Comparison of torrent client programs

Last week I have been in trouble with torrents. I have tried more than a few clients and I’ve come to a conclusion that only one is working well.

Torrent clients I’ve tested:

  1. uTorrent
  2. Azureus Vuze
  3. Transmission
  4. Deluge
  5. qBittorrent

1. First I had uTorrent. While I was satisfied with the options (there are a lot!), for the newer free versions they have decided to bloat it with animated adds on top and the left of app window. Also there is no Linux client version, only the server one exists. However, although it works fine, I have found it to sometimes take up all the router’s connections – which blocks the router capability completely and left me without internet.

Pros: Ease of use, lots of options, fast, low on memoryCons: Adware, bug that takes up all router’s connections, propriatery.

2. On Linux I had Transmission. While it worked really well, it is way to simple and lacks options that other clients have. However, I have found that I can use it on NAS with openmediavault, which is great. There is also a Windows and a MAC versions, but I have never tested them.

Pros: Ease of use, fast, low on memory, clean and opensource, available for all the platforms
Cons: Lack of options

3. Vuze – very robust, filled with options and works like it is supposed to. While I could not find a bug in it, I must mention that it uses system resources the most, by far. It is written in Java, so that was to be expected, but the developers have decided to add options that nobody really needs, and uses other programs for that (example being media player). Menus and using it is so unintuitive that it was going on my nerves.

Pros: works well, works on every platform
Cons: slow, bloated, proprietary, needs Java, unintuitive GUI

4. Then I have discovered Deluge. It was simple, easy to use, looked like a clone of uTorrent, opensource, has versions for Linux and Windows both. But there is a great but… torrents tend to hang and it does not know how to continue. Torrent program that does not do the only thing it is supposed to? I don’t think so. Not to mention that it has a bug that causes it to crash from time to time.

Pros: ease of use, exists for Windows and Linux, opensourceCons: crashes, torrents hang

5. Last but not the least – qBittorrent. This is so far the only one that is worth using. The menu is similar to the one uTorrent uses (Bittorrent as well). I have not found any problems with it. Proper GUI, lots of options, works well, light and it is opensource.

Pros: Everything,
Cons: GUI is not pretty

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