Comparison of BitTorrent clients
The following is a general comparison of BitTorrent clients, which are computer programs designed for peer-to-peer file sharing using the BitTorrent protocol.
The BitTorrent protocol coordinates segmented file transfer among peers connected in a swarm. A BitTorrent client enables a user to exchange data as a peer in one or more swarms. Because BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer communications protocol that does not need a server, the BitTorrent definition of client differs from the conventional meaning expressed in the client–server model.
Bram Cohen, author of the BitTorrent protocol, made the first BitTorrent client, which he also called BitTorrent, and published it in July 2001.
Many BitTorrent programs are open-source software; others are freeware, adware or shareware. Some download managers, such as FlashGet and GetRight, are BitTorrent-ready. Opera 12, a web browser, can also transfer files via BitTorrent.
In 2013 Thunder Networking Technologies publicly revealed that some of their employees surreptitiously distributed a Trojan horse with certain releases of Xunlei, the company's BitTorrent-ready download manager. Xunlei is included in the comparison tables.
Applications
General
Operating system support
Interface and programming
Features I
Features II
Vulnerabilities
This comparison of unpatched publicly known vulnerabilities in latest stable version clients is based on vulnerabilities reports by and . See computer security for more details about the importance of unpatched known flaws.Libraries
; General| BitTorrent library | First public release date | Latest stable | Software license |
| libtorrent | BSD licenses | ||
| MonoTorrent | MIT/X11 | ||
| rTorrent | GNU GPLv2 | ||
| BitTorrent library | First public release date | Latest stable | Software license |
; Operating system support and programming language
| BitTorrent library | Linux/Unix | Windows | OS X | API | Programming language |
| libtorrent | C++ | ||||
| MonoTorrent | C# | ||||
| rTorrent | C++ | ||||
| BitTorrent library | Linux/Unix | Windows | OS X | API | Programming language |
; Supported features 1
| BitTorrent library | Super-seeding | Tracker | UPnP | NAT Port Mapping Protocol | NAT traversal | DHT | Peer exchange | Encryption | UDP tracker | LPD | Fast extensions | Magnet URI | μTP |
| libtorrent | |||||||||||||
| MonoTorrent | |||||||||||||
| rTorrent | |||||||||||||
| BitTorrent library | Super-seeding | Tracker | UPnP | NAT Port Mapping Protocol | NAT traversal | DHT | Peer exchange | Encryption | UDP tracker | LPD | Fast extensions | Magnet URI | μTP |
; Supported features 2
| BitTorrent library | Cache | Web seeding | WebTorrent | Broadcatching | Prioritization | Selective downloads | SOCKS | Remote control via web | Engine | Notes |
| libtorrent | ||||||||||
| MonoTorrent | ||||||||||
| rTorrent | No built-in cache-disk cache but a delayed sync | |||||||||
| BitTorrent library | Cache | Web seeding | WebTorrent | Broadcatching | Prioritization | Selective downloads | SOCKS | Remote control via web | Engine | Notes |