The 3 Best VPNs For Torrenting of 2025

Mullvad is the best VPN for torrenting that we've tested. As a company, it's well-regarded for its transparency, privacy practices, corporate governance, and approach to digital rights. Mullvad has an unusual registration process where, instead of creating an account with an email address and password, you get a random account number, which you use as your only login credential. This means that none of your personal information can be tied to your IP address, so even if law enforcement gets hold of their customer data, they'll only see the random account numbers. You can use various payment options, including cryptocurrencies and cash in the mail. It also has a flat-rate pricing model of €5 (~$5 USD) per month, no matter how long you subscribe.

Underneath its intuitive interface, it's built on strong technology that can help keep you anonymous while you torrent. It effectively keeps your IP address hidden from third parties like your ISP, and it has a functional kill switch that prevents unencrypted data from leaking outside the tunnel in case your device restarts or the client crashes. On top of its base functionality, it comes with some handy features. Obfuscation can help you get around censors that block access to websites and services that disallow VPNs, and DAITA (defense against AI-guided traffic analysis), which makes it harder for third parties to find identifiable patterns in your encrypted traffic. It's not all upside, however. Mullvad doesn't support port forwarding, which can increase the number of peers you can connect to, potentially increasing how fast your torrents download. Also, while it supports split tunneling, you can only disable the VPN for certain apps, and you might miss being able to configure only your torrent client to go through the tunnel while the rest of your traffic is unencrypted. If you need these features and more, check out our pick below.

Proton VPN is your next best choice if you're looking for more features than our top pick. Like Mullvad, Proton has a strong reputation for privacy and transparency. It also includes some convenient extras that Mullvad lacks. You can connect up to 10 devices simultaneously, and it offers servers in over 100 countries. This extensive server network allows you to choose one closer to you for a better connection.

Proton VPN supports port forwarding, an essential feature if you want to connect to peers who don't have any ports open, likely increasing how fast your torrents download. You can also enable split tunneling for certain apps, like your torrent client, so you can only have your torrent traffic going through your VPN while the rest of your device's traffic remains unencrypted. Like Mullvad, Proton also includes obfuscation, making your VPN traffic harder to detect, an integrated ad blocker, and a 'Secure-Core' feature that routes your traffic through Proton's own secure servers before reaching your selected country server.

However, Proton VPN isn't without drawbacks. Its latency performance can be disappointing, which can noticeably affect responsiveness, particularly for activities such as gaming. Price-wise, Proton VPN is significantly more expensive than Mullvad if you pay monthly, but it's a few bucks cheaper if you buy a one-year or two-year subscription. It's a good pick if you need those extra features, but if you don't (or aren't sure), you're better off going with Mullvad.

Hotspot Shield Free is the best free VPN for torrenting we've tested. You can easily download the client from their website and start using it without creating an account. This means there's no personal data tied to your IP address when downloading or using the software, so it's well-suited to protect your identity while torrenting. Unlike many other free VPNs, it has no data limits and provides decent speeds with the Wireguard protocol, although it typically maxes out around 100Mbps. You can install and use it on as many devices as you want because it can't identify you or your devices with a login. That said, its kill switch isn't reliable, meaning it leaks some unencrypted traffic if you restart your device or after a software crash, so it's important to take appropriate additional security steps, like binding your torrent client to the VPN connection. It also lacks transparency and an affirmative stance on digital rights compared to our top picks and has an opaque corporate ownership structure. If that's not important to you, this VPN does the trick.

However, if you want a VPN with better transparency and a stronger privacy track record and don't mind a monthly data limit, Windscribe Free is the better alternative. It's an independently owned service boasting a solid reputation and an active community. Creating an account with an email address grants you 10GB of data per month, or you can opt for a username-only signup for 2GB per month. You can also access servers in ten countries, more than Hotspot Shield Free's three.