iRadar: The 5 Best Torrent Clients For Linux

Sunday, December 12, 2010

The 5 Best Torrent Clients For Linux

best torrent client BitTorrent is a fast, reliable and fairly straightforward way to download files large and small. We’ve got a guide right here. Whether you’re regularly downloading meaty Linux distributions or simply prefer to try-before-you-buy, you’ll be needing a decent torrent client to keep your downloads in check.

Windows users have the luxury of uTorrent, which (in my opinion, at least) is pretty much unbeatable if you’re using Bill’s operating system. Unfortunately there’s no uTorrent for Linux, but there are a few decent alternatives.

Here is MakeUseOf’s round-up of the five best Torrent clients for the Linux operating system.

qBitTorrent

As I’ve already mentioned there’s no official uTorrent client for Linux, but qBitTorrent attempts to fill the gap. The goal of the volunteer-led project is to provide a uTorrent-like client on the Linux platform.

best torrent client

Written in C++, qBitTorrent provides a familiar and speedy interface complete with an in-built search engine for those hard to find downloads. There’s a whole host of usual features including support for encryption, uPnP, IPv6 and RSS.

You can also remotely control qBitTorrent with the web UI. For anyone searching for that replacement for uTorrent on the Linux platform – look no further.

To install qBitTorrent on Ubuntu enter the following into the Terminal:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:hydr0g3n/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install qbittorrent

Transmission (GNOME)

For anyone using the Ubuntu distribution, Transmission will be a familiar client. This is the default bundled client, and for good reason too.

bit torrent client

Transmission (which is also written in C++) is a basic-yet-functional torrent solution that has a number of powerful features. The client can be configured to watch certain directories, useful in conjunction with Dropbox. Encryption is supported as well as the blacklisting of known “bad” IP addresses.

The lack of RSS support and a slightly cumbersome UI are the only real drawbacks to this more than capable torrent client, which is built for simplicity.

Vuze

Formerly Azureus, Vuze is the only client in this list written in Java. Unfortunately, Java applications are notoriously resource-intensive and Vuze probably isn’t ideal for those of you using older computers.

bit torrent client

If you’ve got the resources to spare, then Vuze makes for a feature-loaded client declaring itself “the most powerful BitTorrent app on earth”. The team have literally covered everything, with full web UI, encryption, RSS support, IPv6, a fantastic search engine, HD-video playback and more.

Vuze is more than a BitTorrent client, with support for transferring to mobile devices including support for Android, iOS and Blackberry devices as well as Xbox 360, PS3, TiVO and Apple TV.

To install Vuze on Ubuntu enter the following into the Terminal:

sudo apt-get install vuze

Deluge (GNOME)

Popular amongst Mac users, Deluge is a cross-platform torrent client that’s also compatible with Linux and Windows. It provides a lightweight interface written in Python and C++ for the GTK+ window manager that is reminiscent of Windows client uTorrent.

bit torrent client

Using libtorrent for its backend, and a choice of frontend interfaces including the GUI, web UI and console, Deluge is another client that packs in the features. There’s full support for encryption, magnet links, uPnP, IPv6 and support for plugins.

We’ve raved about it before, and that’s because Deluge is a powerful, clean and attractive choice for your download needs.

To install Deluge on Ubuntu enter the following into the Terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deluge-team/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install deluge

KTorrent (KDE)

Written for the KDE interface, KTorrent is the client of choice for Kubuntu and many other KDE-based distributions. Generally considered the most feature-rich KDE torrent solution, KTorrent has the usual bells and whistles that make for a top torrent client.

best torrent client

There’s encryption, RSS support, search, magnet links, uPnP, and remote torrent control via the usual web UI. If you like the look of Deluge, but prefer KDE to GNOME then KTorrent is probably the answer.

Provided with Kubuntu, to install on Ubuntu type the following into Terminal:

sudo apt-get install ktorrent

Other Clients

These clients didn’t quite make the list, but if you’re still searching then maybe you could try:

rTorrent

A console-based BitTorrent client for Linux, useful if you spend much of your time slaving over a hot command line.

BitStorm Lite

A lightweight BitTorrent client that lacks many of the features mentioned in this article. Reminiscent of the original classic BitTorrent client, written for GNOME.

Do you have a favourite BitTorrent client for the Linux platform? Perhaps you miss uTorrent a little too much? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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