Private and open-source alternatives to µTorrent

7 torrent clients rated against the same public privacy criteria as µTorrent (uTorrent), with our picks first.

Why look for an alternative?

• Open source: no. Closed source.
• No trackers or telemetry: no. The website loads Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager (automated test), and the privacy policy describes advertising cookies and third-party SDKs. The Android app contains 28 trackers per Exodus Privacy.
• No ads or data sales: no. The free versions are ad-supported, and the privacy policy describes interest-based advertising.
• Independent audit: no. No independent audit is published.

See the full µTorrent rating.

The alternatives

1. Deluge Grade B

   BitTorrent client built on libtorrent with a client-server design, so a daemon can run on a headless machine and be controlled from GTK, web or console interfaces. Most features come as plugins.

   Deluge scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the torrent clients criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.

2. Fragments Grade B

   BitTorrent client for the GNOME desktop, built on Transmission, with a torrent queue, magnet link detection from the clipboard and remote control of other Fragments or Transmission sessions.

   Fragments scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the torrent clients criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.

3. LibreTorrent Grade B

   BitTorrent client for Android with sequential downloading, streaming, RSS auto-downloading, scheduling, WebTorrent support and Android TV support.

   LibreTorrent scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the torrent clients criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.

4. qBittorrent Grade B

   Cross-platform BitTorrent client with a built-in search engine, RSS feed downloading and an optional web interface for remote control.

   qBittorrent scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the torrent clients criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.

5. rTorrent Grade B

   Text-based BitTorrent client for the terminal, built on libtorrent, with an ncurses interface, scripting through its configuration file and an XML-RPC interface used by web front ends.

   rTorrent scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the torrent clients criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.

6. Transmission Grade B

   Lightweight BitTorrent client with native apps for macOS, Windows and Linux, plus a daemon with a web interface for headless servers and NAS devices.

   Transmission scores 80 out of 100 (grade B) on the torrent clients criteria. It meets 3 of 4 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry and no ads or data sales.

7. BiglyBT Grade D

   Java-based BitTorrent client descended from Vuze, with swarm merging, a built-in media player, I2P and Tor support through plugins, and an Android app.

   BiglyBT scores 50 out of 100 (grade D) on the torrent clients criteria. It meets 2 of 4 criteria: open source and no ads or data sales.

Compare all 8 torrent clients