We've tested dozens of VPN services in CS2 (CSGO) and tested the PING and shortened the list to five!
ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is one of the most well-known premium VPN services, and there's an apparent reason why.
After our testing, we can say that ExpressVPN is our favorite VPN for CS2 (CSGO) and other games too. Their service provides you with over 3000+ servers and hundreds of locations from all over the world! We're big fans of being able to switch IP addresses, as you can use this to change the CS2 (CSGO) game server you play on and fix failed to find dedicated CS2 (CSGO) server issues!
The VPN connection on ExpressVPN is top-tier and is one of the fastest ones we've tested. When playing CS2 (CSGO), our average ping without ExpressVPN was 15 ms. After turning on ExpressVPN, our average ping turned to 25 ms. You can use a couple of CS2 (CSGO) network ping commands to improve the experience.
It's evident that a VPN will increase your ping, but ExpressVPN only increases it by 10. This increase in ping can't be felt in the game, so you'll be able to secure your connection and still have low ping!
The cool thing about ExpressVPN is you can provide five connections simultaneously! You can switch around these connections to see which ones will give you the better average ping, but we assure you your ping on all connections will be good!
Unfortunately, ExpressVPN is not a free VPN, and their subscription fees raise eyebrows. They charge $12.95 monthly, but you can lower the costs by taking their package deals. Still, we will acknowledge that this pricing is way above competitors, and we can't recommend this to anyone on a tight budget.
However, ExpressVPN does have a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can try out ExpressVPN, and if it doesn't meet your expectations, you can contact their highly-responsive customer support to get a refund if you're dissatisfied.
SurfShark
SurfShark is another reliable VPN app that is very budget-friendly, unlike ExpressVPN.
The main selling point of SurfShark is they are a fast VPN you can get for only $2.49/month! This pricing is less than 20% of ExpressVPN's cost, and they even offer you a free 7-day trial to check if everything suits you!
SurfShark becomes an excellent solution for CS2 (CSGO) players who want to play on unsecured servers, which can be the case if you're an active player on Community Servers. SurfShark will protect and hide your IP address and offer you complete anonymity when playing CS GO on any community or official server. Subscribing to them can also help you fix some connecting to CS2 (CSGO) network issues.
SurfShark offers over 3200 servers in 65 countries, which is a lot considering their cheap pricing. However, many users place reports that less-populated servers on SurfShark need to be fixed, and they tend to disconnect randomly. Make sure to keep this in mind so you don't disconnect in the middle of a CS2 (CSGO) match!
If you need help determining which VPN server you should connect to, you can always contact SurfShark's fantastic customer support. SurfShark's customer service is top-notch at a low price, as you will receive quick and insightful responses that should answer your questions.
Another thing we love about SurfShark is unlimited simultaneous connections to your SurfShark account. If you want to play together, you can share your SurfShark account with your entire CS2 (CSGO) 5-stack! That way, all your friends will have secure connections when you're playing with them!
CyberGhost
CyberGhost is the cheapest VPN out of the five and also has the most servers out of all of them.
CyberGhost has over 8200 servers in 91 countries, the highest number of servers and countries on this list! At that point, you'll be able to change your CS2 (CSGO) server region to any location you want!
You might think CyberGhost charges high subscription fees for that many possible servers, but you shouldn't be worried. CyberGhost charges only $2.19 per month, making it one of the most budget-friendly VPN choices with a kill switch.
Despite having such affordable prices, CyberGhost also provides a money-back guarantee of 45 days, which is 15 more days than ExpressVPN, for one-fifth the price!
We've checked out numerous Trustpilot reviews surrounding CyberGhost and were met with highly positive ones from thousands of gamers. These gamers reported that CyberGhost helped them secure good connections with fair ping.
Still, there have to be some negatives from using CyberGhost in CS2 (CSGO) for that price. During our testing, we'll admit that the VPN provided us with smooth performances in CS2 (CSGO), but we experienced slight lags once or twice per game. These lags only lasted one or two seconds but can be detrimental in some situations.
Despite these slight instances of lag, CyberGhost is still an amazing VPN. However, we recommend paying for premium VPNs if you play CS2 (CSGO) professionally.
IPVanish
IPVanish is another functional VPN service provider with good deals and benefits.
IPVanish offers over 2000 servers in 75 countries with unlimited bandwidth and split tunneling. This amount of servers is more than enough for you to pick the best one and have a smooth connection in any CS2 (CSGO) server with low ping.
As their brand name suggests, your IP address will be wholly protected in CS2 (CSGO) community servers and during your time with internet traffic. Many users have reported not having faced issues when watching CS2 (CSGO) streams on Twitch either!
We've tested IPVanish on CS2 (CSGO) and are keen to share our results. Before connecting to IPVanish, we got an average of 15 ping on the closest CS2 (CSGO) server. After turning on IPVanish, our ping went to 29.
Though ExpressVPN gives slightly better results, a ping increase of only 14 after turning on IPVanish is still terrific compared to other VPN providers in the market. During our gameplay with ExpressVPN, we experienced zero lag spikes and had a smooth connection throughout the game.
However, one thing that may pull people away from subscribing to IPVanish is their pricing. They charge $10.99 per month, which is way higher than SurfShark and CyberGhost. But, IPVanish offers an annual package deal that pulls down the monthly fee to $3.75.
Though a $3.75 price point seems attractive, you must commit $44.99 to receive these benefits. Moreover, like the other VPNs on the list, IPVanish provides you with a 30-day money-back guarantee for their yearly package, which means you can ask for a refund if you're unsatisfied with their services.
NordVPN
Last but not least, we have one of the biggest VPN names, NordVPN.
Even if you've never subscribed to a VPN provider, you may have heard of NordVPN's name from massive YouTubers. At this point, every content creator has made sponsored videos under NordVPN, and there's a good reason why. Thanks to decent pricing and fantastic functionality, NordVPN is one of the top choices for the best VPNs for CS2 (CSGO).
We'll have to admit that their monthly plans are a little pricier, with the standard plan costing $12.99 per month and their complete plan costing $14.99. However, with a two-year plan, you can lower the monthly cost to only $3.19 for the standard and $5.19 for the complete package.
However, getting these affordable deals will mean you must commit and pay $86.13 to $140.13 for two years, depending on which deal you take. Still, we can guarantee your satisfaction if you do decide to commit.
We've tested NordVPN in CS2 (CSGO). Before turning on NordVPN, we were getting a ping of 14 ms. After turning on the VPN, it went to 27 ms, which isn't too big of an increase. This ping increase is slightly higher than ExpressVPN, but it can also depend on your Internet Service Provider.
If you are unhappy with NordVPN's performance, you can always use their 30-day money-back guarantee, where you can refund your subscription to NordVPN. With such a good reputation, we doubt that you'll need to make a refund!
A NordVPN subscription will allow you to have up to 6 connections, so you can share your NordVPN account with all your friends and queue into matchmaking without fear of DDoS attacks or unwanted actions.