In this paper, joint cumulative entropy of progressive type-II censored order statistics is obtained in terms of reversed hazard rate function. Also, entropy and Kullback–Leibler information for progressive type-II censored order statistics are expressed using reversed hazard rate. Optimal life-testing plans based on cumulative entropy are proposed. Finally, cumulative entropy-based optimal designs using compound optimal design strategy for the life-testing experiment under progressive type-II censoring are developed. A real data set is analysed for illustration.