Best Torrent Clients - Find The Best Torrent Clients

First of all … what even is a torrent client?

For those of you who are still uninitiated, I would like to welcome you to the wonderful world of torrenting! I still remember when I first learned how to torrent. Few things are more exciting than mastering the art of P2P file sharing. A whole new galaxy of free indie music, movies, TV shows, open-source software, and eBooks awaits you. All you have to do is learn some of the easy basics of downloading torrent files and you will be on your way!

The first step in the process of learning how to torrent is to find yourself the best torrent client for your purposes. And in order to figure that out, you have to ask yourself the following question: what sorts of files do I think I will be downloading most frequently? There are several different types of torrent client programs to choose from … each of which has its own inherent strengths and weaknesses. So, knowing what level of performance your torrent client will require is the best way to decide on which one you should download.

There are the old-school torrent download programs, such as the BitTorrent client and Vuze, for instance. And these are going to be your powerhouses. They take up the most drive and CPU space, sure, but they also tend to be the highest performing clients on the market. If you are looking to frequently download tons of larger files, one of these full-size, full force torrent download programs is going to be the way to go.

However, maybe you plan on being more of a light torrenter. Maybe you aren’t planning on diving into the deep end quite yet. Perhaps you only plan to download music or movies every now and then. In that case, you probably do not need a V-8 engine, so to speak. For smaller and more casual downloads, a more energy efficient program will suffice, (like uTorrent, for example). In some cases, come to think of it, you don’t even need to download a client at all, thanks to sites like bTorrent that take the form of an in-browser torrent client.

If safety is your number one concern (particularly if you do not have an antivirus program and/or VPN), there are torrent clients out there, too, that are geared specifically towards keeping out potentially malicious files. These programs will scan your torrents for you before the download commences, checking for viruses, trojans, trackers, etc. More often than not, though, these programs tend to charge (antivirus protection is an extremely lucrative industry). And at that point, why not just spring for a full fledged antivirus suite, you know?

Of all the clients out there, at the end of the day, the one you choose is going to depend entirely on what you hope to get out of it. Identify your intentions, and then find your perfect torrent client from my list of reviews.

What is the most popular torrent client for 2023?

Honestly, it is hard to imagine a world in which BitTorrent isn’t one of the world’s most widely used torrent clients. Few torrent clients have the same level of name recognition. Talk about solid branding. According to a lot of people that I have spoken with, BitTorrent is one of the only torrent clients they have ever heard of. In many cases, actually, it is the only one they knew anything about. So, I would be surprised if the BitTorrent client didn’t continue to dominate the world of torrent clients, this year and for years to come — they are a solidified and trusted software.

However, just because a program is well known does not necessarily mean that it is the best one to use when it comes time to download torrents. The best torrent clients have a host of useful features upon download that make for the easiest, speediest, and most convenient downloads possible. And when I think of easy, speedy, and most convenient, I cannot help but think of Vuze.

Vuze is certainly a popular torrent client (even if slightly underrated). It performs just as well (if not better) than BitTorrent; plus it has some crucial features that set it apart from its competitors. The one user feature that Vuze offers that I love, personally, is a built-in search engine. With Vuze you do not have to mess around with finding a site to download torrents, because Vuze comes with the ability to discover torrent files directly from the client itself. This is very reminiscent, of course, of the old Napster and Lime Wire days — making for a convenient, simple, and fun process.

Another feature that, in 2023, you definitely want to be looking for in your torrent client is a media player. Although this was not common when BitTorrent was originally designed, nowadays it is becoming increasingly common. So, personally, I don’t even entertain a torrent client unless it offers above and beyond features like a media player and/or a search engine. The best torrent clients do as much work for you as possible, consolidating every component of the torrent download (and enjoyment) process.

Do I need to be very tech-savvy to use these programs?

Fortunately, you do not need to be a coder or have a degree in computer sciences in order to learn how to torrent. Although what goes on behind the scenes when it comes to a torrent download can be a bit complex (so many bits of files being sent back and forth from computer to computer, one tiny piece at a time), using a torrent client is one of the easiest things you will ever learn to do on a computer. Because that’s what a client does … it takes care of all of the heavy lifting for you — all you have to do, essentially, is download your torrent file, sit back, and let the client do its magic.

That being said, there are probably a few basic torrenting keywords that you should become familiar with, at least if you want to download your files as efficiently and intelligently as possible.

Leechers – Those who are currently attempting to download part of a file while not uploading anything as well.

Seeders – Those who are providing the file for download. The more seeds, the better. Ideally, you will be able to find a file with a very favorable seed to leech ratio. This results in faster downloads.

Peers – Those who are both downloading and uploading a given file simultaneously. They don’t possess the entire file, just a smaller portion.

A word to the wise – please seed as many files as possible … this is how torrenting communities stay afloat! Most clients will automatically seed your torrent once it finishes downloading, so this will not require any special know-how either.

Are torrent clients free to use?

Yes, just about every torrent client out there is free to use … at least as a basic user. It is also true that just about all of the best torrent clients out there also exist as a freemium service. In other words, you can do all of the basic things — download torrents, maybe search for torrents, stream torrents, etc. — but that there are special advanced perks to upgrading to a paid subscription of the service. Sometimes this will take the form of getting rid of in-client ads. Maybe they will have special offers on purchasing physical copies of titles that you have downloaded. Sometimes the best torrent clients come with free antivirus software built into the client.

Is it expensive to download torrents in premium mode, while taking advantage of all of these extra perks and features? Well, generally speaking, nope … in fact, the prices tend to be quite fair, if you ask me. Vuze Plus, for instance, will only run you $3.99/month if you subscribe for a year. And BitTorrent’s Premium service is around $20 a year (although BitTorrent also offers an extra tier that comes with a VPN for $70 a year). So, as you can see, prices can vary a little, but, all in all, I would say that they won’t require you to break the bank. And, hey, it is still much more affordable than purchasing every single file you are curious in outright, when you add it all up.

At the end of the day, a good torrent client can make or break your torrenting experience. So, it is very important that you peruse through my list of reviews and figure out the perfect one for your needs. Good luck, and happy torrenting!