With data snoopers and shady websites attempting to obtain your personal information, the importance of data protection has increased significantly. Even if you don’t care about your privacy, a VPN can be a great tool for gamers, as it allows you to play from a location of your choice. This might ensure a better connection, can allow you to play with friends from a different region, or access region-locked content. Whatever your reason if for using a VPN for gaming: we’ve listed the best ones in this article.
Surfshark
Surfshark is a reliable and relatively affordable VPN that is packed with features. It offers fast connection speeds and servers in more than 100 countries. So whether you want to access region-locked content or better routing to game servers for lower ping, Surf Shark has you covered.
Aside from impressive speed and server availability, the VPN is loaded with useful features. In the Starter pack, in addition to the VPN, you get Alt ID and CleanWeb. If you want to register somewhere but do not want to use your personal information, Alt ID will create a new email and identity for you. Clean Web, on the other hand, prevents annoying pop-ups and advertisements from interfering with your browsing experience.
In addition to these, higher subscriptions include a dedicated anti-virus, an alert system that notifies you if your information is compromised, and a Search feature that removes sponsored search results. All of these features are put together in a minimalist and modern UI.
Sadly, there is no free version of the app, which may be a deal-breaker for some people. But Surf Shark is relatively cheap when compared to its competitors, with their yearly plan starting at $3 a month with a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can also connect unlimited devices with just one subscription, which increases the value proposition.
Surfshark is a paid VPN for gaming with multiple subscription tiers.
Pros
- Quite affordable
- Useful features
- 30-day money back guarantee
- Connection to unlimited devices
Cons
- No free version available
Info
Pricing: $2.19/mo – $4.29 (for a 24-month plan) or starting at $15.45/mo for a single-month plan
Payment Methods: creditcard, PayPal, SoFort, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, Crypto
ExpressVPN
If you are looking for a complete VPN that has everything covered, ExpressVPN is a good option. It features fast speeds, strong encryption, and 200 servers across 160 locations. Not to mention it works on almost all devices that have internet on them, whether they are PCs, phones, tablets, consoles, or even routers.
ExpressVPN is the most popular VPN out there, and rightly so. It has blazingly fast speeds, ensuring you don’t get lag issues while gaming. It features military-grade encryption, making sure your data is safe from data scrapers. It masks your IP, protecting you from potential DDoS attacks. On top of that, it bypasses ISP throttling, so you get fast bandwidth from your ISP (Internet Service Provider).
Sounds good, right, but what about the price? Well, ExpressVPN isn’t cheap, but it’s not extraordinarily expensive either. It’s fairly priced for the features and protection it offers. For $100, you can get a yearly plan with 3 months extra. However, it’s worth noting that for strictly gaming, $100 may be an expensive investment for some people, so budget-conscious gamers might want to look elsewhere.
ExpressVPN is a paid VPN service with many servers across the globe.
Pros
- Impressive speeds
- Strong encryption
- Servers in 105 countries
- Compatible across many devices
Cons
- On the more expensive side
Info
Pricing: $8.23/mo (for a 12-month plan) or starting at $9.99/mo for a single-month plan
Payment Methods: credit card, PayPal, Bitcoin, Paymentwall
NordVPN
If you are using a VPN for gaming it better be fast, and NordVPN is all about that. NordVPN is undoubtedly the fastest VPN on the internet. It also has very wide coverage, with 6300+ servers in 111 countries. On top of that, NordVPN offers solid encryption and protection services so that you can game without worry.
While NordVPN is blazingly fast, it is quite impressive in terms of protection too. It features many protective features such as Double VPN, Split Tunneling, Private DNS, and more. Thanks to the wide coverage, you can easily find a server near the gaming server for that perfect low ping.
In terms of cost, there are three different plans with different stacks of features. NordVPN is not free, although it is quite inexpensive. It definitely worth trying out if you are struggling with network issues while gaming. It also comes with a 30 day money back policy in case you don’t like it.
In short, you get a feature-packed, high-speed VPN with strong encryption features at a very reasonable price.
NordVPN is one of the most well-known VPN services out there.
Pros
- Affordable
- Excellent speeds
- Multiple servers across many countries
Cons
- UI is a bit finnicky
- Mobile app can be improved
Info
Pricing: $3.09/mo – $6.59/mo (for a 24-month plan) or starting at $12.99 for a per-month plan
Payment Methods: credit card or debet card, PayPal, Google Pay, Crypto, Bancontact
Proton VPN
This Swiss-based VPN offers an affordable solution to your ping problems. The VPN is fast as well as quite secure, with great encryption features ensuring you can browse without worry. The best part about ProtonVPN is that it offers a free version, meaning that you don’t have to spend money to be secure and have a good gaming experience.
Where Proton VPN shines is the sheer amount of features. You have everything you need, from performance to privacy. In terms of protection, you get features like IP Masking, Ad-blocker, DNS protection, and a no-log policy meaning ProtonVPN doesn’t track any of your data. Plus, their Stealth protection Protocol adds another layer of security.
Proton VPN isn’t light on the performance side either, with features like Split tunneling, Port Forwarding, and a VPN accelerator. No matter which server you connect to, you will get fast speeds.
On the pricing side, ProtonVPN is competitively priced. It’s not super cheap but is quite affordable. They offer three different plans with different features depending on your needs. As mentioned, ProtonVPN also has a free version. Although it’s not as feature-packed as the paid versions, it should be enough for you to test it out.
Proton VPN is a VPN service that also offers a free tier, which makes it interesting for budget-minded users.
Pros
- Solid encryption features
- Excellent performance
- Free version available
Info
Pricing: Free to $4.49/mo – $7.99/mo on a 24-month plan, or $9.99 – $12.99 on a 1-month plan
Payment Options: credit/debet card, PayPal
CyberGhost
CyberGhost is a simplistic and affordable solution to your network security and latency issues. It’s got every feature you’d need for gaming and day-to-day browsing. With fast servers in over 100 countries, CyberGhost ensures you will find a good server that’ll get you low ping.
CyberGhost has various security protocols to ensure that your browsing is safe and secure. Along with the industry standard AES-256 encryption, the VPN offers security features like IP masking and much more.
The performance of CyberGhost is quite impressive as well. All servers have pretty low latency, ensuring that you get low ping while gaming. And, you won’t have any issues finding a server close to the game server, as CyberGhost has servers across 100 countries.
The only downside of CyberGhost is the limited number of devices you can connect per subscription. It only allows for seven devices which may not be enough for most people. Most competitors offer unlimited devices so this is a major downside of CyberGhost.
The pricing of CyberGhost is pretty good however. You can get a 2-year+2-month membership for under $50.
In short: it’s an affordable VPN with fast servers and solid encryption features.
CyberGhost VPN is a paid VPN service that offers a great Mac experience.
Pros
- Affordable
- Good security features
- Shows server latency in the UI
- Servers across 100 countries
- Works great for Mac
Cons
- Limited number of devices
Info
Pricing: $2.19/mo for a 24-month plan, or $11.99/mo for a monthly plan
Payment Options: PayPal, credit card, Bitcoin
Why Use A VPN For Gaming?
There are a ton of reasons to consider a VPN for gaming. One of the most obvious scenarios is when you’re having ping or latency issues, which can be difficult or costly to diagnose and fix. Before going out and spending money on such things, it’s better to try out a VPN. Maybe the reason you are getting bad ping is just poor routing, which a VPN can easily solve.
Using a VPN can also help you access region-locked content, or play on servers in a different region.
Additionally, using a VPN will also mask your online identity. Most games are pretty good at hiding your IP address from other players, but a VPN ensures that doxxing you becomes impossible so that salty players who lost a game against you can’t try to get revenge by annoying you in real life.
Obviously, there are also downsides to using a VPN for gaming. For instance, pretty much all VPNs will slow down your connection speed, which might increase download times. These things aren’t as important as your overall latency (which VPNs can potentially improve) but it’s good to note regardless.
Additionally, not all games even allow the usage of a VPN, so you might be breaking your game’s Terms of Service if you use a VPN. Always make sure that using a VPN is allowed, and use VPNs for gaming at your own responsibility.
Finally, there’s the cost factor. There are free VPNS out there, but the services with the best performance (which is what you want for gaming) will almost always cost you money. This adds a monthly cost to your gaming hobby, which can make it a great deal more expensive.
If you’re considering a VPN for gaming, it’s good to know about these pros and cons, and if you’ve decided you want to give it a go you can try out one of our recommendations in the article above.
