The 10 best torrent clients for Ubuntu and other Linux distros [ in 2021 ] + 1 Bonus
In this article we are going to cover the 10 best torrent clients you can find for Linux. In order to download something via BitTorrent, you need to have a torrent client installed on your system. Torrents are great for downloading large files because they split files into smaller chunks and are downloaded from multiple peers in the torrent "swarm." BitTorrent is normally associated with video files like movies or TV episodes, it's also common for Linux developers to offer a torrent download of their distribution.
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1 - Transmission torrent client
Transmission is a BitTorrent client which features a variety of user interfaces on top of a cross-platform back-end. Transmission is free software licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License, with parts under the MIT License.
Key features:
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Uses fewer resources than other clients
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Native Mac, GTK+ and Qt GUI clients
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Daemon ideal for servers, embedded systems, and headless use
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All these can be remote controlled by Web and Terminal clients
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Local Peer Discovery
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Full encryption, DHT, µTP, PEX and Magnet Link support
# How to install Transmission in Ubuntu 21.04 ?
sudo apt install transmission
You can check the official web site from: Here
2 - Aria2 torrent client
aria2 is a lightweight multi-protocol & multi-source command-line download utility. It supports HTTP/HTTPS, FTP, SFTP, BitTorrent and Metalink. aria2 can be manipulated via built-in JSON-RPC and XML-RPC interfaces.
Key features:
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Multi-Connection Download. aria2 can download a file from multiple sources/protocols and tries to utilize your maximum download bandwidth.
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Lightweight. aria2 doesn’t require much memory and CPU time. When disk cache is off, the physical memory usage is typically 4MiB to 9MiB. CPU usage of 2.8MiB/sec is around 6%.
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Fully Featured BitTorrent Client. All features you want in BitTorrent client are available: DHT, PEX, Encryption, Magnet URI, Web-Seeding, Selective Downloads, Local Peer Discovery and UDP tracker.
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Metalink Enabled.
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Remote Control. aria2 supports RPC interface to control the aria2 process.
# How to install Aria2 in Ubuntu 21.04 ?
sudo apt install aria2
You can check the official web site from: Here
3 - rTorrent torrent client
The rTorrent bittorrent client uses ncurses and is ideal for use with tmux, screen or dtach. Alternatively, version 0.9.7+ has a built-in daemon mode disabling the user interface, so you can only control it via XMLRPC. It supports saving of sessions, allows the user to add/remove torrents, and much more.
Key features:
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Can run in the terminal
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Ultra lite
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Can run thousands of torrents simultaneously
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One of the best terminal torrents you can find
# How to install rTorrent in Ubuntu 21.04 ?
sudo apt install rtorrent You can check the official web site from: Here
4 - qBittorrent torrent client
The qBittorrent project aims to provide an open-source software alternative to µTorrent.
Additionally, qBittorrent runs and provides the same features on all major platforms (FreeBSD, Linux, macOS, OS/2, Windows). qBittorrent is based on the Qt toolkit and libtorrent-rasterbar library.
Key features:
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Polished µTorrent-like User Interface
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No Ads
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Well-integrated and extensible Search Engine
- Simultaneous search in many Torrent search sites
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Category-specific search requests (e.g. Books, Music, Software)
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Many Bittorrent extensions supported:
- Magnet links
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Distributed hash table (DHT), peer exchange protocol (PEX), local peer discovery (LSD)
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Private torrents
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Encrypted connections
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and many more...
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Advanced control over torrents, trackers and peers
- Torrents queueing and prioritizing
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Torrent content selection and prioritizing
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Torrent creation tool
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IP Filtering (eMule & PeerGuardian format compatible)
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IPv6 compliant
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UPnP / NAT-PMP port forwarding support
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Available on all platforms: Windows, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, OS/2
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Available in ~70 languages
# How to install qBittorrent in Ubuntu 21.04 ?
sudo apt install qbittorrent You can check the official web site from: Here
5 - Ktorrent torrent client
KTorrent is a BitTorrent application by KDE which allows you to download files using the BitTorrent protocol. It enables you to run multiple torrents at the same time and comes with extended features to make it a full-featured client for BitTorrent.
Key features:
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Queuing of torrents
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Global and per torrent speed limits
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Previewing of certain file types, build in (video and audio)
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Importing of partially or fully downloaded files
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File prioritization for multi-file torrents
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Selective downloading for multi-file torrents
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Kick/ban peers with an additional IP Filter dialog for list/edit purposes
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UDP tracker support
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Support for private trackers and torrents
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Support for µTorrent's peer exchange
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Support for protocol encryption (compatible with Azureus)
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Support for creating trackerless torrents
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Support for distributed hash tables (DHT, the Mainline version)
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Support for UPnP to automatically forward ports on a LAN with dynamic assigned hosts
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Support for webseeds
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Scripting support via Kross, and interprocess control via D-Bus interface
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System tray integration
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Tracker authentication support
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Connection through a proxy
# How to install KTorrent in Ubuntu 21.04 ?
sudo apt install ktorrent You can check the official web site from: Here
6 - Fragments torrent client
Fragments is an easy to use BitTorrent client for the GNOME desktop environment. It is usable for receiving files using the BitTorrent protocol, which enables you to transmit huge files, like videos or installation images for Linux distributions.
Key features:
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all the necessary features for torrenting
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open-source torrent client
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Simple
What we don't like:
- You need to have Flatpak enabled to install it from Flathub.
# How to install Fragments in Ubuntu 21.04 ?
flatpak install flathub de.haeckerfelix.Fragments
You can check the official web site from: Here
7 - Deluge torrent client
Deluge is a free and open-source, cross-platform BitTorrent client written in Python. Deluge uses a front and back end architecture where libtorrent, a software library written in C++ which provides the application's networking logic, is connected to one of various front ends including a text console, the web interface and a graphical desktop interface using GTK through the project's own Python bindings.
Key features:
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Full Encryption
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WebUI
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Plugin System
# How to install Deluge in Ubuntu 21.04 ?
sudo apt install deluge
# To use only the console mode use
sudo apt install deluge-console
You can check the official web site from: Here
8 - Uget torrent client
uGet is a full featured download manager that can use multi-threaded connections to speed up file downloading. It also supports torrents, giving you a full software suite for downloading all types of files.
Key features:
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Multi connection downloads - Download files in many segments to increase download speeds. uGet supports up to 16 simultaneous connections PER download.
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Browser integration - uGet offers Browser Integration via an extension which supports: Firefox, Google Chrome, Chromium, Opera, and Vivaldi.
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Download YouTube videos - uGet offers the ability to download videos from YouTube using the YouTube API so no need for dependency management.
# How to install Uget in Ubuntu 21.04 ?
sudo apt install uget You can check the official web site from: Here
9 - Vuze torrent client
Vuze (previously Azureus) is a BitTorrent client used to transfer files via the BitTorrent protocol. Vuze is written in Java, and uses the Azureus Engine. In addition to downloading data linked to .torrent files, Azureus allows users to view, publish and share original DVD and HD quality video content. Content is presented through channels and categories containing TV shows, music videos, movies, video games, series and others. Additionally, if users prefer to publish their original content, they may earn money from it.
Key features:
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Safe
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Stable
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Many features
What we don't like:
- Some can find Vuze slow
# How to install Vuze in Ubuntu 21.04 ?
sudo snap install vuze-vs
You can check the official web site from: Here
10 - Tixati torrent client
In addition to standard BitTorrent client sharing functions, Tixati provides integral chatrooms with the channel chat as well as private messaging being strongly encrypted. According to Tixati's support page, "the Channels feature of Tixati is a particularly good demonstration of how to build a decentralized networked application that supports very high throughputs while remaining cryptographically secure in a 100% decentralized environment. This includes a linear network-coded decentralized media streaming feature, which is secured by a homomorphic hash function and elliptic-curve signatures (the first system of its kind to be implemented successfully.)" Chatrooms can be either public or secret. Users are allowed to optionally share lists of magnet or URL links which are then searchable across all channels a user is joined to. Browsing a specific user's share list is also supported. The channels also allow for streaming audio and video media.
Key features:
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Simple and easy to use
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DHT, PEX, and Magnet Link support
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NO Spyware
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NO Ads
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NO Nonsense
What we don't like:
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No apt install
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No snap install
# How to install Vuze in Ubuntu 21.04 ?
wget https://download2.tixati.com/download/tixati_2.81-1_amd64.deb
sudo apt install ./tixati_*_amd64.deb
You can check the official web site from: Here
Bonus uTorrent torrent client
With over 150 million users uTorrent is the most widely used BitTorrent client outside China; globally only behind Xunlei. The “μ” (Greek letter “mu”) in its name comes from the SI prefix “micro-“, referring to the program’s small memory footprint: the program was designed to use minimal computer resources while offering functionality comparable to larger BitTorrent clients such as Vuze or BitComet.
uTorrent was controversial for mining cryptocurrency when installed. They had removed the cryptocurrency miner in later versions but it had already done irreversible damage to uTorrent’s reputation.
You can check the key features and how to install from: Here
What we don't like:
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You need wine to run uTorrent
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Crashes very often
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Many ads
You can check the official web site from: Here
Conclusion on torrent clients
There are many free and open source torrent clients for Linux. We could say that for every taste there is a choice. If you know other good torrent clients, please comment bellow so that we can review them too.
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