4 Best servers that let you play World of Warcraft for free

World of Warcraft private servers are nothing new, and while not everyone’s willing to go play in these communities, they exist nonetheless. Some over the years have come and gone, but in 2025, there are simply so many of them out there. With some that are still on the way like Project Epoch, others have been around for years, and possibly even decades. The private servers below I’ve spent some time on, some more than others, and enjoyed my visits in each.

Choosing to play on a World of Warcraft private server is entirely up to you, and we cannot tell you if Blizzard is ever going to tackle some of these servers and force them to shut down. That said, many of them offer unique, Classic+ experiences that you can’t get anywhere else.

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World of Warcraft private servers that are worth considering

1) Turtle WoW

Turtle WoW is Classic+, but much prettier and detailed (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

If you want something that looks and feels like vanilla World of Warcraft in private server form, Turtle WoW is going to be the one you want to consider. What if the game didn’t veer into the Burning Crusade and beyond, and focused more on the threats that are actually on Azeroth? That’s what you get in Turtle WoW. They even have their own fan-made expansion, with Mysteries of Azeroth. If you ever wanted to see WoW in Unreal 5, that's just another bonus.

It’s an experience that’s closer to the original goals and designs of the game, with new locations, quests, and even races. The Alliance have gained the High Elves, and the Goblins have joined the Horde. These Goblins feel more like the traditional goblins of the franchise; you know, like the Ferengi in Star Trek. I’ve spent some time in Turtle WoW, and genuinely enjoyed how it was all put together.

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2) Project Ascension

It's been a while, but I do enjoy Project Ascension quite a lot (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Project Ascension is the World of Warcraft private server I have the most knowledge and experience in. A friend recommended it to me many years ago, and when I saw they have Randomizers for class abilities? Say no more. It’s such a wild, chaotic private server. You basically can build your own class from the ground up, using abilities from all classes up to Death Knight.

They have seasonal content, amazing unique builds, and shake things up with a variety of Classic+ style content. I enjoy this one the most for the sheer complexity and flexibility of it all. They consistently put out great seasonal content, and it’s a more updated version of the game compared to the more grounded Turtle WoW.

Project Ascension even has the upcoming Conquest of Azeroth, which boasts 21 new classes; ever want to be a Son of Arugal? A Cultist or Necromancer? They give you the option, or at least, they will, when this update finally launches.

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3) Tauri

If you’re looking for something just a little more modern, Tauri WoW has a World of Warcraft private server with Legion content. When last I looked into it, they were testing the Legion content. With relatively popular servers, and active developers, they’re doing some pretty interesting stuff over on Tauri WoW.

However, this is an international server, Hungarian, I believe. This may or may not be the one for you, depending on where you’re located in the world. There are English-speaking users, and an English speaking server, so that’s certainly a positive if you don’t read Hungarian.

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4) ChromieCraft

Behold, the Death Knight! (Image via Blizzard Entertainment/YouTube@ChromieCraft

ChromieCraft is more of the “Original Trilogy” flavor of World of Warcraft private server. It focuses on the first three titles: WoW, The Burning Crusade, and Wrath of the Lich King. In fact, they just added the Death Knight class to the game this month. It’s also run by the AzerothCore team, to continue to make any updates made to it an open-source thing.

They’ve staggered their leveling caps and raid tiers in a pretty progressive way. I haven’t spent much time among the ChromieCraft community, but I definitely liked what I saw. That original trilogy of releases were some of the best times I had in WoW, so being able to see it in this light is a pretty great thing.

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Check out our other World of Warcraft guides and features

• Blizzard brings bad news for WoW Legion Remix transmog collectors
• WoW patch 11.2 Ghosts of K’aresh: Everything we know so far
• Is WoW teasing a third Demon Hunter spec in patch 11.2?

Edited by Jason Parker