Short Bytes: By looking at the Mac OS X torrent clients for ease of use and features, less annoying advertising and no toolbar attached, we came up with a list of the best programs. The best torrent clients for Mac OS X includes the likes of uTorrent, Transmission, Deluge, etc. You can use these torrenting programs for getting free torrent downloads.
- Transmission Bittorrent Client
- Final Cut Pro Torrent
- Osx Torrent Client
- Best Bittorrent Client Mac
- Deluge For Mac
Torrent clients enable you to download torrent files or use torrent magnet links. These are used to download and share files over the internet and each Mac BitTorrent client offers something different. A good BitTorrent program should be easy to use and reliable that quickly download files from other computer users.
Important — If you are using Transmission ver. 2.90 for the Mac. Then be warned that it has been discovered to spread malware. However, the update ver. 2.92 has fixed this issue.Therefore, it is best for you to update the torrent client. Transmission is a free BitTorrent client for the Mac. It is one of the best BitTorrents for the Mac that I know of. And it should be in the top 3, along with uTorrent and Vuze.
Large or obscure Torrent files can take a long time to download, so a good BitTorrent client for Mac should also be unobtrusive, sitting in the background and quietly pulling down your files while you continue to work. It should also be clean and free from toolbars and any other malware stuff in your system.
In this feature, we look at all the Mac OS X torrent downloaders worth considering and figure out which is the best torrent client for Mac OS X user to depend on.
Best Torrent Downloader For Mac | 2017
1. uTorrent
µTorrent (or uTorrent) is my favorite and one of the most popular BitTorrent clients available for Mac OS X. It has earned this status because it’s lightweight (~1MB), fast, powerful, feature-rich, and supported and developed by BitTorrent, Inc, which in a way makes it the “official” BitTorrent client.
It has all of the features you would expect from a good BitTorrent client, including the ability to resume stopped downloads, download things in sequential order, support for encrypted files, support for remote control via mobile apps, download scheduling, port forwarding, and more. It’ll even throttle itself back as soon as you start to use bandwidth heavy applications on your computer. µTorrent also makes it easy to find and download the official BitTorrent Bundles, which are packed with music, movies, and other great free, freely-licensed entertainment to enjoy. It’s completely free but not open source.
— uTorrent
2. WebTorrent Desktop
WebTorrent Desktop for Mac is a great choice for Mac when it comes to streaming purposes. You don’t need to wait for your files to finish the download and you can watch them right away. It connects to both WebTorrent and BitTorrent peers.
Some of the other highlight features of WebTorrent Desktop app are lightweight and fast, great user experiences, open source, free, Chromecast, DLNA, and AirPlay support, bloat free. You can go ahead and download this excellent Torrent downloading and streaming client for Mac.
— WebTorrent Desktop
3. Deluge
Deluge makes its name as “old is gold.” It is a venerable classic, and one of the oldest BitTorrent clients around. Perhaps because of its age, it’s much smaller in stature than other BitTorrent clients and has a small footprint.
It’s completely free, cross-platform, and supports things like encrypted downloads, private torrents, password protection, bandwidth scheduling and throttling, remote management via a web-based interface, proxy support etc. It is inherently very small but can be easily extended with third-party plugins available.
It’s also completely free from advertising and unwanted plugins, and has a focus on providing features the community needs which made it to #2 on our list of best torrent downloader for Mac.
![Torrent Client For Mac Transmission Torrent Client For Mac Transmission](https://a.fsdn.com/con/app/proj/transgui/screenshots/GeneralMacOSX.png/245/183/1)
— Deluge
4. qBittorrent
qBittorrent is a cross-platform, lightweight, well polished, and free of many issues. It can be configured to send an email when your downloads are complete, you can search for files (even by category) inside the app instead of digging around for reliable downloads, supports web-based remote control, port forwarding, IP filtering, and more. It’s remarkably powerful for the folks who need these features.
qBittorrent is a relatively obscure program, so there’s a good chance you haven’t heard of it yet. It’s simple to operate, easy on the eyes and perfectly functional. We found it using little background processing and is bereft of adverts and spam.
— qBittorent
5. Transmission
Transmission Bittorrent Client
Transmission is dead simple torrent client available today in the market. It is a very lightweight BitTorrent client and many of you use it on OS X machines, Linux boxes, or even Raspberry Pis. It’s super-lightweight, runs quietly in the background with or without a UI – (it’s up to you) which makes it perfect for servers – NAS boxes, HTPCs, and other systems where you may want to do some downloading.
Feature wise, it runs natively and can be remotely managed. It gives you robust system notifications for your active and completed downloads, download scheduling, port forwarding, remote management, encryption, and just about everything else you might expect from a well-built client.
— Transmission
Some more helpful articles on torrenting:
Did you find our list of the best BitTorrent clients helpful? Tell us your views and favorite clients in the comments below.
If you’re one of over 100 million uTorrent users, you should immediately upgrade to the latest version of the BitTorrent client.
In November 2017, Google’s Project Zero identified a vulnerability, which BitTorrent Inc. (the company that owns and develops uTorrent) patched just in the nick of time. While the patch was only deployed to the Beta version at first, it has progressed to the Stable version in the meantime.
It’s not the first time that uTorrent came under pressure.
Criticized for bundling bloatware and containing annoying banner ads, one of their biggest faux-pas yet was revealed in 2015: uTorrent bundled the cryptocurrency mining software Epic Scale and essentially tricked users into its installation.
These are prime examples of user deception and exploitation. Can you still trust uTorrent? You don’t have to. Here are five great uTorrent alternatives.
The Best Alternative to uTorrent: qBittorrent
Key Features:
- Can handle magnet links
- Supports BitTorrent extensions like Distributed Hash Table (DHT), Peer Exchange Protocol (PEX), Local Peer Discovery (LSD), Torrent Queueing, and Encryption, which you can set up under Tools > Options > BitTorrent > Privacy
- Search engine
- RSS feed support features advanced download filters such as regex
- Web user interface to remote control the client
- IP filtering
- Sequential download (one after the other)
- Advanced control over torrents, trackers, and peers, including queueing and prioritizing
- Bandwidth scheduler
- Torrent creation tool under Tools > Torrent Creator
Widely considered the best uTorrent alternative, qBittorrent is a free open-source torrent client, available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. While open source software isn’t automatically saferIs Security Through Obscurity Safer Than Open Source Software?Is Security Through Obscurity Safer Than Open Source Software?Open source software comes with clear security benefits. The opposite approach is security through obscurity. Is one approach actually safer than the other or is it possible that there's truth to both?Read More, the fact that you could theoretically review the code does make it more trustworthy. Moreover, qBittorrent is free from bloatware and ads, which leads to a smooth installation experience.
The legal notice shown once before launching the software for the first time reminds users of their responsibilities.
The qBittorrent interface is clean and organized. And if you’ve used uTorrent, it will seem familiar, which is not a coincidence. qBittorrent set out to be an open source alternative to uTorrent.
At a glance, you can see the status of all your downloads, and you can view them by category, tags, or trackers. Through the menus at the bottom, you can bring up background information about peers, your downloading and seeding speed, and more.
You can drag-and-drop .torrent files and magnet links onto the tool to initiate the download. If you don’t want the download to start automatically, head to Tools > Options > Downloads and check the box next to Do not start the download automatically.
qBittorrent includes a Search Engine that comes pre-loaded with a selection of Torrent sites that you can search simultaneously. Note that this tool requires a Python Interpreter; the installation files are included. You can enable the Search Engine through View > Search Engine.
You can add additional Torrent sites: open Search, click on the Search plugins button in the bottom right, click Install a new one, and either click Local file if you want to add a qBittorent search plugin you’ve downloaded or Web link if you’d like to add a URL. Use the Search Engine to avoid overblown search websites.
Download:qBittorrent for Windows | Mac | Linux
Runner-Up Alternatives to uTorrent
Final Cut Pro Torrent
1. Tixati
Key Features:
- Supports Magnet links and DHT
- Encryption under Settings > Network > Connections
- IP filter
- Scheduler
- RSS-based auto torrent downloader
- Web interface under Settings > User Interface
Tixati has a no spyware, no adware, and no-nonsense guarantee. Unlike the other clients on this list, however, Tixati is not open source. The installation takes a moment, but it’s free from third-party offers and appears clean.
When you first launch Tixati, you’ll have to confirm your initial configuration, which mainly concerns the download folder, incoming port, and bandwidth throttle (off per default). Next, the Windows Defender Firewall will pop up and you’ll have to give Tixati access to your network.
You can switch between different interfaces, including Transfers, Bandwidth, or the DHT (pictured below). The Home tab displays Tixati’s log file and a summary of all your transfers and incoming connections. Like qBittorrent, Tixati comes with an internal search engine, which lets you avoid potentially seedy torrent sites.
![Torrent Client For Mac Transmission Torrent Client For Mac Transmission](/uploads/1/3/3/9/133911477/262372307.png)
Among the clients covered in this article, Tixati’s interface is the most complex, which is also reflected in Tixati’s comprehensive options. Nevertheless, it’s one of the more lightweight Torrent clientsBeat the Bloat! Try These Lightweight BitTorrent ClientsBeat the Bloat! Try These Lightweight BitTorrent ClientsGuns don’t share illegal files. People share illegal files. Or, wait, how does it go again? What I mean to say is, BitTorrent shouldn't be dissed based on its potential for piracy.Read More.
Download:Tixati for Windows (32-bit, 64-bit) | Linux
Download:Tixati (Portable)
Download:Tixati (Portable)
2. Transmission
Key Features: Business mail client for mac.
- Encryption, set preferences via Edit > Preferences > Privacy > Encryption
- Support for Magnet links, DHT, PEX, and more
- Web interface
- Webseed support
- Watch directories
- Edit tracker
- Limit global and per-torrent speed
- Add bad peer blocklists via Edit > Preferences > Privacy > Blocklist
Like uTorrent, the open-source client Transmission has had bouts of malware infections4 Transmission Alternatives for Mac BitTorrent Users4 Transmission Alternatives for Mac BitTorrent UsersTransmission was struck with malware twice in one year, so you might want to consider a new Mac torrent app.Read More. Having overcome these unfortunate setbacks, however, it remains the default BitTorrent client on many Unix and Linux distributions, including Solaris, Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora, Puppy, and GNOME (an openSUSE flavor). Cisco anyconnect secure mobility client for mac.
One of Transmission’s benefits is that it’s a lightweight BitTorrent client. The installation is fast, free from nag screens, and concludes with a brief notification about the tool’s file sharing nature. The interface is functional and minimal.
Note that you have to start a local or remote session before you can download anything. Go to Edit > Change Session to launch a new session. When you first start a Transmission session on Windows 10, the Windows Defender Firewall will pop up to let you know it blocked some features. Click Allow access to give Transmission permission to communicate on your network.
Download:Transmission for Windows | Mac | Linux
3. Deluge
Key Features:
Osx Torrent Client
- Encryption, set preferences via Edit > Preferences > Network > Encryption
- Support for Magnet links, DHT, PEX
- Web seeds
- Global and per-torrent speed limits
- Web interface
- Plugins
Deluge, originally known as gTorrent, is a free, open source, and cross-platform BitTorrent client that heavily draws features on the libtorrent library. By adhering to the freedesktop standards, it can “work across many desktop environments.”
The installation took a little longer and several more clicks than any of the other clients. Fortunately, Deluge is free from bloatware, toolbars, or ads. The interface is similar to qBittorrent, though slightly more crowded.
You can add additional details to the download section of the client through View > Columns.
Download:Deluge for Windows | Mac | Linux | Unix
Which Torrent Client Will You Choose?
We have a clear recommendation: qBittorrent.
Best Bittorrent Client Mac
But maybe it’s lacking a feature that another client offers. Whichever client you choose, if you need to share or download sensitive torrent files, we strongly recommend using a VPN that has an integrated VPN kill switch6 Logless VPNs That Take Your Privacy Seriously6 Logless VPNs That Take Your Privacy SeriouslyIn an age where every online movement is tracked and logged, a VPN seems a logical choice. We've taken a look at six VPNs that take your anonymity seriously.Read More, so that you won’t accidentally leak your IP in case your secure connection drops.
Wondering why Vuze isn’t featured in this list? We tested it and decided not to recommend it. Vuze was the only client on this list that came with bloatware: Avast, the Spigot toolbar, and a Google Chrome extension. Moreover, the free version of Vuze contains animated ads and has a busy interface with unnecessary features. If you’re looking for a clean and trustworthy uTorrent alternative, Vuze isn’t it.
Explore more about: BitTorrent, Download Management.
Deluge For Mac
- For Transmission, besides the mentioned web interface there is also optional remote command line access and a remote gtk interface, which makes it seem really interesting.A better option to a desktop client with a VPN is a seedbox. Much easier than a VPN, and can be cheaper too. SAAS so no local client needed, runs 24/7
- Both qBittorent and Deluge are hardly lightweight. Previewing the install of both on two Linux distros shows that both require many other packages to be installed as dependencies.
Too many dependencies qualify as bloatware.For Transmission, besides the mentioned web interface there is also optional remote command line access and a remote gtk interface, which makes it seem really interesting.A better option to a desktop client with a VPN is a seedbox. Much easier than a VPN, and can be cheaper too. SAAS so no local client needed, runs 24/7 - I'll stick to utorrent 2.2.1 o 1.8.5, qtorrent uses 100mb more than utorrent for not doing anything special. And every other client i've tried is the same.
- I've been using BiglyBT myself. It's a client by some of the former Vuze devs, and it's basically Vuze except open source and with no ads or third party software, so it addresses almost all of the the issues mentioned about why Vuze isn't recommended.
- I use Geluge and I'm completely sutisfied
- My friends the webtorrent is the best of the best, just try it!
https://webtorrent.io/desktop/ - qBittorrent is fine but..
Since 4.0 it stopped working with a (fully legal) torrent site.
Described the problem on qBittorrent forum - many views and not one single answer.
So, it's fine when it works. If it stops working, you're on your own. - Currently using BiglyBT, it is ad free and open source.
- Just made up a couple of Tixati packages for Puppy Linux, using the binaries from the 'portable' tarball.I think I shall be switching from Transmission, somehow... I like this; it's neat. Lots of options, yet still pretty lightweight (which suits Puppy's lean'n'mean nature).
- I switched to qBittorrent 2 years ago and I haven't looked back since then!