The best torrenting VPN in 2025

Using one of the best torrenting VPNs is an absolute must if you're planning on downloading anything through a peer-to-peer sharing network. This is because when you're connected to a torrent, everyone else who is on that network can see your IP address – leaving you vulnerable to surveillance, and even potential attacks from hackers.

Being connected to one of the best VPNs fixes all of this. By changing your IP address, no one can link what you're downloading to you. What's more, if you're unlucky enough to be targeted by an attack – usually a DDoS attack – the VPN server will bear the brunt of it, keeping you safe.

My team of experts and I have got hands-on with dozens of top providers, and here I've rounded up the five best VPNs for torrenting. They're fast, super secure, and generally fairly affordable. Take your pick the top three just below, or keep scrolling for my in-depth analysis of all the featured VPNs.

The top 3 best torrenting VPNs at a glance

1. Private Internet Access – the best torrenting VPN
PIA is full of expert-level features that make it perfect for torrenting, but still maintains a fairly intuitive layout that everyone except total beginners will be able to understand. It offers excellent privacy, and every plan can be used on an unlimited number of devices. Prices are very appealing, starting from around $2 per month, and there's also a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can try before you commit.

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2. NordVPN – the best VPN overall
NordVPN is our top-rated VPN overall, and while it doesn't have the dedicated torrenting features that PIA does, it's more than capable of keeping you private when you torrent. It's incredibly fast, has tons of servers worldwide, and also comes with extra features like malware blocking and cyber insurance. Prices start from $3.39 per month, and there's a 30-day money-back guarantee.

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3. ExpressVPN – the best torrenting VPN for beginners
ExpressVPN is the perfect choice if you're new to VPNs or torrenting. The interface is super simple, but there are no sacrifices made in terms of functionality or privacy features, and with servers in 105 countries, there's bound to be a fast server near you. Prices start at $4.99 per month, which includes three free months for Tom's Guide readers, and you'll have a month to claim a refund if you want.

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My expert list of 2025's best torrenting VPNs:

Private Internet Access: the best torrenting VPN overall

Private Internet Access comes out on top as the best torrenting VPN, thanks to its stellar P2P support. This comes along with excellent streaming power and some nifty extra features – which you can learn more about in our Private Internet Access review.

If torrenting is your top priority, PIA is your best choice thanks to its 10,000+ server network and robust P2P-features. Every server supports torrenting, and there are no bandwidth restrictions, meaning you'll always be able to hop on and download without configuring anything.. For US-based torrenting aficionados, you'll be pleased to know PIA also has a server in every mainland US state.

If you're concerned about your NAT firewall being a problem when using your VPN to torrent, PIA's port forwarding feature can redirect connections around your the firewall, ensuring that your torrenting speeds stay as fast as possible. It should be noted, however, that this is something that should only be used by those who understand the risks, as doing so may open you up to further threats.

PIA offers a robust kill switch that was rock solid in our testing, and split tunneling so you can route your torrents through the VPN while keeping your regular browsing unaffected.

If you're looking for a VPN that has tons of features, it'll interest you to know that in our testing, PIA stood out as one of the most configurable VPNs with settings for every option imaginable, including server location, encryption level and more.

However, this high level of customization can make it trickier to navigate for those new to VPNs. PIA has tons of handy guides to help you out, as well as 24/7 professional support, but providers like ExpressVPN as far simpler to use.

Connection speeds also aren't the greatest, peaking at 436 Mbps when using WireGuard and 257 Mbps when using OpenVPN. However, if you're not using a gigabit connection, you're unlikely to see any difference.

PIA's key attraction, though, is its excellent value for money and unlimited simultaneous connections. For around two dollars a month, you can use PIA to cover any number of devices and device types.

Thankfully, there has been no evident cost-cutting on the security front. PIA has proven its no-logs policy in court twice, and releases transparency reports every quarter with a record of every time they've been asked to provide logs, and every time they've not provided these logs (because they do not exist). PIA is also fully open-source – just like Proton VPN – meaning you can inspect its code anytime to reassure yourself of its privacy.

As I mentioned earlier, PIA's one of the best streaming VPNs, unblocking everything we tested it with in our review.

PIA also offers an industry-standard 30-day money-back guarantee. While it's not a slick as some others, PIA is a good-value torrenting VPN that has a lot of features that will appeal to dedicated torrenters.

NordVPN: the fastest torrenting VPN

NordVPN is our top VPN overall, and it's pretty great when it comes to torrenting, too. In my NordVPN review, I found it to be almost as good as PIA for torrenting and one of the most secure VPNs out there. This is thanks to its DNS leak blocking, zero-logs policy, powerful encryption, protocol selections and two kill switches.

It also comes out on top when it comes to privacy thanks to features like Double VPN, which routes your online traffic through two severs instead out one, encrypting it twice and ensuring your data remains private at all times. You also have the option to retain even more anonymity when signing up for NordVPN, as you can pay via cryptocurrency. On top of this, NordVPN allows you to access the Tor network without having to download the browser, thanks to its Onion over VPN feature.

While not all servers are P2P supported, there are hundreds in the US, UK, and plenty more across the globe that do support torrents. Plus, since the VPN will connect you to the best P2P server in your location when it detects torrenting traffic, the process is painless too.

With more servers than rivals ExpressVPN and Surfshark, combined with a streaming-focused SmartPlay feature (which evades the VPN blocks put in place by various streaming sites) and peak speeds of over 950 Mbps as per my recent testing, NordVPN is an excellent choice for streaming – as well as one of the fastest VPNs for torrenting I've tested.

NordVPN’s WireGuard-based NordLynx protocol further adds to the overall speed and lagless experience. What's more, the recent introduction of Threat Protection Pro means that those if you're using Windows or Mac, you can stay protected from malware and malicious websites all the time – even when you're not connected to the VPN.

NordVPN has recently undergone its fourth no-logs policy audit, independently verifying that NordVPN does not save any user data. NordVPN is also proactive in finding any security issues within its apps with a bug bounty program that encourages users to find and report any problems they do find.

Nothing is perfect, though, and that goes for NordVPN too. Compared to PIA, Nord's choice to limit you to 10 simultaneous connections seems a bit tightfisted.

Overall, NordVPN is a delight for privacy purists. The service prides itself on foolproof security, with top-of-the-line encryption and security measures, including a built-in antivirus and blockers to keep irritating ads, pop-ups, and malware at bay.

ExpressVPN: the easiest torrenting VPN to use

ExpressVPN is one of the easiest VPNs to use, but this doesn't mean it's not also a powerful torrenting VPN. This comes as no surprise to me, as in my ExpressVPN review I found the VPN to be great all-rounder.

Focusing on torrenting first, just like Private Internet Access, every one of ExpressVPN's servers are optimized for torrenting. This means there's no fuss when getting protected – just set and forget.

You'll get both a kill switch and split tunneling, and combined with a strict, independently audited policy of no activity or connection logs, it offers a very complete torrenting package.

ExpressVPN is fast, but the likes of Surfshark and NordVPN are a little faster. Still, with average download speeds of around 898 Mbps, I had no trouble downloading large files in my recent round of testing.

As one of the best services when it comes to streaming, ExpressVPN unblocks just about everything, from popular streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video to niche libraries and services like 10Play. This is made possible by its wide network of servers around the globe, with 26 server locations in the Asia-Pacific region alone, for example.

ExpressVPN's auto-connect feature gets you up and running in a flash, making it perfect for both VPN veterans and newbies. This goes for its 24/7 friendly support and straightforward app interfaces, too.

The overall package is ideal for small families or individuals with multiple devices – no matter the device type – but those looking to cover a large number of devices on a single subscription might be better off considering Surfshark or PIA.

There's one main area where ExpressVPN falls down, and that's price. It's at least double the price of all the other providers on this list, while not necessarily outdoing them in every area.

However, in the last year or so, ExpressVPN has massively expanded what you get. On the base subscription – which starts at $4.99 per month – you get the VPN, alongside a password manager, Threat Manager, and Identity Defender, which includes ID theft insurance and data broker removal.

This goes a long way to justifying the slightly higher price, and is arguably better value than NordVPN's upper tiers of subscription – if you'll actually use everything on offer. If you want to give ExpressVPN a test run, there's a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Best of the rest

You may have heard of the super-secure email service, Proton Mail. It likely won't surprise you, then, that Proton's VPN (aptly named Proton VPN) is similarly secure. In my Proton VPN review I was pleasantly surprised to find that its becoming a bit of a rising star, starting to rival the behemoths of the VPN industry.

Proton is clearly targeted at a more VPN-savvy crowd – ExpressVPN will appeal to newbies more than Proton VPN will – but it's still more than simple enough to use for most.

If you value privacy above everything else, you'll be happy to know that Proton VPN does too. Based in Switzerland and as a result protected by its strict privacy laws, Proton VPN also gets an edge by being outside both US and EU jurisdiction and not a member of the '14 Eyes' surveillance network.

With 11,000 regular servers in 117 countries, Proton VPN now has one of the widest server networks. Similarly to NordVPN, not every Proton server is suitable for torrenting, but at the time of writing, the only countries without at least one P2P server were Georgian and Myanmar. Better-served regions like most of Europe and North America have hundreds of torrenting servers to choose from.

Proton's Secure Core servers take the multi-hop feature offered by other VPNs to another level, routing your internet traffic through secure locations like Iceland, Switzerland or Sweden before connecting you to the destination of your choice.

This ensures that absolutely no-one, whether this is hackers, ISPs or governments, can get even a glimpse of your personal information or activity logs. It is important to note, however, that the price for this feature is speed. Additionally, it is an unnecessary step for most users.

On that note, Proton VPN's WireGuard speeds are on par with that of NordVPN and Surfshark, topping out at over 950 Mbps when using WireGuard and 220 Mbps when using OpenVPN in our speed tests. It also employs a proprietary VPN Accelerator technology that claims to boost server speeds by up to 400%, although if I'm honest, I've never seen much difference when this is enabled.

With a kill switch, an advanced split tunneling system, and fully audited and open-source apps, all of these factors come together to make Proton VPN a very compelling VPN for torrenting – and it also offers one of the best free VPNs (although this doesn't support torrenting).

CyberGhost clearly prioritizes torrenting, with the VPN automatically configuring itself to deliver the best torrenting experience. This is such a benefit that in my CyberGhost review, I noted that this specialization is one of this VPN provider's best features.

This features means there's no messing around with configurations, protocols or server selection to get the best P2P experience. Instead, CyberGhost takes control and optimizes the experience for you. It even has a big 'Torrent Anonymously' button for an idiot-proof, one-click set-up.

A feature I'd like to see in every torrenting VPN is CyberGhost's App Protection. This feature means you can configure the VPN to automatically connect to a server of your choice when you launch a particular app.

In practice, the app in question will be your torrent client, and once you've set that up, you won't even need to open CyberGhost to get protected.

While it doesn't quite measure up to PIA, CyberGhost has a network of 9,000 servers. This puts it above both ExpressVPN and NordVPN, and a little behind Proton VPN. With these 9,000 servers spread out across 100 countries, you can be pretty certain that you'll be able to connect to a server, no matter where you are.

Be aware, though, that server count shouldn't be a huge factor in your decision – providers like ExpressVPN are incredibly reliable despite only having a few thousand servers. Quality over quantity.

One of CyberGhost’s core attractions is its ease of use, thanks to its very navigable interface and intuitive design, paired with decent – although hardly class-leading – support resources.

With industry-standard AES-256 encryption and a range of VPN protocols, an intuitive kill switch, blockers for ads and trackers, and a no-logs policy audited by Deloitte, CyberGhost does very well as far as user security and privacy are concerned.

In my last review, we found that CyberGhost had improved when it came to unblocking streaming sites like Netflix and BBC iPlayer. This is great news, but I'm hesitant to fully back CyberGhost as one of the best VPNs for streaming due to its previously poor track record.

That said, CyberGhost delivered decent speeds, with the WireGuard and OpenVPN connections peaking at 950 Mbps and 165 Mbps respectively.

Overall, CyberGhost is a good VPN, however with it being priced similarly to PIA but delivering slightly less means it's hard to recommend it instead. However, CyberGhost does offer a lengthy 45-day money-back guarantee, so there's plenty of time to test it out if you fancy giving it a go.

Tested by

These experts have tested and reviewed all the best torrenting VPNs on this page:

Mo Harber-Lamond

Mo is VPN Editor at Tom's Guide. He's covered VPNs since 2020, and in that time he has helped test, rank and review over 100 providers. Mo handles the day-to-day testing of VPNs, making sure that they work for real people in real situations – including torrenting testing. He also undertakes ongoing streaming testing to make sure these services can unblock everything they claim, and produces video content to discuss and demonstrate the software.

Anthony Spadafora

Anthony Spadafora is the Senior Security and Networking Editor at Tom’s Guide where he covers everything from data breaches and malware to password managers. He also undertakes VPN testing for Tom's Guide and TechRadar, which includes running all of our US-based speed tests.

VPN speed testing – my results

Speed is crucial when it comes to torrenting larger files if you don't want to risk this activity to become a painful slow nightmare. As an independent reviewer, I regularly test all the top VPN services across different servers and protocols to check for myself the speed they are capable of delivering.

In my review process I test every VPN software on a 1Gbps line. I measure the speeds with a number of tools, including the Ookla SpeedTest website and CLI, nPerf, Netflix's Fast and others. I then take the average (median) of each tool's results to generate an accurate range of speeds. I repeat these tests morning and evening to ensure accuracy. Below are the speed results during my last round of testing:

How to choose a VPN for torrenting

Ultimately, your specific use case will determine which VPN is your perfect match. In addition to torrenting, do you plan on streaming? Or are you looking for a speedy service that can keep up with online gaming? Either way, there are a few factors to keep in mind when shopping around.

First of all, make sure that your chosen provider allows P2P activity on most, if not all, of its servers. This refers to the support for the decentralized peer-to-peer network that allows sharing bigger files (torrents) between two or more computers — more on this in the FAQs below. Thankfully all the providers on this page permit torrenting through their servers.

Excellent privacy and security features should come next – after all, what's the point of using a torrenting VPN if it leaks your data or drops connections mid-download?

Speed is also crucial. If you're downloading a torrent with few seeders, you don't want to be slowed down even more by a sluggish VPN.

Finally, if you think you'll use them, extra features like port forwarding may be useful. However, we recommend only activating these features if you know what you're doing, as improper usage can result in inferior protection.

How we test the best torrenting VPNs

Every VPN that I recommend – and many that I don't – have been tested and reviewed in-house by the VPN team. We have a detailed outline of how we test VPNs, but here's the short version.

We don't just copy and paste the info given on a VPN's website and declare the provider with the most impressive claims the best. Rather, we hand-test each one, making sure they fulfil what they say they can do.

We start off by checking over the website, and installing the VPN on our test devices. The Windows application is the first to been inspected – as this is where the most features are likely to be – we'll try to break the kill switch, ensure any leak protection is working correctly, and measure connection speeds. The other apps see comprehensive testing, too, as we check every available setting across the board to ensure it's functioning as promised by the provider.

Due the popularity of using VPNs for torrenting, we also test each VPN's performance when downloading files that are shared P2P. Of course, we don't download copyrighted content – and nor should you – but our process gives us a hands-on experience of what each provider is like for torrenting.

As we use the apps, if anything appears to be behaving strangely we'll investigate that. We look at the code, check what's being stored in RAM, and generally leave no stone unturned. This overall usage stage is also informs how we rate each app in terms of usability and aesthetics.

From speed results and streaming unlocking capabilities, to customer support and app usability, we regularly make sure to test every aspect of the software that could affect the experience of our readers. In the case of torrenting VPNs, I especially focused my testing on downloading speeds.

Best torrenting VPN FAQ