Some privacy and encryption settings that are typically best left on default, queuing torrent settings (off by default), and a seed torrent ratio limit. Web UI: If you choose, you can set up a web user interface to monitor your downloads away from your home computer. This tab displays all authentication and security settings for this feature.

1. Best Torrent Client Privacy Concerns
2. Torrent Privacy Windows 10
3. Utorrent Privacy
4. Best Torrent Client Privacy Vpn
5. Best Torrent Client Reddit

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.

Private Internet Access is one of (if not the most) popular VPN services in the world, and one of the best choices for bittorrent users who are looking to make their downloads anonymous. Read: Our Private Internet Access VPN Review PIA is one of the most affordable, torrent-friendly, and security conscious VPNs in the world. Jan 05, 2019 Full list of the top Internet Software apps that are similar to uTorrent, including BitTorrent, Vuze, Bit Che, Torrent Opener, qBittorrent, Shareaza, Ares Galaxy, Torrent Swapper. UTorrent was one of the best torrent clients of its time offering some of the best features. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a very popular client. It’s just that lately the software has become a bit heavy because of the advertisements being displayed. If you are in search of an open-source and ad-free torrent client for Windows 10, then BiglyBT might be the best pick for you. BiglyBT is basically a continuation of the Vuze/Azureus open source project.

What are the best BitTorrent clients?

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.

Best Torrent Client Privacy Concerns

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!

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• Unblocks Netflix, iPlayer and more

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Strong presence, no-logs policy

09 Feb 2017

Image By Shane Adams

Despite all their political baggage, torrents are undeniably one of the most efficient and effective ways to distribute data. Their speed and resilience are part and parcel to their popularity. However, because of their design they also easily expose those who use them.

Political/social/philosophical debates aside, torrents present a serious privacy problem for their everyday users. Indeed, anyone can watch who torrents what. This tutorial will describe two separate ways, each with their pros and cons, to route around this issue.

Weak Privacy, Fast Speed: VPN

The most popular method to achieve privacy while torrenting is to use a VPN. Of course, this comes with a very large caveat that will be covered shortly. Nevertheless, VPNs work by routing your traffic through a given server, often in a location of your choice. Importantly, the server that routes your traffic will also route the traffic of hundreds, if not thousands of other users. Assuming that the VPN company doesn’t log who is using the VPN server (a big assumption), there’s no way for the average actor to tell where the traffic came from behind the VPN.

What this means is that if you’re downloading a given file using torrents, all the peers that you’re sharing with will only see the VPN server’s IP address rather than your own. Of course, they can still approach the VPN company to try and determine who was behind the VPN, but most decent VPNs promise not to hand over this information. Moreover, if your ISP is watching they will also only see garbled data instead of the actual files, because VPNs encrypt all the data that passes through them.

Now for the caveat: unfortunately, VPN companies work exclusively based on promises, and promises are easily broken without you, the customer, ever knowing. While a VPN company may claim not to log traffic, you have no way to verify that they’re keeping to this promise. When faced with the threat of legal action a VPN company may very well just reveal your information, rendering the privacy they claim to provide completely null.

With that said, VPN companies are also extremely reputation based, and if a user were to face negative consequences because the VPN company broke their privacy guarantee, then news would spread like wildfire and they would likely lose much of their business quite rapidly. Moreover, VPNs are also quite fast, allowing you to download files quickly. Whether you accept these risks is a decision that is exclusively your own.

If you do head down the path of VPNs, know that you’ll want to either find one that has drop protection built into the provided software, or (if you’re on Linux) check out my tutorial on using firewall rules to protect against VPN drops. The reason that this is necessary is that if the VPN suddenly disconnects and you don’t have adequate protection in place to stop your torrents, you’ll end up revealing your real IP address, which may or may not land you in trouble.

Strong Privacy, Slow Speed: I2P (via Vuze)

I2P is an online anonymity network that leverages the wonders of cryptography to provide strong privacy. Indeed, if a VPN provides privacy by policy, then I2P provides privacy by design. It relies less on promises and more on mathematics to provide the utmost level of protection. While it operates much slower than a VPN, it is also much more private and secure, and is completely free.

I2P works by encrypting your connection and routing it through not just one server, but several servers in such a fashion that by the time your traffic reaches its destination it is nearly impossible to determine where it originated from. This is similar to Tor, but with a notable difference being that the Tor network is not designed to handle heavy traffic (i.e. torrenting), whereas I2P proudly encourages it.

Torrent Privacy Windows 10

For this reason, there are a few options available for torrenting on I2P, with the strongest being through Vuze, a torrent client with an optional I2P plugin called I2PHelper. I2PHelper has a built-in I2P client, meaning that you don’t need to bother with the rather clunky I2P interface.

Installing an I2P-enabled Vuze client is easy. First, head over to Vuze’s website and download and install the Vuze client. Next, open Vuze and head to the Tools menu, navigate to Plugins, and finally the Installation Wizard. Select By List, click Next, and scroll down until you find the I2PHelper plugin. Select it, click next, and complete the rest of the installation.

Next, we need to configure I2PHelper just slightly. Navigate again to the Tools menu, but this time click on Options. On the Mode menu in the left panel, select Advanced as the user proficiency to give yourself more options in the interface. Next, head down to Plugins>I2PHelper, again on the left panel. Here you can adjust your bandwidth. Set it to a reasonable level based on how much of your network connection you are willing to share (I set mine to unlimited).

Finally, go to the Connection menu in the left panel, and scroll down to the Networks option set. This is where you will select whether you want torrents to be downloaded through the regular internet, through I2P, or through Tor. If you want the utmost anonymity, select I2P. Do not select Tor for this, as you will harm the network. Finally, click save and exit the options.

Do know that initially any torrents that you download will be painfully slow, but over time as your computer becomes better known on the network your connection will become faster until it is no longer painfully slow, just slow.

Finding Torrents

Other than the slower speeds, the main downside to torrenting with I2P is torrent availability. Indeed, you can’t just download any torrent through I2P. Instead, you must find torrents that are already being shared by other I2P users. There are two ways to go about this.

First, you could head over to my I2P introduction tutorial and learn how to navigate to hidden services (websites not available on the regular internet) on I2P, where you will find a torrent tracker called Postman. Any torrent you find on Postman will work reliably with I2P, but the only downside is that the selection isn’t as large as what is available on the clearnet.

If, on the other hand, you want to download torrents you find on regular torrenting websites like The Pirate Bay (yes, .torrents, magnet links to the clearnet won’t work with only I2P enabled), you’ll have to go through a bit of trial and error. This is because Vuze’s I2PHelper allows users to torrent both on I2P and the clearnet in parallel, a feature it calls network mixing. This means that if you download an Ubuntu torrent, for example, it will download and share Ubuntu through the regular internet, but it will also go onto I2P and download and share it there as well.

The implication of this is that if other I2PHelper users have already downloaded a regular torrent on the clearnet and are sharing it on I2P through network mixing as well, then you’ll be able to download it from them exclusively through I2P. Knowing which torrents are available through network mixing, however, involves simply adding them to Vuze and hoping that they find peers, which is by no means a guarantee. Again, using Postman is a much more reliable method, even if selection is more limited.

Utorrent Privacy

Network Mixing for the Public Good

If, on the other hand, you’re comfortable with the increased speed and risk of a VPN, but would also like to help those who use I2P exclusively to torrent, then you’re a prime candidate for enabling network mixing. Do note that you won’t gain any real benefit in terms of privacy through this route as your weakest link will still be the VPN, but you’ll be helping build a more secure and private torrent network by making more content accessible to it.

The only necessary change to enable this is to go back into Vuze’s Options menu, navigate to the Connection settings on the left pane, scroll back down to the Networks option set, and select both Public IP Network and I2P Network as your default torrent networks. With these enabled, everything you download through the clearnet will also be available to those who only use I2P. Just don’t forget to enable your VPN before you begin torrenting!

Best Torrent Client Privacy Vpn

Best Torrent Client Reddit

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