Best VPNs for CS:GO in 2023

If you’re a hard-core CS:GO player, then you probably experience issues with high ping or connection drops. Or perhaps you need to unblock a specific region for better matchmaking to avoid competitive servers and stay undetected by Steam.

Fortunately, you can simply clear these problems out with the help of a VPN. And the service will not only reduce your ping or unblock the game, but it will also enhance your online privacy and security.

However, the VPN market is wide and miscellaneous which makes it tough to pick the correct provider. Therefore, we’ve tested many providers and listed only the best VPNs for CS:GO for you in the article below.

Top 5 best CS:GO VPNs:

1. NordVPN – best CS:GO VPN overall
2. Surfshark – excellent quality and price ratio
3. Atlas VPN – easy-to-use VPN for CS:GO
4. ExpressVPN – feature-rich CS:GO VPN
5. Cyberghost – security promising CS:GO VPN

Why do I need a VPN for CS:GO?

Here are some selling points why would you need a CS:GO VPN:

• Avoid ISP speed throttling. Unfortunately, ISPs have a bad tendency to slow your network connection whenever an activity that requires a quick operation is detected. These include streaming, gaming, and all the other fun online activities. A fast VPN, such as NordVPN, will help you to get the fun back and enjoy the speedy CS:GO game.
• Reduce ping. A VPN with a large fleet of servers and locations can help you to improve your connection speed. The only thing you must do is select a closer server to your location from the list and enjoy the flawless CS:GO game.
• Enjoy CS:GO from a heavily-restricted country. As unfortunate as it is, there are several countries, such as China, Venezuela, and South Korea, that have banned video games for their citizens. Yet, for a VPN this issue is definitely solvable. Your IP address will be changed and your real location won’t interfere with the game.
• Dodge from DDoS attacks. We are surely aware that CS:GO is full of revengeful players. And, consequently, they tend to attack better players with DDoS attacks. By using a VPN, you will prevent their evil agendas.
• Avoid IP/DNS leaks. It’s no secret that many CS:GO players get banned for improper actions during a game and end up having a forced “vacation”. But, with the help of a reliable VPN, you can bypass these restrictions and get back on a game with a changed IP address without leaking your real one.

Best VPNs for CS:GO – our detailed list

While there are plenty of VPNs that can work for CS:GO, we’re not satisfied with a mediocre gaming experience. And we obviously strive for delivering you the best experience as well. Therefore, we have listed only the best CS:GO VPNs that will keep you protected, improve your network speed, and more.

1. NordVPN – top CS:GO VPN

Based in:	Panama
Servers/countries:	5,900 servers in 60 countries
Unblocks Netflix:	Yes
Current deal:	🔥 Holiday Deal! Get NordVPN with 69% OFF + 3 months FREE! 🔥

Play CS:GO with NordVPN

NordVPN is our top pick for CS:GO and there are plenty of reasons why. It has an extensive global server network, its speeds are the best you can get with a VPN, and so is its security.

With this VPN, you get to choose from 5,900 servers in 60 countries. Meaning that it’s hardly possible to smash into jam-packed servers, and you can enjoy the game from any corner of the world.

NordVPN stands out for its light-fast speeds as it has implemented an upgraded version of the WireGuard tunneling protocol that is called NordLynx. It was built in a way so an extra layer of security wouldn’t interfere with the speed and you could have the best CS:GO experience. Putting it all together, it’s an excellent protocol for both security and speed.

With NordVPN, your online traffic will be encrypted with the market-leading AES encryption. And, as a CS:GO fan, you will be glad to learn that this VPN has a kill switch feature, split tunneling, CyberSec feature to protect you from ads and malware, and even more.

Last but not least, NordVPN offers a considerably fair price for its top-notch services. You can get NordVPN for as low as $2.99/month.

Find out more about our favorite CS:GO VPN in our NordVPN review.

2. Surfshark – affordable next-gen VPN for CS:GO

Based in:	The Netherlands
Servers/countries:	3,200 servers in 100 countries
Unblocks Netflix:	Yes
Current deal:	🔥 Holiday deal! Get 82% OFF Surfshark + 4 months FREE 🔥

Play CS:GO with Surfshark VPN

Serving you a second to best CS:GO VPN – Surfshark. A perfect solution for those who are looking for both next-gen services and delicious pricing.

First things first, Surfshark welcomes its users with prices that start at only $1.99/month and the opportunity to use one subscription on an unlimited number of devices simultaneously.

And for that raising-a-smile pricing, you get 3,200 servers in 100s countries. With this quantity of servers and countries, you will be able to enjoy CS:GO without buffering from anywhere in the world.

When we say that this VPN has a next-gen suite of security, we mean it. Surfshark uses AES-256 GCM encryption that’s even more secure than the standard AES 256-bit encryption. But next to security, it also offers the WireGuard tunnel to ensure its position among the fastest VPNs.

Surfshark’s suite of features is also equipped with everything you might need from a VPN to improve your CS:GO experience, and even more. Not to mention the essentialities it offers, such as a kill switch, split tunneling, an antivirus tool, Smart DNS for uninterrupted streaming, and so on.

Still can’t decide? Check out our Surfshark VPN review or compare Surfshark vs NordVPN to find the perfect fit.

3. Atlas VPN – user-friendly CS:GO VPN

Based in:	United States
Servers/countries:	1,000 servers in 42 countries
Unblocks Netflix:	Yes
Current deal:	🔥 Holiday deal! Get Atlas VPN, now 86% OFF + 6 months FREE! 🔥

Play CS:GO with Atlas VPN

If you’re a tough nut to crack in CS:GO but less advanced in VPNs, then Atlas VPN is exactly what you need. With an easy-to-use application and strong suite of security, Atlas VPN is ranked as one of the best VPNs in the market.

This VPN offers a distinctly smaller fleet of servers – over 1,000 servers in 42 countries, to be exact. However, its WireGuard protocol won’t let you down regarding connection speed.

And now that you’re aware of its speeds, knowing how secure it is makes it even better! Just like every top VPN, Atlas VPN uses AES-256 encryption with ChaCha20 cipher which makes it nearly impossible to decrypt your traffic.

On top of that, with this VPN, you get a kill switch feature that protects you from DDoS attacks, split tunneling, an IP rotator for increased security and privacy, and more. Not to mention that it’s also one of the best VPNs for streaming.

Finally, just as it’s a user-friendly VPN, it’s also a wallet-friendly one, with prices starting from $1.64/month.

To learn more about this provider, read our Atlas VPN review.

4. ExpressVPN – a premium VPN for CS:GO players

Based in:	British Virgin Islands
Servers/countries:	Thousands of servers in 105 countries
Unblocks Netflix:	Yes
Current deal:	🔥 Holiday deal! Get ExpressVPN, now 49% OFF + 3 months FREE!🔥

Play CS:GO with ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is a comprehensive VPN provider with a robust infrastructure to play CS:GO. Extensive global coverage and fast speeds let you access the desired servers and game with minimal latency.

With ExpressVPN, you get a large server fleet with plenty of choices – thousands of servers in 105 countries. Paired with fast connections via RAM-only servers, players can use ExpressVPN and play with low ping.

ExpressVPN offers a custom Lightway tunneling protocol, which is the provider’s best protocol for gaming. It is encrypted with a lightweight ChaCha20/Poly1305 encryption standard to keep the load on your gaming connections as low as possible.

The provider also has additional features that can improve your gaming experience: a split tunneling tool to separate your CS:GO app from the rest of the internet traffic and server obfuscation to hide your connections in restricted areas. Not to mention RAM-only servers that erase data about your connections after every reboot.

For $6.67/month, ExpressVPN is a great but expensive VPN that delivers fast speeds and low latency when playing CS:GO.

Gain insights from our Express VPN review or make a well-informed choice by comparing NordVPN vs ExpressVPN.

5. CyberGhost – CS:GO VPN with a massive server fleet

Based in:	Romania
Servers/countries:	10,200 servers in 100 countries
Unblocks Netflix:	Yes
Current deal:	🔥Holiday deal! Get CyberGhost VPN, now 84% + 4 months FREE!🔥

Play CS:GO with CyberGhost VPN

With the widest global coverage on this list – 10,200+ servers in 100 countries, CyberGhost brings speedy connections and plenty of options to choose from for gaming. As a cheap VPN, it offers great services to play CS:GO on low ping.

Needless to say, CyberGhost’s biggest strength is its large server fleet. It helps clients bypass gaming restrictions in their region and have plenty of options to choose from to avoid overcrowding.

When speed is a priority, CyberGhost has you covered with the WireGuard tunneling protocol. And the industry-leading AES-256 protocol ensures no one accesses your data.

CyberGhost app includes a split tunneling feature for Windows and Android users, there are also specialized servers for gaming, streaming, or torrenting.

Coming in at $2.04/month, CyberGhost is a cheap but robust provider with tons of servers to change your location and play CS:GO.

For more information, read our CyberGhost review.

How we selected and tested these VPNs

VPNs are excellent at solving a bunch of issues, and every case requires different characteristics. Here are the key points that we paid attention to while selecting top VPNs for CS:GO:

• Large fleet of servers. The bigger the number of servers, the higher the chance of having an uninterrupted gaming experience. That being said, it helps you to avoid overcrowded servers and reduce ping.
• Speed. The selection of servers isn’t the only thing responsible for good connection speed. Therefore, we were looking for VPNs that offer the best speeds to maintain a smooth CS:GO battle and participate in quality streaming or torrenting.
• Security. Whether you are gaming or casually browsing, staying protected online should be one of your top priorities. With the most secure VPN services, you can avoid breached data and more.
• Price. There’s no VPN that you should overpay for. And, more importantly, security should be affordable for everyone. That’s why we have looked only for those VPN services that offer the best money and quality ratio.

How to change CS:GO region with a VPN?

Here’s a short guide on how to change CS:GO region with the help of a VPN:

1. Choose a reliable VPN provider. We believe that NordVPN is the best option.
2. Download and install the VPN app on your computer.
3. Open the application and, on the map, choose your preferred country.

4. Wait a moment till you receive a notification of a successful connection.
5. Relaunch Steam and open the game.

6. Start playing and enjoy!

CS:GO not working with a VPN? Here's how to fix:

It may happen that a VPN struggles to cooperate with CS:GO. Nevertheless, it’s easily fixable. Here’s how:

• Change your VPN server. It’s possible that your chosen server has crashed and only your VPN provider knows why. Try changing a server and it might fix the issue.
• Check for IP leaks. IP leaks are almost the same as staying without a VPN connection. Check your VPN’s IP/DNS leak protection settings.
• Contact your VPN’s customer support. Perhaps the issue stands somewhere inside your VPN’s system, therefore contacting the customer support could clear things out.
• Choose a different VPN provider. Some VPNs are simply not suitable for changing the region on CS:GO. In this case, take a look at our provided CS:GO VPNs and select the most liked one.

Can a VPN reduce my ping in CS:GO?

Yes, a VPN can reduce ping in CS:GO if you connect to a correct tunneling protocol. Selecting the WireGuard tunneling protocol would be the best option as it offers breakneck speeds. Also, a VPN selects a more direct route than your ISP.

Moreover, ping could be reduced in cases when a player is too far from the game’s server. Choosing a closer server and location will change your IP address which will make it look like you are closer to the CS:GO server.

However, keep in mind that choosing locations like Japan or Australia (if you’re based in the US) won’t reduce ping as these countries are quite too far.

Can I use a free VPN to play CS:GO?

Yes, you can use a free VPN to play CS:GO. Yet, we highly recommend not doing it.

First and foremost, free VPNs are unable to offer you the same quality as a premium VPN could. With free VPNs, you receive a very limited fleet of servers and locations, so it’s easy to come across overcrowded servers. Suites of security are also poor. And, finally, they offer quite sad connection speeds.

And if that’s not enough, free VPNs tend to earn money by selling their users’ data. To maintain some kind of income, free providers allow third parties to interfere with your privacy and security. So, basically, you tend to put yourself in danger rather than in safe haven.

However, we do understand your eagerness to use reliable VPNs at no cost. At this point, we could recommend using a freemium VPN. Of course, there’re also some cut-offs, such as a data cap and a small variety of servers. But, after all, a freemium VPN such as Atlas VPN or other best free VPNs are secure tools to trust.

Conclusion

Using a VPN not only for security but also for CS:GO is a common thing to do. And it’s not surprising as a VPN can reduce your ping, protect you from DDoS attacks or other online threats, and unblock CS:GO in heavily-restricted countries.

Try NordVPN for improving your daily browsing experience. With it, you can avoid dark web dangers, ISP speed throttling, and access all major streaming sites! And if you feel like you’re lacking options, then there’s always our best VPNs for gaming list waiting for you.

---

More VPN guides from Cybernews:

---

FAQ