Bittorrent Clients to Download Torrent Files

These four freeware bittorrent clients are rated excellent as they performed at or near the top of all the bittorrent clients on all of the test torrents.  Additionally, all of these clients had stable RAM use.  All four of these clients, in addition to their excellent performance and stability, have clean installs and there is no need to be careful during installation.

I have put together set up guides for all these excellent clients and there are links in the Related Links section at the end of this review.

qBittorrent is my top pick in this review.  I was unaware of the existence of this client until it was suggested by IronPlatypus in the comments here.  In addition to performing excellently on all torrents, qBittorrent was also stable and efficient in both operating systems tested.  Its RAM use was low and stable as was its CPU use.  It has all the features that an ordinary user would want and is unlikely to cause issues on any Windows system.  The downside to this client is that it basically is a one person operation, which might affect growth and support.  The updates seem to be coming regularly, so the growth is not  an issue as of yet (in fact there was an update-not tested-just before I began re-doing this review). Support is an issue though.  The Wiki and Documentation are out of date and I still have not received a confirmation of registration at the forums after a month.  In spite of the support deficiencies, I think users will be pleased with this client due to its excellent performance and stability.
Note:  After receiving a comment from “jim from scotland”, I would caution against using the “Lock” feature of qBittorrent until I can gather more information on it.

Pros:  Low and stable RAM and CPU with all the necessary features.  Performs excellently on torrents and is unlikely to cause any issues..
Cons:  Basically a one person operation, which could affect progress.  Support is not at the level that it should be.

Tixati is a newer bittorrent client that entered this review for the first time last year.  Of course, it performed excellently on the test torrents (or it would not be here), but it is also an appealing client, with its varied GUIs and layout.  Tixati was very stable in both RAM and CPU on the Windows 7 machine, but did have some spikes in CPU on larger torrents on the XP.  Of course, even if you have an XP you may not have those spikes and in any event they were not extreme and the RAM use was still stable on the XP.  In short if you have Windows 7, you will find this to be an excellent client that has low RAM use and no issues.  If you have XP you might get some occasional spikes of CPU up to 15%.  In either event, the client is an excellent choice.  Tixati always seems to be in active development and the developers are receptive to users input.  Their help facilities have grown and are kept up to date.  Their forums are responsive, but not at the level of µTorrent’s, which has the best support forum.  If not for the slight CPU issues on my XP system, this well could have been the top pick.

Pros:  Generally stable and efficient with a good variety of options.  Developers are active and responsive to user requests.  Attractive interface.  Good help resources.  Excellent performance on torrents.
Cons:  Had some minor CPU issues on larger swarm torrents.

Deluge missed the list last time around, but its performance this time put it among the top performers.  The Windows version of this freeware bittorrent client is not the primary focus of the development team and it does show a bit.  On my Windows 7, the RAM and CPU used were stable, but there were some display issues.  On the XP system RAM use was stable, but some CPU spikes on the more active torrents and again some display issues.  Still this client performed  excellently, the CPU spikes (up to 20%) were not extreme and the GUI issues were not that important overall.  The first two clients here would not be accepted at most private torrent sites as they are quite unknown to most.  Deluge does have a good reputation and is accepted at most private sites.  Its forums, user guide and FAQ provide a good level of support.  With a few tweaks in performance and display, this could well be the top pick.

Pros:  Cross platform client that is stable for the most part and efficient.  Well accepted at private trackers.  Excellent performance on torrents.  Good help resources.
Cons:  Some CPU spikes (up to 20%) on larger swarms.  Some GUI issues.

Halite is a client that made it into the top client list in my last review and I had hoped this client would make its move to the top as it is the most efficient client of all I have tested and only needed some additional features to move up.  However, the latest version available at the time of testing had extreme CPU issues on my XP (and I am apparently not the only one).  The previous version worked fine, but given the issues I and others had, I was disappointed to not see an update for Halite resolving those issues.  Halite performed excellently on the Windows 7 PC with extremely low and stable RAM and no CPU issues.  So for many this would be a good choice.  Their help facilities are limited as there are no guides or documentation.  Their forums appear to be well tended.

Pros:  Low and stable RAM use.  Working versions had low CPU use.  Excellent performance on torrents.
Cons:  Latest version at time of testing caused CPU issues for significant minority of users and Halite was slow to respond.  Help resources need an upgrade.