Best VPN for Steam Deck in 2026: What Installs on SteamOS at All, and a VPN in Gaming Mode

Short answer: SteamOS is an unusual Linux. Its system part is read-only, and programs from Discover live in the Flatpak sandbox, where they have no right to a network tunnel of their own. So the usual routes — a package or a Flatpak — do not work for a VPN client on a Steam Deck. ProxysVPN has a separate Steam Deck build, an AppImage file: it installs in Desktop Mode in ten minutes and then connects in Gaming Mode without a password. To be straight about it: we have not run it on a real Steam Deck yet, only in a SteamOS simulation.

What can be installed on a Steam Deck

Why a VPN installs differently on a Steam Deck

• No .deb or .rpm packages. The /usr directory is a read-only image that every SteamOS update replaces.
• A Flatpak from Discover will not do for a client with its own tunnel: inside the sandbox a program has no right to a network tunnel.
• The deck user has no password. SteamOS grants administrator rights by password, and there is none until you set one.
• Gaming Mode has nowhere to ask for a password. A system password window simply has nowhere to appear there.

The ProxysVPN build for Steam Deck handles it like this: on the first connection, with your password, it places its helper once in /home/.proxysvpn, a folder only the system can change, and from then on starts the tunnel from there — Gaming Mode included.

How to install ProxysVPN on a Steam Deck

1. 1Switch to Desktop Mode: Steam button → “Power” → “Switch to Desktop”.
2. 2In a browser, open the download page and download the Steam Deck file, ProxysVPN_…_amd64.AppImage.
3. 3Allow the file to run: in the Dolphin file manager, right-click the file → “Properties” → “Permissions” → tick “Is executable”. Or use the first command in the block below.
4. 4Set a password for the deck user if it has none yet: the second command in the block below, typed twice. If there is a password already, skip this step.
5. 5Start the file with a double click. On the “Gaming Mode without a password?” screen choose “Allow Gaming Mode without a password” — then the password is asked once.
6. 6Get a sign-in code: in your dashboard, open the device card and press “Code for the app”. The eight-character code is valid for 10 minutes and works once. No account yet? Signing up takes a minute with an email address; Telegram is not needed.
7. 7In the app choose “Enter a code from the website”, type the code and press “Connect”. On the first connection the system asks for the deck password once.
8. 8Add the app to Steam: “Games” → “Add a Non-Steam Game to My Library…” → “Browse…”, file type “All Files”, pick the AppImage → “Add Selected Programs”. Do not turn on compatibility (Proton): this is an ordinary Linux program.
9. 9Go back to Gaming Mode: ProxysVPN is in the library under “Non-Steam”. The on-screen keyboard is Steam + X.

# in Konsole, in the folder the file was saved to: allow it to run
chmod +x ProxysVPN_*_amd64.AppImage
# set a password for the deck user, if it has none yet
passwd

Why a VPN on a Steam Deck

• Public Wi-Fi when travelling. The tunnel encrypts everything that leaves the console.
• Discord, YouTube and streams in Desktop Mode go through the same tunnel as everything else.
• Ping in online games does not drop because of a VPN by itself: the route to the game server passes one more server. When that helps and when it hurts is in does a VPN increase ping.
• Ordinary Linux on a laptop runs the same AppImage; DNS trouble on desktop distributions is covered in VPN not working on Linux.

What has been checked and what has not

• Checked: the build starts in a SteamOS 3.7–3.9 simulation on the build servers and is driven with buttons and a virtual controller.
• Not checked: a real Steam Deck, Steam Input and the Steam on-screen keyboard.
• Installed it on your own Steam Deck? Tell support how it went: that is how these instructions get more accurate.

What it costs

The app itself is free; what you pay for is the subscription: $1.50 per device per month, taken from your balance, with nothing charged to your card automatically. Top-ups start at $5. An account opened on the Russian site is priced in roubles instead: an account keeps the currency it was opened in, whatever card tops it up. The Steam Deck is a separate device in the dashboard, with its own code.