VPNs are more often associated with web browsing, and less commonly for gaming. We’re here to prove that not only is the best VPN for gaming affordable, but also that the benefits are worth the minimal hassle they incur.
So whether you’re on the fence about getting a VPN for gaming in general, or if you’ve already seen the light and are simply looking for guidance on how to find the best VPN for online gaming for you, we’ve got you covered. It’s time to take your online gaming experience to the next level.
When it comes to making a decision on whether to invest in a gaming VPN – or at the very least sign up for a free gaming VPN trial – it comes down to considering the advantages and disadvantages.
There aren’t too many of the latter (although we’ll make clear those which stand out in a pros and cons section later on). So, we’ve put together seven of what we think are the most compelling reasons why the best gaming VPN can offer such immense benefits for you.
VPNs are often associated with slower internet access but that's not necessarily the case – especially when using the best VPN protocol for gaming. You can reduce ping times, which are one of the main causes of dreaded lag, through connecting closer to the game server. A gaming VPN with lower ping times can actually provide a smoother, more responsive playing experience.
Some games come out in certain markets earlier than others – others much earlier. VPN gaming means you can enjoy the newest titles the moment they’re released anywhere. This both allows you to experience everything as soon as possible and even provides a head start on the competition by having the jump on their experience via bypassing international release dates.
When you play games online, you’ll normally be connected to a local server. In other words, if you’re in Germany, you’re likely to end up on a German server. But what if you want to play with a group of friends elsewhere? An international selection of servers means you can play with whoever you want optimally through the magic of gaming and VPN.
If you like to play when you’re out and about – say at a cafe, airport, or hotel – you may enjoy the convenience of a public Wi-Fi network. However, such connections aren’t secure. This leaves you vulnerable to malware, man-in-the-middle attacks, and general snooping. The extra protection offered by the best VPN provider encrypts your data even when using a public connection, meaning that if your data is intercepted, it cannot be decoded.
Your internet server may slow down bandwidth for various reasons. Obviously, in terms of online gaming performance, this can cause problems, especially as throttling often occurs automatically as a result of specific network traffic including gaming. But if your data is encrypted, suddenly the ISP can’t figure out what you’re doing and cannot punish you for gaming. The best gaming VPN can even switch the ports you use, making bandwidth throttling even less likely.
A distributed denial of service attack (DDos) is where someone sends a whole bunch of requests to a single source to force it offline. Basically, you could be playing online and someone could force a DDoS attack on you by flooding you with unnecessary data. What a nightmare. But, of course, they can’t do this if your IP address is masked – they wouldn’t have any source to attack, which is exactly what the best VPN for online gaming can provide.
The best VPN for gaming can also be the top choice generally. In other words, if you want to stay safe online broadly, then you can sign up to one VPN for all your online needs, from gaming to simply browsing the internet.
Not only do we think gaming and VPN services are something well worth checking out, there’s also tons of fantastic VPNs for you to choose from. In fact, so much so that when it comes to the cream of the gaming VPN crop, the choice boils down to your personal needs and preferences. With that in mind, we’ve selected an elite trio to get you started in your search.
This is a VPN for gaming that does many, many things well. They have an amazing number of servers in the thousands, and are available in 94 countries. But what matters even more for online gaming is the quality and the speed of those servers. This is what sets ExpressVPN quite literally ahead of the pack – the fact they can reduce latency and improve both your enjoyment and performance thanks to the industry leading speeds they can offer.
When this is backed by a top-tier reputation and exceptional encryption, you’ve got what might be the best VPN protocol for gaming for you. They cost a little more at $8.42 a month minimum, but if you care about lag, they’re well worth the money.
Once upon a time, gaming was isolated to a single device. Today, you can play your favourite games across just about anything connected to the internet. Obviously, if you want to enjoy your gaming VPN’s lower ping benefits but play on multiple devices, this could cause a problem if one subscription only entitled you to access on limited devices.
Well, that’s not a problem with Surfshark VPN, which allows you to add as many connections you want to a single subscription. On top of that, they specifically protect against DDoS attacks – crucial for online gaming , have unlimited bandwidth, and high speed connections. Starting at $2.49 a month, it’s an absolute bargain.
When it comes to attributes of the best VPN for gaming, a broad selection of servers is vital. In fact, we’re very much of ‘the more, the merrier’ opinion, especially for the best VPN for online gaming. Well, NordVPN’s staggering selection of over 5,000 servers for costs beginning at $3.49 means you can connect closer to game servers, and enjoy the lower ping of a gaming VPN and improved performance for a few bucks a month.
Not only that but they are quality, stable, and offer fast connections, with DDoS protection, CyberSec and Malware blocking for top security. NordVPN also provides multi-device support and a dedicated IP address which is important for accessing certain game servers while staying safe online.
| VPN Provider | Free trial over 14 days | Over 2000 servers | Minimal monthly cost under $5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ExpressVPN | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Surfshark | X | ✓ | ✓ |
| NordVPN | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Much like VPNs are gradually becoming part of the furniture when it comes to browsing online, we also expect to see them become more common as a near necessity for playing online at beyond a casual level (but we’d even recommend them to the casual players too). The benefits of a gaming VPN in terms of the security they offer, the access they provide, and the performance they can deliver is simply too vast to be ignored.
A DDoS attack, where you’re forced offline by a flood of data, can be a major cause of concern for online gamers. This is especially true for those competing at a higher level, where there are stakes involved or prizes to be won. A key question then in our guide to the best VPN for gaming is whether such apps can hinder these kinds of attacks, and if so, how?
Lag and performance are of huge consequence when gaming online, especially in a competitive environment where lightning fast responses are a necessary element of victory. The question for anyone using a VPN then is what kind of impact they might have on latency. We’ll be making clear whether you can expect a decent performance, and even if it’s possible to improve your ping times by using a VPN in our best VPN for gaming guide.
It’s good to be able to get all your online needs sorted via a single source. It keeps things simple and generally means you can save some money too. An important question for our best VPN for gaming guide then is whether the VPNs we recommend for gaming can also be used for other purposes, such as general browsing.
