For torrenting · May 2026
Best VPN for Torrenting in Europe (May 2026)
Torrenting from a European country without a VPN is risky in roughly direct proportion to how aggressive your country's enforcement is. Germany sends Abmahnungen industrially. France runs Hadopi/Arcom. Sweden has IPRED. The Netherlands has BREIN. The same VPN that's fine for streaming may not have port forwarding or a kill switch you'd trust for P2P — these specific features matter here.
Criteria
What matters for P2P
- 01Functioning kill switch (closes traffic when VPN drops, prevents IP leak)
- 02Port forwarding (rare; only PIA and ProtonVPN among major providers)
- 03P2P-allowed servers (most providers route torrent traffic through specific servers)
- 04Court-tested no-logs (the strongest privacy guarantee for sensitive use)
- 05Speed (large downloads benefit from WireGuard implementations)
Special case · Germany
The Abmahnung problem (Germany)
If you're in Germany and torrent without a VPN, expect a registered letter from a copyright firm within weeks demanding €800–€1,500. Even guests who used your connection put you at risk. A VPN with a working kill switch is the simplest defence. Don't connect to a German server when torrenting — pick Switzerland or the Netherlands so a German law firm has no jurisdiction.
The ranking
Torrenting ranking
Private Internet Access
United States
Power-user friendly — open-source apps, port forwarding, but Kape ownership is a flag.
- 30,000+ servers · 91 countries
- Court-tested no-logs
- Streaming: Netflix + BBC iPlayer
- Court-tested · 2016 + 2018
- Open source
- Unblocks Netflix · BBC iPlayer
- Verified · 2026-05-04
We may earn a commission from this link
Proton VPN
Switzerland
Best privacy-first commercial VPN — Swiss jurisdiction, open source, free tier.
- 8,500+ servers · 110 countries
- Open-source clients
- Streaming: Netflix + BBC iPlayer
- Audited no-logs
- Open source
- RAM-only servers
- Outside surveillance alliances
- Unblocks Netflix · BBC iPlayer
- Verified · 2026-05-04
We may earn a commission from this link
NordVPN
Panama
Best all-round VPN — premium price, premium features.
- 6,400+ servers · 111 countries
- Audited no-logs
- Streaming: Netflix + BBC iPlayer
- Audited no-logs
- RAM-only servers
- Outside surveillance alliances
- Unblocks Netflix · BBC iPlayer
- Verified · 2026-05-04
We may earn a commission from this link
Related reading