There are two pretty common questions we get asked with regards to VPNs and their usage while gaming. First, many people wonder if they should use a VPN for gaming at all. Second, the question of whether or not to use a free VPN for gaming comes up. In this post, we look at why you should avoid using a free VPN for gaming and either opt for a solid paid VPN or no VPN at all.
Free VPNs May Contain Malware or Spyware
One of the issues with free VPN in general is that it is tough to find one that is 100% safe to use. A recent study found that almost a third of free VPNs contained some type of malware or virus. Quite frankly, that is more of a risk than I am willing to take. I would prefer to use no VPN at all than to take the risk of getting malware. Obviously, if you use a free VPN that gives you malware, it is going to ruin your gaming experience.
Even if you find a free VPN that is malware free, there is also a good chance that they are going to use tracking and advertising cookies. A free VPN provider needs to make money in some way. Usually this comes in the form of ads. One of the reasons I use a VPN is to avoid being tracked and allowing these ad cookies onto my PC from the VPN is counter-intuitive.
Free VPNs Are Too Slow For Gaming
Generally speaking, a free VPN won’t have the resources to run thousands of servers on high-end equipment. Due to this, it will be tough to find a free VPN that has a server close to your location. If you are lucky and do find one close to you, it is likely that the hardware and connection will be subpar.
Many games require low ping connections to the game servers. Even the best paid VPNs will slow down this connection a little bit. If you use a free VPN for gaming, you are likely to see noticeable ping increases and possibly some instability with your connection. All of this will lead to a less than ideal gaming experience.
Free VPNs Could Be Leaking or Selling Your Data
We mentioned above that free VPNs need to make money in some way. Oftentimes, they do this with advertising. However, some VPNs will also sell your data and online history. Yet again, I am using a VPN to hide my history, so the prospect of the free VPN provider selling my data is concerning. Another problem is that there have been a select few free VPNs that have been suspected to be working with governments for the purpose of tracking their own citizens’ activity online.
Free VPNs Have Subpar Security Standards
As we have talked about, one main purpose of a VPN is to protect your data and privacy while online. Free VPNs generally don’t have the budget to invest in top-notch security. So, this means that even if you find a VPN with good intentions that is malware free, the VPN itself could be vulnerable to attacks. If you have used or are currently using this free VPN and they get hacked, your history and data could be exposed.
Conclusion
So, overall, we don’t recommend using a free VPN for gaming. There are just too many risks to make it worthwhile. Even if you are willing to take those risks, it often will lead to a higher ping and connection instability.
However, there are a few reasons we would recommend a solid paid VPN for gaming. A few reasons include being better protected from DDOS attacks, hiding your physical location, and the ability to access geo-blocked games or servers. As a counterpoint, any VPN can raise your ping while gaming. If you decide to go this route, we have tested or are currently in the process of testing a few out. Here are a few we would recommend based on our tests so far:
- Nord VPN – Click here for more info.
This one is a top VPN all around and one of the most popular VPNs on the market. It performed well in our tests.
- IPVanish – Click here for more info.
This VPN stood out due to its speed. We barely noticed a ping drop with this one.
- ExpressVPN – We haven’t had the chance to finish our test with this one yet, but the initial results are looking pretty good.
Have you used a free VPN for gaming with any success? Or, have you had any issues using a free VPN? Let us know in the comments!