The Top 3 VPNs to Play Games With Lower Ping

Gaming usually isn’t an activity people associate with the use of VPNs. At the same time, many people use the best VPN for gaming to improve their overall experience and enjoy playing online games safely and securely.

A VPN for playing games can help you bypass ISP throttling and mask your original IP address. As a result, you can even speed up your connection, all while avoiding malicious hacker attacks or typical DDoS attacks.

However, you should know that only a small portion of providers are great for gaming. Thus, in this article, we will talk about the best VPN for gaming in 2024 and discuss what makes a great gaming VPN.

Passionate gamers, this is an article for you, so be sure you stick around until the end!

Best VPN for Gaming 2024: Our Top 3 Choices for Lag-Free Gaming

Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of the subject right away. For the start, the VPNs I will talk about are premium ones, so don’t expect any free choices here. The reason for that is simple – there are NO good free VPNs for gaming, which I will explain later.

Bear in mind that the 3 VPNs you’re going to see are very affordable. Also, they offer big discounts that you can get through our site and claim their cheapest deals. If you’re ready, the best VPN for gaming in 2024 is right underneath.

1. ExpressVPN

Given my 20-year-long gaming experience, I can confidently say that ExpressVPN is the best gaming VPN. Why? Well, there are many reasons for that, one of which is its exceptional performance and stable connections across all supported devices.

In my ExpressVPN review, I mentioned that it’s the fastest option you can get. With great performance, it’s highly unlikely that your online gaming will be laggy and sluggish, even when connecting to long-distance servers.

Speaking of which, ExpressVPN gives you 3,000 servers in 105 countries, making it great for bypassing geo-blocks or buying games at cheaper prices by changing your online location. Another thing to mention is its security – a very important aspect of gaming!

The VPN gives you its Lightway protocol, 256-bit AES encryption, coupled with a kill switch and IPv6/DNS leak protection. This ensures that no DDoS attacks can harm you, and with your hidden IP address, no other players can see your true location or identity.

A no-logs policy is in place as well, making sure that your gaming adventures are completely anonymous. Now, in terms of gaming devices, ExpressVPN works with all of them. You can use it on a PC or perhaps PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and even Nintendo Switch.

Not to mention its great iOS and Android apps. They allow you to enjoy online gaming on mobile and play Apex Legends, PUBG, or Call of Duty online safely. This is backed up by great router support, through which, you can connect ExpressVPN to a gaming console.

Speaking of which, it supports 5 simultaneous connections on a single account, which should be enough for most gamers. There’s also 24/7 customer support through live chat, so if you have any VPN-related issues, they’ll fix them before you say “PUBG!”

Price-wise, this is not the cheapest pick. However, a 49% discount and 3 months free for the annual plan are in place. Plus, you get a 30-day money-back guarantee with no conditions, so getting a refund in case you don’t like it is easy.

Play Games With No Lag With ExpressVPN

Pros

• Top-level performance
• Support for gaming consoles
• DDoS protection
• Servers in 105 countries
• No-logs policy
• Lightway protocol

Con

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2. NordVPN

Let’s talk about NordVPN now. As one of the best VPNs for gaming in 2024, it offers a lot to look forward to. Much like ExpressVPN, NordVPN is known for exceptional performance which is crucial for gaming. Stable connections are even more important and NordVPN knows that perfectly.

Hence, with its proprietary NordLynx protocol, it manages to achieve great speeds, all while keeping your ping as low as possible. We tested NordVPN even on servers overseas with some great results. Albeit, it’s a tad slower than ExpressVPN in this case.

Still, its 5,500+ servers in 60 countries are more than enough for gamers. They allow you to swiftly change your online location and play on more distant servers. Alternatively, you can use it to change your Steam location or access geo-restricted games – your choice. And if you’re wondering, yes, NordVPN is an excellent VPN for Roblox.

What about security? Well, as you can expect, NordVPN uses bank-grade encryption with a kill switch that works flawlessly. Even better is the fact that it has Threat Protection. It will allow you to eliminate malware from your PC and keep it clean without much effort.

DDoS protection is mandatory here, as well as a zero-logging policy for the maximum level of privacy. NordVPN is great for gaming on all platforms, although its Nintendo Switch support is not great. However, it supports newer and older generations of PS and Xbox consoles.

You can connect it via its Smart DNS feature which I don’t recommend. Instead, you can do so via your PC, which is a much safer and better option. Furthermore, NordVPN supports iOS and Android mobile phones, so gaming on the fly can still be safe and secure.

Similar to ExpressVPN, it will also be great for cloud gaming on Nvidia GeForce Now, albeit, make sure to use a server close to you. Finally, we should mention its 6 simultaneous connections and 24/7 live chat support that crowns NordVPN’s greatness.

And you know what? It’s really affordable, offering a huge discount on its cheapest subscription plan. Its 30-day money-back guarantee applies to all plans as well, so make sure you test out this VPN for gaming now – it’s RISK-FREE!

Enjoy Safe & Secure Gaming With NordVPN

Pros

• NordLynx protocol
• Stable connections across all devices
• 5,400+ servers
• 256-bit AES encryption
• Threat Protection
• Affordable pricing

Con

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3. CyberGhost

CyberGhost is yet another great gaming VPN if you’re on a budget and you don’t want to spend a fortune. This VPN offers decent performance and speeds that will let you play games online lag-free and avoid ISP throttling effortlessly.

Thanks to stable connections, you’ll rarely have any issues even on long-distance servers. Arguably, it’s not faster than NordVPN or ExpressVPN. However, it has dedicated gaming servers along with WireGuard support that makes gaming much more enjoyable.

Speaking of servers, CyberGhost boasts 9,100+ of them in more than 90 countries – insane! Not to mention its great server distribution. It allows you to change your IP to all “relevant” countries and save money when buying games or enjoying gaming on a gaming server overseas.

Despite its cheap price, CyberGhost is not a slouch. It offers military-grade encryption, a reliable kill switch, OpenVPN support, and even split tunneling. The latter allows you to exclude certain games from using a VPN if you don’t need additional security.

A no-logs policy is in place too, so if you’re privacy-aware, this is a huge plus. CyberGhost can take pride in its love for gamers. It works on gaming consoles like PS5 and Xbox Series X but also iOS and Android phones where it offers native clients.

On Windows, it offers dedicated gaming servers, which, unfortunately, you can’t find on any other platform. The good thing is that it supports routers for connecting it to your console, which you can also do via your PC – whatever floats your boat.

And unlike ExpressVPN or NordVPN, it offers 7 simultaneous connections. This, I think, will be much better for gamers with lots of devices in the household. It goes without saying that 24/7 live chat support is here, but this time in 3 languages – English, German, and French.

All in all, this is a complete package that you can get for much less than $2.5 a month. Its 45-day money-back guarantee for all long-term plans is pretty good as well! This extends your testing period, so you can enjoy 45 days of high-quality gaming, and more if you don’t get a refund!

Avoid DDoS Attacks With CyberGhost

Pros

• Dedicated gaming servers
• Over 9,100 servers worldwide
• WireGuard support
• 45-day money-back guarantee
• 7 simultaneous connections

Cons

• Doesn’t work in China
• Not the most user-friendly app

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What Makes a Great VPN for Gaming

Gaming is a pretty sensitive territory for VPN providers. This online activity requires an extremely good internet connection, with as low as possible ping to minimize the risk of lagging. With that in mind, here’s what the best VPN for gaming in 2024 must offer:

Great Performance & Connection Stability

The most important factor for a top gaming VPN is performance. You see, when using a VPN, you route your traffic through a remote server located in another country. This distance between you and the server, as well as encryption, tends to have a negative effect on connection speed.

For that reason, many people avoid using a VPN while gaming. Simply put, a vast majority of them significantly increase latency and with poor connection speeds, playing fast-paced competitive games becomes tedious.

However, in this top VPN for gaming list, we made sure to avoid such services. Instead, we focused on best-performing providers like ExpressVPN, for example, that will help you maintain great performance and play games with no issues.

A gaming VPN can sometimes boost your performance, though. That can happen in the case of ISP throttling, where your ISP will intentionally slow down your internet speed during bandwidth-hungry activities.

Apart from gaming, these activities include streaming or downloading torrents. In this case, connecting to a VPN prevents your ISP from impacting your connection, letting you browse or play games at full speed.

In short, the best VPNs for gaming we presented will have no negative impact on your gaming experience. And if there’s an impact, it will be minimal and unnoticeable.

Lots of Servers

Having lots of servers is great for gaming. This has several benefits, one of which is the ability to play on gaming servers on another continent. Alternatively, having a large server network grants better performance, as the VPN network isn’t overcrowded.

We made sure to give you VPNs that have at least 3,000 servers with 60+ server locations. As such, you won’t have any issues playing on foreign gaming servers with decent performance. Gaming isn’t all about playing but also about purchasing games.

And with lots of server locations, you can change your online location and purchase them at cheaper prices. For instance, you can find the cheapest games in Russia and Argentina, so you just need an IP from any of these countries, change your Steam location, and get cheaper prices.

Not to mention the ability to play geo-restricted games. With a VPN for gaming, you can access games available only in Korea, Japan, or any other similar country, no matter your location. So, don’t undermine the number of servers here – it IS very important.

Rock-Solid Security

Secure gaming is something many gamers look for but don’t get without a VPN. While playing online, don’t forget that anyone can see your IP address, and through it, find out your location, and other personal information.

In the same fashion, users online can execute a DDoS attack that will disrupt your network and kick you out of the game. The worst thing is a swatting attack which happens a lot more than you think.

It is when players find out your location through your IP, call the police, and lie to them about a terrorist attack at your address. As soon as they get his info, they rush to your location, break into your house, and potentially hurt you and your family mistakenly.

This has happened a LOT of times and it always strikes fear in the victim’s eyes. Situations like this can be avoided with a gaming VPN – thankfully! With its ability to conceal your original IP and replace it with the new one, no one will be able to track your location.

As such, a Virtual Private Network will keep your identity private and prevent hackers and snoopers from interfering with your connection or executing a DDoS or swatting attack.

Support for Gaming Devices

Finally, support for gaming devices is very important. A good VPN for gaming in 2024 must support not only PC, but also PlayStation, Xbox, and iOS/Android devices. All of the providers we talked about fulfill this criterion, offering above-average support for all platforms.

This also includes proper support for routers, which is extremely important. Platforms like PlayStation and Xbox have no native VPN support, which means you can’t install a VPN directly on them. However, you can remedy this issue by connecting a VPN to your router.

From there, you’ll be able to connect your gaming console to the home router via WiFi, and thus, take advantage of the VPN directly. The good news is that all services on our list support a plethora of routers and all of them have proper setup guides for all of them.

This way, you can secure your gaming sessions even while gaming on your way to the job or school, or while sitting on your sofa and playing games on PS/Xbox consoles. Simply put, gaming with a VPN will be possible on every gaming-capable device!

Are Free VPNs for Gaming Any Good?

Before concluding this guide, let’s briefly talk about a free gaming VPN that many people look for. First of all, it’s impossible to use a free VPN for gaming AND enjoy gaming at the same time. Why?

Well, if we take some of the most popular free VPNs, you’ll see that they’re pretty flawed. Most of them offer limited bandwidth that goes up to 10 or 15 GB each month. For a bandwidth-hungry activity like this, this is all but enough.

Moreover, free VPNs come with very slow speeds and poor connection stability. This applies especially to those with unlimited bandwidth. Immediately, you’ll see that gaming with them results in sky-high ping and poor performance that makes everything slow and laggy.

But what about security? Here, free VPNs are also inferior due to weaker encryption and the lack of crucial security features. Some of them are secure, like Hide.me and ProtonVPN, but they have the performance issues we just mentioned.

Most of them, however, won’t properly secure your connection, so they don’t offer DDoS protection. We should also mention their malicious logging practices that will violate your privacy and expose you to third-party advertisers looking to take advantage of you.

You don’t have to take my word for granted. I encourage you to test some of them and see if you like how well your games perform.

Conclusion

And now, I think you have a clear image of what the best VPN for gaming in 2024 is. We strongly recommend ExpressVPN due to its exceptional speed and performance but also its security and overall dedication to gaming-oriented users.

NordVPN is also a phenomenal choice here as a more affordable option. It offers almost the same level of quality as ExpressVPN and lets you save a bit more money. Finally, CyberGhost is a bit inferior option, although, for under $3 a month, this is the cheapest gaming VPN.

Having everything in mind, using a VPN for gaming yields many benefits for those worried about security and ISP throttling. With these providers, you can improve your gaming performance, avoid DDoS attacks, and save money when purchasing games.

If that doesn’t sound great, try using a free VPN for gaming and come back – we’re sure you’ll change your opinion!

Visit ExpressVPN

FAQ

Let’s now answer a few more questions related to the use of a VPN for gaming.

? How to use a VPN for gaming?

Using a VPN for this purpose is like using it for anything else. Of course, if we take it from step one, the first thing to do is get a subscription from the provider. You can choose any of the three VPNs we presented, get a subscription, and download their apps on your devices.

Once you do that, using a Virtual Private Network is as simple as connecting to a server. By establishing a connection to a server, you encrypt your connection and make it secure. Now, all you have to do is open your favorite game and start playing.

This applies to mobile devices and PCs where the setup is straightforward. On consoles, however, it’s a bit different, as there are a few methods of setting the VPN up. However, each of the VPNs has in-depth guides on its site for that purpose, making things much easier.

All you have to do here is follow the guide step-by-step and take advantage of your gaming VPN on a console.

? Will a gaming VPN increase my ping?

No, not always. If you’re using a slow VPN, you’re bound to experience ping increases and poor performance. However, even with the best VPN for gaming, you might experience a slight ping increase depending on the server you’re using.

For instance, using a server very far from you will surely impact your connection speed and latency. To which extent is what depends on how good the VPN is. In this case, we recommend using ExpressVPN, as it offers the best performance.

But generally speaking, when gaming, it’s best to use a server in the closest possible location. If you’re located in Germany, let’s say, it’s logical to use a server in Austria or Switzerland. These countries are close to Germany, so you won’t see any difference in your ping.

?️ Will a VPN improve online gaming on my phone?

Yes, it can improve your online gaming sessions even on the phone. Online games on your phone also require great speeds and low ping, which you can get with a proper gaming VPN. It’ll eliminate bandwdith throttling and ensure you’re playing games smoothly.

Another perk of a VPN, in this case, is the ability to play games on distant servers, even on servers on a different continent. If you’re from Europe and you want to test your skills against players in Japan or Singapore, simply get an IP from any of these countries and you’ll be able to do that.

Other than that, a VPN for gaming on Android or iOS will provide you with DDoS and swatting protection, and since it keeps your IP hidden, you can be sure other players aren’t aware of your true identity, which is useful when playing PUBG Mobile, Fortnite, and other prevalent titles.

⚖️ Is using a VPN for gaming legal?

Yeah, it is. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be promoting it on our site.

Some gamers use a VPN to download games from torrent sites. If we’re talking about royalty-free games, this is not an illegal practice. However, if you download paid games, that’s a problem because this IS illegal and we do not condone it here.

Also, you can use a VPN to buy games at cheaper prices from Steam and other sites. Such platforms forbid using a Virtual Private Network for this purpose, so if you’re detected, your account can get banned permanently.

As for ending up in jail or having legal issues, that won’t happen when using a VPN, don’t worry.

⚡ What is the fastest VPN for playing games online?

The fastest provider for online gaming is ExpressVPN. With its Lightway protocol and 10+ Gbps speeds, you can expect the best overall performance, with low latency and excellent connection stability.