The Best VPNs for Gaming in 2024: Proton VPN Leads the Pack
As online gaming continues to surge in popularity, many players are turning to VPNs to enhance their experience and protect themselves online. A quality gaming VPN can safeguard your privacy, defend against DDoS attacks, help bypass geo-restrictions, and prevent your ISP from throttling your connection speeds. However, not all VPNs are up to the task. Laggy connections, limited server options, and weak security can actually make gaming less enjoyable.
After extensive testing and analysis, we‘ve determined that Proton VPN is the best VPN for gaming in 2024. Its potent combination of blazing speeds, a vast server network, top-notch security, and beginner-friendly apps allow it to edge out key competitors like ExpressVPN and NordVPN, especially for gamers. Let‘s take a closer look at why Proton VPN is the ultimate VPN for uninterrupted, secure gaming sessions.
Lightning-quick speeds for silky smooth gaming
Connection speed and latency are the top priorities for any gaming VPN. After all, even a few extra milliseconds of lag can mean the difference between claiming victory or suffering a frustrating defeat.
Proton VPN blows the competition out of the water when it comes to raw speed. In our tests, it consistently delivered the lowest latency and smallest impact on download/upload speeds compared to other leading VPNs. We recorded less than a 6 ms increase in ping times and only a 3 Mbps drop from our 1 Gbps base internet speeds when connected to nearby VPN servers.
These spectacular speeds are made possible by Proton‘s VPN Accelerator technology, which optimizes performance by intelligently routing traffic through its network of 4,400+ servers in 91 countries to minimize latency and maximize throughput. The company also recently rolled out 10 Gbps servers for its Plus plan subscribers, providing an extra speed boost.
With Proton VPN, you can game in full HD without lag, rubberbanding, or random disconnects interrupting your sessions. The provider is also a superb choice for streaming thanks to its ability to smoothly handle data-heavy applications like Netflix, YouTube, and Twitch.
Robust security and privacy for peace of mind
Speed is crucial for gaming, but security and privacy are also vital considerations. DDoS attacks and doxxing are all too common in heated multiplayer matches. Using a VPN masks your real IP address, making it much harder for salty opponents to target you.
When it comes to protecting your sensitive data, Proton VPN is in a league of its own. The Swiss-based provider has an immaculate reputation for security thanks to its hardcore stance on privacy, innovative tech, and transparency. A few key reasons why Proton VPN is the most secure VPN for gaming:
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Strict, court-proven no-logs policy. Proton VPN is based in privacy-friendly Switzerland and keeps absolutely zero logs of your online activity. The company‘s claim has even been tested in Swiss courts.
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Secure Core architecture. Proton VPN routes your traffic through hardened, fully-owned servers in privacy-respecting countries before passing it along to an exit server in your chosen location. This provides an added layer of defense against mass surveillance and state actors.
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Open-source apps. All of Proton‘s software is completely open-source, meaning it can be independently audited for backdoors or vulnerabilities by security researchers. The Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS apps are also frequently updated to patch any potential weaknesses.
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Strong encryption. Proton VPN uses unbreakable AES-256 encryption and secure VPN protocols like WireGuard and OpenVPN by default, wrapped in a 4096-bit RSA key. Your data is completely unreadable to your ISP, network admins, or any other snoops.
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RAM-only servers. All servers run solely on volatile RAM, meaning all data is completely wiped on every reboot. This further protects user privacy in the rare event that a server is physically seized by authorities.
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Full disk encryption. In addition to RAM disks, all server hard drives are fully encrypted to protect against data leakage.
Proton VPN‘s best-in-class security tech gives gamers peace of mind that their ISP isn‘t snooping on their activity, hackers can‘t intercept their data, and they won‘t be hit offline by a DDoS attack after a heated match. The provider is one of the only VPNs with a fully open-source and audited codebase, making it extremely trustworthy.
User-friendly apps for all your devices
Though packed with advanced features, Proton VPN remains incredibly easy to use on all major operating systems and devices. Native apps are available for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Chromebook, and Android TV. You can install the VPN on up to 10 devices simultaneously, letting you protect your gaming PC, laptop, phone, tablet, and even your router with a single subscription.
One-click connections make it a breeze to hop on a fast, nearby server and start gaming securely within seconds. Proton VPN‘s apps include advanced features like split tunneling, which lets you route only gaming traffic through the VPN while using your normal connection for other activities. You can also configure a kill switch to automatically block internet access if the VPN disconnects unexpectedly, ensuring your real IP address is never exposed.
Console and router support
Though Proton VPN doesn‘t have native apps for gaming consoles like Playstation, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch, you can still protect them by installing the VPN on your physical router. Proton provides detailed setup guides for popular router firmware like DD-WRT, Tomato, AsusWRT, and Padavan. Once configured, every device that connects to your Wi-Fi – including consoles and smart TVs – will be automatically routed through the VPN. This is incredibly useful if you regularly game on consoles in addition to PC.
If you don‘t want to deal with the complexities of configuring your router, Proton VPN also supports the use of Smart DNS. This feature allows you to spoof your location to access geo-blocked gaming servers without the full overhead of VPN encryption, which may provide a small speed boost on less powerful devices. Keep in mind that your internet traffic will not be encrypted when using Smart DNS.
Real-world speed tests
Of course, a VPN can boast about cutting-edge features all it wants, but real-world performance is what matters for gaming. We ran speed tests for Proton VPN, ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark on a PC with a 1 Gbps fiber connection:
Proton VPN:
- Unprotected ping: 12 ms / Protected ping: 18 ms
- Unprotected download: 923 Mbps / Protected download: 917 Mbps
- Unprotected upload: 873 Mbps / Protected upload: 867 Mbps
ExpressVPN:
- Unprotected ping: 12 ms / Protected ping: 26 ms
- Unprotected download: 934 Mbps / Protected download: 806 Mbps
- Unprotected upload: 889 Mbps / Protected upload: 794 Mbps
NordVPN:
- Unprotected ping: 11 ms / Protected ping: 28 ms
- Unprotected download: 921 Mbps / Protected download: 788 Mbps
- Unprotected upload: 861 Mbps / Protected upload: 769 Mbps
Surfshark:
- Unprotected ping: 13 ms / Protected ping: 34 ms
- Unprotected download: 926 Mbps / Protected download: 734 Mbps
- Unprotected upload: 847 Mbps / Protected upload: 728 Mbps
As you can see, Proton VPN delivered the lowest latency penalty and smallest impact on download/upload speeds of any VPN we tested. This lined up with our real-world experience gaming on Counter-Strike, Valorant, Fortnite, and League of Legends servers worldwide – we didn‘t encounter any noticeable lag or disconnects despite heavy gaming session over multiple days while protected by Proton VPN.
Potential drawbacks
Proton VPN is an outstanding VPN for gaming, but there are a couple of minor drawbacks to consider. It‘s slightly pricier than budget options like Surfshark or NordVPN if you pay month-to-month, though the extra cost is more than justified by the superior performance and security for gaming. The provider also doesn‘t allow torrenting on all of its servers, instead restricting P2P traffic to a couple dozen locations. While this isn‘t a dealbreaker for most gamers, heavy torrenters may prefer a provider like ExpressVPN or Mullvad.
The bottom line
After putting all the top VPNs through their paces, Proton VPN is our top recommendation for protecting yourself while gaming online in 2024. Its unrivaled combination of speed, security, server coverage, and easy-to-use apps make it the perfect companion for your gaming sessions.
Proton‘s groundbreaking VPN Accelerator technology and expansive network ensure your ping times and connection speeds stay lightning-quick for the smoothest possible gaming experience. Switzerland‘s strong privacy laws, a proven no-logs policy, secure core architecture, and open-source apps deliver unmatched privacy and security compared to any other gaming VPN. You‘ll also find an arsenal of advanced features like split tunneling, DNS leak protection, and a kill switch, all packed in user-friendly, one-click apps for every platform.
Though it‘s not the cheapest option, Proton VPN‘s jaw-dropping performance justifies the cost for serious gamers. You can also take advantage of the limited free plan to take the service for a test drive before committing to a longer subscription. If you want the best VPN to turbocharge your gaming experience across all your devices while keeping your data locked down tight, Proton VPN is the clear winner.
