Back in the days, when torrents used to be the next big thing, new sites were “popping up” on every corner, offering more privacy, faster download speeds, and a wider range of available torrents. The situation is a bit different today. Even though we still have numerous torrent sites on the Internet, there is a relatively small group of websites that stand out and provide the best service.

1. The Best Torrents Sites 2019
2. Best Torrent Client 2019 Linux
3. Best Free Torrent Program 2019
4. 10 Best Torrents 2019

Torrenting in 2020 is all about reliability and privacy. In this article, we’ll take a look at the greatest websites and let you decide which ones suit you best. Our list of the best torrent websites – 21 in total – was compiled based on the Alexa ratings, customer reviews, and our own experiences.

While the most popular torrenting sites are equally great for downloading movies, TV shows, books, video games, and everything else in between, most torrent websites are usually good for one of two categories of content, and we’ll make sure to point that out in these reviews. Along with the not-so-accurate Alexa ratings, it’s also important to check the number of daily/monthly visitors. That will help you create a more accurate picture in your head.

Best Torrent Sites Of 2019 Best Torrent Clients For Windows, Mac, Linux Here is a list of the 13 popular free torrent downloading software for three popular platforms, Windows, Mac, and Linux.

The best free torrent clients 2021: faster, safer downloads By Cat Ellis 21 October 2020 Free torrent clients to help you to download and manage files as efficiently as possible. This means even if you add a torrent file or image/video file to be downloaded, you use the same button for it and FlashGet will immediately know how to handle the download. This program also has a floating desktop button so you can toggle browser monitoring, pause/start downloads, and add new download links.

Alright, without further ado, let us take a look at the best websites for torrenting. One last thing: to keep your privacy in 2020, use a solid VPN.

The Best VPNs For Torrent Fans

Private torrent websites are hard to “crack”, that’s true. But to be 100% secure, we’ll need a VPN. Let us take a look at the best VPN for torrenting right now.

ExpressVPN

The huge number of servers, top-notch security protocols, and strong performance make it the best torrent VPN. It might be a bit too expensive for comfort, though ($12, 95 for the monthly plan).

NordVPN

Affordable and reliable, NordVPN is the best VPN for torrents if you put security first. For $11, 95 a month, you’ll get access to 4K servers, top-notch clients/apps for all major platforms, and industry-leading customer support.

PureVPN

In many regards, PureVPN is like the golden middle between the fast ExpressVPN and the secure NordVPN. And, it is more affordable than both ($10, 95 a month). Multi logins, P2P support, 300K IPs, and ~2200 servers – that’s what you’ll get with this service.

Why would one need a VPN to torrent?

The majority of torrent websites tend to recommend the users to download torrent files (or any other big files) using a Virtual Private Network. And it would be wise to listen to their advice. Depending on a country and its laws, torrenting can be illegal and considered to be a crime. If you don’t protect yourself from the all-seeing eyes, that can lead to a lot of trouble.

The list of potential outcomes includes copyright infringement notices in your mail all the way up to huge fines. Sometimes, the police arrest people that use torrents and even put them behind the bars. Even if there aren’t any laws against torrenting in your country, that doesn’t mean you’re 100% safe. Most likely, your ISP will use the throttling technique to slow down your connection. They usually do that in case of heavy data usage (AKA heavy downloading).

The decrease in speed can be quite extreme and leave you with only 20-30% of the original speed, if not less. Thankfully, with a solid VPN, you’ll be able to not only protect yourself from the government but also eliminate the possibility of throttling.

So let’s sum up all the benefits of using torrent sites paired with a VPN:

• Every once in a while, we come across torrent sites that are blocked in certain countries (or even by certain ISPs). With a VPN, the users can switch to a different server with one single click and start using those otherwise restricted sites. It doesn’t really matter where you are: pick the right server, and that’s it!
• VPN services encrypt your connection (using the unbreakable AES 256-bit encryption) and route it through their own servers. That makes it almost impossible for anyone to track your online activity. Watching movies, playing games, and, of course, downloading torrents with a VPN can be done without worrying about possible consequences.
• No throttling. As mentioned, ISPs don’t favor torrent fans and bottleneck their connection speed quite often. Again, a Network will help you to “outsmart” the provider and keep enjoying high speeds. When your traffic is untraceable, they simply can’t know that you’re downloading massive chunks of data.

Best Torrent Sites in 2020

1 The Pirate Bay – The King Of The Kings

When it comes to torrent sites, the number of seeders is one of the most important things: the more seeders, the higher the download speed of a certain torrent will be. The Pirate Bay is the best pick from this point of view.

On average, +/-50 million users visit it monthly! It is equally good for shows, movies, games, software, books, and more. It has been around for decades and is currently the obvious leader.

Despite the long list of restrictions for users from many countries and the legal charges that the owners had to face, PB is still the king. The range of available torrents is very impressive, and for most people, The Pirate Bay is more than enough to cover their torrenting needs.

After the officials brought the website with the original domain down, PB fell off the list of the “hottest” torrent sites. However, it didn’t take it a long time to climb back to the top. The incredibly friendly and simple interface, the impressive collection of links, and the tolerable ads contribute to its popularity.

2RarBG – The Most Popular Site For Movies

This is another big name among torrent sites. It started out as just another tracker from Bulgaria but has turned into one of the best torrent sites of 2020.

For the fans of movies and TV shows, it doesn’t get better than RarBG. The catalog is being updated 24/7, and you can always count on it to check out the latest films/episodes. TV shows are, once again, incredibly popular, and that is exactly what made it the best torrent for movies. The current Alexa Rank is 37,700, but last year, it managed to make it into the top-5! With an average of 1, 7 million visitors per month, RarBG is the king of movie torrents.

The Best Torrents Sites 2019

As already mentioned, the selection is quite impressive, and the users will find movies and TV shows of various resolutions/image qualities. Quality and quantity are the words that describe RarBG best.

3YTS.ag – One Of The Best Choices For Movies

Famous for its high-quality files that take very little space on the hard drive, YTS.ag is another great option if you love movies and shows.

Important note: this website doesn’t have anything to do with the original YTS. In fact, it practically “stole” its name and is constantly being banned for that. Still, for fast and easy torrenting, it is a solid pick.

41337X – Great For Video Games And Software

The gamers love this torrent site; same goes for the folks looking for some high-quality software. In 2017, 1337X had privacy/security problems, but now it’s back on the top. As far as the finest torrent sites go, this one is a solid pick. However, it’s getting more recognition for the selection of movies rather than games/soft these days.

Important note: while the users might not find the latest stuff here, they will surely appreciate the collection of some old-yet-useful programs and games.

The greatest downside – compared to the bigger competitors, the seeder count can be low at times. Nevertheless, ~1.6 million users visit 1337X per month.

5 – Zoogle – Impressive Database, Frequent Updates

Make sure to add this one to your bookmarks. As an alternative for The Pirate Bay and RarBG, it is perfect.

Best Torrent Client 2019 Linux

Throughout the years, Zoogle has been under the radar. But, again, for downloading things that you can’t find elsewhere, it is quite alright. The database includes 30K movies and 1,3K shows, and the list keeps getting bigger. Today, Zoogle is among the most reliable torrent sites out there.

6Tor Lock – Another Great Alternative For PB and RarBG

Tor Lock is kind of a perfect choice: website looks amazing, everything is very user-friendly, and the database is huge. It looks a lot like 1337X, by the way. With 3+ million torrents and its own magnet links, TL is here to stay. No modern-day user wants to waste time scrolling through the links.

Fact: all the indexed torrents are verified, which means you won’t have to worry about anything while searching for a movie/show/game.

7Torrentz2 – A Comprehensive Torrent Search Engine

No, this isn’t a torrent site, but rather a place where you can find links to other sites with torrents. With approximately 5, 5 million torrents from 70+ domains, Torrentz2 is a worthy successor to the original Torrentz that currebtly prevails as a search engine for torrents.

8Torrentdownloads – User-Friendly And Straightforward

Best Free Torrent Program 2019

The main page is very simple yet informative. You’ll see a list of the latest torrents with quick access. TV shows come first; movie torrents follow. Music, games, and the rest of the categories can be found at the bottom.

While Torrentdownloads isn’t the most popular torrent site of our time, it does offer an up-to-date catalog.

Important note: this is one of those torrent sites that are constantly being blocked around the world. Use a free torrent VPN like Betternet to access it or switch to something more stable and durable.

9LimeTorrents – One Of The Obvious Leaders

With 270K visitors per day, LimeTorrents is one of the greatest options for average users. Today, it’s sitting high up on the list among the best. You’ll be able to find pretty much anything you’re looking for, including the latest movies, shows, games, etc.

At the same time, it is not as great as the Pirate Bay and the catalog is just not that big. For some brand-new stuff like the latest TV show episodes or cracks for video games, LM is not the best choice.

On the other hand, LM is good for older torrents, and its collection is even bigger and better than that of The Pirate Bay.

10EZTV.AG – Movies, TV Shows, Entertainment

To get all the latest reality shows, TV shows, and films, EZTV.AG is a solid pick. It used to be a distributor of TV torrents but was taken down in 2015. However, right now, it is one of the best sites for torrenting 2020 has to offer. EZTV.AG is focused on movie/TV torrents, which allows it to be an obvious leader in that field.

The bottom line is – if you’re looking for a reliable source of the latest episodes of your favorite shows, put this website on the list. There aren’t that many great torrent sites for downloading the latest movies/shows; EZTV.AG provides the best torrent database.

11NYAA.SI – A God-Sent For The Fans Of Anime

Last year, the original NYAA was the leader of the anime torrent sites. After they shut it down, NYAA.SI came around.

Users looking for anime movies, TV shows, games, and everything in between will find the best selection here. It might not look as “cozy” as the other sites on our list, but it definitely does have an impressive catalog.

12Torrents.me – A Reliable Meta-Search Engine

If you’re used to torrenting not from one, but all the popular torrent sites, make sure to check this resource.

First of all, it gives quick access to the best torrent sites.

Secondly, you can search for whatever you want and get links to torrents and magnet links from dozens of sources.

13IDOPE – One Of The Best Newcomers

IDOPE is among the most popular fresh torrent websites. It has been around for only two years but is already a torrenting choice for millions of users, which puts it ahead of the competition. It’s on par with Zoogle and is steadily making its way into the list of the greatest torrent sites of 2020. IDOPE is best for music torrents and has a huge database with all the recent releases and some classics.

14ExtraTorrent – Fast And Limitless

Despite the constant blocks, ExtraTorrent is still one of the best torrent sites out there. Anonymous, fast, and hassle-free, it claims to have the largest database for international users. You might experience some problems with torrenting every now and then, though. Regardless, for trouble-free torrent downloading, it doesn’t get better than ExtraTorrent.

Important note: we’re talking about ExtraTorrent.si. The mirror website, ExtraTorrent.cd, is full of lags and will make your CPU work at 99%. Apart from that weird “feature,” it’s just as good as the original and might come in handy when ET.si goes down.

15KAT – A Huge Database, Constant Updates

The fans of torrents definitely know about this one. As far as the legendary torrent sites go, KAT is right there among the leaders. It went through numerous ups and downs but is still a good choice.

Note: currently, the new torrent database is very old, meaning you won’t be able to find the latest torrents there. The experienced users will tell you that Kickasstorrents used to be huge a couple of years ago when The Pirate Bay was closed.

16Demonoid – One Of The Oldest Private Websites

Demonoid has been the #1 choice for torrent downloading for years – since 2003, to be exact. Please keep in mind that this is a private website, meaning you’ll need an official invite to join. We’ll talk about private sites in more details later.

The biggest downside of Demonoid: it’s got one of the most aggressive ads among torrenting websites. Plus, navigation is complicated and the average users won’t appreciate it.

17BTScene – A Friendly Interface, Almost No Ads

Looking for the friendliest torrent site? Make sure to take a look at BTScene. For fast and easy torrenting, it will be just what you need. Ads these days are annoying; thankfully, that’s not the case here. While BTScene doesn’t have the best database, the list of available torrents is impressive. It is best known for the vast music catalog but is also great for movies, games, and more.

However, it isn’t private, meaning the owners follow the DMCA rules. Yes, VPN for torrenting is a must here unless you want people to know exactly where you are and what kinds of files you like to download.

18Monova – A Clean Dashboard

Even though the list of torrents isn’t nearly as impressive as on the more popular torrent sites, Monova is a keeper. It features a clean and straightforward interface. Sadly, torrenting will always be “complemented” by ads – lots of ads.

If that’s not a big issue for you, then Monova can be added to bookmarks along with the most frequently used torrenting websites. You can’t really escape the ads: they are a bit part of the industry and keep the sites going.

19Toorgle – Quick Access To 450 Sites

This search engine offers hassle-free access to the best databases of torrents. Toorgle comes with a minimalist design. All you need to do to is type the title of what you’re looking for and hit “search.” Toorgle is an amazing tool for users looking for the best torrent databases. No need to scroll through Google: let this engine do the job for you.

20Seedpeer – A Great Database, An Average Interface

Seedpeer comes with an impressive database makes, but somewhat unattractive interface and the constant flow of ads is its biggest downside. Seedpeer is largely known among the gamers. The owners put security first; furthermore, torrenting is always fast and easy.

21SkyTorrents – An Impressive Collection Of Music

When it comes to the best torrents for music, SkyTorrents is always on top. According to several sources, SkyTorrents offers the best range in this category.

The search engine is fast and on par with the leaders of the industry. The dashboard is friendly and easy-to-use. There are numerous torrent sites dedicated to music out there; yet, ST is better.

The Best Private Sites

BitMe

As mentioned earlier, private torrent sites can be accessed through invites (or donations). With 14K users and a great collection of books and tutorials, this is one of the favorite picks of the privacy fans. BitMe is a bright example of a private site that has been around for almost 15 years.

GazelleGames

If you love video games, this GazelleGames collection is just what you need. Operating since 2010, GG provides 65K torrents to 14K users, which makes it equal to BitMe.

BroadcastTheNet

BTN is focused on high-quality television shows, both contemporary and vintage. The new torrent database is huge; overall, there are 200K torrents available.

The world might be gravitating to online streaming, but peer-to-peer file sharing through torrents remains ever-popular. It's important to stay safe while torrenting by using a virtual private network (VPN), even when sharing something entirely legal, but which clients are the best for the job?

ProPrivacy has compared several BitTorrent clients out there to find the cream of the crop, so you don't have to! Keep reading to discover which one is best for you.

What are the best BitTorrent clients?

10 Best Torrents 2019

There are many BitTorrent clients out there to choose from and not all of them were built equal. Take a look at what ProPrivacy considers the best of the best to torrent with:

qBitTorrent

qBitTorrent is the best torrenting client out there, being both open source and full of features

PROS

• Open source
• Lightweight
• Efficient
• Can bind to VPN
• Fully featured

CONS

• Can't think of any

As a long-term Vuze fan, it took quite something for this lightweight open source BitTorrent client to replace Vuze on my desktop. One reason I stuck with Vuze for so long is the ability to bind the torrent client to my VPN interface.

Although not strictly necessary if your VPN software features a kill switch, I have always appreciated this extra layer of security. It prevents the client downloading torrents when the VPN is not active.

qBitTorrent not only supports this feature, it makes it much easier to implement. This was a big factor in me making the change, as was qBitTorrent’s lean-and-mean 100 MB or less install size (exact size depending on platform). There is no bloat with qBitTorrent!

Despite this, qBitTorrent features just about everything most torrenters will need. This includes BitTorrent protocol encryption, torrent prioritization, torrent querying, selective content download, torrent creation, remote access, and RSS subscription. You can search for torrents from within the client, and the built-in media player is handy.

qBitTorrent is 100% free and ad-free. It is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. For a more detailed look at this excellent software, including instructions on how to bind qBittorrent to your VPN interface, please check out 5 Best VPNs for qBittorrent.

Transmission

Transmission has overcome older problems to build a reputation for itself as a great torrent client

PROS

• Open source
• Lightweight
• Tons of features
• Pretty
• Available natively on many obscure OSs

CONS

• Not much (vulnerability should be fixed by the time most of you read this)

Transmission started life as a Mac and Linux-only BitTorrent client, where it built up a formidable reputation. Windows users can now also get in on the act. Although a very capable BitTorrent client, the main draw of Transmission is its beautiful user interface, complete with Growl notifications for Mac users.

But it’s not all about looking pretty. Transmission features webseed support, BitTorrent protocol encryption, watch directories, tracker editing, global and per-torrent speed limits, and more. It also supports optional add-ons that can expand its feature-set. These include RSS subscription tools and a Kodi plugin.

Transmission has recently hit the headlines thanks to a vulnerability that can be exploited by hackers. I discuss this a little later in the article, but a patch is available, and the issue is very easy to fix yourself, anyway. I have therefore decided to not let this problem affect Transmission’s ranking in this 5 Best guide.

Transmission is 100% free and open source. It is available for Windows, Mac OSX/macOS, Linux (many distros), FreeBSD, Gentoo, and more.

The Transmission Vulnerability

A security researcher discovered a flaw in Transmission that could allow hackers to execute malicious code on targets’ computers. In theory, this could allow them to completely take over the infected system.

The flaw took advantage of lax security in Transmission’s remote web access feature. Note that this is a proof of concept attack, and there has been no evidence of it being exploited in the wild. The current version of Transmission has already implemented a fix.

Alternatively, if you wanted to be sure, the flaw is easy enough to fix for yourself. If you don’t use the remote web access feature, simply turn it off! Go to Preferences -> Remote and uncheck 'Enable remote access.” If you do use the remote web access feature, then change the default password to something secure. Easy!

Note that the security researcher who discovered the flaw has hinted that other BitTorrents clients may also be vulnerable. It is probably a good idea to check similar settings in whatever client you are using.

Vuze

Vuze might not be as lightweight as others in this list, but its feature-packed approach will appeal to some

PROS

• Ridiculously fully featured
• Can bind downloads to VPN
• Lots of plugins available to increase functionality
• Built-in video player
• Great Android apps

CONS

• Somewhat bulky and resource-heavy
• Ads
• Tries to install crapware
• Only partially open source
• Interface could be prettier and more intuitive

Vuze is a granddaddy of BitTorrent clients. It is no longer open source, and it creaks somewhat under the weight of its myriad features. It is, in other words, the polar opposite of lightweight clients such as qBitTorrent.

But who said a shed load of features is necessarily a bad thing? Most torrenters will never use all the tools available, but there is really almost nothing Torrent-related that Vuze can’t do. This includes being able to bind Vuze to your VPN adapter, but also loads more funky stuff such as content discovery through automated subscriptions, having an integrated media player, remote management, and much more.

You can convert files to multiple formats using Vuze’s drag-and-drop interface and analyse your downloads using a wealth of statistics and visualizations. Vuze is a power user’s dream.

On the downside, Vuze is resource-heavy and rather ugly (especially when compared to Transmission!) Its clunky interface is also showing its age. This situation is not helped by the inclusion of ads in the free version, or by the fact that you need to be careful during installation if you do not want to also install a load of crapware.

Although Vuze is primarily free, a premium version is also available for $29.90 USD per year. A Vuze Plus subscription removes the ads and provides built-in anti-virus scanning, a DVD burner, and 'play now' support. It is, admittedly, pretty funky!

This also brings me to the point that, despite its open source roots, Vuze is now closed source proprietary software. It is worth noting that reports of Vuze’s demise appear to be very premature. Vuze 5.7.6.0 was released in October 2017 and is fully functional.

Unlike the desktop client, the excellent Android app is lightweight and ad-free. A pro version is now available via in-app purchase (about $4), but I have been unable to determine what features this adds (and am too skinflint to shell out the money necessary to find out!).

Vuze Remote is a handy app for Android that allows you remote control your desktop torrent downloads.

Vuze is available for Windows, Mac OSX/macOS, Linux, and Android.

Popcorn Time

Popcorn Time has taken a leaf from Netflix's streaming book to present a video-only torrenting service

PROS

• Instant streaming of high quality BitTorrent content!
• Open source
• Very smart interface
• Chromecast, Airplay and DLNA support
• Available on just about every platform

CONS

• Only for video content

All the other programs on this list are BitTorrent clients. You download a .torrent file or click on a magnet link, and the content downloads to your computer where it is stored locally.

Popcorn Time is different; It is an open source app that uses BitTorrent technology to stream high quality video content to all major platforms. This means that unlike with traditional BitTorrent clients, you can watch a film or show without waiting for the download to complete. You might be thinking 'is Popcorn time safe?' While it can be dangerous for your computer, using a VPN can keep your machine secure.

It is notable for having a very slick and intuitive interface, and for providing access to a huge library of up-to-date content.

Although primarily a streaming platform, content can also be downloaded locally (and some content is always cached). Various versions (forks) of Popcorn Time are available, but I strongly advise only using one of the forks recommended in Best VPN for Popcorn Time guide.

Specific features vary a little depending on which fork you use, but steaming to your big-screen TV via Chromecast, Airplay and DLNA is pretty standard.

Popcorn Time is free, and respectable versions are free from ads and other crapware. It available for Windows, Mac OSX/macOS, Linux, and Android. PopcornTime.to even has an iOS VPN App that can be installed without jailbreaking your device.

Deluge

Deluge has no ads, compared to some of the more popular torrent clients out there

PROS

• Open source
• Lightweight
• Lots of features
• Expandable via plugins (incl. RSS)

CONS

• Less fully featured than some other clients

Like qBitTorrent, Deluge is a fairly conventional but lightweight and open source BitTorrent client. Its feature list is not huge, but should be more than enough to satisfy most users. Features include remote web management and support for magnet links.

Functionality can be further extended with a range of both in-house and third-party plugins. Highlights include plugins for RSS support, Growl notifications, streaming while downloading, and more.

Deluge is completely FOSS, with no ads or crapware. It is available for Windows, OSX, Linux (various distros), and FreeBSD.

Check out our 5 best Deluge VPNs page for a list of the best services to use with this BitTorrent client.

Why not uTorrent or BitTorrent?

uTorrent and its almost-identical sibling, the official BitTorrent client, remain the most popular BitTorrent clients in the world. It is, therefore, reasonable to ask why I have not included it in this best 5 BitTorrent list. Please note the different between BitTorrent as a protocol and the BitTorrent client to avoid confusion.

Both uTorrent and BitTorrent are closed source and supported by ads. These ads can be turned off if you delve deep enough into the software’s settings, but this is still very irritating. It is my personal view that this means uTorrent has all the disadvantages of Vuze, but not as many useful features.

So if you want a slightly clunky closed-source ad-supported BitTorrent client, but one that compensates for this by offering a wealth of features, then use Vuze. Other opinions are available.

What is BitTorrent?

BitTorrent is a popular peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing protocol. Instead of being stored on a centralized server from which you download, torrented files are shared among many other BitTorrent users. Popular files can easily be shared among hundreds of users in this way.

When you 'download” (which is something of a misnomer when it comes to torrenting) a file using the BitTorrent protocol, what you are actually doing is sharing small pieces of it with everyone else who is downloading that same file.

A file is 'downloaded” once you have all the pieces needed to reassemble that file. It is considered good form to 'seed” (continue sharing) the file for a while after it has been downloaded, in order to help others reach 100% completion.

Why use a Client?

Although still very popular, BitTorrent use has declined somewhat in recent years. This is in part thanks to the wealth of legal streaming options available from providers such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, hulu, and many more. The popularity of illegal options, such as Kodi and streaming websites, is also a factor. For top tips and the best VPN for Streaming, take a look at the guides below:

The more traditional method of downloading using a BitTorrent client, however, continues to offer some major advantages:

• BitTorrent content is downloaded locally, so it is available forever and can be easily physically transferred between devices.
• Literally, any kind of digital content can be download – not just video content. This includes software, images, eBook, games, and… you name it!
• But when it does come to video content, the quality is often considerably higher than streamed content. This is because there is no need to keep file sizes down to avoid buffering issues, since content is played locally.
• BitTorrent is a very efficient and resource-light way to share and promote your own content with others.

Many Linux distros find torrent links are the best way to distribute their software without having to host it on costly servers.

Use a VPN when torrenting

BitTorrent content is shared among multiple home computers. This is not good for privacy because sharing files with a bunch of other random 'downloaders” on the internet is hardly private.

Using the right software (which includes many popular BitTorrent clients), it is very easy to see the unique Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of every other person also sharing ('downloading”) the same file.

As demonstrated in Vuze above, I can see the IP addresses of every other person who is downloading the same files as me.

Is torrenting legal?

Yes, torrenting is entirely legal, while the content you share might not be. Torrenting is just a protocol that allows you to share things peer-to-peer. Since laws differ around the world, it's difficult to say what is legal and what isn't, although sharing copyrighted material without the express permission of the owner almost always errs on the side of illegal.

It's pretty easy to catch those that torrent illegally shared content, because the nature of torrenting means your IP address is on show to anyone else sharing the file. All the copyright holder, or a third party representing them, would need to do is notify your internet service provider (ISP) to take legal action against you.

This is why it is important to use a VPN to protect yourself online.

Why should I use a VPN when torrenting?

A VPN will protect you while downloading because:

• A VPN will hide your IP address from other downloaders. As mentioned in the previous section, torrenting puts your IP address on display for others that are sharing the file. Connecting to a VPN server masks your IP address to protect your privacy.
• A VPN encrypts all internet traffic between your computer and the VPN server. This means that your ISP cannot see what you've been getting up to online. Of course, deep packet inspection will reveal that you have been downloading, but they will be none the wiser as to what.

VPNs with robust logging policies will have nothing to hand over to the authorities, no matter what pressure they may come under. A VPN will also unblock websites if they are censored for any reason.

So as long as P2P is permitted, a VPN is very effective at protecting your privacy while downloading.

For a more in-depth look at how VPNs work, please check out VPNs for Beginners – What You Need to Know. For a more in-depth guide to using a VPN while torrenting, check out Best VPN for Torrenting guide.

BitTorrent protocol encryption

Some BitTorrent clients support BitTorrent protocol encryption. These include Transmission, qBitTorrent, and Vuze. It is a feature designed to hide the fact that you are torrenting from your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

VPNs also do this, as well as hiding your real IP address from other torrent users and anyone else watching on the internet. Furthermore:

Analysis of the BitTorrent protocol encryption has shown that statistical measurements of packet sizes and packet directions of the first 100 packets in a TCP session can be used to identify the obfuscated protocol with over 96% accuracy.

This means that even the most basic Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) techniques can determine that you are using BitTorrent. Now, it is true that DPI can also easily detect VPN use (unless obfuscated), but while there are many legitimate reasons to use a VPN, there is only one reason to use BitTorrent protocol encryption…

Using BitTorrent protocol encryption is therefore probably better than using nothing at all, but using a VPN provides much better protection while downloading.

How do I use a BitTorrent client?

One reason for the popularity of online streaming services (including via the use of Kodi boxes) is the perception that torrenting is a geeky pastime that requires technical know-how. In reality, however, torrenting is very easy:

1. Download and install a BitTorrent client from the list above.
2. (Optional but strongly recommended) Ensure you have a VPN running. This will bypass censorship of torrent sites, hide your IP from others you fileshare with, and hide your downloads from your ISP. Check out our VPN for Torrents guide for a list of recommended services.
3. Visit a BitTorrent website. These websites host links to torrent files. You can browse for content that interests you, or search for something specific. Many websites include user-reviews of torrents, which can help you pick good torrents.
4. When you have found the content you want, simply click on the torrent link or magnet link. The torrent will open in your BitTorrent client and begin downloading.
5. When the download is 100% completed, enjoy! Some BitTorrent clients have media-players built-in, but VLC will play pretty much any media file you can throw at it.

Seeding

BitTorrent is a decentralized file-sharing platform. In order for it to work, users share files with other users. This happens while you download a file, but it is considered good form to leave your BitTorrent client open after you have finished downloading a file in order to benefit other users.

This is called seeding, and it is considered good netiquette to seed to a ratio of at least 1:1 (i.e. upload the same amount of data you downloaded). Most BitTorrent clients will display the seed ratio of downloaded files.

Other Stuff

You don’t need to know much more about torrenting than the information provided above. If you ever wish to explore the subject further, however, this glossary is a good introduction to the jargon used.

Movie torrents, in particular, have a great deal of jargon associated with them. To make informed decisions about the content you plan to download, it is useful to familiarize yourself with it.

One thing to watch out for on public torrent sites is sponsored links. These are often prominently displayed and are deliberately designed to confuse. They typically point to either commercial direct download sites or Usenet services. Look for a link that specifically says 'Torrent” or 'Magnet Link.”

Find the best torrent sites

Findinf the best torrent sites can be quite difficult these days due to the blocks ISPs imposes on these websites. However, check out our best torrent sites article for a list of our favorite in 2021.

Conclusion

If anything, the torrenting crowd is over-served by great BitTorrent clients! Indeed, this top five list hardly even scrapes the surface of the many that are available. The fact that most of them are free and open source software (FOSS) warms the cockles of my heart!

With such a wealth of options available, I’m sure many of you will have a favorite that is not listed here. If so, do please write in to tell me and other readers why you think it is so great!

• Fastest VPN we test
• Servers in 94 countries
• Unblocks Netflix, iPlayer and more

The fastest VPN we test, unblocks everything, with amazing service all round

Longtime top ranked VPN, with great price and speeds

One of the largest VPNs, voted best VPN by Reddit

Strong presence, no-logs policy