Downloading vs torrenting

Do you use—or would you rather use—Usenet or torrents for your downloading needs? Please, share your comments with us below. Your email address will not be published. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Home Usenet. We are reader supported and may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

Learn more. What is Usenet? How Does Usenet Work? We mean it is fast, very fast. Since it is essentially server-based, the transfer is one-way only and no files are transferred from your computer.

That is, of course, unless you are uploading content. Security is another important aspect of Usenet. The connection between your newsreader and the Usenet server will almost always be encrypted.

And since there is only a connection between your newsreader and the server, other users are not aware of your existence. Cons The main disadvantage of Usenet is its cost. They are usually very slow, only contain a small subset of the messages with ridiculously short retention times and they rarely offer a secured connection.

The Digital Millenium Copyright Act takedown process was created to protect service providers from being legally responsible for the content their users upload. If copyright holders are aware that their content is posted somewhere for everyone to download they can issue a DMCA takedown request.

The service provider must then honor the request and remove the file. There is a way around this as suppliers in some countries—the Netherlands is a good example—are not subjected to DMCA takedown requests. The search capabilities—or lack thereof—of Usenet is another area that leaves somewhat to be desired. Fortunately, this has been alleviated by the introduction of the NZB file format and NZB indexing sites which do index content on servers on a regular basis and offer a user-friendly interface for finding specific files.

What are Torrents? How do Torrents Work? Most torrent software requires no special configuration and will work right after completing its installation. The only difference is that ad intrusion is more annoying on RARBG, so take that into account when choosing one of the two.

There are a lot of phishing scams going around with RARBG-looking sites, so make sure you learn about secure browsing.

Website: X website. Some people use it to browse for game torrents as well, but from our research, it does look like both RARBG and The Pirate Bay have more torrents in that category, especially for older titles.

A few years ago, X was a bad choice for any torrenting, since it was clunky to navigate and it posed a lot of security risks. Since then, it went through an entire site revamp , making it seamless to browse and safer. For shows and movies, you also have improved browsing functionalities, like searching by award nomination. Mirrors: x. Website: Torrentz2 website. While this is not that big of a torrent site — only amassing million users a month, and unable to sport much of a library for general torrents — Torrentz2 is very good for finding music.

Not to mention — any type of browsing options, like searching by album, artist or song would be greatly appreciated. Second, ad intrusion is minimal and the interface is beautiful. Lastly, classics are readily available on the platform. If you want high-definition episodes of your favourite shows, EZTV is the place to go. We searched for older titles like Two and a Half Men, and it had a decent library of options.

We even tried going for more obscure titles, like the British show Midsomer Murders. EZTV has a large variety of torrents for the new releases in that show, and packages of older episodes. We tried browsing for older titles, and it has a good library, both for PC and consoles. You can subscribe to different categories or titles and get a feed of new torrents for them.

Update: Despite recent claims to the contrary, Zooqle still seems to be up and running. For instance, we received a remark from one of our French readers that Zooqle has been shut down, so we checked with a VPN if it was blocked in France. In all three instances, we were successful. Therefore, we have to conclude that, as of now, Zooqle is accessible to, at least, a great portion of internet users. Needless to say, we will check this regularly and keep you updated! LimeTorrents is very good for new releases.

Mirrors: limetorrents. Not a torrent site per se, Torrends. Mirrors: None. This website used to be called torrents. Website: Torrentdownloads website.

Attention: This website attempts to open an additional browser tab with advertisements. Not harmful, but annoying. Mirror links: dirtytorrents. Joining the trail of movies torrenting sites, now comes YourBittorrent. It is a dedicated torrenting platform featuring torrents from various categories, including software, games, ebooks, and anime. However, it works great for movie lovers as it includes a massive database of it. Scrolling through this platform is extremely easy.

The overall layout is clutter-free , with clear lists of torrents appearing in various categories. The list also mentions essential details for the users, such as the file size, upload date, seeders, and leechers. Mirror links: yourbittorrent. It was first launched back in It continued to function smoothly until its voluntary shutdown in However, soon after its apparent demise, its mirror links appeared online that remain available and functioning.

Like other top P2P websites, ExtraTorrent also includes a wide range of torrent collections , including diversified content types. With a neat and simple interface, the site is easy to navigate and find your desired content.

Also, it displays very few ads as compared to most torrent sites. GloTorrents, like all the major competitors, bears a neat and clean interface with easy-to-use features. Thus, you can easily decide which torrent link to go for. Users can find a vast torrent collection at this site, including movies, TV shows, music, radio, software, anime, games, ebooks, tutorials, and a lot more. So, you can imagine the extensive torrent database hosted here. Though, during its survival, it did suffer tough times, following which its website experienced downtimes.

The longest being a 2-years extended downtime. Furthermore, the sudden demise of its founder alias Deimos was another blow to the site. However, it did revive with all its glory in and is currently available via various mirror links. At present, the site is only banned in the UK and Ukraine. So, a majority of users globally would seemingly have no problems in accessing Demonoid. It offers a vast torrent database with content belonging to various niches and an above-average download speed.

The overall site interface is not so attractive. In fact, some users may face difficulty in browsing through all the options. After going through this extensive list of two dozen torrent websites, you might think of every torrent resource as safe. And that is — you cannot trust and use every website offering free or paid torrenting.

Although, you can distinguish the safe resources from the fake ones using the criteria explained at the beginning of this guide. Yet, there are some sites that you should avoid using at all costs. Here we quickly list them out for you. The main reason to steer clear of this website is its awkward advertising practices. Briefly, it frequently redirects visitors to other links that may feature suspicious or downright malicious content.

In addition, while the site exists via different domains, every domain does the same. Hence, visiting this platform exposes you to adware, malware, and other cyber threats. Plus, the spammy invitations that people may see of this website on public forums can be annoying.

Another website that you should avoid for torrenting is IPTorrents. In fact, it was once a pretty useful resource for torrentors. However, with time, it overhauled to become more of a directory than a torrent hosting site. Thus, becoming far less valuable than others. Precisely, it first requires you to download the client, which may be troublesome and risky for average users. Even if you bear with that, the tons of grammatical and linguistic errors on this website would surely distract you.

But, for beginners, this might be a key thing to know because people usually perceive torrenting as copyright infringement means. However, you can benefit from this amazing facility in a lot more useful and legal ways. Some of the things that you can get from torrenting include the following. You can look up the sites for your preferred content by typing the title in the search bar.

Here we end our review of the best torrent sites that actually work for all users globally. All you need with these websites is a torrent client such as uTorrent or BitTorrent, which you might have installed on your computer already. We explicitly created this extensive list because most users face troubles in accessing commonly available sites. In comparison, the ones they can access may not be reliable enough to host safe torrents. Although, the authorities may have their own valid reasons for blocking torrents.

However, since PrivacySavvy always advocates for internet freedom with responsible use , we created this list. Though, we have strived our best to mention all safe torrent sites here that genuinely work. Nonetheless, you can always ask for an update whenever you find any site or link not working anymore.

Abeerah is a passionate technology blogger and cybersecurity enthusiast. She yearns to know everything about the latest technology developments. Exclusive offer. Fastest among the VPNs we tested. Unblocks virtually all the streaming platforms. Unlimited bandwidth and torrent downloads. No thanks. Home Security Torrents 27 best torrent sites in November that actually work.

Disclosure The readers like you support PrivacySavvy to help keep up the good work. Looking for the best torrenting sites that still work in October ? Read along to know the best places for downloading torrents safely. Be careful :. How to access blocked torrent websites? Ideally, you should prefer using a robust paid VPN, as it can even help you increase the download speed. Can I use free VPNs for torrenting?

So, you may not get enough privacy with free VPNs. Is torrenting illegal? What if I get caught torrenting?

Many authorities around the world monitor the activities of torrent trackers today. If torrenting is illegal in your area, you will likely face legal issues. If not, you may experience technical problems like ISP throttling. Several countries have shut down access to file-sharing sites like The Pirate Bay and Kickass Torrents completely, while people across the U.

Generally these suits come to nothing, but you may get unlucky and get a judge that will make it stick. The best way to dodge that particular bullet is to either stop torrenting or, more likely, use a VPN to mask your digital footprint.

We have compiled a list of best VPNs for torrenting , but if you decide to use a different one know that not all VPNs are created equal in this regard. DNS masking is a handy bonus, too, as are any other security measures.

Now, torrenting without a VPN is a bad idea. We really do not recommend you get started without some kind of VPN in place, so check out our best VPN article and get back to us after, especially if you live in the U. With any of those installed and your VPN up and running, you can now go onto the Internet and find a torrenting site. Another option is to check out our best alternative torrent sites article we also have a guide for how to unblock torrent sites.

The Pirate Bay has the most stuff on it and is pretty easy to search; as a bonus its comment section usually has more people saying things about the torrent you want, so you may want to start there. As a rule of thumb, three leechers per seeder is very good , while more than five per seeder is pushing it.