How to Torrent Safely with Windscribe VPN

Windscribe is committed to giving users online freedom as much as possible. This includes support for P2P traffic, with only a few servers that are off limits.

The premium version of Windscribe allows torrenting on almost all its servers, and the free version allows torrenting on all 11 available server locations.

Windscribe does not specifically optimize any of its servers for P2P traffic. Instead, it chooses to let users torrent on almost every server in its network – more specifically, on servers in 110 cities and 69 countries.

Windscribe has even published an article explaining how to torrent safely using its VPN.

This isn’t as common as you might think: many VPN services don’t endorse torrenting, and some even ban torrenting outright.

Windscribe’s transparent support of torrenting is a good sign, and it means its P2P policy is unlikely to change any time soon.

Which Windscribe Servers Do Not Allow P2P Traffic?

There is one restriction in place: P2P traffic isn’t allowed on servers in four specific countries. We’ve listed the blocked servers here, along with our suggested alternatives if you live in one of them:

Restricted Server Location	Suggested Alternative
India	Cambodia, UAE
Lithuania	Latvia, Poland
Russia	Finland, Georgia, Latvia
South Africa	Kenya

Here’s a table explaining the key differences between the two versions of Windscribe when it comes to torrenting:

Feature	Windscribe Free	Windscribe Pro
Monthly Price	Free	$5.75/mo over 12 months
P2P Support	Yes	Yes
# of P2P Servers	Up to 10	Almost 120+
Average Bitrate	6.3MiB/s	7.2MiB/s
Data Cap	10GB per month	Unlimited
Kill Switch	✓	✓
Port Forwarding	✗	✓
SOCKS5 Proxy	✓	✓

The free version of Windscribe used to be the best free VPN for torrenting thanks to its strong security, private logging policy, and generous 10GB monthly data limit.

It remains an very good P2P file sharing free VPN, however its torrenting speeds have slowed down in our recent tests.

If you’re a regular torrenter, though, you’ll know that 10GB probably won’t be enough data for you.

Upgrading to Windscribe Pro removes this data limit, and provides access to every server in the Windscribe network, rather than the maximum of 10 servers available on the free version.

With Windscribe Pro, you’ll also get access to WireGuard, SOCKS5 proxy support, and port forwarding.

While Windscribe Pro is a safe VPN for torrenting, it isn’t the best torrenting VPN overall. It uses industry-standard AES-256 encryption and has an almost zero-logs privacy policy, but it simply isn’t as fast as its main competitors.

Below is a more in-depth overview of Windscribe’s safety for torrenting:

Does Windscribe Log Your Torrenting Activity?

Windscribe has a trustworthy logging policy that only collects anonymous data for maintenance purposes. Windscribe does not record the files you torrent, nor does it store any information relating to it.

Windscribe’s logging policy has not been independently verified, and the company’s Canadian jurisdiction is a poor choice given its strict copyright enforcement laws. However, this is unlikely to be an issue if the VPN has no personally identifiable information to hand over.

While there have been anecdotal reports of Windscribe customers receiving DMCA notices for torrenting, it’s highly unlikely that this is due to the company cooperating with copyright authorities.

If you’re not careful, it’s incredibly easy to reveal your public IP address by simply forgetting to activate your VPN before activating your torrenting client.

AES-256 Encryption, Leak Protection & Additional Security Features

Both the free and paid versions of Windscribe provide the full range of security features you would expect from a torrenting VPN. These include AES-256 encryption, IP and DNS leak protection, and an effective kill switch.

Windscribe actually calls its kill switch ‘Firewall’ because it functions differently to regular VPN kill switches. Windscribe claims that if your connection drops, ‘Firewall’ guarantees that no data will leave your device, which means that your real IP cannot leak.

256-bit encryption ensures your torrenting traffic is indecipherable to your ISP and other third parties, which means no one can see what you’re downloading.

Fast Local Torrenting Speeds – but Not the Fastest

We used a fixed-speed local connection to test Windscribe’s average torrenting bitrate when connected to a nearby server. Here are our results:

Average Download Bitrate with No VPN	Average Download Bitrate on Local VPN Connection	Average Download Bitrate on Long Distance VPN Connection
10MiB/s	7.2MiB/s/s	2.7MiB/s

We measured an average download bitrate of 7.2MiB/s using a local Windscribe server. This isn’t as quick as the fastest torrenting VPNs, but it means your torrents will still download at a respectable speed – less than 30% slower than if you were using no VPN at all.

However, Windscribe’s speeds were significantly slower over long-distance connections, particularly between the US and Europe.

We found the download bitrate on our test connection dropped from 10MiB/s to 2.7MiB/s – that’s almost 75% slower. This is particularly important if you live far away from Windscribe’s torrenting servers.

Your torrenting bitrate will also depend on the number of users seeding the specific file you’re torrenting, as well as the upload speeds of their connections. If a torrent doesn’t have enough seeders, even the fastest VPN can’t make it download any quicker.

Windscribe Pro Includes Port Forwarding

Windscribe Pro has port forwarding, which helps make it a very good VPN for seeding torrent files.

Port forwarding is a rare feature. If used correctly it means you can enjoy faster uploads, and potentially faster downloads, when you torrent.

It works by taking a port from your home router to the wider internet and leaving it permanently open. This port will be the same as one used by your Bittorrent client for download and upload traffic. By leaving it open, traffic passes through faster and with fewer interruptions.

If you’re worried about security, don’t be – only one port will be forwarded at a time, and only on the Windscribe server location you choose. All you need to do is tell your Bittorrent client to use the same port and you’re ready to go.

While our testing has found that there are plenty of VPNs without port forwarding which are faster than Windscribe, Windscribe would be slower without it.

Windscribe Free Includes a 10GB Data Cap

There is no data cap for Windscribe Pro users, which means you can torrent an unlimited number of files without restrictions. If you’re a paying subscriber, you can download or upload as much data as you like.

However, Windscribe Free users are limited to a 10GB monthly data allowance. That’s a very generous amount for a trustworthy free VPN, but it won’t last long if you do a lot of torrenting.

If you don’t use Windscribe safely, you risk exposing your torrenting IP address, which may put you at risk of legal action.

There have been instances where users have still received copyright infringement warnings from their ISPs when using Windscribe.

However, this is generally due to improper practice while torrenting, and not Windscribe itself.

Here’s how to make sure Windscribe is working properly when torrenting:

1. Enable Windscribe’s Always-On Firewall. This is a feature that blocks all internet connections unless your VPN is turned on, ensuring all your traffic is routed through an encrypted tunnel.
   
   To enable this feature, navigate to Menu > Connection > Firewall Mode > Select Always On
   

   Windscribe’s Always On firewall.

2. Test your Connection for leaks. Use our IP Leak test tool to ensure you are not leaking your IP or DNS information while torrenting.
   
   If no leaks are detected, you can download and upload torrent files without exposing your true IP address.
3. Bind Windscribe to your torrenting client. This will ensure torrent files will only download when you’re connected to a Windscribe server, similar to the Always-On Firewall.

   Follow these steps to bind a VPN to your torrenting client:

   1. Open your torrenting client, for this example, we are using qBittorrent.
   2. Select the cog icon at the top of the screen.
   3. Navigate to Advanced on the sidebar.
   4. Click the dropdown list next to Network Interface and take note of the options displayed before clicking cancel.
   5. Open the Windscribe app and connect to a server. We recommend connecting to a server in the country you are located to reduce speed loss.
   6. Return to qBittorrent and repeat the steps listed above. When you click the Network Interface dropdown list, select the option that was not shown before.
   7. Click Apply and Ok
   8. qBittorrent will now be bound to the IP address of the Windscribe server.
4. Block your torrenting client from opening on startup. Torrenting clients such as qBittorrent may open as soon as your device starts up. This risks exposing your IP address to the entire torrent swarm if you haven’t got a VPN connected.

For this example, we are using qBittorrent on Windows:

1. Navigate to Tools and the top of the screen
2. Select Options
3. Under Desktop, untick Start qBittorrent on Windows startup
4. Click Apply
5. Ensure your torrenting client has shut down completely. For most torrenting clients, clicking the ‘X’ only minimizes the tab and does not close the client completely. If you close your torrenting client this way, the client will continue to run in the background.
   
   Once your file has finished downloading, it will then continue seeding. If you have only minimized the torrenting client and disconnect your VPN prematurely, you will expose your IP address to all the members in the torrent swarm.
   

   Select Exit to close down qBittorent completely.

   To prevent this from occurring, make sure to properly shut down your client. When using qBittorrent you need to click ‘Exit’ under the File tab.

If you need to torrent one or two files for free, then Windscribe Free is the safest option available. However, if you want the absolute best torrenting experience then there are better VPNs than Windscribe overall.

Here’s how Windscribe’s torrenting performance compared to other top torrenting VPNs:

Here are the safest and most effective alternatives to Windscribe for torrenting, according to our testing:

1. ExpressVPN

Average Torrent Download Bitrate: 9.4MiB/s

ExpressVPN is an excellent VPN for torrenting, as well as the best VPN overall according to our testing.

ExpressVPN allows P2P traffic across its entire network of 3,000 servers spanning 94 countries – that’s a lot more than Windscribe. This matters for torrenting because it means congestion on busy servers is less likely, meaning faster download speeds.

Privacy and anonymity should be your number one priority if you’re a torrenter, though, and ExpressVPN is one of the best. Just like Windscribe it has AES-256 encryption, network obfuscation, and reliable kill switch. ExpressVPN’s jurisdiction of the British Virgin Islands is a privacy haven, and a safer choice than Windscribe’s Canada.

ExpressVPN also uses its own bespoke protocol called Lightway, which resulted in a download bitrate 30% faster than Windscribe in our testing.

Unlike Windscribe, ExpressVPN doesn’t provide a free service or even a free trial. However, it does offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. It’s more expensive than Windscribe Pro, but our testing shows it’s worth it for torrenters.

2. AirVPN

Average Torrent Download Bitrate: 9.7MiB/s

If you’re a more confident VPN user and a torrenting veteran then AirVPN might be your best choice.

AirVPN is totally optimized for torrenting from top to bottom – we recorded an average download bitrate of 9.7MiB/s in our most recent testing, which is even faster than ExpressVPN. We worry its small server network may hold it back in the future, but for now speeds are excellent.

While it may be based in Italy, a member of the 14 Eyes coalition, AirVPN’s flawless no-logs policy means that there’s no personal user data to be found on its servers.

In addition to a trustworthy kill switch, it also supports port forwarding on all servers with an easy setup process that only takes a few minutes.

However, that’s about the only thing that AirVPN makes easy. The only thing holding it back is its horrible UI. Apps are complicated and look very dated – we don’t recommend you use it unless you have considerable experience with VPNs.

3. Windscribe Free

Average Torrent Download Bitrate: 6.4MiB/s

While a handful of paid VPNs may be better for torrenting than Windscribe Pro, our testing has found Windscribe Free to be the best option if you don’t want to pay anything at all.

Its 10GB per month data allowance is one of the most generous offerings available from a free service, and it comes with the same level of security as the paid product.

There are 10 server locations to choose from, with options across North America, Europe, and one in East Asia. You can torrent on all of them with the 10GB data cap your only restriction.

While Windscribe Free recorded a slightly slower download bitrate in our testing compared to the Pro version (6.4MiB/s vs 7.2MiB/s), that’s still one of the fastest free torrenting VPNs on the market.

The only torrenting feature missing from Windscribe Free is that you can’t port forward with it. Still, it’s a good choice if you don’t torrent all that often or if you want to try the product out before paying up for the full package.