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How to Torrent Anonymously with ExpressVPN
Overview
ExpressVPN is a great VPN for anonymous torrenting thanks to its fast P2P speeds, robust encryption, and its highly secure Lightway protocol. It’s one of the best VPNs we’ve tested for file sharing, although its lack of port forwarding isn’t ideal for seeders.
Torrenting without masking your IP address puts your internet privacy and security at risk.
Unless you use a VPN, anyone on the peer-to-peer (P2P) network can see your IP address and track your activity. You could face financial or legal penalties if you are caught downloading copyrighted material.
However, not all VPNs are suitable for torrenting. Some throttle P2P traffic speeds or even block it altogether. Others lack the security and privacy features needed to download torrents anonymously.
After testing over 60 services, we can safely say that ExpressVPN remains one of the best VPNs for torrenting.
Summary: How to Use ExpressVPN for Torrenting
- Select a torrent client: We prefer qBittorrent, µTorrent, or BitTorrent.
- Download and set up ExpressVPN: The cheapest price is $2.49/mo over 28 months.
- Turn on Network Lock & Leak Protection: You should also switch to the OpenVPN protocol.
- Connect to a VPN server: ExpressVPN’s Smart Location feature chooses the most suitable one.
- Confirm the VPN is working: Run a quick torrent IP leak test to make sure your identity is hidden.
We’re fully independent and have been reviewing VPNs since 2016. Our advice is based on our own testing results and is unaffected by financial incentives. Learn who we are and how we test VPNs.
| VPNs Tested | 60 |
| Total Hours of Testing | 30,000+ |
| Combined Years of Experience | 50+ |
ExpressVPN allows P2P traffic on all its servers, delivers excellent security and speed, and is easy to set up on all devices.
This guide covers all there is to know about torrenting safely with ExpressVPN.
How to Torrent with ExpressVPN
To quickly see how to torrent safely with ExpressVPN, view our tutorial video below. If you need more assistance, scroll down and see our step-by-step instructions.
Demonstration video showing how to use ExpressVPN for torrenting.
Torrenting with ExpressVPN is very easy and requires no special skills.
You can connect to any of the service’s 13,360 servers and start downloading torrents securely from a client of your choice.
The most important thing to do is make sure your VPN is running before you start torrenting.
1. Choose a Torrent Client
Your computer can’t use torrent files on its own. Before you can start torrenting, you need to choose a reliable client.
We recommend qBittorrent for security, but there are dozens to choose from.
Other popular clients include µTorrent, BitTorrent, and Vuze. Be sure to download your chosen client from its official website, as other download websites could contain malware.
2. Open an ExpressVPN Account
It’s crucial that you don’t start torrenting until your VPN is up and running.
Visit ExpressVPN.com, and click the Get ExpressVPN button on the homepage.
Choose your preferred subscription plan, and enter a payment method. Once you’ve signed up, you’ll receive an activation code by email. You can also try ExpressVPN risk-free for 30 days using its refund guarantee.
3. Set Up ExpressVPN Correctly
Open the ExpressVPN app and enter your activation code. Before connecting to a server, click on the hamburger menu in the app and select Preferences.
In the Protocol tab, select either TCP or UDP. Then, look for the Network Lock section in the General tab and tick both check boxes.
Finally, in the Advanced tab, make sure DNS and IPv6 leak protection are turned on. These settings should be enabled by default, but it’s always a good idea to double-check.
4. Choose a Server to Connect to
ExpressVPN allows unrestricted torrenting on all its servers, but you still need to connect to a server before you start torrenting.
The app’s Smart Location feature offers the easiest and most efficient way to connect. It selects the nearest fastest server based on your physical location and server load.
5. Verify Your IP Address
As a final precaution, verify you’re properly connected to the VPN by checking your IP address is hidden.
Use our free torrent IP leak test tool to ensure you’re not leaking any IP or DNS information that may expose your identity.
If there are no IP leaks, you’re ready to start downloading torrents safely and securely.
Is ExpressVPN Good for Torrenting?
With P2P file-sharing websites being monitored more closely than ever, we strongly recommend connecting to a dependable VPN service before you begin torrenting.
After reviewing ExpressVPN extensively, we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s one of the best VPNs for torrenting. It’s safe, secure, and extremely P2P-friendly.
It doesn’t throttle download speeds and you can torrent using any server in the network. The only significant drawback we found was that it doesn’t allow port forwarding for faster P2P speeds.
As a result, uploading (or ‘seeding’) files is extremely slow unless the VPN is running at router level.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| P2P traffic supported on all servers | No port forwarding |
| Excellent file-sharing speeds | Fewer advanced settings than other rivals |
| Verified private logging policy | |
| Effective kill switch & IPv4/IPv6 leak protection | |
| Privacy-friendly jurisdiction | |
| Simple setup & intuitive app design |
Despite its lack of port forwarding, the VPN is otherwise very fast and has an impressive suite of security features including OpenVPN, AES-256 and ChaCha20 encryption, built-in IP leak protection, and a reliable kill switch.
Torrenting files anonymously with ExpressVPN.
Here’s an in-depth look at torrenting with ExpressVPN:
Does ExpressVPN Allow Torrenting?
ExpressVPN allows unrestricted torrenting and P2P file-sharing across all of its 13,360 servers.
You can connect to any server in the 109 countries the service covers, and download torrents without restrictions.
Make sure you connect to a VPN server nearest to your location to enjoy the fastest torrenting speeds.
Are There Data Caps or Bandwidth Restrictions?
ExpressVPN doesn’t impose a monthly data limit or restrict your bandwidth in any way. In our tests, we enjoyed unlimited torrenting with no limits on speed.
Many VPN services, especially the free ones, restrict the amount of data you can use each month. This makes them unsuitable for torrenting since P2P traffic tends to require a lot of data usage.
Other VPNs will throttle their users’ speeds, particularly if they are engaging in bandwidth-heavy activity like P2P file-sharing. For the best torrenting experience, you need a VPN that offers unlimited bandwidth like ExpressVPN.
Be aware, though, that your ISP might start asking questions if you’re downloading hundreds of gigabytes per month.
How Strong Is ExpressVPN’s Encryption?
ExpressVPN uses its proprietary Lightway protocol and secure AES-256 or ChaCha20 encryption to protect your BitTorrent traffic.
To test this, we inspected our torrenting traffic using a packet analyzer while connected to ExpressVPN:
ExpressVPN used AES-256 to encrypt our connection.
As shown above, ExpressVPN kept our torrenting traffic secure. For further reassurance, we tested our connection for IP, DNS, and WebRTC leaks and found that ExpressVPN kept our data secure in each instance.
What Additional Security Features Does ExpressVPN Offer?
As well as securely encrypting your data and hiding your IP address, ExpressVPN provides an impressive suite of additional security and privacy features.
Below is a selection of ExpressVPN’s most useful features for torrenting:
- Kill Switch: ExpressVPN uses a kill switch, known as Network Lock, that automatically blocks all internet traffic if the VPN connection is lost. This is an essential tool for torrenting as it prevents your IP address from being leaked if there is an issue with the VPN.
- VPN Split Tunneling: This feature lets you control which traffic you route through the VPN server and which you don’t. This is great for protecting your privacy when torrenting while still keeping access to local network devices open.
- Leak Protection: If your VPN is leaking IP or DNS information, then it is useless for torrenting. ExpressVPN protects your privacy by keeping your DNS queries obscured even in situations where they might otherwise leak. This prevents eavesdroppers from seeing which websites you’re visiting.
ExpressVPN’s Network Lock in the Settings menu.
One downside to using ExpressVPN for torrenting is that it doesn’t have a port forwarding feature. We discuss this in greater detail below.
Is ExpressVPN Fast Enough for Torrenting?
You need fast file-sharing speeds to quickly download large torrent files such as Full HD movies and video games.
Using our fixed 10MiB/s connection, we recorded an average bitrate of 9.8MiB/s using ExpressVPN.
This makes ExpressVPN one of the fastest torrenting VPNs on the market. To put this into context, we’ve compared how long it takes ExpressVPN to download a 20GB file to other top-rated VPNs below:
| VPN Service | Download Bitrate | Time to Download 20GB Torrent File |
|---|---|---|
| No VPN | 10MiB/s | 32 minutes |
| ExpressVPN | 9.8MiB/s | 34 minutes |
| Private Internet Access | 9.6MiB/s | 33 minutes |
| Surfshark | 8.7MiB/s | 37 minutes |
| CyberGhost | 3.9MiB/s | 81 minutes |
As the data shows, ExpressVPN is faster than the vast majority of torrenting VPNs.
Does ExpressVPN Support Port Forwarding?
The only major issue we found was that ExpressVPN doesn’t support VPN port forwarding. That means uploading, or “seeding,” torrent files is extremely slow.
If this is a non-negotiable requirement for you, then PrivateVPN review or learn about using PIA’s port forwarding feature is what you’re looking for.
How Privacy-Friendly Is ExpressVPN?
The main reason for torrenting with a VPN is to protect your anonymity and conceal your downloads from third parties such as ISPs and copyright trolls.
However, some VPN services monitor and log your activity which defeats the purpose of using a VPN in the first place.
Thankfully, ExpressVPN has a privacy-first logging policy. It doesn’t log enough data to identify you and this has been confirmed by multiple independent audits.
Plus, it’s based in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) which is a privacy haven due to its non-existent data laws. ExpressVPN also uses a diskless server network which makes it near-impossible for anyone to see your torrenting activity.
