Torrents and VPNs go hand in hand, especially in countries where the activity is frowned upon by broadcasters and media agencies.

Truth be told, torrenting isn’t itself discouraged but the content you are downloading via the client. Basically, torrent clients BitTorrent or Utorrent give a platform to users from where they can download and share files.

The process of downloading and uploading is called leeching and seeding, respectively.


Here, huge files are broken into little chunks which are easier to download. Furthermore, you can stop, pause and resume downloads whenever you like. In fact, you don’t need to worry about broken downloads but every time you resume a download, the client rehashes the previously downloaded content.

As a result, you get to download complete files regardless of the number of times the downloading is interrupted.

As an avid-torrent, you need to set up a VPN on your device to hide your IP from ISP and other prying third parties. Now, you might think, why do I need to hide my IP with a VPN for torrent?

Read on to find out whether a VPN is safe for torrenting, is it illegal, how to choose a VPN and other questions that might be arising in your mind.

Top 5 Best VPNs for Torrenting in 2020

Not all VPN services offer torrenting. But, don’t you worry. We’ve tested the following services and found them completely capable of offering the best VPN services for torrenting.

ExpressVPN

expressvpn-review

ExpressVPN might be one of the most expensive choices around, but its services are simply outstanding and unparalleled. The VPN provider packs a good number of features where most others lack.

ExpressVPN boasts 3000+ and it is available in 160 locations. Although the server count is larger than other services, the VPN provider has only got 30,000+ IP addresses. Users can access the client on up to 3 devices at a time. And, you can always ask for money back if there’s any issue with the service.

You can get the money back within 30 days.

NordVPN

nordvpn review

As compared to our first choice on the list, NordVPN also comes as a top contender in the VPN industry. It also features a large number of servers. Currently, it has over 5000 VPN servers. However, it has servers in only 60 countries.

As far as NordVPN’s IP is concerned, the VPN provider hasn’t revealed its IP pool so no one knows how many IP addresses it holds. The VPN service is less expensive than ExpressVPN.

SurfShark

SurfShark VPN

SurfShark is another leading option for users looking for best torrent VPN services in 2019. The VPN provider explicitly promotes torrenting services. In fact, it has a special landing page where users can learn more about torrent with SurfShark and what they can expect.

The VPN provider promises strict no-log policy. In fact, it also offers 30-day money-back guarantee which means users have 30 days to check whether they need to expand their SurfShark plan or not.

CyberGhost

CyberGhost is an experienced player in the VPN industry, having over 3000+ VPN servers across 60 countries. Similar to NordVPN, CyberGhost doesn’t provide any exact count of its IP pool. Anyway, it is also a good alternative to the services featured here.

IPVanish

ipvanish review

Finally, IPVanish is another great torrent VPN service we’ve in our top 5 list. The best thing about the VPN provider is that it has a built-in feature that keeps switching the IP address of the user every few minutes. As a result, users are guaranteed a good level of privacy which is what they need for completely anonymous torrenting experience.

Is Torrenting Illegal? Do I Really Need a VPN for Torrenting in 2020?

Yes, you do need a VPN if you wish to use torrent clients in an anonymous manner. As mentioned above, the activity isn’t encouraged by media agencies, broadcasters and major publishers at all.

It is important to understand two things here. First, torrenting isn’t illegal. In fact, it is completely legal to download files over the Internet. Secondly, what you download may or may not be illegal.

For instance, there are hundreds of different torrenting websites. However, not all torrent aggregators would be offering legal content. In fact, they might be containing torrent files of content which is copyrighted by its publisher, creator or owner.

Therefore, in some countries torrenting is downright illegal. And, in some countries, torrenting is allowed but not the copyright content. If you’re found to have downloaded copyright material, you may be penalized or punished.

Though we don’t encourage downloading copyright material we also don’t want our readers to get into any trouble while downloading legal content. So, we suggest you use a VPN to mask your torrenting activities and evade the prying eyes of your ISP or any other third-party that continuously monitor the local internet for torrents.

Secondly, you may also need a torrent VPN service to speed up your download and get your desired files in a secure fashion. It is a common practice among ISPs to throttle users’ bandwidth or speeds. ISPs often throttle the speeds to save bandwidth or balance network congestion.

VPNs use anti-throttling mechanism that allows users to bypass the bandwidth throttling and download torrents faster.

Is It Safe to Download Torrents with a VPN?

Yes, it is completely safe to download and uploads torrents with a reliable VPN service. If you’re using a trusted and renowned VPN service, you can be assured that your torrenting activities, as well as the data you’re downloading off the torrent websites, are hidden.

With a reliable torrent VPN service, you can be guaranteed that your IP is hidden and you’re behind a different IP address. Secondly, you have encryption protecting the integrity of your data.

Moreover, you can access even those torrenting services that are not available in your region.

Yes, you heard that right. There are some torrenting websites that are restricted in some countries. If you are also facing restriction issues, you may need a VPN to bypass it and access the torrent.

Can I Use Best Free VPNs for Torrenting?

You can, of course, use free VPN services for torrent as long as you’re fine with fake promises, malicious connection, bandwidth theft, and exposed torrenting activities.

Yes, free services mean that your data is the fee they are getting from you. It is logical to think about how someone could deliver a service for free and, at the same time, afford an infrastructure which is capable of offering anonymous services, fastest speeds, and 24/7 uninterrupted service.

Unless the free VPN service provider is running a charity which is, of course, absurd to think, you should opt for premium services.

If you go for a free service provider, you can expect:

  • Bandwidth theft: It is common among some free services to steal bandwidth of users and then sell it to the highest bidder and make money out of it.
  • Slow speeds: You can never expect faster download speeds because they don’t have the means to offer good VPN infrastructure.
  • Malware: Expect a malicious network when it comes to free VPNs because most free services target users’ data and sell it to third parties.
  • IP Leak: VPNs have inherent IPv6 leaks issue which isn’t easy to get around. Free VPN services are plagued with this problem. Only premium services are able to offer leak protection.

How to Choose the Best VPN for Torrents?

When you shop anything, you match the product or service with the standards you’ve set in your mind. Similarly, there are some standards you need to keep in mind when opting for the best VPN for torrenting:

  • Jurisdiction: It is imperative that the VPN provider shouldn’t be operating from any country that falls under the UKUSA agreement, aka 5Eyes alliance.
  • Logging Policy: A VPN shouldn’t log data at all. After all, VPNs are developed to promise privacy which couldn’t be assured to the user if the VPN keeps data logs.
  • P2P Compatible: Not every VPN provider is compatible with torrent clients such as BitTorrents. So, look for a VPN service which works easily with any torrent client.
  • Download speeds: A good downloading speed is necessary to get the torrents faster. Look for services that have a good infrastructure and so they offer good speeds.
  • Bandwidth: Bandwidth can be an issue with torrenting. After all, the activity consumes a huge amount of bandwidth. Go for a VPN service that offers unlimited bandwidth.
  • VPN Locations: Reliable VPN services should also offer users a good number of VPN locations. As a torrenter, you need more VPN locations so that you can unblock torrent services or clients that are ban in your country but available elsewhere.

Find the Right Torrent VPN Service

It may sound easy but picking the right service out of hundreds of options can be quite a hassle. However, we’ve provided you with the checklist of the best torrent VPN service.

Keep the checklist in mind as well as the options we’ve provided here and enjoy torrenting from anywhere.