The Best VPNs for Gaming

1. NordVPN - Best VPN for Professional Gamers and Streamers

SecurityScore:

9.7 /10

View Plans Links to NordVPN

How We Review

Product Specs

Multihop	Yes
Camouflage Mode	Yes
Kill switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes

View Plans Links to NordVPN

Usability

NordVPN is available for a number of devices and operating systems. We installed and used it on our gaming PC, mobile phones (both iOS and Android), MacBook, and Linux. It even worked on our old PS4 and the Xbox Series X, but for those setups, we had to connect a laptop to NordVPN and use it as a virtual router to share the VPN connection. That’s not unusual; consoles don’t work natively with VPNs, so all our top picks except ExpressVPN required a different setup approach.

» Further Reading: Set up a VPN on Xbox

Latency

Overall, NordVPN is one of the fastest VPNs we’ve tested, but not all VPNs can support the demanding network needs of online games. NordVPN’s latency on Mac and Windows spiked to over 100 milliseconds, which is still fair, but a little on the high side. We were still able to play multiplayer online games smoothly — in fact, we named NordVPN one of the best VPNs for Call of Duty Warzone — but just know you may experience occasional lags. On the bright side, we got much better ping on mobile (87 ms) and consoles (43 ms).

Possible downsides to consider

Elevated latency aside, NordVPN’s pricing is a little steep. At a minimum, it costs $3.79 per month — and that’s with a two-year subscription ($102.33 total). Other VPNs we tested, such as Private Internet Access and CyberGhost, cost just a little more than $2 per month with a subscription of the same length. That’s over $30 less than NordVPN.

We picked NordVPN as the top VPN option for professional gamers and streamers because of its excellent DDoS protection. Esports is a multimillion-dollar industry2, and like anything else that involves money, there are people who would use underhanded means to gain an unfair advantage — such as using thousands of hacked computers to flood another player’s network with junk traffic.

Professional esports players and influencer-type players who stream their gameplay are the most frequent targets of such attacks, but NordVPN uses a multipronged approach to prevent it from happening. When we connected to NordVPN, it hid our IP address perfectly (as evidenced by the lack of DNS and WebRTC leaks). That’s crucial, since DDoS attacks start with the discovery of the target’s IP address to know where to send junk traffic. That’s one of the bad things someone can do with your IP information.

With our real IP address well hidden, NordVPN’s server IP becomes our disguise. Hackers could technically target that IP address and send junk traffic to it, but NordVPN’s servers are robust enough to absorb the brunt of the attack. If your NordVPN IP address is targeted, all you need to do is change your NordVPN server. It takes less than 10 seconds.

2. Surfshark - Best Gaming VPN for PCs

SecurityScore:

9.5 /10

View Plans Links to Surfshark

How We Review

Product Specs

Multi-hop	Yes
Camouflage Mode	Yes
Kill switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes

View Plans Links to Surfshark

Usability

Surfshark has user-friendly apps for desktops and mobile phones, but we found the desktop app much more usable than its smartphone counterpart. The Windows app had a clean interface that let us quickly choose a fast or nearby server without having to browse the full list. The mobile app featured a similar interface, but since it’s graphics- and memory-heavy it drained our Android’s battery a bit quicker, especially when running high-graphic games like Call of Duty: Mobile. On our Surface Pro laptop, however, we still got a solid seven-hour playtime even with Surfshark in the background.

Latency

Surfshark wasn’t the strongest performer on mobile (94 ms), but it had the best latency on Windows (72 ms). Moreover, the speed didn’t seem to fluctuate much. We kept an eye on the ping throughout the seven-hour late-night gaming session we had with Surfshark and our Surface Pro, and the highest it reached was 86 ms.

Reliability is of utmost importance. Even if you get great ping readings, if it fluctuates from time to time, your gaming experience will be terrible. With Surfshark, it stayed consistent throughout. There was some lag occasionally, but it wasn’t severe enough to make us rage quit our games.

Possible downsides to consider

Surfshark was the best Windows VPN for gaming, but we don’t recommend it for mobile gaming. It’s a good VPN for Android, but the latency is just too high and the beautiful Android interface we usually laud takes a toll on the phone’s performance and battery life.

Whether you’re looking for a Windows VPN that can perform well or one that can protect your online data, Surfshark is the right choice. We liked that it has lots of extra privacy features, such as Private DNS and leak protection, which can prevent others from discovering your IP address, hence offering DDoS protection.

The speed of Surfshark’s servers was also noteworthy. Many of its servers had a 10 Gbps bandwidth capacity, which we were able to put to full use to download the newly released NBA 2K24. It was a whopping 110 GB game file, but it took our 250 Mbps network only around an hour and a half to download the game while connected to Surfshark.

Lastly, we appreciated Surfshark’s package deal for a VPN, antivirus software, safe search engine, and data-breach alerts. The subscription, called Surfshark One, costs only $2.94 per month. As we noted in our Surfshark antivirus review, Surfshark’s malware protection program is most full-featured when used on a Windows device.

3. Private Internet Access - Best Gaming VPN for Mobile

SecurityScore:

9.4 /10

View Plans Links to Private Internet Access

How We Review

Product Specs

Multihop	Yes
Camouflage Mode	No
Kill switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes

View Plans Links to Private Internet Access

Usability

Private Internet Access offers lightweight apps that make it a good choice for gaming on lower-end PCs or mobile phones. The Android VPN app, in particular, required no more than 60 MB of free space, compared to NordVPN’s Android app that took up 150 MB of space. Don’t expect much from the app though. The interface is not as sleek-looking as Surfshark’s mobile app, but that’s what we liked about PIA. It’s simple, so it’s easy to use and doesn’t require much power and memory from your device.

Latency

We tested PIA on an Android 11 smartphone to play Mobile Legends, a multiplayer online role-playing game — similar to Dota 2, but simpler — popular in Southeast Asia. For the most competitive experience, we connected to a server in Singapore. That’s already thousands of miles away, but we still got an impressive 38 ms latency. In game, our latency was in the 60s, which provided a smooth and responsive experience throughout.

PIA worked great on desktop gaming PCs too. Call of Duty: Warzone ran well, especially when we reduced the graphics, and as you can see above, we used PIA to channel our inner Viking on Valheim. PIA’s performance is well-rounded for mobile and PCs.

Possible downsides to consider

We found during our tests that Private Internet Access doesn’t handle network changes well. You’ll have to start a fresh connection if you switch from Wi-Fi to mobile data or a different Wi-Fi network. That’s something to consider, especially if you’re using networking where your phone connects to both Wi-Fi and mobile data and prioritizes whichever is faster.

Our decision to make Private Internet Access the best VPN for mobile gaming was greatly influenced by the fact that it offers both 128-bit and 256-bit AES encryption. Encryption is a standard feature of VPNs, but for some use cases, such as casual gaming and video streaming, a high-level encryption is not necessary. With the ability to lower the encryption standard to 128-bit, Private Internet Access allowed us to make our connection go faster than usual while still providing adequate levels of privacy and security. When we noticed a slower-than-usual download speed, we reduced the encryption to 128-bit and immediately saw a 20 Mbps jump (8 percent of our 250 Mbps network).

We also liked Private Internet Access’ streamlined and straightforward mobile app. There were no unnecessary animations or effects in it — just a good ol’ connect button, an extensive list of VPN server locations, and a settings menu with all the customizations you could think of. There was an advanced split-tunneling feature, for example, that allowed us to exclude our mobile games from the VPN connection whenever we didn’t feel like playing with a VPN.

4. ExpressVPN - Best Gaming VPN for Consoles

SecurityScore:

9.1 /10

View Plans Links to ExpressVPN

How We Review

Product Specs

Multihop	No
Camouflage Mode	Yes
Kill switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes

View Plans Links to ExpressVPN

Usability

In addition to its VPN apps for PCs and smartphones, ExpressVPN offers something unique: Aircove. Aircove is a Wi-Fi 6 router designed to plug into your network and broadcast Wi-Fi signals. It’s unique, however, because it comes preinstalled with ExpressVPN. Any device you connect to it immediately enjoys VPN protection and features, which makes ExpressVPN a good choice for console gamers since gaming consoles such as PlayStation and Xbox don’t have access to native VPN apps.

» Read more: How to Set Up a VPN on PlayStation

Latency

Our latency while connected to ExpressVPN wasn’t great, but it was decent. We experienced the highest ping on Windows and Mac at 102 and 109 ms, respectively, but the latencies on console (49 ms) and mobile (82 ms) were respectable. In any case, we didn’t experience problematic lag that couldn’t be fixed by refreshing our connection.

Possible downsides to consider

In theory, ExpressVPN should be the No. 1 pick. A router that instantly connects any Wi-Fi-enabled device to a VPN can be a real asset to gamers. ExpressVPN’s pricing, however, is enough to give anyone pause. At $8.32 per month if you sign up for a year, it’s definitely a premium VPN. Add to that the equipment cost of Aircove, which is $190, and you’re looking at a significant investment just for a VPN.

ExpressVPN is great for any device, but it’s best for gaming consoles that don’t have access to native VPN apps. You’d normally need a Windows laptop acting as a virtual router to connect a PlayStation or Xbox console to a VPN, which can be a hassle to set up. (We know because we used the same setup when testing the best Apple TV VPNs.) Another option is to enable a VPN connection on your router, but setting up a VPN on a router is an even more painstaking process.

Aircove is ExpressVPN’s nifty solution. The router comes preinstalled with ExpressVPN, so all we needed to do was set it up like a normal router. We even accessed its settings through an online dashboard, and within 30 minutes we were already playing the latest NBA 2K installment on our PS5.

Even though Aircove connected our devices — PCs, smartphones, tablets — to a VPN, it didn’t affect their performance or battery levels because the VPN connection happened on the router level, not the device level. Our devices didn’t need to run a VPN app in the background, so for them it was just like connecting to a normal Wi-Fi network.

5. CyberGhost VPN - Best Gaming VPN for Mac

SecurityScore:

8.9 /10

View Plans Links to CyberGhost VPN

How We Review

Product Specs

Multihop	Yes
Camouflage Mode	No
Kill switch	Yes
Split Tunneling	Yes
Netflix	Yes
Torrenting	Yes

View Plans Links to CyberGhost VPN

Usability

CyberGhost’s apps for mobile phones and desktops were some of the easiest and most straightforward we’ve used. They are easy to navigate and the learning curve for each is next to nothing — especially if you’ve used VPN apps before. We liked the desktop apps in particular, because they showed the load and latency of each server location, which allowed us to easily sort through the available servers and pick the one with the lowest latency and load. We didn’t have to look far. The server right here in New York was the best option, since it was the closest and had only 32 percent load when we tested CyberGhost.

Latency

Our network’s latency when connected to CyberGhost spiked a bit, but we noticed a much lower increase on our MacBook. Of the five VPNs on this list, three increased our Mac’s latency to over 100 ms, which is still viable for gaming, but not very good. CyberGhost, however, caused the lowest Mac latency increase, and it was able to keep it to below 80 ms most of the time. That’s partially because we were able to choose a low-latency server from the get-go, but CyberGhost’s servers were really efficient overall.

» Learn more: How to Set up a VPN on Mac

Possible downsides to consider

One of CyberGhost’s drawbacks is its limited simultaneous connections. You can connect only up to seven devices at a time. That should be enough for most people, but if you’re running an operation that needs multiple devices — if you’re a streamer simultaneously using a console, PC for your stream, smartphone for audience interaction, and other devices, for example — you have to be mindful of how many devices you connect to CyberGhost.

CyberGhost’s VPN app is supported by an extensive list of macOS versions, starting from macOS High Sierra, whereas other VPNs we’ve tested support only newer systems. NordVPN’s current macOS app, for example, is available only to users of macOS Catalina and newer versions.

» Learn more: Best VPN for Macs

CyberGhost also has servers with a 10 Gbps port, and, in our experience, it’s mostly stable and reliable. It didn’t quite make our list of the best VPNs for Fortnite, but we played five rounds of Fortnite on our MacBook for nearly three hours and our network latency and speed didn’t fluctuate one bit. It remained in the 60 to 80 ms range, which was lower than average.

Another thing we liked about CyberGhost was the price. We signed up for only one month, so we paid the maximum $12.99 monthly fee. If you’re looking for a permanent VPN to use, however, the $57 two-year plan is a heck of a deal. With the ongoing two-months-free promo, it averages out to about $2.19 per month for a subscription that covers up to seven devices at a time.