UPDATE: The article was moved (and updated). For the new location of the list please click here
Here is a list with the most used torrent clients for Linux. While a few other exists and are listed elsewhere, I think the software presented here represents the big players, and a wide range of interfaces and features. I’m just sharing, I don’t profess to be an expert. Anyway, I hope this list will be of help to you in choosing a better torrent client.
Azureus (now Vuze)
The most future rich torrent client for Linux, but being based on Java, is also a memory and performance hogger.
“Azureus implements the BitTorrent protocol using java language and comes bundled with many invaluable features for both beginners and advanced users” read more…(dead link)
a non-geek's blog 
uTorrent on linux
http://lessthanhightech.weebly.com/utorrent-on-linux-seedbox.html
Azureus works very well. Get the Cubit plugin for search as well while at it for easy lookups.
rtorrent is incredible, I used it over ssh and its very easy and feature-rich for a console app
BTW, Deluge has plugins, my favorite being the bandwidth scheduling, pretty much like utorrent’s, but seems to allow 2 speeds…
I personally run a copy of TorrentFlux off my home server. it does an awesome job and it always there, once it’s done I just read the stuff off over NFS. I’ve also quite liked BitTornado.
No btdownloadcurses.py? For shame, bruh
No btdownloadcurses.py? What kind of lunix geek are you? 😦
Good list. I think you’ve forgotten about Torrentflux and torrentflux-b4rt, though. Especially on linux’s strength as a server, these two clients can be invaluable.
Hey, why do you have pictures of Deluge next to Azureus and Transmission?
Some of the screenshots are old. Ktorrent now has a KDE 4 interface, and Vuze has a dark interface, with a web browser built in. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Azureus screenshot shows Deluge. Transmission screenshot shows Deluge.
Deluge has served me well for quite some time now. Didn’t like transmission, couldn’t choose the files I didn’t want to download. Azureus is kind of unstable and eats up loads of memory. Really want to try out rtorrent. Thanks for a great list.
You can choose what files to download in transmission you just have to right click the download.
Dude,
Transmission has Deluge’s screenshot.
Otherwise, nice summary 😉
I’m using BitTornado, specifically because it has a console “curses” mode which makes it much easier to run over a remote SSH login session.
Still, I’ll be checking out Deluge. Thanks for the reviews.
Torrentflux-b4rt
http://tf-b4rt.berlios.de/
Its more gooder
First of all, sorry for the image error. Now it’s fixed.
@meh:
Yeo, that is why I choose rtorrent too.
@ultra, lukemcr and sam:
torrentflux needs apache, php and mysql, that’s why I didn’t include it on the list. I thought that, a regular user wont install apache&co in order to use torrentflux. Anyway, for a server torrentflux is the best choice. That’s why I will make an update with torrentflux.
@tofusensei:
I consider rtorrent as being a better alternative than btdownloadcurses. Of course, I may be subjective.
@chestyle:
You can choose the files you want to download in Transmission. If you are comfortable with the console, you’ll love rtorrent 😉
@Bob Robertson:
I never used BitTornado, but I did used Deluge and I liked, it’s somehow like utorrent.
Regards,
Marius
My favorite is KTorrent. Never have used the others.
Nice summary. I’ve used all of the mentioned clients (and a couple more). Today I only use the two that work the best in my opinion. KTorent for local downloads (the new version 3.1 especially rocks) and rTorrent on my remote server where I mostly share Linux distros and various other stuff.
I am for a long time a huge fan of Azureus. However I begin to find the latest (Vuze) versions too cluttered and full of unnecessary options. If this goes on I would consider using Deluge.
where is qbittorrent ?
Azureus is feature rich but crahes occasionaly(plugins?), and eats alot of system.
Ktorent reasonable features, and very stable.
Ktorrent is more useful when run by excuting as:
nnice -n 10 ktorrent %i %m -caption “%c” %u
for lower CPU usage/more as a backgound activity.
NB nice -n 0 is default. Never run a program as n 10,
as this assumes n is preceeded by a Plus, and will domonate your CPU, until
your system is slows to a crash.
Sorry about last instruction.
Should be:
nice -n 10 ktorrent %i %m -caption “%c” %u
(not with extra n)
Very useful tip! Thank you alot.
I was a big fan of ktorrent but found that transmission serves my torrenting needs perfectly. Lightweight and very fast. Nice list.
thank you, great post
Transmission? What ?
Wait, where the hell is Transmission?
@Zeeded:
I have moved my blog; you can find the full version of the article at http://linuxnongeek.com/2008/10/05/top-5-torrent-clients-for-linux/ Transmission it’s listed 5th.
Azureus used to be pretty awesome.
Vuze blows though. I don’t know what the hell they did or what the project’s goal is now, but it certainly isn’t a bittorrent client.
unfurtenutely i installed it but had a some trojan for control of my pc.
i don’t like it.
why does to title say top 5 when obviously there’s only one client listed
There is a link at the end of the fragment. Try it…
Hi,
Good article. As per my view Azureus is best.
Transmission could be reluctantly satisfactory if it had the ability to automatically add additional trackers from a .torrent file with the same name downloaded from a different site. As it is, its a real pain to try to get all the trackers from all the different sites. They have to added one at a time. But the user interface for Transmissions is really bad.
I’m new to Linux and I’m looking for a torrent client that is as small, fast, light, and feature rich as uTorrent was for Windows.
btw, I’ve been using computers since 1982, so I can perfectly handle the command line, but that is also the reason I wish to avoid it as much as possible, unless I’m missing the point of the advancement to a GUI. lol.
what list all u mentioned was crappy ram eating vuze
thank you, great post
hi,
i have newly installed ubuntu on my laptop.
i am having difficulty installing Vuse and would be grateful if someone could help.
these are the instructions for installation:
REQUIREMENTS:
Azureus requires Sun Java 1.5.x or newer to run.
JRE 1.6 (6.0 series) is highly recommended.
http://java.sun.com
RUNNING:
1. Extract the contents of this .tar.bz2 file.
2. Change to the ‘azureus’ directory where the files were extracted.
3. Start Azureus by running the script named ‘azureus’; ex. “./azureus”
NOTE:
If you have the Java JRE installed somewhere unusual (or not in your PATH),
use the JAVA_PROGRAM_DIR option in the script.
…………………………………..
i have no clue yet as i learning this OS.
Why don’t you try skdownloader.. It has a nice installer for linux as well.
It is as powerful as any other torrent client out there with a nice looking GUI and lots of themes to choose from. Also there is a browser integration feature which enables a “download with skdownloader” in browser right click menu. If this is used on a torrent link, skdownloader will download the torrent file by itself and automatically start downloading using the torrent file…. 🙂 🙂
http://www.toolsbysk.com/skdownloader
I will have a look. Thanks for the tip.
nice list…Azureus is best.