Back in the days, when torrents used to be the next big thing, new sites were “popping up” on every corner, offering more privacy, faster download speeds, and a wider range of available torrents. The situation is a bit different today. Even though we still have numerous torrent sites on the Internet, there is a relatively small group of websites that stand out and provide the best service.
Torrenting in 2020 is all about reliability and privacy. In this article, we’ll take a look at the greatest websites and let you decide which ones suit you best. Our list of the best torrent websites – 21 in total – was compiled based on the Alexa ratings, customer reviews, and our own experiences.
While the most popular torrenting sites are equally great for downloading movies, TV shows, books, video games, and everything else in between, most torrent websites are usually good for one of two categories of content, and we’ll make sure to point that out in these reviews. Along with the not-so-accurate Alexa ratings, it’s also important to check the number of daily/monthly visitors. That will help you create a more accurate picture in your head.
Alright, without further ado, let us take a look at the best websites for torrenting. One last thing: to keep your privacy in 2020, use a solid VPN.
The Best VPNs For Torrent Fans
Private torrent websites are hard to “crack”, that’s true. But to be 100% secure, we’ll need a VPN. Let us take a look at the best VPN for torrenting right now.
ExpressVPN
The huge number of servers, top-notch security protocols, and strong performance make it the best torrent VPN. It might be a bit too expensive for comfort, though ($12, 95 for the monthly plan).
NordVPN
Affordable and reliable, NordVPN is the best VPN for torrents if you put security first. For $11, 95 a month, you’ll get access to 4K servers, top-notch clients/apps for all major platforms, and industry-leading customer support.
PureVPN
In many regards, PureVPN is like the golden middle between the fast ExpressVPN and the secure NordVPN. And, it is more affordable than both ($10, 95 a month). Multi logins, P2P support, 300K IPs, and ~2200 servers – that’s what you’ll get with this service.
Why would one need a VPN to torrent?
The majority of torrent websites tend to recommend the users to download torrent files (or any other big files) using a Virtual Private Network. And it would be wise to listen to their advice. Depending on a country and its laws, torrenting can be illegal and considered to be a crime. If you don’t protect yourself from the all-seeing eyes, that can lead to a lot of trouble.
The list of potential outcomes includes copyright infringement notices in your mail all the way up to huge fines. Sometimes, the police arrest people that use torrents and even put them behind the bars. Even if there aren’t any laws against torrenting in your country, that doesn’t mean you’re 100% safe. Most likely, your ISP will use the throttling technique to slow down your connection. They usually do that in case of heavy data usage (AKA heavy downloading).
The decrease in speed can be quite extreme and leave you with only 20-30% of the original speed, if not less. Thankfully, with a solid VPN, you’ll be able to not only protect yourself from the government but also eliminate the possibility of throttling.
So let’s sum up all the benefits of using torrent sites paired with a VPN:
- Every once in a while, we come across torrent sites that are blocked in certain countries (or even by certain ISPs). With a VPN, the users can switch to a different server with one single click and start using those otherwise restricted sites. It doesn’t really matter where you are: pick the right server, and that’s it!
- VPN services encrypt your connection (using the unbreakable AES 256-bit encryption) and route it through their own servers. That makes it almost impossible for anyone to track your online activity. Watching movies, playing games, and, of course, downloading torrents with a VPN can be done without worrying about possible consequences.
- No throttling. As mentioned, ISPs don’t favor torrent fans and bottleneck their connection speed quite often. Again, a Network will help you to “outsmart” the provider and keep enjoying high speeds. When your traffic is untraceable, they simply can’t know that you’re downloading massive chunks of data.
Best Torrent Sites in 2020
1 The Pirate Bay – The King Of The Kings
When it comes to torrent sites, the number of seeders is one of the most important things: the more seeders, the higher the download speed of a certain torrent will be. The Pirate Bay is the best pick from this point of view.
On average, +/-50 million users visit it monthly! It is equally good for shows, movies, games, software, books, and more. It has been around for decades and is currently the obvious leader.
Despite the long list of restrictions for users from many countries and the legal charges that the owners had to face, PB is still the king. The range of available torrents is very impressive, and for most people, The Pirate Bay is more than enough to cover their torrenting needs.
After the officials brought the website with the original domain down, PB fell off the list of the “hottest” torrent sites. However, it didn’t take it a long time to climb back to the top. The incredibly friendly and simple interface, the impressive collection of links, and the tolerable ads contribute to its popularity.
2RarBG – The Most Popular Site For Movies
This is another big name among torrent sites. It started out as just another tracker from Bulgaria but has turned into one of the best torrent sites of 2020.
For the fans of movies and TV shows, it doesn’t get better than RarBG. The catalog is being updated 24/7, and you can always count on it to check out the latest films/episodes. TV shows are, once again, incredibly popular, and that is exactly what made it the best torrent for movies. The current Alexa Rank is 37,700, but last year, it managed to make it into the top-5! With an average of 1, 7 million visitors per month, RarBG is the king of movie torrents.
As already mentioned, the selection is quite impressive, and the users will find movies and TV shows of various resolutions/image qualities. Quality and quantity are the words that describe RarBG best.
3YTS.ag – One Of The Best Choices For Movies
Famous for its high-quality files that take very little space on the hard drive, YTS.ag is another great option if you love movies and shows.
Important note: this website doesn’t have anything to do with the original YTS. In fact, it practically “stole” its name and is constantly being banned for that. Still, for fast and easy torrenting, it is a solid pick.
41337X – Great For Video Games And Software
The gamers love this torrent site; same goes for the folks looking for some high-quality software. In 2017, 1337X had privacy/security problems, but now it’s back on the top. As far as the finest torrent sites go, this one is a solid pick. However, it’s getting more recognition for the selection of movies rather than games/soft these days.
Important note: while the users might not find the latest stuff here, they will surely appreciate the collection of some old-yet-useful programs and games.
The greatest downside – compared to the bigger competitors, the seeder count can be low at times. Nevertheless, ~1.6 million users visit 1337X per month.
5 – Zoogle – Impressive Database, Frequent Updates
Make sure to add this one to your bookmarks. As an alternative for The Pirate Bay and RarBG, it is perfect.
Throughout the years, Zoogle has been under the radar. But, again, for downloading things that you can’t find elsewhere, it is quite alright. The database includes 30K movies and 1,3K shows, and the list keeps getting bigger. Today, Zoogle is among the most reliable torrent sites out there.
6Tor Lock – Another Great Alternative For PB and RarBG
Tor Lock is kind of a perfect choice: website looks amazing, everything is very user-friendly, and the database is huge. It looks a lot like 1337X, by the way. With 3+ million torrents and its own magnet links, TL is here to stay. No modern-day user wants to waste time scrolling through the links.
Fact: all the indexed torrents are verified, which means you won’t have to worry about anything while searching for a movie/show/game.
7Torrentz2 – A Comprehensive Torrent Search Engine
No, this isn’t a torrent site, but rather a place where you can find links to other sites with torrents. With approximately 5, 5 million torrents from 70+ domains, Torrentz2 is a worthy successor to the original Torrentz that currebtly prevails as a search engine for torrents.
8Torrentdownloads – User-Friendly And Straightforward
The main page is very simple yet informative. You’ll see a list of the latest torrents with quick access. TV shows come first; movie torrents follow. Music, games, and the rest of the categories can be found at the bottom.
While Torrentdownloads isn’t the most popular torrent site of our time, it does offer an up-to-date catalog.
Important note: this is one of those torrent sites that are constantly being blocked around the world. Use a free torrent VPN like Betternet to access it or switch to something more stable and durable.
9LimeTorrents – One Of The Obvious Leaders
With 270K visitors per day, LimeTorrents is one of the greatest options for average users. Today, it’s sitting high up on the list among the best. You’ll be able to find pretty much anything you’re looking for, including the latest movies, shows, games, etc.
At the same time, it is not as great as the Pirate Bay and the catalog is just not that big. For some brand-new stuff like the latest TV show episodes or cracks for video games, LM is not the best choice.
On the other hand, LM is good for older torrents, and its collection is even bigger and better than that of The Pirate Bay.
10EZTV.AG – Movies, TV Shows, Entertainment
To get all the latest reality shows, TV shows, and films, EZTV.AG is a solid pick. It used to be a distributor of TV torrents but was taken down in 2015. However, right now, it is one of the best sites for torrenting 2020 has to offer. EZTV.AG is focused on movie/TV torrents, which allows it to be an obvious leader in that field.
The bottom line is – if you’re looking for a reliable source of the latest episodes of your favorite shows, put this website on the list. There aren’t that many great torrent sites for downloading the latest movies/shows; EZTV.AG provides the best torrent database.
11NYAA.SI – A God-Sent For The Fans Of Anime
Last year, the original NYAA was the leader of the anime torrent sites. After they shut it down, NYAA.SI came around.
Users looking for anime movies, TV shows, games, and everything in between will find the best selection here. It might not look as “cozy” as the other sites on our list, but it definitely does have an impressive catalog.
12Torrents.me – A Reliable Meta-Search Engine
If you’re used to torrenting not from one, but all the popular torrent sites, make sure to check this resource.
First of all, it gives quick access to the best torrent sites.
Secondly, you can search for whatever you want and get links to torrents and magnet links from dozens of sources.
13IDOPE – One Of The Best Newcomers
IDOPE is among the most popular fresh torrent websites. It has been around for only two years but is already a torrenting choice for millions of users, which puts it ahead of the competition. It’s on par with Zoogle and is steadily making its way into the list of the greatest torrent sites of 2020. IDOPE is best for music torrents and has a huge database with all the recent releases and some classics.
14ExtraTorrent – Fast And Limitless
Despite the constant blocks, ExtraTorrent is still one of the best torrent sites out there. Anonymous, fast, and hassle-free, it claims to have the largest database for international users. You might experience some problems with torrenting every now and then, though. Regardless, for trouble-free torrent downloading, it doesn’t get better than ExtraTorrent.
Important note: we’re talking about ExtraTorrent.si. The mirror website, ExtraTorrent.cd, is full of lags and will make your CPU work at 99%. Apart from that weird “feature,” it’s just as good as the original and might come in handy when ET.si goes down.
15KAT – A Huge Database, Constant Updates
The fans of torrents definitely know about this one. As far as the legendary torrent sites go, KAT is right there among the leaders. It went through numerous ups and downs but is still a good choice.
Note: currently, the new torrent database is very old, meaning you won’t be able to find the latest torrents there. The experienced users will tell you that Kickasstorrents used to be huge a couple of years ago when The Pirate Bay was closed.
16Demonoid – One Of The Oldest Private Websites
Demonoid has been the #1 choice for torrent downloading for years – since 2003, to be exact. Please keep in mind that this is a private website, meaning you’ll need an official invite to join. We’ll talk about private sites in more details later.
The biggest downside of Demonoid: it’s got one of the most aggressive ads among torrenting websites. Plus, navigation is complicated and the average users won’t appreciate it.
17BTScene – A Friendly Interface, Almost No Ads
Looking for the friendliest torrent site? Make sure to take a look at BTScene. For fast and easy torrenting, it will be just what you need. Ads these days are annoying; thankfully, that’s not the case here. While BTScene doesn’t have the best database, the list of available torrents is impressive. It is best known for the vast music catalog but is also great for movies, games, and more.
However, it isn’t private, meaning the owners follow the DMCA rules. Yes, VPN for torrenting is a must here unless you want people to know exactly where you are and what kinds of files you like to download.
18Monova – A Clean Dashboard
Even though the list of torrents isn’t nearly as impressive as on the more popular torrent sites, Monova is a keeper. It features a clean and straightforward interface. Sadly, torrenting will always be “complemented” by ads – lots of ads.
If that’s not a big issue for you, then Monova can be added to bookmarks along with the most frequently used torrenting websites. You can’t really escape the ads: they are a bit part of the industry and keep the sites going.
19Toorgle – Quick Access To 450 Sites
This search engine offers hassle-free access to the best databases of torrents. Toorgle comes with a minimalist design. All you need to do to is type the title of what you’re looking for and hit “search.” Toorgle is an amazing tool for users looking for the best torrent databases. No need to scroll through Google: let this engine do the job for you.
20Seedpeer – A Great Database, An Average Interface
Seedpeer comes with an impressive database makes, but somewhat unattractive interface and the constant flow of ads is its biggest downside. Seedpeer is largely known among the gamers. The owners put security first; furthermore, torrenting is always fast and easy.
21SkyTorrents – An Impressive Collection Of Music
When it comes to the best torrents for music, SkyTorrents is always on top. According to several sources, SkyTorrents offers the best range in this category.
The search engine is fast and on par with the leaders of the industry. The dashboard is friendly and easy-to-use. There are numerous torrent sites dedicated to music out there; yet, ST is better.
The Best Private Sites
BitMe
As mentioned earlier, private torrent sites can be accessed through invites (or donations). With 14K users and a great collection of books and tutorials, this is one of the favorite picks of the privacy fans. BitMe is a bright example of a private site that has been around for almost 15 years.
GazelleGames
If you love video games, this GazelleGames collection is just what you need. Operating since 2010, GG provides 65K torrents to 14K users, which makes it equal to BitMe.
BroadcastTheNet
BTN is focused on high-quality television shows, both contemporary and vintage. The new torrent database is huge; overall, there are 200K torrents available.