at a Glance

Before breaking down each service individually, it helps to see where they land on the three things that matter most for a secure streaming VPN in Ireland: speed, audit depth and server access to Irish and UK platforms.

NordVPN is the volume leader. Independent Ireland-focused testing in October 2026 ranked it the fastest of the three and the most consistently reliable for unblocking RTE Player, Virgin Media, TG4, Netflix Ireland, Netflix UK, Netflix US, BBC iPlayer and Disney+ in a single test run, according to a review published by matched.ie. It also runs more than 50 physical servers inside Ireland, with a selectable Dublin location, giving it the deepest Irish server presence of the three.

Proton VPN takes the opposite approach, leading on verification rather than raw numbers. Its October 2026 review record cites five consecutive audited no-logs reports, open-source apps, and prior audits from Securitum. Proton VPN also runs physical Dublin servers on its paid tiers, though its free tier does not include an Irish location, which matters for anyone trying to reach RTE Player or TG4 from outside the country without paying.

CyberGhost sits between the two on most metrics. It unblocks Netflix Ireland, Netflix UK, Netflix US, BBC iPlayer, Disney+ and Prime Video, backed by RAM-only servers and three Deloitte no-logs audits. Its main caveat is ownership: CyberGhost is owned by Kape Technologies, a detail every review of the service now mentions alongside its otherwise solid privacy architecture.

NordVPN’s Security Stack and Streaming Reach

NordVPN’s current protocol is NordLynx, its own WireGuard-based implementation, positioned as the faster and more security-focused option against the older OpenVPN protocol it still offers as a fallback. WireGuard-based protocols generally post lower latency and faster reconnection than OpenVPN because of a smaller codebase and simpler handshake, and current Ireland-focused comparisons describe this class of protocol as delivering the best balance of speed and security available to streaming VPN users in 2026.

On the security side, NordVPN’s current feature set includes AES-256 encryption, IP-leak protection, DNS-leak protection, Double VPN (which routes traffic through two servers instead of one), and Onion Over VPN for Tor network access through the VPN tunnel. In a set of six DNS and IP leak checks run as part of an October 2026 comparison, NordVPN produced zero detected leaks across every test, which is the kind of result cybersecurity-focused reviewers weight heavily when ranking a best VPN for streaming Ireland shortlist.

Streaming-wise, NordVPN opened RTE Player, BBC iPlayer and Netflix US on a retest cited in the same body of reviews, and it pairs its app-based access with Smart DNS for devices that cannot run a conventional VPN client, which covers some older smart TVs that would otherwise be locked out of a VPN-protected stream entirely. The tradeoff against Proton VPN is audit depth: NordVPN’s public audit history is less frequently refreshed than Proton VPN’s five consecutive reports, even though its day-to-day leak-test performance has been clean.

Proton VPN’s Audited No-Logs Record and Open-Source Apps

Proton VPN’s pitch to privacy-conscious streamers rests on verification rather than marketing claims. Its no-logs policy has now been through five consecutive independent audits, and its apps are published as open source, meaning the code itself can be inspected by outside researchers rather than taken on faith. Securitum is named in its audit history as the sole independent auditor behind all five consecutive reports.

Proton VPN operates under Swiss jurisdiction, which keeps it outside the Five Eyes and Fourteen Eyes intelligence-sharing arrangements that cover countries including the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. For a streaming VPN specifically, that jurisdiction only matters if a user also cares about what happens to connection metadata if a government agency ever requested it, which is a narrower concern than most casual streamers have, but it is exactly the concern that pushes privacy-first users toward Proton VPN over its competitors.

On the streaming side, Proton VPN’s paid plans unblock Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Disney+ and Prime Video, and the service runs physical Dublin servers for anyone outside Ireland who needs an Irish IP address to reach RTE Player or TG4. The catch is that Proton VPN’s generous free tier, which offers unlimited data on a single device, does not include an Irish server location, so anyone relying on the free plan specifically for Irish content will need to upgrade. For UK and US libraries the free tier is more usable, though still limited to one simultaneous connection.

CyberGhost’s RAM-Only Servers and the Kape Technologies Question

CyberGhost markets itself specifically at streamers, with dedicated servers labelled for individual platforms rather than a general-purpose server list. It operates under Romanian jurisdiction, also outside the Five Eyes and Fourteen Eyes alliances, and runs RAM-only servers, meaning data is wiped on every reboot rather than written to a persistent disk, which limits how much could ever be recovered from a seized or compromised server. CyberGhost backs its no-logs claim with three Deloitte audits, fewer than Proton VPN’s five but still from a recognised independent auditor.

Streaming access is a genuine strength. CyberGhost’s October 2026 review record shows it unblocking Netflix Ireland, Netflix UK, Netflix US, BBC iPlayer, Disney+ and Prime Video, plus support for TG4, Virgin Media Player and GAAGO, which gives it one of the widest Irish-specific unblocking lists of the three services, according to a review from matched.ie.

The complication every review raises is ownership. CyberGhost is owned by Kape Technologies, a company that also owns ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access, meaning three of the most recognisable VPN brands on the market ultimately answer to the same parent company. That does not invalidate CyberGhost’s Deloitte audits or its RAM-only server claims, but it does mean the appearance of market choice between several big-name VPNs is narrower than the brand names suggest, a point worth knowing before assuming CyberGhost and a competing Kape-owned brand are fully independent alternatives to each other.

Full Specs Comparison: Encryption, Protocols, Servers and Devices

The table below lines up the technical specifications that actually affect streaming security, pulled from each provider’s current published feature set and the October 2026 Ireland-focused reviews cited throughout this comparison.

Feature	NordVPN	Proton VPN	CyberGhost
Core protocol	NordLynx (WireGuard-based)	WireGuard and Stealth	WireGuard and OpenVPN
Encryption	AES-256	AES-256	AES-256
No-logs audits	Independently reviewed, less frequently refreshed	5 consecutive audits	3 Deloitte audits
Open-source apps	No	Yes	No
Jurisdiction	Panama	Switzerland	Romania
Parent company	Nord Security	Proton AG	Kape Technologies
Kill switch	Yes, system-wide and app-level	Yes, system-wide	Yes, system-wide
DNS leak protection	Yes, zero leaks in 6-test check	Yes	Yes
Double-hop routing	Yes, Double VPN	Yes, Secure Core	No
Irish physical servers	50+, Dublin selectable	Dublin servers on paid tiers	Not confirmed as Irish-specific
Simultaneous devices	10	10 on paid plans, 1 on free	7
Free tier	No permanent free tier	Yes, unlimited data, 1 device	No permanent free tier
Server storage	Standard server infrastructure	Standard server infrastructure	RAM-only, wiped on reboot

Two rows are worth a second look. Proton VPN is the only one of the three shipping fully open-source apps, which lets outside researchers verify the client code rather than relying purely on the company’s word. CyberGhost is the only one of the three running RAM-only servers across its network, a hardware-level privacy measure that neither NordVPN nor Proton VPN currently advertises for their standard server fleet.

Streaming Benchmarks: Speed, DNS Leaks and Unblocking Across Three Independent Tests

Benchmark claims are only useful when they come from more than one source, so this section draws on three separate October 2026 testing rounds rather than a single review.

The first, run by matched.ie from Dublin, ranked NordVPN the fastest of the group in its 2026 benchmarks, pairing that speed with its 50-plus Irish servers and what the review called the deepest independent-audit record among the services it tested. The second, from Cloudwards, placed NordVPN first overall for Ireland, with Surfshark and Proton VPN following, and noted that both NordVPN and Surfshark back their plans with a 30-day money-back guarantee, giving users a no-cost way to benchmark speeds on their own connection before committing. The third, from Gizmodo, confirmed that RTE Player, BBC iPlayer and Netflix US all opened on the first attempt during a June 2026 retest, and separately flagged Smart DNS as the practical workaround for devices, including some older televisions, that cannot run a full VPN client.

On leak testing specifically, the six-check DNS and IP leak run cited earlier returned zero detected leaks for NordVPN across every test. Proton VPN and CyberGhost were not run through that identical six-test batch in the sources reviewed here, but both have passed their own respective third-party no-logs audits, Proton VPN’s five consecutive reports and CyberGhost’s three Deloitte audits, which test the underlying no-logs infrastructure rather than live leak behaviour. The distinction matters: a leak test checks whether the live connection exposes data, while a no-logs audit checks whether the company could retroactively identify a user even without a leak. A security-conscious streaming VPN choice benefits from both kinds of verification, and right now NordVPN has the stronger public leak-test record while Proton VPN has the deeper audit trail.

None of the three services require a VPN user to choose between speed and security outright. The WireGuard-based protocols all three now run as their default connection method close most of the latency gap that older OpenVPN-only services used to carry, which is part of why 2026 comparisons increasingly focus on audits and leak results rather than top-line Mbps figures to separate the leaders.

Pricing Compared: Monthly, Annual and Multi-Year Plans

Pricing for all three services follows the same pattern common across the VPN market: a high month-to-month rate designed to push new customers toward a longer commitment, and a steep discount on two-year plans that only pays off if the subscription is actually used for the full term.

Plan	NordVPN	Proton VPN Plus	CyberGhost
Monthly plan	€12.99/month	€9.99/month	€11.99/month
1-year plan (monthly equivalent)	Not published for the Irish market at this rate tier	€4.99/month	Not published for the Irish market at this rate tier
Longest-term plan (monthly equivalent)	€3.39/month on a 2-year plan	€4.49/month on a 2-year plan	€2.19/month on a 26-month plan
Simultaneous devices	10	10 (1 on free tier)	7
Money-back guarantee	30 days	30 days	45 days on the longer plan
Free option	No permanent free tier	Proton Free, unlimited data, 1 device	No permanent free tier

These are introductory rates and typically rise at renewal across the industry, so the monthly-equivalent figures on long-term plans only hold for the initial sign-up term. CyberGhost’s 26-month plan currently posts the lowest per-month figure of the three at €2.19, but that price is locked to a longer upfront commitment than NordVPN’s or Proton VPN’s two-year plans. Proton VPN is the only one of the three with a genuinely usable free tier rather than a time-limited trial, which matters for anyone who wants to test DNS leak behaviour and streaming access before paying for a longer plan.

For a household streaming across multiple devices, the device-count difference is worth weighing against price. CyberGhost’s 7-device limit against NordVPN’s and Proton VPN’s shared 10-device allowance could push a larger household toward the slightly pricier options if every phone, laptop, tablet and smart TV in the house needs to run the VPN client simultaneously.

Real-World Streaming Tests: Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Disney+, RTE Player and Prime Video

Specs and audits only tell part of the story. Here is how each service performed against five specific streaming targets that Irish users search for most often.

Netflix Ireland, UK and US libraries: NordVPN opened all three Netflix regional catalogues in the same test run, according to the matched.ie October 2026 review. CyberGhost matched that result across Netflix Ireland, Netflix UK and Netflix US in its own review cycle. Proton VPN’s paid plans also unblocked Netflix, though the specific review did not break results down by individual Netflix region the way the NordVPN and CyberGhost reviews did.
BBC iPlayer: All three services unblocked BBC iPlayer in their respective October 2026 reviews, with NordVPN additionally confirmed on a separate June 2026 retest by Gizmodo, giving it two independent confirmations across different testing rounds.
Disney+: NordVPN, Proton VPN and CyberGhost all unblocked Disney+ in their respective reviews. A separate guide on reaching Disney+ outside its home region notes that a VPN with fast WireGuard speeds and a reliable Fire TV app, criteria all three services meet to varying degrees, is the baseline requirement for streaming Disney+ without buffering, according to The VPN Experts.
RTE Player and TG4: This is where Irish server presence decides the result. NordVPN’s 50-plus Irish servers and Proton VPN’s Dublin servers on paid tiers both opened RTE Player and TG4 in testing. CyberGhost also lists support for TG4 specifically, alongside Virgin Media Player and GAAGO, giving it one of the broadest Irish-specific unblock lists despite not confirming Irish-specific physical servers in the same way as its two competitors.
Prime Video: Proton VPN’s paid plans and CyberGhost both unblocked Prime Video in their respective October 2026 reviews. This is a comparatively easier target for most VPNs since Prime Video’s regional detection has historically been less aggressive than Netflix’s, though a consistently clean result still matters for anyone switching between Irish and US Prime libraries.

Taken together, none of the three services currently fails a major streaming target in its own review cycle. The practical differences show up in edge cases, older smart TVs that cannot run a VPN app and need Smart DNS instead, households with more than seven devices running the VPN simultaneously, and anyone who specifically wants an Irish IP address without paying for a plan upgrade.

Migration Guide: Switching Streaming VPNs Without Losing Access

Moving from one VPN provider to another for streaming is less risky than it sounds, provided it is done in the right order so there is no gap where devices are exposed or locked out of a service mid-switch.

Before cancelling the old plan

Sign up for the new provider’s trial or money-back-guarantee period first, so both services overlap for a short window rather than leaving any gap in coverage.
Note which streaming services and which Netflix region each plan currently unblocks from your location, so you can confirm the new provider matches before cancelling anything.
Check the device limit on the new plan against your actual household device count, since dropping from a 10-device plan to a 7-device plan, for example, might mean removing a device or two from the list.

During the switch

Install the new provider’s app on each device and log in, but do not uninstall the old app yet.
Test each streaming target in order of priority, Netflix first, then BBC iPlayer, Disney+, RTE Player and Prime Video, confirming each one loads correctly on the new VPN before moving to the next.
If a Smart TV or older streaming device relies on Smart DNS rather than an app, update the DNS settings on the router or device directly, since this step is separate from the mobile and desktop app installs.
Turn on the kill switch in the new app’s settings before relying on it for daily streaming, since this is sometimes off by default and needs a manual toggle.

After the switch

Run a DNS leak test on the new connection from each major device type in the household before cancelling the old subscription.
Cancel the old plan within its own refund window if the new service is working as expected, to avoid paying for two VPNs at once.
Uninstall the old VPN app fully, since a leftover background VPN process can occasionally interfere with the new app’s kill switch behaviour.

The overlap period is the part most people skip, and it is the part that avoids the common complaint of losing streaming access for a few days mid-switch. A 30-day money-back guarantee, which both NordVPN and Proton VPN offer, or CyberGhost’s 45-day window on its longer plan, is specifically designed to make this overlap free.

Pros and Cons of Each Streaming VPN

NordVPN

Fastest of the three in current Ireland benchmarks, with a zero-leak result across six DNS and IP checks.
Deepest Irish server presence, with 50-plus physical servers and a selectable Dublin location.
Double VPN and Onion Over VPN give it the widest range of advanced routing options among the three.
Its apps are not open source, unlike Proton VPN’s.
Its public audit refresh cadence is less frequent than Proton VPN’s five consecutive reports.

Proton VPN

Five consecutive independent no-logs audits and fully open-source apps give it the strongest verification record of the three.
Swiss jurisdiction, outside Five Eyes and Fourteen Eyes alliances.
The only one of the three with a genuinely usable free tier, unlimited data on one device.
Free tier has no Irish server, so RTE Player and TG4 access requires a paid upgrade.
Its monthly plan is the cheapest of the three at €9.99, but its multi-year discount is shallower than CyberGhost’s.

CyberGhost

Widest Irish-specific streaming list among the three, including TG4, Virgin Media Player and GAAGO.
RAM-only servers add a hardware-level privacy measure neither competitor currently advertises network-wide.
Cheapest long-term monthly rate of the three at €2.19 on a 26-month plan, with a 45-day refund window.
Owned by Kape Technologies, which also owns ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access, narrowing the appearance of independent choice.
Lowest device limit of the three at 7 simultaneous connections, and three audits against Proton VPN’s five.

Who Should Choose Which VPN: Five Use Cases for Irish Streamers

Rather than a single winner for every situation, the right pick depends heavily on what a specific household actually needs from a streaming VPN.

A household juggling more than seven devices: NordVPN or Proton VPN, both offering 10 simultaneous connections against CyberGhost’s 7, which matters once phones, laptops, tablets, consoles and smart TVs are all counted together.
Someone who wants to verify privacy claims rather than take them on faith: Proton VPN, on the strength of its open-source apps and five consecutive independent audits, which let a technically inclined user actually check the code rather than relying on marketing copy.
An expat trying to reach RTE Player, TG4 or GAAGO from outside Ireland: CyberGhost or NordVPN, since both list explicit support for Irish-specific platforms, with NordVPN’s 50-plus physical Irish servers giving it a slight edge on reliability for this specific use case.
A budget-conscious streamer committing to a long-term plan: CyberGhost’s 26-month plan at €2.19 per month is the cheapest long-term rate of the three, provided the 26-month upfront commitment fits the household’s budget.
Someone who wants to test a service risk-free before committing to Irish content access: Proton VPN’s free tier is the only genuinely free option of the three, though it will need a paid upgrade specifically to reach RTE Player or TG4 through a Dublin server.

Jurisdiction and Ownership: Why They Still Matter for a Streaming VPN

It is tempting to treat jurisdiction and ownership as a technical footnote next to something as visible as whether Netflix loads, but both shape how much a provider could ever be compelled to hand over, even when the underlying no-logs audit is clean. Proton VPN’s Swiss jurisdiction, NordVPN’s Panamanian jurisdiction and CyberGhost’s Romanian jurisdiction all sit outside the Five Eyes and Fourteen Eyes alliances, so none of the three is automatically exposed to the same intelligence-sharing frameworks that cover providers based in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia or New Zealand.

Ownership is a separate question from jurisdiction, and CyberGhost’s position under Kape Technologies is the clearest example of why the two need to be considered together. Kape Technologies also owns ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access, which means three well-known VPN brands share a single corporate parent. That structure does not automatically weaken any individual brand’s no-logs audits or RAM-only server claims, but it does mean a household comparing CyberGhost against another Kape-owned brand is not actually comparing two independent companies, just two product lines under one roof.

NordVPN and Proton VPN, by contrast, are each run by a single company with one brand (Nord Security and Proton AG respectively), without the layered ownership structure CyberGhost carries. For a streaming VPN specifically, this distinction matters less day to day than the leak-test and audit results covered earlier, but it is part of the fuller picture anyone comparing a best VPN for streaming Ireland shortlist should have before deciding, rather than judging purely on unblocking success.

Common Mistakes Irish Users Make When Choosing a Streaming VPN

A surprising amount of streaming VPN frustration traces back to setup mistakes rather than a weak provider. Before blaming NordVPN, Proton VPN or CyberGhost for a buffering stream or a blocked login, it is worth ruling out a handful of errors that show up repeatedly in support forums and review comment sections.

Leaving browser cookies and cached location data in place: streaming platforms sometimes read cached account data that still points to the old region, even after the VPN connects to a new server. Clearing cookies or using a private browsing window after switching servers avoids this.
Picking a random server instead of a platform-optimised one: all three providers List specific servers or profiles tuned for individual streaming platforms. Connecting to a generic server in the right country sometimes still gets flagged, while a platform-labelled server usually does not.
Assuming a free tier covers Irish content: as covered earlier, Proton VPN’s free plan does not include a Dublin server, so users expecting free access to RTE Player or TG4 are solving the wrong problem with the wrong plan.
Running two VPN apps at once during a provider switch: leaving an old VPN client installed and partially active while testing a new one is a common cause of DNS leaks and connection drops during the migration window described earlier in this comparison.
Ignoring the kill switch setting: several VPN apps ship with the kill switch available but not enabled by default. Skipping this step means a dropped VPN connection can fall back to an unprotected network connection mid-stream without any warning.
Not checking device limits before adding a smart TV: a household already running a VPN across phones, laptops and a games console can unexpectedly hit CyberGhost’s 7-device cap the moment a smart TV is added, even though NordVPN’s and Proton VPN’s shared 10-device limit would have covered it.

Most of these mistakes are easy to fix once identified, but they explain why two people using the same VPN provider can report very different streaming experiences. A clean install, the right server choice and an active kill switch account for more of the day-to-day reliability difference than the underlying provider’s own infrastructure.

The Verdict: Which VPN Wins for Secure Streaming in 2026

Based on the data gathered across three independent October 2026 testing rounds, NordVPN is the strongest all-round pick for Irish streamers who want speed, a deep Irish server network and a clean leak-test record, having posted zero detected leaks across six separate DNS and IP checks while also ranking fastest in Dublin-based benchmarking.

Proton VPN is the stronger pick specifically for anyone who weighs verified privacy above raw speed or Irish server count, on the strength of five consecutive independent no-logs audits and fully open-source apps, a combination none of its competitors currently match. Its free tier also makes it the only one of the three a household can trial indefinitely without paying, even though reaching RTE Player or TG4 specifically still requires the paid Dublin-server plan.

CyberGhost earns its place for households chasing the lowest long-term price and the widest list of Irish-specific platforms, including TG4, Virgin Media Player and GAAGO, backed by RAM-only servers and three Deloitte audits. Its Kape Technologies ownership and lower seven-device limit are the two factors most likely to push a buyer toward NordVPN or Proton VPN instead, so the final decision comes down to whether a household prioritises raw price and platform coverage over audit depth and corporate independence.

None of the three is a wrong choice for streaming specifically, since all three unblock the major Irish, UK and US platforms in current testing. The differences that matter now sit in the audit counts, the leak-test results and the pricing structure covered throughout this comparison, not in whether any one of them can load Netflix.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which VPN is best for streaming in Ireland in 2026?

NordVPN currently ranks fastest in Ireland-focused testing and carries the deepest Irish server network of the three, with more than 50 physical servers and a selectable Dublin location. Proton VPN is the stronger choice for anyone who weighs independent privacy audits above speed, while CyberGhost offers the widest list of Irish-specific platforms at the lowest long-term price.

Can I use a VPN to legally watch BBC iPlayer or Netflix UK from Ireland?

Using a VPN itself is legal in Ireland. Streaming platforms set their own regional licensing terms and can suspend accounts that repeatedly bypass geo-restrictions, so users should check each platform’s own terms of service, though VPN use for this purpose is widespread and not a criminal matter.

What is a DNS leak and why does it matter for streaming?

A DNS leak happens when a device sends domain lookup requests outside the encrypted VPN tunnel, often directly to an ISP’s own DNS servers. For streaming specifically, a leak can expose which platform or region a user is actually trying to reach even while the VPN app shows a secure connection, defeating the purpose of using a VPN to access geo-restricted content in the first place.

How many no-logs audits does each VPN have?

Proton VPN has passed five consecutive independent no-logs audits, with Mozilla and Securitum both named as auditors in its history. CyberGhost has passed three no-logs audits from Deloitte. NordVPN has an independently reviewed no-logs record, though its public audit refresh cadence is reported as less frequent than Proton VPN’s.

Does CyberGhost’s ownership by Kape Technologies affect its privacy?

Kape Technologies owning CyberGhost, alongside ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access, does not invalidate CyberGhost’s three Deloitte no-logs audits or its RAM-only server infrastructure. It does mean three recognisable VPN brands share one corporate parent, which is worth knowing before assuming a switch between Kape-owned brands represents a switch to a fully independent company.

Which VPN offers the cheapest long-term streaming plan?

CyberGhost currently posts the lowest long-term monthly rate of the three at €2.19 on its 26-month plan. Proton VPN’s two-year plan comes in at roughly €4.49 per month, and NordVPN’s two-year plan sits at roughly €3.39 per month. All figures are introductory rates that typically rise at renewal.

Can I use Smart DNS instead of a full VPN app for streaming on an older TV?

Yes. Smart DNS is designed for devices that cannot run a conventional VPN client, including some older smart TVs, and NordVPN specifically has been confirmed opening RTE Player, BBC iPlayer and Netflix US through this method in current Ireland-focused testing. Smart DNS does not encrypt traffic the way a full VPN tunnel does, so it should be treated as an unblocking tool rather than a security measure.

Do I need a paid plan to stream RTE Player from outside Ireland?

With Proton VPN specifically, yes. Its free tier does not include an Irish server location, so reaching RTE Player or TG4 requires the paid Proton VPN Plus plan with access to its Dublin servers. NordVPN and CyberGhost do not offer a permanent free tier at all, so their Irish streaming access is only available on a paid subscription in either case.

NordVPN vs ProtonVPN vs CyberGhost: 5 Audits vs 3 [2026]