Short on time? Here’s 2023’s best VPN for Call of Duty:
- 🥇ExpressVPN: Maintains lightning-fast speeds while playing Call of Duty, comes with excellent gaming security features, and has easy-to-use apps for all devices, including for routers. It includes a strict and audited no-logs policy, full leak protection, 5 simultaneous connections, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
I love playing Call of Duty online (and I’m pretty good at it), but I never really know if my privacy is safe, if my internet connection is secure, and if my internet service provider (ISP) is throttling my connection speeds.
Fortunately, there is an easy and inexpensive solution to solve all of my concerns — to use a virtual private network (VPN). A VPN allows you to play CoD safely and anonymously from anywhere in the world without your personal data being leaked and without your ISP purposely slowing down your speeds because you’re gaming online.
So, I spent the past few weeks testing all of the top VPNs on the market to find the best ones for Call of Duty in 2023.
Unfortunately, I learned that many VPNs are just downright terrible for playing Call of Duty — most of them have very slow speeds, causing me to get lower scores and to lose to my opponents. Other VPNs have buggy apps and lack essential security features that don’t protect you from Distributed-Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, which can disrupt your game and internet connection.
However, I managed to find some really good Call of Duty VPNs.
All the VPNs on this list maintain extremely fast speeds for playing CoD, include excellent security features, have easy-to-use apps on all platforms (including routers), and offer great value.
Quick summary of the best VPNs for Call of Duty in 2023:
- 🥇 1. ExpressVPN — Best overall VPN for playing Call of Duty in 2023.
- 🥈 2. Private Internet Access — Excellent for Android and iOS users.
- 🥉 3. Proton VPN— High-security with a good free plan.
- 4. NordVPN — Reliable with great security & fast speeds on all servers.
- 5. Surfshark — Good for large families (with cheap plans).
- Comparison of the Best VPNs for Call of Duty.
🥇 1. ExpressVPN — Best VPN for Call of Duty in 2023
ExpressVPN has the fastest speeds on this list for playing Call of Duty, easy-to-use apps for all devices (including a native router app), and top-notch security features.
In my tests, it provided me with smooth Call of Duty sessions — I didn’t experience crashes, and my connection to the gaming servers never dropped after multiple rounds, ensuring that I kept my rank.
ExpressVPN only slowed down my speeds by an average of 20% while using Lightway — its proprietary protocol that’s faster than other popular protocols like OpenVPN and IKEv2/IPSec. I connected to gaming servers almost instantly on my PC, and I always had low ping (even on distant servers).
I really like how ExpressVPN has user-friendly apps. It takes just a few minutes to download and install ExpressVPN on your Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS, and I was able to install it on my router in less than 5 minutes so I could play CoD on my Xbox and PlayStation. If you don’t want to even deal with the router app, ExpressVPN even has its own router (Aircove) available for purchase that includes built-in VPN benefits and fast and reliable Wi-Fi connections.
I also like how ExpressVPN supports cloud gaming services, which stream video games to portable devices like smartphones and tablets. I was able to seamlessly play Call of Duty on my smartphone through Xbox Game Pass while connected to ExpressVPN’s servers. ExpressVPN also works with other top cloud gaming services like Stadia, Amazon Luna, and more.
What’s more, ExpressVPN has split-tunneling, which lets you choose which apps use your local network and which apps use the VPN. In my tests, I played Call of Duty while connected to one of ExpressVPN’s servers and excluded all other apps from the VPN to get even faster gaming speeds. It also comes with built-in leak protection against IPv6, DNS, and WebRTC on all apps, which also help protect you against DDoS attacks.
In addition, ExpressVPN is the best VPN for streaming Netflix and torrenting. It works with all of the popular streaming services, and it allows torrenting on all 3,000+ of its servers.
ExpressVPN allows 5 simultaneous connections, has monthly and yearly plans, and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. ExpressVPN is a little pricier than some of the other top VPNs, but with our exclusive 49% discount, you can get it for only $6.67 / month.
Bottom Line:
ExpressVPN is my favorite VPN for Call of Duty in 2023 — it has extremely fast speeds for gaming, is very secure, and has easy-to-use apps (including a router app and its own router). It supports cloud gaming, comes with cool extra features like split-tunneling, has excellent streaming and torrenting support, and backs all purchases with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read our full ExpressVPN review
🥈 2. Private Internet Access — Excellent Mobile VPN for Call of Duty
Private Internet Access (PIA) is great for playing Call of Duty on Android and iOS devices due to its highly customizable mobile apps. For example, I really like how you can easily change protocols, encryption levels, proxy settings, and connection options, including whether to connect to untrusted Wi-Fi networks for gaming in order to protect your personal data from third parties.
This flexibility allowed me to easily switch to WireGuard from OpenVPN and choose 128-bit AES encryption (instead of 256-bit AES) for faster gaming speeds while playing CoD. Also, I enabled port forwarding, which connected me to more Call of Duty gamers for faster speeds.
In my gaming sessions, PIA always maintained a low ping and fast speeds when I played Call of Duty. It only slowed down my speeds by about 28% on average, which is slower than ExpressVPN, but I didn’t experience any interruptions during my games on local servers and most distant servers.
When it comes to security, I really like how PIA has full leak protection as well as open-source apps, which allow anyone to inspect the software code to make sure there are no holes in its security.
Additionally, PIA comes with split-tunneling, an ad blocker, and Identity Guard, which checks if your email or passwords have been involved in a data breach, including your gaming login credentials for Call of Duty. It also works with all of the popular streaming sites, and it allows P2P traffic on all servers.
Unfortunately, PIA doesn’t have a native router app like ExpressVPN, but it provides step-by-step guides that show you how to configure its service on your router.
Private Internet Access allows up to 10 simultaneous connections, has affordable monthly and yearly plans, which start at only $2.11 / month, and all plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
Private Internet Access provides fast speeds and low ping while playing Call of Duty, has very user-friendly and customizable mobile apps, and provides strong security. It has open-source apps, includes extra features like split-tunneling, and backs each of its plans with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Download Private Internet Access Now
Read our full Private Internet Access review
🥉 3. Proton VPN — Advanced Security + Good Free Plan
Proton VPN has the best free plan on the market and has excellent security and privacy features.
It’s one of the only free VPNs that has unlimited data, allowing you to play Call of Duty as much as you want (many free plans set a limit on how much data you can use per day or per month). The free plan allows 1 connection, access to 3 VPN server locations (in the Netherlands, Japan, and the US), and “medium” speeds — but I still had pretty fast gaming speeds and didn’t experience any lag playing Call of Duty on any of these servers. However, the free plan doesn’t support streaming or torrenting.
Upgrading to one of Proton VPN’s paid plans gives you up to 10 simultaneous connections, access to 1,900+ servers in 60+ countries, the “fastest” speeds (I experienced a speed loss of around 35%, which is fast, but still slower than ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access), lower ping, and excellent streaming and torrenting support.
Proton VPN comes with full leak protection and extra features like split tunneling (but not on macOS), an ad blocker, and Secure Core servers, which pass your data through 2 servers before leaving Proton VPN’s network for an extra layer of protection. But I don’t recommend using Secure Core servers for gaming as they significantly slow down your speeds due to the added encryption.
In addition to the free plan, Proton VPN has monthly and yearly plans that start at $3.99 / month and come with a prorated 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
Proton VPN has a really good free plan that includes good security, unlimited data, and fast speeds. The paid plans have the fastest speeds, give you access to 60+ locations, allow up to 10 connections, support torrenting and streaming, and have a prorated 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read our full Proton VPN review
4. NordVPN — Reliable With Great Security Features & Fast Speeds
NordVPN provides access to multiple security features that keep your data safe online — like Threat Protection, which is one of the best VPN ad blockers on the market and which also gets rid of malicious ads, blocks connections to shady sites, and protects your device from malware-infected downloads. Even better, Threat Protection remains active even if you’re not connected to a VPN server, which is really convenient.
In addition, there’s Dark Web Monitor, which scans the dark web and alerts you if the login associated with your NordVPN account has been leaked. I’m happy to see this, as this is one of the only VPNs on the market that comes with a dark web monitoring feature.
On top of that, NordVPN also comes with other great security features — it has double VPN servers, which add an extra layer of encryption, and it also comes with obfuscation. Plus, the VPN has its own protocol called NordLynx, which is designed to provide strong security and really fast speeds.
NordVPN also has advanced security features, including full leak protection, RAM-only servers, and perfect forward secrecy. Its strict no-logs policy has been independently audited, and it’s also been proven true when one of the data centers that housed one of its servers suffered a data breach and no user data was compromised.
The provider is also great for streaming and torrenting — it works with multiple popular streaming services like Netflix and BBC iPlayer, and has a whopping 4,500+ P2P servers. It also provides really good speeds for streaming, torrenting, and other online activities on all of its servers.
I also think NordVPN is a good gaming VPN thanks to its Meshnet feature, which lets you link up to 60 devices over encrypted VPN connections — this helps you host virtual LAN parties securely.
What’s more, this VPN has tons of other perks — it has 5,000+ servers in 55+ countries, comes with split-tunneling, and has really intuitive apps for all major platforms.
NordVPN has budget-friendly plans that start at $4.99 / month. All purchases are backed by a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
NordVPN is highly secure, comes with a ton of features, and maintains good speeds for all online activities. In addition to advanced security features like RAM-only servers and perfect forward secrecy, it also has an ad blocker and dark web monitor. It also works with all streaming services, supports torrenting on more than 4,500 servers, and is also an excellent choice for gaming. NordVPN backs all purchases with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read our full NordVPN review here
5. Surfshark — Great VPN for Large Families & Very Affordable
Surfshark allows unlimited connections, which means you can use it on as many devices as you want — so it’s a great option if everyone in your family needs a good VPN. I’m also happy to see this because very few VPNs support unlimited connections.
It comes with really good security features, including CleanWeb, which is one of the best VPN ad blockers out there. In addition, it provides obfuscation, double VPN connections for added security, and IP Rotator, which regularly changes your IP address to make it harder for someone to track your location. The provider also has advanced security features like RAM-only servers and perfect forward secrecy — however, it’s missing full leak protection (but I never experienced any leaks in my tests).
You also get pretty good streaming support, as the VPN can access top sites like Netflix, HBO Max, and BBC iPlayer — though it can’t access Disney+. It also supports P2P downloads across all of its servers.
There are 3,200+ servers in 90+ countries, which makes it simple to use nearby servers for fast speeds. Speaking of speeds, the provider has fast connections on most servers, but I did experience significant slowdowns on very distant servers.
Surfshark is also one of the most affordable VPNs on the market, with plans starting at only $2.30 / month — so it’s also a good pick if you’re on a tight budget. All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
Surfshark is one of the rare VPNs to allow unlimited simultaneous connections, so it’s great for multi-device households and large families. It’s also secure, fast, and works with popular streaming services like Netflix. It has affordable plans and provides a 30-day money-back guarantee for all purchases.
Read our full Surfshark review here
6. CyberGhost VPN — Dedicated Gaming Servers + Massive Server Network
CyberGhost VPN has 90+ gaming servers in 4 countries (the US, the UK, Germany, and France), which provide faster downloads and gaming speeds than its regular servers — in my tests, these servers provided me with speeds that were about 8-13% faster than regular servers. While I like using the gaming servers, I think ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access are more convenient because all of their servers are optimized for the fastest gaming speeds.
I love how easy it is to find CyberGhost’s gaming servers — there are separate tabs on the side of the main menu for all dedicated servers (streaming, torrenting, and gaming). And with a massive network of 9,400+ servers in 90+ countries, users can easily manually connect to any of CyberGhost’s regular servers and play Call of Duty online from anywhere in the world.
Speaking of ease of use, CyberGhost VPN is great for people who are new to VPNs. There’s an intuitive design, allowing you to easily navigate its apps and find all settings, and all of the features and settings have short definitions so you always know what they do.
CyberGhost also comes with full leak protection, as well as cool extra features like My ID Guard, which lets you know if your email address is shared on the dark web, split-tunneling (for Android only), an ad blocker, and Smart Rules for personalizing your connection preferences.
CyberGhost VPN allows 7 simultaneous connections, offers plans that start at $2.11 / month, and backs all yearly plans with a lengthy 45-day money-back guarantee (the monthly plan has a 14-day money-back guarantee).
Bottom Line:
CyberGhost VPN has dedicated gaming servers, really secure apps, and really good speeds for playing Call of Duty. It also comes with full leak protection, has a very user-friendly interface, and covers all long-term plans with a 45-day money-back guarantee.
Read our full CyberGhost VPN review
7. PrivateVPN — Good VPN for Beginners
PrivateVPN is a very simplistic VPN for playing Call of Duty — there’s a minimalistic dashboard, there aren’t a lot of features or settings to worry about, and it’s very easy to navigate the app and connect to a server.
One of my favorite things about PrivateVPN is that the Windows app has Simple View and Advanced View modes. The Simple View is perfect for new users because the only options you have are connecting to a server and accessing live support and your account — the Advanced View provides users with more customization.
All of the servers display the ping, and the ping speed is indicated by a color-coded system (green for good, yellow for average, and red for slow), so I was always able to quickly find the fastest gaming servers. PrivateVPN also lets you change your encryption level and allows port forwarding (in the Advanced View).
That said, PrivateVPN has slower speeds than ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access. I experienced a decrease of 40% and experienced a bit of lag on distant servers (but I had excellent speeds on nearby servers). It’s also missing WebRTC leak protection, so if you like to game via your web browser, you’ll need to use a third-party app to prevent WebRTC leaks.
PrivateVPN allows up to 10 connections, has affordable plans that start at $2.00 / month, and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom Line:
PrivateVPN is very user-friendly, making it a great Call of Duty VPN for beginners. It’s also very secure, comes with DNS and IPv6 leak protection, has an intuitive interface, and backs all plans with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Read our full PrivateVPN review
8. IPVanish — Best for Playing Call of Duty on Multiple Devices
IPVanish is the only VPN on this list that allows unlimited simultaneous connections, making it a perfect choice for large households. Your entire family can play Call of Duty with IPVanish on as many devices as they want — I tested this out and had everyone in my house play CoD while connected to IPVanish, and I was really impressed that we didn’t encounter any problems.
When it comes to speeds, it only slowed down my speeds by 31% on average, which is similar to CyberGhost VPN and Private Internet Access, but not as fast as ExpressVPN. My online Call of Duty matches downloaded in less than 10 minutes, and I rarely had high ping. I also really like that IPVanish offers 20+ SOCKS5 proxy servers, which provide you with a virtual IP address and usually have faster speeds because they don’t encrypt your traffic (IPVanish’s SOCKS5 servers slightly lowered the ping in my tests).
However, DNS leak protection is only available on Windows, and there’s no WebRTC leak protection.
IPVanish has monthly and yearly subscriptions. Prices start at $3.33 / month and only the yearly plan comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. The yearly plan also includes a VIPRE antivirus subscription.
Bottom Line:
IPVanish allows unlimited connections, maintains fast speeds and low ping, and is pretty secure. It has a 30-day money-back guarantee for its yearly plan.
Comparison of the Best VPNs for Call of Duty in 2023
How to Install a VPN on Your Gaming Console
- Choose a VPN that works on routers. I recommend ExpressVPN because of its easy-to-install router app, lightning-fast speeds, and excellent security features. You also have the option to purchase ExpressVPN’s router, which includes all of the VPN’s functionality.
- Configure the VPN on your router. Once you set up your VPN on your router, all of the devices connected to the router will be connected to the VPN.
- Connect your router to a VPN server and launch Call of Duty. Look for a server with the lowest ping that’s located in the gaming region you want to connect to. Connect to the server and you’re all set to begin playing Call of Duty.
How to Choose the Best VPN for Call of Duty in 2023
- Security. I only recommend VPNs with industry-standard VPN security features (256-bit AES encryption, kill switch, and a no-logs policy), strong leak protection, and secure protocols.
- Anti-DDoS protection. VPNs protect you against DDoS attacks by hiding your IP address (hackers can’t use it to DDoS your network). A DDoS attack is when another user routes large amounts of traffic to your network, forcing you offline, disconnecting you from the Call of Duty server, or creating lag to slow down your connection. All the VPNs on my list also have anti-DDoS protection on their servers. This way, you’re protected even if someone decides to DDoS the VPN server you’re connected to.
- Fast speeds. All VPNs slow down your speeds because they encrypt your data, but good VPNs minimize the speed loss. The VPNs on this list decreased my speeds by no more than 40%, which is good for playing Call of Duty without any buffering (ExpressVPN has the fastest gaming speeds).
- Ease of use. The VPNs on this list have easy-to-use apps for iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS with intuitive interfaces and 1-click connections (they also have router apps so you can connect your Xbox and PlayStation consoles to a VPN server).
- Value. I only recommend VPNs that allow at least 5 connections (ExpressVPN allows 5 connections, and IPVanish has unlimited connections), offer affordable plans, and back each purchase with a money-back guarantee.
Top Brands That Didn’t Make the Cut
- Hola VPN. Hola VPN has fast speeds for Call of Duty and is free, but it doesn’t use encryption, keeps user logs, and has leaked user IP addresses. Hola VPN also uses a P2P model, which means that you use another Hola VPN user’s IP address and they use your IP address. This is dangerous because someone could use your IP address to commit cyber crimes.
- SlickVPN. SlickVPN is secure, but it has a small server network, has very slow speeds for playing Call of Duty on distant servers, there are no mobile or router apps, and its desktop apps are not user-friendly.
- Perfect Privacy VPN. Perfect Privacy VPN is secure, with fast speeds on local servers and unlimited device connections. However, its server network is small, it has noticeable slowdowns on distant servers, it doesn’t offer split-tunneling, its customer support is terrible, and its Windows app is buggy. Overall, the VPNs on this list offer a much better value for playing Call of Duty.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the best VPN for Call of Duty?
ExpressVPN is my favorite VPN for Call of Duty in 2023 — it has excellent security features (including protection against DDoS attacks), maintains very fast speeds while playing Call of Duty, has very intuitive apps, and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Even though ExpressVPN is the best VPN for Call of Duty, the other VPNs on this list are also very good. Private Internet Access has highly customizable mobile apps for gaming, and Proton VPN is the best free VPN for Call of Duty. CyberGhost VPN has dedicated gaming servers, PrivateVPN is very user-friendly, and IPVanish allows you to play Call of Duty on unlimited devices.
Do you need a VPN for Call of Duty?
Yes, I strongly recommend using a VPN when you play Call of Duty online. A VPN provides extra layers of security and privacy for gaming. All of the VPNs on this list have industry-standard VPN security features like 256-bit AES encryption, a kill switch, IP leak protection against DNS and IPv6 leaks, DDoS attack protection, and strict and transparent no-logs policies.
Can you use a free VPN for Call of Duty?
Yes, you can use a free VPN for playing Call of Duty, but I usually don’t recommend using them. Most free VPNs lack important security features, log your traffic, are slow, limit how much data you can use, and have glitchy apps.
But, if you’re only in the market for a free gaming VPN, I recommend Proton VPN — its free plan comes with unlimited data, pretty good speeds, and high-end security. However, it limits you to 1 device and gives you access to only 3 server locations (the Netherlands, Japan, and the US).
Instead, I strongly recommend that you purchase a low-cost VPN like ExpressVPN. It’s extremely secure, provides fast speeds for playing Call of Duty, has intuitive apps for most platforms, and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
What’s the fastest VPN for Call of Duty?
In my tests, ExpressVPN provided me with the fastest speeds for playing Call of Duty (I only experienced a 20% slowdown) — I connected to gaming servers instantly, I always had low ping, I didn’t experience lag, and large updates downloaded really fast.
However, I also had fast speeds with all of the top VPNs on this list.
