If you often download a large-sized file, you must already familiar with BitTorrent. BitTorrent is the common protocol used for transferring a large file over the internet. You need a torrent client to download a file using the protocol. There are a bunch of open source torrent clients out there that you can use for free.

When it comes to open source torrent client, Transmission is the first name to come in mind. It’s a popular open source torrent client adopted by popular Linux distros as the default torrent client. In addition, there is also Deluge that comes with more features.

Here is the list of open source torrent clients.

1. Transmission

As I said earlier, Transmission is arguably the most popular open source torrent client. Although the tool is better known by Linux users, Transmission is actually a cross-platform tool. In addition to Linux, it is also available for Windows and macOS. Transmisson is a volunteer-based project. The tool is capable of handling multiple torrent files at once and features a pause button to allow you pending the downloading progress. Transmission is licensed under the GNU General Public License. The source code of this tool is available on GitHub.

2. qBittorrent

qBittorrent is also a popular enough open source torrent client. This tool is intended to be an alternative to uTorrent which is a proprietary software. Same as Transmission, qBittorent is also a cross-platform tool. Available for Linux, Windows and macOS. qBittorrent was originally written by Christophe Dumez. It’s now maintained by Sledgehammer999 along with other programmers. This torrent client is also capable of handling multiple torrent files at once just like Transmission. It also features a pause/resume button to allow pending the downloading progress. The source code of qBittorent is also available on its official GitHub page under the GNU General Public License.

3. Deluge

The interface of Deluge tends to similar to qBittorrent. If you are looking for a torrent client that offers a detailed information regarding the downloading progress, Deluge is your option. In addition to percentage bar, you will also see information like download speed, upload speed, the size of file parts already downloaded and so on. Deluge is also capable of handling multiple torrent files and it also features a pause button just like two tools above. Deluge is also available for Linux, Windows and macOS with the source of is available on GitHub. Deluge is licensed under the GNU General Public License.

4. FrostWire

FrostWire is an open source torrent client written in Java. This tool comes with a number of unique feature that not similar tools have, amongst other are in-app file search, media library and media player. FrostWire is also a cross-platform tool, available for Linux, Windows and macOS as well. The developer of this tool also provides the source code on GitHub. This tool is also licensed under the GNU General Public License. Standard features like pause button is also offered by FrostWire.

5. Popcorn Time

Popcorn Time is a bit different to other torrent clients like Transmission and qBittorent. This torrent client was built specifically for downloading movies via BitTorrent protocol. It is intended to be an open source alternative to subscription-based video streaming services like Netflix. That is why this tool features a media player like FrostWire. Popcorn Time is also a cross-platform open source software, available for Linux, Windows, macOS and even Android. You can get the source code of this tool from its official site.