By now, the security benefits of using a VPN are well understood.
Virtual Private Networks—which conceal your computer’s IP address and route your traffic through anonymous servers around the world—are the single most effective means of keeping your data safe from prying eyes.
Going online without a VPN is like going outside with your address, phone number, and search history printed on your t-shirt. You might not come to any harm, but if you cross paths with the wrong person you could find yourself in a world of pain.
This is as true for gamers as it is for any other internet user. Things can get heated online, and the last thing you want is a disgruntled opponent finding out where you live or spreading your private information just because you schooled them.
But the benefits for gamers of using a VPN don’t stop at security.
Because any decent VPN will let you choose the location of the anonymous server you’re connecting to, it’s possible to effectively convince the internet that you’re anywhere in the world.
This allows you to get around regional restrictions, access region-locked betas, take advantage of local sales, circumvent censorship laws in your home country, and shop around for servers with the lowest possible latency.
So if you’re not already sold on a VPN for security reasons, perhaps you’ll think again now that we’ve spelled out some of the entertainment implications.
There are tons of VPN products on the market, all with their own strengths and weaknesses in terms of price, speed, ease of use, and so on.
But these are the frontrunners as far as most people are concerned.
It’s worth mentioning that all three of these options come with a 3-day money back guarantee, so you can (and should) try them all out before taking the plunge, to work out which one is best for you.
1. SurfShark
At just $2.19 a month over 24 months, with four extra months thrown in for free, Surfshark is by far the best value VPN in this list.
And by best value, we don’t simply mean “cheapest”. Like NordVPN and ExpressVPN, Surfshark holds servers in more than 100 countries. There are more than 3200 of these servers, which is around half of NordVPN’s total but quite possibly more than ExpressVPN’s.
Surfshark is also incredibly fast, and comes with a host of features depending on the package you choose.
With Surfshark One, for example, you’ll get not only the usual suite of security tools but also a neat identity generating feature for creating an additional layer of anonymity—and still for less money than NordVPN. Check out Surfshark.
2. NordVPN
If you’ve dipped a toe in the world of VPNs before, you’ll no doubt already be aware of NordVPN.
For most people’s purposes, it’s the final word in Virtual Private Networks, with unparalleled speeds, a huge array of servers in 111 countries around the world, and fantastic security features.
It’s intuitive, too, working seamlessly on PC and mobile, and it comes with a host of extras including a password manager and a file encryption tool.
NordVPN is reasonably priced, too, costing less than $3.50 a month if you go for a two-year deal.
3. ExpressVPN
Like NordVPN, ExpressVPN has servers in a huge number of countries—though, at 105, it falls short of NordVPN’s 111. In terms of speed, too, it can’t quite keep up with the leader of the pack.
In fact, NordVPN’s connection speed comes in at 6730+ Mbps compared with ExpressVPN’s 2220+ (though—and we cannot stress this enough—these figures are taken from the NordVPN website).
Despite not quite managing to keep pace, ExpressVPN is actually quite a lot more expensive than NordVPN, coming in at well over $8 bucks a month at the cheapest, 12 month, level.
Nevertheless, ExpressVPN lives up to its moniker, with one of the slickest, simplest, and most seamless interfaces around. If you’re an absolute beginner, it’s worth a look.
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