The 10 Best Torrent Clients in 2022

Top 10 Best Torrent Clients

Can you imagine waiting an hour or more to download a movie? No, right? Well, that’s because we have the BitTorrent protocol which made it possible to share large files between Internet users fast and easy.

To use the BitTorrent protocol, you need a torrent client. But how to choose one? It’s not a hard task for people already familiar with torrents, torrent trackers, and torrent clients, but a beginner might get confused by all the options. Or you might not be satisfied with your current torrent client, and you want to know which your best options are. 

That’s why I’m here. I’m going to talk about the ten best torrent clients which will make downloading torrents easy for you. But first, let’s make a couple of things clear.

What’s a torrent client?

A torrent client is a software application – a program, which you have to download from the Internet and then install on your device. The torrent client executes the BitTorrent protocol, connects to the torrent tracker, and allows you to download or upload files. Usually, torrent clients support most operating system, but you’d better check the description.

Are torrent clients illegal?

Having a torrent client on your laptop is completely legal. No one can accuse you of pirating just because you have installed a torrent client. There are legal torrent trackers, which host free content or one with expired copyrights. Moreover, you can use torrents to distribute your original content.

However, if you’re using it to download or upload copyrighted content, you can get in trouble with the authorities or your Internet provider. So remember to use a VPN to hide your Internet traffic if you plan on downloading movies or song.

Are torrent clients free?

Most torrent clients are free, and you don’t have to pay anything to download them. If you stumble on a site which asks you to pay for installing a torrent client, it’s probably a scam. However, some torrent clients have a premium membership which offers you some perks like ads-free experience or malware protection.

One friendly advice. Pay close attention throughout the installation process, because some torrent clients might install additional software on your computer. Never click “Next” without reading what you’re agreeing to.

Now, let’s see which the best torrent clients in 2018 are.

Top 10 Torrent Clients in 2022


qbittorent

qBittorrent with its clean, user-friendly design takes the rightful first place on our list. Available for multiple operating systems, qBittorrent is fast, easy to use, and has nice features. And it’s all free, so it’s an excellent choice for those looking for a simple torrent client, which won’t gobble up a lot of your CPU and RAM

You’ll probably get a sense of déjà vu the first time you run qBittorrent on your device. The interface is very similar to the old μTorrent, which is great because it will be easy for you to make the transition. And if you’re now to torrenting, there is no chance of getting confused with this simple design.

Among its notable features are:

  • integrated torrent search engine
  • IP filtering
  • Remote control
  • RSS manager
  • advanced controls
  • bandwidth scheduler
  • torrent files creating
  • torrent prioritization
  • Supports IPv6

Another great thing about qBittorrent is that its open-source software, which means that anyone can expand it and upgrade its features. It’s also completely free from advertisements, and it won’t ask you to install additional software during installation. And you don’t have to pay for add-ons or premium features.

Currently, qBittorrent one of the best choice if you’re looking for something like μTorrent but without the advertisements. It doesn’t have as many add-ons or extension as μTorrent, but it’s an excellent choice if you don’t want to pay for extras.

#2 Deluge

Deluge

At first, Deluge might seem too simple for some experienced Internet torrent users, but it offers you fast speed, user-friendly interface, and quick installation. Deluge is available for multiple platforms, and it’s a free program with no premium features to unlock.

Just like qBittorrent, Deluge is an open-source software which means no ads will bother you when you run the application. What’s more, the design is very similar to uTorrernt and qBittorrent, so if you have experience with them, you won’t have a problem with Deluge.

What’s great about Deluge is that multiple plugins are available for free. You can choose official or third-party ones, including a plugin for Firefox and Chrome. You can download as many or as few of them as you want and customize Deluge to your liking. However, this makes it a little complicated for beginners to torrent clients. 

Even if you don’t install any plugins, you still have the basic torrent features necessary for day-to-day downloading so that you won’t be disappointed.

#3 Vuze

Vuze

Vuze, known previously as Azureus, is another easy to use torrent client with a great interface and excellent features. It’s available for Windows, Linux, and Mac, and it’s an excellent choice for those of you looking for a powerful torrent client.

If Vuze seems too complicated to you at first glance, don’t worry. This torrent client has three settings – beginner, intermediate, and advance so that you can customize it to your level of experience. And there is helpful information available if you don’t know what some of its features are.

You can also have multiple plugins at your disposal, which you might use to upgrade the torrent client to your liking. For the more advanced users, you have proxy usage, meta-search, remote control vies a Web, media conversion, and more. What’s also great is that Vuze supports Tor, if you are worried about your security and privacy. 

However, Vuze offers you to install additional software during the installation process (you can opt out), and it has advertisements. But it’s one of the best torrent clients for experienced users.

And if you don’t like ads, Vuze has a paid version. Vuze+ has built-in antivirus protection, no ads, and the option to play media while downloading.

#4 Transmission

transmission

If you’re using Mac or Linux, you’ve probably heard about Transmission. Well, now this torrent client is finally available for Windows. So, we can’t but include it among the best torrent clients with its clean design and minimum memory footprint.

Transmission is an open-source program, and anyone can review the code. You don’t have to pay to unlock any special features or get rid of annoying advertisements, and there are no software offers during installation. What’s more, Transmission is easy to use and has all the basic torrent client features you might need like encryption, peer exchange, magnet links, speed limits and more.

The interface shares a lot of similarities with other torrent clients, so you shouldn’t have any issues getting the hang of it.

#5 μTorrent

utorrent-logo

There was a time when μTorrent would have been on top of my list. Sadly, many things had changed for this tiny torrent client created in 2005, which went from open-source to close source when BitTorrent purchased it. But despite its few cons, it’s still one of the best torrent clients for Windows, Mac, Linux, and mobile.

What makes μTorrent popular is the user-friendly design, the fast speed, and its small size. Furthermore, it doesn’t take much of your RAM so downloading large files is not going to slow down your computer’s performance. And its free version still has some excellent features like an RSS manager, scheduled downloads, and uploading/downloading limits.

But during the years, μTorrent lost some of its users’ trust. First, it was the bundled software in the installation packed, then too many advertisements within the application, and finally the scandal with Epic Scale, a software which mined Litecoin using the users’ computers. 

According to μTorrent, people could opt out and not install Epic Scale, but many reported that this was not the case and that they installed it without knowing what it was. Since then, μTorrent has removed Epic Scale, but some people still feel betrayed.

The conclusion is that μTorrent continues to be one of the most widely used torrent clients. However, its new versions are not as appealing as it used to be, especially when we have new contenders on the scene.

I already mentioned that BitTorrent Inc. purchased μTorrent a couple of years ago. However, BitTorrent Inc. has its own product called BitTorrent, which was the first torrent client to implement the BitTorrent protocol. That’s why it’s on our list of best torrent clients.

It’s on our list of the best torrent client because it’s light, user-friendly, intuitive. BitTorrent offers all the features you need to download torrents and magnet links such as automatic bandwidth management and file prioritizing.

In fact, the interface of μTorrent and BitTorrent are almost identical. So, if you’re used to μTorrent, you won’t get any troubles with BitTorrent. But there are a couple of differences between BitTorrent and μTorrent that are worth pointing out.

BitTorrent is available for Mac, Windows, and Android, unlike μTorrent which is also available for Linux. Moreover, BitTorrent is not as frequently updated as μTorrent, and it releases only stable versions instead of alpha and beta ones as μTorrent.

Nevertheless, BitTorrent is as effective and easy to use as μTorrent, and it’s perfect for novice torrent users.

On the negative side, BitTorrent bundles software in its installation package, and it has ads in its free version. However, their paid one offers you the ability to stream torrent as you download them and you can also purchase a package that comes with a VPN included.

#7 HaliteBitTorrent Client  

If you are looking for a simple torrent client, then Halite is the one for you. It doesn’t have any extra features you might find in other torrent clients, but it has all the basic ones you need to download, manage, and create torrents. Halite also includes full Unicode support, port randomization, and shutdown scheduler.

One of the best things about Halite is that it has a small memory footprint and won’t take much of your computer’s memory or processing power. In addition to this, it’s open-sourced software, which is always the best option because you can review the code.

On the negative side, Halite is available only for Windows, so you can’t use it on your phone or tablet. Moreover, from what I could see, it was last updated four years ago, so its future might not be as bright as one could hope.

#8 Tixati

Compared to other torrent clients, Tixati might look strange to you due to its retro design. However, do not let that mislead you. Tixati has all the basic features of a torrent client, including file prioritization and sequential download as well as magnet links, DHT, and PEX support.

What makes me place it on our list of the best torrent clients is the fact that it offers you comprehensive data on a torrent’s peers. You can see not only a peer’s location based on their IP but also how much data you’re sharing with them.

In addition to this, Tixati includes detailed bandwidth management, IP Filtering, RC4 connection encryption, and Event Scheduler. It’s completely free and has no ads to bother you while you’re downloading your torrents.

Moreover, Tixati has useful tips for new users which can help you get used to Tixati’s interface. The website has some suggestions on how to optimize Taxati’s performance. However, it’s only available for Windows and Linux, so it’s not suitable for mobile devices.

#9 BiglyBT

Another torrent client worth looking at is one of the youngest addition in the torrent client family. I’m talking about BiglyBT, an offshoot from Vuze/Azureus torrent project. It was launched in 2017, and it had enough excellent features to earn its place in the best torrent clients list.

For starters, BiglyBt is an open-sourced torrent client, and it’s completely free with no ads or malware to worry about. Unlike other torrent clients, it doesn’t come with additional software that might compromise you. Instead, it features a VPN integration and proxy search ability to keep your data safe.

In addition to this, BiglyBT offers its users web torrent support, many download limit options, and swarm merging for fast downloads. Moreover, you can control this torrent client remotely through its Android app.

Another great thing about BiglyBT is that it’s user-friendly for beginners but has many additional features for more advanced users. I’m talking about swarm discoveries, metasearch, and decentralized public/anonymous chats, among a few.

BiglyBT is available for Mac, Linux, and Android as well as for Windows. And if you are using Vuze/Azureus, you can transfer your configuration to BiglyBT.

#10 BitComet

One of the oldest torrent clients, BitComet still has a lot to offer to his experienced and beginner users. For once, it features an intelligent disk cache which aims to reduce the wear of your hard disk when you download torrents.

BitComet also has long-term seeding for torrents with little or no seeds and the ability to preview the files you’re downloading. It also has an intelligent connection optimization in addition to intelligent disk allocation, which reduces disk fragmentation.

Another great thing about BitComet is that it detects mirror servers automatically and uses them to increase the download speed of your files. You also have a bandwidth scheduler and automatic shutdown at your disposal.

But more importantly, this torrent client is free, and its interface is similar to that of BitTorrent and uTorrent so that it’s easy to navigate. However, it’s available only for Windows and Mac. 

Finally, always remember to download your torrent client from the developer’s website to avoid software infected with malware. And don’t be afraid to experiment with different torrent clients until you find the one that you like the most.

What do you think about these best torrent clients? Have you got anything to add to our list? Share it with us in the comments.

(Last Updated On: May 30, 2022)
About the author

    Whale Sumo

    Hey there! I'm Ryan Jr., your go-to guy for all things cybersecurity and cryptocurrencies. At 32, I'm proudly riding the tech wave, armed with a bachelor's degree in computer science and a relentless passion for the world of bits, bytes, and blockchain.