µTorrent alternatives

What µTorrent is today

µTorrent (often written uTorrent) is one of the oldest BitTorrent clients. Its official site lists µTorrent Web and µTorrent Classic for Windows and Mac, a new native macOS app called µTorrent Neo, and an Android app. The site says µTorrent is a trademark of BitTorrent Limited.

The free versions are ad-supported. µTorrent's pricing page, checked on November 13, 2026, sells three paid tiers: Ad-Free at $6.95 a year, Pro at $19.95 a year, and Pro+VPN at $69.95 a year, which bundles a year of CyberGhost VPN. Prices may change; see the official page.

Why people leave µTorrent

Ads and install offers in µTorrent

Ads in a program that runs all day are an annoyance. The bigger complaint historically has been partner software offered during installation, which people accept without noticing.

The 2015 EpicScale miner

In March 2015, users reported that µTorrent 3.4.2 build 28913 had installed EpicScale, software that used a computer's spare processing power to mine cryptocurrency. BitTorrent, the company behind µTorrent, had partnered with Epic Scale and described it as a revenue source that also gave some money to charity. Users said they never saw a clear choice to accept or decline. BitTorrent told PCWorld that it had "confirmed there is no silent install happening", that partner software can't install without the user's permission, and that it had received fewer than a dozen inquiries out of several million offers. Either way, people found a miner on their machine they didn't knowingly choose.

The 2018 Project Zero vulnerabilities

Tavis Ormandy of Google's Project Zero reported flaws in both µTorrent Classic and µTorrent Web to BitTorrent on November 27, 2017, and published details in February 2018. According to SecurityWeek's report:

• µTorrent Web ran a local control server on port 19575. Its authentication token could be read from the web root folder, which let an attacker change the download folder and save a file anywhere writable, such as the Windows Startup folder, so it would run at the next boot.
• A technique called DNS rebinding let a malicious website reach that local server from the browser, getting around the same-origin rule that normally stops websites from talking to programs on your computer.
• µTorrent Classic ran a control server on port 10000. A malicious website could read the user's download history, and Ormandy found other weaknesses, including predictable random numbers used for authentication tokens.
• BitTorrent shipped fixes in a 3.5.3 beta of Classic. Ormandy said he bypassed the first fix for µTorrent Web; BitTorrent said it believed all the issues were addressed.

Those specific flaws were patched years ago. People cite them because they show what's at stake: a torrent client runs constantly and opens network ports, so bugs in it can be serious.

Closed source

µTorrent's code isn't public, so outside researchers can't review it the way they can with qBittorrent or Transmission. Open source isn't a guarantee of safety, as the alternatives' own security records below show, but it means problems can be found and fixed in public.

The best µTorrent alternatives

Full details, licenses and release dates are in our torrent client comparison.

How to switch from µTorrent

1. Finish or note your active torrents Write down what you're seeding. Most clients can re-add a torrent and check existing files so you don't download them again.
2. Uninstall µTorrent Use Windows Settings > Apps or the Mac's Applications folder. Then check your installed programs list for anything installed alongside it that you didn't want.
3. Install the new client from its official site qbittorrent.org, transmissionbt.com and biglybt.com are the official sources. qBittorrent publishes signature files and BiglyBT publishes SHA-256 checksums.
4. Review the settings Turn off remote access you don't use, set upload limits and keep update checks on. Our safe torrenting guide covers the rest.