Here are my updated recommendations for the best Usenet Providers of 2020:

Newsdemon is a reliable independent provider with great download speeds.

Newshosting is a large-scale provider with fast servers in US, Netherlands and Germany — this service offers built-in Usenet search and VPN, $7 per month via this link

If you’d prefer and independent provider based in Europe, I recommend XS News (more details)

I have an article that discusses all the Usenet backbones here.

I do not recommend these providers:

UsenetBucket (poor customer service, clunky interface)

Astraweb (doesn’t respond to email, poor customer service)

Giganews (overpriced for service offered)

To achieve Usenet nirvana, I recommend using SABnzbd as your client (see my The Best Usenet Clients article), and a good Usenet index (see my article The Best Usenet Indexes).

The NZB Unity add-on for Firefox also makes downloading easier. On Chrome browsers you can use SABconnect++.

Using Backup Providers

Power users of Usenet usually make use of two providers — a main provider and a backup provider. Why? Because sometimes a file might be missing from the main provider, so the backup provider will fill in the missing file. The backup account can be a block account if you like (block accounts are charged by the GB downloaded — there is no monthly fee).

For your backup account to be effective, you need your backup provider to pull from a separate Usenet backbone.

Here are my recommended combinations of providers:

This is a good combination: NewsDemon (primary Highwinds backbone) + XS News (backup Abavia backbone)

This is alternative backbone combination: UsenetExpress (independent backbone and Abavia backbone) + Usenet.Farm (independent backbone with Highwinds backbone + Abavia)

See instructions here on how to add the backup provider in SabNZBd.

The Details: The Best Usenet Providers

Created in 1979, the Usenet is one of the original distributed networks. Still in wide use today, the Usenet now contains a enormous amount of media and messages! Usenet users upload every type of media file in existence (movies, TV shows, music and e-books). In its 30 year history, no one has ever been sued for downloading anything from the Usenet.

In 2004, a site called Newzbin started indexing the files available on Usenet and created the NZB file format. A NZB file is the Usenet equivalent of a torrent file. Basically, a NZB file that just contains a pointer to files available on Usenet.

To get started with Usenet, you need to pay for Usenet access from a provider. You can expect to pay about $10-$20 per month for access.

Advantages of Usenet:

Encourages users to download (leech)

Direct downloading as opposed to waiting for seeders

Uses the full bandwidth of your internet connection

Uses SSL to encrypt data being sent to your computer

There are four main features to look for when choosing a provider:

Data Retention (how far their Usenet archive goes back — 1200 days is average, around 2100 day is the longest you can get)

Monthly Transfer (the amount of data you can download each month — varies from 5 GB to unlimited traffic)

Connections (the number of simultaneous connections you can make at a single time through your account — around 10-15 is fine unless you have a 100Mbps connection)

Secure Connections (you may want a provider that provides SSL connections, so you can’t be snooped on)

Newshosting: A Tier-1 Usenet Provider With Built-In Search

I’ve been testing Newshosting for a couple of years. This tier-one provider has reliable and speedy connections in the US and Europe. Accounts include a no-log VPN and a Usenet search service.

Newshosting has one of the better free Trial Accounts offers. They allow 750 GB of downloads on free trial, and they give you access to the same service as a regular account. This includes access to their newsreader that has a built-in Usenet search, and the ability to preview videos if there is a message with video attachments.

Homepage : Newshosting

: Newshosting Headquarters : Florida, USA

: Florida, USA Backbone : Omicron Media (Highwinds)

: Omicron Media (Highwinds) Server Locations : USA, Netherlands, Germany

: USA, Netherlands, Germany Retention : 3861 days

: 3861 days Connections : 30 regularly (55 for Greycoder readers)

: 30 regularly (55 for Greycoder readers) SSL Connections : Yes

: Yes Download limit : unlimited

: unlimited Max. Speed : unknown

: unknown Price : $7 per month (for a yearly subscription)

: $7 per month (for a yearly subscription) Payment Types : Credit cards, Paypal

: Credit cards, Paypal Trial Accounts : 7 days (or 750 GB used)

: 7 days (or 750 GB used) Block Accounts : No

: No Account sharing: No

Unlimited Access With No Frills: NewsDemon

NewsDemon is a good choice if you want a reliable, no-frills Usenet service and you are comfortable using NZB files to initiate downloads. NewsDemon offers a retention of 3808+ days, good download speeds with servers in the UK and US. They accept bitcoin for payment. Full details here.

Link: NewsDemon ($7.60 per month)

The Best European-Based Usenet Providers

Many people prefer using European providers because they offer alternative Usenet feeds and can be used to fill in missing binary files. However, note that these providers comply with file takedowns (via NTD) requests too though.

Tweaknews: Comprehensive Provider In Europe

Tweaknews is a Dutch Usenet provider with some of the fastest connections in Europe. This provider charges €7 euros or $7.99 USD per month. For this you get 40 SSL Usenet connections, with a 2500 day retention. A VPN and search engine are also included.

Tweaknews offers a 10-day free trial. Using the trial account you can download at 20 Mbps (2.5 MB/s) using 8 connections — up to a limit of 10 Gigabytes.

Tweaknews also offers block accounts, and these are quite popular. For example, their “100GB Block Package” costs only €13 (euros). However, please note that the download speeds for block account is capped at 100 Mpb/s.

I’ve been testing them for several months, and I’ve found their service to be reliable. From my office on US east coast, I generally get download speed of 97 Mbps (11.4 MB/s) . The company says they offer a maximum rate of 800 Mbps (100 MB/s).

The Tweaknews feed comes from Highwinds — a US-based tier one provider that has been in business since 2002.

Headquarters : Netherlands

: Netherlands Server locations : Netherlands only

: Netherlands only Backbone : Highwinds (Omicron Media)

: Highwinds (Omicron Media) Retention : 2500 days

: 2500 days Connections : 40

: 40 SSL connections : Yes

: Yes Download limit : unlimited

: unlimited Max. Speed : uncapped (except for block accounts)

: uncapped (except for block accounts) Price : €7 euros or $7.99 USD per month (for a yearly subscription)

: or $7.99 USD per month (for a yearly subscription) Payment types : Credit Cards, Paypal, iDeal, Giropay, Direct Debit, SOFORT Banking

: Credit Cards, Paypal, iDeal, Giropay, Direct Debit, SOFORT Banking Trial : 10 days (with 10GB limit)

: 10 days (with 10GB limit) Block accounts : Yes

: Yes Account sharing : No

: No Link: Tweaknews

XS News: An Independent Usenet Backbone

XS News is my recommended independent European Usenet provider. This tier-one service started in 2006, and offers a truly independent Usenet feed.

XS News is based in Lijnden, The Netherlands and all their server are located there.

They offer 30 connections for € 8.20 euros (about $9.70 USD) per month with a yearly subscription. Their retention time is 1100+ days.