The Pirate Bay used to the be world’s top torrent site, but a string of legal battles means the site is now a shadow of its former self.
If you want some of the best alternatives to The Pirate Bay for free torrents, keep reading.
Downloading Torrents: A Warning
MakeUseOf does not condone using torrents to obtain content illegally. Using the following sites for illegal purposes is done entirely at your own risk. MakeUseOf takes no responsibility for any legal problems you encounter.
In
almost every country in the world, it is illegal to download torrents
of copyright-protected movies, games, TV shows, and music if you do not
already legitimately own the content. Doing so is intellectual property
theft. Using torrents for illegal downloads can put you at risk of
losing your internet connection, receiving a fine, or even getting a
custodial sentence.
RARBG has become one of the most well-established names in the torrenting world. The site focuses on high-quality video releases and has a vast amount of content available.
RARBG also offers a rudimentary but effective way to find new files thanks to its “Top 10” lists across a variety of categories.
The site’s popularity has led to it become one of the most-visited domains on the web. It consistently ranks in the top 350 on Alexa.
1337x
is one of the most well-designed alternatives to The Pirate Bay; you
can easily filter the different types of torrent files using the button
at the bottom of the screen.
The YIFY group (also known as YTS), was a group dedicated to releasing torrents of popular movies. The videos were renowned for being high-quality with small file sizes.
Perhaps predictably, legal action from Motion Picture Association of America saw the group get shut down in 2015. YTS.AM is the rebirth of the YIFY group and is commonly regarded as its natural successor.
Torlock is another great Pirate Bay alternative.
The site offers some of the most reliable torrent downloads. Much of its index was created during a period when users were paid $1 for every fake link they reported—though we can’t see any information that suggests the offer is still in place.
Torlock also claims to offer a strict privacy policy. The developers do not log any of your actions and don’t track you around the web. The same cannot necessarily be said for other torrent download sites.
Lastly, it appears like Torlock is one of the few free torrent sites that care about legality. It promises to respond to all DCMA takedown notices within three days.
KickassTorrents isn’t the site it once was. It’s a far cry from the time when The Pirate Bay and KickassTorrents were duking it out to be the number one torrent site on the web. Indeed, in 2014, KickassTorrents was the most popular torrent site in the world.
The site’s demise began in 2016 after US authorities seized the domain, but it’s since risen from the ashes.
Although the library of torrent files in the site’s index has shrunk from its peak, KickassTorrents remains a reliable site that’s easy to navigate and download the files that you need.
Another
site that’s grown in popularity over the last couple of years,
LimeTorrents is definitely worth checking out if you’re struggling to
find a particular torrent that you want.
Navigation is straightforward—there are filters for Movies, Music, TV shows, Games, Apps, and Anime, as well as specialist tools such as top torrent lists, a cloud search, and torrent health trackers.
Zooqle is a relative newcomer on the list of best torrent sites, but it’s become instantly popular thanks to its 4.2 million verified torrents, 6.9 PB of data, and a solid mix of software and video content.
Perhaps uniquely, the Zooqle community of users has played a significant role in the way the site looks and behaves. The result is an easy-to-navigate home page and—for anyone who creates an account—live RSS feeds and subscriptions.
Music lovers should check out the content available on Torrentz2.eu. The metasearch engine combines results from dozens of search engines to offer you an extensive list of files.
Of course, the Torrentz brand name has been around for more than a decade. It was the second most popular torrent site on the web in both 2012 and 2015 before being shut down.
Today, this Pirate Bay alternative keep a low profile and specializes in audio files.
If you want added security, Torrentz2 is also available as an onion site through the Tor router.
Like the YIFY group, EZTV was a group that created torrent files and made them available on other popular torrent sites.
When KickassTorrents ran into legal difficulties, EZTV decided to take the operation in-house and launched its own alternative to The Pirate Bay.
From a design standpoint, the site is not as easy to use as some of its rivals; it is the quality and variety of the torrents that keeps people coming back.
Formerly
known as Torrents.me, the site acts as an aggregator for many of the
other best torrent sites on the web. It includes results from The Pirate
Bay, 1337x, RARBG, and more.
Uniquely, Torrents.io offers search trends for various torrents on charts of the homepage. The data gives you some fresh insight into the most popular torrents in the world at any given moment.
You should always use a VPN when downloading torrents. We recommend ExpressVPN and CyberGhost.Source: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-6-torrent-alternatives-to-pirate-bay-downloads/
Honorable mention:
The Pirate Bay
There are several mirrors available, and not sure all of these are updated. You may just find lots of old torrents. But the sheer volume is another source.https://thepirate-bay.org/home16
1. RARBG
RARBG has become one of the most well-established names in the torrenting world. The site focuses on high-quality video releases and has a vast amount of content available.
RARBG also offers a rudimentary but effective way to find new files thanks to its “Top 10” lists across a variety of categories.
The site’s popularity has led to it become one of the most-visited domains on the web. It consistently ranks in the top 350 on Alexa.
2. 1337x.to
The site has
endured various legal battles. It’s not been available in Google Search
results since a 2015 request from Feelgood Entertainment. It is,
however, still searchable through privacy-focused search engines like DuckDuckGo.
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1337x.to has developed a reputation for providing access to obscure and hard-to-find torrents.
3. YTS.AM
The YIFY group (also known as YTS), was a group dedicated to releasing torrents of popular movies. The videos were renowned for being high-quality with small file sizes.
Perhaps predictably, legal action from Motion Picture Association of America saw the group get shut down in 2015. YTS.AM is the rebirth of the YIFY group and is commonly regarded as its natural successor.
4. TorLock
Torlock is another great Pirate Bay alternative.
The site offers some of the most reliable torrent downloads. Much of its index was created during a period when users were paid $1 for every fake link they reported—though we can’t see any information that suggests the offer is still in place.
Torlock also claims to offer a strict privacy policy. The developers do not log any of your actions and don’t track you around the web. The same cannot necessarily be said for other torrent download sites.
Lastly, it appears like Torlock is one of the few free torrent sites that care about legality. It promises to respond to all DCMA takedown notices within three days.
5. KickassTorrents
KickassTorrents isn’t the site it once was. It’s a far cry from the time when The Pirate Bay and KickassTorrents were duking it out to be the number one torrent site on the web. Indeed, in 2014, KickassTorrents was the most popular torrent site in the world.
The site’s demise began in 2016 after US authorities seized the domain, but it’s since risen from the ashes.
Although the library of torrent files in the site’s index has shrunk from its peak, KickassTorrents remains a reliable site that’s easy to navigate and download the files that you need.
6. LimeTorrents
Navigation is straightforward—there are filters for Movies, Music, TV shows, Games, Apps, and Anime, as well as specialist tools such as top torrent lists, a cloud search, and torrent health trackers.
7. Zooqle
Zooqle is a relative newcomer on the list of best torrent sites, but it’s become instantly popular thanks to its 4.2 million verified torrents, 6.9 PB of data, and a solid mix of software and video content.
Perhaps uniquely, the Zooqle community of users has played a significant role in the way the site looks and behaves. The result is an easy-to-navigate home page and—for anyone who creates an account—live RSS feeds and subscriptions.
8. Torrentz2
Music lovers should check out the content available on Torrentz2.eu. The metasearch engine combines results from dozens of search engines to offer you an extensive list of files.
Of course, the Torrentz brand name has been around for more than a decade. It was the second most popular torrent site on the web in both 2012 and 2015 before being shut down.
Today, this Pirate Bay alternative keep a low profile and specializes in audio files.
If you want added security, Torrentz2 is also available as an onion site through the Tor router.
9. EZTV
Like the YIFY group, EZTV was a group that created torrent files and made them available on other popular torrent sites.
When KickassTorrents ran into legal difficulties, EZTV decided to take the operation in-house and launched its own alternative to The Pirate Bay.
From a design standpoint, the site is not as easy to use as some of its rivals; it is the quality and variety of the torrents that keeps people coming back.
10. Torrents.io
Uniquely, Torrents.io offers search trends for various torrents on charts of the homepage. The data gives you some fresh insight into the most popular torrents in the world at any given moment.
Foreign Language Torrents
If English isn’t your primary language, don’t worry. Here are three non-English torrent sites:- Mejor Torrent (Spanish): The user interface isn’t great, but with 25 million users it’s comfortably the most popular Spanish torrent site in the world.
- LostFilmTV (Russian): Despite the English-sounding name, LostFilmTV is the most popular torrent site for Russian content after the closure of Rutracker.
- Torrent9 (French): Torrent9 boasts more than two million French torrents. It’s popular in France, Belgium, and Canada.
The Best Pirate Bay Alternative
The 10 sites in our list should be enough to find the torrent that you want. But which is the best Pirate Bay alternative? It’s not an easy choice—torrent sites are continually changing and evolving. If we had to pick, we’d say the design and number of torrents on 1337x give it the edge.You should always use a VPN when downloading torrents. We recommend ExpressVPN and CyberGhost.Source: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-6-torrent-alternatives-to-pirate-bay-downloads/
Honorable mention:
The Pirate Bay
There are several mirrors available, and not sure all of these are updated. You may just find lots of old torrents. But the sheer volume is another source.https://thepirate-bay.org/home16
