When the BitTorrent protocol was first created, it required a BitTorrent client which prompted Bram Cohen and BitTorrent, Inc. to release it in 2001. There are several options available today but the BitTorrent client is still known as Mainline. You might be confident that the original client must be the best choice but this is not always the case. A high percentage of torrent users recommend μTorrent. Both clients share many similarities but also have some differences which may help you to decide which one is better for you.

The user interface is definitely alike. This is because μTorrent was developed by the same team as an alternative to BitTorrent four years later. Over the years, there have been various versions of μTorrent in particular. There was more variation in features between the two before but lately, they’re almost at the same level. BitTorrent vs μTorrent 2019 is still a hot topic after all these years. It seems like the majority of users are still unaware of the features of these clients.

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A torrent user would consider a number of factors before picking either μTorrent or BitTorrent. Let’s take a look at how these two popular clients compare to each other after their latest updates.

Ads & VPN

No one is a fan of being swarmed by ads while downloading torrents. Unfortunately, neither BitTorrent nor μTorrent is open source. Previously, BitTorrent operated without ads and μTorrent users constantly complained of issues related to ads. They claimed that ads automatically slowed it down and disrupted their flow. When it comes to ads, neither is superior to the other. If you pay attention to their packages, you’ll notice that they’re nearly identical. In order to remove ads, you get offered a price plan of $4.95 USD/year by both.

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The only benefit it has is that you don’t have to be bothered by ads anymore. The Pro package removes ads, allows you to play files instantly, provides security, lets you convert files and plays them in HD. The features are equal for both and cost you $19.95 annually. The one thing that tips the scales in favor of μTorrent is the third price plan “PRO+VPN” available for $69.95 per year. It may sound like a lot but think about finding and connecting another VPN with your torrent client. It will be an extra headache and may cost you more money. Experts highly recommend the use of a reliable torrenting VPN while you download torrents. This protects data going in and out of your system from hackers on a public network. It also prevents you from being tracked via your IP address which would be wise considering the recent crackdown on illegal torrent websites.

Download Speed

The reason users choose torrents over conventional downloads is speed so this would be a big consideration in the BitTorrent client vs. μTorrent debate. When BitTorrent was still open source, people used to say it was faster since μTorrent was clogged with ads. This is not the case anymore so how do they both fare against each other now? Users have reported that BitTorrent still remains the faster of the two clients. Apparently, BitTorrent is better at managing ads so it doesn’t affect the torrenting process as much as it happens in μTorrent. Both have built-in bandwidth management to maximize torrent download speed. Remember that VPNs also decrease the speed of your system. A VPN prepares an encrypted channel for all your incoming and outgoing information to cross through. The closer your VPN server is, the stronger the connection and the faster the speed. So you can take precautions to ensure that your speed is not reduced that much while downloading torrents and having a VPN switched on at the same time.

Also Read: Torrent Safely and Anonymously

Size of Program

Another reason you may lean towards μTorrent in the battle between BitTorrent client vs. μTorrent is the size. Since users are obsessed with applications these days, you need space on your device to save and run them. Constantly having to clean up the cache of applications is not desirable. They want a torrent client that is light-weight and does not eat up too many resources of their system. If you are very conscious about file size then μTorrent would be suitable for you. It is famous for being around just 2MB. BitTorrent is considerably bulkier than this so you probably want to save more space on your device in that case.

Simultaneous Downloads

Users who frequently download files via torrent can be a bit impatient and wish to get the job done faster. It was already mentioned that BitTorrent appears to have won the speed category of the BitTorrent vs. μTorrent 2019 debate. However, it is about more than just speed. You probably have several files you need to download in a certain period of time. If you open up a torrent link in μTorrent it will instantly start downloading it. You will be able to see the progress in the form of percentage and the status of your download. If you want to download another file in μTorrent at the same time, you will have to put the active one on pause or put the other in the queue. Guess what? BitTorrent does not make you wait like that. Simply open up multiple torrent links in BitTorrent and they will download side by side. That’s a big perk of BitTorrent.

Operating Systems

Talking about operating systems, there’s not much to add to the BitTorrent client vs. μTorrent discussion since they are both compatible with several common operating systems. You may install BitTorrent and μTorrent on devices with Microsoft Windows, Mac OSX, Linux and Android. You may run them on your desktop computer, tablet or phones. They perform equally well across all devices and have been optimized for each operating system. In case you’re looking for a torrent client for a more obscure operating system, try Transmission.

Both BitTorrent client and μTorrent offer some wonderful features for torrent users. They provide great functionality and tight security with affordability.

Reference for Knowledge

Iliofotou, M., Siganos, G., Yang, X., & Rodriguez, P. (2010, April). Comparing BitTorrent clients in the wild: the case of download speed. In IPTPS (p. 11).

Csernai, K. The state of privacy in P2P and BitTorrent networks.

Zhang, C., Dhungel, P., Wu, D., & Ross, K. W. (2010). Unraveling the BitTorrent ecosystem. IEEE transactions on parallel and distributed systems, 22(7), 1164-1177.