Whether you’re a direct Torrent user or a user of a service that streams directly from the Torrent networks it is vital that you take the necessary steps to secure your privacy.

The best way to do this is by using a VPN. VPN software stops inquisitive types from snooping on what you’re downloading or monitoring what you’re watching.

However, choosing a VPN provider for torrenting is difficult because they’re not all the same. Some don’t allow torrenting at all and others restrict it to specific servers.

So, which is the best VPN for Torrenting?

That’s what we’ve been discovering and below we’ve rounded up the top 7 Virtual Private Networks that are great for torrenting.

Without question, the one that stood out the most is NordVPN but any of these 7 VPN services will be suitable for keeping your torrenting use private and secure.

All you need to do is read through this guide and decide which of our recommended best VPN for torrenting is the right one for you.

How to choose a VPN for Torrenting?

Before you go diving in head first and just choose any random VPN it’s important to consider a few factors that make VPN providers the best VPNs for torrenting.

Some of these features are specific to Torrent users and others are just good practice when hunting for a VPN service in general.

They will all make sure you get the best VPN for your needs so it’s worth considering each of them, and whether they are important to you, before signing up:

• Allows torrenting: It may sound obvious to say but check to see that the VPN service allows you to torrent files. Some don’t like users downloading torrents. Some indicate it’s acceptable while others will have dedicated Torrent or P2P servers. Others will specifically mention phrases such as “Anonymous torrenting” or “Unlimited P2P traffic” so be sure to look out for those and choose a VPN that can support torrenting.
• Fast download speeds: If you’re a big user of torrents or torrent clients that stream from them directly, then you’ll need to ensure good torrenting speeds to allow fast download torrents. If your VPN affects your torrenting speed too much then you’ll get buffering issues or your downloads can take a lot longer. Stick to tried and tested services. In our reviews we monitor downloading speeds so it’s worth checking them out.
• Local servers: As a VPN user you’ll want to connect to more ‘torrent-friendly’ countries which means it is important to take a look at a VPNs server network. Most VPN services offer a huge server network across multiple countries. Ensuring there are enough nearby locations available on your chosen torrenting client allows you to get the privacy of the VPN while not hugely impacting your speeds.
• Apps for your devices: Think about which devices you use for downloading torrents and make sure your chosen VPN offers torrent clients for all of these devices. There is no point considering VPNs for torrenting if they don’t work where you need them to.
• Money-back guarantee: Any good VPN should offer a lengthy money-back guarantee. These can range anywhere from 7 days up to 45 days but the industry standard right now is a 30-day money-back guarantee. This should give you plenty of time to test the service thoroughly to ensure that this virtual private network is the best torrenting VPN for you.

Top VPN for Torrenting

Above are some of the most important factors you should consider when choosing a torrenting VPN.

Now let’s take a look at the Top 7 best VPNs for torrenting in the view of our experts. The providers listed below are ideal to help you download torrents safely, securely, and privately.

1. NordVPN

NordVPN has become one of the leading VPN services. In fact, we recently scored them 4.7 / 5 in our latest NordVPN review for the overall quality of their service.

Torrent users are especially well catered for as the service has dedicated P2P servers that stretch across the globe. Specific torrent-friendly servers cover North & South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Australia regions ensuring that this is one of the fastest VPN company options for torrenters.

In addition, there are a number of other security features that the cautious torrent user can benefit from including double VPN servers for added security, split tunneling, DNS Leak protection, and an excellent VPN kill switch to keep you safe if your VPN server drops.

VPN speeds are perfect for torrenting traffic, downloading files, and file sharing and it even offers secure VPN protocols including WireGuard, which is even faster than the standard OpenVPN protocol. In fact, we would go as far as to say NordVPN offers some of the fastest connection speeds of any VPN on the market.

Even using a high-level of encryption we only lost a few Mbps compared to our standard connection speed which is great when downloading large files or streaming without interruptions.

A few years ago, NordVPN released an audit of their service to show their no connection logs claims were sound. It is still the exception rather than the rule among VPN services to have gone to such lengths and as such where keeping your privacy is concerned this makes a sound investment.

The service offers excellent apps for all major devices, allows up to six simultaneous connections and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee allowing you to test it risk-free.

#1 Recommended VPN for Torrenting

30-day money back guarantee

2. ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN made our Editor’s Choice pick for this year for their overall service and they’ve got a good offering specifically for torrent users too.

There are no dedicated servers for Torrenting which means you can make use of their extensive network that spans 94 countries. However, they do claim you can “Access any content” and there are “no restrictions” on what you do while connected to their service.

The service claims to store no-logs of your activity or connection data and this was tested in a high-profile criminal case (you can read about that here) which goes to great lengths to show their claims are honest.

They’ve also had their no-log policy audited which means you can be confident that they are not keeping records of what you are doing online. This VPN hides your real IP Address from snoopers too.

Being based in the British Virgin Islands also helps to ensure that ExpressVPN can guarantee your online privacy.

There are more dedicated apps than most services offer including for Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Android, Apple iOS, Amazon Fire TV, a selection of routers and more.

They also have a range of browser extensions available. So whatever your torrent device of choice is, you’re covered. The ExpressVPN connection speed tests are also hugely impressive too. As the name suggests, this is one fast VPN.

The service also packs in various features like a kill switch and split tunneling, and a great ability to access blocked sites. They also support port forwarding too.

There is also a 30-day standard money back guarantee to give you plenty of time to test it with your regular Torrent haunts and you can benefit from five simultaneous connections too.

3. IPVanish

IPVanish is another service friendly to Torrent users. In fact, so much so that they even specify the service allows “Unlimited P2P traffic” and the ability to “Torrent anonymously”.

There are no specific P2P servers on the service which means you’re free to use any across their network of 75+ countries. That means you should never struggle to find a nearby VPN server.

Connection speeds on the service are favourable and in our most recent tests, we found them to offer only a minor torrenting speed loss when you want to download files.

The service allows you to use an unlimited number of devices at the same time which means you can torrent/stream on some devices while still protecting the privacy of others all from the one account. If you’ve got a large family with many devices then you’ll appreciate this cost-saving feature.

The service claims to store no logs of your activity and they now have an independent audit to prove it.

IPVanish also has strong encryption and the recent security flaw issues that have been swirling around them have been dealt with.

There is now also a 30-day money-back guarantee so you have plenty of time to try this torrenting VPN out for yourself before committing any money.

4. CyberGhost VPN

CyberGhost VPN offer up an alternative torrenting VPN service and they have dedicated servers that are optimised for torrent traffic.

Use any of the service’s well-designed apps and you’ll have a special section dedicated to “For Torrenting”. It’s really simple and just a couple of quick clicks will encrypt you data, hide your real IP Address, keep your internet traffic private and have you ready to torrent.

While there are plenty of servers located across Europe from the UK through to Moldova, there are unfortunately not so many offerings elsewhere. If you’re a user in the US then you can connect to Canada but outside of there, the European locations and Japan, there are no other locations available.

If you’re from elsewhere in the world you may need to consider the distances between their nearest server and your location.

What CyberGhost VPN does have is some of the best VPN apps in the business making it super-easy to download torrents. If you want a great torrent client for your devices, CyberGhost VPN is a good place to start looking.

As an added bonus CyberGhost VPN has a huge money back guarantee of 45-days which is more than almost all other VPN providers. So even though they have a lack of worldwide Torrent servers you do have plenty of time to test it.

5. VPN.ac

VPN.ac is a lesser-known VPN service which means you could have the servers practically to yourself.

They have specific P2P servers which are located in Canada and across Europe. If you’re elsewhere in the world then you’ll need to stick with one of the earlier services that provide Torrent-friendly servers nearer to your location.

If you’re near Canada or in Europe then you’ll be rewarded with some of the fastest speeds available with a secure VPN.

VPN.ac doesn’t oversell its service and there’s plenty of bandwidth to go around. Their Torrent-friendly servers are even called “P2P Optimised” which means, in theory, you should get the best available download experience when using them.

Although paying on a monthly basis is a little expensive the price is extremely competitive when taking their annual package. So if you’re looking to protect your torrent habits all year round then you could make a big saving in the process.

VPN.ac still does all the usual things you expect of a VPN really well too. It will hide your IP Address and internet traffic and ensure that your data is encrypted and secure.

Their excellent desktop and mobile VPN apps are available for all major devices plus there’s a 7-day money-back guarantee allowing you to test the service. It goes under the radar but VPN.ac is one of the best torrenting VPNs around.

6. Surfshark

Surfshark is a lot younger than pretty much any other VPN provider on this list, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t warrant its place.

This is a top VPN for torrenting and regardless of which internet service providers or torrent client you are using, they will help you to torrent safely.

Surfshark is ideal for torrenting thanks to its blazing speeds which allow fast downloads. It can access blocked torrent sites and most other censored content and streaming services, and is packed with features too.

It offers protection from DNS leaks, split tunneling, double VPN servers and various other advanced security features. It is located in the British Virgin Islands which means it can guarantee your privacy online too.

There is also military-grade encryption, a kill switch, and it is one of the rare few providers in the entire world that offers unlimited simultaneous connections.

You can install this torrenting VPN on Android, iOS, Windows PC, Mac, and more. It has super-low prices and a 30-day money-back guarantee too.

7. Private Internet Access

Private Internet Access is one of the largest VPNs with VPN server locations all over the world, which makes them a great option for establishing a secure internet connection with a private IP Address for torrenting.

Private Internet Access is another great torrenting VPN thanks not just to its huge server network but its thousands of IP Addresses, unlimited bandwidth, and decent speeds.

It has a great range of VPN apps for mobile and desktop devices, strong encryption, and features like port forwarding which torrenters always like. There is also a really good kill switch if your VPN connection cuts out.

You are allowed up to ten simultaneous connections and, while this private VPN is not the best for streaming BBC iPlayer and other such services, it will protect your traffic when web browsing or doing other activity online which is what torrenters need from VPN companies.

If you only want to sign up for a month, this one is expensive but if you sign up for longer the prices come down sharper and offer impressive value for money. There is now a 30-day money-back guarantee available too.

Which Torrent VPN is best for you?

Choosing the best VPNs for torrenting is mostly about what’s best for your personal circumstances as opposed to anything else.

While a local server to us can be very good, if you’re on the other side of the world and the service has no nearby servers then it negates any benefit.

So to help you make a choice based on your preferences we’ve broken it down into typical usage scenarios users look for in a torrenting VPN:

If you want…

What Security Features should you look for?

If you are planning to use your VPN connection for torrenting, there are a few specific features that you should look out for. Here are the main ones.

Do you really need a VPN for Torrenting?

Torrenting and P2P use have continued to get a bad rap over the last decade and while it’s no secret that it can be used to download and stream illegal content (something which we do not condone) there is a wealth of legitimate uses too.

Simply using Torrents will lead to raised eyebrows and assumptions about your usage. Keeping your privacy safe when using Torrents is therefore essential and a VPN app can do that.

There are a number of good reasons to use a VPN when Torrenting including:

• Protecting your privacy.
• Unblocking extra sources of content.
• Bypassing ISP speed-throttling restrictions.
• Stopping prying eyes from monitoring your downloads.
• Avoiding bad internet routes causing slow speeds and buffering.
• Unblocking Torrent services on networks where they’re blocked.

Plus many more.

There are some other options out there that offer some of the above benefits. For example, some torrenters will choose to use proxy servers rather than a VPN.

While these will help to hide IP Address and can be faster, they do not encrypt your data and therefore do leave torrenters vulnerable in a way that a VPN doesn’t.

If you’re using Torrents or services and apps that make use of P2P networks either infrequently or regularly then you really need to ensure you’re using a VPN.

Is it safe to torrent with a VPN?

Generally speaking, the answer is that yes, it is safe to torrent with a VPN.

As long as you opt for the most reliable VPN you can find, the fastest VPN within your budget, and the best torrenting VPN your budget will allow, there is no reason why your torrenting should be both safe and user-friendly.

Obviously, it is not possible to guarantee safety 100% with any provider.

Torrenting files have been known to contain malware and other harmful content that could make your downloads unsafe regardless of which VPN server you connect to and which provider you are using.

But as long as you choose a reputable VPN from our list above, you will benefit from claimed ‘military-grade’ end-to-end encryption, a hidden IP Address, servers in multiple countries and many other features such as a kill switch which will help to keep you somewhat safe when torrenting.

Is it legal to torrent with a VPN?

Using a VPN isn’t illegal in all but a handful of authoritarian regimes like China, Russia, and Iran, where dictators rely on controlling people’s views and the flow of information to maintain their grip on power.

Aside from these regimes, it is perfectly legal to use a VPN anywhere in the world.

Torrenting is also not illegal in most countries either.

After all, the process of torrenting is merely the sharing of information in small packets across different devices. It is a fast and efficient data transfer mechanism and has lots of very legitimate purposes. The answer to the question is torrenting legal is an emphatic, yes.

What is illegal is to use a torrent client to download content that is protected by copyright without the copyright owners permission.

Depending on which country you live in, this can be a criminal offence that might result in a significant fine or even a jail sentence. But this is because breaching copyright law is illegal not because torrenting is illegal.

It is certainly not something that we would advocate you do as it is illegal whether you are using a VPN or not.

Best countries for torrenting

As we noted in the previous section, there are some countries where laws are more friendly towards torrenting than others. For those keen to take advantage of that, here is a rundown of three of our preferred IP address locations when torrenting:

Switzerland

Switzerland is one of the most privacy-friendly locations in the world. Domestic law here protects your right to privacy and also limits what an Internet Service Provider can monitor about you.

Crucially for torrenters, downloading copyrighted materials for personal use is legal in Switzerland as long as you don’t try to share it or sell it on. This is illegal unless you own copyright rights.

For torrenters, what this means is that torrenting is perfectly legitimate, but seeding is not.

Of course, if you’re not Swiss or physically in Switzerland, you’re likely not covered by this protection.

Spain

Domestic law in Spain is focused on the intent to profit rather than the act of breaching copyright law. As a result, downloading and sharing information is fine, as long as you are not making a profit from the process.

However, it is still illegal to share copyrighted materials which has the effect of meaning that the law in Spain is similar to Switzerland.

However, as a member of the EU, Spain has a close relationship with some of the so-called Eyes Countries, which means torrenters should tread with caution.

Poland

The law in Poland is rather vague when it comes to downloaded copyright materials. It is neither legal nor illegal.

Broadly speaking, you are not allowed to use copyrighted works unless you have permission from the copyright holders. But there are some exceptions, notably private use cases which fall outside of copyright law.

This is a loophole that some torrenters can exploit, but like Spain, Poland is a member of the EU and so comes with the same caveats.

Can I use a free VPN for torrenting?

Free VPN services are all over the internet and there are many articles like this that will plug providers like Hotspot Shield and others as the best free VPN for torrenting.

Don’t believe a word of it.

Hotspot Shield and all the other free VPN apps out there are simply not worth the trouble. If you want a VPN that will protect your web traffic and let you undertake file sharing with confidence, Hotspot Shield is not the VPN for you.

Here at VPNCompare, we make a point of cautioning against free VPN use in all but the most exceptional of circumstances. This is because free VPNs generally make your security worse rather than better.

Many free VPNs sell your data to third parties while more than a few have been found to have links to China and are likely to be sending user data back to Beijing.

Some free VPN companies bundle their clients together with malware and adware which puts your security at risk too.

Then there is the question of performance.

A lot of free VPNs have limited servers which means that almost all of their users are on the same server with the same IP address and this results in slow and often very slow speeds.

Many also have very low bandwidth restrictions while some also block or throttle access to sites like torrenting sites. This is because they know that their limited service cannot dal with multiple users downloading and streaming content at the same time.

Premium VPNs have none of these downsides and with prices starting at just $3 a month, it really is a no-brainer to pay a little for the vastly improved service they can offer.

Do VPNs make torrenting faster?

In many cases, the answer to this question is yes.

A lot of internet service providers disapprove of torrenting and will throttle the most popular torrenting sites if they don’t block them altogether. This will slow your downloads to a crawl and make the whole process a chore rather than a pleasure.

A quality VPN gets you around this problem by hiding what you’re using your internet connection for.

If your ISP can’t see that you’re torrenting, it can’t choose to throttle your connection. Therefore, if you find your connection speeds dropping a lot when torrenting, a VPN could be the answer to your problem.

In Summary

With so many VPN services available it can be incredibly difficult to choose the right one especially if you are focusing on a specific purpose for your VPN such as torrenting.

That’s why we are here to help though with this guide that takes all the stress and worry out of choosing a torrenting VPN.

Our overall top recommended VPN for torrenting is NordVPN.

They’ve got a proven no-log policy, with an independent audit to underwrite it, they’re registered off-shore, they’re torrent-friendly and their download speeds are some of the best we’ve monitored this year.

There is also a great kill switch and other security features plus a decent number of simultaneous connections are permitted.

If you’re not sure that NordVPN is the right provider for you, we have also listed our top 7 providers and explained in which scenarios another provider might be a better bet.

All of the VPNs listed in this article allow you to torrent files and offer all the core features you need to do so safely and privately.

So whether you’re a direct Torrent user or a streamer that uses services which rely on torrent networks, make sure you’re using one of the seven providers above for a much improved and safer experience.

What VPN have you been using for Torrenting? Let us know in the comments section below as we would love to hear your thoughts.

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