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Comparison of BitTorrent clients

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A BitTorrent client is a computer program that manages downloads and uploads using the BitTorrent protocol.

The first client, known as BitTorrent, was created by Bram Cohen, in October 2002.

Many subsequent clients have been at least partially based on it. Not all clients were originally built for BitTorrent, having added support for the protocol later on. There have been attempts to package malware as BitTorrent clients, probably due to the availability of many legitimate clients and users' willingness to try new ones.

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of applications supporting the BitTorrent protocol. They are neither all-inclusive nor necessarily up to date.

Applications

Note: Clients in purple are no longer in development.

General

BitTorrent client First public release date Latest stable FOSS
Software license Cost
(USD)
Spyware, Adware, Malware-free [1] Usage[2]
ABC August 19, 2003; 20 years ago (2003-08-19)[3] Template:Latest stable software release/ABC Yes Python Software Foundation License Free Yes 0.075624%
Acquisition ? 2.2 (v223) (November 19, 2010; 13 years ago (2010-11-19)) [±] Partial Proprietary
Shareware
$25 Yes ?
Arctic Torrent[4] ? 1.2.3
September 4, 2004; 19 years ago (2004-09-04)
Yes MIT License Free Yes 0.000607%
Aria2 [5] ? 1.11.2
(May 22, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-05-22))[6]
Yes GPL Free Yes 0.000830%
BitComet August 6, 2003; 20 years ago (2003-08-06) 1.94 (September 11, 2022; 22 months ago (2022-09-11)) [±][7] No Proprietary Free Ad-supported: Optionally sets your browser homepage to google.atcomet.com[8] 4.311034%
Bitflu [9] ? 1.50 (July 11, 2012; 12 years ago (2012-07-11)) [±] Yes Artistic License Free Yes 0%
BitLet ? ? No Proprietary Free ? 0.006181%
BitLord ? Template:Latest stable software release/BitLord No Proprietary
Adware
Free Adware: WhenU SaveNow ?
Bits on Wheels ? Template:Latest stable software release/Bits on Wheels No Proprietary
Freeware
Free Yes 0.005982%
BitSpirit [10] 2003; 21 years ago (2003) Template:Latest stable software release/BitSpirit No Proprietary Free Yes 1.996105%
BitThief ? Template:Latest stable software release/BitThief No Proprietary
Freeware
Free Spyware[11] ?
BitTornado ? Template:Latest stable software release/BitTornado Yes MIT License Free Yes 0.149426%
BitTorrent 5 July 2, 2001; 23 years ago (2001-07-02)[12] Template:Latest stable software release/BitTorrent (software) Yes BitTorrent Open Source License, GPL Free ? 0.270911%
BitTorrent 7 September 18, 2007; 16 years ago (2007-09-18) Template:Latest stable software release/BitTorrent (software) No Proprietary Free Adware: Optionally installs Ask toolbar. [13] 4.545059%
BitTyrant January 2, 2007; 17 years ago (2007-01-02) Template:Latest stable software release/BitTyrant Yes GPL Free ? 0.222282%
Blog Torrent ? Template:Latest stable software release/Blog Torrent Yes GPL Free ? ?
BTG [14] ? 0.9.9 Yes GPL Free ? 0%
BTPD [15] June 24, 2005; 19 years ago (2005-06-24) 0.16 Yes Simplified BSD License Free Yes 0%
Deluge September 25, 2006; 17 years ago (2006-09-25) 2.1.1 (July 10, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-07-10)) [±] Yes GPL Free Yes 0.041722%
FlashGet ? Template:Latest stable software release/FlashGet No Proprietary Free Adware [16] 1.086652%
Flush January 1, 2009; 15 years ago (2009-01-01) 0.9.12 (January 24, 2012; 12 years ago (2012-01-24)) [±] Yes GPL Free Yes ?
Folx 2010; 14 years ago (2010) 1.0.591.456 No Proprietary Free ? ?
Free Download Manager 2004; 20 years ago (2004) 6.13.4.3616 (February 9, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-02-09)) [±][17] Yes GPL Free Adware: Optional Software Informer [18] ?
FrostWire 2004; 20 years ago (2004) 6.9.8 (build 312) (April 26, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-04-26)) [±] Yes GPL Free Adware; Optional Ask.com toolbar ?
G3 Torrent [19] ? Template:Latest stable software release/G3 Torrent Yes MIT License Free Yes 0.001176%
Global Downloader[20] 2005; 19 years ago (2005) No Proprietary $24.95 Yes ?
Gnome BitTorrent ? ? Yes Python Software Foundation License Free ? ?
Halite ? Template:Latest stable software release/Halite Yes Boost Software License Free Yes 0.002574%
KGet ? 4.14.38 (November 7, 2017; 6 years ago (2017-11-07)) [±][21] Yes GPL Free Yes ?
KTorrent ? 5.2.0 (June 6, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-06-06)[22]) [±]


Yes GPL Free Yes 0.002454%
LimeWire October 30, 2006; 17 years ago (2006-10-30)[23][24] 5.5.16 (September 30, 2010; 13 years ago (2010-09-30)) [±] Yes GPL Free-main
$35-Pro
Adware 0.038241%
Localhost ? ? Yes GPL Free Yes ?
Meerkat Bittorrent Client ? Template:Latest stable software release/Meerkat Bittorrent Client No Proprietary
Freeware
Free Yes ?
Miro 0.8.0-rc4
February 21, 2006; 18 years ago (2006-02-21)[25]
6.0 (April 16, 2013; 11 years ago (2013-04-16)) [±][26] Yes GPL Free Adware: Optional Bing toolbar;
Sets Bing and/or MiroStart (a Miro start page
powered by Bing)
as default web browser search.
0.026502%
MLDonkey December 2001; 22 years ago (2001-12) 3.1.7 (July 6, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-07-06)[27]) [±] Yes GPL Free Yes 0.004153%
MP3 Rocket December 2005; 18 years ago (2005-12) Template:Latest stable software release/MP3 Rocket Yes GPL Free Adware[28] ?
µTorrent September 19, 2005; 18 years ago (2005-09-19)[29] Template:Latest stable software release/µTorrent No[30] Proprietary Freeware Free Adware; Optional Ask.com toolbar[31][32] 25.772625%
OneSwarm 2008; 16 years ago (2008) Template:Latest stable software release/OneSwarm Yes GPL Free Yes ?
Opera June 20, 2006; 18 years ago (2006-06-20)[33] 100.0.4815.21 (June 20, 2023; 13 months ago (2023-06-20)[34][35][36])


No Proprietary Free Yes 0.155863%
QTorrent [37] ? 0.9.5 Yes MIT License Free Yes ?
qBittorrent March 22, 2006; 18 years ago (2006-03-22)[38] 4.4.5 (August 30, 2022; 23 months ago (2022-08-30)) [±][39] Yes GPL Free Yes 0.007561%
rTorrent July 15, 2004; 20 years ago (2004-07-15)[40] rTorrent 0.9.8 / libTorrent 0.13.8 (July 19, 2019; 5 years ago (2019-07-19)) [±][41] Yes GPL Free Yes 0.196612%
Rufus ? ? Yes MIT License Free Yes 0.002227%
Shareaza July 1, 2002; 22 years ago (2002-07-01)[citation needed] 2.7.10.2 (September 18, 2017; 6 years ago (2017-09-18)[42]) [±] Yes GPL Free Yes 0.125904%
SKDownloader ? 3.4.1 (November 25th, [when?])[citation needed] No Proprietary Free Adware ?
SoMud June 1, 2010; 14 years ago (2010-06-01) 1.3.1
(May 25, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-05-25))
No Proprietary Freeware Free Yes ?
SymTorrent ? 1.50
(March 11, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-03-11)[43])
Yes GPL Free Yes 0.006598%
Tixati [44] June 24, 2009; 15 years ago (2009-06-24) 1.61
(May 8, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-05-08))
No Proprietary Free Yes 0.000900%
Tomato Torrent ? Template:Latest stable software release/Tomato Torrent Yes BitTorrent open source License Free Yes ?
Tonido Torrent October 1, 2009; 14 years ago (2009-10-01) Template:Latest stable software release/Tonido No Proprietary Free Yes ?
Torium 2008; 16 years ago (2008) 0.4.2
(April 18, 2009; 15 years ago (2009-04-18))
Yes ISCL Free ? ?
Torrent Swapper July 27, 2006; 18 years ago (2006-07-27)[45] Template:Latest stable software release/Torrent Swapper Yes MIT License Free Yes ?
TorrentFlux November 12, 2004; 19 years ago (2004-11-12)[46] Template:Latest stable software release/TorrentFlux Yes GPL Free Yes ?
TorrentVolve ? 1.4
(January 5, 2007; 17 years ago (2007-01-05))
Yes GPL Free Yes ?
Transmission September 15, 2005; 18 years ago (2005-09-15)[47] 4.0.1 (February 23, 2023; 17 months ago (2023-02-23)) [±][48] Yes GPL/MIT License Free Yes 3.256942%
Tribler February 26, 2006; 18 years ago (2006-02-26)[citation needed] 7.12.1 (September 20, 2022; 22 months ago (2022-09-20)) [±][49] Yes LGPL Free Yes 0.002882%
Vuze (formerly Azureus) June 24, 2003; 21 years ago (2003-06-24)[50] 5.7.6.0 (November 2, 2017; 6 years ago (2017-11-02)) [±][51] Partial Proprietary (platform)/
GPL (core engine)
Free-main
$10-mobile
Vuze Plus-$24.99 for 1 year
Adware; Optional Vuze Toolbar:
powered by Bing[52][53]
24.084785%
Wyzo ? 3.6.4
(September 24, 2010; 13 years ago (2010-09-24))
No Proprietary Free ? ?
Xunlei ? Template:Latest stable software release/Xunlei No Proprietary Free Adware 29.307831%
ZipTorrent ? Template:Latest stable software release/ZipTorrent No ? ? Yes 0%
BitTorrent client First public release date Latest stable FOSS Software license Cost (USD) Spyware, Adware, Malware-free [1] Usage[2]

Operating system support

BitTorrent clients are compiled to run on certain operating systems, without emulation. For a given client/OS combination, client support status can be one of six possibilities:

  • No means that it does not exist or was never released.
  • Partial means that the BitTorrent client works, but lacks important functionality or is very unstable compared to versions for other OSs, that is to say it has roughly alpha or pre-alpha quality, and it is still being developed.
  • Beta means that a version of the BitTorrent client is fully functional and has been released, but is still in development, e.g., for stability.
  • Yes means that the BitTorrent client has been officially released in a fully functional, stable version.
  • Dropped means that the latest stable version of the BitTorrent client does not work on the operating system, although an older version is available that does. The number in parentheses is the last known stable version which was officially released for that OS.
  • Included means that the BitTorrent client comes pre-packaged as part of or has been integrated into the operating system.

This list is not exhaustive, but rather reflects the most common OSs today but does not include the growing appliance segment (for example, the Opera web browser has gained a leading role for use in mobile phones, smartphones, the Nintendo DS and Wii, and Personal Digital Assistants, and is also used in Interactive televisions). Both the BitTorrent client and OS means most recent version, example: Windows 7 with µTorrent 3.

BitTorrent client Microsoft Windows OS family Mac OS X Linux Other Unix
ABC Yes No Obsolete No
Acquisition No Yes No No
Arctic Torrent Yes No No No
Aria2 Yes Yes Yes FreeBSD, Solaris
BitComet Yes No No No
Bitflu No Yes Yes FreeBSD
BitLet Yes Yes Yes No
BitLord Yes No No No
BitSpirit Yes No No No
BitThief Yes Yes Yes No
BitTornado Yes Yes Yes No
BitTorrent 5 / Mainline Terminated (5.2.2) Obsolete (4.27.2) Terminated (5.3) No
BitTorrent 7 Yes Yes No No
Bits on Wheels No Yes No No
BitTyrant Yes Yes Yes FreeBSD
Blog Torrent Yes Yes No No
BTG No Yes Yes No
BTPD No Yes Yes FreeBSD
Deluge Yes Source only[54] Yes FreeBSD, Solaris
FlashGet Yes No Yes No
Flush No No Yes No
Folx No Yes No No
Free Download Manager Yes No No No
G3 Torrent Yes No No No
Global Downloader Yes No No No
Gnome BitTorrent No No Yes No
Halite Yes No No No
KGet Yes Yes Yes FreeBSD
KTorrent Yes Yes Yes FreeBSD
LimeWire Yes Yes Yes Any OS that supports Java
Localhost Yes No Yes No
Meerkat Bittorrent Client Yes No No No
Miro Yes Yes Yes FreeBSD
MLDonkey Yes Yes Yes FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, MorphOS
MP3 Rocket Yes No No No
µTorrent Yes Yes Partial No
OneSwarm Yes Yes Yes No
Opera Yes Yes Yes FreeBSD, Solaris
QTorrent Yes Yes Yes FreeBSD
qBittorrent Yes Yes Yes FreeBSD, eComStation
rTorrent No Yes Yes FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris
Rufus Yes No Yes No
Shareaza Yes No No No
SKDownloader Yes Yes Yes No
SoMud Yes Yes No No
SymTorrent No No No Symbian OS
Tixati Yes No Yes No
Tomato Torrent No Yes No No
Tonido Torrent Yes Yes Yes Yes
Torium Partial No Yes No
Torrent Swapper Yes Yes Yes FreeBSD
TorrentFlux Yes Yes Yes FreeBSD
TorrentVolve Yes Yes Yes FreeBSD
Transmission No Yes Yes FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, OpenWrt
Tribler Yes Yes Yes FreeBSD
Vuze (formerly Azureus) Yes Yes Yes FreeBSD
Wyzo Yes Yes No No
ZipTorrent Yes No No No
BitTorrent client Microsoft Windows Mac OS X Linux Other Unix

Interface and programming

BitTorrent client GUI web CLI other Programming language Based on IPv6[55] µTP
ABC Yes Yes No No Python BitTornado buggy[56] No
Acquisition Yes No No No Objective-C and Cocoa Limewire ? No
Arctic Torrent Yes Yes No No C++ libtorrent (Rasterbar) No No
Aria2 No Yes Yes Daemon, XML over HTTP remote control API C++ - Yes [57] No
BitComet Yes Yes Partial [58] No C++ - No No
Bitflu No Yes Yes Telnet Perl - Yes No
BitLet No Yes No No Java Applet - ? No
BitLord Yes No No No C++ BitComet No No
BitSpirit Yes No No No C++ - 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 and Cocoa - Yes No
BitTyrant Yes Yes Partial Telnet, XML over HTTP remote control API Java and SWT Azureus Yes No
Blog Torrent Yes No No No ? ? ? No
BTG Yes Yes Partial No C++ libtorrent (Rasterbar) Partial No
BTPD No Third Party Yes No C - Partial No
Deluge Yes Yes Yes Daemon Python and C++ libtorrent (Rasterbar) Yes [59] No
FlashGet Yes No No No ? ? No No
Flush Yes No No No C++ libtorrent (Rasterbar) Yes No
Folx Yes No No No ? ? No No
Free Download Manager Yes Yes Partial No C++ libtorrent (Rasterbar) ? No
G3 Torrent Yes Yes No No Python BitTorrent ? No
Gnome BitTorrent Yes No No No Python ? ? No
Halite Yes No No No C++ libtorrent (Rasterbar) ? No
KGet Yes Yes Partial [60] No C++ - Yes No
KTorrent Yes Yes Partial No C++ - Yes Yes[61]
LimeWire Yes No No No Java libtorrent (Rasterbar) No No
Localhost No Yes No No Java and SWT Azureus ? 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[62] No C++[63] - Yes[64] Yes[65]
OneSwarm Partial Yes No/Partial No Java Azureus Yes No
Opera Yes No No No C++ - Yes No
QTorrent Qt (toolkit) No No No C++/PyQt BitTornado ? No
qBittorrent Qt (toolkit) Yes Partial No C++ libtorrent (Rasterbar) Yes Yes
rTorrent No Third Party Yes SCGI C++ libTorrent (Rakshasa) No[66] No
Rufus Yes Yes No No Python G3 Torrent No No
Shareaza Yes Yes Partial No C++ - No No
SKDownloader Yes Yes No No Java - Yes No
SoMud[67] Yes[68] No Partial No C++ ? Yes No
SymTorrent Yes No No No ? ? ? No
Tixati Yes No No No C++ - Yes No
Tomato Torrent Yes No No No Cocoa BitTorrent No No
Tonido Torrent No Yes No No C++ libtorrent (Rasterbar) No No
Torium gtkmm No No directory monitoring (ssh,sftp) C++ libtorrent (Rasterbar) Partial No
Torrent Swapper Yes Yes No No Python BitTorrent buggy[56] No
TorrentFlux No Yes No No PHP BitTornado No No
TorrentVolve No Yes No No PHP Azureus Partial [69] No
Transmission Yes Yes Yes Daemon, JSON-RPC over HTTP remote control API C - Yes From 2.30
Tribler Yes No Partial No Python ABC Yes No
Vuze (formerly Azureus) Yes Yes Partial Telnet, XML over HTTP remote control API Java and SWT - Yes Yes
ZipTorrent Yes No No No C++ libtorrent (Rasterbar) No No
BitTorrent client GUI web CLI other Programming language Based on IPv6[55] µTP

Features I

BitTorrent client Magnet URI Super-seeding Embedded tracker UPnP[70] NAT Port Mapping Protocol NAT traversal[71] DHT[72] Peer exchange Encryption UDP tracker LPD Proxy
ABC No No Yes Yes No No No No No No No No
Acquisition No No No No Yes No No No No No No No
Arctic Torrent No No No No No No No Yes No No No No
Aria2 Yes No Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
BitComet Yes Yes Separate download Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No HTTP 1.1,SOCKS4/4a/5
Bitflu Yes No No No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No
BitLet No No No Yes No No No No No No No No
BitLord No No No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No HTTP 1.1, SOCKS4/4a/5
BitSpirit [10] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
BitThief No No No No No No No No No No No No
BitTornado No Yes Yes[73] Yes No No No No Yes No No No
BitTorrent 5 / Mainline No No Yes[73] Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
BitTorrent 6 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[74] Yes Yes Yes HTTP(S),SOCKS4/5
Bits on Wheels No No No No No No No No No No No No
BitTyrant No Yes[citation needed] Yes Yes Yes Yes[75] Yes[76] Yes Yes No No No
Blog Torrent No No Yes No No No No No No No No No
BTG No No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
BTPD No No No No No No No No No No No No
Deluge Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes HTTP(S), SOCKS4/5
FlashGet No No No No No No Yes No Yes No No No
Flush Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes No
Folx No No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No No
Free Download Manager No No No No No No Yes Yes No No No No
G3 Torrent No No No No No No No No No No No No
Gnome BitTorrent No No No No No No No No No No No No
Halite No No No Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No[77] No No
KTorrent Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial HTTP,SOCKS4/5
LimeWire Partial Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Localhost No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes [78] No No No No No
Meerkat Bittorrent Client No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No
MLDonkey No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes No No
µTorrent Yes Yes[79] Yes[80] Yes[81] Yes Yes[82] Yes[83] Yes[74] Yes[84] Yes Yes[85] HTTP(S), SOCKS4/5[86]
OneSwarm Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Opera No No Yes[87] No No No No Yes[88] No No No No
QTorrent No No No No No No No No No No No No
qBittorrent Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes HTTP(S),SOCKS4/5
rTorrent Yes[89] Yes No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No[90] No
Rufus No No No No No No No No No No No No
Shareaza Yes No No Yes Yes Yes[91] Yes No No No No
SoMud Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
SymTorrent No No No No No No No No No
Tixati [44] Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial Yes
Tomato Torrent No No Yes No No No Yes No No No No No
Tonido Torrent No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
Torium No No No Yes No No Yes No No No No No
Torrent Swapper No Yes Yes[73] Yes No No No Yes No No No No
TorrentFlux No Yes No Yes No No No No Yes No No No
TorrentVolve No Partial [69] No Partial [69] Partial [69] Partial [69] Partial [69] Partial [69] Partial [69] Partial [69] No Partial [69]
Transmission Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[92] Yes Yes Yes No [93]
Tribler Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No No
Vuze (formerly Azureus) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[94] Yes[76] Yes Yes Yes No HTTP(S)?, SOCKS4/4a/5
ZipTorrent No No No Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No
BitTorrent client Magnet URI Super-seeding Embedded tracker UPnP[70] NAT Port Mapping Protocol NAT traversal[71] DHT[72] Peer exchange Encryption UDP tracker LPD Proxy

Features II

BitTorrent client Cache[95] Web seeding[96] Broadcatching (RSS) Prioritization Selective downloads SOCKS Tracker exchange [97] 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
Arctic Torrent No No No No No No No No No No
Aria2 No No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No
BitComet Yes Yes [98] Beta Yes Yes Yes No Yes Built-in Web browser Yes Portable USB version available
Bitflu Partial No No No Yes No No Yes No No No built-in Cache-Disk cache but a Delayed commit
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
BitSpirit [10] Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
BitThief No No No No No No No No No No Originally designed to exploit the BitTorrent protocol. Has option to prevent any uploads.
BitTornado Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No via package management system
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 [99] Plugin Yes Yes Yes No Plugin[100] 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
BTG Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No
BTPD No No No No No No No 3rd party No No
Deluge Yes Yes Plugin[101] Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Notification, and update via package management system
FlashGet No No No No No No No No No No FlashGet(standalone application) is not FlashGot(Firefox Plug-in)
Flush No No No Yes Yes No No No No No
Folx No Yes No Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes
Free Download Manager No No No Yes Yes No No Yes No Optional
G3 Torrent No No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No
Gnome BitTorrent No No No No No No No No No No
Halite No No No Yes Yes No No No No No Have a stand-alone version
KTorrent Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Built-in Web browser via package management system
LimeWire Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes
Localhost Yes No Plugin Yes Yes Yes No Plugin[100] Yes No DHT are required by Localhost
Meerkat Bittorrent Client Yes No No No No No No No No No
MLDonkey Yes No 3rd party bash script Yes No No[102] No Yes Built-into Web browser via package management system
µTorrent Yes Yes[103] Yes[104] Yes[105] Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Versions are already portable
OneSwarm Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Based on Azureus, has all BitTyrant features
Opera No No Yes[Note 1] No No No No No Built-into Web browser Yes, on Windows and Mac OS X only. (via package management system on Linux)
QTorrent No No No No No No No No No No
qBittorrent Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[106] via package management system
rTorrent Partial No 3rd party utility [107] Yes Yes No No Yes No via package management system No built-in Cache-Disk cache but a Delayed sync
Rufus No No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes
Shareaza Yes Yes No Yes Yes[108] No since v2.5.3.1
[109][110]
Yes Yes Yes [111]
SoMud Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Support extra features such as web video download, desktop screen recording, video converter etc[112]
SymTorrent No No No No No No No No No No BitTorrent client for cell phones.
Tixati [44] Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Portable USB 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 Remote Access without port forwarding No Yes
Torium Yes No No Yes No No No No Yes No
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
TorrentVolve [69] No No Yes Yes No No Yes No [69]
Transmission Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes
Tribler Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No Yes Yes Fully distributed keyword search; integrated anti-spam measures[113]
Vuze (formerly Azureus) Yes Yes [99] Yes Yes Yes Yes No Plugin[100] Yes Yes
ZipTorrent No No Yes No No No No No Yes No
BitTorrent client Cache[95] Web seeding[96] Broadcatching (RSS) Prioritization Selective downloads SOCKS Tracker exchange [97] Remote control via web Search Engine Auto updates Notes
  1. ^ Opera has a feed aggregator that displays feeds like emails.

Vulnerabilities

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)
Arctic Torrent 1 0 0 0 0 0 Unknown
Aria2 1 0 0 0 0 0 Unknown
BitComet 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bitflu 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BitLord 1 0 0 0 0 0 Unknown
BitSpirit 3 0 0 0 0 0 Unknown
BitTornado 0 0 0 0 0 0 Unknown
BitTorrent 7 0 0 0 0 0 0
BitTyrant 2 0 0 0 0 0 Unknown
Deluge 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
FlashGet 3 0 0 0 0 0 1
13 August 2008;
15 years ago
 (2008-08-13)
Folx 1 0 0 0 0 0 Unknown
Free Download Manager 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
FrostWire 4 0 0 0 0 0 Unknown
Halite 0 0 0 0 0 0 Unknown
KTorrent 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
LimeWire 5 0 0 0 0 0 0
Miro 4 0 0 0 0 0 1
26 February 2008;
16 years ago
 (2008-02-26)
MLDonkey 2 0 0 0 0 1
5 November 2003;
20 years ago
 (2003-11-05)
1
23 February 2009;
15 years ago
 (2009-02-23)
µTorrent 2 0 0 0 1
5 April 2010;
14 years ago
 (2010-04-05)
0 0
µTorrent 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
Opera 11 0 0 0 0 0 0
Shareaza 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
SoMud 1 0 1
14 September 2010;
13 years ago
 (2010-09-14)
0 0 0 1
13 September 2010;
13 years ago
 (2010-09-13)
Tomato Torrent 1 0 0 0 0 0 Unknown
TorrentFlux 2 0 0 1
23 April 2008;
16 years ago
 (2008-04-23)
0 0 2
18 April 2008;
16 years ago
 (2008-04-18)
Transmission 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Vuze (formerly Azureus) 4 0 0 0 0 0 1
22 June 2006;
18 years ago
 (2006-06-22)
Wyzo 3 0 0 0 0 0 Unknown
Xunlei 5 0 2
28 September 2007;
16 years ago
 (2007-09-28)
0 0 0 1
17 November 2007;
16 years ago
 (2007-11-17)
ZipTorrent 1 0 0 0 1
24 August 2005;
18 years ago
 (2005-08-24)
0 1
23 August 2005;
18 years ago
 (2005-08-23)
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

Note: Libraries in purple are no longer in development.

General
BitTorrent Library First public release date Latest stable FOSS
Software license Cost (USD) Spyware, Adware, Malware -free Usage[2]
BTSharp 2004; 20 years ago (2004) Template:Latest stable software release/BTSharp (.NET Library) No Proprietary Non-free Yes ?
Libtorrent (Rakshasa) July 15, 2004; 20 years ago (2004-07-15)[40] rTorrent 0.9.8 / libTorrent 0.13.8 (July 19, 2019; 5 years ago (2019-07-19)) [±][114] Yes GPL Free Yes 0.196612%
Libtorrent (Rasterbar) September 8, 2005; 18 years ago (2005-09-08)[115] 2.0.7[116] (July 17, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-07-17)) [±] Yes BSD Free Yes 0.630206%
MonoTorrent September 2006; 17 years ago (2006-09) 2.0.7 (December 23, 2022; 19 months ago (2022-12-23)) [±] Yes MIT/X11 Free Yes 0.000434%
ttorrent June 27, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-06-27) 1.0.3[117] Yes Apache Software License Free Yes ?
BitTorrent Library First public release date Latest stable FOSS Software license Cost (USD) Spyware, Adware, Malware -free Usage[2]
OS Support and Programming Language
BitTorrent Library Linux/Unix Windows Mac OS X API Programming language
BTSharp No Yes No Yes C#
Libtorrent (Rakshasa) Yes No Yes Yes C++
Libtorrent (Rasterbar) Yes Yes Yes Yes C++
MonoTorrent Yes Yes Yes Yes C#
ttorrent Yes Yes Yes Yes Java
BitTorrent Library Linux/Unix Windows Mac OS X API Programming language
Supported Features I
BitTorrent Library Super-seeding Tracker UPnP[70] NAT Port Mapping Protocol NAT traversal[71] DHT[72] Peer exchange Encryption UDP tracker LPD Fast Extensions Magnet URI
BTSharp No Yes Yes No No No No No ? ? No No
Libtorrent (Rakshasa) Yes Yes No ? ? Yes Yes Yes Yes ? No Yes
Libtorrent (Rasterbar) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[118] Yes Yes
MonoTorrent Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ttorrent No Yes No No No No No No No No No No
BitTorrent Library Super-seeding Tracker UPnP[70] NAT Port Mapping Protocol NAT traversal[71] DHT[72] Peer exchange Encryption UDP tracker LPD Fast Extensions Magnet URI
Supported Features II
BitTorrent Library Cache[95] Web seeding[96] Broadcatching (RSS) Prioritization Selective downloads SOCKS Remote control via web Engine Notes
BTSharp Yes No No No No No No No
Libtorrent (Rakshasa) Partial No No Yes Yes No Yes No No built-in Cache-Disk cache but a Delayed sync
Libtorrent (Rasterbar) Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
MonoTorrent Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
ttorrent Partial No No No No No No No
BitTorrent Library Cache[95] Web seeding[96] Broadcatching (RSS) Prioritization Selective downloads SOCKS Remote control via web Engine Notes

Notes

  1. ^ a b Unless otherwise noted, programs marked "Yes" without other inline citations have been tested 100% Free or 100% Clean by Softpedia
  2. ^ a b c d https://ezrss.it/stats/all/index.html (December 4, 2009; 14 years ago (2009-12-04)) Unique peer_id statistics from Combined (Pure Unique) over a 1 week period. Retrieved January 18, 2010; 14 years ago (2010-01-18).
  3. ^ "ABC (Yet Another Bittorrent Client) at SourceForge.net". ABC.SourceForge.net. 2003-08-19. Retrieved 2010-01-21. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ "Arctic Torrent - When 4GiB just isn't enough". int64.org. Retrieved 2010-11-24.
  5. ^ "Aria2 project". SourceForge. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  6. ^ "Aria2 - CLI Metalink/BitTorrent client at SourceForge.net". Aria2.SourceForge.net. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "BitComet Changelog". www.bitcomet.com. 2022-09-11. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  8. ^ "BitComet Latest Beta / Latest Final". softpedia. Retrieved 2010-09-04.
  9. ^ "Bitflu". Bitflu.workaround.ch. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  10. ^ a b c BitSpirit (2010-10-25). "BitSpirit | a powerful & easy-to-use BitTorrent client". Bitspirit.cc. Retrieved 2010-11-24.
  11. ^ Ernesto (2007-01-16). "BitThief Spies on their Users". TorrentFreak. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
  12. ^ Cohen, Bram (Monday July 2, 2001 11:30 pm). "BitTorrent - a new P2P app". decentralization : Messages : 1985-3160. Yahoo! Groups : Directory : Business & Finance. Retrieved April 15, 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= and |work= (help)(HTTP cookies required)
  13. ^ "BitTorrent Latest". Softpedia. Retrieved 2010-09-04.
  14. ^ "BTG". Btg.berlios.de. 2009-11-08. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  15. ^ "BTPD". 2011-01-13. Retrieved 2011-01-13.
  16. ^ "FlashGet Latest Beta / Latest Stable". Softpedia. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
  17. ^ "Free Download Manager 6 Forums". FreeDownloadManager.org. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  18. ^ "general forum". Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  19. ^ "G3 Torrent". SourceForge.
  20. ^ [actysoft.com http://www.actysoft.com]
  21. ^ "KDE Ships KDE Applications and Platform 4.14.3". KDE. 11 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  22. ^ Štikonas, Andrius (6 June 2020). "KTorrent 5.2.0". kde-announce-apps (Mailing list). Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  23. ^ http://wiki.limewire.org/index.php?title=Changelog [dead link]
  24. ^ Announcement at TorrentFreak of Limewire's support of BitTorrent protocol as of version 4.13 (2006-10-30). Retrieved 2009-12-04.
  25. ^ "ftp.osuosl.org :: Oregon State University Open Source Lab". Participatory Culture Foundation. 2006-02-21. Retrieved 2010-01-21. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ ftp.osuosl.org :: Oregon State University Open Source Lab, 7 Oct 2012, retrieved 2013-01-04
  27. ^ "MLDonkey at GitHub". GitHub. 2017-01-22. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  28. ^ "MP3 Rocket 5.1.9". Softpedia. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
  29. ^ "µTorrent 1.1 BETA (build 88) - Forums - µTorrent - The Lightweight and Efficient BitTorrent Client". Forum.utorrent.com. 2005-09-19. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  30. ^ "General - FAQ - µTorrent - a (very) tiny BitTorrent client". www.utorrent.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  31. ^ "µTorrent Latest Alpha / Latest Beta / Latest Stable". Softpedia. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  32. ^ "Browser search toolbars - Forums - µTorrent - The Lightweight and Efficient BitTorrent Client". Forum.utorrent.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  33. ^ "Opera version history". Opera Software. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  34. ^ "Thanks for downloading Opera". Opera Norway. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  35. ^ "Thanks for downloading Opera". Opera Norway. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  36. ^ "Index of /ftp/pub/opera/desktop/100.0.4815.21/". Opera Norway. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  37. ^ "QTorrent - A Qt BitTorrent client".
  38. ^ "qBittorrent at SourceForge.net". qBittorrent.SourceForge.net. 2006-03-22. Retrieved 2010-01-21. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  39. ^ qBittorrent Release News, SourceForge.net
  40. ^ a b http://libtorrent.rakshasa.no/timeline
  41. ^ Sundell, Jari (2019-12-25), "Releases", rakshasa/rtorrent repo, retrieved 2021-06-09 – via GitHub
  42. ^ "Shareaza download page on sourceforge Web site". SourceForge. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  43. ^ "SymTorrent - AMORG". Applied Mobile Research Group. 2008-11-26. Retrieved 2010-01-21. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  44. ^ a b c http://www.tixati.com/
  45. ^ "Torrent Swapper at SourceForge.net". bit-torrent.SourceForge.net. 2006-08-10. Retrieved 2010-01-21. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  46. ^ "TorrentFlux - PHP Torrent Client at SourceForge.net". TorrentFlux.SourceForge.net. 2004-11-12. Retrieved 2010-01-21. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  47. ^ http://trac.transmissionbt.com/wiki/Changes
  48. ^ 4.0.1, retrieved 1 March 2023 – via GitHub
  49. ^ "Releases".
  50. ^ "Azureus / Vuze at SourceForge.net". Azureus.SourceForge.net. 2003-06-24. Retrieved 2010-01-21. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  51. ^ "Changelog". Vuze Community. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
  52. ^ "Download Vuze (formerly Azureus) Latest Beta / Latest Stable". Softpedia. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
  53. ^ "Vuze FAQ / Toolbar". Faq.vuze.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  54. ^ Official packages for ports are no longer available.
  55. ^ a b Clients that have been seen in the real world to actually work with IPv6, see IPv6 BitTorrent Clients
  56. ^ a b Announcements to the tracker are made via IPv6 if possible, but the client doesn't listen on the respective port.
  57. ^ http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=448390#20
  58. ^ BitComet command line interface see BitComet Command Line - BitComet Wiki
  59. ^ "#335 (can not connect to ipv6 only tracker) – Deluge". Dev.deluge-torrent.org. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  60. ^ Qdbus interface
  61. ^ "KTorrent 4.0 is out". KTorrent. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  62. ^ "uTorrent command line options - Forums - µTorrent - The Lightweight and Efficient BitTorrent Client". Forum.utorrent.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  63. ^ "General - FAQ - µTorrent - a (very) tiny BitTorrent client". www.utorrent.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  64. ^ "µTorrent 1.8 released". Forum.utorrent.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  65. ^ "µTorrent 1.9 alpha 13485". Forum.utorrent.com. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
  66. ^ "#1111 (Support for IPv6?) – The libTorrent and rTorrent Project". Libtorrent.rakshasa.no. 2009-07-20. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  67. ^ SoMud Homepage
  68. ^ SoMud GUI Screenshots
  69. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l When Azureus module is used
  70. ^ a b c d Automatically configure port forwarding (requires Router with UPnP support)
  71. ^ a b c d 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.
  72. ^ a b c d 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.
  73. ^ a b c Tracker included with Linux binaries and with source, but not with Windows binary
  74. ^ a b Exchanging with BT 6 and µTorrent clients (and now MooPolice)
  75. ^ It's UDP based, an experimental feature and only supported by other Azureus based clients
  76. ^ a b Has its own DHT, a mainline-DHT compatible implementation is available as plugin
  77. ^ [1], list of features not yet added.
  78. ^ Localhost uses a DHT protocol called Kademlia to connect to peers that are running Localhost. Each peer has an index of directories and files that it shares with peers that it is connected to. No one peer is responsible for storing the entire directory structure, it is distributed among everyone. It is collaboratively maintained, edited and built upon by all users in a popularity based system.
  79. ^ "µTorrent 1.6 released". Forum.utorrent.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  80. ^ "uTorrent: Make Your Own BitTorrent Tracker". Filesharefreak.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  81. ^ "Setting up µTorrent for your internet connection". www.utorrent.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  82. ^ [2] µTorrent 2.0 beta
  83. ^ µTorrent's [3] DHT implementation is the same as Mainline and BitComet's, but unfortunately this is incompatible with Azureus's implementation.
  84. ^ "How To Encrypt BitTorrent Traffic". Torrentfreak.com. 2006-04-16. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  85. ^ "Announcements » µTorrent 1.7 Release Candidate 6". 2007-06-28. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
  86. ^ Mac versions of µTorrent (as of beta version 1.1) do not support proxy.
  87. ^ "Weekly - Desktop Team - by Opera Desktop Team". My.opera.com. 2007-02-27. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  88. ^ "Opera 9.5 Beta 1 for Windows Changelog". Opera.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  89. ^ aided with a shell script documented in "That magnet uri ticket thing reincarnated". libtorrent.rakshasa.no. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
  90. ^ "local peer discovery". libtorrent.rakshasa.no. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
  91. ^ It's not a DHT network, but Shareaza uses Gnutella2 to find other Shareaza clients.
  92. ^ Exchanges with µTorrent and Azureus peers.
  93. ^ Proxy support was removed in version 2.12: "Ticket #3688". trac.transmissionbt.com. Retrieved 2011-06-11.
  94. ^ Since version 2.5.0.2. It's UDP based, an experimental feature and only supported by other Azureus clients
  95. ^ a b c d 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.
  96. ^ a b c d Recently implemented (unofficial) web seeding feature, see HTTP-Based Seeding Specification
  97. ^ a b http://www.bittorrent.org/beps/bep_0028.html
  98. ^ Supports the Getright Webseeding spec since v1.14, see BitComet Wiki
  99. ^ a b Supports the Getright Webseeding spec in addition to the Bittornado spec [4]
  100. ^ a b c Provides a Java-based and a simple HTML/JS based WebUI
  101. ^ FlexRSS plugin not supported in current 1.2 release: http://dev.deluge-torrent.org/wiki/Plugins/FlexRSS
  102. ^ See task #4401 Socks Proxy; however, http proxy is supported.
  103. ^ "uTorrent 1.7 Stable Finally Released". TorrentFreak. 2007-07-13. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  104. ^ "How to use RSS & BitTorrent to download TV shows". TorrentFreak. 2006-10-14. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  105. ^ "uTorrent - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET" (in Template:Fa icon). Download.com. Retrieved 2009-11-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  106. ^ Integrated
  107. ^ 3rd party utility RSSDler
  108. ^ Since Shareaza v2.4.0.2 r7924
  109. ^ Shareazas SVN changes in r8803 on Sourceforge.net
  110. ^ Shareaza also uses G2 to transmit download metadata, such as BitTorrent trackers to other G2 clients.
  111. ^ Max. number of active torrents depends on respective user settings and is limited to 31.
  112. ^ SoMud Features
  113. ^ "Truly Decentralized BitTorrent Downloading Has Finally Arrived". TorrentFreak. 2010-12-08. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  114. ^ Sundell, Jari (2019-12-25), "Releases", rakshasa/rtorrent repo, retrieved 2021-06-09 – via GitHub
  115. ^ http://sourceforge.net/projects/libtorrent/files/
  116. ^ "Releases · arvidn/libtorrent". GitHub. Retrieved 17 Jul 2022.
  117. ^ https://github.com/turn/ttorrent/tree/ttorrent-1.0.3
  118. ^ "libtorrent manual: features". Retrieved 2009-12-12.

See also