Transmission is a free program for downloading and sharing files over BitTorrent, available as desktop apps, a background service for servers, and a web interface. It is for people who want to download and share files with the BitTorrent network.
Has 1 of 5
How many people bookmarked its code on GitHub. It shows how popular it is, not how good it is or how well it replaces the app.
How hard it is to start using it. Easy: install it like a normal app, or use it in your browser. Advanced: you run it on your own server, use the command line, or it is a tool for developers.
Its code changed within the last year, so someone is still looking after it.
Does the whole job.
Ordered by how fully it replaces the app, Verified, setup and, when there are enough, people's votes.
Deluge is a program for downloading and sharing files over BitTorrent, a common way to share large files between many computers. It is for people who want a free alternative to closed torrent programs, and it can run on a desktop, in a web browser, or from a command line.
Has 1 of 5
How many people bookmarked its code on GitHub. It shows how popular it is, not how good it is or how well it replaces the app.
How hard it is to start using it. Easy: install it like a normal app, or use it in your browser. Advanced: you run it on your own server, use the command line, or it is a tool for developers.
Its code changed within the last year, so someone is still looking after it.
Does the whole job.
Ordered by how fully it replaces the app, Verified, setup and, when there are enough, people's votes.
Fragments is a desktop app for downloading and sharing files over BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer method where many computers send pieces of a file to each other. It is meant for everyday users who want an easy-to-use torrent program, such as for videos, music, or Linux installation images.
Has 0 of 5
How many people bookmarked its code on GitHub. It shows how popular it is, not how good it is or how well it replaces the app.
How hard it is to start using it. Easy: install it like a normal app, or use it in your browser. Advanced: you run it on your own server, use the command line, or it is a tool for developers.
Its code changed within the last year, so someone is still looking after it.
Does the whole job.
Ordered by how fully it replaces the app, Verified, setup and, when there are enough, people's votes.
None of these match. Try another device.
Help me choose
I want to pick an open-source replacement for BitTorrent. Below is a list from Open Source Everything (CC BY-SA 4.0), in the order its website shows it. The order is a starting point, not a verdict.
- Transmission: Transmission is a free program for downloading and sharing files over BitTorrent, available as desktop apps, a background service for servers, and a web interface. It is for people who want to download and share files with the BitTorrent network. [Easy setup; Windows · Mac; replaces fully; GPL-2.0-or-later; https://github.com/transmission/transmission]
- Deluge: Deluge is a program for downloading and sharing files over BitTorrent, a common way to share large files between many computers. It is for people who want a free alternative to closed torrent programs, and it can run on a desktop, in a web browser, or from a command line. [Easy setup; Windows · Mac · Linux; replaces fully; GPL-3.0-only; https://github.com/deluge-torrent/deluge]
- Fragments: Fragments is a desktop app for downloading and sharing files over BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer method where many computers send pieces of a file to each other. It is meant for everyday users who want an easy-to-use torrent program, such as for videos, music, or Linux installation images. [Easy setup; devices not listed; replaces fully; GPL-3.0; https://gitlab.gnome.org/World/Fragments]
Setup rating: "Easy setup" means you can install it like a normal app, use it in a browser. "Advanced setup" means you must run it on your own server or use the command line, or it is a tool for developers.
Full details: https://opensourceeverything.org/data/groups/torrents.json
Before recommending anything, ask me these three questions (one at a time, in plain words): 1) Which device or devices will I use it on (Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone)? 2) How comfortable am I with technical setup: only installing apps from a store, happy to follow a step-by-step guide, or comfortable with servers and the command line? 3) What is my budget: free only, or willing to pay for hosting or support? Then recommend one to three projects from this list only, and for each say why, using how fully it replaces the app, its setup rating, and the devices it runs on. If nothing on the list fits me, say so plainly instead of stretching.
Before you build
Read the list of open-source projects at https://opensourceeverything.org/data/groups/torrents.json. Compare it with my project or idea below. Tell me which projects overlap, what I could reuse instead of rewriting, and what mine does that none of them do.
My project or idea: