Comparison of BitTorrent clients
The following is a general comparison of computer programs designed for peer-to-peer file sharing using the BitTorrent protocol. The BitTorrent protocol coordinates segmented file transfer among peers.
Bram Cohen, author of the BitTorrent protocol, made the first BitTorrent software application, which he also called BitTorrent. He published the application in July 2001.
Many BitTorrent programs are free and open-source software; others are adware or shareware. Some download managers (such as Xunlei and GetRight) are BitTorrent-ready. Opera, a web browser, can also transfer files via BitTorrent. A small number of BitTorrent programs—such as BitDownload, BitGrabber, BitRoll, GetTorrent, Torrent101, TorrentQ, and TorrentSoftware—are actually Trojan horses that attempt to infect the host with malware.[citation needed]
It's worth noting that the client term here is somewhat a misnomer since Bittorrent has a peer-to-peer architecture. It however does differentiate peer software from trackers and companion web sites that do play "server" roles.
Contents |
Applications [edit]
General [edit]
| Name | Developer | Software license | Latest stable software release | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | various | Python Software Foundation License | 3.1 (October 2, 2005[1]) [±] | |
| Acquisition | Acquisition | Proprietary shareware |
2.2 (v223) (November 19, 2010) [±] | |
| BitComet | BitComet Development Group | Proprietary adware |
1.36 (May 2, 2013) [±][2] | |
| BitLet | various | Proprietary | ? | |
| BitLord | House of Life | GPL (License violation)[3] | Windows: 2.3 (March 15, 2013) [±] Mac OSX: |
|
| Bits on Wheels | Bits on Wheels | Proprietary | 1.0.6 (November 19, 2005) [±] | |
| BitSpirit | ByteLinker Inc. | Proprietary | 3.6.0.550 (December 29, 2010[4]) [±] | |
| BitThief | Distributed Computing Group | Proprietary | 0.5.0 (unknown) [±] | |
| BitTornado | John Hoffman | MIT | 0.3.17 (October 19, 2006) [±] | |
| BitTorrent | Bram Cohen | Proprietary adware |
Windows: |
|
| BitTyrant | University of Washington | GPL | 1.1.1 (September 7, 2007[6]) [±] | |
| Blog Torrent | Downhill Battle | GPL | 0.92 (April 20, 2005) [±] | |
| Deluge | various | GPL | 1.3.6 (February 25, 2013) [±] | |
| FlashGet | Trend Media | Proprietary | 3.7.0.1218 (November 8, 2012[7]) [±] | |
| Folx | Eltima Software | Proprietary | 2.0.1029 (June 30, 2012) [±] | |
| Free Download Manager | alervd | GPL | 3.9.2 (Build 1287) (January 11, 2013) [±][8] | |
| FrostWire | The FrostWire Project | GPL | 5.5.3 (February 9, 2013) [±] | |
| Gnome BitTorrent | Paul Varga | Python Software Foundation License | Linux: 0.0.32 (February 2, 2008) [±] |
|
| KGet | KDE | GPL | 4.10.3 (7 May 2013) [±][9] | |
| KTorrent | Joris Guisson, Ivan Vasić | GPL | 4.3.1 (January 17, 2013[10]) [±] | |
| Lftp | Alexander V. Lukya | GPL | 4.4.7 (May 23, 2013) [±] | |
| LimeWire | Lime Wire LLC | GPL | 5.5.16 (September 30, 2010) [±] | |
| Meerkat Bittorrent Client | 47 Software | Proprietary | 1.5.8 (August 28, 2011) [±] | |
| MiniGet | MiniSoft | Free | 1.0.8.2188 | |
| Miro | Participatory Culture Foundation | GPL | 6.0 (April 16, 2013) [±][11] | |
| MLDonkey | MLDonkey Project | GPL | 3.1.3 (August 5, 2012[12]) [±] | |
| MP3 Rocket | MP3 Rocket Inc. | GPL | 6.35 (March 11, 2013) [±] | |
| µTorrent | Ludvig Strigeus | Proprietary adware |
Microsoft Windows 3.3 (Build 29677) (May 22, 2013) [±][13][14] OS X for Intel |
|
| OneSwarm | University of Washington | GPL | 0.7.5 (May 23, 2011[20]) [±] | |
| Opera | Opera Software | Proprietary | 12.15 (April 4, 2013) [±] | |
| qBittorrent | Christophe Dumez | GPL | 3.0.9 (March 16, 2013) [±][21] | |
| rTorrent | Jari Sundell | GPL | lib 0.13.2/r 0.9.2 (20 April 2012) [±][22] | |
| Shareaza | Shareaza Development Team | GPL | 2.6.0.0 (June 3, 2012[23]) [±] | |
| SymTorrent | Imre Kelényi | GPL | 1.50 (March 11, 2011[24]) [±] | |
| Tixati | Tixati Software Inc. | Proprietary | ||
| Tomato Torrent | Sarwat Khan | BitTorrent Open Source License | 1.5.1 (October 27, 2007[26]) [±] | |
| Tonido Torrent | CodeLathe | Proprietary | 3.62.0.21836 (December 31, 2012) [±] | |
| Torrent2Exe | Torrent2Exe | Proprietary | 2.0.120 (May 6, 2012) [±] | |
| Torrent Swapper | John Freemonth | MIT | 1.0 (August 10, 2006[27]) [±] | |
| TorrentFlux | various | GPL | 2.4 (June 18, 2008[28]) [±] | |
| Transmission | various | GPL/MIT | 2.77 (18 February 2013) [±][29] | |
| Tribler | The Tribler Team | LGPL | 6.1 (April 19, 2013) [±] | |
| Vuze (formerly Azureus) | Vuze | Proprietary (platform), adware GPL (core engine) |
5.0.0.0 (May 8, 2013) [±][30] | |
| Wyzo | Radical Software | Proprietary | 3.6.4 (September 24, 2010) [±] | |
| Xtorrent | Spectacular Apps | Proprietary | ? | |
| Xunlei | Thunder Networking Technologies] | Proprietary | 7.2.9.3634 (Windows) 1.1.0 (Mac OS X) 1.3 (Mobile Xunlei for Android) (30 July 2012 (Windows) 12 July 2012 (Mac OS X) 23 August 2012 (Mobile Xunlei for Android)) [±][31] | |
| ZipTorrent | ZipTorrent | Proprietary | 1.3.7.3 (August 24, 2005) [±] | |
| Name | Developer | Software license | Latest stable software release | |
| ABC | various | GNU GPL | 3.1 (October 2, 2005[1]) [±] |
Operating system support [edit]
| BitTorrent client | Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | BSD | iOS | Android | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Acquisition | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| BitComet | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| BitLet | web | web | web | No | No | No | No |
| BitLord | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| BitSpirit | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| BitThief | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| BitTornado | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| BitTorrent | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Bits on Wheels | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| BitTyrant | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Blog Torrent | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Deluge | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes Solaris |
| FlashGet | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Folx | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Free Download Manager | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Frostwire | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Gnome BitTorrent | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| KGet | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| KTorrent | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| LimeWire | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Meerkat Bittorrent Client | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Miro | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| MLDonkey | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes Solaris, MorphOS |
| MP3 Rocket | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| µTorrent | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| OneSwarm | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Opera | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes Solaris |
| qBittorrent | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes eComStation |
| rTorrent | Yes Cygwin[32] | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes Solaris |
| Shareaza | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| SmartTorrent BitTorrent Client | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| SymTorrent | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes Symbian |
| Tixati | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Tomato Torrent | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Tonido | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Torrent Swapper | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| TorrentFlux | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Transmission | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes Solaris, OpenWrt |
| iTransmission Transmission Port | No | No | No | No | Yes only for Jailbroken devices | No | No |
| Tribler | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| tTorrent | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Vuze | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Wyzo | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| ZipTorrent | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Name | Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | BSD | iOS | Android | Other |
Interface and programming [edit]
| BitTorrent client | GUI | Web | CLI | Other | Programming language | Based on | IPv6 | µTP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Yes | Yes | No | No | Python | BitTornado | buggy[Note 1] | No |
| Acquisition | Yes | No | No | No | Objective-C, Cocoa | Limewire | ? | No |
| BitComet | Yes | Yes | Partial[33] | No | C++ | - | No | No |
| BitLet | No | Yes | No | No | Java Applet | - | ? | No |
| BitLord | Yes | No | No | No | Python, C++ | libtorrent (Rasterbar) | Yes | No |
| BitThief | Yes | No | No | No | Java | ? | ? | No |
| BitTornado | Yes | No | Partial | No | Python | BitTorrent | Yes | No |
| BitTorrent 5, Mainline | Yes | No | Partial | No | Python | - | No | No |
| BitTorrent 6 | Yes | Yes | Partial | No | C++ | µTorrent | Yes | Yes |
| Bits on Wheels | Yes | No | No | No | Objective-C, Cocoa | - | Yes | No |
| BitTyrant | Yes | Yes | Partial | Telnet, XML over HTTP remote control API | Java, SWT | Azureus | Yes | No |
| Blog Torrent | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | No |
| Deluge | Yes | Yes | Yes | Daemon | Python, C++ | libtorrent (Rasterbar) | Yes | No |
| FlashGet | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | No | No |
| Free Download Manager | Yes | Yes | Partial | No | C++ | libtorrent (Rasterbar) | ? | No |
| Gnome BitTorrent | Yes | No | No | No | Python | ? | ? | No |
| KGet | Yes | Yes | Partial[Note 2] | No | C++ | - | Yes | No |
| KTorrent | Yes | Yes | Partial | No | C++ | - | Yes | Yes[34] |
| LimeWire | Yes | No | No | No | Java | libtorrent (Rasterbar) | No | No |
| Meerkat Bittorrent Client | Yes | No | No | No | C++ | - | No | No |
| Miro | Yes | No | No | No | C++ | libtorrent (Rasterbar) | ? | No |
| MLDonkey | Network GUI | Yes | Partial | Telnet | OCaml | - | No | No |
| MP3 Rocket | Yes | No | No | No | Java | - | No | No |
| µTorrent | Yes | Yes | No[35] | No | C++[36] | - | Yes[37] | Yes[38] |
| OneSwarm | Partial | Yes | No-partial | No | Java | Azureus | Yes | No |
| Opera | Yes | No | No | No | C++ | - | Yes | No |
| qBittorrent | Qt (toolkit) | Yes | Partial | No | C++ | libtorrent (Rasterbar) | Yes | Yes[39] |
| rTorrent | No | Third Party | Yes | SCGI | C++ | libTorrent (Rakshasa) | No[40] | No |
| Shareaza | Yes | Yes | Partial | No | C++ | - | No | No |
| SymTorrent | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | No |
| Tixati | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | - | Yes | Yes[41] |
| Tomato Torrent | Yes | No | No | No | Cocoa | BitTorrent | No | No |
| Tonido Torrent | No | Yes | No | No | C++ | libtorrent (Rasterbar) | No | No |
| Torrent Swapper | Yes | Yes | No | No | Python | BitTorrent | buggy[Note 1] | No |
| TorrentFlux | No | Yes | No | No | PHP | BitTornado | No | No |
| Transmission | Yes | Yes | Yes | Daemon, JSON-RPC over HTTP remote control API | C | - | Yes | Yes[42] |
| Tribler | Yes | No | Partial | No | Python,C++ | libtorrent (Rasterbar) | No | Yes |
| Vuze (formerly Azureus) | Yes | Yes | Partial | Telnet, XML over HTTP remote control API | Java, SWT | - | Yes | Yes |
| ZipTorrent | Yes | No | No | No | C++ | libtorrent (Rasterbar) | No | No |
| BitTorrent client | GUI | Web | CLI | Other | Programming language | Based on | IPv6 | µTP |
Features I [edit]
| BitTorrent client | Magnet URI | Preload Magnet metadata | Super-seeding | Embedded tracker | UPnP [Note 3] | NAT Port Mapping Protocol | NAT traversal [Note 4] | DHT [Note 5] | Peer exchange | Encryption | UDP tracker | LPD | Proxy server |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Acquisition | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| BitComet | Yes | No | Yes | Separate download | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | HTTP 1.1, SOCKS4-4a-5 |
| BitLet | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| BitLord | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | HTTP 1.1, SOCKS4-4a-5 |
| BitThief | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| BitTornado | No | No | Yes | Yes[Note 6] | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| BitTorrent 5, Mainline | No | No | No | Yes[Note 6] | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| BitTorrent 6 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[Note 7] | Yes | Yes | Yes | HTTP(S), SOCKS4-5 |
| Bits on Wheels | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| BitTyrant | No | No | Yes[citation needed] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[Note 8] | Yes[Note 9] | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Blog Torrent | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Deluge | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | HTTP(S), SOCKS4-5 |
| FlashGet | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Free Download Manager | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Gnome BitTorrent | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| KTorrent | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | HTTP, SOCKS4-5 |
| LimeWire | Partial | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Meerkat Bittorrent Client | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| MLDonkey | Yes[43] | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| µTorrent | Yes | Yes | Yes[44] | Yes[45] | Yes[46] | Yes | Yes[47] | Yes[Note 10] | Yes[Note 7] | Yes[48] | Yes | Yes[49] | HTTP(S), SOCKS4-5 |
| OneSwarm | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Opera | No | No | No | Yes[50] | No | No | No | No | Yes[51] | No | No | No | No |
| qBittorrent | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | HTTP(S), SOCKS4-5 |
| rTorrent | Yes[52] | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No[53] | No |
| Shareaza | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | N/A | Yes[Note 11] | Yes | No | Yes[Note 12] | No | No |
| SymTorrent | No | No | No | No | N/A | N/A | N/A | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Tixati | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | HTTP(S), SOCKS4-5 |
| Tomato Torrent | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Tonido Torrent | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Torrent Swapper | No | No | Yes | Yes[Note 6] | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| TorrentFlux | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Transmission | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[Note 13] | Yes | Yes | Yes | No [54] |
| Tribler | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Vuze (formerly Azureus) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[Note 14] | Yes[Note 9] | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | HTTP(S)?, SOCKS4-4a-5 |
| Vuze Plus (Shareware) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[Note 15] | Yes[Note 9] | Yes | Yes | No | HTTP(S)?, SOCKS4-4a-5 |
| ZipTorrent | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| BitTorrent client | Magnet URI | Preload Magnet metadata | Super-seeding | Embedded tracker | UPnP | NAT Port Mapping Protocol | NAT traversal | DHT | Peer exchange | Encryption | UDP tracker | LPD | Proxy server |
Features II [edit]
| BitTorrent client | Cache [Note 16] | Web seeding [Note 17] | Broad-catching (RSS) | Prioritization | Selective downloads | Sequential downloading | SOCKS | Tracker exchange [55] | Remote control via web | Search engine | Auto updates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Separate download | No | ||
| Acquisition | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | 3 torrents max, infinity when registered | |
| BitComet | Yes | Yes [56] | Beta | Yes | Yes | Yes [Note 18] | Yes | No | Yes | Built-in Web browser | Yes | Portable version available |
| BitLet | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| BitLord | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Built-in Web browser | Yes | ||
| Bits on Wheels | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ||
| BitThief | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Originally designed as a proof-of-concept for the exploitation of weaknesses in the BitTorrent protocol. Has an option to prevent any uploads. | |
| BitTornado | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | via PMS | ||
| BitTorrent 5, Mainline | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ||
| BitTorrent 6 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| BitTyrant | Yes | Yes [57] | Plugin | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Plugin[Note 19] | 3rd party plugins | Yes | Upload priority optimized according to a series of research papers | |
| Blog Torrent | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ||
| Deluge | Yes | No | Plugin | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | via PMS | ||
| FlashGet | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | FlashGet (standalone application) is not FlashGot (Firefox Addon) | |
| Free Download Manager | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Optional | ||
| Gnome BitTorrent | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ||
| KTorrent | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Built-in Web browser | via PMS | ||
| LimeWire | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| Meerkat Bittorrent Client | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ||
| MLDonkey | Yes | No | 3rd party bash script | Yes | No | No[58] | No | Yes | Built-in Web browser | via PMS | ||
| µTorrent | Yes | Yes[59] | Yes[60] | Yes[61] | Yes | since v3.0 [Note 20] | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| OneSwarm | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Based on Azureus, has all BitTyrant features | |
| Opera | No | No | Yes[Note 21] | No | No | No | No | No | built-into Web browser | Windows and Mac OS X only; via PMS on Linux | Web browser | |
| qBittorrent | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[62] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | via PMS | |
| rTorrent | Partial | No | 3rd party utility [63] | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | via PMS | No built-in disk cache but a delayed sync | |
| Shareaza | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes[Note 22] | Available in mod client | No | since v2.5.3.1 [64][Note 23] |
Yes | Yes | Yes | [Note 24] |
| SymTorrent | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | BitTorrent client for cell phones | |
| Tixati | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Portable version available | |
| Tomato Torrent | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | supports AppleScript | |
| Tonido Torrent | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | ||
| Torrent Swapper | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Built-in Web browser | Yes | ||
| TorrentFlux | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| Transmission | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | ||
| Tribler | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Fully distributed keyword search; integrated anti-spam measures[65] | |
| Vuze (formerly Azureus) | Yes | Yes [57] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Plugin[Note 19] | Yes | Yes | ||
| ZipTorrent | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | ||
| Xunlei | In v0.1.0.0 | |||||||||||
| BitTorrent client | Cache | Web seeding | Broad-catching (RSS) | Prioritization | Selective downloads | Sequential downloading | SOCKS | Tracker exchange | Remote control via web | Search engine | Auto updates | Notes |
- ^ a b Announcements to the tracker are made via IPv6 if possible, but the client doesn't listen on the respective port.
- ^ Qdbus interface
- ^ Automatically configure port forwarding (requires Router with UPnP support)
- ^ Many clients claim to support this, but just UPnP calls for opening a TCP port is not effective and disabled by factory default in most new hardware. "UDP NAT Traversal" is the proper working solution, supported by just a few.
- ^ DHT permits use of trackerless torrents (with supporting clients) to resume normal torrents when their tracker is down. However, some trackers that register their users for keeping tabs on fair usage (such as a ratio of bytes downloaded to uploaded) may not reliably measure and update usage for users employing DHT.
- ^ a b c Tracker included with Linux binaries and with source, but not with Windows binary.
- ^ a b Exchanging with BT 6 and µTorrent clients (and now MooPolice).
- ^ It's UDP based, an experimental feature and only supported by other Azureus based clients.
- ^ a b c Has its own DHT, a mainline-DHT compatible implementation is available as plugin.
- ^ µTorrent's DHT implementation is the same as Mainline and BitComet's, but unfortunately this is incompatible with Azureus's implementation.
- ^ Since Shareaza v2.6.0.0, Shareaza includes Mainline DHT support. Also, Shareaza can use the Gnutella2 network to find other Gnutella2 clients sharing the same torrent. This also includes clients who do not actively seed the torrent in question anymore, as long as file hashes (such as sha1 for example) are known.
- ^ Since Shareaza v2.5.5.1 r9064.
- ^ Exchanges with µTorrent and Azureus peers.
- ^ Since version 2.5.0.2. It's UDP based, an experimental feature and only supported by other Azureus clients.
- ^ Since version 2.5.0.2. It's UDP based, an experimental feature and only supported by other Azureus clients.
- ^ Reduces disk usage, file fragmentation (in case it is not preallocated) and latencies via larger written blocks and cached data for hash checking finished pieces.
- ^ Recently implemented (unofficial) web seeding feature, see HTTP-Based Seeding Specification
- ^ Called "preview mode"
- ^ a b Provides a Java-based and a simple HTML/JS based WebUI.
- ^ Called "Streaming mode". The number of pieces to download sequentially is configurable
- ^ Opera has a feed aggregator that displays feeds like emails.
- ^ Since Shareaza v2.4.0.2 r7924.
- ^ Shareaza also uses G2 to transmit download metadata, such as BitTorrent trackers to other G2 clients.
Vulnerabilities [edit]
This comparison of unpatched publicly known vulnerabilities in latest stable version clients is based on vulnerabilities reports by SecurityFocus and Secunia. See computer security for more details about the importance of unpatched known flaws.
| BitTorrent client | Known unpatched vulnerabilities | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secunia | SecurityFocus | |||||
| Extremely critical (number / oldest) |
Highly critical (number / oldest) |
Moderately critical (number / oldest) |
Less critical (number / oldest) |
Not critical (number / oldest) |
Total (number / oldest) |
|
| BitComet | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| BitLord | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Unknown |
| BitTornado | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Unknown |
| BitTorrent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| BitTorrent DNA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| BitTyrant | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Unknown |
| Deluge | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FlashGet | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 13 August 2008 |
| Free Download Manager | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FrostWire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Unknown |
| KTorrent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Libtorrent (Rasterbar) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LimeWire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Miro | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 26 February 2008 |
| MLDonkey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 5 November 2003 |
1 23 February 2009 |
| µTorrent for Mac | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| µTorrent for Windows | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Opera | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shareaza | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tomato Torrent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Unknown |
| TorrentFlux | 0 | 0 | 1 23 April 2008 |
0 | 0 | 2 18 April 2008 |
| Transmission | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vuze (formerly Azureus) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 22 June 2006 |
| Wyzo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Unknown |
| Xunlei | 0 | 2 28 September 2007 |
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 17 November 2007 |
| ZipTorrent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 24 August 2005 |
0 | 1 23 August 2005 |
| BitTorrent client | Extremely critical (number / oldest) |
Highly critical (number / oldest) |
Moderately critical (number / oldest) |
Less critical (number / oldest) |
Not critical (number / oldest) |
Total (number / oldest) |
| Secunia | SecurityFocus | |||||
| Known unpatched vulnerabilities | ||||||
Libraries [edit]
- General
| BitTorrent library | First public release date | Latest stable | Software license |
|---|---|---|---|
| BTSharp | 2004 | 2.0 (February 4, 2007) [±] | Proprietary |
| libtorrent (Rasterbar) | September 8, 2005[68] | 0.16.10 (May 12, 2013) [±] | Free software |
| MonoTorrent | September 2006 | 0.90 (May 22, 2010) [±] | Free software |
| rTorrent (libTorrent Rakshasa) | July 15, 2004[69] | lib 0.13.2/r 0.9.2 (20 April 2012) [±][22] | Free software |
| BitTorrent library | First public release date | Latest stable | Software license |
- Operating system support and programming language
| BitTorrent library | Linux/Unix | Windows | OS X | API | Programming language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BTSharp | No | Yes | No | Yes | C# |
| libtorrent (Rasterbar) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | C++ |
| MonoTorrent | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | C# |
| rTorrent (libTorrent Rakshasa) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | C++ |
| BitTorrent library | Linux/Unix | Windows | OS X | API | Programming language |
- Supported features 1
| BitTorrent library | Super-seeding | Tracker | UPnP [Note 1] | NAT Port Mapping Protocol | NAT traversal [Note 2] | DHT [Note 3] | Peer exchange | Encryption | UDP tracker | LPD | Fast extensions | Magnet URI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BTSharp | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | No | No |
| libtorrent (Rasterbar) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[70] | Yes | Yes |
| MonoTorrent | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| rTorrent (libTorrent Rakshasa) | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | Yes |
| BitTorrent library | Super-seeding | Tracker | UPnP | NAT Port Mapping Protocol | NAT traversal | DHT | Peer exchange | Encryption | UDP tracker | LPD | Fast extensions | Magnet URI |
- Supported features 2
| BitTorrent library | Cache[Note 4] | Web seeding [Note 5] | Broadcatching (RSS) | Prioritization | Selective downloads | SOCKS | Remote control via web | Engine | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BTSharp | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| libtorrent (Rasterbar) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | |
| MonoTorrent | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
| rTorrent (libTorrent Rakshasa) | Partial | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No built-in cache-disk cache but a delayed sync |
| BitTorrent library | Cache | Web seeding | Broadcatching (RSS) | Prioritization | Selective downloads | SOCKS | Remote control via web | Engine | Notes |
Notes [edit]
- ^ Automatically configure port forwarding (requires Router with UPnP support)
- ^ Many clients claim to support this, but just UPnP calls for opening a TCP port is not effective and disabled by factory default in most new hardware. "UDP NAT Traversal" is the proper working solution, supported by just a few.
- ^ DHT permits use of trackerless torrents (with supporting clients) to resume normal torrents when their tracker is down. However, some trackers that register their users for keeping tabs on fair usage (such as a ratio of bytes downloaded to uploaded) may not reliably measure and update usage for users employing DHT.
- ^ Reduces disk usage, file fragmentation (in case it is not preallocated) and latencies due to larger written blocks and cached data for hash checking finished pieces.
- ^ Recently implemented (unofficial) web seeding feature, see HTTP-Based Seeding Specification
See also [edit]
- Anonymous P2P
- BitTorrent tracker
- Comparison of BitTorrent sites
- Comparison of BitTorrent tracker software
- Comparison of file sharing applications
- File sharing
- Open Music Model
- Timeline of file sharing
References [edit]
- ^ "ABC (Yet Another Bittorrent Client) at SourceForge.net". ABC.SourceForge.net. 2005-10-03. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
- ^ "BitComet Client Release Notes - A free C++ BitTorrent/HTTP/FTP Download Client". www.bitcomet.com. 2010-08-31. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
- ^ Bitlord FAQ says the source is available but it's nowhere to be found
- ^ "BitSpirit ChangeLog". bitspirit.cc. 2010-12-29. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
- ^ a b BitTorrent download directory list
- ^ "BitTyrant". University of Washington - Computer Science & Engineering. 2007-09-07. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
- ^ "Best Download Manager - FlashGet". FlashGet. 2009.12.23. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
- ^ "Free Download Manager". Files. SourceForge. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
- ^ "KDE Ships May Updates to Plasma Workspaces, Applications and Platform". KDE. May 7, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
- ^ KTorrent, ktorrent.org, 2013-01-17, retrieved 2013-01-29
- ^ ftp.osuosl.org :: Oregon State University Open Source Lab, 07-Oct-2012 13:00, retrieved 2013.01.4 11:06
- ^ "MLDonkey at SourceForge.net". MLDonkey.SourceForge.net. 2011-08-10. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- ^ "Download - µTorrent - a (very) tiny BitTorrent client". www.utorrent.com. 2012-02-03.
- ^ "cmeisel" (2013-01-31). "µTorrent 3.3 Stable - Forums". Announcements. forum.utorrent.com.
- ^ a b "Download - µTorrent - a (very) tiny BitTorrent client". www.utorrent.com. 2013-04-03.
- ^ "vadimt" (2013-04-03). "µTorrent Mac 1.8.2 stable". Announcements (Mac). forum.utorrent.com.
- ^ "uTorrent for Mac release notes".
- ^ "Vika B" (2010-12-13). "µTorrent Mac 1.6.5 latest stable with PPC support! - Forums". Announcements (Mac). forum.utorrent.com.
- ^ "uTorrent for Mac release notes PPC".
- ^ "OneSwarm Changelog". University of Washington - Computer Science & Engineering. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
- ^ qBittorrent Win32 Build, SourceForge.net
- ^ rakshasa (20 April 2012). "Bumped version to 0.9.2.". github.com. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
- ^ "Shareaza at SourceForge.net". SourceForge. Retrieved 2012-06-08.
- ^ "SymTorrent GitHub". SymTorrent. 2011-08-01. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
- ^ "Tixati.com - News". [1].Tixati. 2012-08-10. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
- ^ "sarwat.net * opensource". sarwat.net. 2007-10-27. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
- ^ "Torrent Swapper at SourceForge.net". bit-torrent.SourceForge.net. 2006-08-10. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
- ^ "TorrentFlux - PHP Torrent Client at SourceForge.net". TorrentFlux.SourceForge.net. 2008-06-18. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
- ^ Changes – Transmission, trac.transmissionbittorrent.com, 2013-2-18, retrieved 2013-2-18
- ^ "Changelog". Vuze Community. Retrieved 2013-05-10.
- ^ Check Update [Check for updates], 粤 Guangdong
- ^ http://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin-announce/2011-09/msg00003.html
- ^ BitComet command line interface see BitComet Command Line - BitComet Wiki
- ^ "KTorrent 4.0 is out". KTorrent. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
- ^ "uTorrent command line options - Forums - µTorrent - The Lightweight and Efficient BitTorrent Client". Forum.utorrent.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ "General - FAQ - µTorrent - a (very) tiny BitTorrent client". www.utorrent.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ "µTorrent 1.8 released". Forum.utorrent.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ "µTorrent 1.9 alpha 13485". Forum.utorrent.com. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
- ^ "qBittorrent official website". Qbittorrent.org. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ^ "#1111 (Support for IPv6?) – The libTorrent and rTorrent Project". Libtorrent.rakshasa.no. 2009-07-20. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ "News". Tixati.com. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ^ "Changes – Transmission". Trac.transmissionbt.com. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ^ "MLDonkey 3.1.3 release notes". Forum mldonkey.sourceforge.net. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
- ^ "µTorrent 1.6 released". Forum.utorrent.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ "uTorrent: Make Your Own BitTorrent Tracker". Filesharefreak.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ "Setting up µTorrent for your internet connection". www.utorrent.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ µTorrent 2.0 beta
- ^ "How To Encrypt BitTorrent Traffic". Torrentfreak.com. 2006-04-16. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ "Announcements » µTorrent 1.7 Release Candidate 6". 2007-06-28. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
- ^ "Weekly - Desktop Team - by Opera Desktop Team". My.opera.com. 2007-02-27. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ "Opera 9.5 Beta 1 for Windows Changelog". Opera.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ Aided with a shell script documented in "That magnet uri ticket thing reincarnated". libtorrent.rakshasa.no. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
- ^ "local peer discovery". libtorrent.rakshasa.no. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
- ^ Proxy support was removed in version 2.12: "Ticket #3688". trac.transmissionbt.com. Retrieved 2011-06-11.
- ^ Tracker exchange spec: BEP 28
- ^ Supports the Getright Webseeding spec since v1.14, see BitComet Wiki
- ^ a b Supports the Getright Webseeding spec in addition to the Bittornado spec [2]
- ^ See task #4401 SOCKS proxy; however, http proxy is supported.
- ^ "uTorrent 1.7 Stable Finally Released". TorrentFreak. 2007-07-13. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ "How to use RSS & BitTorrent to download TV shows". TorrentFreak. 2006-10-14. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ "uTorrent - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET" (in (Persian)). Download.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ Official page "qBittorrent features". qbittorrent.org. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
- ^ 3rd party utility RSSDler
- ^ Shareazas SVN changes in r8803 on Sourceforge.net
- ^ "Truly Decentralized BitTorrent Downloading Has Finally Arrived". TorrentFreak. 2010-12-08. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
- ^ "libtorrent - Browse Files at". Sourceforge.net. 2010-03-21. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ^ "Timeline – The libTorrent and rTorrent Project". Libtorrent.rakshasa.no. 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ^ "libtorrent manual: features". Retrieved 2009-12-12.
External links [edit]
- SourceForge's "Bittorrent" section
- User-ranked list of bittorrent clients
- BitTorrent at the Open Directory Project
- Article suggesting that a BitTorrent client is installed on more than 13% of Windows desktop PCs
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