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Short on time? Here’s the best free VPN for gaming in 2024:
- 🥇 ExpressVPN: It isn’t free, but it backs all of its plans with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it out risk-free. You won’t find a better VPN for gaming in 2024, as it has excellent security, lightning-fast speeds, and easy-to-use apps for all major gaming platforms — it even has a router app for gaming on consoles.
I generally don’t recommend using a free VPN – Free VPNs aren’t great for gamers. They might not have important security features, limit your data, or slow down your connection. It’s better to invest in a good VPN like ExpressVPN.
However, if you’re only in the market for a free VPN, there are a handful of good ones. – I spent a couple of weeks researching and testing all the top free plans on the market and found the best ones for gaming. All of these VPNs provide fast speeds for lag-free gameplay, include strong security features, and have easy-to-use apps for all platforms and router support for console gaming.
Rank | VPN | Description |
---|---|---|
🥇 | ExpressVPN | Best overall VPN for gaming in 2024. |
🥈 | CyberGhost VPN | VPN with dedicated gaming servers. |
🥉 | Proton VPN | Best free VPN for gaming in 2024. |
4 | hide.me | Fast and secure VPN for gamers. |
5 | Hotspot Shield | Great free VPN for casual gaming. |
ExpressVPN is the best VPN for gaming in 2024. It’s super secure, really fast, and has easy-to-use apps. It also has cool gaming features like cloud gaming support and split-tunneling. Plus, it works with routers, which is handy for console gaming. Even though it’s not free, you can try it risk-free for 30 days.
ExpressVPN made gaming smooth and lag-free in my tests. With servers in 105 countries, I easily found nearby ones for fast speeds. Plus, my connections to gaming servers stayed strong with low, steady ping.
ExpressVPN is great for ensuring your online privacy and security for gaming. It provides all the industry-standard VPN security features plus advanced security features such as:
ExpressVPN’s apps are very user-friendly. Downloading and installing them takes only 1–2 minutes, and the interface is really simple and intuitive. Smart Location helps identify the fastest server for you, but it’s also very easy to manually find and connect to a server on your own.
I like that ExpressVPN has a dedicated router app. This makes it a lot easier to connect to a VPN on consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation without needing to perform a manual setup. I was able to get ExpressVPN’s router app installed and ready to go in a little over 5 minutes. You can also purchase the provider’s own router (Aircove), which has the app preinstalled.
Split-tunneling is supported on ExpressVPN’s Windows, Mac, Android, and router apps. This feature allows you to choose which app traffic you want to send through the VPN and which you want to send through your local network. I use split-tunneling so that I can listen to a stream in the background on my local network without any unnecessary slowdowns while I’m gaming on ExpressVPN’s servers.
ExpressVPN is the only VPN on this list that supports cloud gaming services, which let you stream video games to any device. ExpressVPN works with all top cloud gaming services including Xbox Game Pass, Amazon Luna, and more.
ExpressVPN’s plans start at INR560 / month. It has both monthly and yearly plans, and backs all purchases with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
ExpressVPN is the #1 VPN for gaming. It’s got lightning-fast speeds, advanced security features (including anti-DDoS protection), easy-to-use apps, and even a dedicated router app for console gaming. On top of all this, it provides split-tunneling and is one of the few VPNs on the market that supports cloud gaming. ExpressVPN isn’t free, but all of its plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
CyberGhost VPN is an excellent choice for gamers. It has 70+ servers in the US, the UK, France, and Germany that are optimized for gaming. When I tested these servers, I had faster load times and better ping than when I gamed on the provider’s regular servers.
The provider isn’t free, but it has a free 24-hour trial that provides access to all features and doesn’t require payment details. Also, the VPN backs all long-term plans with a very generous 45-day money-back guarantee.
CyberGhost VPN works on tons of platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux. While there is no router app (like there is with ExpressVPN), a manual setup can be performed using the provider’s tutorials.
And I really like the Smart Rules feature. It lets you automate VPN connections, which is really convenient. For example, you can configure the provider’s VPN app to automatically connect you to a gaming server and open your desired gaming app on launch.
CyberGhost VPN also has strong security features. Its no-logs policy has been independently audited, and you also get access to RAM-only servers, perfect forward secrecy, and strong leak protection. There’s also Content Blocker, which is useful for protecting users from shady gaming sites. Also, the Identity Guard feature alerts users if their email addresses and passwords (such as the ones they use for gaming sites) have been leaked on the dark web.
CyberGhost VPN’s plans are pretty affordable, with prices starting at just INR190 / month. On top of the 45-day money-back guarantee, it also has a 14-day money-back guarantee for the shortest plan.
Bottom Line:
CyberGhost VPN has a free 24-hour trial and dedicated gaming servers that provide faster speeds and more stable ping than the provider’s regular servers. It also comes with user-friendly apps and advanced security features. Plus, it also backs all long term-plans with a 45-day money back guarantee, which provides plenty of time to test the VPN.
Proton VPN has the best free plan for gaming. Unlike most of the other free VPNs on this list, it provides unlimited data, so you can game to your heart’s content. However, as with all free VPNs, there are some limitations.
The free plan limits you to Proton VPN’s servers in 5 countries, including the US, the Netherlands, Japan, Romania, and Poland. While having access to only 5 server locations may cause overcrowding and slower speeds, I love how Proton VPN has 200+ free servers — it helps minimize the number of users all connecting to the same few servers.
I like how it automatically connects you to the fastest free server when you open the VPN app. However, I don’t like how Proton VPN doesn’t let you pick what server location you want to connect to — it randomly assigns you the fastest available one.
Proton VPN’s security is excellent. It uses perfect forward secrecy and full-disk encryption (keeps your data safe even in the event that Proton VPN’s servers are compromised). It also offers full leak protection, anti-DDoS protection, and is completely open-source, so anyone can inspect its code for security vulnerabilities.
You don’t get a dedicated router app (unlike ExpressVPN), but Proton VPN works with many routers for console gaming — you’ll just have to perform a manual setup. It doesn’t have cloud gaming support either, which means there’s no guarantee that it’ll work with any cloud gaming platforms.
Proton VPN’s plans start at just INR420 / month. The premium plans include the use of 3,097 servers across 71 countries, 10 simultaneous device connections, NetShield (excellent ad blocker), and more. All of Proton VPN’s premium plans come with a prorated 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
Proton VPN is my favorite truly free VPN for gaming in 2024. It’s one of the only free plans to offer unlimited data, it provides pretty fast speeds for gaming, and it comes with high-end security features, including anti-DDoS protection and full leak protection. Proton VPN’s premium plans are very affordable, and all purchases are backed by a prorated 30-day money-back guarantee.
hide.me’s free plan provides good speeds and strong security for gamers. It gives you access to servers in 5+ different countries (including the US, Canada, the Netherlands, and Germany) and has a decent data limit of 10 GB per month.
In terms of security, hide.me has all of the tools I expect from a good VPN for gaming. Like ExpressVPN, it uses perfect forward secrecy and RAM-only servers. It also offers full leak protection, provides anti-DDoS protection, and is one of the few VPNs to have a kill switch on its iOS app. It publishes an annual transparency report as well.
I also like that it offers decent speeds for gaming. In my tests, I had low ping most of the time when I played games like Fortnite. I did experience some lag in my games, but it never lasted too long, and it didn’t really affect my game.
Free users are allowed to use the WireGuard protocol, which is highly secure and offers very fast speeds. My latency remained reasonably low in my tests, so it had minimal effect on my in-game performance. Still, hide.me’s speeds failed to match ExpressVPN’s.
When it comes to extra features, hide.me supports split-tunneling on its Windows, macOS, and Android apps. However, it doesn’t support cloud gaming or have a router app, but you can purchase a preconfigured router (Vilfo) to skip the manual configuration process.
hide.me has both monthly and annual plans, which start at just INR190 / month. Its premium plans provide access to 2,300+ servers in 54 countries and allow 10 device connections. hide.me’s plans are all backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
hide.me is a fast and secure VPN for gaming. Its free plan provides 10 GB of data per month and gives you access to servers in the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, and more. hide.me’s plans all come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Hotspot Shield’s free plan is a great choice for casual gamers. The free plan comes with unlimited bandwidth, but it caps speeds at 2 Mbps on the free plan, so it’s ideal for games that aren’t too graphically intensive, like Among Us.
The VPN also provides access to 3 server locations in the US, UK, and Singapore. This is great since you can connect to a server location in Europe, America, and Asia and get good speeds. There’s no server in Africa, but it’s a pretty solid choice for a free plan.
In my speed tests, I had low ping when I played a couple of rounds of Hearthstone while connected to a server in Singapore (the closest one to my location), and I only experienced minor lag that wasn’t game-breaking. I noticed a higher ping when I tried playing a round of Dota 2 and my game did stutter. Overall, I had much better speeds with ExpressVPN and CyberGhost VPN.
Hotspot Shield has good security features like anti-DDoS protection and split-tunneling. But, it shares free users’ location with advertisers, unlike Proton VPN. The free plan doesn’t include Gaming Mode or allow multiple connections. Upgrading adds gaming servers, more countries, and more connections. Paid plans start at INR250/month with a 45-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
Hotspot Shield is a decent choice for casual gaming, as it offers unlimited bandwidth, but it caps speeds at 2 Mbps on the free plan, which is great for games that are less graphically intensive. The free plan includes access to servers in 3 locations and provides basic DDoS protection and other security features, including split-tunneling. The VPN supports up to 5 simultaneous connections, making it a versatile choice for gamers.
Windscribe comes with beginner-friendly apps for all major platforms. The design is intuitive, so it’s really easy to find and connect to a server. Plus, most settings and features have helpful explanations. And the VPN also allows unlimited connections.
It also has servers in 10+ countries and allows up to 15 GB per month (you get 2 GB by default, 8 GB extra for providing your email address, and 5 more GB for participating in its Twitter campaign). For reference, the most data-intensive games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive only use approximately 250 MB of data per hour, so 15 GB gets you about 60 hours of playtime each month.
Windscribe is a VPN service that doesn’t slow down your internet, even if you’re using the free version. It’s great for gaming because it keeps your connection stable without sudden lags or disconnects. While it’s good, ExpressVPN might be faster.
In terms of security, Windscribe has everything you need: strong encryption, special servers that forget everything, and protection against leaks and attacks. They also promise not to keep any logs of your activity.
You can choose which apps use the VPN with split-tunneling, but it doesn’t work for cloud gaming. You can set it up on your router for consoles, though. If that’s too tricky, you can buy a router that’s ready to go.
Windscribe offers monthly or yearly plans starting from INR480 a month. With the premium plan, you get unlimited data and can use servers in 62 countries. Just remember, they only give you 3 days to change your mind and get your money back.
VPN | Starting Price | Data Usage Limit | Connection Speed Limits | Anti-DDoS Protection | Cloud Gaming Support | Number of Countries |
🥇1. ExpressVPN | INR560 / month | Unlimited | No speed limits | ✅ | ✅ | 105 countries |
🥈2. CyberGhost VPN | INR190 / month | Unlimited | No speed limits | ✅ | ❌ | 100 countries |
🥉3. Proton VPN | INR420 / month | Unlimited | No speed limits | ✅ | ❌ | 5 |
4. hide.me | INR190 / month | 10 GB per month | No speed limits | ✅ | ❌ | 5+ |
5. Hotspot Shield | INR250 / month | Unlimited | 2 Mbps | ✅ (but not on its servers) | ❌ | 3+ |
Bonus. Windscribe | INR480 / month | Up to 15 GB per month | No speed limits | ✅ | ❌ | 10+ |
Are there any free VPNs good for gaming?
Yes, Proton VPN is a good option. It’s free, offers good speeds, security, and unlimited data. But paid VPNs are better if you can afford one.
Which free VPN is best for gaming?
Proton VPN is the best free option for gaming in 2024. It offers unlimited data, decent speeds, and security features. ExpressVPN is also great but not free.
Will a VPN lower my ping?
No, it might actually increase it slightly because your data has to go through an extra server. Paid VPNs are better for gaming.
What’s the fastest VPN for gaming?
ExpressVPN is the fastest. It’s great for gaming, with no lag or disconnects, and fast downloads.
Why use a VPN for gaming?
VPNs protect your privacy, security, and can help bypass region locks or IP bans. ExpressVPN is a good choice for gaming.
Can I use a free VPN to play games from other countries?
Yes, but free VPNs have limited server locations. A paid VPN like ExpressVPN offers more options.
Will a free VPN work with Steam?
Yes, but make sure the game allows VPN usage. ExpressVPN is fast and works well with Steam.
Can I use a free VPN on my PlayStation?
Yes, but it’s trickier. You’ll need to set it up on your router or PC. ExpressVPN has a router app that’s easy to use for PlayStation gaming.
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