There are actually a few VPN providers with 100% free plans that allow torrents. But I’m going to be brutally honest up front. There are some tradeoffs when you choose a Free provider vs a reliable paid one. Because when you use a free product, you generally get what you pay for, and sometimes less.
That’s why many of our readers choose NordVPN, which offers impressive privacy, fast speeds, and torrent-friendly service at a lower price than their competitors. In fact, NordVPN topped our list of the best cheap VPN services. It even includes a torrent-capable SOCKS proxy service.
But I get it. You want a Free VPN for torrents and p2p privacy. Read on, brave soul.
Jun 05, 2020. So be careful when you see sites advertising “free” torrent proxy services. Using a VPN is a much safer way of browsing, sharing, and downloading with uTorrent. Set up a uTorrent VPN on every device. There’s no need to configure your uTorrent settings to work with a VPN. Just open the ExpressVPN app and connect before opening uTorrent.
When ‘Free’ VPNs aren’t really free
There’s no such thing as a ‘Free VPN’. Not truly.
Servers cost money. Bandwidthcosts money. Network security experts, advertising, websites, tech support staff and legal fees cost money.
In order to send or receive files over the BitTorrent protocol, you need a web or desktop-based torrent client, such as BitTorrent Classic. Once you have identified the torrent file to download, you can click or drag it into your free torrent software. Torrent IP: 157.55.39.217 United States.Information about your IP address at the white area should update within 2-10 seconds Lern more about Bittorrent Proxy and VPN service. Free Download. Bi t Torrent Classic (Stable ) The original desktop torrent client for Windows. For Windows English (US). BitTorrent Web Pro+VPN. $69.95 Buy Now BitTorrent Classic Pro. $19.95 Buy Now BitTorrent Classic Ad-Free. $4.95 Buy Now.
Any VPN provider that gives you free VPN service is paying actual $$$ to provide you with the service, so they must be getting something valuable out of the deal.
![Free torrenting vpn reddit Free torrenting vpn reddit](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126459821/166769465.jpg)
Because of this fact, it’s crucial that you know who’s on the other side of this transaction (Who’s providing my VPN service?) and what is their benefit in this trade.
After all, you’re using a VPN for security purposes, and you’re placing alot of trust in that VPN provider. Since they have complete access to 100% of your data stream through their network, you need to be able to trust them completely.
Reasons a VPN might offer free VPN Service
We list a number of reasons someone might offer you free VPN service. While some are more likely than others, none are completely outrageous. Even the scarier ones can (and probably have) happened.
They may offer you Free VPN Service Because…
- They hope you’ll eventually upgrade to a paid plan (most likely option)
- They force you to watch advertising to cover the VPN costs (also common)
- They monitor your internet usage and sell the data to advertisers
- They’re a government agency that wants access to more encrypted data
- They’re a group of hackers, looking to steal your data, passwords & identity
Specific examples of Free VPNs being dangerous or insecure
You don’t just have to take my word for it. In the past 3 years, there have been multiple scandals involving ‘free’ VPN providers. Here are some of the highlights:
HolaVPN: HolaVPN (which is basically an encrypted browser extension masquerading as a VPN) was reported to be selling user’s connections for use in botnet attacks. Yes, really.
Insecure Android VPNs: Researchers did an in-depth analysis of the traffic on many ‘Free’ VPN apps listed in the google play store. They found that a the majority of them had security flaws (some even contained malware). And a significant number didn’t even encrypt your traffic (the entire point of a VPN).
All free VPNs have limitations, risks and performance issues.
Even if you can find a reputable VPN provider that offers free VPN service (and allows torrents) you’re almost certainly going to face some limitations regarding your VPN usage.
The most common limitations of Free VPN’s:
- Speed – Many free VPN’s cap your speed at 1-3mbps
- Bandwidth usage – You may be limited to a few GB of data/month
- Logs – Most free VPN’s keep logs that can be used to identify individual users based on their activity. It’s also quite common to pass that info on to 3rd-parties who request it, or to allow the forwarding of DMCA notices.
- Servers – you will often be limited 1 or a few server locations. These servers will usually be very crowded (and slow).
- No Torrents – Most VPN’s that allow torrents on their paid plans will block still them on their free plans.
The Best VPNs that allow torrenting on their Free plans
So you’re still waiting to see what’s behind door #2? I can’t blame you. ‘Free’ is a powerful word.
These are the best available zero-log providers we’ve found who still offer free plans:
Hide.me VPN
Hide.me VPN offers both Free and Premimum VPN plans. The premium plan includes unlimited bandwidth and comes with Socks5 proxy service as well. Hide.me states that they keep no logs for either the free or premium plans. Users remain anonymous.
Hide.me gives all users (including free plans) their easy-to-use VPN software that makes it quick and easy to connect to the VPN server of your choice.
The free VPN plan comes with the following limitations:
- 2GB of data transfer
- 2 server locations (premium has 23)
- Slower speeds (premium is unlimited speed)
- No OpenVPN protocol (you still get PPTP, SSTP, or L2TP)
Try Hide.me
Windscribe VPN
Windscribe VPN is a Canadian VPN provider that has made a dent in the low-end VPN market. They claim not to keep any logs of activity, and their software is quite good. Windscribe is also one of the last remaining VPNs that works reliably with Netflix without generating the dreaded ‘proxy error’. (Hint: NordVPN is another that works flawlessly with Netflix).
Unfortunately, speeds are mediocre even on the paid tiers, probably because they’ve opted to sell a large number of ‘lifetime VPN plans’ which end up eating a ton of bandwidth over time without generating any extra revenue.
But the good news is: You can try out their service 100% free, no credit card required. Yipee!
Netflix Compatible: Also, it’s worth mentioning that Windscribe has a built-in SmartDNS feature called WindFlix, which is specifically designed to easily access Netflix from anywhere in the world. It works great!
Free Plan Details:
- Limited to 10 server locations (still pretty good)
- ‘Best-effort’ bandwidth (so…slowish).
- Torrents are not specifically forbidden or blocked
- Up to 10GB of bandwidth/month with a valid email address, 2GB without.
Best Free Bittorrent Vpn
Try Windscribe
Cyberghost VPN (torrents now blocked on free plan)
CyberGhost VPN is a NON-LOGGING VPN provider that offers both free and paid VPN plans.
Their Free VPN option is very popular because you still get unlimited monthly data transfer (most free plans are limited) As a result, Cyberghost is an excellent free choice for private, secure torrents.
2018 UPDATE: Torrent ports are now blocked on Cyberghost Free (torrents are allowed on the paid plans)
The free plan has a few limitations:
- Slower speeds (Paid plan is up to 5x faster)
- No mobile VPN app
- 1 connected device at a time (Paid plans offer up to 5)
- Ad supported (you must watch occasional ads)
April 2019 Update: Cyberghost has discontinued their free tier, but introduced a 3-year $2.75/month deal for their paid service. You can also claim a 100% refund within 30 days.
Try Cyberghost
Other FREE methods for torrent privacy
There are a couple free methods besides a VPN that you can use to hide your torrent IP address. The first (i2p) is recommended while the second option (Tor) is not.
i2P
This protocol is alot like the Tor onion Network, except they welcome torrent traffic (encourage it actually) and don’t block magnet links. Even better, it’s built right into the Vuze torrent client, so you can enable it with a single click.
Now for the bad news: speeds of 30-50kbps (yes, that’s 0.3mbps) are typical. It’s slow. (It’s totally Free tho 😉
Installation: The Vuze Wiki shows exactly how to install the i2p helper plugin from inside vuze, then you can simply enable the i2p network in vuze from: Menu > Options > Connection > Networks
More Info: There’s a great article about i2P (and how to use it for torrenting) at The Tin Hat.
Tor onion network
The Tor network is just a series of encrypted SOCKS proxies layered on top of each other, so in theory it would work for obscuring your torrent activity. But there are two caveats:
- There’s no Tor support built into Vuze, uTorrent or any major torrent client
- The Tor network is run by volunteers for the purpose of circumventing government censorship and spying. Not so you can avoid a $4/month VPN subscription fee.
Bottom Line: We don’t recommend using Tor (use i2P instead). However we do have a guide on using Tor for torrents if you’re interested.
5 Reasons to use a Paid VPN for downloading torrents
Reason #1: Unlimited Everything
As you probably noticed, every free VPN limits something, and usually it comes with alot of limitations. Most VPN’s don’t even allow torrents to begin with, and only a very small minority of free VPN’s allow torrenting.
With the right premium VPN service you’ll get:
- Unlimited monthly data transfer
- Unlimited speeds (get the most out of your fast broadband connection)
- No limitations on ports, protocols, or VPN software
- No torrent blocking or throttling
Reason #2: Trust & Accountability
When you pay someone for a product or service, they have a legal obligation to honor their guarantees (privacy, logging policy, security, etc..). You’re contract with a free VPN provider, however, is almost completely one-sided, and the free VPN provider usually has little or no accountability to their users.
A premium VPN service (Such as NordVPN or Private Internet Access) has built its entire reputation on protecting the privacy of their users. If they violate they trust just once it could cost them millions of dollars in lost subscriber fees.
Free Vpn For Bittorrent
A free VPN has no financial incentive to protect their users privacy, so if facing any sort of legal pressure, they will often either cancel your free account and/or violate your privacy and cough up your IP address to whoever’s asking.
(If the VPN is truly a non-logging free vpn service, they aren’t able to identify your true IP address retroactively, but be aware that there are many VPN’s that claim to be ‘non-logging’ when in fact they do keep connection logs sufficient to identify individual users. This article on VPN logs can explain it even better.
Reason #3: A High quality VPNs subscription is pretty darn cheap
Most VPN providers offer month-to-month service at prices starting under $10/month. Some excellent non-logging VPN’s like PIA and NordVPN, offer VPN service for under $4/month when purchasing a 1-year (or longer) subscription.
Consider these average costs:
- TV + Internet Bill – $100/month
- Mobile Phone Service – $50+/month (mine is over $100)
- Netflix subscription – $12/month
- Starbucks Latte – $5
- Private Internet Access VPN – $3.49/month
- NordVPN 3-year deal – $2.99/month
That’s right, you can buy security, anonymity, and peace of mind for less than the price of a CUP OF COFFEE!
Does it sound like I’m trying to sell you on NordVPN? I am. I really am. Why? Because I believe in their service.
As a professional VPN reviewer, I get VPN accounts for free whenever I want them, but I actually pay for my annual Nord subscription, and I use it almost daily. It’s fast, it’s secure, it’s anonymous, and it Just. Plain. Works.
Convinced?Take advantage of the NordVPN’s $2.75/month offer while it still lasts.
Want more options or information? Check out the articles below. And don’t miss our full NordVPN review (and complete torrent setup guide).
In Summary:
There are a few free VPNs that will let you download torrents without banning your account. We had the best results with Windscribe and would recommend them #1. Hide.me is also decent but their 2GB data cap makes it a less viable option.
Just be aware of the trade-offs you make when you choose ‘free’ services, especially when it comes to privacy and performance. And when you’re ready, man-up and upgrade to a real torrent VPN.
If you know of any other free, torrent-friendly VPNs that should be featured in this article, please notify us in the comments below!
Ryan McCarthy
Ryan is the editor and head reviewer. He's been a tech geek and digital privacy enthusiast since the Y2k freakout in '99. When not writing BitTorrent tutorials, he can usually be found sipping a lager or playing pickup football (the real kind).
BitTorrent is a specialized peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing protocol that reduces the impact of sharing large files on servers and networks. While torrenting allows you to share large files, it does expose you to risks. This article explains those risks and what you can do to mitigate them.
The risks of using BitTorrent
First, anyone you are sharing a file with can see your IP address (that is, the number assigned to all Internet-connected devices). In fact, you can see the IP address of everyone in your torrent network — and everyone can see yours. This puts your privacy at risk because it is possible to see who is downloading and sharing which files.
Second, while users can only tie torrenting activity to an IP address, your Internet service provider (ISP) can pair it to your true identity. Your ISP is the company that connects you to the Internet and assigns your device its IP address. As long as you are connected to their network, your ISP can record your Internet activity and connect it to the name and address on your account. These records can then be provided to third parties upon request. Furthermore, many ISPs seek to actively identify and throttle BitTorrent downloads, leading to slower torrenting speeds.
How to choose a trustworthy VPN for BitTorrent
Using a virtual private network (VPN) is one of the easiest ways to use BitTorrent safely.
Unfortunately, not all VPNs are created equal and your data is not necessarily protected simply because you are using a VPN. You should only work with trustworthy VPNs, as your VPN provider has the ability to see all of your traffic. When evaluating a VPN service, these are the things to look for:
Unfortunately, not all VPNs are created equal and your data is not necessarily protected simply because you are using a VPN. You should only work with trustworthy VPNs, as your VPN provider has the ability to see all of your traffic. When evaluating a VPN service, these are the things to look for:
- The team providing the service – If you don’t know exactly who runs the VPN service, it might not be a good idea to trust that VPN provider with your data.
- A strict no logs policy.
- Strong encryption and secure VPN protocols – Examples of secure VPN protocols include OpenVPN and IKEv2.
- The location of the VPN provider’s headquarters – Countries without strong data protection laws can legally force VPN providers to turn over their users’ data to authorities.
What makes ProtonVPN safe for torrenting
ProtonVPN is dedicated to securing our users’ privacy.
- We do not keep logs of users’ online activity.
- ProtonVPN uses IKEv2 protocols for its macOS and Android app and OpenVPN protocols for its Windows app.
- We are headquartered in Switzerland, home of some of the strongest data protection laws in the world.
You can find a full description of our security features here.
ProtonVPN does not condone the use of BitTorrent to illegally share copyrighted material. Our support of P2P protocols is intended only for downloading and sharing legal content.
How to use ProtonVPN for BitTorrent
Signing up for ProtonVPN is simple. There is a link at the bottom of this support article. However, P2P sharing is only available using one of our paid plans: Basic, Plus, or Visionary.
Free Torrenting Vpn Reddit
To set up your account for torrenting, click on the “Sign Up” button and then choose a Basic, Plus, or Visionary plan.
Free Bittorrent Vpn
- You can then either link your ProtonVPN account to your ProtonMail account or create a new account using any email address.
- Finally, select whether you would like to pay for your subscription using your credit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin.
Congratulations! You now have an official ProtonVPN account.
- Once you are signed up, you simply need to download and install our ProtonVPN app on your device.
- Once our app is installed, log in using your account information. It will take you to our VPN interface that shows all the servers available to you and the load they are currently experiencing. For the best torrenting experience, look for the servers that have the two-arrow icon next to them. This icon indicates that this server has been optimized for P2P file sharing.
- Once you’ve found the server you want, just click connect and start sharing files with your friends.
![Free Bittorrent Vpn Free Bittorrent Vpn](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126459821/806042600.jpg)
Free P2p Vpn - Tunngle International
Click the here to get started with ProtonVPN today.
Or if already have an account and you would like to begin using BitTorrent over our VPN servers, click upgrade via your dashboard.
Or if already have an account and you would like to begin using BitTorrent over our VPN servers, click upgrade via your dashboard.