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A virtual private network, or VPN, can be a powerful tool for securing your internet connection. Here at PCMag, we've been testing VPNs for more than 10 years, so you can trust us to guide you to the right one for your needs. But even the best VPNs can interfere with your connectivity, sometimes to the point where your favorite games become laggy or even unplayable. Some games might prevent you from using a VPN altogether. While we can't advise you on every problem that could arise from using a VPN for gaming, we can break down the issues and offer some solutions that can keep you playing without losing control of your data. Read on for the best VPNs we've tested for gaming, followed by what to consider when choosing the right one for you.
Our Top Tested Picks
NordVPN
IPVanish VPN
AVG Secure VPN
StrongVPN
Mullvad VPN
Mozilla VPN
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- Best VPN Services
- Best Mac VPNs
- Best Android VPNs
- Best iPhone VPNs
- Best Free VPNs
- Fastest VPNs
Best Feature Set
NordVPN
- Multi-hop, split tunneling, and Tor connections
- Excellent design
- Traffic routing and file-sharing with Meshnet
- Built-in antivirus tools
- Expensive
- Lackluster malware-blocking results
- Limited utility of free Meshnet traffic routing
NordVPN has long been a major player in the VPN space, and it's easy to see why. It's one of the few VPNs that provides multi-hop connections, split tunneling, and access to the Tor anonymization network over VPN. Its new Meshnet feature adds fast and easy file sharing and even lets you route your traffic through other devices.
NordVPN is one of the most expensive VPNs we've reviewed, so it may not be the right choice if you're pressed for cash. However, the Meshnet features may be especially interesting to gamers as the company says the traffic routing tools can be used for LAN gaming remotely. This is a great choice for anyone interested in a reliable VPN with exciting new features completely absent in the competition.
Best for Unlimited Connections
IPVanish VPN
- Unlimited simultaneous connections
- Good geographic diversity of servers
- Transparent privacy policy
- Small impact on throughput speeds in our testing
- Expensive
- Free trial only offered on annual plans via mobile app stores
IPVanish may not have the slickest interface, but it places no limit on simultaneous connections and has a diverse—if average-sized—collection of servers worldwide.
Anyone with numerous devices to protect should look to IPVanish, as a single account can connect all of them simultaneously.
(Note: IPVanish is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com's parent company. For more, see the ethics policy in our Editorial Mission Statement.)
Best for Current AVG Subscribers
AVG Secure VPN
- 10 simultaneous connections
- Excellent transparency policies
- Simple interface
- Few servers locations and privacy tools
- No public audit
- Inflexible long-term subscriptions
AVG Secure VPN keeps it simple, making it easy to get online quickly and painlessly. It allows 10 simultaneous connections—twice the average—and comes from a trusted name in antivirus software.
Anyone with an existing AVG subscription should consider AVG Secure VPN. This service is light on features and expensive on its own, but it's often bundled with other AVG products at a much better price.
Best for Large Families
StrongVPN
- Good server distribution
- Uses the latest VPN technology
- Excellent Speedtest scores
- Supports many devices simultaneously
- Expensive for what's offered
- Few additional privacy tools
- Awkward, dated interface
We like that StrongVPN offers 12 simultaneous connections per account, split tunneling on Android, and a wide distribution of available servers. Add that to its third-place finish in our latency tests, and you have a recipe for VPN-enabled gaming across all your favorite consoles (and then some).
While the higher price may not jive with StrongVPN's relative lack of features compared with beefier VPNs in the space, if speed and low latency are the core components of what you care about when gaming online, StrongVPN is a solid choice for the price.
(Note: StrongVPN is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com's parent company. For more, see the ethics policy in our Editorial Mission Statement.)
Best Price
Mullvad VPN
- Affordable
- Requires no email or account information
- Radically transparent
- Multi-hop, split tunneling, and port forwarding
- Awkward desktop interface
- Servers in a small range of countries
- Pay-as-you-go system may confuse some customers
Mullvad VPN is known worldwide as one of the most inexpensive yet fully-featured VPNs. At just five euros per month flat ($5.35), a price that hasn't raised in years, its low latency and strong download results are just the cherry on top for gamers.
Gamers who spend their money on monthly subscriptions to their favorite games or multiplayer platforms will want to save wherever they can, including on their VPN provider. Mullvad VPN offers strong speeds at the lowest monthly price in the business.
Best for Nonprofit Supporters
Mozilla VPN
- Helps support nonprofit Mozilla
- Powered by privacy hawk Mullvad VPN
- Simple, classy design
- Multi-hop and split tunneling
- Few server locations
- Gathers some user information
- Expensive compared with Mullvad VPN
Built on Mullvad VPN's network, Mozilla VPN provides split tunneling and multi-hop connections at a reasonable price. We also like that it comes from a nonprofit, since Mozilla doesn't have the same incentive to monetize its customers as other companies.
Anyone who wants their money to go toward a non-profit organization should consider Mozilla VPN. It also costs just a hair more than the average across the industry, making it an affordable choice.
Will a VPN Make My Game Too Slow?
When you switch on a VPN, it sends all your data through an encrypted tunnel to a remote server operated by the VPN company. Anyone on the same network as you, even the person who owns the network, won't be able to see your activity. Neither will your ISP, which is great because they're allowed to sell your anonymized browsing data.
From the VPN server, your data exits onto the public internet. Because your data appears to emanate from the VPN server and not your computer, anyone watching your traffic on the web will see the IP address of the VPN server instead of your computer's IP address. If you select a VPN server outside your country, it will appear as if you are browsing the web from wherever the VPN server resides.
The biggest concern people usually have with VPNs is that they can slow internet speeds. It makes sense because routing web traffic through a VPN server adds extra physical distance and machines between computers and content out on the web—even for playing a video game.
When we test VPNs, we try to get a sense of that impact by looking at the difference between when the VPN is active and when it is not. We perform a series of speed tests using the Ookla Speedtest tool and then calculate the percent change. (Note: Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com's parent company. For more, see the ethics policy in our Editorial Mission Statement.) You can get all the nitty-gritty details in our article on how we test VPNs.
Latency is likely a bigger issue for playing video games than other activities. With fighting games and multiplayer shooters, split seconds can make the difference between victory and defeat. A good rule of thumb is that the further the VPN server is from you, the greater the latency. A VPN with lots of servers and locations may help you find a server that's nearby.
Given the importance of latency, we selected the VPNs that kept their impact on latency to a minimum. To make the list, a VPN had to increase latency by less than 13% beyond our baseline measurements. Click the Latency column to organize by the lowest number in the chart below:
One thing to note about these results: We found some VPNs appeared to actually lower latency. We believe this was likely because the relative distance between the VPN server, our NYC offices where testing took place, and the Ookla Speedtest server was very low. These services should be commended for their performance, but we do not think the results can be reliably replicated. So don't bank on always being able to lower your latency with a VPN.
Keep in mind that this is a snapshot of performance for a particular place and time and not the final word in network performance. You will certainly see different results depending on where you live, when you connect, your network, and which VPN server you use. Our results are primarily for comparison.
What Is the Best Free VPN for Gaming?
Little in life is free, but some VPNs are free. Most reputable free VPN services have some kind of data restriction, although a few do not. So far, we think Windscribe VPN has the best free subscription offering.
But even the paid subscriptions to a VPN service don't need to break the bank. The average cost for a VPN subscription is around $10.29 per month or $57.33 per year.
You can also usually save money if you purchase a longer-term subscription plan, but definitely try out the service on a short-term basis first to make sure it works for you.
Most VPN services let you secure up to five devices simultaneously. If you're looking at a service that offers fewer devices per subscription, it better offer something pretty impressive to balance that out. Keep in mind you'll want one subscription to cover all of your devices. Several services now place no limit on the number of simultaneous connections.
Can You Trust Your VPN for Gaming?
All security is built on trust, and VPNs are no different. That's why we make sure to read the privacy policy for each service we review. A good, trustworthy VPN company clearly states what information it gathers and why it does so. The best companies gather as little information as possible.
When reviewing VPN services, we contact VPN companies to confirm basic information about their operation, policies, and how they respond to law enforcement. If you're curious about a given VPN's privacy issues, be sure to look up its review here on PCMag.
What Is Split Tunneling?
If any impact on your latency, download, or upload speeds is simply too much for your gaming experience, there are other options. Split tunneling is a VPN feature that lets you decide which applications send their data through the VPN's tunnel and which send data outside the tunnel as normal. If, for example, you want to secure all your web traffic, but your game of choice can't take the strain of a VPN, you can simply omit its traffic with split tunneling.
The downside is that this approach will not secure all of your information. You need to decide which information you're comfortable transmitting without a VPN's added protection and what you want encrypted. Having to make that choice is not ideal, but it is better than having no choice at all.
Will My Games Work With a VPN?
Speed isn't the only issue for players. Some web services get confused or outright block VPN traffic. For example, Netflix blocks VPNs to enforce distribution deals that make different videos available in different countries.
Recommended by Our Editors
Anecdotally, we can say some games will not function properly if you're using a VPN. This is likely because of matchmaking systems using your IP address to pair you up with particular opponents or place you on a particular server. It could also be because of anti-cheating or anti-piracy measures. Regardless of the reason, the result is the same: using a VPN sometimes means your game just won't work.
If you encounter this problem, you might consider using split tunneling to route your game's traffic outside the VPN connection or by purchasing a static IP address or a personal VPN server from a VPN company. These are generally offered as add-ons to a standard VPN subscription, with prices varying by company and where the IP address or server is located. We haven't tested either option for compatibility with games, so proceed at your own risk. You might consider a short-term subscription for this kind of testing.
How Do I Use a VPN On a Gaming Console?
If you're a console gamer but still want to protect your identity while playing online, you'll need to use a VPN that can be installed on a home router. Because consoles are closed systems, there's no way to install applications on an Xbox, Playstation, or Nintendo Switch with permissions that can affect how they handle networking. To mitigate this, many VPNs offer both the option to install their service on your personal router and sell preconfigured routers with the VPN already enabled when you pull it out of the box.
Of these, ExpressVPN's Aircove is one of few that look purpose-built as a VPN router from the ground up rather than just another Linksys/Netgear/Asus router that's been flashed with DD-WRT Tomato custom firmware. As an all-in-one approach, Aircove (and the new "pocket router," Aircove Go) represent what you should look for in a VPN router that can cover all your devices in one household from a single point.
How Do I Use a VPN for Mobile Gaming?
If you like to game while using a wireless connection to play directly from your phone or connected to a hotspot via your console, the process is simpler. Just download the mobile VPN app on the device you use as your hotspot and activate the connection as normal. Both the phone and any other devices connected via hotspot will begin routing requests on the VPN network through a protected tunnel.
Will a Gaming VPN Work for Me?
VPNs are powerful privacy and security tools, which can protect your online activities from spies, advertisers, and everyone else, without breaking the bank or strangling your internet connection. There are drawbacks, however, and the requirements of specific video games mean a slow, inflexible VPN simply won't do. That said, a VPN only makes a difference if you actually use it, and use it regularly. That's why it's important to try out several different vendors until you settle on one that fits your life best.
Lastly, it bears mentioning that while some VPN services claim they will defend against malware and phishing sites, we don't believe any of them provide the same level of protection as standalone antivirus software. And no VPN, no matter how powerful, can be as useful as a password manager at protecting your online accounts. Lastly, enabling multi-factor authentication on all your accounts (especially gaming services such as Battle.net and Steam) is the best way to prevent account takeovers. Security, just like dressing for winter, is best done in layers.
Max Eddy contributed to this article.
