Best for Unlimited Devices

4.9

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On Surfshark's website

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Surfshark

• VPN technology offering stability and speed
• Unlimited simultaneous connections
• Works with Netflix and other streaming services
• Headquarters in Nine Eyes Alliance

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Best for VPN Beginners

4.6

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On CyberGhost's website

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CyberGhost

• Cheaper than ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and Surfshark
• Optimized servers for regional streaming
• No split tunneling feature

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Best for LAN Gaming

4.9

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On NordVPN's website

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NordVPN

• High-quality VPN offering safety and speed
• Loads of servers for multiple connection options
• Works with popular streaming services, including Netflix
• Too many confusing plans

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It may not be top of mind for most gamers, but your Xbox and other gaming consoles are susceptible to hackers and other cybersecurity concerns. The good news is that many virtual private networks (VPNs) can protect your Xbox console.

VPNs offer an added layer of security for your network and they can help you stay safe from cyberattacks. And don’t worry — our best VPNs for Xbox won’t affect your connection speeds, so you can still game at the same caliber.

Why you should use a VPN on your Xbox

There are benefits to using a VPN while Xbox gaming, such as protecting your personal information and your home network. Here are a few others:

• Avoid DDoS attacks: A distributed denial of service attack takes place when someone bombards your network resources by sending multiple requests to stop the website from keeping up or functioning properly.
• Avoid swatting: Swatting is a method of harassment where attackers use your IP address to find personal information about you. Then the attacker calls 911 or other emergency services to make false claims about a violent situation, which could lead to a SWAT team appearing at your front door.
• Access geo-restricted content: With a VPN, you can connect to server locations worldwide and access content that is not available in the United States. If you use your Xbox for streaming services, you can use a VPN to access geo-blocked content through the console too.
• Skip internet throttling: Some internet service providers (ISPs) may throttle, or slow down, your network connection if you’re using too much data. In some cases, a VPN can help you avoid this, as long as the VPN also doesn’t have a data limit.

Now that we have covered why a VPN is beneficial to your gaming experience, let’s look into the best VPNs for Xbox.

The best VPNs for Xbox 2024

• Surfshark: Best for unlimited devices
• CyberGhost: Best for VPN beginners
• NordVPN: Best for LAN gaming

Top 3 VPN services for Xbox compared

VPN	Surfshark	CyberGhost	NordVPN
Starting price	Starts at $1.99/mo	Starts at $2.03/mo	$2.99/mo
Free version
Streaming support	Yes — Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video	Yes — Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max	Yes — Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+
Learn more	Get Surfshark Read Surfshark Review	Get CyberGhost Read CyberGhost Review	Get NordVPN Read NordVPN Review

Surfshark: Best for unlimited devices

4.9

Surfshark is a top option for a house full of devices

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On Surfshark's website

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Surfshark

• VPN technology offering stability and speed
• Unlimited simultaneous connections
• Works with Netflix and other streaming services
• Headquarters in Nine Eyes Alliance

Who it’s best for

Surfshark is one of our favorite VPNs because it is simple to set up and easy to use. If you’re new to using a VPN, Surfshark will walk you through everything step by step. It’s also a top option for a house full of devices because it allows for unlimited simultaneous connections. If you’re paying for a VPN, you may as well use it on all your devices. Surfshark also has a great mobile app, as well as a Chrome extension.

What we liked

Surfshark is thorough in explaining its setup process and its site has a great resource library to help you with any troubleshooting, which we really appreciate. Since you can’t install a VPN directly on an Xbox, Surfshark provides an extensive article on how to install it on your router.

Surfshark also has a few extra features that we find helpful when you’re using it outside of online gaming, including Surfshark Alert, which notifies you of data breaches with your personal information; Surfshark Search, which is a private search engine; and Surfshark Antivirus, an antivirus scan for your devices.

We also tested how Surfshark affected our internet speeds when connected, and we didn’t see a drastic change in speeds when connected to the VPN.

What we didn’t like

Surfshark is a solid VPN. However, the company is headquartered in the Netherlands. This can affect your overall privacy because the Netherlands is part of the Nine Eyes Alliance, which means its government could request and share information with other countries on matters of national security.

Surfshark specs

CyberGhost: Best for VPN beginners

4.6

CyberGhost is a great option for new VPN users

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On CyberGhost's website

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CyberGhost

• Cheaper than ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and Surfshark
• Optimized servers for regional streaming
• No split tunneling feature

Who it’s best for

CyberGhost is a great option for someone new to using a VPN. It also offers a free trial and a 45-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it out first before committing to a longer-term subscription.

CyberGhost ‘s dashboard is simple and easy to navigate, so you can select the servers that work best for your chosen online activities. From the dashboard, you can see a list of servers that are best for gaming that you can connect to when using your Xbox.

What we liked

We were first drawn to CyberGhost because of its branding. But CyberGhost has more to offer than just a nice logo. CyberGhost offers gaming-optimized servers, so your gaming traffic can be routed through the best VPN servers available for fast speeds and low latency. While Xbox doesn’t allow you to set up a VPN directly on your console, CyberGhost does a great job of explaining how to protect your Xbox with its VPN.

What we didn’t like

CyberGhost restricts the number of devices that can be used at a time. Only seven devices can be connected simultaneously with each subscription.

In addition, CyberGhost’s user experience isn’t as seamless as other VPNs. In our review, we found that some of the settings were located in different areas of the app, which would normally all be located in one spot for better user experience. We also had some issues connecting to servers, but we were successful on our second try.

CyberGhost specs

NordVPN: Best for LAN gaming

4.9

NordVPN works well for any gameplay

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On NordVPN's website

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NordVPN

• High-quality VPN offering safety and speed
• Loads of servers for multiple connection options
• Works with popular streaming services, including Netflix
• Too many confusing plans

Who it’s best for

NordVPN works well for any gameplay, but its Meshnet feature allows you to play multiplayer local area network (LAN) games without having to worry about setup. With Meshnet, you can create a private encrypted network for you and your friends to play on.

To use NordVPN with your Xbox or other gaming device, you will need to install NordVPN on your router or purchase a router that already has NordVPN installed.

What we liked

NordVPN is one of our favorites because of its added features. Meshnet is just one great feature offered by NordVPN. It also has a great password manager, NordPass, that comes with its Plus and Complete plans.

NordVPN also includes SmartPlay with its VPN plans. SmartPlay is a built-in Smart DNS feature that changes your DNS when you try to access unavailable content. This feature can be helpful if you’re trying to access geo-restricted content from streaming services or if you’re looking to try a game that isn’t available in your location.

NordVPN also makes it easy to save presets for downloads, speed, or browsing. You can also easily set up a new preset for gaming. We also like that NordVPN has multi-factor authentication (MFA) to keep your account secure. And although Nord doesn’t have specific gaming servers, it does boast that all of its servers are ultra-fast.

What we didn’t like

NordVPN limits connected devices to six, which can be a deterrent for some people. This only counts for connected devices though, so you can have it installed on more than six devices but it can only be connected to six at a time. NordVPN is also the most expensive of the top three, but with a two-year plan it's still only a few dollars per month.

NordVPN offers a few different plans, which can get confusing. The least expensive plan, Standard, is a basic VPN. The other plans add additional features such as a password manager, data breach scanner, and cloud storage.

NordVPN specs

VPNs that didn’t make the cut

There are a lot of VPN providers, so it's important to find a VPN with features that are most important to you. You should also ensure that the VPN you choose will keep your browsing history safe with adequate encryption and VPN protocols.

Here are a couple of VPNs that didn’t make our top three.

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN offers a lot of great features for an avid VPN user. For one, it has its proprietary Lightway protocol, which the company touts as being faster and more secure than other VPN protocols. ExpressVPN also includes a threat manager, split tunneling, a kill switch, and more with its plans.

However, ExpressVPN is one of the most expensive VPNs we looked at for Xbox. We determined that its cost wasn’t worth it compared to our top three, which all have plans that are a few dollars cheaper per month.

Private Internet Access

Private Internet Access (PIA) also didn’t make it to our top three. PIA offers some features that are beneficial for gaming, including unlimited bandwidth, low ping, and strong encryption. However, we noticed that PIA slowed our speeds more than some of the other VPNs we tested.

Best VPNs for Xbox FAQs

Bottom line: The best VPNs for Xbox

Protecting your internet activity while gaming on your Xbox is important. Using a VPN allows you to encrypt your internet usage and hide your IP address. We looked at several VPNs to determine which work best while playing Xbox and would be a great addition to your overall cybersecurity efforts.

Surfshark, CyberGhost, and NordVPN were our favorite VPNs for Xbox. Each of these offered some of the best VPN services for users and they all walked us through the process of adding a VPN to an Xbox.

3 best VPNs for Xbox 2024

	Starting price	Best for	Learn more
Surfshark	Starts at $1.99/mo	Best for unlimited devices	Get Surfshark Read Surfshark Review
CyberGhost	Starts at $2.03/mo	Best for VPN beginners	Get CyberGhost Read CyberGhost Review
NordVPN	$2.99/mo	Best for LAN gaming	Get NordVPN Read NordVPN Review

How we tested the best VPNs for Xbox

We looked at several different criteria when determining the best VPNs for Xbox. Since you can’t add a VPN directly to Xbox with an app, it was important for us to find VPN solutions that made it easy to add the VPN to your router. We also downloaded all of the VPNs on our MacBook to see how easy it was to set them up. Finally, we tested our internet speeds while connected to the VPN to see how they would be impacted by the VPN connection.

4.9

Limited-time offer: 82% off + 4 months free

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On Surfshark's website

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Surfshark

• VPN technology offering stability and speed
• Unlimited simultaneous connections
• Works with Netflix and other streaming services
• Headquarters in Nine Eyes Alliance

Author Details

Andrew Adams

About the Author

Andrew Strom Adams is a freelance writer focused on online privacy and digital security. He writes on various topics to help individuals protect themselves on the internet. Andrew has worked in legal marketing, technology, and startups. He has more than 12 years of experience in marketing and communications. He holds an M.B.A. from Westminster College and a B.A. in journalism from Oklahoma Baptist University. When he’s not writing, he’s playing with his two kids or watching reality TV.