The Best VPNs for Torrenting in 2024

Torrenting without a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is asking for trouble, but there’s a lot of confusing information on the best VPNs for torrenting. Many so-called “torrent VPNs” leak the information they claim to protect; some don’t allow torrenting or P2P, and others are still so slow you’ll want to give up.

P2P sharing presents risks from unknown files from anonymous sources, so using a VPN for an added layer of security is wise. This article will examine ten of the best torrenting VPNs in detail. Before we get stuck in, here’s a quick summary of our test results:

Our testing found that these are the 10 best VPNs for torrenting:

1. NordVPN: Best VPN for torrenting. Reliable performance with powerful security features for protecting torrenters. Has a strict no-logs policy, very fast speeds, unlimited bandwidth, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee.
   TIP In our testing we found that the cheapest NordVPN plan (Standard) works perfectly for torrenting.
2. Surfshark: Best low-cost torrenting VPN. Unlimited simultaneous connections and unlimited bandwidth. High speeds for P2P file sharing, solid security, and a strict zero-logs policy.
3. IPVanish: A great torrent VPN for Kodi users. Excellent security features, including strong encryption. Works with popular torrent clients on most major operating systems.
4. ExpressVPN: Consistently fast speeds for torrenting and P2P traffic. Keeps no logs, has a kill switch, and is easy to use on all devices. Works with the most popular streaming services.
5. PrivateVPN: A solid choice for P2P file sharing. Allows port forwarding and keeps no logs. Provides extremely fast connections with no speed loss.
6. PureVPN: Has a fully audited no logging policy. 31-day money-back guarantee with a low starting price.
7. ProtonVPN: Reliable VPN that’s particularly strong on privacy. Includes pro-torrenting features such as port forwarding and split tunneling.
8. CyberGhost: An easy-to-use VPN packed with privacy features for secure torrenting. Thousands of high-speed servers make this a great choice for torrenting from any location.
9. Hotspot Shield: A reliable VPN for torrenting. Excellent performance and speeds and no user-identifying logs.
10. StrongVPN: A reliable choice for P2P activity and secure torrenting in places like China. High levels of security, including 256-bit encryption.

Our criteria for choosing the best VPNs for torrenting

We provide our full methodology later in this article, but here is a brief rundown of what we look for when scoring VPNs for torrenting.

• Security & Privacy: We score providers against 15 different metrics, including encryption levels, capabilities of the kill switches, logging policies and leak tests.
• Speed: We specifically tested providers’ torrenting performance, which is measured in MiB/s and referred to as the bitrate. We carry out multiple tests in different regions and then create a normalized score out of ten.
• Ease of Use: We score providers based on 10 measurable criteria, including the number of native applications, ease of sign-up and cancelation, and user experience.
• Value for Money: We score providers using eight key metrics representing value for money. These include the availability of free trials, regular discounts, and the lowest monthly and annual prices.
• Specific features for torrenting: We award bonus points for specific features like torrent-optimized servers, port forwarding, and split tunneling.
• The expert reviewer’s professional rating: Every VPN is rated out of 10 by one of our VPN experts. This unbiased rating is used alongside all of the other data from our tests to calculate an Overall Score for each provider.

All the data in our testing is made publicly available and can be downloaded from our Testing Methodology section.

Best torrenting VPNs: Snapshot

Best VPNs for torrenting safely: Detailed Reviews

Want to understand what makes these our top torrenting VPNs in 2024. Read our in-depth reviews below.

1. NordVPN

Jun 2024

NordVPN is our top choice VPN for torrenting in 2024. You’ve been hiding under a privacy rock if you don’t know the name. NordVPN continues to dominate the VPN landscape and with very good reason. Continuous investment in research and development and a relentless pursuit of providing a first-class product and service have paid off. Pound for pound, NordVPN is not just the best VPN for torrenting – it’s the best VPN.

But you’ve come here for a torrenting VPN… so let’s talk torrenting. NordVPN absolutely blitzes through files. The company’s NordLynx protocol (which is built using the speedy WireGuard protocol) made torrenting large files a breeze. It’s not the absolute fastest VPN on this list, but it’s up there with the best of them and for whatever reason, it performs better when torrenting than it did in our standard speed tests.

NordVPN offers torrent-optimized servers. There’s a bit of debate about how much value these optimized servers actually add. Our testing suggests that in terms of speed, there generally isn’t a great deal of difference between an optimized server and clicking ‘Quick Connect,’ but if it helps maintain a clean network for other users and us, we’re all for it.

Torrenting is permitted on all servers so just stick with what performs best for you.

NordVPN’s automatic kill switch can be toggled on and off in the settings. The traditional all-or-nothing kill switch is one option, but you can also use the app kill switch feature to specify which programs, such as your BitTorrent client, get cut off from the internet if the VPN connection drops. This prevents users from inadvertently exposing their torrenting activity to their ISPs and lets them carry out other activities without VPN protection.

NordVPN uses shared IP addresses, and bandwidth is unlimited. Of course, this isn’t unique to NordVPN (any premium VPN should do the same), but it’s essential for P2P.

If you simply want to mask your IP address rather than encrypt your data, NordVPN offers a proxy service, which you can plug directly into your torrent client so you don’t have to use the app. The upside to this is potential performance improvements (encryption is resource-intensive). The downside is… well… that your data isn’t encrypted!

There are loads of other unique features, including Onion over VPN and Double VPN. Using Onion over a VPN server, your internet traffic goes through one of NordVPN’s servers and is then passed through the Onion network before reaching the internet. Double VPN, as the name suggests, sends your traffic through two VPN servers instead of one, encrypting your data twice. Of course, we wouldn’t recommend either of these features for torrenting because both come with huge performance hits, but if you like to engage in political dissidence when you’re not torrenting, it’s good to have in your back pocket!

NordVPN does not keep connection or traffic logs that could be used to identify individual torrenters. You’d hope that was the case with all VPN providers – sadly, plenty still capture low-level information. It uses 256-bit AES encryption with perfect forward secrecy by default.

Looking for extra features? NordVPN is packed with them. Encrypted chat and self-destructing notes will make you feel like you have joined the IMF (not the financial agency). It can also unblock a wide range of geo-locked streaming services, including Netflix US, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, and Amazon Prime Video.

Apps are available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, Linux, and Android. It’s worth noting that NordVPN offers two different versions of its app for MacOS – one from the App Store and one directly from its website. The direct download version is more comprehensive, with a richer feature set, and the one we recommend installing.

We tested Nord’s torrenting capabilities by downloading a 4.81GB file multiple times from three locations on a 49 Mbps connection. Downloads progressed consistently, as this qBittorrent capture demonstrates.

Speeds were consistently fast across regions, with an average download speed of 5.6 Mbps. Although we were testing from the UK, our downloads progressed marginally faster when connected to servers outside the UK.

Connections are leak-free, which we verified for ourselves during testing. We checked whether NordVPN was leaking our location by first connecting to one of its servers in Boston. We then checked where the testing site, Browser Leaks, thought we were. The output below shows that we appear to be connecting to the internet from Boston, which is what we want. Note that our IPv6 address was also hidden.

We connected to a different US server to ensure NordVPN didn’t suffer from WebRTC leaks.

Finally, we checked that the provider directed our DNS queries to its own servers rather than allowing them to be resolved by our ISP — which could expose which torrent sites we were accessing.

Overall, the combination of rock-solid security, good speeds, its simple GUI, and all the extra features like proxies and the ability to unblock pretty much every streaming platform out there make NordVPN an easy recommendation for our best overall VPN for torrenting. Our tests show it tops competitors across Security and Privacy, Torrenting Speeds, Ease of Use, and Value for Money. The only downside for torrenters is that it does not offer port forwarding, reasonably citing concerns over user security.

BEST VPN FOR TORRENTING:NordVPN is our first choice for torrenting & P2P. It provides extremely fast and consistent downloads, with a strong privacy focus and a ten-connection limit. Includes a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can try it risk-free.

Read our full review of NordVPN.

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2. Surfshark

Surfshark is great value for money and our top recommendation for torrenters on a tight budget. With a server network spanning more than 100 countries, it’s easy to establish a local connection wherever you are.

Surfshark, owned by the same parent company as NordVPN, is rapidly becoming one of the most competitive VPNs on the market. In terms of raw performance, it matches most of the VPNs on this list. And it costs less. That’s hard not to like.

If you go for the basic VPN subscription, you get the VPN (duh), ad blocker, pop-up blocker, and some basic identity protection services. For a couple of dollars more a month, Surfshark includes a surprisingly powerful antivirus platform and identity protection tool (called Incogni). This is all now bundled into a suite called ‘Surfshark One’. All that extra stuff won’t help you with torrenting, but if you’re paying for AV, you can bundle it into one sub and save a lot of money.

Okay, back to P2P. Surfshark is based in the British Virgin Islands, a country with no mandatory data retention laws. Accordingly, Surfshark doesn’t log any personally identifiable information. P2P traffic is permitted across all servers, and with no bandwidth limits, you can torrent as much as you like. Best of all, Surfshark has no connection limit. That means you’re not limited to a handful of devices – the whole family can use one sub on all their devices. Do the math – it’s a good deal!

The user interface isn’t quite as slick as some other providers, but with a bit of clicking around, you can find various features and extras. Just like ExpressVPN (which is quite a bit more expensive), you can test server performance before connecting. This is super useful if you’re not getting the speeds you expect from your local server and want to do a quick survey of which server is the least conjested.

Surfshark has Linux, iOS, Android, Windows, and MacOS apps. It can also be manually installed on supported network routers.

The torrenting experience is smooth and hassle-free, and we were impressed by how quickly we connected to even far-flung servers. Speeds are not as consistent as with NordVPN, but very good nonetheless. Like NordVPN, Surfshark has introduced the WireGuard protocol, which has a noticeable impact on speeds. See the qBittorrent output below for an example. This was captured while torrenting via a server in the UK.

We tested Surfshark servers in three countries, carrying out the same download multiple times and averaging the results, summarised below. As you can see, our file downloaded marginally faster when connected to a US server rather than one in the UK or Singapore — 5.50 MiB/s versus 5.43 MiB/s.

Whichever server you connect to, Surfshark protects your traffic using 256-bit AES encryption, a kill switch, and perfect forward secrecy.

As with all the VPNs that made it onto our list, we checked if Surfshark was leaking our location while torrenting. We connected to a server in Boston and checked whether there were any IPv4 or IPv6 leaks. As you can see below, our location (in the UK) was hidden.

We also checked that Surfshark was using its own DNS servers and tested for WebRTC leaks – everything checked out fine.

Like NordVPN, Surfshark comes with split tunneling, which allows users to keep torrent client traffic protected in the VPN tunnel while using other apps with a regular internet connection (or vice-versa).

BEST BUDGET VPN:Surfshark puts major emphasis on your security and data privacy, allowing you to torrent as much as you like safely. Better still, it’s very affordable, with no connection limit and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

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3. IPVanish

IPVanish takes privacy very seriously and has been built with torrenting in mind. It creates and keeps no logs, not even the connection logs some providers use for troubleshooting. WireGuard, L2TP, and OpenVPN protocols all use 256-bit encryption. IPVanish uses shared IP addresses to add anonymity while torrenting.

In terms of the sheer number of servers, IPVanish is tough to beat. And we didn’t find any that we couldn’t torrent with. There are no labeled servers, but when the whole network performs this well, who needs them?

Like NordVPN, IPVanish offers a SOCKS5 proxy to add directly to your torrent client. This isn’t essential, but it’s a nice-to-have if you value speed over security.

And like Surfshark, you can test a load of servers as well as ping time to connect to a server that will deliver optimal speeds and low latency.

The provider is great for consistently fast downloads. In fact, it was one of the faster VPNs we tested, with an average bitrate of 5.57 MiB/s in the US, 5.47 MiB/s in the UK, and 5.53 MiB/s in Singapore.

Interestingly, IPVanish provided slightly faster speeds connected to a server in Singapore than it did connecting to a much closer server in the UK. As we mentioned before, this isn’t usually the case and we’d still recommend using a geographically close server for torrenting. The downloads appeared markedly consistent, as the example qBittorrent output shows below.

A kill switch can be enabled in the settings and like most the providers we tested, the split tunneling feature allows you to bypass the VPN connection if needed.

IPVanish is particularly popular with Kodi users thanks to its lightweight Android app and compatibility with all the Kodi addons we’ve tested. So, if you’re torrenting video content with Kodi or Plex, IPVanish is a great VPN to have on your media devices.

The software was leak-free during testing. We first connected to an IPVanish server in the US and checked whether our UK-based IPv4 and IPv6 addresses were hidden. They were, as you can see from the output below.

We then checked for WebRTC leaks, which are the most common form of IP leak among VPNs. There appeared to be no local leak of our location. Finally, we tested whether IPVanish was using its own DNS servers.

Apps are available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android.

EASY TO USE:IPVanish is great for families. Generally solid for torrenting, P2P users, and folks who need the highest standard of privacy. Will struggle with popular streaming services and doesn’t work in China. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full review of IPVanish.

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4. ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is one of the Godfathers of the consumer VPN industry – a true OG. It’s a great plug-and-play option for beginners and those who don’t want to fuss with different configurations and want something that will guarantee data security and anonymity when torrenting.

The desktop user interface feels a little dated; in fact, other than a rebranding a few years back, it doesn’t feel like it has evolved much over the last few years.

But as the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. It’s one of the top performers out there. Dig a little deeper, and ExpressVPN offers some genuinely cool features. One of our favorites is that it’s the only provider on the list to have developed custom firmware for various popular routers.

That means if you’re technically handy, you can install ExpressVPN’s own firmware on your router, injecting VPN connectivity into every device on your network. If you’re less technically savvy but like the sound of that, ExpressVPN has also introduced a range of routers that come preinstalled with its firmware. Of course, many decent routers now include the ability to add your VPN settings, and others (like Surfshark) have bypassed the need by allowing unlimited connections, but ExpressVPN’s router firmware remains a very cool solution.

The only thing going against it is it costs a few bucks a month more than other providers on this list with similar performance.

Like Surfshark, ExpressVPN is based in the British Virgin Islands, which has no data retention laws and doesn’t keep traffic logs.

A kill switch is built in to prevent traffic from leaking onto the unencrypted network should your connection drop. As with the other top providers on this list, you can route certain apps through the VPN using split tunneling. P2P file sharing is supported on all servers.

ExpressVPN performed well in all three countries we tested it in, with an average of 5.47 MiB/s in Singapore, 5.37 MiB/s in the US, and 5.4 MiB/s in the UK.

Download speeds were fairly consistent in all tests. As an example, here’s the qBittorrent output when downloading via a server in the UK:

ExpressVPN is leak-free in all the areas we tested. It didn’t reveal our location (in the UK) when connected to a server in the US:

It also passed the WebRTC leak test, didn’t leak our DNS requests and used its own DNS servers. This means our ISP won’t be able to see which torrent sites we’re using.

Besides torrenting, ExpressVPN is also great for accessing geo-locked streaming services, including Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and HBO Go/Now.

ExpressVPN’s latest releases include its proprietary VPN protocol, Lightway, which offers even faster speeds, comparable to competitors such as NordVPN and Surfshark, which are built on the speedy WireGuard protocol.

One of the other features we really like about ExpressVPN is its built-in server speed testing tool. This is a transparent and easy way to see which servers are potentially congested. If you’re looking to squeeze every last drop of performance out of the VPN, you can test all VPN servers that are in close geographical proximity and, because ExpressVPN allows torrenting on all servers, simply choose the one that is the fastest in the speed testing tool. It’s a nice touch.

It’s not the cheapest provider on this list, but torrenters happy to pay a bit more for a fast VPN with great security credentials will find ExpressVPN a solid option.

Apps are available for Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS, some wi-fi routers, and Linux.

TORRENT WITHOUT LIMITS:ExpressVPN is ideal for torrenting & P2P. It has a vast network of servers that are fine-tuned for high-speed connections. Tough to beat on data privacy and security. Also includes a 30-day money-back guarantee

Read our full review of ExpressVPN.

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5. PrivateVPN

PrivateVPN may have a smaller network than the others on this list, but you’d never know it when torrenting.

PrivateVPN has rock-solid security and uses 256-bit encryption with perfect forward secrecy on the OpenVPN protocol. No web traffic or connection logs are recorded, and as per the usual rules of engagment, it has an optional kill switch built in.

Notably, it allows port forwarding, which enables torrenters to download and seed more efficiently and is in keeping with P2P etiquette. This is one of only three providers on the list to offer this feature (the others being Proton VPN and Pure VPN). Port Forwarding is something of a dying art, with several VPN providers removing it, citing security concerns as the reason. So, if you’re after a fast VPN that plays strictly by the rules of the P2P community, PrivateVPN is a good choice.

It’s worth noting that using the port forwarding feature isn’t entirely straightforward. You will need to speak to support, and the instructions require some lateral thinking to interpret.

It also comes with a split tunneling feature that ensures your client always stays within the VPN tunnel.

The desktop interface feels a little dated compared to many other providers in our list, but scratch the Windows 98 surface and there is a smorgasbord of features.

As you can see from the graph below, downloads were very fast. Actually, PrivateVPN had some of the fastest download speeds for the UK, the US and Singapore.

The downloads didn’t progress as consistently as with some providers, but this is a very minor niggle, given the impressive speeds overall.

We tested PrivateVPN for IPv4 and IPv6 leaks while connected to a server in the US. As expected, it showed us connecting from the US rather than our location in the UK.

PrivateVPN didn’t suffer from WebRTC or DNS leaks.

Besides anonymous torrenting, PrivateVPN is also great for streaming content like US Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video, although it’s not in the same league as the providers at the top of the list. You might want to scroll up if you’re after a multifunction VPN that is good for streaming and torrenting.

You can connect up to ten devices simultaneously on a single account, and apps are available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android.

GREAT FOR SPEED:PrivateVPN is consistently reliable. A solid performer for torrenting, P2P, and general-purpose use. Speeds were surprisingly good at this end of the market. It could do with having more servers and lacks 24/7 support. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full PrivateVPN review.

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6. PureVPN

PureVPN is a low-cost VPN with good torrenting capabilities. It’s strong on privacy and is another of the three providers on our list to offer port forwarding. We only gave it half the points for this feature in our scoring because it’s a paid add-on, unlike Proton VPN and PrivateVPN. But it’s only about 18 bucks a year ($1.49 a month), so it’s not the end of the world if you pick it for other reasons.

PureVPN is fast. In our download speed tests, the average UK download speed was 5.40 MiB/s, and the average download speed was 5.37 MiB/s for the US and Singapore. These combine to give a respectable global bitrate of 5.38 MiB/s.

Downloads progressed consistently well, though we needed to switch protocols (from WireGuard to OpenVPN) to get them started.

Like others on our list, PureVPN is based in the British Virgin Islands, which means it’s safely outside the influence of invasive jurisdictions like the US, UK, and EU.

It has an extensive network with over 6,000 servers in over 65 countries. This is great for torrenting privately, as there are plenty of options for changing IP address. We tested this by connecting to a PureVPN server in the US and checking which IP address was displayed publicly. As you can see from the output below, PureVPN didn’t leak our IPv4 or IPv6 addresses.

Next, we tested for WebRTC and DNS leaks.

PureVPN has a strict no-logs policy, AES-256-GCM encryption, multiple protocol options, a kill switch, and split tunneling on a per-app basis.

PureVPN is compatible with a wide array of streaming services. In recent tests, it worked with 12 out of 15 tested platforms, including watching Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, and numerous British, Canadian, Brazilian, German, Japanese, and French services.

There is a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try the VPN risk-free to see whether it works well with your torrent client.

LOW STARTING PRICE:PureVPN has servers in 65+ countries and apps for all popular platforms. It offers great speeds for torrenting, but port forwarding costs a little extra. Works to access Netflix US and many other streaming platforms. Has a fully audited no logging policy. 31-day money-back guarantee.

Find out more in our PureVPN review.

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7. Proton VPN

Proton VPN is the sibling of the well-respected Proton Mail. The Proton name has become synonymous with privacy. Founded by former CERN scientists in Switzerland, it has a provenance that most VPN companies would die for (we’re not sure what particle accelerators have to do with virtual private networks, but it’s a cool origins story).

At the heart of Proton VPN, is a safe and secure VPN for torrenting. The service has a rock-solid no-logging policy that has been independently audited.

ProtonVPN’s global server network now spans over 91 countries, allowing users to get an IP address just about anywhere.

Proton has done an awful lot of work in recent years to improve its apps. If you’re into dark themes and feeling like a CTU agent keeping tabs on Jack Bauer, make no mistake, Proton VPN feels ‘cool’. After you get over feeling like a secret agent, there is a ton of useful data at your disposal too—down volume, up volume, down speed, up speed. We wish more providers would put real-time data at our fingertips.

In our tests, servers were initially slow to connect to. However, once a connection was established, download speeds were decent. Unusually, speeds were fastest (5.4 MiB/s) when connected to a server in Singapore—perhaps justifying ProtonVPN’s claims that its “VPN Accelerator” tech boosts speeds for long-distance connections. Servers in the UK and US achieved relatively slower averages of 5.3 MiB/s each.

Downloads progressed fairly consistently in our tests, though connections did drop out a few times. The qBittorrent output below shows a fairly typical download while connected to a server in the UK:

ProtonVPN apps are available for all platforms and have useful pro-torrenting features. This is another of very few VPNs offering port forwarding for more efficient seeding and leeching.

And unlike PrivateVPN, it takes a couple of clicks to enable. If you need port forwarding and don’t have much patience, Proton VPN really should be at the top of your list.

Other features include split tunneling, AES encryption, multiple protocol options, stealth VPN, a system-level kill switch, obfuscation, and multi-hop connections.

As we discovered during testing, the provider is reliably leak-free. When connected to a US server from the UK, our IPv4 and IPv6 addresses showed us as being in the US.

There were no WebRTC leaks when connected to a different US server and our tests confirmed Proton was using its own DNS.

The main downside to ProtonVPN is that its subscriptions are relatively expensive, though you get what you pay for in terms of privacy and security. You can try it out risk-free using the 30-day money-back guarantee.

SECURE AND PRIVATE:ProtonVPN is an advanced VPN dedicated to user privacy. Reliable no-logs policy, AES encryption, a kill switch, and obfuscation. Works to get an IP address in more than 91 countries. Has a 30-day money-back guarantee and 24/7 live chat support—full support for various Netflix regions and many other popular streaming services.

Find out more in our ProtonVPN review.

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8. CyberGhost VPN

CyberGhost VPN is a very slick VPN and a joy to use. Owned by the same parent company as ExpressVPN, CyberGhost VPN adheres to a strict no-logs policy, uses 256-bit AES encryption with perfect forward secrecy, and has a robust kill switch.

An app-specific kill switch is buried in the settings, dubbed “app protection”, which will only cut off the internet to specific programs, e.g. a torrent client.

Cyberghost VPN allows torrenting on any of its P2P-optimized servers, which are plentiful. You can easily find these in the app’s torrenting section of the server list. With any VPN, connecting to a server geographically close to your location is generally recommended. So, if you’re connecting from Georgia, you might want to connect to a server in Atlanta. This is a good rule to follow unless you are trying to access geo-restricted content and services. CyberGhost VPN makes this super easy by allowing you to sort torrent-optimized servers by distance from your location. It’s little things like this that make all the difference when it comes to day-to-day use.

Download speeds are good, though you can expect things to slow down when connected to a far-flung server. The average speeds for Singapore were 5.1 MiB/s, while for the US, they were 5.23 MiB/s. The UK average was 5.33 MiB/s.

Individual downloads progressed smoothly, though there were a few minor hiccups. In the example below, the connection momentarily dropped out when connected to a US server.

We tested the software for leaks by first connecting to a server in the US. As expected, this identified us online as connecting from the US rather than where we were testing from in the UK.

CyberGhost didn’t leak our true location through WebRTC either:

The provider used its own servers to resolve DNS queries. This ensures that our ISP doesn’t see when we use torrent sites.

CyberGhost apps are easy to use and available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, Linux, and Android.

GOOD VALUE VPN:CyberGhost is a great value choice. Strong privacy policy, decent speeds, and reliability for torrenting & P2P. We found it easy to set up and use. Works well with most streaming sites. 45-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full CyberGhost VPN review.

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9. Hotspot Shield

Hotspot Shield offers excellent security features for torrenting, including strong encryption, leak protection, a desktop kill switch, and automatic wi-fi protection (in the mobile apps).

The provider has had some privacy issues in the past, which is why it previously scored poorly. However, it says it currently only logs encrypted IP addresses during a VPN session and then deletes them immediately afterward, so third parties can never view them.

Hotspot Shield has some nice little features built in, including a running tally of data used (useful if you’re on a capped broadband plan and downloading large files) and a built in speed test.

We ran into a couple of minor frustrations using the app. Even after connecting, the virtual location never updated; instead, it showed a spinning wheel. However, this didn’t affect performance. And when it comes to performance, man, this thing flies. This is thanks to a proprietary protocol called Catapult Hydra. We won’t get into the inner workings of the protocol here, but it’s fast.

During testing, connections were quick to establish, and downloads progressed consistently and well across regions. This is the qBittorrent output while connected to a US server.

Hotspot Shield’s download speeds were excellent, with a global average of 5.49 MiB/s. Speeds were fastest in the UK (5.53 MiB/s) and slowest in Singapore (5.43 MiB/s). The US was a solid 5.5 MiB/s.

There were no leaks of our IPv4 or IPv6 address when connected to a US server.

Hotspot Shield didn’t leak our true location through WebRTC and used its own DNS servers for resolving domain names..

Hotspot Shield can also access many popular streaming services, including Netflix US, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video. It has both gaming and streaming-optimized servers that are easily accessible from the home screen (no P2P dedicated servers, though).

With a generous 45-day money-back guarantee, you can always test the service to see if it’s a good fit.

In addition to its paid service, Hotspot Shield offers a free VPN. Most users looking to torrent will find free VPNs unsuitable for their needs, but if you really do need a free VPN, Hotspot Shield is a good option.

Apps are available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, Linux, and Android.

LOW COST TORRENT VPN:Hotspot Shield offers excellent value for money. It’s fast, secure, and great for torrenting. 45-day money-back guarantee.

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10. StrongVPN

StrongVPN boasts a zero-logs policy for both web traffic content and connection metadata. Torrenters will also appreciate the fact that you can use the software on up to 12 simultaneously connected devices.

The application feels a little basic compared to some of the other providers out there, but it’s function over form, so if you dig the no-nonsense approach, you won’t have any issues.

StrongVPN has decent download speeds, though it performed less well in its home country of the US (5.27 MiB/s). Average speeds for Singapore and the UK were good at 5.43 MiB/s and 5.47 MiB/s, respectively.

Though speeds weren’t always consistent, we didn’t experience any dropped connections while using StrongVPN.

All StrongVPN connections are securely encrypted, and you can opt to obfuscate traffic using a special “Scramble” feature that disguises OpenVPN connections.

DNS leak protection and a kill switch are built into the apps. We tested the DNS leak protection ourselves and found no evidence of leaks.

We also checked whether any IPv4 or IPv6 leaks might be revealing our location to copyright trolls or other torrenters. Connecting to a StrongVPN server in the US meant that both our true IPv4 and IPv6 addresses were hidden.

There was no evidence of WebRTC leaks either.

StrongVPN has long been a favorite among users in China, and its recent upgrades, including torrents, make it appeal to a wider audience.

Apps are available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android.

SIMPLE INTERFACE:StrongVPN has ample security. Now caters more for torrenters. Good security and privacy features. Sometimes it works in China. The server network is mostly focused on the US. 45-day money-back guarantee.

Read our full StrongVPN review.

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Our methodology for assessing VPNs for torrenting

As part of our research, we subject VPNs to hours of testing and analysis. To determine the best VPN for torrenting, we needed to decide on specific criteria for judging them. Torrenters and P2P file-sharers want extra internet privacy, no data caps, fast download speeds, and features specifically designed for torrenting. Based on that, we use the following criteria to evaluate each VPN.

Security & Privacy

Encryption ensures third parties cannot snoop on the activity of the VPN user or what torrents you download. In particular, encryption helps keep internet service providers off your back. A VPN kill switch and DNS leak protection are must-haves to ensure no identifying data leaves your desktop or mobile device. The VPN must also protect against WebRTC and IPv6 leaks to prevent users’ true locations from being revealed to ISPs, copyright trolls, or other torrenters.

We test each provider using browserleaks.com to determine how leak-proof they are. But we don’t stop there. We provide a score for every single metric related to security and privacy, and every VPN we test is held to the same rigorous standards.

You can see a summary of the criteria we use to arrive at this score below:

Torrenting speed

You don’t just want the fastest VPN provider based on our lab tests; you want the fastest one for torrenting. The two aren’t always the same, so we’ve specifically tested providers’ torrenting performance. This measured in MiB/s.

To carry out the tests, we used qBittorrent v4.6.4 to download the 4.81 GiB Ubuntu desktop image (available at: https://ubuntu.com/download/alternative-downloads) on a home broadband connection.  At the time of our most recent testing, the Ookla speed test site showed average download speeds of 49.23 Mbps when not connected to a VPN server. This is a million miles away from the 1.5 Gbps connection we use for our lab tests, but for the purposes of torrenting, we wanted to use a real-world environment.

For each VPN, we time how long it takes to download the Ubuntu desktop image via its torrent file while connected to US, UK, and Hong Kong/Singapore servers. We carry out this test three times for each location at different times of day. While this gives us a good impression of how consistent each provider’s speeds were, we can better understand how the providers compare by taking an average for each. This gives us the following, which makes it clear that PrivateVPN and NordVPN are the fastest torrenting VPNs.

To come up with a score out of ten, we normalize the scores to ensure fair comparisons. Normalization helps convert the scores to a common scale, regardless of the original range of values. We find the minimum and maximum speed test scores across all VPN providers. These values set the boundaries for normalization.

Ease of use

Most torrenters don’t want to spend more time configuring VPN software than is necessary. We look for VPN providers that make it easy to establish a connection intuitively. This is something we test across all major providers on a regular basis. Criteria we score on include:

• Apps for all major platforms
• Novice-friendly design
• Ease of signup (reviewer to score)
• Router support
• Unblocking consistency
• Task-specific servers
• Number of countries
• Ease of cancellation
• Interface
• Feature parity

Value for money

VPN subscriptions vary in price, though this doesn’t always correlate with how good they are. We look for providers that offer good value for money, i.e., those that provide the best service for the least money. Again, we do everything possible to make our scoring system as fair and as accurate as possible. Points are awarded in the following areas.

• Length of money-back guarantees
• Connection limits/simultaneous connections
• Length of subscriptions
• Frequency of special offers
• The price if you pay monthly
• The lowest price if you subscribe for a longer period
• Free trials
• Student discounts

Torrenting features

Some VPN features are particularly useful for torrenting, though not always available. Port forwarding, for example, can improve both download and upload speeds and allows you to torrent safely in the knowledge that you are paying it forward. Split tunneling is useful if you want to keep your torrent client within the VPN tunnel 24/7 but would like to use some apps with your normal internet connection. Some providers also have torrenting-optimized servers they recommend for P2P traffic that can give you an edge in terms of performance. We’ve scored each provider on which of these features they have and then applied an appropriate weighting for their usefulness when torrenting.

How do the VPN providers compare overall?

This is where all of our tests come together to give us an overall score. You can see the results of the tests below:

The two best VPN providers for torrenting are NordVPN and Surfshark — closely followed by IPVanish.

You can see, for example, that NordVPN is faster and easier to use to use than Surfshark. Surshark offers great value for money. Choose which metrics are most important to you and decide accordingly.

If you’d like to take a look at the detailed data from our tests, you can find everything in our VPN Testing Methodology article.

Why some VPNs aren’t suitable for torrenting

Torrenters use VPNs to stay secure and private online, but not all VPNs are suitable for BitTorrent (the communications protocol that enables peer-to-peer file sharing). Dozens of leading VPNs we encountered during testing are best avoided by torrenters. Some of the issues we found included the following:

• Many VPNs are too slow for torrent users and will result in slow torrent downloads.
• Some don’t provide sufficient leak protection to ensure identifying information is not exposed to copyright trolls and other third parties. This means your real IP address could be revealed to prying eyes.
• Many VPNs keep logs of user activity despite misleading marketing claims. This means information that can be traced back to specific internet users (we’ve assessed the logging policies of 123 different VPNs as part of our research).
• Some popular VPNs have policies that do not allow torrenting.

How does a VPN hide your IP address?

One of the main reasons a VPN is used for torrenting is to hide a user’s IP address and keep their online habits private. Here’s how a VPN hides your IP address.

Free VPNs that allow torrenting

We don’t recommend using a free VPN for torrenting. However, if you do wish to risk it, consult this table for the available options:

Kodi and Popcorn Time

Streaming video from Popcorn Time relies on torrents as a source. While you might not be downloading files you found on ThePirateBay directly to your hard drive, make no mistake that using these tools makes you no less liable in the eyes of the law. When you use Popcorn Time, you simultaneously download and upload content.

Certain Kodi add-ons also source video streams from torrents. Keep an eye out, in particular, for a newer platform called Acestreams. Acestreams use peer-to-peer BitTorrent connections so concurrent users can share the load of a stream. That means your connection is shared with others, causing potential security and online privacy issues that can usually be averted with a torrent VPN. Acestreams are increasingly popular for both live and on-demand content.

How torrenting works behind a NAT Firewall

Many VPN services come with built-in NAT firewalls, which block connections from peers on P2P networks and other unsolicited connections. This can prevent torrents that rely on P2P networks from functioning properly.

Depending on the VPN software, you may be able to disable the NAT firewall somewhere in the settings. If not, you will need to use port forwarding. This is usually a manual procedure where the VPN provider designates a specific port to be used for P2P traffic. Users must configure their BitTorrent client to use this port. If the port is not listed on the VPN provider’s website, the user must contact customer support and ask for it. The VPN providers that offer port forwarding on this list are:

• PrivateVPN
• PureVPN
• ProtonVPN

The importance of kill switches

A VPN kill switch halts all internet traffic if the VPN unexpectedly drops the connection for any reason. This prevents your real IP address and torrent traffic from leaking onto your ISP’s unencrypted network, which could otherwise expose your activity to your ISP, copyright trolls, and hackers. This is why it’s imperative to either bind your IP (see below) and/or use a kill switch.

All of the best VPNs for torrenting we recommend come equipped with a kill switch on their desktop versions, but they might not be enabled by default. Be sure to enable it in the settings. Mobile VPN apps for Android and iOS are much less likely to incorporate kill switches.

Know that not all kill switches are created equal. A simple dropped connection is fairly easy to plan for, but the kill switch might not be equipped to handle other types of network disruptions, crashes, and configuration changes. The two types of leaks most pertinent to torrenters are IP address and IP traffic leaks.

Is it necessary to bind your IP before downloading torrents?

IP binding is a valuable precaution to take if you want to ensure that all torrent downloads take place over the P2P VPN. Binding your torrent client to an IP address limits downloads to a specific IP address. This means you can set the client only to download torrents while connected to a certain P2P VPN server. If the connection to the VPN drops or you disconnect, the downloads stop, adding a kill switch to your VPN without affecting other apps and services. This prevents any torrent traffic from leaking onto your real IP address.

Check your torrent manager software settings to see if it supports IP binding. uTorrent has this capability on Windows, and Azureus Vuze can do it on Mac and Windows.

How to avoid malware in torrents

Torrent websites and torrents themselves are havens for malware. Because torrents are uploaded by the community, they often go unchecked for viruses and malware. A case in early 2018 saw 400,000 users hit by a malware outbreak caused by a Russian torrenting client. Every time you download a torrent, scanning it with good, up-to-date antivirus software is a good idea. If the website you downloaded from has a comments section, other users might have already posted about potential threats. This is especially true for software and video games containing many files, making it easier to hide malicious files.

Check out our reviews to find the antivirus that best suits you.

Do I need to use port forwarding to download torrents?

Port forwarding is a contentious topic among torrenters. Some say it improves their download speeds by allowing their torrent client to connect to more peers.

Others argue it is unnecessary and, when using a torrenting VPN service, only makes torrenting more difficult and can even degrade user privacy. This is because other users sharing the same VPN IP address will all be limited to the same ports except for the one who chooses to port forward. That can make P2P activity easier to trace back to a single user.

Most commercial VPN clients don’t support port forwarding and work fine without it. For those that do, enter the forwarded port into your torrent client’s settings. Port forwarding in a VPN does not require forwarding ports in your router. You may need to disable NAT-PMP and/or uPNP mapping in the torrent client.

Torrenting VPN FAQs