ExtraTorrent became one of the most important torrent websites ever to grace the web. It was popular. It had an updated catalog of movies, TV shows, e-books, software, games, and anything you could have imagined. It was ExtraTorrent.
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 torrents 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.
- Torrentz2: 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 ExtraTorrent’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 ExtraTorrent’s hair. Instead, there are plenty of good torrenting websites, 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 it all that 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 to always 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
- Website URL: https://www.tpbproxypirate.com/
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. And you can browse each category separately too.
But recently, TPB has lagged behind the rest in e-books and software.
Something that sets TPB aside from the rest is how easy it makes it 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
- Website URL: https://www.rarbggo.to/
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
- Website URL: https://kickasstorrents.to/
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
- Website URL: https://yts.rs/
This is the simplest, easiest-to-use torrenting website out there. Part of its simplicity (and charm) comes from the sole focus on movies it has. Nope, no TV shows, software, games, porn, or anything else. YTS (aka YiFy) is all about films and only about them.
You can browse around the most recent torrents right from the welcome page, filter them by resolution, or click on “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
- Website URL: https://limetorrents.icu/
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 that will help you find whatever you want quickly.
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 it 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
- Website URL: https://eztv.work/
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 it’s 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
- Website URL: https://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
- Website URL: https://torlock.live/
Torlock proudly presents itself as a no-fakes torrenting website. It supports the claim by paying users to report fake torrents or torrents, including malware.
The database has more than nine million items, and thousands more get 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 you can get them quickly.
The other reason this website is known is the relatively exotic torrents they host, which are hard to find in other catalogs.
9. Torrentz2
- Website URL: https://torrentz2eu.org/
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
- Website URL: https://www.torrentfunk2.com/
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
- Website URL: https://www.1377x.is/
This website has been around for a long time, 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 torrents sources — a good website for gamers.
12. TorrentGalaxy
- Website URL: https://torrentgalaxy.to/
TorrentGalaxy was also conceived with the idea 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
- Website URL: https://www.torrentdownloads.pro/
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.
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 do time in jail.
So the first thing you need to do as a torrenter is to find out how things are in your country.
Then, a VPN is essential. Not just any VPN (never a free one) but a top-notch service that can guarantee your anonymity online 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.
Staying safe when using ExtraTorrent alternate websites
Don’t start downloading torrents without paying attention to the best precautions. It’s not worth it otherwise. Consider the following guidelines:
- Use a good VPN.
- Use a good antivirus suite.
- Use reputable torrent websites only.
- Download only verified torrents.
- Download torrents with high seeding numbers.
- See the comments on every torrent you want to get.
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.
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 an 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.
