Best VPN for Torrenting Anonymously and Safely in 2024

Torrenting can be a risky business. While it’s useful for sharing and downloading large files, P2P (peer-to-peer) sharing could expose you to hazardous files from anonymous sources. Using a VPN to protect yourself from threats lurking in those murky waters is essential.

People often assume all forms of torrenting are illegal, but that’s not true. However, it is illegal to share or download copyrighted content without permission from the copyright owner. We don’t condone illegal torrenting.

In this article, we’ll show you how using a VPN for torrenting can protect your online safety and privacy. We’ll explain everything you need to know about torrenting and how to do it safely – but first, let’s take a look at what torrenting is.

Torrenting is a way to share large files without downloading them directly as a usable file. It involves breaking up bigger files into smaller “packets” and making them available over a decentralized P2P network.

Instead of downloading files directly from a central server, you download them from other computers on the network. Torrent management software (like BitTorrent and Vuze) connects you to the P2P network where you can download files from other computers on the network. These computers are sometimes known as “seeders.”

The torrent is not the file itself – rather, it’s an index of information about the file you want. It’s the metadata that’s used to assemble the file from various sources in the P2P network.

It’s worth noting that torrent files can be dangerous. They’re often bundled with adware, viruses, and other forms of malware. Moreover, there are inherent privacy issues with sharing a network with random people on the internet. You can’t know if the file you’re downloading really does what it says on the tin.

Under extreme circumstances, you could end up accidentally downloading illegal content that could be easily traced back to you. For this reason, it’s crucial to protect yourself with a VPN and tread carefully.

Torrenting is often associated with piracy, which is illegal. However, the torrenting or filesharing process in and of itself isn’t illegal, as long as you only use it to download legitimate, non-copyrighted, legal content that doesn’t transgress copyright laws and that you have a right to share, such as personal projects, software that you’ve built, or large video files of family get-togethers.

Many countries prohibit torrenting copyrighted materials, and you can get in legal trouble for breaking copyright laws and distributing unlicensed works. These laws aren’t always actively enforced, but if you’re caught downloading or sharing copyrighted material without permission, you could face heavy fines. Do your due diligence when researching copyright policies — the last thing you want is trouble.

Unfortunately, the world of torrenting isn’t always well-signposted in terms of legality. That is, it can be tough to know which content is legal to download and which isn’t. As such, some governments have completely banned P2P sites, preventing people from being able to easily share anything using torrenting protocols, even when they’re entitled to.

Best VPN Server Locations for Torrenting

It’s worth noting that countries vary massively when it comes to the legality of torrenting. While some countries allow you to torrent copyrighted content for personal use, others levy large files for doing the same thing.

Some of the best countries for torrenting legally include:

• Spain. It’s not illegal to download copyrighted content that you already own, but it’s illegal to share or profit from those files.

• Switzerland. Torrenting for personal use isn’t illegal but sharing it or uploading it is.

• Canada. Torrenting copyrighted content in Canada isn’t considered a criminal offense — but it can be a civil offense. The country has been known for its lenient approach towards torrenting, however, it has been tightening its grip in recent years.

• Poland. Downloading copyrighted content for personal use is legal in Poland.

Laws in these countries are more tolerant than in others and don’t criminalize torrenting for personal use.

Countries where you’ll face fines for illegal torrenting include Ireland, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Finland, and the United States.

You can still access torrenting sites in these countries, but your ISP may report illegal downloads from your IP address to the authorities. On the other hand, some countries have completely shut down torrenting sites including, Italy, Portugal, South Africa, and Australia.

In these countries, it’s impossible to access torrenting sites without a working VPN or proxy. As a rule of thumb, always check the local laws before visiting torrenting sites to download copyrighted content.

CyberGhost VPN has torrenting-optimized servers. You can connect to any CyberGhost VPN server to mask your IP address and location while torrenting. Get CyberGhost VPN to enjoy secure and anonymous downloading.

What Is a VPN for Torrenting?

First things first: what is a VPN? A VPN is a virtual private network that encrypts your internet traffic and reroutes it through secure private servers. Encryption makes your traffic virtually unreadable and adds a crucial layer of protection against risks you face while torrenting, including surveillance, data interception, and ISP throttling.

When you connect to a VPN, your real IP address is hidden behind one from the VPN’s server location. This makes it look like your traffic is coming from somewhere else, making it easier to access legal torrent files and helping you protect your anonymity.

Using a VPN while torrenting keeps your activity hidden and your data protected. It also helps you circumvent blocks and restrictions. Let’s take a closer look at why you should use a VPN to torrent.

Using a VPN for torrenting is paramount if you want to protect yourself against threats on torrenting sites. It also prevents your personal data from falling into the wrong hands. Here’s a more detailed overview of the benefits of using a torrenting VPN.

1. Maintain Your Privacy

When you use a VPN, no-one else will be able to see what you’re uploading and downloading online. That’s because VPNs reroute your internet traffic to private servers via encrypted tunnels, so nobody can intercept your data to look at what you’re up to – only you and the VPN server have the tools needed to decrypt it. This allows you to keep all your internet activity truly private.

2. Enjoy Unlimited Bandwidth

If your ISP sees that you’re using lots of data, they might throttle your connection to preserve bandwidth. When your traffic is encrypted, your ISP can’t see how much data you’re using, so they won’t have an excuse to throttle your connection. That way, you can continue enjoying high-speed downloads and torrents with ease.

3. Keep Your Information Private

When you use an unprotected connection, torrent sites or clients can see your IP address and other personal information – peer-to-peer networks work using IP addresses. Connecting to a VPN masks your IP address, helping make your activity untraceable and protecting you from other people on the network.

4. Torrent Safely on Public Wi-Fi

Public Wi-Fi networks are rife with cybersecurity threats. Cybercriminals tend to lurk there waiting for opportunities to attack unsuspecting users.

Public networks often restrict downloading, but using a VPN helps you bypass restrictions so you can torrent freely.

You’ll find plenty of VPNs online, but how can you know if they’re good for torrenting? When it comes to torrenting, some aspects of VPNs are more relevant than others. Let’s examine which features you should look for in a torrenting VPN.

1. Torrent-Optimized Servers

Smooth torrenting requires high internet speeds and if you use a VPN, you’ll want to ensure it has ultra-fast servers with unlimited bandwidth.

2. Powerful Encryption

CyberGhost VPN fortifies your internet traffic with powerful encryption to safeguard your privacy.

3. High-Speed Servers

Have you ever tried torrenting while connected to a VPN, but had to cancel because it was too slow? Unless you use a VPN with high-speed servers, torrenting can be a grueling nightmare.

4. Split Tunneling

Split tunneling is a way of dividing your internet traffic. You can choose to send some of your data through your VPN while the rest stays on a standard, unprotected connection. It’s helpful if you only need to protect traffic from specific sites, but want to prioritize speed or access to local services on the rest of your traffic.

In other words, you can choose to encrypt traffic from torrent sites, but keep other activity on a standard connection. This protects high-risk torrent traffic while letting you enjoy faster speeds for everything else.

CyberGhost offers split tunneling on our VPN app for Android and an Exceptions setting on Windows.

5. Automatic Kill Switch

A kill switch ensures that you remain protected if your connection drops unexpectedly. It stops traffic to and from your device until you’re able to reestablish a secure connection, effectively preventing any accidental data leaks. CyberGhost VPN offers a kill switch function you can easily configure in the app or VPN client.

6. No-Logs Policy

You don’t want your ISP to see what you do online, and the same goes for your VPN provider – a VPN’s top priority should always be protecting your privacy, not exploiting it. Unfortunately, some VPN companies log data about what you do when you connect to their servers. They could store it ready to hand over to the authorities, or even sell it to third parties like advertisers for profit.

To avoid intrusive data collection, it’s vital to choose a VPN with a strict no-logs policy. Better yet, ensure your provider has RAM-only servers to prevent accidental data storage. Our no-logs policy was independently audited by Deloitte. It examined how we maintain a zero-logs VPN service and stay true to our privacy claims.

Now that you understand why having a VPN is essential for torrenting, you might be wondering how to torrent with a VPN. To help you, we’ve put together an easy-to-follow guide to get you started. Here’s how to use a VPN for torrenting:

1. Connect to a VPN Service

Once you’ve chosen a reliable VPN provider and installed the client on your computer, connect to a server. You can check if your VPN is working by checking your IP address. If you use CyberGhost VPN, it will also tell you whether you’re connected to the VPN successfully.

2. Enable the Kill Switch

Don’t want to leave your traffic unencrypted when dealing with torrent sites? As a safety precaution, always enable your VPN kill switch before torrenting. It ensures you stay protected even if something unexpected happens to your connection.

3. Install a Torrent Client

To download large files as torrents, you usually need to use a torrent client. This is software that you install on your device that converts the data packets you receive into usable files. You can find a wide range of torrenting clients online, so it can be tough to know which to choose.

The most commonly used torrent clients are BitTorrent, uTorrent, Deluge, and Vuze.

4. Visit a Torrenting Site

Visit a legal torrent site like Legal Torrents or Public Domain Torrents – you should find lots of uncopyrighted material that’s safe and legal to torrent. Double-check copyright laws before downloading anything.

5. Download the File

When you open the torrent client you installed on your device, the torrent file may open and start downloading immediately. If it doesn’t, you can usually drag and drop the file into the client to start the download process.

6. Run a Malware Scan

When it comes to cybersecurity, is there such a thing as too much caution? We don’t think so. Besides, torrenting is a notoriously dangerous game. That’s why we recommend running a thorough virus scan of everything you download torrents.

When you catch a malware infection quickly, you can minimize how much damage it can do. If you don’t have time to run a full device scan, you can scan the item individually.

Stay Anonymous When You Torrent

Despite common misconceptions, torrenting is only illegal when you download or share copyrighted content. You can still legally torrent plenty of material that’s in the public domain, share your own files, and enjoy reading free books or watching free documentaries or movies. As long as you’re not transgressing copyright laws, it’s legal.

VPNs are a must-have torrenting tool if you want to torrent privately and safely. CyberGhost VPN masks your IP address and encrypts your internet traffic with strong encryption so nobody can see what you download online. CyberGhost VPN lets you connect up to 7 devices at once so you can keep all your gadgets protected.

FAQ

What’s the best VPN for torrenting?

CyberGhost VPN’s ultra-fast 10-Gbps servers, automatic kill switch, and powerful encryption make it one of the best VPNs for torrenting available. We adhere to a strict no-logs policy which ensures we never track you when you connect to our servers. You can try CyberGhost VPN with a 45-day money-back guarantee.

Why is my VPN not working while torrenting?

Your VPN might not be working while torrenting if your network has VPN restrictions. Schools, workplaces, and public Wi-Fi networks often block VPNs to prevent you from bypassing restrictions they put in place. For example, some network administrators will block you from downloading to regulate bandwidth and data use. Bypass VPN blocks with a dedicated IP address.

Can you use a free VPN to torrent?

No. Free VPNs are usually a way to harvest user information, which is sold to various third parties. Some free VPNs actually leverage their users’ computers and devices to expand their network. If you’re not paying for a product, chances are, you are the product.

What’s worse, many free VPNs ask for high-level permissions on your devices. That’s why you should only install software from trusted sources.

CyberGhost VPN comes with a 45-day money-back guarantee. You can use it to download torrents safely, and if you’re not satisfied with the service, ask for a full refund.

Is torrenting safe with a VPN?

Torrenting with a VPN is generally safe. The only thing you need to look out for is malware that infiltrates your computer or device when you run an application. It’s good practice to always scan files you download through torrents before using or opening them. For extra safety, scan files you download with anti-malware software.

Is torrenting legal with a VPN?

Torrenting is legal so long as you use it for non-copyrighted material. In most countries, torrenting copyrighted material is punishable by law. However, sanctions aren’t always actively enforced. You can use a VPN to torrent as long as VPNs are legal in your country.

We recommend you always use a VPN with strong encryption when you torrent. This way, you’ll remain anonymous, and you won’t be sanctioned even if you accidentally download copyrighted content.

Does VPN affect torrenting speed?

Sending and receiving encrypted traffic takes longer than if the traffic isn’t encrypted. So, yes. VPNs may slow down the torrenting speed. However, if you have a sturdy internet connection and a reliable VPN provider with fast servers, you shouldn’t notice much difference in speed torrenting with and without a VPN.