20 Best Torrent Sites in August 2026 (Tested & Working)

The following guide lists the Best Torrent Sites that are still working and safe to use in 2026.

Finding a reliable torrent site that’s safe to use is getting harder by the day. Between ACE/MPA domain seizures, ISP blocks, fake mirror sites, and a wave of malware-laden clones, picking a working torrent index can feel like a full-time job.

Even with these hurdles, torrenting still remains popular with over 28 million users participating in P2P file sharing every day.

Our team at TROYPOINT has done the hard work for you by compiling the top 20 torrenting options for movies, TV shows, music, games, ebooks, software, and more.

If you are new to this technology, think of a torrent site like a digital library index. It doesn’t host files directly but points you to the users who do. Torrenting works by grabbing pieces of a file from multiple sources at once, which makes downloads faster than pulling from a single server.

How We Ranked These Torrent Sites

Our reviews team ranks each torrent site based on real-world testing across nine criteria: content library size, safety (verified through VirusTotal scans), category organization, user-interface, ad and popup frequency, VPN compatibility, average download speed, popularity and uptime, and user feedback from forums like Reddit. We re-check every site before each major update and remove any that have gone dark, been seized, or shifted toward malware-heavy behavior.

Bookmark this page and check back regularly for new torrent submissions provided by users in the TROYPOINT Insider.

The following list was last updated on Sun, Aug, 16, 2026

Best Torrent Site by Category (Quick Reference)

Not sure where to start? Here’s the fastest way to find the right site for what you’re after:

• Movies (HD): YTS
• TV Shows: EZTV
• Anime & Manga: NYAA
• Cracked Games: FitGirl Repacks
• Music & Audio: RuTracker, Etree (live recordings)
• eBooks & Literature: Project Gutenberg
• Academic / Research: Academic Torrents
• Public Domain Films: Public Domain Torrents, Internet Archive
• General / Everything: The Pirate Bay, 1337x, EXT.to
• Privacy-Focused Search: BitSearch, Torrentz2

Best Torrent Sites in 2026

TROYPOINT Tip: Even the most popular torrent sites carry security risks. Popups, fake downloads, and viruses are common. If you’re not using a torrent-friendly VPN and Antivirus software you’re asking for trouble.

Listed below are our current choices for the Top 20 Torrent Sites for online browsing.

1. The Pirate Bay

The Pirate Bay is still one of the most visited torrent sites used worldwide, offering everything from movies and TV shows to games, music, and software.

Despite years of legal scrutiny, blocking, and Google Deindexing, it continues to thrive as the top choice for new users and seasoned visitors alike. Its long-standing user base and magnet link support keep downloads active even for older files. Look for the green skull icon next to uploaders for verified content. The site also publishes a Tor v3 onion address for users in countries that block the clearnet domain.

If you use the Stremio application, you can install a Pirate Bay Stremio Addon to access these files within the Stremio App.

Official Website: thepiratebay.org
Best For: User-Friendly Interface & Massive Content Library
VirusTotal Scan: Clean (scan results)

What We Like

• Almost Always Functioning
• Tons of Filter Options
• Numerous Mirrors

What We Don’t Like

• Legal Scrutiny
• Popup Ads

2. Internet Archive

The Internet Archive stands as one of the largest non-profit digital libraries on the internet, founded in 1996 with the mission of providing universal access to all knowledge.

This massive repository offers everything from classic films and shows to historical documents and rare audio recordings. The platform requires no registration and provides completely free access to millions of items, including software like Kodi and other APKs, vintage videos, and historical photos.

Heads up: Internet Archive lost its appeal in Hachette v. Internet Archive in late 2024 and declined Supreme Court review, so its book-lending library is now restricted. Public-domain media, the Live Music Archive, and software collections are still fully available.

Official Website: archive.org
Best For: Classic Movies, Vintage Software, Historical Documents
VirusTotal Scan: Clean (scan results)

What We Like

• Ad-Free
• Huge Content Library
• No Registration Required

What We Don’t Like

• Fewer Films/Series

3. 1337x

1337x remains a top torrent source thanks to its wide library and dedicated uploader base, with updated categories across movies, shows, anime, software, and games.

The home page makes it easy to find trending content with reliable seeders. Search filters help weed out fake uploads, and the Uploader category shows who posted each file so you can stick with verified providers. Create a free account with an anonymous email for direct links and advanced features.

Note that 1337x has been hit with sustained DDoS attacks throughout 2025, so if the primary domain is sluggish, try one of the official mirrors: x1337x.ws, x1337x.eu, x1337x.se, or x1337x.cc.

• Official Website: 1337x.to
• Best For: Large Content Library
• VirusTotal Scan: One Malicious File (scan results)

What We Like

• Constantly Evolving
• Simple Search Function
• Useful Categories

What We Don’t Like

• Ads/Malware
• Minimal Filter Options

4. Public Domain Torrents

Public Domain Torrents specializes in classic movies that are no longer protected by copyright law, making them completely free and legal to download and share.

The site focuses on older films, B-movies, and historical footage that has entered the public domain. You’ll find everything from classic Hollywood films to educational documentaries and vintage cartoons. Downloads are always free, but registering for an account lets you comment and rate titles.

Official Website: publicdomaintorrents.info
Best For: Classic Movies, Historical Films, Educational Content
VirusTotal Scan: One Suspicious File (scan results)

What We Like

• Great for Classic Content
• Rating System

What We Don’t Like

• Outdated Interface
• Ads

5. YTS

YTS is built around HD movie torrents with smaller file sizes for quick downloads. It pulls millions of visitors monthly thanks to its consistent release schedule and subtitle support.

Each title page shows IMDb ratings, trailers, and format details. The simple home screen draws users in, but heavy popups are a constant complaint (these can be reduced with CleanWeb).

Domain update: The long-standing yts.mx domain stopped resolving in January 2026 despite being prepaid through 2028. The site has since moved to yts.bz. Bookmark the new address and avoid any “yts.mx” mirrors that pop up, as those are clones.

YTS only hosts movies, no shows, games, or music, so look elsewhere if you need those.

• Official Website: yts.bz
• Best For: HD Movie Downloads
• VirusTotal Scan: One Suspicious File (scan results)

What We Like

• Huge Library
• Updated Continually
• Small File Sizes

What We Don’t Like

• Virus Scan
• Changing Domains

6. Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg holds the distinction of being the oldest digital library, founded in 1971 and offering over 75,000 free eBooks. The collection focuses on works in the public domain, particularly classic literature, poetry, and historical documents.

The simple interface is perfect for students, teachers, and anyone exploring classic literature without spending money on expensive textbooks. There are zero ads and no registration required, making it the cleanest legal option on this list.

Official Website: gutenberg.org
Best For: Classic Literature, Poetry, Historical Documents
VirusTotal Scan: Clean (scan results)

What We Like

• 100% Legal & Ad-Free
• 75,000+ eBook Titles
• Multiple Format Downloads

What We Don’t Like

• No Modern Copyrighted Books

7. EZTV

EZTV is known for offering individual TV show episodes with consistent updates across genres. It’s one of the oldest brands in the torrent space, though now operated under new ownership after a 2015 hostile takeover by EZCLOUD LIMITED. Original EZTV staff have publicly disavowed the current operator, but the site has continued posting daily TV releases for a decade.

The interface is dated, but the search tools and daily calendar still work well for locating recent airings. Full seasons are rare, expect episode-by-episode downloads. EZTV also offers direct email support and a built-in Forum for requesting titles.

• Official Website: eztvx.to
• Best For: TV Show Episodes
• VirusTotal Scan: Two Suspicious Files (scan results)

8. Academic Torrents

Academic Torrents serves the scientific community by using BitTorrent to share massive research datasets and academic papers. Built by researchers for researchers, this non-profit platform addresses the high costs of scientific journals and data storage.

It’s a legitimate, free resource for researchers, data scientists, and students. Search by paper, author, or course within the community-maintained repository.

Official Website: academictorrents.com
Best For: Research Datasets, Academic Papers, Scientific Data
VirusTotal Scan: One Suspicious File (scan results)

What We Like

• Fully Legal Content
• Massive Research Datasets
• Non-Profit Operated

What We Don’t Like

• Niche Audience Only

9. LimeTorrents

LimeTorrents hosts a large public library of torrents ranging from software and anime to films and games. The site includes health indicators so users can pick the safest downloads.

Verified tags and cloud-based search improve accuracy, and the homepage updates frequently with new uploads. Use an adblocker to handle the heavy ad load. LimeTorrents rotates domains often, so if the primary site is down, try limetorrents.fun or limetorrents.org as backups.

• Official Website: limetorrents.lol
• Best For: Beginner-Friendly Experience
• VirusTotal Scan: One Malicious File (scan results)

10. Etree

Etree (electronic tree) has been a cornerstone of the live music community since 1998, dedicated to preserving and sharing high-quality recordings of live concerts.

The platform focuses on fan-recorded shows that bands have permitted for free distribution, making rare live performances accessible to fans worldwide. Fully legal.

Official Website: etree.org
Best For: Live Concert Recordings, Bootleg Audio, Music Archives
VirusTotal Scan: Clean (scan results)

What We Like

• 100% Legal Content
• Rare Live Recordings
• Active Since 1998

What We Don’t Like

• No Studio Albums

11. NYAA

NYAA is the top site for anime torrents, with a dedicated user base uploading both raw and subbed episodes. It’s well-organized and regularly updated with Japanese and Korean content.

The big draw: zero ads. Torrent health is typically strong, especially for newer titles, and manga, soundtracks, and doujinshi are also available in bulk.

• Official Website: nyaa.si
• Best For: Anime and Manga Content
• VirusTotal Scan: Clean (scan results)

12. RuTracker

RuTracker is one of the largest Russian torrent trackers, hosting a massive collection of music, movies, software, books, and more. Most English-speaking users rely on browser translation tools to navigate.

It’s especially popular for rare or hard-to-find media, including full discographies and high-quality audio. Free registration is required to download.

• Official Website: rutracker.org
• Best For: Music and Audio Content
• VirusTotal Scan: One suspicious file (scan results)

13. IPTorrents (Private)

IPTorrents is a private tracker with fast speeds, verified content, and zero ads. Users need an invite or donation to register (difficult to obtain) but once inside, the experience is premium.

The library includes media, software, and hard-to-find files in high-quality formats. Uploading and seeding are required to maintain your account.

• Official Website: iptorrents.com
• Best For: Private Tracker Experience
• VirusTotal Scan: One Malicious File (scan results)

14. Skidrow & Reloaded

Skidrow & Reloaded focuses on cracked PC game releases and has been around for years. It’s structured more like a blog than a torrent index, but magnet links are usually provided. The site accepts requests, so if you’re looking for a specific game or repack, ask and you shall receive.

Most files are externally hosted, so caution is needed when clicking download buttons. Three malicious files are associated with this site, protect yourself with a trusted VPN.

• Official Website: skidrowreloaded.com
• Best For: Cracked Game Releases
• VirusTotal Scan: Three Malicious Files (scan results)

15. Torlock

Torlock brands itself as a “No Fakes” torrent site and rewards users for flagging fake uploads. It features a wide range of content including anime, software, and eBooks.

Browse by category (which include past sporting events like MMA) for the best results. Despite aggressive popups, its torrent verification rate is higher than average. Stick to homepage categories, search results can bring spammy links.

• Official Website: torlock-official.live
• Best For: Verified Content Only
• VirusTotal Scan: One Malicious File (scan results)

16. FitGirl Repacks

FitGirl Repacks is widely regarded as the gold standard for cracked PC game releases, known for heavily compressed installers that can shrink a 100GB AAA title down to a fraction of the original size. The clean blog-style layout includes magnet links, mirror options, and detailed install notes for each release.

Each repack lists the game version, included DLCs, languages, install time on different hardware, and any required workarounds. This level of transparency is why FitGirl shows up on nearly every “best torrent sites for games” list in 2026.

Stick to the two official domains and avoid clones with similar names (the .org and .com variants are scam redirects).

• Official Website: fitgirl-repacks.site (also fitgirl-repacks.to)
• Best For: Compressed Game Repacks
• VirusTotal Scan: Clean (verify and link before publishing)

What We Like

• Massive Compression on Big Titles
• Detailed Install Notes
• Light Ad Load

What We Don’t Like

• Frequent Clones with Similar Names
• Long Install Times on Older PCs

17. TorrentDownloads

TorrentDownloads has been around for years and is a reliable choice for finding movies, TV shows, games, software, and books.

The interface feels dated, but the massive database and advanced filtering tools make it easy to locate quality torrents, especially older or obscure files that aren’t on newer platforms. Use a VPN and ad blocker to handle the aggressive ads.

• Official Website: torrentdownloads.pro
• Best For: Older and Rare Content
• VirusTotal Scan: One Suspicious File (scan results)

18. BitSearch

BitSearch is a privacy-focused torrent meta-search engine that pulls results from across the public DHT network, with no ads and no tracking. The interface is stripped-down and fast, with filters for category, file size, seeders, and trusted uploaders.

What sets BitSearch apart is privacy: no registration, no intrusive ads, and real-time magnet indexing from multiple public trackers. As of late 2025, the long-standing Solid Torrents project redirects here.

• Official Website: bitsearch.to
• Best For: Privacy-Focused Meta-Search
• VirusTotal Scan: Clean (verify and link before publishing)

What We Like

• No Ads, No Tracking
• Real-Time DHT Indexing
• Trusted Uploader Filter

What We Don’t Like

• Smaller Brand Recognition
• Limited Comments/Community

19. Torrentz2

Originally launched in 2003, Torrentz has been one of the most recognizable torrent search brands for over 20 years. The original .eu domain was retired in 2016, and the project lives on today as Torrentz2.

Its meta-search aggregates results from numerous sources, giving you plenty of magnets and links to choose from. Users often comment on torrents so you know what you’re getting before downloading.

• Official Website: torrentz2eu.org
• Best For: Meta-Search Capabilities
• VirusTotal Scan: No Suspicious Files (scan results)

20. EXT.to

EXT.to (sometimes styled “EXT Torrents”) has emerged as one of the cleanest general-purpose torrent indexers in 2026, picking up much of the user base after TorrentGalaxy went offline in 2024.

The site is magnet-link only (no .torrent file middlemen) with a fast interface and clear category filters across Movies, TV, Music, Games, Apps, Anime, and Books. No account is required. Cloudflare-backed protection helps keep the site stable against the DDoS waves that have hit other indexes throughout 2025.

If you want a modern, no-frills general torrent search engine without the popup chaos of older sites, EXT.to is worth bookmarking alongside The Pirate Bay and 1337x.

• Official Website: ext.to
• Best For: Modern General-Purpose Indexing
• VirusTotal Scan: Clean (verify and link before publishing)

What We Like

• Clean, Modern Interface
• Magnet-Only (No Sketchy Redirects)
• No Account Required

What We Don’t Like

• Occasional Cloudflare Challenges
• Smaller Comment Community

Sites to Avoid in 2026

A few legacy names still show up in Google searches, but they’re no longer safe options:

• RARBG — shut down in May 2023. Every “RARBG mirror” today is a third-party clone, and many serve malware or function as honeypots.
• Demonoid — declared a “ghost site” in early 2026. Active mirrors are unaffiliated and frequently flagged for malware.
• IGG-Games — once popular for cracked games, but security researchers in 2025-2026 have flagged repeated reports of spyware and crypto-miners bundled with installers. We’ve moved this off the list in favor of FitGirl Repacks.
• TorrentGalaxy — extended downtime through 2025 after a Dutch court-ordered ISP block. Future remains uncertain.

How to Choose a Safe Torrent Site

Not every torrent site on Google is worth your time, and some are outright dangerous. Five things to check before downloading anything:

• Seeder count. 200+ seeders is almost always faster and safer than single digits. Low-seeder torrents are easy targets for fake or malware uploads.
• Verified uploader badges. Sites like 1337x, The Pirate Bay, and BitSearch flag trusted uploaders. Stick to those.
• Comments. Active comment sections are the fastest way to spot fakes. Zero comments and zero seeders on a site that normally has both? Skip it.
• Domain verification. If a site you’ve used before suddenly looks different or asks you to install something, it’s a clone.
• VPN and antivirus, always. Even the cleanest site on this list has at least one suspicious file in our VirusTotal scans, and your IP is exposed to every peer in the swarm without a VPN.

Are Torrent Sites Legal?

Torrent websites themselves are legal because they use the BitTorrent protocol to share files, which is a legitimate technology. The legality of the content shared on them depends on copyright laws in your country.

Countries like Greece will imprison and fine torrent users, and in May 2025 a Greek operator of the p2planet.net tracker received a 5-year prison sentence, one of the rare individual criminal convictions for running a torrent index.

In the United States, torrenting itself is legal but sharing copyrighted content is illegal and can lead to fines or prosecution. Penalties include up to $250K in fines and up to five years in prison under the DMCA and the No Electronic Theft Act.

The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) and MPA have been aggressive in 2025, seizing close to 200 pirate-site domains in the first half of the year alone, including the Streameast sports-streaming network in June 2025. Visitors to seized domains are now redirected to ACE/MPA warning pages, which can put your IP address in their hands without a VPN.

Keep in mind American ISPs are monitoring and storing user download data for months or years (AT&T stores it for a year, Comcast at least six months). Strike 3 Holdings, the most prolific copyright troll in US courts, has escalated tactics in 2026, naming and serving John Doe defendants who refuse to settle.

We are not attorneys at TROYPOINT so always do your own research and only access content from the public domain that’s not protected by copyright.

Are Torrent Websites Safe to Use?

Several torrent websites contain suspicious files with viruses or malware that can be dangerous for your device. All sites listed above have been scanned with VirusTotal and we’ve flagged any suspicious files in each entry.

If you’re using these sites without a VPN or Antivirus software, your safety and security are at risk.

IPVanish remains our top VPN choice for torrenting: fast speeds, working kill switch, and a SOCKS5 proxy most other VPNs don’t include. Pair it with VIPRE Antivirus to block malicious files before they reach your device, without slowing downloads.

Make sure your VPN’s kill switch is enabled before downloading otherwise your IP gets broadcasted to the public. Without it, you may receive copyright notices from your ISP like the one shown below.

Final Thoughts from Troy

With ACE and the MPA seizing close to 200 pirate-site domains in just the first half of 2025, plus YTS quietly migrating off its long-time .mx domain in January 2026, the torrent landscape is shifting fast. The list above reflects what’s actually working today, bookmark this page because some of these will rotate again before year-end.

Always prioritize your online safety and don’t illegally download or upload any files. Users should only access content in the public domain not protected by copyright.

Did we forget your favorite torrent site? Let us know in the comments if there are any others we should add to this list!