VPNs help gamers escape ISP throttling and can boost privacy when gaming. However, data travels via an intermediary server when using a VPN, which results in slower connection speeds and increased latency.
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What to Look For in a VPN
A VPN (virtual private network) allows you to encrypt your connection, making it more secure and ensuring your data’s privacy. However, VPNs use different protocols and ciphers to encrypt your connection. For the best security, you should look for protocols like OpenVPN and WireGuard and ciphers like AES-256 and ChaCha20.
When selecting a VPN for gaming, you should look for a well-spread server network and the ability to bypass geo-restrictions effectively. VPNs help gamers access servers in other countries by spoofing your location. For example, if an online gaming server you want to access is only available in the UK, you can connect to a UK-based VPN server and use the portal.
The VPN you choose should also have a strict no-logs policy to protect your privacy. Remember, many VPNs you find online are untrustworthy.
You also want the VPN to be fast and ensure minimum latency. A latency of up to 60ms or lower is great. However, if latency remains over 100ms, you’ll experience noticeable lag when gaming.
Note that regardless of which VPN service you use, latency will increase. The reasons for this are encryption and data traveling a longer distance.
Since your data has to travel through an intermediary VPN server, communicating with web servers takes longer than on a non-VPN connection. This means using a VPN with server locations closer to your physical location can help improve speeds.
The best gaming VPNs offer encryption protocols like OpenVPN and WireGuard. These protocols offer great security without massive overhead.
Best Gaming VPN Overall: NordVPN
When you’re looking for a gaming VPN, you generally want two things—the smallest hit to your internet speeds as possible, and the ability to access servers on the regions you want to access. Some online games are region-locked, and a VPN is the best way for gamers outside the region to get access. NordVPN can do just that.
To start, NordVPN is very easy to use, regardless of the device you’re using. You can pick the servers you need, get connected, and get to gaming immediately. In our NordVPN review, there were some speed fluctuations at times, but the ping was great, which makes it one of the best VPN options for gaming. You will always lose some speed when connecting to a VPN of any sort, so overall the speed testing provides great results.
NordVPN is very affordable as of the time of writing. The Basic plan, which includes the VPN and a few other features, is only $2.98/month, plus four months for free if you pay for two years upfront. You also get a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can test the VPN service to ensure you can log into the games you want to play before fully committing to the subscription.
With the money-back guarantee, there’s no reason not to try NordVPN and see if it works with the games you want to play—this service will most likely work just the way you want it to, and you won’t even want to take that refund.
- Logging policy
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No-log policy
- Mobile app
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Android and iOS
- Number Of Servers
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1,000+
- Encryption
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DES, RSA, AES
- Supported platforms
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Windows, MacOS, Linux, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Android TV, Apple TV, Android, iOS
NordVPN is one of the fastest VPN options available. It’s also easy to use and compatible with a variety of devices.
- Low ping means most of your gaming shouldn’t be affected while using it
- 30-day money-back guarantee lets you test any games you’re looking to bypass the regions of to make sure it works
- You’ll also get other internet security features, even with the cheapest plan
- Speed can fluctuate, which should be accounted for depending on the game
Best Budget Gaming VPN: Surfshark
Video games are expensive, and their cost is only rising. So if you’re looking for a gaming VPN, there’s a good chance you don’t want to spend a lot. If that’s you, there is a great solution—Surfshark.
If you’re looking purely for something to bypass region restrictions for games, as of the time of writing, the Surfshark starter plan is only $1.89 a month, plus an additional four months free, when you pay for two years upfront. That’s only $52.92 total for the entirety of the subscription, less than the price of a new video game in many cases.
However, if you’re looking for extra internet security, you can upgrade to Surfshark One+, which is only $4.99 a month when you commit to paying for two years upfront. With it, you’ll get an anti-virus, alerts if your personal data is leaked anywhere, data removal thanks to Incogni, and plenty more.
It’s a fantastic deal, and you’ll get the same 30-day money-back guarantee as you do with NordVPN, so you can fully test the games you want to play without an issue.
When we were testing Surfshark for our review of the service, we found that the service did a great job cracking streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, and while video games weren’t tried, you shouldn’t have too much trouble cracking the average gaming service, either. The biggest disadvantage is that our tester noticed that speeds with Surfshark could be slow, which can interfere with some games, but when going with a budget VPN service, lower speeds than the premium options are expected.
- Logging policy
-
No-logs policy
- Mobile app
-
Android and iOS
- Number Of Servers
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3,200+
- Encryption
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AES-256
- Free Trial
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30 day money-back guarantee
Surfshark is a low-cost VPN service that offers unlimited simultaneous connections, making it a great pick if you want to share the VPN account with friends and family.
- Plans are less than $2,month, if you only need a VPN for gaming
- The highest level plan is $4/month if you want more complete internet security
- You have a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try all of your games to make sure they work before you commit
Private Internet Access (PIA) costs far less than other services on the list, provided you opt for the two-year subscription costing $2.19 per month. With PIA, you get access to servers in 84 countries.
This well-spread server network gives you more options when accessing geoblocked games and websites. It also lets you grab region-specific discounts and deals.
Our tests reveal that PIA keeps latency under 10ms when using the US servers. However, the latency was relatively high in a few locations, peaking at about 150ms. Connection speeds are impressive, though. PIA is faster than some of the best VPNs, including CyberGhost and Windscribe.
PIA is a secure VPN with a zero-logging policy. You get three security protocols with PIA: IPSec, OpenVPN, and WireGuard. PIA uses AES-128-GCM to encrypt your connection by default, but you can switch to 256-bit.
- Logging policy
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No-Logs Policy
- Mobile app
-
Android and iOS
- Free Trial
-
30 day Money-Back Guarantee
- Encryption
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AES 128-bit or 256-bit
- Supported platforms
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Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox, Opera
- Server locations
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91 countries
Private Internet Access is a low-cost VPN that offers excellent speeds and keeps latency to a minimum. If you’re looking for a secure and reliable service with an affordable price.
- Low latency ensures that your games will run smoothly
- Excellent speeds keep lag from happening
- Budget-friendly price
- Lacks any sort of advanced features
If you want a reliably fast VPN for gaming, Proton VPN is probably it. It’s mostly known as a privacy company first and foremost, with a headquarters in Switzerland and a history of activism. However, during testing for our Proton VPN review it also came out as being reliably fast, losing little speed even on faraway servers.
Besides being fast, we also like Proton VPN for gamers because it’s very good at unblocking sites, getting through to the likes of Netflix without any issues, as well as gaming servers. Even though it may not have been designed to do so, Proton’s many privacy and anti-censorship features seem to be able to crack most geoblocking.
Finally, Proton VPN fits into most budgets, costing just $60 per year or $108 for two years, which is a decent price for what you’re getting. If you’re interested in Proton’s other products, like secure mail or cloud storage, you can get the Proton Unlimited bundle for just $120 per year.
- Logging policy
-
No-Logs Policy
- Mobile app
-
Android and iOS
- Number Of Servers
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13,000+
- Free Trial
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Free version with limited features
- Encryption
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AES-256, ChaCha20
- Supported platforms
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Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox, Chromebook, Apple TV, Android TV, Fire TV
Proton VPN is a fast and secure service, that comes with a strong reputation for privacy.
- Fast speeds keep games from lagging too much while playing online
- Great bundle deals let you get all of your personal data secured in one fell swoop
- Even the standalone VPN is affordable, if you don’t want the other services
- Windows app isn’t great, so getting set up for gaming may be frustrating
Best Gaming VPN For Advanced Options: TorGuard
TorGuard is a superb VPN that keeps latency and ping low, allowing gamers to enjoy a lag-free gaming experience. Of course, connecting a distant server can impact the latency considerably.
TorGuard is still one of the fastest VPNs on the market, making it an excellent choice for gamers. One of the many reasons TorGuard performs well is that it offers WireGuard and ChaCha20 as the default protocol and cipher, respectively, especially on mobile apps.
We also appreciate TorGuard’s easy-to-use interface. The interface, though simple, houses plenty of advanced features like custom scripts and DNS configuration settings.
Custom scripts allow automating VPN-related tasks like opening a specific web page once the VPN is connected or quitting apps automatically. DNS configuration options allow you to change the DNS, which can help improve speeds.
TorGuard has a lot going for it, but it’s expensive. It costs almost as much as ExpressVPN’s best-value plan but lags slightly behind in performance. Even so, it’s an excellent VPN for gaming if you want an app with a simple user interface and advanced options.
- Logging policy
-
Zero-Logs Policy
- Mobile app
-
Android and iOS
- Number Of Servers
-
3000+
- Encryption
-
AES-256
- Supported platforms
-
Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
- Server locations
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50+ countries
TorGuard offers a range of advanced features like custom scripts. The service ensures a low ping and latency while still offering great security.
- Low ping will ensure your online games don’t suffer from lag
- Advanced security options
- Simple UI makes TorGuard easy to use
Best Free VPN For Gaming: Windscribe
Windscribe is one of the best free VPNs on the market. Free VPNs are generally a terrible idea. Most of them are unreliable, slow, or steal your data.
However, we found during our tests that Windscribe’s US-based servers had low latency, hovering between 2ms and 5ms. Windscribe is also one of the fastest VPNs, beating some premium competitors like CyberGhost and Mullvad.
Windscribe is a premium VPN service with a generous free plan. However, the free plan does not include all features. Once you confirm your email and tweet about Windscribe, you will receive 15 GB of free monthly data, which is great for a few hours of gaming during the weekend.
However, if you game more frequently, you might want to get one of its paid plans. Windscribe’s build-a-plan option (which has a minimum $3 checkout value) lets you add unlimited data and two server locations to your account.
- Logging policy
-
No-Log Policy
- Mobile app
-
Android and iOS
- Free Trial
-
Free account with limited functionality
- Encryption
-
AES-256
- Supported platforms
-
Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Fire TV
- Server locations
-
11 countries
Windscribe is a fantastic free VPN option, and you can upgrade to a paid plan if you end up enjoying it.
- Low latency
- Fast connection speed
- Flexible pricing option
- Generous free plan
- Short, three-day money-back guarantee
FAQ
What is a VPN?
A VPN allows you to send public data through a network as if you were somewhere else. The most common uses for VPNs are security (as it encrypts your data before sending it to a website) and to access geo-blocked content. If you want to learn more, check out our explainer on what a VPN is.
What does VPN stand for?
VPN is an acronym that stands for ‘Virtual Private Network’.
Should I use a VPN while gaming?
It depends on the games you’re playing. The biggest advantage to using a gaming VPN is to protect yourself from DDoS attacks, but some games already have strong anti-DDoS procedures in place. There are also some scenarios where a VPN can lower your ping, but these instances are not as often as you might think. Make sure to research the games you play before investing in a VPN. If you need guidance, our article about if you should use a VPN for gaming can help you.
Does using a gaming VPN lower my ping?
Generally, no, it does not. VPNs can often raise your ping and make your connection a bit slower, as the connection needs to work through the VPN as opposed to a direct internet connection. However, there are some cases where a VPN can lower your ping and raise your speeds. For example, if your internet provider is throttling game connection speeds, you can try and use a VPN to bypass that throttling, making your game faster.