When it comes down to downloading torrents, there are two major players with regards to the clients that you can use. You may have heard of these two clients as they are uTorrent and BitTorrent. They are both extremely popular and while there are other torrent clients out there, they are easily the best of them. However, which of them do you choose, uTorrent or BitTorrent? Well, that is why we are here, to help you establish which is better, uTorrent or BitTorrent. In this article, we will take you through the differences between the two of them and give you the information needed to decide which of the two is better.
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Very Similar Interfaces
If you have used both uTorrent and BitTorrent, you will probably have noticed that their interfaces are practically identical. In fact, if it was not for the fact that they are different colors, you would be forgiven for thinking they were the same client.
There is actually a good reason for this and that is that they are both owned by the same company. BitTorrent Inc first started out in 2001 and came up with the BitTorrent protocol and then designed the BitTorrent client to be able to implement it.
As for uTorrent, this was purchased by BitTorrent Inc back in 2006 from a man who had created and runs it for two years. As they own both, it is quite understandable that they look and feel similar – especially as they both use the same code. While you might think that this means that uTorrent or BitTorrent is exactly the same as each other, you would actually be quite wrong as each has a few different features.
So Which is Better, uTorrent or BitTorrent?
Despite both clients having similarities such as the interface, primary features and settings, both offering unlimited downloading and free and paid versions of their software, there are some core differences.
- Size – BitTorrent is actually three times bigger than uTorrent in terms of size. uTorrent takes up just 1mb of space while its brother takes up 3mb. Both are very small in the grand scheme of things, however.
- The frequency of Updates – BitTorrent offers fewer updates than uTorrent but this generally means they are more stable. uTorrent, on the other hand, takes a different approach by offering more frequent updates but in the form of alpha and beta updates.
- The Compatibility of the Platforms – BitTorrent is the least compatible of the two clients as it can be run on both Windows and Mac and also Android. uTorrent just pips it by supporting each of those operating systems but also Linux as well.
- Crypto Mining Scandal – This is probably one of the biggest reasons why for many, uTorrent is the winner of the BitTorrent vs UTorrent BitTorrent was found to be responsible for cryptocurrency miners being placed on users computers. These miners use some of the user’s hardware to mine on blockchain technology – something that went badly against uTorrent.
BitTorrent vs uTorrent in a Speed Race
The biggest question that many of you will have when it comes to establishing which is better, uTorrent or BitTorrent is that of the speed each has. Which is the fastest?
Well actually, they are both pretty much the same as your uTorrent or BitTorrent client will not really be able to affect the speeds at which you can download or upload. This will mainly come down to the speed of your internet connection and how many seeders each torrent has.
Actually, the only way you could possibly speed up your torrents is by using a VPN – we will tell you more about that a little later, however.
BitTorrent vs uTorrent in Terms of Features
Again, there is uTorrent and BitTorrent do not differ much if at all in this regard. They both have the same settings and allow you to customize any bandwidth limits for yourself. They will both offer some improved functionality if you take them up on their paid versions but for many, the free versions are more than good enough themselves.
Which is the Most Popular? uTorrent or BitTorrent?
This is difficult to know for fact but if you were to go on downloads and reviews left for the Android version of both clients, uTorrent comes out on top by some distance. This is despite the mining scandal but many people might not even be aware of it. There are more than five times the reviews for uTorrent and their downloads are far greater as well.
Speeding up Your Torrents Using a VPN
No matter who your personal favorite is in the BitTorrent vs uTorrent debate, the most important thing is the download speeds that you can attain. We mentioned before that the clients themselves will not speed up your connection but that a VPN might be able to.
Many ISPs the world over are always under pressure from authorities and corporations to do something about people downloading torrents. Furthermore, downloading torrents can use up a lot of the bandwidth that an ISP provides. For both of those reasons, there is a good chance that your ISP will bottleneck or throttle your speeds when it realizes you are downloading.
With a VPN however, they are not even going to be aware that you are doing this. A VPN will reroute all of your traffic and also encrypt it so that nobody will know what you are doing online. This means you will not be slowed down and therefore have a faster connection compared to if you were downloading without a VPN.
These are the VPNs we recommend for torrenting:.
Who Wins?
Well, when it comes to which is better, uTorrent or BitTorrent, this really comes down to personal choice. uTorrent is the most popular but the mining scandal has knocked that popularity somewhat. Other than that, there really is not much between the two of them at all.
Do you have your personal favorite? Perhaps it is neither and another torrent client instead? Why not let us know either way in the comments below?
