Best VPNs for Discord in 2024

Best VPNs for Discord in 2024

Discord is no longer a service only gamers use though it remains popular among that community. Today, artists of all kinds — musicians especially — are relying on Discord to interact with their fans.

With a VPN, you get an extra layer of anonymity on Discord, which we take to be an important feat. Also, you get to access the service from all over the globe, with no institution or government agency standing in your way.

Which leads us to the main point of getting a VPN – to help you get more freedom on the Internet. Whether you need it to bypass some silly restriction, access content that would otherwise be unavailable to you or just to keep a low profile online – a VPN will help you do that. And, here’s the best part, it will do that across platforms and devices – meaning you could use it on your computer, phone, tablet and so on.

But since you’re into Discord, here are the best options for you — which will also work for any other thing you may need:

1
NordVPN

at NordVPN.com
Our rating:
Price from: $3.39/mo
30-day money-back guarantee

Pros

Cons

  • 5,000+ servers in the network
  • Easy to use - install it and forget it
  • One license is good for up to 6 devices
  • Strict zero-logs policy
  • 30-day money-back guarantee
  • Chrome extension is just a proxy

Summary

There is a good reason why NordVPN is one of the most popular VPN services in the world, and one of our personal favorites, as well.

Its network includes more than 6,200 servers spread across 111 countries, which directly translates into faster speeds. NordVPN is also very secure, relying on the strong 256-bit encryption combined with secure VPN protocols (OpenVPN, WireGuard, IKEv2/IPSec). But as a user, you get a seamless experience with all this technology "doing its thing" in the background.

NordVPN is well suited to pretty much every task you throw at it — whether it's accessing a banned site from some country that filters out the internet, torrenting, accessing streaming services, or just wanting to keep a low profile on the web. It also doesn't keep any logs.

We highly recommend NordVPN to anyone looking for reliable service.
2
ExpressVPN

at ExpressVPN.com
Our rating:
Price from: $8.32/mo
30-day money-back guarantee

Pros

Cons

  • Feature-rich yet easy to use
  • One of the best VPNs around
  • Strong no-logging policy
  • Reliable support you can reach 24/7
  • Limited number of servers in Africa and the Middle East
  • Kinda pricey

Summary

ExpressVPN is one of the best VPS services on the planet. There are a few others that come close — and even outshine ExpressVPN in some specific segments — but as far as the majority of users are concerned, this is the best VPN service they could sign-up for. (alongside NordVPN)

ExpressVPN has great desktop apps for Windows and Mac, mobile apps and browser extensions. Also, it is well suited for video streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer and others.

However, what makes it stand out is its ease of use. We can't emphasize this enough. One could tell a lot of time has been spent making sure even the advanced features are easily accessible. And we love it for that. Plus, let's not forget ExpressVPN's speed which tends to leave other services in the dust.
3
Hotspot Shield

at HotspotShield.com
Our rating:
Price from: $2.99/mo
45-day money-back guarantee

Pros

Cons

  • It's super fast!
  • Works with Netflix, BBC and others
  • Easy to use apps, browser extensions
  • You can try it for free!
  • Some advanced features are not configurable
  • Not the best for high-censorship countries

Summary

Hotspot Shield could easily be the fastest VPNs out there with its proprietary technology helping the company deliver blazing-fast download AND upload speeds. In fact, it is among our top choices for streaming (Netflix included) and torrenting, and is equally suited for desktop and mobile users.

Furthermore, thanks to the availability of browser extensions - Hotspot Shield is also one of our top choices for Chrome and Firefox VPNs.

Your privacy is equally well protected, with the software only collecting some anonymized that help continually improve its service.

There is one caveat though - it won't work in high-censorship countries like China. If you don't need that in the first place, we highly recommend Hotspot Shield.

As that's typically the case with most VPN services out there, the longer you commit - the better deal you get. However, what makes Hotspot Shield even better is the fact that it offers a 7-day free trial of its service. A few other top VPN providers do the same. Plus, its money-back guarantee lasts for 45 days, making for a risk-free purchase. Cause, you can always get your money back. Sweet and just the way we like it.
4
Surfshark

at Surfshark.com
Our rating:
Price from: $1.99/mo
30-day money-back guarantee

Pros

Cons

  • Reliable download and upload speeds
  • Works with Netflix and BBC iPlayer
  • Strict zero-logs policy
  • Lets you use it on unlimited number of devices
  • Low number of servers in Africa and Australia

Summary

Surfshark is a solid all-round VPN offering top-notch security and privacy features. It may not be the best option out there, but it's definitely not the worst. And for the price, it offers a hard to beat package that goes well beyond basic VPN service.

You can rely on it for streaming and torrenting, with included extra features like CleanWeb and MultiHop, delivering a that much better — and more secure — experience.

Surfshark, the company, is based in the British Virgin Islands and with its zero-logs policy makes for a powerful combo to anyone looking to keep its web whereabouts under the radar.

The service is easy to use and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
5
IPVanish

at IPVanish.com
Our rating:
Price from: $3.99/mo
30-day money-back guarantee

Pros

Cons

  • One the best VPNs for torrenting
  • Works well with Netflix
  • Simple setup on all popular devices
  • Strict zero-logs policy
  • Doesn't work with BBC iPlayer
  • Doesn't work in China

Summary

IPVanish is fast and especially great for torrenters and Kodi fans. It also works with Netflix though the situation is different with BBC iPlayer — for which we've had a hard time finding a reliable server.

Its desktop apps are not among the prettiest ones, but they get the job done. The important thing is that installation is easy and straightforward, and that no logs are kept by the company.

When it comes to pricing, IPVanish is somewhere in the middle — it's not the most affordable option but also not the most expensive one. As noted, it will be most appreciated by heavy BitTorrent users, and — related — Kodi fans.

Discord 101

For those who still haven’t heard of it, Discord is a VoIP, instant messaging and digital distribution platform for creating communities. It allows users to communicate with voice calls, video calls, text messaging, media and files in private chats or as part of communities called “servers” — which represent a collection of persistent chat rooms and voice chat channels. Discord runs across all popular platforms and on the web. As of December 2020, it had over 140 million monthly active users.

A brief history of Discord

Discord is a brainchild of Jason Citron, who had founded social gaming platform OpenFeint, and Stanislav Vishnevsky, who had founded Guildwork, another social gaming platform.

During the years, Citron has noticed how difficult it was for his team to work out tactics in games like Final Fantasy XIV and League of Legends using available VoIP software. This led to the development of a chat service with a focus on user-friendliness with minimal impact on performance.

And so he decided to create Discord, having secured funding from YouWeb’s 9+ incubator, Benchmark Capital and Tencent.

In May 2015, Discord was publicly released under the domain name discordapp.com. Soon afterward, even without any special marketing, some gaming-related subreddits began to switch their IRC links with Discord links. The service became widely used by esports and LAN tournament gamers. Discord also benefited from relationships with Twitch streamers and subreddit communities for Diablo and World of Warcraft.

In April 2018, Microsoft announced that it will provide Discord support for Xbox Live users — allowing them to link their Discord and Xbox Live accounts so that they can connect with their Xbox Live friends list through Discord.

In December 2018, the company announced it raised $150 million in funding at a $2 billion valuation. The round was led by Greenoaks Capital with participation from Firstmark, Tencent, IVP, Index Ventures and Technology Opportunity Partners.

In March 2020, Discord expanded its reach, changing its motto from “Chat for Gamers” to “Chat for Communities and Friends” — and introduced server templates. This was part of their response to an increase of users as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In April 2020, Discord changed its primary domain from discordapp.com to discord.com.

Starting in June 2020, Discord announced it was shifting focus away from video gaming specifically to a more all-purpose communication and chat client for all functions, revealing its new slogan “Your place to talk” and a revised website. At that time, the company has secured an additional $100 million in investments to help with these changes.

Finally, in April 2021 – Discord launched another round of investment in April 2021. Among those investing in the company was Sony Interactive Entertainment, with the company wowing to integrate a portion of Discord’s services into the PlayStation Network by 2022.

You may need a VPN for Discord…

Simply put – the service is not available all around the world and even in countries where you can access it, you may be blocked to do so from some facilities like university campuses, workplaces and so on.

With a VPN, you don’t have to worry about any of that, plus you’ll get to benefit from an added layer of anonymity — which, as you may know, is a sort of luxury these days. And that, we believe, is what a VPN is all about – to help you get your privacy on the Internet.

Beyond Discord, a good VPN will serve other purposes just as well; for instance, it will:

  • Protect your privacy from the government and big corporations
  • Bypass restrictions imposed by the government or various organizations
  • Change your IP address so you get unrestricted access to Netflix, Disney+, iPlayer, HULU, and other video streaming services
  • Encrypt and protect private data from cybercriminals

The top contenders that check all these boxes include the following:

30-day money-back guarantee
30-day money-back guarantee
45-day money-back guarantee