Is NordVPN Good for Torrenting in 2024?

Using an app like NordVPN for torrenting is key for several reasons. It hides your IP address, keeping your torrenting private. It also stops your ISP from slowing down your speeds or worse.
NordVPN helps you get past firewalls on public Wi-Fi. This includes places like schools, work, hotels, and airports. These spots often block torrenting, so a VPN is essential.
Does NordVPN Allow Torrenting?
Many VPNs don’t let you torrent, often because they keep logs or want to save bandwidth. Some might not allow it because of piracy concerns, even though torrenting can be legal.
Fortunately, NordVPN does allow torrenting. It has a huge network of P2P servers, over 4,000 at the moment.
These servers are easy to find in the VPN client, under P2P. Just highlight P2P, click on the three dots (⋯), and filter by country or server. The app also shows server load and picks the fastest server for you.
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Is NordVPN Good for Torrenting?
Yes, NordVPN is one of the best torrenting VPNs out there. It supports P2P on over 4,000 servers and lets you seed on all P2P servers.
NordVPN gives you excellent download speeds. Its huge server network means you avoid slow servers. Plus, it uses NordLynx, a fast protocol based on WireGuard technology. AV-TEST research shows NordVPN is among the fastest VPNs.
This service doesn’t keep any logs, so it doesn’t know what you download or browse. NordVPN has been audited twice to prove it doesn’t log anything. It also has a kill switch to protect you from leaks.
- A system-level kill switch – shuts off web access when the VPN connection drops
- An app-level kill switch – stops specific apps from going online when the VPN connection drops.
This way, your ISP can’t detect your torrent usage, even if the VPN drops.
The service uses strong encryption (AES-256) to keep your traffic safe. It also prevents P2P traffic throttling . The servers are RAM-only, wiping data after every reboot. It’s one of the few VPNs to offer complete leak protection.
NordVPN has user-friendly apps for many platforms. This includes Windows, Android, macOS, iOS, and Linux. They also support multiple torrent clients.
Their support team said it works with all torrent clients. This includes BitTorrent, qBittorrent, uTorrent, Vuze, Deluge, and more.
🌐 Website: | nordvpn.com |
🏢 Headquarters: | Panama |
📍Servers/Countries: | 5800+ servers in 60 countries |
₿ Accepts Cryptocurrency | Yes |
💸 Deals & Coupons | Get 68% off + 3 months extra |
Additional Features
NordVPN is great for torrenting, thanks to its many features. It also has a few extra perks:
- Threat Protection – This security suite blocks ads and trackers. It keeps you safe by stopping malicious site connections. Plus, it scans files for malware.
- Split-tunneling – This lets you pick what traffic to encrypt. Use it to speed up torrenting by only encrypting torrent traffic.
- Obfuscated servers – These hide your VPN use on public Wi-Fi. They also help get past VPN blocks.
Drawbacks of Using NordVPN for Torrenting
NordVPN is good for torrenting, but it has some downsides:
1. No Port Forwarding
NordVPN doesn’t allow port forwarding because it’s worried about user data. The app blocks all ports except those used by NordVPN and popular services.
Many users dislike this because they think it slows downloads. They say it’s because you can’t connect to as many peers. We didn’t see any speed boost with port forwarding on other VPNs.
But NordVPN might add torrent traffic support for port forwarding soon.
2. Data Breach History
Some people worry about NordVPN’s data breach history. They think it’s not safe for torrenting. But here’s the truth:
Only one server was hacked, and no data was stolen (like IP addresses or user info). The breach happened because the data center was careless, not NordVPN’s fault.
NordVPN cut ties with the data center and now uses colocated servers. They ship their own servers to data centers. This way, only NordVPN employees control them. All servers run in RAM-disk mode, wiping data after every reboot.
So, while the breach is a concern, NordVPN is one of the safest for torrenting.
3. No Torrenting on Non-P2P Servers
To torrent well with NordVPN, use their P2P-optimized servers. If you don’t, NordVPN will slow down your torrenting. This is because it routes your traffic through a P2P-friendly server.
It’s not a big deal, though, because they have many servers worldwide. But some users might find it inconvenient.
Testing NordVPN for Torrenting
We tested NordVPN for torrenting to see how it performs.
Speed Tests
We used qBittorrent and uTorrent with a 12.69 GB file. We connected to three NordVPN P2P servers in the US, the UK, and Japan.
Our tester is from Romania. Their original download speeds were 30-35 MiB/s (qBittorrent) and 15-20 MB/s (uTorrent). It took them 10-15 minutes to download a 12.69 GB file.
First, we used a P2P server in the US. We noticed slowdowns, but the speeds were good: 13-15 MiB/s (qBittorrent) and 4-5 MB/s (uTorrent). The average time to download was 10-20 minutes on qBittorrent and 50 minutes on uTorrent.
When we switched to the Japanese and UK servers, the speeds were slower, but they were okay:
- Japan – 6-8 MiB/s (qBittorrent) and 2-3 MB/s (uTorrent). The average ETA was 30 minutes (qBittorrent) and one hour and a half (uTorrent).
- The UK – 5-7 MiB/s (qBittorrent) and 3-4 MB/s (uTorrent). The average ETA was 30-35 minutes (qBittorrent) and one hour and 40 minutes (uTorrent).
We also tested a server in the same country as our tester (Romania). As expected, NordVPN qBittorrent and uTorrent speeds were much faster: 25-30 MiB/s (qBittorrent) and 7-9 MB/s (uTorrent).
We tested the OpenVPN protocol on a Romanian server. It’s more demanding, so speeds were slow: 10-11 MiB/s for qBittorrent and 1-2 MB/s for uTorrent. It took 20-25 minutes for qBittorrent and almost two hours for uTorrent to download a 12.69 GB file.
REMEMBER: Fast speeds for peer to peer connections need many seeders. Without enough, you can’t get fast speeds because you’re downloading from a few sources. And without any seeders, your downloads won’t start.
We tried downloading large files with poor seeder-leecher ratios on NordVPN’s servers (US, UK, Japan). Our speeds were almost zero in both uTorrent and qBittorrent.
Privacy Test
Leaking your IP address while torrenting can lead to serious trouble. We tested NordVPN using a complete IP leak test. We checked on US, UK, and Japan servers and found no leaks.
You can check for yourself with these steps:
- Use the IP leak test before connecting to NordVPN.
- Take note of the IP address(es) in the test results.
- Connect to a NordVPN torrenting server close by (or one you prefer).
- Perform the IP leak test once more.
If everything is correct, you won’t see your true IP or location. The IP leak tool also tests WebRTC. This is important for uTorrent web clients, as WebRTC requests can leak your IP to STUN towers.
Learn more on the topic and how to test if your VPN is working by following the link.
How to Torrent Safely Using NordVPN
Starting to torrent safely with NordVPN takes just a few minutes. Here’s what you need to do.
Using uTorrent with NordVPN
All you need is to connect to a NordVPN torrenting server. The VPN will handle the rest.
- Sign up for NordVPN.
- Download and install NordVPN’s app.
- Open the NordVPN app and log in with your account details.
- Click on Settings (the cog wheel button), and toggle on the Kill Switch.
- Connect to a P2P server. Hint: let NordVPN’s app pick the fastest country and server for you.
- You can also highlight P2P and click on the three dots (⋯), to filter by country or individual server.
- Launch uTorrent and start torrenting securely.
Using qBittorrent with NordVPN
The steps are similar to uTorrent. After signing up, just:
- Download NordVPN’s app and install it.
- Launch NordVPN and sign in.
- Head to the Settings menu (cog wheel) and turn on the Kill Switch.
- Select a torrenting (P2P) server or let NordVPN decide the fastest one for your connection.
- Open qBittorrent and you can torrent safely.
Torrenting with NordVPN FAQs
These are common questions about NordVPN and torrenting. If you have more, leave them in the comments and we’ll answer quickly.
Does NordVPN Work for Torrenting With All Clients?
Yes, you can use any app you want. BitTorrent, Deluge, uTorrent, qBittorrent, Vuze – NordVPN supports all of them.
To be 100% sure, we asked NordVPN’s support reps about this. They confirmed their service works with all clients. They suggested using qBittorrent for the best results. We found their suggestion to be true, as qBittorrent gave us the fastest download speed.
Can You Fix NordVPN Slow Torrenting?
Some Redditors complained that NordVPN torrent download speeds are slow. Here are a few things you can do to increase them:
- Use a nearby P2P server – NordVPN has thousands of obfuscated servers for safe torrenting. Find one close to you for the best speed.
- Use NordLynx or IKEv2 – They’re much faster than OpenVPN. IKEv2 is only available on macOS and iOS with NordVPN.
- Use a different torrent client – We found faster speeds with qBittorrent over uTorrent. NordVPN support reps also recommend qBittorrent.
- Use split-tunneling – Hide torrenting traffic only with NordVPN. This means faster downloads. Adjust settings in NordVPN to do this.
If nothing works, try using a SOCKS5 proxy instead of a VPN. NordVPN has guides to help you do this. But remember, your traffic won’t be encrypted anymore. This means your ISP could slow it down if they watch it.
Which NordVPN Server Should You Use for P2P File Sharing?
The best NordVPN server for torrenting is the one near you. This makes your downloads faster because your device talks to the VPN server quicker.
Try NordVPN’s server recommender feature. Click Show advanced options and pick P2P from the dropdown. NordVPN will suggest a server for you. You can adjust the country and protocol to your liking.
Can You Torrent on NordVPN’s Non-P2P Servers?
If you use a non-P2P server, NordVPN will send your traffic to a P2P server (Canada or the Netherlands). The app can’t disconnect you from the non-P2P server. This means your speeds will slow down because your data goes through two VPN servers.
We tested this and saw slowdowns. On a NordVPN P2P server in Belgium, we got 15-20 MiB/s download speeds. But on a non-P2P server in Belgium, speeds dropped to 4-5 MiB/s.
Can You Bind Torrent Clients to NordVPN?
You can, but it’s not necessary. NordVPN has a great kill switch. It protects your IP address and data in two ways:
- It shuts down your Internet if the VPN drops.
- It stops an app from going online if the VPN drops.
We really like how flexible it is. It’s a big reason to choose NordVPN for torrenting. To avoid losing online access, you can set NordVPN to only stop your torrent client if the VPN drops.
🌐 Website: | nordvpn.com |
🏢 Headquarters: | Panama |
📍Servers/Countries: | 5800+ servers in 68 countries |
₿ Accepts Cryptocurrency | Yes |
💸 Deals & Coupons | Get 68% OFF + 3 months FREE |
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