Looking to frag some buddies while using a high-speed, low lag VPN? We researched all the things and show you the best VPN for gaming in this article.
Free Gaming VPN vs. Paid Gaming VPN
Yes, you can get the best free VPN for gaming (ProtonVPN), but it’ll “cost” you some privacy and lag. To keep things simple, free gaming VPNs give you basic features with basic performance.
In contrast, paid gaming VPNs give you premium features with premium performance. So if you’re a casual gamer, you may be fine sticking with a free gaming VPN
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Top 3 Best Free Gaming VPNs
The VPN services below cover your bases as far as essential features, but they lack in “pro”-level performance.
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Proton VPN
The Proton VPN service gives you privacy and gaming efficiency. Check out Proton’s pricing page for their $0/mo plan.
The ProtonVPN logo
Benefits of Proton VPN
- Bypass access restrictions so you can play more games
- Has 4 different pricing plans
- 1 of Proton VPNs service plans is FREE (check out their Free plan)
- Easy and simple to use
- High level of compatibility
Limits of ProtonVPN Free Plan
- Free plan does not include torrent protection (see How to Download Torrents)
- Only allows connecting to 3 countries
- No app for iOS (iPhone/iPad) or Linux devices
- P2P activity is not allowed
- Does not include “Secure Core”, Tor servers, secure streaming, or ProtonMail protection
Screenshot of Proton VPN app with different “Profiles”
ProtonVPN Speed Test
Speed test for Proton VPN (for Gaming VPN)
Summary of ProtonVPN
In summary, ProtonVPN suits most casual gamers’ VPN needs. But if you’re serious about gaming, you should get a paid VPN (scroll down). The free Proton VPN plan does have some limitations, but Proton is gaining ground quickly as a go-to VPN for very casual gamers.
Safer VPN
The SaferVPN service has a nice 30-day trial. So why not sign up for Safer VPN and get a free trial for your gaming needs? After the trial expires, SaferVPN is $10.99/mo. This is more expensive than our favorite paid VPN (which is IPVanish at about $5/mo), but we still like the free 30-day trial.
Logo for SaferVPN
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Benefits of Safer VPN
- Contains more than 700 VPN servers worldwide (in 34 countries)
- Automatically secures your WiFi
- Features unlimited data transfer and high-speed bandwidth
- Has a browser extension for Google Chrome web browser
- Apps are simple to use
- Connect up to 5 devices at once
- Supports live chat customer support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Provides a 24hr trial that’s free of charge
- Has a VPN killswitch (read about Internet Killswitch on Wikipedia)
Limits of Safer VPN Free Plan
- Operates out of Israel, which is not the most desirable “jurisdiction” for Internet laws
- Sub-par transfer speeds
- Trial period is extremely short (only 24 hours)
Screenshot of SaferVPN app in action
SaferVPN Speed Test
Speed test for SaferVPN (for Gaming VPN)
Hotspot Shield VPN
One popular free gaming VPN option is Hotspot Shield. Although this VPN has been under fire for not being completely private, millions of people continue to use it as their go-to VPN. HotspotShield supports iPhone / iPad, Android devices, Mac and Windows.
Check out the Hotspot Shield free plan now.
With the free plan, you can only connect to U.S. VPN servers. The paid version of this VPN service supposedly will unblock Netflix and Hulu, but we haven’t tested that feature yet.
Logo for Hotspot Shield VPN
Benefits of Hotspot Shield VPN Free Plan
- Allows you to connect to USA VPN server(s)
- Speed for browsing websites is quite fast.
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Great customer support via Chat
Limits of HotspotShield VPN Free Plan
- Only allows connecting to US-based VPN server(s)
- Does not unblock streaming services
- Hotspot Shield does not have a desirable policy for keeping your connecting private
- Only lets you connect to a small number of servers
Screenshot of Hotspot Shield VPN
Hotspot Shield Speed Test
Screenshot for Speed Test of Hotspot Shield VPN
Summary
While HotSpot Shield VPN provides some limited features with their free plan, it does not guarantee information privacy.
#1 Best Paid Gaming VPN
If you’re at all serious about gaming, then you should really use a paid VPN. The VPN we recommend (below) costs only about $5/mo and has withstood the test of time.
Thousands (or millions) of gamers worldwide choose this VPN as their go-to daily VPN for gaming and everything else Internet-related.
Screenshot of IPVanish Gaming VPN
IPVanish Gaming VPN
We recommend only 1 VPN for gaming (known as IPVanish) because it’s the only one we found that provides everything serious gamers need. Privacy, security, low-latency servers, and the ability to connect several devices at once are the reasons we recommend IPVanish.
IPVanish is the strongest, fastest, most reliable VPN for gamers.
Benefits of IPVanish Gaming VPN
- Super fast connection speeds (<10ms lag)
- Has a 7-day money back guarantee (like a trial)
- Low lag and extremely reliable
- Hundreds of servers worldwide
- Bypass geo-restrictions for gaming titles
- Inexpensive yet powerful
- Connect multiple devices to your VPN at the same time
- Has apps for all device types (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Fire TV, Linux, etc)
Operating systems supported by IPVanish app
Limits of IPVanish Paid VPN
- Can only connect 6 devices to VPN servers simultaneously (which is the highest in the VPN industry, but it’s still a “limitation”)
Screenshot of IPVanish Gaming VPN
Screenshot of IPVanish Gaming VPN app
Summary
IPVanish is hands-down the best VPN for your daily gaming needs. IP Vanish has –
- Low latency
- Great customer support
- Many VPN servers worldwide
- Tried-and-true reputation.
That’s why we strongly recommend this VPN for gamers (both casual and experienced). It simply cannot be beaten.
