10 Best VPNs for Torrenting in 2024 (Fastest Downloads)

Torrenting without a VPN is risky. Your ISP might throttle your traffic or you might get angry letters from copyright agencies. But you can’t just use any VPN for torrenting – it has to be a fast and secure one.

However, with hundreds of VPNs on the market, finding the best torrenting VPN service can be challenging and time-consuming. Well, today’s your lucky day. After running numerous tests, we found the best VPNs for torrenting in 2024. 

Best VPNs for Torrenting – Shortlist:

1. NordVPN – the best VPN for torrenting
2. Surfshark – feature-rich and very affordable
3. AtlasVPN – good budget-friendly torrent VPN
4. PrivateVPN– very fast top VPN for torrenting
5. ExpressVPN – the most technically advanced VPN

How to Choose the Best VPN for Torrenting

Here’s what we look for when choosing a torrent-friendly VPN service:

• P2P VPN servers – You need a VPN that allows you to download torrents on dedicated servers (ideally, all of them). It’s best if the service has a large network (hundreds of servers).
• Download speeds – You can get a fast download speed through large server networks (there’s no overcrowding) and lightweight protocols like WireGuard.
• Bandwidth – Unlimited bandwidth is a must whenever you download files, especially large ones. You’ll barely be able to download anything if the service caps your bandwidth usage to 2 GB per month.
• Kill switch – This feature shuts down internet access when the connection drops. It makes torrenting safe by preventing traffic leaks.
• No-logs policy – The best VPN services shouldn’t log what you do with their service (what files you download and what sites you browse). Bonus points if the provider underwent audits to prove it doesn’t keep logs.
• Leak protection – IPv6, DNS, and WebRTC leaks can put your privacy in danger. They make it seem like you’re torrenting without a VPN! It’s always a good sign if there is complete leak protection.

Optional Features

These features aren’t mandatory to enjoy great torrenting, but they help:

• Port forwarding – This feature lets you connect to more peers, so you might get faster download speeds.
• SOCKS5 proxy – While less secure, a SOCKS5 proxy can offer faster downloads of torrent files.
• Seeding – Some providers don’t allow seeding on their servers. If you aren’t part of a private torrent community where seeding is mandatory, this shouldn’t be a problem.
• Split-tunneling – You can make the service only route torrenting traffic through its encrypted servers. You might get faster downloads because there’s less data to encrypt and decrypt.
• Ad blockers – They can improve your experience when using torrent sites. Fewer ads load, so browser performance is increased. Ad blockers can also block connections to malicious torrent sites.
• Torrent client compatibility – It helps if the service works with your favorite torrent client. That shouldn’t normally be an issue as most providers work with uTorrent, qBittorrent, BitTorrent, Deluge, Vuze, and more.
• Refund policy – A no-questions-asked policy means you can test the service risk-free before you decide if it’s the right VPN for torrenting. Most providers offer 30-day money-back guarantees.

10 Best VPNs for Torrenting in 2024

Okay, enough chit-chat. Now that you know what our research typically covers, it’s time to get your answer to what is the best torrenting VPN service.

We tested over 40 VPNs. We used speed and leak tests, checked their Privacy Policies, contacted their support teams, and tested their security features. Our results show that these are the ten best VPN services for torrenting right now:

1. NordVPN

The best virtual private network for torrenting has to be NordVPN. It allows torrenting (and seeding) through all torrent clients on 5000+ of its servers. It’s easy to find a nearby server to get fast downloads and the best connection speeds. On top of that, NordVPN displays the load percentage for each server, so you can tell which servers are overcrowded and which aren’t. 

NordVPN generally offers fast download speeds with nearby servers, but long-distance servers might be slower. The good news is you can use NordLynx instead of OpenVPN. It’s NordVPN’s own protocol built around WireGuard technology (it offers fast speeds). This VPN offers unlimited bandwidth. You can also use split-tunneling to optimize your download speed.

VPN Server Location	Download Speed	ETA
Romania	15 MiB/s	30 minutes
US	15 MiB/s	30 hours
UK	6 MiB/s	60 minutes
Japan	2 MiB/s	3 hours

NordVPN’s servers provide great security. They all run on RAM memory, so everything that’s stored on them is wiped with every server reboot. NordVPN also started introducing colocated servers, meaning it ships its own hardware to the data centers it uses. That way, only their staff has access to the servers – the data centers only provide storage and online access.

This VPN doesn’t store any logs or collect IP addresses, and it successfully underwent two security audits to prove that. NordVPN has a flexible kill switch – you can enable it for the whole network or only for specific apps. If you don’t want to lose internet connection access on your browser when you disconnect from the VPN server, you can bind the kill switch only to your torrent client. NordVPN also provides full leak protection (IPv6, DNS, WebRTC).

NordVPN doesn’t offer port forwarding, but it lets you use a SOCKS5 proxy on some of their servers. It also has a good ad blocker called CyberSec.

Overall, NordVPN is an excellent VPN for torrenting. It’s pretty cheap, has good speeds and security, offers 24/7 live chat support, and has a 30-day no-questions-asked refund. Not only is it one of the best torrenting VPNs, but one of the best VPN services overall.

2. Surfshark

Surfshark has 3,200+ P2P servers and it works with all torrent clients. It also offers unlimited parallel connections meaning you can torrent with Surfshark on as many devices as you want with just one account.

Surfshark offers very good torrenting speeds. It also offers WireGuard on top of OpenVPN, unlimited data, and split-tunneling (called Whitelister). So, you can easily increase your download speeds.

VPN Server Location	Download Speed	ETA
Romania	15 MiB/s	20 minutes
US	12 MiB/s	22 minutes
UK	9 MiB/s	40 minutes
Japan	23 MiB/s	13 minutes

All Surfshark servers run on RAM memory, so all data is wiped after every reset. And there isn’t much data since Surfshark is a no-logs VPN. It also uses strong encryption (AES-256) and protects you from DNS and WebRTC leaks. Unfortunately, you have to manually disable IPv6 on your end since Surfshark can’t guarantee they will 100% prevent IPv6 leaks.

Surfshark prevents traffic leaks through an “aggressive” kill switch. Basically, if you enable the kill switch, you can’t use the Internet until you connect to one of Surfshark’s servers. This provider also has an ad blocker (called CleanWeb) that gets rid of some ads on torrent websites and blocks connections to malicious domains.

Surfshark doesn’t offer port forwarding, SOCKS5 connections, and doesn’t allow seeding on its servers. Even so, it’s still a reliable VPN for torrenting that has fast speeds, great security, excellent support (24/7 live chat), and a 30-day risk-free refund.

3. AtlasVPN

AtlasVPN allows torrenting on 700+ servers in 30+ countries, and it allows seeding. It also works with all popular P2P apps including Vuze and qBittorrent. This is also one of the only VPNs that have a free VPN plan that supports torrenting.

And we really like that AtlasVPN has WireGuard because that protocol provides blazing-fast speeds.

VPN Server Location	Download Speed	ETA
Romania	20 MiB/s	25 minutes
US	10 MiB/s	40 minutes
UK	19 MiB/s	30 minutes
Japan	7 MiB/s	1 hour

This VPN provider has excellent security. It secures your traffic with bank-grade encryption and also comes with a good kill switch. What’s more, AtlasVPN has a strict no-logs policy and really good leak protection. We also really like that it offers data breach monitoring, as it helps you keep your online accounts secure. And there’s also a tracker blocker that protects your privacy really well.

AtlasVPN has apps for all major platforms, and they’re really easy to use. The design is simple and intuitive, making this VPN a great option for people new to VPNs. 

This VPN service doesn’t have 24/7 live chat, but its email support is very responsive and helpful. In addition to the great free plan, AtlasVPN is also one of the cheapest VPNs for torrenting on the market. What’s more, it backs all purchases with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

4. PrivateVPN

PrivateVPN allows torrenting on all 150+ servers (seeding included). It supports all torrent clients.

Despite the small network and its lack of WireGuard support and split-tunneling, PrivateVPN has lightning-fast speeds. It also allows port forwarding (so you can connect to more peers), has unlimited bandwidth, and supports SOCKS5 connections on 80+ servers.

VPN Server Location	Download Speed	ETA
Romania	34 MiB/s	9 minutes
US	31 MiB/s	11 minutes
UK	33 MiB/s	10 minutes
Japan	20 MiB/s	18 minutes

PrivateVPN offers great security. It offers AES-256 encryption (also lets you choose AES-128 for faster speeds) and has good DNS and IPv6 leak protection. PrivateVPN doesn’t suffer WebRTC leaks, but it doesn’t say if it actively prevents them. Therefore, we’d recommend using a third-party browser extension to protect yourself.

This provider has a reliable kill switch that triggers only when the VPN connection drops. You can also choose which apps can’t use the Internet if the VPN disconnects. PrivateVPN doesn’t have an ad blocker, but that’s not a huge drawback.

Overall, PrivateVPN is a very fast and great torrenting VPN. It also offers great security, 24/7 live chat support, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

5. ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN lets you torrent (and seed) on 3,000+ servers. You don’t need to pick from a list of dedicated P2P servers since all ExpressVPN servers support torrenting. Because ExpressVPN has servers in 90+ countries, you can probably torrent on a VPN server in your country (to get good speeds). This VPN also works with pretty much all torrent clients.

ExpressVPN’s OpenVPN speeds are pretty good, but it introduced a new protocol: Lightway. It’s very fast, offering fast download speeds (only 5-10% slowdowns) even on remote servers. ExpressVPN also offers unlimited data and split tunneling.

VPN Server Location	Download Speed	ETA
Romania	16 MiB/s	20-25 minutes
US	3.7 MiB/s	1 hour 40 minutes
UK	17 MiB/s	18-20 minutes
Japan	8 MiB/s	1 hour 5-6 minutes

You get top-notch security with this VPN provider. It has powerful encryption, and all its servers use TrustedServer technology (all data is wiped after every reboot because servers never write to the hard drive). ExpressVPN also has a reliable kill switch (called Network Lock) that doesn’t interfere with your online browsing. It will only shut down your Internet access if the VPN connection drops on its own.

What’s more, ExpressVPN offers complete protection against IPv6, DNS, and WebRTC leaks (its browser extensions even let you disable WebRTC). And the provider doesn’t keep any logs. ExpressVPN successfully underwent a security audit that proves it’s a no-log VPN. Turkish authorities even seized one of its servers but weren’t able to recover any data (since none is stored).

ExpressVPN doesn’t have a SOCKS5 proxy, and it only offers port forwarding through its router apps. Also, it doesn’t have an ad blocker. Despite that, it’s still one of the best VPNs for torrenting and downloading files. It has fast speeds, great security, 24/7 live chat support, and a no-questions-asked 30-day money-back guarantee.

6. Private Internet Access

You can torrent using all clients on all PIA servers, which are located in 80+ countries. PIA also allows seeding, though there’s a chance it will only work if port forwarding is enabled (yes, PIA offers that too).

PIA’s download speeds tend to be slow on remote servers, but they’re pretty fast on nearby servers. Thanks to their large server network, it’s easy to find a server that’s close to your location. What’s more, PIA makes it easy to increase your P2P speeds. That’s because it lets you use WireGuard instead of OpenVPN, offers split-tunneling, and provides port forwarding.

VPN Server Location	Download Speed	ETA
Romania	11 MiB/s	35-37 minutes
US	3 MiB/s	2 hours 10 minutes
UK	5.7 MiB/s	50-55 minutes
Japan	550 KiB/s	9 hours

PIA secures your traffic with powerful encryption and RAM-only servers (every reboot wipes all data). This provider doesn’t keep any logs, and there are legal court documents that prove this is a no-log VPN. What’s more, PIA open-sourced its software so anyone can audit its code.

There’s a flexible kill switch that prevents traffic leaks. You can configure it to only trigger if the VPN connection drops on its own, or if you’re not connected to a PIA server. This VPN also offers full protection against DNS, WebRTC, and IPv6 leaks. Even better, there’s an ad blocker (called PIA MACE) that gets rid of some annoying ads and keeps you safe from fake P2P sites.

To sum it all up – PIA is a good VPN for torrenting. It’s secure, doesn’t keep any logs, has 24/7 live chat support and a 30-day refund, and offers excellent P2P support. The speeds are sometimes slow on remote servers, but they still get the job done.

7. CyberGhost

CyberGhost VPN lets you torrent (seed too) on 5,600+ servers. With so many options, it’s easy to find a nearby server that’s not overcrowded. You can also use any torrent client you want.

CyberGhost VPN’s download speeds aren’t the best, but they’re still acceptable. The provider also offers WireGuard alongside OpenVPN, so you can get faster speeds. Split-tunneling is available, but only on the Android app. CyberGhost VPN’s desktop apps only let you split-tunneling website traffic.

VPN Server Location	Download Speed	ETA
Romania	2 MiB/s	2 hours 30 minutes
US	1.7 MiB/s	3 hours 10 minutes
UK	8 MiB/s	35-40 minutes
Japan	2.7 MiB/s	2 hours 25 minutes

With this provider, you get top-notch encryption and RAM-only servers that wipe stored data after every reboot. Only CyberGhost VPN staff can access the servers they store in data centers, and this VPN doesn’t keep any logs. You also get DNS leak protection and an always-on kill switch. However, you’ll have to manually disable IPv6 on your end to avoid leaks, and use a third-party browser extension to prevent WebRTC leaks.

CyberGhost VPN software doesn’t offer port forwarding and SOCKS5 connections. On the plus side, CyberGhost VPN is a risk-free VPN for torrenting. It has a free one-day trial and a 45-day money-back guarantee if you get a long-term plan.

8. VyprVPN

VyprVPN allows torrenting (including seeding) on all of its 700+ servers and works with most torrent clients. The server count is smaller than what most providers offer, but that doesn’t impact the speeds. We always had fast downloads with VyprVPN. It also helps that you can use WireGuard instead of OpenVPN.

We think VyprVPN is great for restrictive countries due to its proprietary Chameleon protocol. It hides your VPN traffic, allowing you to bypass VPN bans in countries like China. What’s more, Chameleon regularly changes your IP address throughout the VPN session. That makes it very difficult for anyone to track your VPN usage.

VPN Server Location	Download Speed	ETA
Romania	12 MiB/s	23 minutes
US	15 MiB/s	15 minutes
UK	11 MiB/s	17 minutes
Japan	16 MiB/s	11 minutes

With VyprVPN, you get secure torrenting. The provider has powerful encryption and a no-logs policy (VyprVPN underwent an audit to prove its no-logging claims). This VPN has a reliable kill switch that can be configured to go as far as forcing you offline even after you exit the VyprVPN app. Extreme, yes, but there are zero risks of you forgetting to connect to the VPN before running the torrent client.

VyprVPN offers DNS and WebRTC leak protection by routing your traffic through encrypted VyprDNS servers. Unfortunately, there’s no IPv6 leak protection, so you need to manually disable IPv6.

There’s no port forwarding, SOCKS5 support, and split-tunneling. Even so, VyprVPN is a great VPN for torrenting if you live in or travel through restrictive countries. It has fast speeds, reliable security, and 24/7 live chat support. It’s one of the most expensive P2P VPNs out there, but it provides good value and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

9. IPVanish

IPVanish allows torrenting (with seeding) on 1,600+ servers. It works with most torrent clients, and you also get unlimited parallel connections (so you can use IPVanish on as many devices as you want).

The download speeds are really good on nearby servers and decent on remote locations. It helps that IPVanish has unlimited data and speedier protocols like L2TP/IPSec and IKEv2/IPSec alongside OpenVPN. Also, you can use a SOCKS5 proxy to get faster speeds. Split-tunneling is available, but only on Android.

VPN Server Location	Download Speed	ETA
Romania	20 MiB/s	14 minutes
US	6 MiB/s	50 minutes
UK	20 MiB/s	14 minutes
Japan	7 MiB/s	37 minutes

What’s cool about IPVanish is that you can also get a VIPRE account if you get the yearly plan. VIPRE is a pretty good antivirus software that can protect your torrenting activity. It does that by preventing malware infections from compromising your device.

IPVanish is a secure VPN for torrenting. It has strong encryption and a kill switch that blocks all internet access if you’re not connected to a VPN server. IPVanish says it’s a no-log VPN, though it did share user data with government authorities back in 2016. To be fair, they’re owned by a different company now, and the provider even said their service underwent an audit. So their no-log claims are likely true now.

You also get reliable IPv6 and DNS leak protection. IPVanish doesn’t say if it offers WebRTC leak protection, so it’s better to be safe and use third-party extensions to prevent WebRTC leaks.

IPVanish doesn’t have port forwarding, but that’s not a huge drawback. It’s still a good VPN service for torrents thanks to its decent speeds, great leak protection, powerful kill switch and security, 24/7 live chat support, and 30-day money-back guarantee.

10. TorGuard

TorGuard allows torrent traffic on 3,000+ servers. Seeding is supported, and the VPN works with all torrent clients.

TorGuard’s speeds are okay, but they’re not very good when using far-away servers. There’s no split-tunneling, but you can use WireGuard instead of OpenVPN to get faster speeds. You can also use port forwarding to connect to more peers or SOCKS5 proxy connections on 60+ servers. What’s more, TorGuard offers unlimited data.

VPN Server Location	Download Speed	ETA
Romania	8 MiB/s	50 minutes
US	1.3 MiB/s	4 hours
UK	4.5 MiB/s	1 hour 14 minutes
Japan	120 KiB/s	54 hours

This VPN offers top-notch security. It doesn’t keep any logs, it uses powerful encryption, and it has an ad blocker. TorGuard offers complete protection against IPv6, DNS, and WebRTC leaks.

TorGuard also has a kill switch that automatically triggers when the VPN connection drops. You can also configure it to stop torrent clients from accessing the internet if the VPN disconnects. We also like that TorGuard offers PFS (Perfect Forward Secrecy), a security feature that makes the VPN connection use different encryption keys for each session (meaning it’s more secure).

The app isn’t very user-friendly, though, which is why TorGuard is mostly suitable for advanced VPN users (you can add your own scripts in the app, for example). This VPN has 24/7 support, but it’s through email, not live chat. Despite that, we always received very fast replies from TorGuard’s support reps. Unlike most VPNs, this provider only offers a 7-day money-back guarantee.

Fastest VPNs for Torrenting (Average Torrent Speeds)

VPN Provider	Average Download Speeds	Average ETAs (Minimum and Maximum)
NordVPN	10.1 MiB/s	30 minutes – 4 hours
AtlasVPN	12.0 MiB/s	25 minutes – 1 hour
PrivateVPN	29.5 MiB/s	9-18 minutes
ExpressVPN	11.1 MiB/s	20 minutes – 1 hour 40 minutes
Surfshark	14.7 MiB/s	13-14 minutes
Private Internet Access	4.9 MiB/s	35 minutes – 9 hours
CyberGhost	3.6 MiB/s	35 minutes – 3 hours 10 minutes
VyprVPN	13.5 MiB/s	11-23 minutes
IPVanish	13.25 MiB/s	14-50 minutes
TorGuard	3.4 MiB/s	50 minutes – 54 hours

How We Tested the VPN Torrenting Speeds

Our tester is from Romania. He used qBittorrent and a 17.71 GB file to test the VPNs’ download speeds. He used the OpenVPN (UDP) protocol for each VPN provider and tested four servers (Romania, the US, the UK, and Japan). In the end, he calculated an average for each VPN’s download speed.

Tester’s Location	Original Download Speed	Original ETA
Romania	68 MiB/s	4 minutes

REMINDER: Torrent speeds don’t only depend on the VPN. Sure, it has to be fast, but you also need to use torrents with enough seeders. If there are more leechers than seeders, your download speeds will always be slow.

Also, the VPN protocol you use will impact your speeds. We tested OpenVPN (UDP), but most VPNs offer faster alternatives (WireGuard, L2TP/IPSec, IKEv2/IPSec). DO NOT USE PPTP! Its encryption is very weak, so it’s not suitable for torrenting.

What’s the Best VPN for Torrenting According to Reddit?

Reddit users often debate which VPNs are good for torrenting. It’s normal to see multiple threads pop up each day on r/VPNTorrents where people discuss different VPNs. Overall, Reddit is a good place to find relatively objective opinions.

We already have an article about this topic. If you’re in a rush, here’s a quick list of the top torrenting VPNs recommended by Reddit:

1. NordVPN
2. Surfshark
3. ExpressVPN
4. Private Internet Access
5. AirVPN

What Is the Best Free VPN Service for Torrenting

At this point, you might be wondering whether it’s necessary to pay for your torrenting VPN service. After all, there are several free VPNs out there. Well, it’s true, but downloading torrent files with a free VPN service isn’t the best idea, and there are two primary reasons for that.

Most free VPNs don’t allow torrenting, so there aren’t many options out there. However, if you insist on using a free VPN, we strongly recommend checking out Atlas VPN’s free plan. It allows torrenting and provides excellent security features, easy-to-use apps, and very fast download speeds. However, it limits you to 10 GB of data per month and servers in 2 countries (the US and the Netherlands).

We generally don’t recommend using a free torrent VPN. Out of the ones that support P2P traffic, many provide very slow speeds and limited data usage. In addition to that, many free VPNs are not safe to use since they lack essential security features, like a kill switch. What’s more, free VPNs usually have buggy apps and little to no customer support.

Overall, it’s much better to just get a paid VPN — like one of Altas VPN’s paid plans, which is one of the cheapest VPNs for torrenting on the market.

Free Torrenting VPN Services to Avoid

Here are some free P2P VPN services you should never use for torrenting:

• SuperVPN — while it has a free plan that supports torrenting, this VPN is not safe to use. It logs your data and also lacks a kill switch and bank-grade encryption. So it can’t protect your privacy while torrenting. Also, this provider only has an Android app.
• Hola VPN — this VPN operates on a peer-to-peer model, meaning you use other users’ IP addresses and they use your IP address. That’s dangerous because a malicious actor could use your IP to engage in criminal activities. In addition to that, Hola VPN also logs user data.
• Urban VPN — torrenting works on its free plan, but the VPN is dangerous to use. It doesn’t make it clear if it has a kill switch, strong encryption, or leak protection. Plus, the provider logs user data and shares it with third parties. And its speeds are also very slow.

You should also avoid ProtonVPN’s free plan — while it comes with excellent security and unlimited data, it doesn’t support P2P traffic.

FAQs

We often get these questions from our readers or see them on Reddit. We answered all of them here. If you have more questions, just drop us a line in the comments.

Is Torrenting Legal?

Torrenting is legal in most countries, but it becomes illegal if you download copyrighted content. For example, in India, you can face jail time of up to 3 years if you torrent a copyrighted movie. And in countries like the US, Finland, and the UK, downloading copyrighted content is punished with huge fines.

That said, there are countries that don’t ban torrenting copyrighted content. For instance, in Switzerland, you can do that as long as you don’t try to profit from it.

How Do You Use a VPN for Torrenting?

Here’s all you need to do:

1. Subscribe to a good torrenting VPN.
2. Download and install the VPN’s app.
3. Use the app to connect to a VPN server.
4. Make sure the kill switch is enabled.
5. Use your torrent client to download whatever you want.

Does a VPN Hide Torrenting?

Yes, a good VPN will hide torrenting. It will encrypt your traffic end-to-end, so your ISP won’t be able to spy on it. Instead of seeing your data packets, they’ll only see gibberish.

Also, VPNs hide the destination of your connection. ISPs won’t know you’re communicating with a torrent site. They’ll only see that you’re connected to a random IP address (the VPN’s IP), instead of your real IP address.

What Is the Best Server Location for Torrenting?

The best server location for torrenting is the one that’s closest to you. That way, data packets that travel between your device and the VPN will move faster. So, you’ll get faster speeds.

You should either use a VPN server in your country or a neighboring country. It’s usually easy to do that if you use a VPN that has a large server network (with hundreds of optimized torrenting servers).

Are Free VPNs for Torrenting Any Good?

No, we don’t recommend using free VPNs for torrenting. They’re usually risky since they might leak your traffic or log your data (and then sell it to advertisers).

Also, free VPNs are generally slow. You’ll struggle to break 1-2 MiB/s even on nearby VPN servers. What’s more, most free VPNs use bandwidth caps (anywhere between 500 MB and 2 GB per month). You’re limited to how much content you can download.

Is It Possible to Get Caught Torrenting with a VPN?

Yes if you use a free VPN or don’t set up the VPN properly. Free VPNs can leak your data, so your ISP will know you’re downloading torrents.

As for “setting up the VPN properly,” we just mean you need to enable the kill switch. Otherwise, you’ll suffer traffic leaks if the VPN connection drops.

You should also turn on the VPN’s IPv6 and DNS leak protection. If you use Windows 10, we recommend disabling Teredo and SMHNR (Smart Multi-Homed Name Resolution) to improve your odds of avoiding DNS leaks.

Is Torrenting Safe with a VPN?

Yes, but only if you use a secure P2P VPN. The VPN should have industry-standard security features. That includes a no-logs policy, kill switch, bank-grade encryption, and strong leak protection.

Some top VPNs even go the extra mile. For example, NordVPN has advanced security features like RAM-only servers. Also, it has Threat Protection, which protects you from shady P2P sites and malicious torrents.

Is a VPN Enough for Torrenting?

Yes, as long as the VPN doesn’t leak your data, has a kill switch, and doesn’t store logs.

We also recommend using an antivirus program together with the VPN. That way, you avoid malware infections if you accidentally download malicious torrents. VPNs can block connections to malware-infected sites through ad blockers, but they can’t stop malware from infecting your device. Only antivirus software can do that.

Do VPNs Slow Down Torrenting Speeds?

Using a VPN might slow down your downloads due to the encryption-decryption process. However, the best VPNs (like the ones on our list) minimize the speed loss so that you get fast P2P speeds anyway. 

PrivateVPN was the fastest VPN for torrenting in our tests, but all the other providers on our list also provided us with good download speeds.

If you’re using a VPN for torrenting and are experiencing noticeable slowdowns, try this:

• Use a faster VPN protocol like WireGuard and IKEv2/IPSec instead of OpenVPN.
• Use wired connections instead of WiFi or a hotspot.
• If split-tunneling is available, use it to only send P2P traffic through the VPN.
• Connect to a local or nearby server.
• Close internet-connected apps that you’re not using and are running in the background.