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The qBittorrent project aims to provide a Free Software alternative to µtorrent. Additionally, qBittorrent is available on all major operating systems and offers the same features across platforms. The user interface is similar to µTorrent, one of the official BitTorrent clients.
This helps ease the transition from µTorrent to qBittorrent for Windows users switching to Linux. qBittorrent is a multi-platform BitTorrent client developed in C++ and Qt4 by Christophe Dumez, offering a streamlined, lightweight experience similar to the best open-source torrent client for cross-platform users.
Its standout feature is the integrated search engine, which lets you search for torrents across major torrent websites simultaneously and seamlessly.
qBittorrent supports UPnP/NAT-PMP, BitTorrent protocol encryption (Azureus-compatible), Peer Exchange (PeX) fully compatible with µTorrent, IP filtering using eMule-style “ipfilter.dat” or PeerGuardian filters, as well as efficient handling of torrents and the files they contain.
Built with the Qt toolkit and libtorrent-rasterbar, qBittorrent offers secure remote management through its Web UI, allowing users to control their torrents from any device.
qBittorrent Features:
- Polished µTorrent-like User Interface
- Well-integrated and extensible Search Engine
- Simultaneous search in the most famous BitTorrent search sites
- Per-category-specific search requests (e.g., Books, Music, Movies)
- All BitTorrent extensions
- DHT, Peer Exchange, Full encryption, Magnet/BitComet URIs, …
- Remote control through a Web user interface
- Nearly identical to the regular UI, all in Ajax
- Advanced control over trackers, peers, and torrents
- Torrent queueing and prioritizing
- Torrent content selection and prioritizing
- UPnP / NAT-PMP port forwarding support
- Available in 41 languages (Unicode support)
- Torrent creation tool
- Advanced RSS support with download filters (inc. regex)
- Bandwidth scheduler
- IP Filtering (eMule and PeerGuardian compatible)
- IPv6 compliant
- Sequential downloading (aka “Download in order”)
- Available on most platforms: Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, OS/2, FreeBSD
qBittorrent – Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✓ Includes an integrated search engine that can search multiple major BitTorrent sites and supports category-specific searches. | ✗ The integrated search engine relies on external BitTorrent search websites, so search results depend on those supported sources being available and accessible. |
| ✓ Provides extensive torrent control, including queueing, prioritization, content selection, tracker management, and peer management. | ✗ Its extensive controls for trackers, peers, queues, content priorities, RSS filters, and bandwidth scheduling can make the application more complex than a basic torrent client. |
| ✓ Supports important BitTorrent technologies such as DHT, Peer Exchange, protocol encryption, magnet links, IPv6, and IP filtering. | ✗ Remote management through the Web UI requires additional configuration compared with using the desktop interface locally. |
| ✓ Offers remote torrent management through a Web UI designed to closely resemble the regular application interface. | ✗ The supplied download section lists a newer 64-bit Windows build but an older 32-bit Windows package, so current 32-bit Windows users do not have the same build availability documented on the page. |
| ✓ Provides cross-platform availability and includes additional features such as RSS download filters, bandwidth scheduling, torrent creation, and sequential downloading. | ✗ Although the feature overview mentions several operating systems, the dedicated requirements section only specifies Windows 10/11 and macOS Catalina, Big Sur, and Monterey, leaving current support details for some other platforms less clearly documented. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is qBittorrent not downloading or stuck at stalled?
Check that the torrent has active peers, update the client, and review firewall, VPN, or proxy settings, and router port forwarding. The project’s troubleshooting guide recommends isolating network issues to identify the cause; be careful when testing without a VPN because your public IP address may become visible to peers.
How do I enable the search engine in qBittorrent?
Open View > Search Engine to display the Search tab, then select Search plugins to install the plugins you need. Community search plugins use Python scripts and are not guaranteed to be safe, so install them only from trusted sources.
Can qBittorrent be used with a VPN without exposing my IP address?
Yes, but correct configuration matters. Under Tools > Options > Advanced > Network Interface, select your VPN’s network adapter to help prevent torrent traffic from using your regular connection if the VPN disconnects.
Is qBittorrent safe to download and install?
The project’s FAQ states that the official software does not contain malware, spyware, advertisements, or unwanted third-party programs. Download it from the official qBittorrent website, and remember that downloaded files and unofficial search plugins carry separate risks.
What is the difference between qBittorrent and uTorrent?
qBittorrent is open-source software released under the GNU GPLv2 license, and its project states that it contains no advertising or unwanted bundled programs. uTorrent desktop client offers a paid Ads Free upgrade to remove advertising, so the two differ in their advertising and licensing models. qBittorrent is a strong option for users who prefer an open-source, ad-free client.
What’s New in qBittorrent 5.3.0:
Release Date 2026-10-20
- FEATURE: Add an option to match all share limits
- FEATURE: Put Email examples in placeholder text
- FEATURE: Add support for widely used image types in HTTP server
- FEATURE: Allow filtering the torrent list by infohash
- FEATURE: Add “Copy path” in Content tab
- FEATURE: Don’t overwrite config file when it has no write permission
- FEATURE: Allow banning IP range
- FEATURE: Enhance filename validation
- FEATURE: Allow monochrome tray icon to follow color mode
- FEATURE: Add “Queued tracker announces” session metric
- FEATURE: Improve “Deletion confirmation” dialog
- FEATURE: Add scroll bars to Statistics dialog
- FEATURE: Decide system tray icon color based on Windows color scheme
- FEATURE: Create a group for status bar related settings
- FEATURE: Add ‘request latency’ metric to Statistics dialog
- FEATURE: Add “Contribution” column to Peers list
- FEATURE: Add tooltips to email notification Options fields
- FEATURE: Add ‘Open Destination Folder’ button to toolbar
- FEATURE: Implement seeding_outgoing_connections libtorrent setting
- FEATURE: Add “Force start torrents” to filter context menus
- FEATURE: Improve management of torrent content
- FEATURE: Support multiple recipients for email notifications
- FEATURE: Add support for magnet link ‘so’ parameter
- FEATURE: Add ‘Ignore dotfiles’ option in Torrent Creator
- FEATURE: Implement ‘Maximum outstanding block requests from a peer’ setting
- FEATURE: Revamp .torrent files backup management
- FEATURE: Make Torrent Options dialog scrollable
- FEATURE: Add allow_multiple_connections_per_pid advanced setting
- FEATURE: Add button to open Default Apps settings on Windows
- FEATURE: Reference torrent “seed mode” by its exact name
- FEATURE: Add logging of IP ban alerts
- FEATURE: Add ‘Resize columns’ action to ‘Torrent Content Layout’ dialog header
- FEATURE: Detect redundant quotes from Python executable path
- FEATURE: Add option to toggle closing search tabs with middle-click
- FEATURE: Expose libtorrent setting for WebTorrent STUN server
- FEATURE: Add I2P PeX setting
- FEATURE: Add settings for I2P inbound/outbound length variance
- FEATURE: Make disabled speed graphs warning clickable
- FEATURE: Relax plugin versioning rule
- BUGFIX: Fix Comment area background mismatch in Add New Torrent dialog
- BUGFIX: Rename FYR Macedonia to North Macedonia
- BUGFIX: Fix LineEdit dark corner artifacts on macOS
- BUGFIX: Fix macOS delete shortcuts to match platform conventions
- BUGFIX: Replace invisible toolbar spacers with visible separators on macOS
- BUGFIX: Fix STARTTLS implementation
- BUGFIX: Don’t try to load zero-size GeoIP database
- BUGFIX: Use sum of per-torrent payload rates for session speed display
- BUGFIX: Make “Force reannounce” actually do it
- BUGFIX: Filter out dotfiles on all platforms in Torrent Creator
- BUGFIX: Handle IPv6 range with prefix length 128 as single IP
- BUGFIX: Fix Windows ARM build
- BUGFIX: Fix “Torrent is already present” dialog position when main window is minimized
- BUGFIX: Avoid memory leak on translation change
- BUGFIX: Avoid failed add result after tracker merge
- BUGFIX: Properly handle relative path of logs folder
- BUGFIX: Fix wrong comparison between IP addresses
- BUGFIX: Update share limits timer when share limits change
- BUGFIX: Fix P2P filter parsing for IPv6
- BUGFIX: Filter unsupported tracker URLs from magnets
- BUGFIX: Prevent SMTP injection from unsanitized mail content
- BUGFIX: Use HTTPS for dynamic DNS
- BUGFIX: Fix torrent completion handling when ignored files are present
- BUGFIX: Don’t create a torrent entry from an unauthenticated announce
- BUGFIX: Fix broken documentation link
- BUGFIX: Always query free space of parent path if specified one doesn’t exist
- BUGFIX: Update sort order on Remaining column updated
- BUGFIX: Apply theme tooltip colors to inactive palette
- BUGFIX: Avoid heavy work in callback function
- WEBUI: Add “Select All” and “Invert Selection”
- WEBUI: Enable virtual list by default
- WEBUI: Improve folder collapse behavior
- WEBUI: Show free disk space in add torrent window
- WEBUI: Filter array elements in-place
- WEBUI: Improve ‘set rows’ operation performance
- WEBUI: Add “Pread/pwrite” disk IO type option
- WEBUI: Unify global speed limit window
- WEBUI: Allow downloading completed files
- WEBUI: Serialize torrent creator dates as epoch seconds
- WEBUI: Respect excluded file names in Add torrent dialog
- WEBUI: Replace alerts for test email with custom notification
- WEBUI: Allow cross-origin links to webroot
- WEBUI: Implement skip “Add new torrent” dialog
- WEBUI: Reuse category and plugin when refreshing search
- WEBUI: Make ‘server domain’ matching anchored
- WEBUI: Add secondary sort column
- WEBUI: Add ‘Copy path’ action to torrent content menu
- WEBUI: Handle non-torrent RSS link
- WEBUI: Disable torrent content menu items instead of hiding them
- WEBUI: Suppress errors when clicking on column headers
- WEBUI: Add sessions count limit
- WEBUI: Store search tabs between app restarts and across sessions
- WEBUI: Add controls to start BitTorrent session paused and set session shutdown timeout
- WEBUI: Add support for pausing and resuming BitTorrent session
- WEBUI: Use exponential backoff for RSS refresh interval
- WEBUI: Detect cross-site requests using Sec-Fetch-Site header
- WEBUI: Remove indentation if no subcategory exists
- WEBUI: Tweak software version table layout
- WEBUI: Properly hide elements from screen readers (
- WEBUI: Add ability to export/import RSS rules
- WEBUI: Cap path autocompletion suggestions to 25 entries
- WEBUI: Keep properties panel sortable after tab click
- WEBUI: Fix authentication bypass via X-Forwarded-For spoofing
- WEBUI: Add missing Options page settings and fix mismatches
- WEBUI: Prefer Sec-Fetch-Site for cross-site request detection
- WEBUI: Add shared download window for RSS articles
- WEBAPI: Construct WebAPI controller instances on demand
- WEBAPI: Require POST for search/downloadTorrent and rss/setFeedRefreshInterval
- WEBAPI: Fix editCategory overwrites unrelated options
- WEBAPI: Generate correct sync data if client has not received last sent one
- WEBAPI: Use torrent names for exported .torrent files
- RSS: Fix the added RSS rule item doesn’t follow “enabled” state
- RSS: Add “All” sticky RSS item
- RSS: Add “Clone Rule” feature to RSS AutoDownloader
- RSS: Allow adding torrents from links in RSS content viewer
- RSS: Persist feed list sort order
- RSS: Clamp ‘Max articles per feed’ to a non-negative value
- RSS: Make RSS settings warning clickable
- SEARCH: Clean up documentation format
- SEARCH: Preserve cookies when handling HTTP redirection
- SEARCH: Escape pipe characters properly
- WINDOWS: NSIS: Update Thai translation
- MACOS: Make status bar icon adapt to system appearance
- OTHER: Support building against latest version of libtorrent
- OTHER: Don’t use deprecated libtorrent features
- OTHER: Remove outdated setting keys
- OTHER: Bump Python version minimum requirement
- OTHER: Support installing Python on ARM64 Windows properly
- OTHER: Disable “Resolve peer countries” by default in new installations
- OTHER: Remove FOSSHub site for program updates
- OTHER: Align default DiskQueueSize with libtorrent 2.1
- OTHER: Update man pages to document all command-line options
- OTHER: Mark qBittorrent compatible with CET Shadow Stack
Official Homepage – https://www.qbittorrent.org
Supported Operating Systems:
- Windows 11, 10
- macOS Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey
