Best Low latency VPN for Gaming

Enjoy low ping while using a VPN for gaming

This article is focused on gaming. If you are looking for at low latency VPN for other reasons than gaming, the results should still be relevant to you.

Gaming might not be most people’s reason for using a VPN, but having one can prove to be very useful. The best VPN for gaming will give you unrestricted access to servers from all over the world, let you play with people abroad, give you early access to some games, and even sometimes reduce your latency.

Apart from that, a VPN can protect you from DDoS attacks, especially if you play against very competitive players who will stop at nothing to take their opponents down. To help you choose a VPN for gamers, we did quite a number of tests by connecting servers near and far, and then checking how they affected our ping as well as both download and upload speeds.

Keep in mind that, though many gamers would prefer to have a free VPN for playing games, most free options are lacking in important features. Free VPNs often have a restricted number of servers, their encryption may not be as powerful, and you will certainly experience much more latency than paid options. For these reasons, our selections for best VPN for online games all come with a monthly or yearly fee.

 

The Top Low Latency VPNs for Gaming

1. ExpressVPN

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With a total of 3,000+ servers in 160 locations and 94 countries, ExpressVPN gives you the fastest connections to any region in the world. The VPN is quite popular due to its excellent services and reliable clients, whether you want to use it on your computer, router, or smartphone, it’s one of the best VPNs on the market.

We’ve tested as low as 5ms latency on ExpressVPN, which is incredible for a VPN.

Privacy & Security

ExpressVPN excels at privacy by keeping a strict zero logs policy and being located in the privacy-friendly of the British Virgin Islands. As for security, the VPN employs AES 256-encryption with an RSA-4096 handshake. This is then combined with other security features such network lock (kill switch) and DNS & IP Leak protection.

Compatibility

ExpressVPN is super compatible, providing native VPN clients for Windows, Mac, Android (which makes it great for Android gaming), iOS, and Linux, as well as extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. One strong point of the VPN is that it has applets that easily install on various routers, something that can help if you want to use the VPN from the router level.

One ExpressVPN account allows up to 3 simultaneous connections.

Pricing

For the great service that it offers, ExpressVPN is premium-priced, going for $12.95 for the monthly plan. However, the yearly plan offers you a 35% discount and has an extra three months of use. Further, there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee that lets you test the service without worries.

  • Super-fast

  • Excellent client apps

  • Zero logs & solid security

  • Works with Netflix, iPlayer, and other streaming services

  • 24/7 Live chat support

  • 30-day money back guarantee

  • Relatively costly

  • Only 3 simultaneous connection

Very low latency of only 5 ms

30-day money back guarantee tested

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2. NordVPN

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NordVPN is another fantastic gaming VPN, and it’s known for its mammoth number of servers- 5,000+. Though its servers are in 60 countries which is lesser than those of ExpressVPN, these servers are distributed across the world. Further, most of the popular gaming regions like the US, UK, Europe, Japan, and South Korea are very well covered.

Latency tests comes in at around 10ms, which is absolutely approved. We did experience higher fluctuations, but never above 50ms.

Privacy & Security

NordVPN is excellent when it comes to privacy and security. The VPN is based in Panama, and it doesn’t keep any connection or activity logs. For security, the VPN uses AES 256-bit encryption alongside other features such as Kill Switch, Anti-DDoS, Onion over VPN, double VPN, CyberSec, and DNS & IP Leak protection.

Compatibility

NordVPN offers clients for most of the popular platforms. These include Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Android TV, Chrome, and Firefox. Further, you can also install the VPN manually on routers as well as other devices. You will be allowed to use up to 6 simultaneous connections.

Pricing

NordVPN’s monthly pricing is just below that of ExpressVPN, and its goes for $11.95. However, the VPN has a great 3-year deal that lets you save up to 75%, and use the VPN at just $3.99 a month. Further, you will have a 30-day money-back guarantee with any subscription, and you can even test the VPN for 1 week free!

  • Super-fast

  • Zero usage and connection logs

  • Up to 6 simultaneous connections

  • Most servers

  • 24/7 Customer Care

  • 30-day money back guarantee

  • High cost for month-to-month users

3. VyprVPN

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VyprVPN is a fast, reliable and secure VPN that suits gamers. The VPN is one of the few tier-1 VPNs in that it owns and controls its entire server network, just like IPVanish. As a result, gamers will always get impressive performance levels and speeds.

The VPN service has 700+ servers in 70+ global locations sharing 200,000+ IP addresses, and there’s also a NAT firewall to block unrequested inbound traffic.

Privacy & Security

VyprVPN is incorporated in Switzerland, and fortunately, the VPN does not keep logs. You therefore can rely on the VPN for maximum privacy, and their security is excellent. The VPN uses AES 256-bit CBC and tops it off with various protocols.

Compatibility

VyprVPN is quite thorough when it comes to compatibility. The VPN has clients for Windows, Mac OS, Android, iOS, Routers (Tomato MIPS/ARM Framework), TV (Android), Blackphone, QNAP, and Anonabox. Though these are quite a number, but Linux is significantly missing. The VPN’s premium plan offers up to 5 simultaneous connections.

Pricing

VyprVPN has only one plan, which you may opt to subscribe in three choices. You may get it and pay monthly for $12.95. There is also the annual billing where you could save up to 70%, which goes down to $3.75 monthly, or you may maximize the discount that you could receive up to 81% by getting the two-year billing which comes down to $2.50 per month.

  • Based in Switzerland

  • Own their server network & infrastructure

  • Multiple Protocols

  • Fully-featured

  • 24/7 Live Chat Support

  • Does not keep connection logs

  • With 30-day money back guarantee

  • No Free Trial

4. Atlas VPN

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Atlas VPN

Atlas VPN is a highly-capable tool, giving access to 500+ in more than 20 locations worldwide. The number of servers seems to be growing steadily, and the team always attempts to respond to users’ requests for new locations. However, any player will find suitable servers to get the best gaming experience possible. Furthermore, Atlas VPN performs regular tests to challenge its servers and work towards quality optimization for gaming activities.

Privacy & Security

Atlas VPN values users’ privacy and confidentiality. It applies the combination of AES 256-bit, IKEv2 for data encryption, and DNS & IP leak protection mechanisms. So, none of your traffic will be abused by vicious opponents while gaming. Also, jealous parties won’t be able to extort your IP address: the stable IP spoofing won’t reveal your approximate location to anyone.

Compatibility

Atlas VPN grows and improves with each day in the compatibility department. For now, Windows, iOS, and Android users are welcome to try out this product. In the future, you will probably have more options. Currently, the team appears to be developing Atlas VPN versions for macOS and Chrome. Another fantastic feature is that users can use Atlas VPN on an unlimited number of devices: anonymity and protection for all your gadgets guaranteed!

Pricing

Atlas VPN has a free version. So, do not hesitate to try it out! You can purchase the premium service for as little as $1.39 a month. The latter 3-year deal is a budget-friendly solution and appears to be one of the lowest prices on the market. With the 30-day-money-back guarantee, you can take time and see whether the product suits your needs.

5. PureVPN

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PureVPN also makes it to our list of the best VPNs for gaming. This is due to its superb features that favor gaming, combined with its friendly pricing. Among the few VPNs that own and manage their server network, PureVPN has the most VPNs. Their network of 2000+ servers in 140+ countries ensures that you get super speeds and a reliable connection for your gaming.

Privacy & Security

PureVPN is based in Hong Kong which is a great choice, and they exclusively state that they do not keep your usage logs. They however record your time of connection. As for security, the VPN uses the standard AES-256-CBC cipher is combined with RSA-2048 handshake encryption. You will have many protocols to choose from, and there are also other features like an automatic Kill Switch, DDoS protection, and NAT firewall.

Compatibility

PureVPN lets you install the VPN on Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Android, iOS, Firestick, Kodi, Chrome, Firefox, and various routers. You can also configure the VPN manually on other devices and connect up to 5 devices simultaneously.

Pricing

At $10.95 a month, PureVPN is one of the best-priced top-quality VPN services. Further, with the deal below, you can use the VPN at just $3.3 a month for a whole year! All their plans are usually supported with a 31-day money-back guarantee.

  • Solid privacy and security

  • Own their server network

  • Easy to use apps

  • Many subscription addons

  • Fully-featured – split tunneling, Ozone, DDoS protection, WiFi security, etc

  • 24/7 Live Chat Support

  • Some features sometimes don’t work

  • Average speeds

6. IPVanish

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Editors’ choice 2020

IPVanish is one of the best VPNs for gaming due to its excellent speeds, and the fact that the VPN owns its entire server network and infrastructure. The VPN is therefore highly reliable, and you can connect to any of its 1000+ servers across 60 countries. These servers are very well distributed across regions with gaming servers.

Privacy & Security

IPVanish is based in the US, something that is not great for privacy. However, the VPN promises that it doesn’t keep any logs. Security-wise, the VPN uses AES 256-bit encryptions with an RSA-2048 bit key authentication which is quite secure. Further, there are other features like an automatic Kill Switch and IPv6 & DNS Leak Protection.

Compatibility

IPVanish can be installed on almost any device. The VPN has clients for Windows, Mac OS X, Android, iOS, Linux, Windows Phone, Fire TV, Chromebook, and Routers. One great thing with IPVanish is its generous allowance of up to 10 simultaneous connections.

Pricing

IPVanish’ pricing structure is very friendly, with the monthly plan going for just $5.00. Their yearly plan allows you to save 73% more and use the VPN at just $6.49 a month. All their prices are covered with a 30-day money-back guarantee starting on May 1st 2020.

  • Zero logs

  • Excellent speeds

  • 10 simultaneous connections

  • Own their network

  • 30-day money-back guarantee

  • Based in the US

  • No bitcoin payment

How to connect a VPN for Gaming

Basically, the way you connect your VPN for gaming will depend on the device you use for gaming. However, before you start setting up the VPN on your gaming device, you need to get a subscription first.

  • Select your favorite among the 5 VPNs listed above
  • Create an account, and log in to the VPN’s dashboard

From there, you can just download the VPN client if you game on a smartphone or a computer. Almost all the VPNs listed above support all smartphone and computer platforms.

If you want the best VPN for PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo or any other gaming console, then your top option would be to use the VPN on a router level.

How do you use a VPN for gaming? The choices listed above usually provide guides on how to set up your VPN on a router. However, the best pick for installing your VPN on a router would be ExpressVPN because they have auto-installing applets for the most common VPN routers.

 

Wrap up

Why should you use a VPN for gaming? Simply put, it will enhance your experience. Apart from the basic gaming VPN needs, ISPs have become notorious with throttling when they see that you are consuming a lot of bandwidth. With a good VPN for gaming, you won’t have to worry about your ISP or any other outside threats.