5 Best VPN for Server Hosting [Safe & Fast Gaming]
Most users chose the first VPN tool for hosting their game servers
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Key notes
- Hosting a game server while staying connected to a VPN can be challenging.
- A VPN should overcome certain obstacles to become a host for gaming servers.
- There are many perks of hosting your own game server, such as having full control.
- If you want to find a VPN that supports game hosting, check out our top picks.
Gaming has always been one of the fundamental uses of a house PC. A while ago, many games had official dedicated multiplayer servers you could connect to and play with your friends.
However, times have changed and users now prefer a more personal approach. Thus, instead of using dedicated hosting servers (if any), they create and manage their own game servers.
Can I use a VPN to host a server?
The answer is affirmative. You can host your own VPN server and use it to create game servers as you please.
It’s possible to host a personal server with your VPN software either on the cloud or with your router.
This way, your games in multiplayer mode will turn into fun and intense experiences with your friends.
The benefits of hosting game servers
The perks of hosting your own server range from being able to control the number of connected players, manage hardware, and even solve any issue that might occur (if you have the know-how).
However, hosting a public server often means that you have to forward some ports and stick to a static IP address.
If you don’t plan security and privacy carefully enough, you might jeopardize your network’s integrity in no time.
Alongside firewalls and blacklisting/whitelisting, VPNs might seem like a good idea in this scenario.
This type of service can secure your connection and give you a much-needed privacy boost. You can also improve your ping with VPN.
Let’s see how all of this fits with hosting a game server.
VPN requirements for hosting a game server
📶 Native port forwarding – if a VPN doesn’t support port forwarding, your friends won’t be able to see your server
⏩ Dedicated, static IP address – if the IP address isn’t stable, your clients will disconnect every time the IP changes
⏩ Low ping – playing on a high-latency server is never a pleasant experience to anyone
It only makes sense that we’ll only target VPN services that can meet at least the three requirements above.
What are the best VPN apps to host game servers?
Private Internet Access – Highest connection speed
Private Internet Access is an excellent VPN solution from Kape Technologies that covers a broad range of needs.
Whether you want to keep your online whereabouts to yourself or look for a corporate VPN solution, PIA has you covered.
This service can cloak your real IP address and assign you a new one. That way, pesky tracking services can’t identify you, regardless of the online activities you choose to engage in. Obviously, that includes gaming.
You can use this VPN on a broad range of devices, such as PC, iOS, Mac, Android, and more.
PIA holds an impressive count of over 3,000 servers distributed wide across 66 locations in 46 countries.
It uses popular, secure technologies including PPTP, OpenVPN, SOCKS5 (Proxy), and IPsec/L2TP to keep your connection both private and fast.
Take a look at PIA’s key features:
- Zero-logging policy
- Browse anonymously
- Supports port forwarding
- Lets you use a static IP address through OpenVPN
- Integrated firewall blocks outside connections
- A wide network of VPN servers
- Fast, low-ping servers
Private Internet Access
Want to host a game server through VPN? PIA supports any requirements for that.NordVPN – Biggest server network
This VPN solution is ideal to host your own servers and play games freely without various glitches or privacy issues.
NordVPN offers the most extensive server network in many different locations, so you can choose the regions that suit your needs.
Thus, you have 5000+ servers across 59 countries with the latest VPN protocols like WireGuard or Onion over VPN for enhanced anonymity.
With such a rich network, you can host your own servers with supersonic connection speed for smooth gaming and improved performance.
In addition, this VPN gives you open access to restricted content no matter the location, obfuscated servers to hide your traffic, and much more to come.
It is worth noting that you have double protection tool that allows you to change the IP address twice for even more privacy.
Take a look at NordVPN features:
- Complete DNS leak protection
- Unblocking any streaming content
- Extension support for Chrome, Firefox, Edge browsers
- Split tunneling tool
- Support for 6 devices at once
- Compatible with all major platforms
NordVPN
Pick from thousands of servers and host your own ones using this top VPN app.ExpressVPN – Record server locations
ExpressVPN is not just a random VPN in the list, but it comes with the best connection speed and support for many server locations worldwide.
Firstly, this solution takes the stage for connection speed and privacy. You have the latest VPN protocols and ISP throttling block to get increased speed.
This is offering you the support to host personal servers using your PC or router, without taking digital risks around your private data.
To give you a better image, this software has rich server coverage in 94 different countries. So you have an infinity of options to host your servers using ExpressVPN.
In addition, it delivers leading data security tools like TrustedServer technology. That means your data is wiped out every time you reboot the PC.
More so, any of your servers will not write to the hard drive in order to minimize data theft and cyber-attacks.
- Network kill switch
- Split tunneling functionality
- Latest data encryption
- Private DNS for each server
- No connection data logs
ExpressVPN
Benefit from the widest server network and host your servers using this popular VPN.PureVPN – Best for secured gaming
PureVPN is a great service from GZ Systems Limited you can use to give your connection a privacy boost. You can safely use it in a wide array of scenarios, like making a Minecraft server for you and your buddies.
As promised, we’re only going to deliver VPN solutions that check off the requirements on our list above.
Not only does PureVPN offer port forwarding support, but you can also buy a static, stable IP address for your server.
However, note that both port forwarding and dedicated IP features are add-ons. Therefore, you’ll have to purchase them separately from the base PureVPN subscription.
Last, but not least, its servers are fast enough and can take the heat of running a game server.
Let’s take a look at PureVPN’s key features:
- Automatically turns on the VPN when connecting to Wi-Fi
- Dynamic port forwarding supported (add-on)
- Kill switch
- Dedicated IP address (add-on)
- DDoS protection (useful for your server)
- WebRTC, IPv6, DNS leak protection
- Supports 10GB connection speeds
PureVPN
This VPN can help you host a game server and protects you from DDoS attacks.Hide.me – Free advanced VPN security
Hide.me is an efficient VPN service from eVenture Ltd. that can protect your online privacy and secure your connection. It almost checks off all of the requirements we’ve listed above.
Thus, you can use it if you want to host a game server.
However, note that it only supports dynamic port forwarding. The team behind the project considers static port forwarding a security risk (as it should).
More so, Hide.me doesn’t offer dedicated IP addresses, but it has the Fixed IP address feature.
You can reserve an IP address on the VPN server and you’ll be assigned that address every time you connect to said server.
However, if the server is very loaded, there’s a chance that someone else will receive your reserved IP.
The same goes for port forwarding. The port you want to forward might’ve grabbed it before you, so some risks are involved if you want to emulate static port forwarding.
Hide.me’s key features:
- Its free VPN service is also ad-free
- Not even the free version logs your activity
- Dynamic port forwarding
- Fixed IP feature
- Auto-reconnect in case of disconnection
- Kill switch
- IP/DNS leak prevention
Hide.me
Can’t seem to host your game server while using a VPN? Hide.me can simplify your task.What is better VPN or VPS?
The main difference is that VPS (Virtual Private Server) is used especially by those who manage their own website, while a VPN is utilized by all users for more privacy.
You can use both of them according to your needs to enhance your online privacy, both as a user and website owner.
While using a VPN might surely increase both your privacy and security, configuring to support hosting a game server can be somewhat tricky.
First of all, you’ll need to have the know-how, since it’s a quite complex process. Assuming that you do, you’ll have to tackle the following challenges:
➡️ Using a certain VPN might result in higher latency, which is not desirable when hosting a game server
➡️ You can’t control which port gets forwarded and when which can make it difficult/impossible for your clients to see or connect to the server
➡️ For security reasons, the forwarded port periodically changes, which will result in your clients getting disconnected until they update the port number
➡️ If the VPN connection drops, your server will go offline as well
➡️ Depending on the location of your choice, your IP will change and the connection details of your server will subsequently change
The bottom line is that you can successfully host a game server through a VPN.
However, you have to go to extreme lengths to make sure it stays online all the time and it’s stable enough that your clients can connect to it and remain connected.
