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A Quick Guide to The Pirate Bay Alternatives: Top 19 Most Popular Torrenting Sites

The Pirate Bay is by far the most popular torrenting website. However, sometimes it isn’t available. In some countries, it’s even blocked. Nevertheless, there are plenty of other websites out there that are great alternatives to The Pirate Bay:

  1. 1337x: Best for movies, shows, and music
  2. YTS: Most user-friendly
  3. EZTV: Lots of TV shows
  4. LimeTorrents: Great platform for new releases
  5. Torrentz2: Largest music library
  6. TorrentDownloads: Best for obscure books, software, and Asian content
  7. Torrends.to: Most efficient searches
  8. KickassTorrents: Big library with many seeders
  9. NyaaTorrents: Extensive collection of anime, manga, and hentai
  10. GloTorrents: Large interactive community
  11. Dirty Torrents: Fastest-growing torrent search engine
  12. WatchSoMuch: Most visually appealing
  13. Demonoid: Tightknit small community
  14. YourBittorrent: Lesser known torrenting gem
  15. IsoHunt: Cleanest looking torrent site
  16. IPTorrents: Huge private torrenting site
  17. Bibliotik: Great private torrenting site for books
  18. RuTracker: Russian torrenting site with an extensive catalog
  19. Torlock: Torrenting site with a large collection of movies and series that claims to be free of fake torrents

Do you download torrents? Always make sure the content you’re torrenting is legal. Besides that, it’s always wise to protect yourself against online dangers and stay anonymous while downloading by using a VPN:

Want to take a closer look at each site? In our full article below we take a deep dive into these torrent sites and what they have to offer.

The Pirate Bay is one of the most familiar and popular names in the torrenting world. People use it to download all kinds of torrents — both legal and illegal. However, those engaging in this type of filesharing might sometimes need Pirate Bay alternatives.

It’s true that The Pirate Bay is a reliable torrent site with a huge library in all categories, enough proxies and mirrors to withstand most government shutdown attempts, and a huge community to help users pick and choose the torrents they want to download.

Even so, the website might experience downtime due to worldwide government restrictions. Moreover, you might simply not be able to find what you’re looking for on the platform.

Therefore, if you want to explore other alternatives to The Pirate Bay, keep reading, as below we discover more about the best 19 Pirate Bay alternatives along with their pros and cons.

Avoid illegal downloads and malware!

Note: We do not condone nor recommend illegal downloading on torrent sites. It’s your responsibility to make sure any content you download isn’t copyrighted and to protect yourself from malware and other threats you might face on torrent sites.


The 19 Best Pirate Bay Alternatives

Below you’ll find the most popular torrenting websites people use as alternatives to The Pirate Bay. This overview is meant to be informative. If you wish to use any of these websites to download torrents, always make sure the torrents you download aren’t illegal. This way, you won’t accidentally get yourself into trouble.

1. 1337x: A large library of movies, shows, and music

Screenshot of the 1337x website homepage

Pros

  • Extensive library for movies, shows, and music
  • Fast download speeds
  • A low number of ads

Cons

  • Not much video game content
  • History of malware in downloads (fixed)

1337x‘s library excels in terms of movies, shows, and music. It may be the best Pirate Bay alternative still up and running in terms of movies and TV series. Users might also find some video game torrents there. The platform even contains a lot of recent titles, such as The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild (movie) and Hogwarts Legacy (video game).

However, other alternatives, such as NyaaTorrents and The Pirate Bay, definitely have more game torrents, especially when it comes to older titles. Therefore, 1337x isn’t a great alternative for all types of content.

1337x has a somewhat controversial story. For a long time, it was a site that few people actually used, despite its impressive library. This was probably because it had a lot of malware trying to pass as legit torrent files.

A few years ago, the owners renovated the site and cleaned their library of viruses. Now it’s one of the best Pirate Bay alternatives, especially due to its high download speeds and virtually ad-free experience. However, many people only tend to use it if they can’t find the movie, show, or song they’re looking for somewhere else.

Working proxies and mirrors:

  • 1337x.to
  • 1337x.st
  • x1337x.ws
  • x1337x.eu
  • x1337x.se

We believe everyone is entitled to online privacy on torrenting sites. The best tool to safeguard your privacy (while downloading) is a VPN. Using a VPN will hide your real IP address and encrypt your data traffic. Both of these will make you much more anonymous and better protected online. You can even bypass The Pirate Bay restrictions when using a VPN.

We recommend using Surfshark because of its excellent security measures, great downloading speeds, and solid measures to access blocked torrent sites.

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2. YTS: User-friendly platform

Screenshot of the YTS website homepage

Pros

  • Extensive library
  • User-friendly site
  • HD and SD versions of movies

Cons

  • Limited to movie downloads
  • Advertising

YTS is a fantastic site for people who want to download a movie. The site doesn’t feature any torrents besides movies, and it’s very user-friendly compared to other torrenting sites. While most websites tend to have unattractive lists of torrents, YTS structures their torrents by showing movie covers, making for a nice interface.

Their numbers aren’t bad, either. YTS has 75 million users each month and an average download speed of 3-4 MB/s, according to our tests. Moreover, the overall design of the site is seamless, and ads aren’t that big of a problem.

It seems like this site bombards you with pop-ups on your first few searches. However, after your first five clicks or so, they, strangely, seem to stop appearing.

Working proxies and mirrors:

  • yts.am
  • yts.pm
  • yts.mx
  • web.yts.vc
  • yts.io (a mirror with significantly more ads)

3. EZTV: The king of TV shows

Screenshot of the EZTV website homepage

Pros

  • Huge library of television shows
  • Constantly updated with new content

Cons

  • Site design
  • Lots of ads
  • Low download speeds

Many people who choose EZTV do so because they consider it the best choice when it comes to TV shows. In general, it isn’t the most beautiful website around. EZTV has a clunky interface and a rather ugly design, and their ads can get pretty annoying. On top of that, it has a pretty low download speed.

It’s also quite unfortunate that this website has tons of very aggressive pop-up ads. In fact, some of these cause files to get downloaded on your device immediately (so-called drive-by downloads). This is why we recommend you install a good antivirus solution before using EZTV.

Even so, it’s considered the king of TV shows in the torrenting world, with a very active community that keeps uploading new releases as soon as they’re live.

Working proxies and mirrors:

  • eztv.tf
  • eztv.re
  • eztv.unblockninja.com

4. LimeTorrents: Great for new releases

Screenshot of the LimeTorrents website homepage

Pros

  • Huge catalog of new releases
  • Fast downloads
  • User-friendly site, interface

Cons

  • Invasive ads
  • Older torrents have fewer seeders

LimeTorrents is an excellent choice for finding new releases. With a seamless interface and a very good seeder/leecher ratio on new torrents, most titles will download fairly quickly.

The average download speed is 3-4 MB/s. It has just under 20 million users a month across all mirrors and offers plenty of search options.

However, it’s lower on our best torrent sites list because you won’t find a lot of seeders for older torrents.

Working proxies and mirrors:

  • limetorrents.lol
  • limetor.com
  • limetor.pro

When torrenting through LimeTorrents, don’t forget to use a VPN so you can download anonymously and safely. We recommend Surfshark.

5. Torrentz2: Large music collection

Screenshot of the Torrentz2 website homepage

Pros

  • Largest music collection in torrenting

Cons

  • Low download speeds
  • Too many ads
  • Website is down often

Torrentz2 definitely isn’t the best torrenting site around, as its stats show. It only has 10-20 million users each month and a 1-2 MB/s download speed. The website often experiences downtime, is hard to navigate, and is riddled with ads. So why include it in our list?

We included it for its music library. It’s the largest collection in the torrenting world, meaning that even users looking for more obscure titles will most likely find what they’re looking for here.

In general, people only use this website as a Pirate Bay alternative when they can’t find the songs or albums they’re looking for anywhere else. Other than that, the general advice is to steer clear.

Working proxies and mirrors:

  • torrentz2eu.org
  • torrentz2.cyou
  • torrentz2.nz

6. TorrentDownloads: Library with media from Asian countries

Screenshot of the TorrentDownloads website homepage

Pros

  • Good site for hard-to-find books
  • Strong library of software
  • Lots of Asian content

Cons

  • Download speeds
  • Invasive advertising
  • Geo-blocked in many areas

Attention: This torrent site will occasionally open an extra browser tab with advertisements. We’re not too stoked about that.

TorrentDownloads is another alternative some people use when The Pirate Bay isn’t sufficient. However, it isn’t the best. Its ads are really annoying, it only features a download speed of 2-3 MB/s, it’s geo-blocked in a lot of regions, and it’s quickly losing popularity, even if it used to be a big name in the torrenting world.

The people that still use it tend to be looking for obscure books, software, or media from Asian countries. Its library seems to do well in those categories. Other than that, TorrentDownloads isn’t necessarily among the best Pirate Bay alternatives.

Working proxies and mirrors:

  • torrentdownloads.me
  • torrentdownloads.unblocknow.space
  • torrentdownloads.g3g.cam

7. Torrends.to: Torrent meta-search engine

Screenshot of the Torrends.to website homepage

Pros

  • Gathers content from different torrenting sites
  • Efficient searches that save time
  • User-friendly interface

Cons

  • Download speed depends on which site you use

Torrends.to isn’t a torrenting site in the classic sense of the word, as it doesn’t have its own library. Rather, Torrends.to keeps track of torrents uploaded on popular sites, such as YTS and The Pirate Bay. In that sense, it’s more like a torrent meta-search engine of sorts.

This also means we can’t analyze any individual metrics. The download speed and seeder/leecher ratio will always depend on the site each specific tracker is pulled from.

This platform is a good choice for people who constantly find themselves checking multiple sites for their torrenting needs. Torrends.to allows them to be more efficient with their searches since the trackers from multiple other websites are all gathered in one place.

It’s got a beautiful interface and a few interesting features allowing users to easily stay up to date on popular digital products. This is reason enough for many regular downloaders to keep it in mind as a Pirate Bay alternative.

Working proxies and mirrors: None. This website used to be called torrents.io, but as is the case with many torrent sites, the domain name changes from time to time.


8. KickassTorrents: Good download speeds

Screenshot of the Kickass Torrents website homepage

Pros

  • Extensive library
  • Regular updates, latest movies and shows available
  • Good download speeds, large torrenting community

Cons

  • Invasive advertising

KickassTorrents has been around since 2010 and was once the most popular torrenting site on the internet. While the alleged owner was arrested in 2016 — and seven domains connected to Kickass were seized by US authorities — moderators and torrenting enthusiasts have created copycat sites, which may also contain illegal torrents.

The library is extensive, and seeders are plentiful for newer releases. Download speeds are pretty standard. However, when we started browsing recently updated torrents, an invasive pop-up ad opened in another browser, which we’re never too fond of.

This newer version of KickassTorrents makes downloading harder than it probably could be, and we can’t guarantee its safety. Therefore, this once very popular website has dropped significantly on our list.

Although it is an alternative to The Pirate Bay, we recommend not using it and choosing one of the other Kickass alternatives.

Working proxies and mirrors:

  • thekat.info
  • kickass.cm
  • kkat.net
  • kat.rip
  • kickass.onl

9. NyaaTorrents: Great for anime shows

Screenshot of the NyaaTorrents website homepage

Pros

  • Great site for anime
  • Regular updates
  • Lots of Asian content

Cons

  • Invasive advertising

NyaaTorrents is a mecca for anime TV shows, movies, photos, games, and music. It has quite a large assortment of varying anime titles, though the seeders tend to be on the low end. However, the download speeds are surprisingly fast, especially being such a little-known website.

This torrent site has two sides to it: Fun (safe for work anime) and Fap (NSFW). These are technically two websites that run under the same umbrella, with Fun being your standard anime affair while Fap offers hentai and mature content.

It’s a great Pirate Bay alternative for anime lovers but for other types of content, not so much.

Working proxies and mirrors:

  • nyaa.iss.one
  • nyaa.eu
  • nyaa.iss.ink

Are you thinking of torrenting animes from NyaaTorrents? Don’t forget to check whether torrenting is actually legal in your location. On top of that, make sure to use a VPN, like Surfshark, so you aren’t met with unexpected surprises that hurt your online safety!


10. GloTorrents: Extensive torrent collection

Screenshot of the GloTorrents website homepage

Pros

  • Extensive torrent library
  • Regular updates
  • Decent seeds/peers

Cons

  • Site tries to open tons of pop-ups
  • Shows a lot of graphic porn ads (NSFW)

GloTorrents is a really good Pirate Bay alternative and one of the better torrent sites available. The library is vast and includes movies, shows, music, PC software, games, books, and more. It even has a streaming option for those who don’t want to download.

The content provided tends to be heavily seeded, especially the newer stuff, which is great news for download speeds. One of the more interesting additions to this torrent website is the community forum.

Users can apply for permission to upload torrent files to the site, discuss issues with already uploaded torrents, engage in conversation about new and upcoming features, blow the whistle on fake torrents, and a whole list of other topics.

The only negatives are that GloTorrents does attempt to open a lot of pop-up windows and displays a lot of graphic porn ads. The latter happens even when you’re not browsing porn-related content.

Mirrors:

  • glodls.to
  • gtdb.to
  • glotorrents.nocensor.art

11. Dirty Torrents: Good search engine for torrents with regular updates

Screenshot of the Dirty Torrents homepage

Pros

  • Plenty of torrents
  • Regular updates

Cons

  • Few seeders

Dirty Torrents is another torrent search engine on the list similar to Torrends.to. It pulls its torrents from other popular torrent websites, making it easier to find what you need. It has amassed more than seven million torrents in its short lifespan but does not save any torrents nor host them directly.

The site structure is visually basic, containing a short list of torrent types and a search bar. Much more interesting are the links to the top torrent files within the last 24 hours and those that are the most popular.

Even though the search engine pulls its results from other torrent sites, the seeding is still on the low end. It’s still one of the better Pirate Bay alternatives if you’re in need of a torrent file that you can’t seem to find on your regularly used torrent site.

Working proxies and mirrors:

  • dirtytorrents.nocensor.world
  • dirtytorrents.g3g.guru
  • dirtytorrents.mrunblock.fun
  • dirtytorrents.proxybit.cfd
  • dirtytorrents.unblockproject.sbs

12. WatchSoMuch: Multiple torrent categories

Screenshot of the WatchSoMuch website homepage

Pros

  • Excellent site layout
  • Vast library of torrents
  • Multiple torrent categories

Cons

  • A lot of advertising
  • Split into 2 separate sites

WatchSoMuch has two separate sites: one for streaming and one for torrenting. The streaming site will allow you to watch movies and TV shows for free at 720p or lower. However, to watch content in HD (1080p) or 3D, you’ll need to pay for a VIP membership.

The torrent site is not unlike YTS. It’s visually pleasing, well-organized and well-categorized, and easy to navigate. It gets its 1.1 million torrents in the same way that a torrent search engine would; by just pulling torrents from other sites and showing them in its search results.

WatchSoMuch offers its users the ability to request movies and TV shows, but in order to do so, you’ll need to create a member account. You can create a basic member account for free.

Working proxies and mirrors:

  • watchsomuch.nocensor.art
  • watchsomuch.g3g.cam
  • watchsomuch.mrunblock.guru
  • watchsomuch.proxybit.ink
  • watchsomuch.unblockproject.lol

13. Demonoid: Extensive torrent collection with search filters

Screenshot of the Demonoid website homepage

Pros

  • Search filters are useful
  • Easy to use

Cons

  • Not the prettiest website
  • Requires a membership for forum access
  • Few seeders

Demonoid is a torrent website that more closely resembles an old-school forum site. It’s not the best site, but it does work well in terms of functionality, and the library is massive.

Torrent files can be accessed through the Torrents tab and searched for via titles or keywords. You can mess with some of the filters, including quality, language, and category, to find exactly what you’re looking for.

The biggest issue, aside from visuals, is the lack of available seeders. Downloading torrents is relatively easy and straightforward but will take longer than on many other torrent sites.

Demonoid does have its own forums and the ability to upload a torrent. However, to access either will require you to sign up for a membership with the site. There are better Pirate Bay alternatives on this list, but if all else fails, Demonoid is an option to consider.

Working proxies and mirrors:

  • demonoid.to
  • demonoid.is
  • demonoid.unblockit.bet

14. YourBittorrent: Library with verified torrents

Screenshot of the YourBitTorrent website homepage

Pros

  • Lots of categories
  • Separates verified torrents

Cons

  • Layout is mediocre
  • Intrusive advertising

YourBittorrent appears to be a typical torrent site. The main page features the most currently popular uploaded torrent files, which include TV series, eBooks, anime, and more.

The seeding numbers are relatively decent (mostly in the hundreds), and there is plenty of content to choose from. You can choose to search for your torrents by title, category, or only those that have been verified by the website itself.

If you couldn’t care less about what the site looks like or prefer a minimalist approach to your torrenting needs, YourBitorrent should suffice as an alternative Pirate Bay torrent site. However, you will have to deal with plenty of pop-up ads. You’ll find these on both the website, as well as in separate windows that will open.

Working proxies and mirrors:

  • yourbittorrent.g3g.cam
  • yourbittorrent.mrunblock.guru
  • yourbittorrent.unblockproject.lol
  • yourbittorrent.123unblock.lol
  • unblocknow.mom

15. IsoHunt: Minimalistic layout and good download speeds

Screenshot of the ISOhunt website homepage

Pros

  • Clean layout
  • Regular updates
  • Good download speeds

Cons

  • Invasive advertising

IsoHunt is a minimalistic and clean-looking torrent site. Its library seems rather large, with several entries being added daily. The seeding is on the higher side (hundreds to thousands), and HD titles are very easy to find.

The biggest gripe with IsoHunt is that every once in a while, clicking on a link will open up a separate tab. The tab is usually a redirect to an ad which is nothing short of annoying. Yet, seeing how there are no ads visually placed on the website itself, it stands to reason this is how they keep the site going.

Working proxies and mirrors:

  • isohunt.fun
  • isohunt.ch
  • isohunt.nz

Want to make sure you’re downloading safely and securely on IsoHunt? Get a VPN to protect your data. We recommend trying Surfshark.


16. IPTorrents: Private torrent site with a vast library

Screenshot of the IPTorrents website homepage

Pros

  • Large library
  • Safer than a public torrenting site

Cons

  • Requires a payment ($20 in Bitcoin) or an invitation

IPTorrents is a private torrenting website with about five million monthly visitors. The fact that it’s private means you need to have an account to get access. You can get a membership either through an invitation from a current member, or you can donate $20 using Bitcoin to get access.

IPTorrents is one of the biggest private torrenting sites in existence. Because of this, it’s home to an active community as well as a large library for all kinds of files. Another advantage of private torrenting sites, such as IPTorrents, is that they generally don’t contain ads and malware.

IPTorrents is a great option for people who are looking for a private Pirate Bay alternative, as long as they’re willing to spend some money.


17. Bibliotik: Big collection of audiobooks

Screenshot of the Bibliotik website homepage

Pros

  • Huge collection of eBooks and audiobooks

Cons

  • You have to get an invitation to join

EBooks and audiobooks aren’t the easiest torrents to find. Fewer people are interested in them, and it’s so much easier to find these types of entertainment through other means, such as Audible, Scribd, or simply by buying an eBook with an online retailer.

This means the chances of finding the torrenting file a user is looking for are much smaller. Except on Bibliotik. Bibliotik has the largest known collection of eBook and audiobook torrents, so users that are looking for anything from an old unpopular fictional franchise to college manuals are likely to find it here.

Some of the torrents will be perfectly legal, but there are also many illegal copies of books on this platform. Furthermore, Bibliotik isn’t officially accepting new members without an invite. One way you might be able to get an invite is by befriending people on the service’s Reddit page.


18. RuTracker: Largest Russian torrenting platform worldwide

Screenshot of the RuTracker website homepage

Pros

  • Lots of users (and seeders)
  • Extensive catalog

Cons

  • The website is in Russian
  • Registration is required

RuTracker is a Russian torrenting site. However, it’s not just any Russian torrenting site. In fact, it’s the largest Russian torrenting platform in the world. It has close to 15 million registered members and an impressive catalog of torrents.

Then why is it so low on our list? Well, it’s in Russian. This makes it slightly more complicated for non-Russian speakers to use this platform. Another reason that it’s near the bottom of our list is that you need to register to use this platform. Fortunately, registration is free.

Moreover, if the thought of creating an account on a website in a language you don’t speak worries you, fear not! We don’t speak Russian either. Even so, we were able to navigate the site just fine using Google Translate’s web page translation.

Working proxies and mirrors:

  • rutracker.nl
  • rutracker.net
  • rutracker.g3g.cam

19. Torlock: Great interface with a wide range of movies

Screenshot of the TorLock website homepage

Pros

  • Campaign to remove fake torrents
  • Great interface
  • Large collection of movies and series

Cons

  • Very agressive and intrusive ads

Torlock is an interesting addition to our torrent sites list. It claims to only feature verified torrents that are safe and contain what they promise. In fact, Torlock got its reputation as a safe torrenting platform because it used to run a campaign that promised users $1 for every fake torrent they reported. It’s unclear if Torlock is still doing this, but it sure sounds like a great initiative.

Torlock specializes in movies and series and currently has an impressive catalog in both. The platform features close to 50,000 movie torrents and almost 7,000 torrents for series. The platform also has a useful and easy-to-navigate interface.

What we don’t like at all about the platform, however, is the constant barrage of intrusive ads. Every single time we clicked on something, we got served a new window full of ads. Moreover, there are annoying ads on the Torlock website itself as well. We even got hit with a drive-by download, which is a major torrent privacy flaw.

As a website that prides itself on its security and legitimacy, we think this is unacceptable. That’s why this torrent platform is at the bottom of our list of Pirate Bay alternatives.

Working proxies and mirrors:

  • torlock.com
  • torlock2.com
  • torlock.unblockit.bio

RARBG Proxy: No Longer One of the Best Pirate Bay Alternatives

RARBG was one of Pirate Bay’s biggest direct competitors since its launch in 2008. However, the torrenting giant shut down in 2023. Even with RARBG’ s over 40 million visitors each month, a decent download speed, and a big library, the minds behind the ex-Pirate Bay alternative could not keep it up and running due to various reasons. We are still watching RARBG mirrors and proxies like the ones below.

  • rarbg.is
  • rarbgmirror.com
  • rarbggo.to
  • rarbgproxy.to
  • rarbgmirror.org
  • rarbgaccessed.org
  • rarbgget.org

Check back for updates on the latest RARBG proxy and mirror sites.

What to Do When The Pirate Bay is Down

There are multiple reasons why you might not be able to reach the official website of The Pirate Bay. Most often, it’s either because the website itself is malfunctioning or because restrictions keep you from reaching the website. If the website itself is down, it isn’t working for anyone, no matter what you do. In this case, you’ll want to try either a Pirate Bay mirror or one of the alternatives mentioned above.

If the issue you’re facing isn’t that the website itself is down but that you cannot access it, you’re dealing with a Pirate Bay block. Fortunately, there is a very easy way to circumvent Pirate Bay blocks: using a VPN.

A VPN can change your IP address to an IP from a country where people do have access to The Pirate Bay. That way, you can get access to your favorite torrent site worldwide! We recommend using Surfshark, which is one of our top five VPN providers due to its lightning-fast download speeds and great Pirate Bay unblocking features.

Surfshark
Deal Save 82% + 2 Months free and pay only $2.30 a month
From
$ 2.30
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  • Very user-friendly and works with Netflix and torrents
  • 30-day money-back guarantee. No questions asked!
  • Cheap with many extra options
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Why You Need Pirate Bay Alternatives

Download alternatives icon

There are two main reasons why one might need an alternative to The Pirate Bay. First, The Pirate Bay doesn’t always have the torrents certain users are looking for. Its library is extensive and includes new releases and popular shows that are currently airing. This means it’ll be more than enough for most of its users.

However, people looking for more obscure titles, whether they’re video games, software, movies, albums, or TV shows, might require other sites.

Second, The Pirate Bay often gets shut down for a week or two at a time. This means that the service will be offline and moved to a different server to avoid legal action against its owners. In those cases, users often try Pirate Bay proxies or mirrors.

Most of these mirror websites are easily found by Googling “Pirate Bay mirrors.” However, users who do this could easily become a victim of phishing or other cyber threats. After all, not all of the websites you find on Google can be trusted.

Especially when it comes to downloading files, users run a big risk. Therefore, some people would rather play it safe and opt for a trustworthy Pirate Bay alternative.

Nevertheless, even if you think you are absolutely certain that a torrenting website is safe, it is always a good idea to have extra protection against anything malicious you may download while torrenting. Therefore, ensure you always have a good antivirus installed on your device, like Norton antivirus.

Final Thoughts: Protect Yourself When Using Pirate Bay Alternatives

The Pirate Bay is one of the largest and most widely known torrenting websites out there. However, it isn’t the only option for people looking for torrents. If The Pirate Bay is temporarily unavailable, or when a certain torrent isn’t to be found in its huge library, downloaders turn to alternative websites.

These alternative websites include 1337x and YTS, as well as private platforms such as IPTorrents. We advise anyone who wishes to use these websites to be careful: many, although not all, of the torrents on these websites are illegal, and some may even contain viruses.

Before clicking on a file, make sure you know your local laws about torrenting and copyrighted content. If you want to stay safe and anonymous while torrenting, be sure to check out our other articles:

The Best Pirate Bay Alternatives: Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have a question about torrenting, The Pirate Bay, or alternative torrenting sites? We gathered some of the most frequently asked questions below, so have a look and check whether you can find the answer to your query there.

What is The Pirate Bay?

The Pirate Bay is a filesharing site founded by the Swedish anti-copyright group Piratbyrån — or the “Bureau of Piracy” — in 2003. It uses BitTorrent protocol, which allows users to share larger files like movies, television shows, music, eBooks, and audio.

What is a torrent?

If you want to download music, a movie, or an eBook from a filesharing site, you’ll need to use a torrent. A torrent is a small file that doesn’t actually have the content you want, but works as a reference file to find the content on a larger network.

Through a torrent client like uTorrent, you signal that you want to download that content from available computers on the network (or upload it to those computers). Torrent makes downloading so easy that copyright infringement and legality concerns have surrounded the technology.

What is the best Pirate Bay alternative?

There are many alternatives to The Pirate Bay out there. Overall, 1337X has a similar library with a wide range of options, so many users consider it to be a good pick.

There are more specific torrenting websites as well, such as YTS for movies, EZTV for TV shows, and Zooqle for video games.

Are there risks to torrenting with The Pirate Bay?

Yes, there are. Some of the biggest risks of torrenting are catching viruses or other malware like spyware and going against the law. Torrenting in itself usually isn’t forbidden, but there are many torrents that include copyrighted content that’s unlawfully distributed, which is illegal.

Is The Pirate Bay down?

It might as well be. The Pirate Bay often switches servers to avoid government shutdowns. This means it’s often inaccessible. Moreover, some countries have placed national bans on The Pirate Bay, so the website as a whole becomes inaccessible.

Are torrents legal?

Torrenting in itself usually isn’t forbidden, but there are many torrents that include copyrighted content that’s unlawfully distributed. Piracy, as you know, is illegal.

Are torrents safe?

On the whole, torrents are safe. But that doesn’t mean that files can’t contain malware or viruses when you download them. When torrenting, using a VPN and antivirus is essential to protect yourself when uploading and downloading torrents, though we don’t condone torrenting for illegal purposes in any way.

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