In order to download torrents quickly you need the best torrent software. We are going to look at the 5 best torrent software choices below so that you can find the best one for your needs. Turn on the best VPN for torrenting to protect yourself, and let’s get downloading!
Best overall torrent software: Vuze
Available on: Windows, Mac
Vuze has both a free and paid version. While the paid version is obviously going to give you more, the free version is still very useful. It is, in fact, the torrent software which I have personally used for years. I, and many others, use the self described “Most Powerful Bittorrent Software on Earth” because it:
- Offers media playback
- Has subscriptions to your favorite ongoing content
- Includes powerful plug-ins you can add
- Has remote control through the web or mobile
- Offers some video conversion
All this and it also allows you to download any torrent, including magnet files available on the best torrent websites. For those who have been in the Torrent game for a long time you may remember them as Azureus.
Perhaps my favorite feature of this torrent software is how much you can control with a single right-click of your mouse:
If you choose to go with the paid version, Vuze Plus, you can expect the following advantages:
- Unlimited use of their DVD burning feature
- Built-in antivirus
- Playing downloads while they are still in progress
I’m not sure if those features are worth $29/year, but they may be to you.
Best midgrade torrent software: qBittorrent
Available on: Windows, Mac, Linux
The qBittorrent software was built with speed and simplicity in mind, with just the right features for the average user. They didn’t pack in every single feature that they could think of. They just included a few of the essentials, such as:
- An integrated torrent search engine
- Sequential downloading
- Torrent creation tool
- RSS feed support
- Some encryption
- A media player
- Torrent prioritizing
It is also noteworthy for being open source software, as well as being cross-platform. If you are looking for torrent software that has a few features, but doesn’t bog you down with options you don’t need, qBittorrent is a good choice.
They also have a number of unofficial search plug-ins created. The most useful ones link directly to The Pirate Bay and YTS.
Best customizable torrent software: Deluge
Available on: Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD UNIX
- Automatic priority assessment
- Copying files to a different location when they are completed
- Automatic partial file deletion
- Scheduler which allows you to not download certain files
- Streaming audio or video while downloading
Deluge offers you the chance to highly customize your torrent software to your needs. Die hard users of this torrent software have a highly personalized version which appeals to the exact way which they want to download torrents.
Users have the option to:
- Do alphabetical downloading
- Download files to specific directories on their computer
- Adjust the speed according to current network conditions
- Create graphs of their torrent software’s performance
- Schedule their downloading
- Rename downloads by batch
- Integrate with Chrome and Firefox
The stock version of Deluge is still quite useful. If you want a piece of torrent software that grows with you as you advance, you can start with the basic software and build from there.
Best lightweight torrent software: Tixati
Available on: Windows, Linux
If you want a truly lightweight piece of torrent software, it doesn’t get much more stripped down then Tixati. It is so stripped-down that you might feel like you are running something in MS-DOS. Adding to the feeling of simplicity is the fact that there are no ads as it runs off of donations.
Do not let its simplicity fool you, it will still allow you to:
- have an outgoing bandwidth throttle
- Get detailed views of the torrent swarm
- Use magnet links
- See advanced bandwidth charting
- Use peer connection encryption
- See bitfield graphs to see file completeness at a glance
- Move files to a different partition even while downloading
While it does have Linux, Windows, and even a version which runs directly off a USB, Mac users are out of luck. Take a look below if you need torrent software for your Mac.
Best torrent software for Mac: Transmission
Available on: Mac, Windows, Linux
The first three pieces of torrent software listed above can be used on both Mac and PC. But if you want something that was built from the ground up for your Mac then Transmission is your choice. It was built as donationware, and has no ads, many users enjoy this.
Other features which users of Transmission enjoy include:
- Speed limits
- Magnet link support
- Encryption
- Port forwarding
- Web seed support
- Browser-based remote control plug-ins
- Remote control plug-ins for Android, BlackBerry, iOS
All this is done in a very fast and lightweight piece of software that is perfect for your Mac. As mentioned in the subheading, it works just as well for those who have Linux. It is the same torrent software, but it was built from the ground up for your Linux.
Choose the best torrent software
There is no one single piece of software that could be classified as the best torrent software. Above we looked at five different pieces of software that had their own strengths:
- Vuze: For overall torrent needs.
- qBittorrent: Middle-of-the-road software for the average user.
- Deluge: Highly customizable software for an advanced user.
- Tixati: The most stripped down torrent software.
- Transmission: For your Mac or Linux needs.
Every single person who wants to download torrents can choose one from the five above and have an excellent piece of software for downloading. Be sure to read our guide on DMCA notices so that you can protect yourself while using your chosen torrent software.