ExtraTorrent became one of the most important torrent websites ever to grace the web. It was popular and had an updated catalog of movies, TV shows, e-books, software, games, and anything you could have imagined.
ExtraTorrent went offline in 2017, but its legacy remains with us through a few websites that have become excellent alternatives to ExtraTorrent. And which sites are those? We’re glad you asked. The article covers them and other essential information.
Note: It is an educational article that does not violate copyright or other laws. The sole purpose of this page is to provide information; we are against piracy. Download torrent files from these alternatives only if they are public domain files and aren’t copyrighted. In addition, we recommend accessing any torrent website only after getting your hands on a quality VPN like ExpressVPN. It prevents your ISP from tracking your activities, speed throttling, and encrypts your traffic to keep you anonymous while torrenting.
Top alternatives to ExtraTorrent – The quick list
- The Pirate Bay: The best torrent website on the internet.
- RARBG: Best HD content torrenting website. Also, a tracker.
- Kickass Torrents: ExtraTorrent’s greatest competitor is now a good alternative.
- YTS: A torrent website that focuses on movies.
- LimeTorrents: A website to get the latest torrents.
- EZTV: The best option for TV shows.
- Nyaa.si: The place to go for anime.
- Torlock: Lots of torrents with lots of seeds.
- Torrentz: The largest torrent search engine.
- TorrentFunk: Good site with a large database.
- 1337x.to: Stands out for software, movies, and TV shows.
- TorrentGalaxy: Another site focused on movies and videos.
- TorrentDownloads: Convenient, transparent, and easy to use.
Remember that many countries have a very negative stance against the BitTorrent network and protocol. So you could find that some listed websites are banned in your region. This is one of the many reasons you should always use a VPN when sharing torrent files. Of course, the VPN will unlock banned sites for you and enhance your overall security and anonymity.
If you are among the lucky users who enjoyed the internet at its peak during the mid-2000s, you had to come across ExtraTorrent (or ET) at some point. However, May 2017 had a terrible surprise for the free internet as the second-largest torrent website went offline without any apparent explanation. So the internet became ExtraTorrentless.
The website’s sudden demise left ET users without their favorite torrent resource, looking for alternatives that could fill up the void left behind by ExtraTorrent. And then, there was a further controversy about the other torrent sites‘ quality, safety, reliability, functionality, or sheer uselessness.
This article will show you 13 alternatives to ExtraTorrent that work fine. We will also talk about safety in the torrent world.
Are ExtraTorrent mirrors and proxies safe for users?
Whenever a successful free online resource for anything disappears, a bunch of mirrors, clones, and copycats come online, aping the original website, sometimes very closely.
Our staff dug around the web to find the mirrors and clones that the extra torrent’s demise left behind. Unfortunately, most of them are dead or notorious for spreading malware.
So we advise users to run away from any website claiming to be extra torrent hair. Instead, plenty of good torrenting websites exist, and we will tell you about the best thirteen.
Staying safe and legal while torrenting
But before we get our hands dirty, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Downloading copyrighted works is illegal in most jurisdictions, torrents included. Getting caught with your hands on these things could get you fined or jailed, depending on your country of residence (or could lead to nothing; it also depends on where you live).
The relevant laws differ for every country, and the enforcement level varies greatly, even if most agree on torrents’ illegality. Some governments are strict about it and try to find and punish torrenters. Some other ones know all about what’s happening but hardly do anything but pay lip service to copyrights.
Then there’s the issue of VPNs. Again, there’s no controversy here. It would be best always to protect your torrenting with a top-notch VPN like ExpressVPN that will hide your IP address and bypass geo-restrictions. A good antivirus is an excellent thing to have, too, because some torrents come loaded with malware.
The 13 best ExtraTorrent alternatives – Detailed list
1. The Pirate Bay
Free
A large number of torrent files
Banned in several regions
The Pirate Bay has become the king of torrents. Its torrent catalog is enormous and includes every possible category. It’s easy to use and navigate. The search feature is useful and allows for filtering options. You can browse each category separately, too.
But recently, TPB has lagged behind the rest in e-books and software.
What sets TPB apart from the rest is how easy it is to find safe torrents. As long as you keep your downloads to torrents uploaded by users with a green or purple skull, you’ll have no security problems arising from your downloads.
But, alas, nothing is ever perfect! TPB is banned in more than 20 countries. So you will probably need to use a proxy or, even better, have a good VPN to navigate this website. Some good Pirate Bay alternatives also exist that you can try.
2. RARBG
RARBG first appeared in Bulgaria, but it has grown dramatically since its inception because of its popularity. The stronger side of RARBG is in high-quality movies and TV shows, but it also has good music, games, and other cool things.
The site’s network is reminiscent of ExtraTorrent’s, so it’s simple to navigate. In addition, newer movies have lots of seeds — so you can get them quickly.
Again, as is the case with other ExtraTorrent alternatives on our list, bans are a problem if you’re in the wrong country. But, also, again, your VPN is your friend here.
3. Kickass Torrents
Free
Comprehensive content list
Original site isn’t available
Kickass Torrents was ExtraTorrent’s main competition at the time it went offline.
The original Kickass went down for a while as well in 2016 when the United States Department of Justice charged it with multiple criminal offenses, but it came back with increased functionality on new domains. Understandably, people found Kickass alternatives for their needs.
While Kickass had never returned to its position when it went down, it’s still one of the best torrenting websites out there.
4. YTS
This is the simplest, easiest-to-use torrenting website out there. Part of its simplicity (and charm) comes from the sole focus on the movies it has. No TV shows, software, games, porn, or anything else. YTS (aka YiFy) is all about films and only about them.
You can browse the most recent torrents from the welcome page, filter them by resolution, or click “browse movies.”
Movies are available in 720p, 1080p, and 4K, so even the pickiest users will get their fix of ultra HD content.
This is a great site to find classics such as Casablanca, which you can get in HD. The site has no ads but opens a new tab with almost every click.
5. Limetorrents
Continuing with our list of ExtraTorrent alternatives, Limetorrents has an intuitive website that’s also easy to use. Once your browser gets there, you’ll see the large search box to help you quickly find whatever you want.
If you’re browsing around to see what’s interesting, the categories like apps, anime, movies, and games will keep you entertained as you see the items they offer.
The database is fantastic. It hosts no torrents but provides links to the torrents on other websites. It prides itself on being family-friendly, including no adult material (supposedly).
Limetorrents’ claim to fame is in offering the latest torrents quickly. But it’s not so good for older items, as the seeders are scarce.
6. EZTV
So, The Pirate Bay may be the king of torrents. But EZTV is the king of TV shows. The layout is like a cluttered version of ExtraTorrents. The organization, however, is unique and valuable. The first page will show you the following categories: latest, full season, and 20 most seeded so that you can find the newest content directly.
EZTV is known for offering the latest episodes very soon after they are on the air. So the speeds are good, too.
As is the case with every torrenting website, it’s always a good idea to use a VPN with EZTV. But, of course, if it’s blocked in your country, you have no choice anyway.
7. Nyaa.si
This entry in our list is for the anime fans among us. It’s the main torrenting website for anime on the internet. It boasts more than 46 million visitors monthly. However, as seeders are abundant, download times are relatively short.
The ExtraTorrent alternative has four sections: English translated (red), Raw anime (gray), Live-action English-translated (brown), and non-English translated (green).
8. Torlock
Torlock proudly presents itself as a no-fake torrenting website. It supports the claim by paying users to report fake torrents or torrents, including malware.
The database has over nine million items, and thousands more are added daily. It’s become a crucial torrenting website in a relatively short period, as it’s relatively new.
The categories include audiobooks, games, anime, and a lot more. The torrents tend to be authentic, healthy, and with plenty of seeds so that you can get them quickly.
The other reason this website is known is the relatively exotic torrents it hosts, which are hard to find in other catalogs.
9. Torrentz
Free
Has content from more than 50 active domains
Pirated content
Torrentz2 claims to be hair to Torrentz, a torrent search engine of the past.
A search in Torrentz2 will go through a database with 31 million active torrents from 125 million pages of 50 domains. It’s one of the most significant search engines in BitTorrentLand.
However, the search results tend to be hit-and-miss, which is why this website is best used in combination with others.
10. Torrentfunk
Torrentfunk takes its “friends” torrents and displays them nicely in its green interface. In addition, the safe torrents are marked “verified,” and the site rates them as good or bad.
The category selection is vast and includes everything you could imagine or need.
Every torrent includes date added, seeds, uploader, health, and size. This facilitates finding the best options to download.
11. 1337x.to
This website has been around for a long, as torrenting websites go. And this is a world in which survival entails controversy. For example, Google banned it for malware distribution, and it’s had many other issues over the years.
But 1337x went through a complete rebranding in October 2016 to show a new look and feel and remove all the malware. As things stand today, it’s one of the best sites regarding user interface, no ads, and a vast database with updated content. In addition, this platform is always reputed to have the most recent software available.
It doesn’t have a direct system to identify the best torrents. So, it would be best if you did a little research on the uploader. See their profile, and if it has a long upload history, then the chances are that you can trust their uploads. While it’s a general-purpose site, we found it to be one of the best game torrent sources — a good website for gamers.
12. TorrentGalaxy
TorrentGalaxy was also conceived to deliver video torrents like films, TV shows, sporting events, documentaries, and other audiovisual material. In that regard, it is like EZTV.
The site’s character is user-friendliness. It’s visual, informative, and easy to use.
It won’t surprise you to find this website to become your favorite torrenting web page for movies.
13. TorrentDownloads
TorrentDownloads is one of the most convenient websites on our list.
The website includes eight categories: other, books, anime, software, games, music, movies, and TV shows.
Three additional sections are most active, seeded, and leeched.
ExtraTorrent proxy sites to avoid
ExtraTorrent was shut down in 2017. However, many proxy sites claiming to be affiliated with ExtraTorrent have since popped up. It is important to note that accessing these proxy sites can be risky, as they may contain malware or redirect users to malicious websites. Some of the sites to look out for include:
- Extratorrents.it
- Extratorrent.cyou
- Extratorrents.cc
- extratorrent.ch
- extratorrent.si
- extratorrent-cc.com
- extratorrent.ag
- extratorrent.cd
Is torrenting legal?
Torrents are nothing but a tool to spread information around the internet. As such, their legality is neutral, so the act of torrenting itself is perfectly legal everywhere.
However, using your torrent technology to infringe on copyright laws knowingly is a different thing. In this case, it’s not the torrenting that is illegal but the purpose you’re using it for. And most users are using the BitTorrent protocol for that purpose, let’s face it.
Since copyrighted material is prevalent in torrent traffic at a rate higher than 99%, most countries don’t see the need to consider the use case for legal activities. Hence, they ban anything they can.
Countries like Japan, the US, France, Germany, and the UK have a strong stance against torrents and enforce them seriously. So, if you get caught torrenting in such countries, you could get fined or even spend time in jail.
So the first thing you need to do as a torrent is to find out how things are in your country.
Then, a VPN is essential. Not just any VPN (never free) but a top-notch service that can guarantee online anonymity and supports BitTorrent traffic.
Last but not least, you must have a good antivirus suite. Kaspersky is the best option because the last thing you want is to get malware infections from your downloaded torrents.
Why do I need a VPN for ExtraTorrents alternatives?
A VPN goes a long way in protecting your online privacy and security. Basically, a VPN encrypts your internet traffic and masks your IP address. When connected to a VPN server, your network connection is routed through an encrypted tunnel, making it difficult for authorities and ISPs to track your identity.
Most ISPs monitor your internet activity, block access to specific torrent sites, or restrict access to P2P networks. With a VPN, you can bypass internet censorship and geo-restrictions. Further, ISPs may throttle your connection for certain internet activities, such as torrenting. This can be frustrating and negatively affects your torrenting experience due to slow download speeds. However, a VPN will conceal your identity, making it difficult for your ISP to detect and throttle your internet connection.
The game’s name when downloading torrents is to stay anonymous with the help of your VPN. The VPN will spoof your IP address, thus hiding your digital identity, and do not forget that every torrent out there publishes the IP numbers of every seed and leech.
The VPN encrypts all your traffic so nobody can intercept or understand it. The best VPNs also have high speeds, so your functionality is never impaired by encryption or routing.
If you are interested in subscribing to a good VPN service, we have plenty of articles on this website that can help you choose the one that will suit you best. But if you don’t want to bother, pick NordVPN or ExpressVPN. You can’t go wrong with them.
3 Best VPNs for ExtraTorrents Alternatives
1. ExpressVPN
A top choice among the VPN giants for torrenting on any of ExtraTorrents alternatives.
A network of thousands of fast servers in more than 90 countries
TrustedServer technology (enhanced security)
Provides reliable data encryption with AES-256
User traffic usage is not logged
Split tunneling feature with efficiency
Boasts Network Lock (kill switch) feature
Supports Tor over VPN
Peer to peer traffic allowed on servers
Users can connect five devices at a time
30-day tested refund policy
Pros
- Secure, private access with best-performing encryption
- Has an option to sign up anonymously
- Easily bypasses geo-restricted sites
Cons
- It lacks a kill switch on the iOS app
ExpressVPN provides fast, secure, and reliable internet connections. With a network of over 3,000 servers in 94 countries, it can bypass geo-restrictions and access content worldwide.
The service uses military-grade encryption to protect user data and has a strict no-logs policy to safeguard your online activity. ExpressVPN also offers features like split tunneling to help you route specific traffic through the VPN while leaving other traffic unencrypted.
Another key feature of ExpressVPN is its excellent customer support. The service offers 24/7 live chat support and a comprehensive help center with articles and tutorials. ExpressVPN supports different platforms like Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and Linux. There are also various extensions for popular browsers, such as Chrome and Firefox, to choose from. The price starts at $8.32/month.
Head to our ExpressVPN unbiased review
2. Surfshark
A budget-concious VPN vendor that works extremely well with all ExtraTorrent alternatives.
Has over 3,200 secure VPN servers present in over 63 countries
Runs on RAM-based servers (best for privacy)
Privacy-concerned policy (no logging)
Robust data AES-256 (government-grade) encryption
Peer to Peer supporting servers
Security-boosting smart kill switch feature
Efficient CleanWeb ad and malware blocking feature
Split tunneling with dependable effectiveness
Each account can connect to unlimited number of devices at once
Refund policy of 30 days
Pros
- Has a Whitelister feature that allows users to exclude specific apps or websites from the VPN connection
- Camouflage Mode makes it difficult for ISPs and governments to detect that a VPN is in use
- Provides users with quick and helpful assistance
Cons
- No split tunneling on iOS
Surfshark boasts a network of over 3,200 servers in 100 countries, allowing you to choose from different server locations worldwide. The service uses AES 256-bit encryption to protect your data and has a strict no-logs policy for your anonymity.
Surfshark offers a CleanWeb feature that blocks ads and trackers. Also, it has a MultiHop feature, which routes your traffic through multiple servers for added privacy and security. Another unique feature is its unlimited simultaneous connections.
The VPN is available on various platforms, including Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and Linux. In addition, it offers extensions for popular browsers such as Chrome and Firefox.
Head to our Surfshark unbiased review
3. NordVPN
One of the most reliable VPN services that boasts top-notch features to protect you from any harm while torrenting on ExtraTorrents alternatives
A network of over 5,000 fast VPN servers present in over 59 countries
Adequate threat protection (malware, tracking, and ad blockers)
Military standard, most reliable encryption available: AES-256
Features a kill switch that’s easy to use
Split tunneling feature with high functionality
Offers multi-hop VPN for double encryption
Provides seamless Onion over VPN functionality
No users’ data is stored
Each account allows users to connect up to six devices simultaneously
No-questions-asked 30-day money-back guarantee
Pros
- Apps with user-friendly designs and intuitive navigation
- User data is not monitored or stored under anti-privacy laws
- Unblocks Plex flawlessly
Cons
- Lacks router app
With its advanced security features and a large network of servers, NordVPN has become one of the most popular VPNs. It uses AES 256-bit encryption to secure your internet traffic and keep your online activity private.
The service offers over 5,000 servers in 59 countries. This allows you to connect to different locations and bypass geo-restrictions. Furthermore, NordVPN also has a strict no-logs policy to ensure that it doesn’t record your online activity.
One of the standout features of NordVPN is its double VPN technology, which routes your traffic through two different VPN servers for extra privacy and security. In addition, NordVPN offers features such as an automatic kill switch, which blocks all internet traffic if the VPN connection drops. The CyberSec blocks malware and ads.
NordVPN is available on various platforms, including Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. It’s perfect for users who prioritize security, privacy, and fast internet speeds.
Head to our NordVPN unbiased review
Other ways to stay safe when using ExtraTorrents alternatives
Internet security and privacy are paramount in this age, especially during torrenting. To stay safe when using ExtraTorrent alternatives, consider the following:
- Use a reliable VPN
- Install a good antivirus program
- Use credible torrent websites only
- Download from verified torrents
- Download torrents with a high number of seeders
- Review the comment section from other users
Methodology for choosing the best VPNs for ExtraTorrent alternatives
When choosing the best VPN for ExtraTorrent alternatives, you should consider several factors that serve as a guide:
- Security and privacy: When choosing a VPN, consider the service’s security and privacy features. Such features can include an internet kill switch, a strict no-logs policy, and strong encryption.
- P2P compatibility: Not all VPNs support P2P traffic; some may even block or throttle such traffic on their servers. When choosing a VPN, it is crucial to consider one that explicitly supports P2P traffic and has optimized servers for torrenting.
- Speed and performance: Slow speeds are frustrating and can mess up your experience. Always go for VPNs with excellent speeds and minimal latency to ensure a smooth torrenting experience.
- Server network: The size and location of the VPN’s server network can also impact your torrenting experience. Look for VPNs with a large server network and hosting servers in countries where torrenting is legal.
- Device compatibility: Most VPNs support mainstream platforms such as Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. However, not all VPNs may offer apps for less common platforms such as Linux, routers, or smart TVs. If you plan on using ExtraTorrent alternatives, it is important to consider choosing a VPN that supports various platforms.
- Customer support: Access to reliable customer support ensures that you can get assistance when needed. As such, look for a VPN that offers 24/7 customer support via multiple channels such as live chat, phone, and email.
- Pricing and payment plans: Consider the VPN’s pricing and payment options. Always ensure that you go for VPNs that offer affordable pricing plans and multiple payment options, such as credit cards, PayPal, or Bitcoin.
- Money-back guarantee: A trusted VPN will ensure you get a refund if their services don’t impress you. Going for a VPN with a trustworthy money-back guarantee policy is always good.
Conclusion
ExtraTorrent is dead, and it will never come back. But there are plenty of good alternatives on the web today. Each of the entries in our list fulfills a niche in the community. So, if you want movies, you have YTS. If you prefer many choices, you have TPB, and so on.
Access to so much free software, movies, TV shows, books, and all kinds of cool stuff can make you dizzy. So remain awake. There are always risks. Mainly, you could get a malware infection or get into legal problems for trading copyrighted content. So be mindful of these two things and always use a VPN and antivirus to minimize the chances of having a bad experience.
Remember: Staying safe is the first priority online. Always.
FAQs
Those would be The Pirate Bay, Torlock, and 1337x.to.
That depends on the torrent content and your country of residence. Are the files in the torrent copyrighted? Is downloading copyrighted material legal in your country? So, there is no general answer to this question, and you must endeavor to figure out the correct answer that applies to your jurisdiction.
Yes, it went offline in 2017.
Because the original ExtraTorrent website has been dead for about five years.
Yes, this is a specific risk when you are torrenting. That’s why we advise you to be careful in selecting verified torrents only and always use Kaspersky.
You would have to find one first. However, we did find a few, and we suggest you stay away from them as they are neither very good nor very safe. This article has 13 options, all of which are better than the current ExtraTorrent mirrors.
