Updated on: November 8, 2024
Short on time? Here’s the best gaming VPN in 2024:
- 🥇 ExpressVPN : Provides the fastest gaming speeds on the market, has support for cloud gaming platforms, and also comes with really user-friendly apps (including a router app). What’s more, it has affordable plans and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
I always use a VPN when playing online games like Counter-Strike 2, Call of Duty, Minecraft, and Dota 2. I do that to make sure my internet service provider (ISP) doesn’t selectively slow down my gaming speeds and to protect my gaming traffic. Plus, a VPN protects me from DDoS attacks when I host multiplayer games, or when I play certain peer-to-peer games or older games (like Half-Life). And using a VPN increases my odds of getting into bot lobbies in multiplayer games to improve my skills.
I managed to find a handful of really good gaming VPNs. All the VPNs on this list provide really fast speeds for gaming, have easy-to-use apps on all platforms (one even has an app for routers), include excellent security features, and are affordable. But my favorite is, by far, ExpressVPN. Editors' Note: ExpressVPN and this site are in the same ownership group.
Quick Summary of the Best VPNs for Gaming
Editors' Note: Intego, Private Internet Access, CyberGhost and ExpressVPN are owned by Kape Technologies, our parent company
🥇 1. ExpressVPN — Best VPN for Gaming in 2024
ExpressVPN is the best gaming VPN on the market — it has the fastest gaming speeds on this list (and on the market), easy-to-use apps, including a native router app, and it even works with cloud gaming platforms.
In my tests, I had very enjoyable gaming sessions — I didn’t experience crashes, my connection to the gaming servers never dropped, and I was even able to bypass an unfair IP ban. Plus, ExpressVPN provides access to servers in 105 countries, so it’s really easy to game on nearby servers to get the fastest speeds.
Also, ExpressVPN barely slowed down my speeds when I used Lightway (ExpressVPN’s proprietary protocol that’s faster than OpenVPN and IKEv2/IPSec). I connected to gaming servers almost instantly on my PC and I always had low ping — even when I used distant servers.
I love how user-friendly ExpressVPN’s apps are — installing them takes 1–2 minutes and the interface is simple to navigate (even if you’re new to VPNs). There’s a quick-connect feature that automatically connects you to the fastest server, but it’s also easy to manually find and connect to a server.
And on top of mobile and desktop apps, there’s also a router app. ExpressVPN’s router app is very easy to install, and there are helpful setup tutorials — it took me less than 8–9 minutes to set up the app on my router. I was able to game on my console, PC, and smartphone while connected to any one of ExpressVPN’s server locations. Another option is Aircove, which is the provider’s own router that comes with the app preinstalled.
And I really like how ExpressVPN supports cloud gaming services, which stream video games to portable devices like smartphones and tablets. ExpressVPN works with popular cloud gaming services like Xbox Game Pass, Amazon Luna, and more.
ExpressVPN also has Advanced Protection, which blocks ads and connections to malicious sites. I find this tool very helpful when playing free web browser games on sites like Kongregate or Armor Games — the feature stops ads from loading and prevents me from accidentally accessing shady free web gaming sites.
ExpressVPN has monthly and yearly plans and a 30-day money-back guarantee. It’s a little pricier than some of the other top VPNs, but with our exclusive 82% discount, you can get it for only $4.99 / month. And ExpressVPN frequently gives away 3 free months on the long-term plans, which is a great deal in my opinion.
Bottom Line:
ExpressVPN is my favorite gaming VPN in 2024 — it’s extremely fast, its apps are easy to install and use, and it even has a user-friendly router app so you can use ExpressVPN on your consoles. ExpressVPN supports cloud gaming, has a great ad and malicious site blocker, and backs all purchases with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read the full ExpressVPN review
🥈 2. Private Internet Access — Great Easy-to-Use VPN for Gaming
Private Internet Access (PIA) is a great pick for gamers who are new to VPNs, as its apps are extremely simple to navigate and use. Plus, the vendor allows unlimited simultaneous connections, making it a great pick for large families or gamers who game online on multiple devices.
I also like how there are automation options available, so you can configure the VPN app to automatically connect to a VPN server when you game on public Wi-Fi. PIA doesn’t have a native router app, but it provides step-by-step guides that show you how to configure its service on your router.
PIA doesn’t guarantee it will work with cloud gaming platforms — that said, I was still able to use this VPN to game on platforms like GeForce Now and Amazon Luna.
PIA also provides great security for gamers. It has Identity Guard, which is a data breach monitoring tool that lets you secure your login details for gaming accounts. In addition, it has MACE, which is an excellent ad blocker that gets rid of ads on gaming sites, and also blocks connections to malicious sites that claim to host online games.
PIA is a really good pick for desktop gamers who like to torrent royalty-free games — it allows P2P traffic on all servers, works with top P2P apps like uTorrent and Vuze, has port forwarding (connects you to more peers to get faster downloads), and provides SOCKS5 proxy support, which changes your IP address like a VPN but doesn’t use encryption, so you get much faster speeds.
Private Internet Access has affordable plans, which start at only $2.03 / month. It also comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
Private Internet Access is a very beginner-friendly VPN for gamers, as its apps work on most platforms and are very simple to use. The VPN also allows unlimited connections, provides strong security, and has excellent P2P support. PIA has affordable plans, which it backs with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read the full Private Internet Access review
Editors' Note: Private Internet Access and this site are in the same ownership group.
🥉 3. CyberGhost VPN — Dedicated Gaming Servers & Great Automation
CyberGhost VPN provides access to 80+ gaming servers in 4 countries (the US, the UK, France, and Germany) — those servers provide faster downloads and gaming speeds than its regular servers.
I also like how there are apps for all platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux. There’s no router app, but you can perform a relatively quick manual setup on your router if you follow the provider’s tutorials. Also, CyberGhost VPN’s apps are very intuitive — I especially like that the dedicated gaming servers have their own category, which makes it very easy to find and connect to them.
And I’m a big fan of the Smart Rules feature, which is a feature that lets you customize your VPN preferences. For example, I used Smart Rules to set CyberGhost up to automatically connect to the fastest server whenever I opened Steam on my PC.
Unfortunately, there’s no cloud gaming support — however, CyberGhost VPN worked without issues when I tried using it with services like Amazon Luna.
The provider also has Content Blocker, which is its ad-blocking feature — this tool is useful if you use online gaming websites, as it gets rid of ads, and also stops you from accidentally accessing shady gaming sites.
I also like the Identity Guard feature, which alerts you if your email address and passwords have been leaked on the dark web — that helps you keep tabs on your gaming accounts to keep them safe.
CyberGhost VPN has monthly and yearly plans that start at $2.03 / month. It also backs all yearly plans with a 45-day money-back guarantee (the monthly plan has a 14-day money-back guarantee).
Bottom Line:
CyberGhost VPN is a secure and intuitive VPN with dedicated gaming servers, great speeds, and convenient automation features. It comes with an ad blocker and Identity Guard, which helps you monitor your gaming accounts. CyberGhost VPN is very affordable and has a 45-day money-back guarantee for long-term plans.
Read the full CyberGhost VPN review
Editors' Note: CyberGhost and this site are in the same ownership group.
4. NordVPN — Good VPN for Secure Gaming & Hosting Virtual LAN Parties
NordVPN is great for securing your gaming traffic. I especially like its Threat Protection Pro feature — not only does it block ads and shady sites, but it also protects you from malware-infected downloads (which is great for securing your device against potentially malicious game files).
Not to mention that, on Windows, Threat Protection Pro also has an app vulnerability scanner — so it can quickly flag outdated gaming apps that could put your entire system at risk.
And the VPN also has a dark web monitoring tool that alerts you if your NordVPN login details are compromised. If you use the same login for your gaming accounts, you can use this feature to keep an eye on them.
I also like the provider’s Meshnet feature — it lets you create a secure, private network and link up to 60 devices over encrypted VPN connections. This helps you host virtual LAN parties securely so you can game with all of your friends (for example, you can use it to host private Minecraft servers).
The only minor complaint I have is that the provider doesn’t come with a router app (like ExpressVPN does). But it’s still pretty simple to manually set up NordVPN on your router to use it on your gaming console.
NordVPN has tier-based subscriptions — I recommend getting the Plus subscriptions (costs $3.89 / month) since it comes with the Threat Protection Pro feature. NordVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on all plans.
Bottom Line:
NordVPN provides very strong security for gaming, including malware protection, an app vulnerability detector, and a data breach monitoring tool. Also, it’s great for securely hosting virtual LAN parties. All of NordVPN’s plans include a 30-day money-back guarantee.
5. Surfshark — Great for Playing Augmented Reality (AG) Games on Android
Surfshark is a good pick for AR gamers on Android. AR games (like Pokémon GO and Jurassic World Alive) superimpose virtual 3D elements on top of the user’s view of the real world, essentially blending the physical and digital world.
I personally think Surfshark is great for AR gaming on Android because its Android app has a GPS-spoofing feature. This makes it possible to change your in-game location to access more features and events — as long as the game’s terms of service don’t prohibit this, of course.
Surfshark is also great for gaming on other platforms since it provides fast gaming speeds and strong security features. I particularly like its IP Rotator feature, which regularly changes your VPN IP without dropping your connection — this provides great protection against DDoS attacks. It also has intuitive apps, but it lacks a router app (like ExpressVPN has).
Surfshark is extremely affordable, with plans starting as low as $1.99 / month. It also includes a 30-day money-back guarantee with all plans.
Bottom Line:
Surfshark is great for playing AR games on Android, since its Android app has a feature that spoofs GPS data. In addition, the VPN provides an overall great gaming experience thanks to its fast speeds and strong security tools. It also backs all plans with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read the full Surfshark review
6. Proton VPN — Best Free Gaming VPN
Proton VPN has the best free plan for gaming (and also one of the best free plan on the market) — it’s one of the only free plans that allows unlimited data, so you can use it to game as much as you want.
The free plan limits you to servers in 5 countries, including the US, the Netherlands, Romania, Poland, and Japan. The free version doesn’t let you manually connect to a server location, but it automatically connects you to the fastest server for your location (which is still convenient).
While the free plan limits you to 1 device, you can use Proton VPN on your router to cover all devices, including consoles. Unfortunately, there’s no router app (like you get with ExpressVPN), but there are useful tutorials that make the setup process pretty simple.
Upgrading to Proton VPN’s paid plans adds more perks, including 10 simultaneous connections, servers in 112 countries, a very good ad blocker, access to VPN Accelerator (a unique feature that boosts VPN speeds on distant servers), and more.
Proton VPN’s paid plans start at $2.99 / month, so they’re pretty affordable. There’s also a 30-day money-back guarantee, but it’s prorated.
Bottom Line:
Proton VPN has the best free plan for gamers — it comes with unlimited data and strong security, good speeds, servers in 5 countries, and 1 connection. Upgrading to the premium plans gets you a speed-boosting tool, servers in 112 countries, up to 10 connections, and a great ad blocker. All purchases come with a prorated 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read the full Proton VPN review
7. IPVanish — Good for VPN for Torrenting
IPVanish provides access to good P2P support, as it allows torrenting on all of its servers, works with top P2P apps, and has SOCKS5 proxy support. So, it’s a great pick if you need a VPN to torrent copyright-free games.
Plus, I like how IPVanish has support for cloud gaming platforms — I never experienced any issues while using this VPN to game on GeForce Now.
And IPVanish has easy-to-use apps for iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux. The apps aren’t as sleek as ExpressVPN, Private Internet Access, and CyberGhost VPN, but they’re still intuitive — there’s a quick-connect feature, it’s simple to manually connect to a server, and almost all settings have helpful short explanations. The provider also supports unlimited connections.
IPVanish has monthly and annual subscription plans that start at $2.19 / month. Plus, the yearly plans come with a VIPRE antivirus subscription for protection against malware attacks (but only for Windows and Macs). IPVanish backs its yearly plans with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
IPVanish provides good P2P support for gamers. It also provides fast speeds while gaming and maintains stable ping, allows unlimited connections, and has support for cloud gaming. IPVanish’s apps have intuitive interfaces, and there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee for the yearly plans.
8. VyprVPN — Very Fast Gaming VPN
VyprVPN is really fast and provides great security features. It has 700+ servers in 70+ countries, and I always maintained fast gaming speeds on local and distant servers and didn’t experience high ping or lag in my tests.
VyprVPN has user-friendly apps on most platforms. It also works with routers, but it doesn’t have a router app, like ExpressVPN, which is much easier to install. Still, VyprVPN offers comprehensive guides on how to make the VPN work on different types of routers, which is convenient.
The provider has anti-DDoS protection on all of its servers. What’s more, it claims to have 300,000+ IP addresses, which would make it extremely hard for someone to monitor and target your VPN IP while gaming.
VyprVPN also works very well with cloud streaming platforms, like GeForce Now and Xbox Game Pass. Also, its apps are super simple to use.
VyprVPN has affordable plans that start at $3.00 / month and come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
VyprVPN is a very fast gaming VPN with good security features. It also has anti-DDoS protection on its servers, 300,000+ IPs, and easy-to-use apps. VyprVPN has monthly, 1-year, and 2-year plans and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
9. PrivateVPN — Decent Minimalistic VPN for Gaming
PrivateVPN’s iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS apps have a minimalistic design, as there aren’t a lot of features and settings to change, so gamers new to VPNs won’t feel overwhelmed when using them. And the few settings that are available come with helpful explanations.
You can also use the VPN on your router, but there’s unfortunately no router app (like you get with ExpressVPN) — luckily, the manual setup is not very difficult since there are step-by-step tutorials available, some of which even include screenshots.
The provider doesn’t guarantee 24/7 compatibility with cloud gaming platforms, but it still works with these services most of the time. You also get strong security features, including an app-based kill switch that shuts down selected apps (like video games) if your VPN connection drops.
PrivateVPN has very affordable plans that start at $2.00 / month. It also backs each purchase with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
PrivateVPN has minimalistic apps for all major platforms that are pretty easy to use for gaming. It also provides really good gaming speeds, works with cloud gaming platforms most of the time, and has strong security features. It has very affordable plans and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read the full PrivateVPN review
10. TunnelBear — Good Beginner-Friendly VPN for Gamers
TunnelBear is good for beginners because its apps are very fun to use. The interface is simple to navigate, and you can even use a digital map to connect to VPN servers — and when you do that, an adorable digital bear digs a tunnel to the server’s location (on iOS and Android, it even roars when you connect to the server).
And like Surfshark, TunnelBear allows unlimited connections. While you can use TunnelBear on most devices, it unfortunately doesn’t have router support (like ExpressVPN) — so you can’t use it while gaming on your consoles. It also doesn’t guarantee access to cloud gaming platforms, but it does work with them most of the time.
I also like how you get access to split-tunneling, which is called SplitBear in the provider’s apps. You can use this tool to enhance your gaming speeds by only sending gaming traffic through TunnelBear’s servers.
TunnelBear has a free plan, but it limits you to 2 GB per month, so it’s not good for gaming — instead, I recommend getting its affordable plans that start at $3.33 / month. Unfortunately, there’s no money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
TunnelBear is great for gamers new to VPNs thanks to its fun-to-use apps. It also allows unlimited connections, provides good speeds, and works with cloud gaming services most of the time. Its free plan isn’t good for gaming, and there’s no money-back guarantee, but at least its paid plans are affordable.
Read the full TunnelBear review
Bonus. Hotspot Shield — Really Fast Speeds & Intuitive Apps
Hotspot Shield has really good speeds, making it a great pick for competitive gaming. I always maintained low ping on nearby servers and stable ping on distant servers, I never experienced any lag when playing MOBAs, and my connections to gaming servers also never randomly dropped.
The provider doesn’t guarantee that its services will work with cloud gaming platforms (like ExpressVPN and IPVanish do) — even so, I was able to game with Hotspot Shield on platforms like GeForce Now pretty much all the time.
Hotspot Shield has user-friendly apps for iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux, but it lacks a router app (like ExpressVPN has) — to use this VPN while gaming on your console, you’ll need to perform a manual setup. Luckily, there are setup guides that show you what to do.
Hotspot Shield’s paid plans start at $2.99 / month. There’s also a free plan with unlimited data, but it limits you to 1 device and only allows access to servers in the US, the UK, and Singapore. The paid plans are covered by a 45-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
Hotspot Shield provides really fast speeds for gaming. It also works with cloud gaming services almost all of the time, has user-friendly apps, and provides strong security features. It has a decent free plan and paid plans that are affordable and come with a 45-day money-back guarantee.
Read the full Hotspot Shield review
Quick Comparison Table
Editors' Note: Intego, Private Internet Access, CyberGhost and ExpressVPN are owned by Kape Technologies, our parent company
Testing Methodology: Comparison & Ranking Criteria
To find the best VPNs for gaming, I followed our tried-and-true testing methodology. This involved comprehensive testing of lots of VPNs on the market under a multitude of gaming-specific scenarios to assess their capabilities and effectiveness. Below, you’ll find the criteria I used to test, compare, and ultimately rank the VPNs:
- I only picked secure VPNs. I made sure to only include providers that have essential security features to keep you safe while gaming. These features include 256-bit AES encryption, a no-logs policy, a kill switch, and leak protection.
- I only chose providers with a huge number of server locations. I prioritized VPN providers with servers in most parts of the world — for example, the top 5 VPNs on my list have servers in 90+ countries. This makes it easy to game on nearby servers to ensure you get stable ping.
- I only picked VPNs with fast gaming speeds. Speed is essential when playing online games, so I tested each VPN on this list to ensure it provides fast, lag-free gaming on nearby and distant servers. ExpressVPN provided me with the fastest gaming speeds.
- I only ranked VPNs with anti-DDoS protection on their servers. All VPNs protect you from DDoS attacks by hiding your IP address — but someone could still DDoS your connection to the VPN to disconnect you from the server. So, I made sure to only recommend VPNs that protect their servers against such cyber attacks.
- I mainly ranked VPNs with good cloud platform compatibility. Almost half of the VPNs on my list guarantee 24/7 access to cloud gaming services, such as GeForce Now and Xbox Game Pass. While the other half doesn’t claim to have cloud gaming support, those providers still work with cloud gaming services at least 50% of the time.
- I only added user-friendly gaming VPNs to my list. The providers on my list have intuitive apps that make it super easy to connect to a server and start gaming securely. Most of them also have features that automatically connect you to the fastest server so that you can start gaming right away.
- Finally, I picked VPNs that offer an overall good value. I decided to only recommend VPNs that come with useful extra features for gaming, such as split-tunneling or an ad blocker (for websites that host free browser games). Also, the VPNs on my list are affordable and offer free plans or generous refund policies.
Why Should You Use a VPN for Gaming?
Here are the main reasons you’d want to use a VPN while gaming:
- Secure gaming traffic. VPNs encrypt your internet traffic, making it 100% unreadable. This means nobody can monitor your gaming traffic or compromise it.
- Prevent bandwidth throttling. When you use a VPN, your gaming traffic will be encrypted. So, your ISP won’t be able to see it. Due to this, your ISP won’t be able to selectively throttle your gaming speeds during internet peak hours (evenings and over the weekend).
- Avoid IP bans. A VPN stops anyone from seeing your real IP address. So, if you receive an unfair IP ban, you can simply get around it by connecting to the VPN before you access the game.
- Avoid DDoS attacks. VPNs prevent malicious actors from seeing your real IP address. So, they can’t use it to target your network with DDoS attacks to force you offline.
- Game on restrictive networks. School and campus networks often use firewalls to block access to online games and gaming sites. With a VPN, you can get around this issue. Basically, you’ll connect to the web via the VPN’s IP address, which doesn’t have any firewall restrictions linked to it.
- Boost your odds of finding bot lobbies. If you use a VPN to change your location, you might have better chances of ending up in a bot lobby. Bot lobbies are good for increasing your skills in a game because they usually offer an easier matchup.
Can You Use a VPN on Gaming Consoles?
Yes, but not directly. Gaming consoles don’t support VPN apps, meaning you can’t download and install a VPN app from the app store on your console.
Instead, you’ll need to set up the VPN on your router. Once you do that, all web-connected devices in your home (like your gaming console) that use the router to access the web will use the VPN connection.
Setting up a VPN on your router is a bit complicated, but hopefully this guide will make things easy for you. If you’re interested in doing this, I recommend getting ExpressVPN, as it’s one of the only VPNs with a router app — you can install it directly on your router, which is more convenient than performing a manual setup. And if you don’t want to deal with that and don’t mind spending some money, you can just buy ExpressVPN’s Aircove router, which comes with the VPN pre-installed on it.
Can a VPN Help You Circumvent Bans in Games?
Yes, but it mostly depends on the ban you’re dealing with. If it’s an IP ban, then yes, a VPN will help you circumvent it. You just need to connect to a VPN server to get a new IP address, and you’ll be able to rejoin the gaming server (as the VPN’s IP isn’t banned).
That said, many games might use account-level bans. This means the game developer bans your gaming account. In this case, a VPN can’t help you circumvent the ban — the only realistic option would be to set up a new account.
Also, VPNs can’t get around hardware bans — this is when the game ban is tied to your hardware ID (HWID), which is the unique identifier associated with a hardware component installed on your device.
It’s honestly best to just avoid getting banned in the first place. The best way to do that is to respect the game’s community guidelines and terms of service.
Top Brands That Didn’t Make the Cut:
- Perfect Privacy. This provider is very secure, but its server network is really small (and I always experienced noticeable slowdowns while gaming on distant servers). Plus, its desktop apps are difficult to use.
- TorGuard. TorGuard is secure and has decent speeds, but its server network is pretty smally (only 50+ countries). I also don’t like how most of its apps are confusing to use and how the desktop apps don’t come with split-tunneling.
- Astrill VPN. Astrill VPN is easy to use and includes great security features for gaming, but it’s very expensive. All of the VPNs on this list offer a better value.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the best VPN for gaming?
ExpressVPN is my favorite gaming VPN in 2024 — it provides the fastest gaming speeds on the market, has very intuitive apps (including a router app), includes support for cloud gaming platforms, and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Do you need a VPN for gaming?
Yes, there are good reasons to use a VPN while gaming. First, a VPN encrypts your traffic, which makes it unreadable — this keeps your gaming traffic safe and stops your internet service provider from intentionally slowing down your gaming traffic. A VPN also hides your IP address, which protects you from Distributed-Denials-of-Service (DDoS) attacks and helps you avoid IP bans too. In addition, VPNs might help you get into bot lobbies, and they let you play games on restrictive networks, like at school.
If you want to use a VPN for gaming, I recommend ExpressVPN — it provides excellent security features, has the fastest speeds on the market, provides support for cloud gaming platforms like GeForce Now, and comes with very intuitive apps (including a router app).
How do you use a VPN for gaming?
You can start using a gaming VPN in just 3 quick and simple steps:
- Pick a good gaming VPN. Choose a VPN that is secure, fast, and easy to use — I recommend ExpressVPN.
- Download and install the VPN app. The installation process takes about 1–2 minutes.
- Connect to a VPN server. Open the VPN app, and either use the quick-connect feature (it connects you to the fastest server for your location) or manually scroll through the list of available locations and pick a server. And that’s it — you can now game securely and privately.
Can you use a free VPN for gaming?
Yes, though keep in mind most free VPNs come with annoying limitations. For example, they limit how much data you can use or have very slow speeds. If you insist on using a free VPN for gaming, try Proton VPN’s free version since it allows unlimited data.
What’s the fastest VPN for gaming?
In my tests, ExpressVPN provided me with the fastest gaming speeds (which isn’t surprising, as this is the fastest VPN on the market) — I connected to gaming servers nearly instantly, I always maintained good ping across all servers, I didn’t experience lag, and large updates downloaded really fast.
But I also had fast speeds with all the top VPNs on this list.
