Is qBittorrent Safe? (Yes, But You Need to Follow Some Steps)

Q: Is qBittorrent Safer Than uTorrent?

Most torrent users agree that qBittorrent is safer than uTorrent. Both torrent clients are safe to use if you download them from the official source. However, people trust qBittorrent more because it’s open-source and doesn’t display in-app ads. Also, uTorrent’s devs once bundled the app with a crypto miner.

Q: Is It Legal to Use qBittorrent?

Yes, it’s legal to use this app for torrenting in most parts of the world. But, in most countries, it’s against the law to torrent copyrighted content. So you can’t use qBittorrent to download popular movies, TV shows, or video games. You can only legally download open-source apps and public domain content.

Q: Why Do Antivirus Programs Flag qBittorrent as a Malicious File?

Antivirus software often flags qBittorrent as a PUA (Potentially Unwanted Application). This happens because the security program detects qBittorrent as a false positive. That means the antivirus wrongly thinks that a legitimate program like qBittorrent is malicious.

Q: What Are the Best Settings for qBittorrent?

qBittorrent is safe to use, but there are certain settings you can tweak to get faster speeds and better security. We checked multiple Reddit and Quora threads and managed to put together this quick list of qBittorrent’s “best settings”:

Q: Is It Safe to Download Torrents on qBittorrent without a VPN?

No — without a VPN, your ISP will see your P2P traffic. So, they can throttle your downloads if they don’t want you using their network to torrent. Also, copyright trolls in the torrent swarm can see your real IP address. They can then use it to track down your ISP and ask them for your personal information.

Q: How Do You Set Up qBittorrent with a VPN?

To use qBittorrent with a VPN, you only need to install a VPN app, connect to a P2P VPN server, and start using the torrent client. You don’t need to do any manual setups. The only exception is if you use a VPN’s SOCKS5 proxy. In that case, you must follow the VPN provider’s setup tutorials.

Q: How Do You Bind qBittorrent to a VPN?

To bind qBittorrent to a VPN, you need to go to Tools > Options > Advanced and select the VPN adapter from the drop-down menu next to “Network interface.”

Tim Mocan

VPN and Privacy Expert

Updated on

14 Oct 2024

qBittorrent is a very popular torrent client. But is qBittorrent safe, or are there any concerns?

The tl;dr is that yes, qBittorrent is safe. But we’ll show you what measures you need to take to make sure you can safely use qBittorrent to download movies, TV shows, music, and video games.

Is qBittorrent Safe to Use?

Yes, qBittorrent is a safe torrent client – as long as you download it from the official site. It’s open-source, so anyone can inspect the code to make sure there are no issues. Also, qBittorrent doesn’t use ads. And it’s legal to use qBittorrent as long as you don’t download copyrighted materials with it.

We checked multiple Reddit threads about torrenting and safe torrent clients. Redditors consistently recommended qBittorrent as one of the safest torrenting apps.

Test Your VPN Knowledge – Take A Quiz!

Is qBittorrent Safe to Download?

Yes, it’s safe to download qBittorrent but only if you download it from the official site. While third-party sources might seem safe, they’re not always reliable. If you get qBittorrent from a suspicious site, it could be infected with malware.

We downloaded qBittorrent from the official site many times. We used many antivirus programs. We rarely saw any alerts. And when we did, they were false positives.

How to Use qBittorrent Safely

Even though qBittorrent is safe, you should take extra steps to protect yourself. Here are some tips:

Use VPNs

A VPN hides your IP address and encrypts your Internet traffic. It’s essential for torrenting. Here’s why:

It conceals your IP, so copyright trolls can’t track you. Without your IP, they can’t send you angry letters.
Wannabe hackers can’t see your IP and can’t DDoS your network.
VPNs encrypt your traffic, so ISPs can’t slow it down. They can’t throttle speeds if they can’t see what you’re using.
VPNs hide your browsing. Your ISP can’t see that you’re using torrent trackers.
VPNs have ad blockers that block malicious sites, like fake torrent trackers.

The best torrenting VPN is NordVPN. It supports P2P traffic on 4,600+ servers. It works well with qBittorrent. It also has strong encryption and a no-logs policy. For more info on good qBittorrent VPNs, check out our guide.

Visit NordVPN!

How to Use qBittorrent with VPNs:

Download & install qBittorrent.
Subscribe to a good P2P VPN. We recommend NordVPN.
Download & install NordVPN’s app.
Use the app to connect to a VPN server.
Start downloading torrents. You’ll automatically use NordVPN with qBittorrent as long as you’re connected to its servers.

Use an Antivirus

qBittorrent is safe to use, but not all torrents are malware-free. Malicious actors can upload infected files and try to trick you into downloading them. They might upload small .exe files that look like the latest movies. If you download and run them, they can infect your device.

Antivirus programs are key to stopping malware infections. They automatically find and remove malicious files and code.

You should always use an antivirus with a VPN when downloading torrents. The antivirus keeps viruses away, and the VPN keeps your torrenting private.

Enable Anonymous Mode

Anonymous Mode is an option in qBittorrent that hides your information. It removes data about:

User agent
Peer-ID
Listening ports
IP addresses

To enable Anonymous Mode, go to Tools > Options > BitTorrent. Check the box next to “Enable anonymous Mode.”

qBittorrent’s Anonymous Mode is safe to use, but it’s not a VPN substitute. It doesn’t encrypt your traffic. The devs say to use it with a VPN.

Using Anonymous Mode might cause “client is not on whitelist” errors on private trackers. This is because it removes torrent client data. So, use it only with public trackers.

Other Tips

There are other ways to stay safe while torrenting. We talked about these tips in-depth in this guide. Make sure to read it.

Is qBittorrent Safe According to Reddit?

Yes, Reddit users say qBittorrent is very safe. They think if your antivirus flags qBittorrent, it’s a false positive. Just get it from the official site, and it’s safe to use.

We answer common questions about qBittorent safety and how to use it. If you have more questions, please leave a comment.

Is qBittorrent Safer Than uTorrent?

Most torrent users think qBittorrent is safer than uTorrent. Both are safe if downloaded from the official source. But, qBittorrent is more trusted because it’s open-source and doesn’t have ads. Also, uTorrent’s devs once bundled it with a crypto miner.

Is It Legal to Use qBittorrent?

Yes, using qBittorrent is legal in most places. But, torrenting copyrighted content is illegal in most countries. So, you can’t download popular movies, TV shows, or video games with it. You can only download open-source apps and public domain content legally.

In some countries (like Switzerland), it’s legal to download copyrighted files. But, you can’t profit from them.

Also, some countries block P2P sites and make torrenting illegal. So, always check your local laws before using qBittorrent for torrenting.

Why Do Antivirus Programs Flag qBittorrent as a Malicious File?

Antivirus software sometimes flags qBittorrent as a PUA. This is because it mistakenly thinks qBittorrent is malicious. It’s a common issue.

If this happens, don’t worry. We tested qBittorrent with many antivirus programs and found no issues. Some Redditors suggest using Malwarebytes because it doesn’t make false-positive errors.

To ensure qBittorrent is safe, download it from the official site. Avoid third-party sources.

What Are the Best Settings for qBittorrent?

qBittorrent is safe, but tweaking settings can improve speeds and security. We gathered tips from Reddit and Quora:

Make sure there are no Global Rate Limits. Set them to the infinity symbol.
Under Rate Limits Settings, check these two options to get rid of slow peers or peers that download but don’t seed:
- Apply rate limit to µTP protocol.
- Apply rate limit to peers on LAN.
Use a port above 10,000. Some Redditors recommend 49,152 or higher.
In the BitTorrent section, enable PEX, DHT, and Local Peer Discovery to find more peers.
Disable torrent encryption in the BitTorrent section. It limits peer connections. If you use a VPN, your traffic is encrypted.
Disable uTP to avoid speed throttling. Go to Tools > Options > Connection and choose TCP for Peer connection protocol.

Is It Safe to Download Torrents on qBittorrent without a VPN?

No — without a VPN, your ISP will see your P2P traffic. They can slow down your downloads if they don’t want you torrenting. Also, copyright trolls can find your real IP address. They can then ask your ISP for your personal info.

We strongly recommend using a VPN with qBittorrent to secure your traffic and hide your real IP address. NordVPN is our top pick. It works well with this P2P app and has 4,700+ P2P servers in 50+ countries. It also offers fast downloads, easy apps, and great security. You can use it on Android, Windows, MacOS, or any OS. Its Threat Protection feature can protect you from bad P2P sites and torrents.

If you don’t like the idea of paying for a VPN, a free torrenting VPN is also an option. It’s better than nothing, but not ideal. Most free VPNs don’t allow torrenting. The ones that do have weak security, slow speeds, and limited data. If you want to try a free VPN with qBittorrent, try Atlas VPN. It supports P2P traffic, has fast speeds, and strong security. But, it limits you to servers in 2 countries and 10 GB of data per month.

How Do You Set Up qBittorrent with a VPN?

To use qBittorrent with a VPN, just install a VPN app, connect to a P2P VPN server, and start using the torrent client. You don’t need to do any manual setups. The only exception is if you use a VPN’s SOCKS5 proxy. In that case, you must follow the VPN provider’s setup tutorials.

How Do You Bind qBittorrent to a VPN?

To bind qBittorrent to a VPN, go to Tools > Options > Advanced and select the VPN adapter from the drop-down menu next to “Network interface.”

If you do this, qBittorrent won’t download torrents unless you’re connected to the VPN.

But, it’s not necessary to bind qBittorrent to a VPN. If the VPN has a kill switch, it’s enough to protect you from traffic leaks. NordVPN has a great torrenting kill switch. It works at the app level. You can tell NordVPN which apps shouldn’t use the Internet if your VPN connection drops.

You should only bind qBittorrent to the VPN client if you’re worried you’ll forget to connect to a VPN server before you start torrenting. But you can eliminate that risk by configuring the VPN app to automatically run and connect to a VPN server when your operating system starts up.