Reminder: Always Use a VPN When Torrenting

Before getting started, it is absolutely vital for anyone planning to use any torrent service to make sure they have connected to a VPN first.

In recent years, torrenting sites have attracted the attention of copyright trolls and even attorneys for major Hollywood studios and television networks due to the immediate availability of copyrighted content.

This has led to the closure of many torrent sites, including the first incarnation of Yify.

These legal issues have also impacted users as well. A quick online search will ensure that Torrent users who have received legal notices, their ISP have disconnected their Internet connection, and even faced fines and other criminal actions due to their torrent.

Anyone using a Torrent site needs to protect themselves from these potential repercussions, and the best way to do this is to use a VPN.

A VPN encrypts everything you do online and also helps obfuscate your identity.

This makes it almost impossible to link your torrent activity to your own Internet connection and thus helps you stay safe online.

Disclaimer: We do not tolerate breaking the law here at Addictive Tips. Torrent downloading is a public act that opens your IP address until it is tracked by copyright holders, which can lead to users being identified and prosecuted for violating copyright laws, including fines or prison.

The Best VPNs for Torrents

Choosing the best VPN for torrenting may seem like a difficult decision. There are many VPNs out there and almost all of them claim to be the best for torrents.

But the fact is, some are much better than others. When choosing a VPN to protect you by torrenting files, we recommend that you look for one that offers:

• Strong encryption
• Reliable privacy policies, which do not include user records
• Fast connection speeds
• No bandwidth restrictions
• Kill Switch Capability
• A large network of servers.

We’ve tested the market to see which VPNs all of these boxes can tick and also deliver high-quality service across multiple torrent sites, here is our list:

1. IPVanish

IPVanish is one of the biggest and best VPNs on the market and when it comes to torrents there simply is no better one.

Its encryption is as good as possible, with the L2TP and OpenVPN protocols using 256-bit encryption as standard.

Other great security features include a kill switch, shared IP addresses, and the ability to periodically change the IP address.

IPVanish does not retain user records or connection records and has absolutely no restrictions on bandwidth or data usage.

Crucial for torrenting, they offer all of this along with some of the fastest connection speeds and a huge network of servers around the world to choose from as well.

2. ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is a great VPN name that is famous for its fast connection speeds. But it is not only this that makes it a great bet for users of torrent sites.

Its encryption is excellent, even better than IPVanish because its entire SSL network is protected with 256-bit encryption.

They also offer a kill switch as standard for all users and with no bandwidth restrictions.

As for privacy, ExpressVPN benefits from being based in the British Virgin Islands, which has some of the best privacy laws in the world and does not require companies to retain data online.

Also, add one of the largest server networks of any VPN and ExpressVPN presents a compelling argument for Torrent site users.

3. NordVPN

NordVPN is one of the oldest VPN providers but it remains at the top of its game and is a great choice for torrent site users.

They offer 256-bit encryption in OpenVPN with 2,048-bit Diffie-Hellman keys as standard. This is fine for most users who want to torrent, but not as advanced as ExpressVPN.

Add to this a host of additional security features including a DNS leak protection and shutdown switch, shared IP addresses, optional dual encryption servers (which send your traffic through two servers for additional protection) and their TOR options over VPN (which sends traffic through a VPN and the TOR network). However,

Regarding privacy, NordVPN offers perfect no records promises and just like ExpressVPN benefits from being located abroad, in this case in Panama.

NordVPN has a total of 799 servers in 57 countries and has no bandwidth restrictions either. Given NordVPN’s extremely affordable prices, they are another great bet for Torrent site users.

What is Yify?

Yify Torrents, or YTS as it is also known, is one of the largest movie torrent sites on the web. If you’re looking to download more than just movies, Yify is not the place for you.

But for movies, it is simply the best torrent site. Through the Yify website, you can find links to torrents of thousands of different movies.

Most of these files are also of extremely high quality, which is one of the main reasons for Yify’s enduring popularity.

Yify started life as a group of developers publishing movies on different torrent sites. The success of these uploads saw them quickly launch their own site and in no time they were enjoying millions of visits every day.

This success drew much attention from the authorities, and a lawsuit against piracy filed in New Zealand eventually led to the withdrawal of the original site and one of the developers faces personal legal action.

But Yify did not leave for long. The site was occupied by an anonymous group of developers who produced an excellent clone of the original.

That is the site we are still using today. They continued the original site’s philosophy of focusing on high-quality content and, unsurprisingly, have enjoyed the same levels of popularity.

So far, Yify’s new developers have managed to escape the authorities’ efforts to shut them down. But how long it will continue to be so, no one knows.

The Best Alternatives to Yify

As most users of torrent sites will know, all the best torrent sites will attract the attention of the authorities sooner or later.

When that happens, some are much more robust than others online. Until now, the new Yify site has resisted any attempt to disconnect it.

But that may not be the case forever though. So what should users do if this happens? Fortunately, there are a number of alternatives available to Yify users if the main website goes offline:

If Yify goes offline and can’t access the site using a VPN or proxy URL, then there are plenty of other trustworthy torrenting sites you could turn to instead.

These sites come and go, but at the time of writing, the following sites offer a credible alternative to Yify Torrents:

1. Kickass Torrents

Kickass Torrents is a very popular torrent site that has endured quite a few problems. It was closed in 2016 and its owner Artem Vaulin was arrested.

But the original team has revived the site with a new URL and continues to attract many users thanks to its combination of well-organized categories, a vibrant community section, and a wide variety of content.

2. RARBG

RARBG is one of the oldest sites in Torrent and still retains that retro feel in its design. But its longevity is a testament to how good it is.

These days, content isn’t updated as often, but there’s still a ton of cool stuff to find. It is really easy to navigate and although the site is blocked in some countries it can still be easily accessed with the help of a VPN.

3. LimeTorrents

You won’t find LimeTorrents through any search engine (use the links on this page), but it is a great torrent site worth visiting.

It features a massive selection of content and some great features including a verification system to confirm secure torrents, great design and layout, and a number of well-populated specialized categories, such as foreign films.

4. 1337x

1337x is another torrent site that doesn’t work they show up on regular searches but worth trying. It is beautifully designed and really intuitive to use, and there are plenty of movies and TV shows to explore.

1337x offers a large amount of specialized content, such as anime, and also contains a lot of useful data, such as the number of seeders and details of who is loading.

This means that you can follow your favorite user if you find someone with similar likes or fast torrents.

5. Torrentz2

Torrentz2 is a reincarnation of the original Torrentz site that closed a while back. But the new version is even better with masses of new content and regular updates.

It is easy to use the site with many useful lists to help you find the best and most popular torrents.

Their file index system is one of the most powerful, and it also helps ensure that files are safe and contain what they say they do.

Kodi Accessories

Another great way to stream movies and TV shows online is through Kodi. Kodi is a popular and completely legal media player.

Users can adapt to Kodi by downloading official and unofficial plugins. These plugins give users access to a wealth of content, including on-demand movies and TV shows, as well as live TV channels, live sports, music, and more.

Like Torrenting, unofficial Kodi plugins can allow users to access almost anything they want to see.

But these plugins sometimes provide illegal access to copyrighted content. For that reason, it is also recommended to use a VPN when streaming on Kodi.

All of the VPNs we’ve previously recommended will do the job, or alternatively take a look at our article on the best VPNs for Kodi.

If you are looking for a Kodi plugin to use instead of Yify Torrents, we recommend the following:

1. Quasar

There are some Kodi plugins that stream content directly from torrent sites. The original torrent streaming plugin is Quasar.

Once you have downloaded this plugin, it looks like any other. It offers a variety of content divided into categories, such as movies and television shows.

When you choose what to watch, you are provided with a list of different torrent streams, with details on things like resolution and file size.

Once you choose your file, Quasar will start to download the torrent file in the same way that sites like Yify allow you to download.

Once the file has been downloaded, Quasar will automatically play it. Quasar is a great bet for current torrent users because it not only has a wide variety of content but also allows you to add your own torrents.

Quasar is believed to no longer receive active support, so it won’t work forever, but for now, it’s still functional and offers a great selection of content.

2. An element

A longer-term torrent streaming add-on option is Elementum Elementum is a Quasar fork that, like the original, allows you to stream and download a variety of TV shows and movies.

Elementum is a bit more complicated to install and configure than the average Kodi plugin. But it’s worth the effort, and we’ve created a step-by-step guide to help you make things as easy as possible for you.

Where Elementum clearly outperforms Quasar these days is with new content. Because Quasar is no longer supported, new links are no longer added. But with Elementum you can find the latest links to movies and TV shows.

3. Other Kodi Add-ons

There are a host of other official and unofficial Kodi plugins that provide access to movies and TV shows from sources other than torrent sites. Some of the ones you may want to try include:

• Magic dragon
• Below zero
• The laboratory
• HD Universe
• Jarvis VOD
• Rogue
• Gurzil
• Aragon Live
• Is not safe
• Chronos

You can find details of many more Kodi plugins, both official and unofficial, in the Kodi tab on our home page.

Conclusions

If you are looking for a movie torrent site, then Yify is one of the best available right now.

But while it’s available online right now, all torrent sites are vulnerable and users should have aligned alternatives in case Yify gets removed.

In this article, we have highlighted a number of Kodi proxy sites, alternative torrent sites, and plugins that could help Yify users cope with losing their site.

We’ve also explained why using a VPN with any torrent site (or Kodi plugin) is so important, and we’ve highlighted our selection of the best ones to use.

Are you a fan of Yify Torrents? What have you used as an alternative when the site has been temporarily offline?

Are there any good Kodi torrent or plugin sites that we haven’t mentioned here? We always appreciate the thoughts and opinions of all of our readers, so why not share them with us using the comment box below?