As of March 1, 2011, multiple torrent download sites have achieved noteworthy status with our About.com readers. The following list is the long version of the
Top 10 list. About.com also offers a
Visual Guide of Top Torrent Sites.
This list is in random order. Special thanks to all the readers who contribute their recommendations so that this list stays current.
CinemaTorrents: this site offers something really unique: IMDB ratings and vote information right on the search page. You can see public opinions on the movie itself before you download.
Isohunt.com Isohunt is a longtime site that has earned both the respect of P2P users everywhere...and the negative attention of the recording industry. While being sued by the CRIA, the Isohunt team continues to provide solid service. The Isohunt community monitors itself for fake files. When choosing your torrents, read the user comments, and only trust those files that have earned multiple green positive replies at Isohunt. Avoid any torrents that have red font numbers and negative comments, and you should be have good experiences at Isohunt.
TorrentZap: TorrentZap is not as large of a catalog as other torrent search engines. And, as with all sites, you need to endure advertising to keep it a no-cost service. But the interface is clean, bright, and easy to navigate. Try this site out, skip past the 'external search results' to find the real torrents at TorrentZap, and let us know what you think.
btscene.com btscene is a longtime player in the file sharing game. This website does have annoying popups and adult advertising, but it does offer a solid library of torrents. It does a good job of featuring very recent torrents (good for people who follow television shows), and presenting many browsing choices at a glance.
Fenopy has some compelling features. Fenopy is fully integrated with IMDB and Last.fm radio, so it offers engaging information for discovering movies and music. A graphics gallery of large and motivating thumbnails adorns the home page, and the
fake finder feature is also very useful for avoiding bad files. Definitely give Fenopy a try.
Gpirate: This site was recommended recently by readers. The site itself is clunky and amateurish-appearing, and the searches can be cumbersome to read around the advertising. But some readers rave about how well Gpirate locates obscure torrent downloads.
YouTorrent.com This site looks very promising, and brings an elegance and functionality that you won't find on most other torrent search sites.
Meganova.org, which has been rebranded as "Seed Peer", is a site with many years of history in the torrent community. Unfortunately, the site seems to have been a target for malware being spread through older versions of Java language. Make sure you have Avira or antivirus software installed and running before you visit this or any torrent site.
BitUnity.org: This newer addition to our list is a private community that allegedly takes very attentive care of its users. If you have 20 minutes to sign up and try Bit Unity, please do, and confirm that this site is as good as some readers claim.
VCDQ.com: VCDQ.com isn't technically a torrent search site; rather, VCDQ specializes in verifying torrents. VCDQ employs a committee of serious users to confirm that torrents do indeed exist for thousands of titles, especially brand new movie releases. Use VCDQ to confirm that a title is available, then copy the torrent name to paste into a search engine like Isohunt.com. Definitely give VCDQ.com a try; this is a great resource for avoiding fake torrent files.
ExtraTorrent.com ExtraTorrent.com is very visual and very busy. But the thumbnails and file information at this site are tremendous. This site is definitely worth trying, as it is very browsing-friendly for discovering movies and music artists.
Torrent Root: as another metasearch engine, Torrent Root will scan through other search engines on your behalf, and display the results in a slick tabbed interface.
Demonoid.com Demonoid is a private community, and members are held liable for any leeching that their invited friends do in this community. If you are lucky enough to get a Demonoid membership, invite your friends carefully, lest you lose your own membership.
Torrentcafe.com This site is quite new, and needs to grow its user base some more. But Torrentcafe comes highly recommended by several About.com readers, so please give it a try and let us know how you like it.
Torrent Tree This search site is written in Ajax code language. Like any metasearch engine, Torrent Tree pulls its results from many other search engines. But Torrent Tree pulls *more* search results than any other current metasearcher. Definitely give this site a try.
BiteNova (formerly known as "Bi-Torrents", BiteNova is a free Torrent site with a spartan look and fast searching format.)
Kick Ass Torrents.com This site is a new favorite with a growing community. The interface is a distinctive earth color, and the search results display in a useful format of columns, including torrent health. The best part of Kick Ass Torrents is their comment and feedback system... the user community watches the quality of torrents, and offers their recommendations and warnings. Kick Ass Torrents could become a very big player in the P2P world of 2010. Check these folks out, and let's see if they grow in user size.
Thunderbytes: As of March 2010, Thunderbytes is a private site that you'll need an invitation to join.
Nowtorrents.com Now Torrents (allegedly) offers a special service: it filters out fake/dead torrents. It also offers date-range searching, so you can search for specific years of content (e.g. Flight of the Conchords, 2008).
Bitsoup Bitsoup is a favorite with some P2P downloaders, but this winter has not been a warm time at the Bitsoup community. There are allegations of draconian forum moderation and heavy-handed administrators being abusive to members. If you try Bitsoup, let us know how they treat you there.
Torrent Funk: Torrent Funk is a very popular torrent search site that now supports commenting. While Torrent Funk also supports 'verified status' tagging, which some people prefer to comments. The interface can be difficult to discern between sponsored ads and the actual torrent links. But the Torrent Funk site layout is pleasing, the cross-movie recommendations are very helpful, and several About.com readers highly recommended Torrent Funk. Give this site a try, and watch if it will grow over time.
Torrentengine.co.cc: a very spartan-looking torrent engine, with fast results and icons that denote verified sources.
Plentyoftorrents: this is a kind of launchpad search engine that offers choices where you want to search. Multiple users have recommended Plentyoftorrents this summer; let us know what you think of this site.
Entertane: An obscure-but-good metasearch engine. Pore through 24 other torrent sites quickly by using Entertane.com. Just be patient when you click the name of each sub-search engine... it takes a few moments to load each result list.
Flixflux: a UK torrent site that is very popular with European downloaders. The advertising is not suitable for young people, and the sponsored links get mixed in with the torrent results. But many UK readers highly recommend this site for movies and music.
Scrapetorrent.com is another torrent meta-search engine that is gaining popularity. The site can be slow to load, but the interface is pleasing, and advertising is kept to a minimum at Scrapetorrent.
BitToxic.com While the name is awkward to type, these folks offer a solid semi-private search site. The memberships might be closed soon, so visit them right away!
LinuxTracker.org (For legal linux torrents and virtual machines.)
Torrentz.com (special thanks to reader, Jonathan R., for this link)
Torrentbit.nl This Netherlands site offers a simple interface and large index of torrents. It also offers a broad selection of European language movies and music.
Blues Brothers: Blues Brothers is a private site with a strong community and file-sharing ethic. As a private site, you can expect the leeching (selfish) users to be reduced. The BB community also strives to police itself by carefully watching each member's upload ratio... if you abuse your ratio, you are blocked from downloading until you donate. This policy may seem a bit harsh, but members seem to really appreciate it.
The Pirate Bay: for years, TPB was the premiere torrent search site. But since April of 2009,
the Swedish courts changed TPB forever. The four Pirate Bay founders were sentenced to a year in prison and $3.5 million USD in fines. Today, the Pirate Bay operates within the technical boundaries of copyright law: not as expansive nor as deep with its new torrent index, but by using meta-linking to other sites, TPB is still an excellent torrent search destination.
Commonbits.com (This new beta search site is dedicated to media on progressive political content: audio, video, photos, reports, transcripts and other files. This is a place for activists to share their message, and for people to learn about other political choices. Unfortunately, the owners have had to move the site because of legal/financial pressures. We hope to see it back soon.)
Alive Torrents Alive Torrents focuses on torrents that have a solid swarm base and an active readership.
Vertor: this torrent service claims to filter out bad torrents, viruses, DRM locks, passwords, and fakes.
Torrents.to This site has a Tonga country domain name, but certainly offers plentiful metasearching of movies and music in English and Spanish. There are some popup advertisements that are annoying, but perhaps you might like the framed interface for searching other torrent sites.
Torrentscan.com Torrentscan is another meta-search engine that provides reliable results. The interface can seem cluttered, but just use the sidebar on the left to narrow your search results.
Torrent Pond Torrentpond.com has been recommended by several users this spring of 2010. As a meta-searcher, Torrentpond will scour other sites for you, attempt to filter out old and fake torrents, and then offer you an easy-to-browse list. You will need to tune out the plentiful advertising and occasional popups, but the site offers very thorough searching in return.
Torrenthound.com Several readers have recommended this search engine. Torrenthound does have adult advertising, so that might be a turn off for many readers. And you will need to scroll past the "sponsored results" to get to the real torrents. But the site does offer many torrents and new releases. If you try this site, let us know your experiences, and if this site should remain on this list.
Zoozle.org: a competent German search engine for finding specific files, cracks, and serials.
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Originally Posted by Mihai
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