Best Yify Torrent Alternatives: Other Torrent Sites and Kodi Add-ons
Yify Torrents, or YTS as it is often referred to, is one of the most popular movie torrent sites around. There are a number of different reasons for this. It has a huge range of movies available, including all of the latest Hollywood films, a reputation for offering high-quality content, and it offers download and seeding speeds that blow most rival torrenting sites out of the water.
At the time of writing, the Yify Torrents website remains available. But the lifespan of any torrent site can be limited, and they can be taken down at the blink of an eye. Yify itself has had a few issues in the past. Back in 2015, the original Yify Torrent site was shut down and its developer arrested. The site we use today is actually an extremely good clone of that original one. Even the new site has experienced a few technical issues which have seen it go offline on occasions too. So far, despite panic from users, it has always come back online. But, for users worried it might disappear again, either temporarily or permanently, it is worth having a backup plan. In this article, we will tell you about all the main Yify Torrent Alternatives so you can be prepared in case Yify Torrents goes offline again.
Reminder: Always use a VPN when torrenting
Before we begin, it is absolutely vital for anyone planning to use any torrenting service to be sure they have connected to a VPN first. In recent years, Torrenting sites have attracted the attention of copyright trolls and even lawyers from big Hollywood studios and TV networks because of the ready availability of copyrighted content. This has led to many Torrenting sites, including the first incarnation of Yify, being shut down.
These legal troubles have also impacted users as well. A quick online search will turn up no shortage of Torrent users who have received legal notices, had their internet connection taken down by their ISP, and even faced fines and further criminal action because of their torrenting. Anyone who uses a Torrent site needs to protect themselves from these possible repercussions, and the best way to do that is to use a VPN. A VPN encrypts everything you do online and also helps to obfuscate your identity. This makes it almost impossible to link your torrenting activity back to your own internet connection and so helps to keeps you safe online.
Best VPNs for Torrenting
Choosing the best VPN for torrenting can seem like a tough choice. There are a lot of VPNs out there and almost all claim to be the best for torrenting. But the fact is that some are much better than others. When choosing a VPN to protect you when torrenting files, we recommend you look for one which offers:
- Strong encryption
- Reliably privacy policies, including no users logs
- Fast connection speeds
- No bandwidth restrictions
- Kill switch capability
- A large network of servers
We have tested the market to see which VPNs can tick all of these boxes and also deliver a high-quality service across multiple torrenting sites, here’s our list:
1. IPVanish
IPVanish is one of the biggest and best VPNs on the market and when it comes to torrenting there is simply none better. Their encryption is as good as it gets, with both L2TP and OpenVPN protocols using 256-bit encryption as standard. Other great security features include a kill switch, shared IP Addresses, and the ability to periodically switch IP Address.
IPVanish retains no user logs or connection logs and also has absolutely no restrictions on bandwidth or data usage either. Crucially for torrenting, they offer all this alongside some of the fastest connection speeds around and with a great network of servers across the globe to choose from too.
2. ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is a big name VPN which is famous for its fast connection speeds. But it is not just this that makes it a great bet for torrent site users. Their encryption is superb, better even than IPVanish, because their entire network SSL is secured with 256-bit encryption. They also offer a kill switch as standard for all users and no bandwidth restrictions whatsoever.
Privacy-wise, ExpressVPN benefit from being based in the British Virgin Islands, which has some of the best privacy laws in the world and does not require companies to retain online data. Throw in one of the biggest server networks of any VPN too and ExpressVPN makes a compelling case for Torrent site users.
- SPECIAL OFFER: 3 months free (49% off - link below)
- 94 countries, 3,000+ servers
- Secure encryption & VPN protocols
- Keeps no logs of personal data
- Great customer service via chat.
- Max 3 connections simultaneously
- Power-users configuration options.
3. NordVPN
NordVPN is one of the oldest VPN providers but it remains right at the top of its game and is a great choice for torrent site users. They offer 256-bit encryption on OpenVPN with 2,048-bit Diffie-Hellman keys as standard. This is fine for most users wanting to torrent, but not quite as advanced as ExpressVPN. They add to this a wealth of extra security features, including a kill switch and DNS leak protection, shared IP Addresses, optional double encryption servers (which send your traffic via two servers for additional protection) and their TOR over VPN options (which sends traffic through a VPN and the TOR network). Do note that both of these last two features can slow NordVPN’s otherwise excellent connection speeds though.
Privacy-wise, NordVPN offer a perfect no-logs promise and like ExpressVPN benefits from being based offshore, in this case in Panama. NordVPN has a total of 799 servers across 57 countries and has absolutely no restrictions on bandwidth either. Given NordVPN’s extremely affordable prices, they are another great bet for Torrent site users.
- SPECIAL OFFER: 2-yr plan (70% off - link below)
- No bandwidth caps
- Allows up to 6 devices to be connected at once
- Strict zero logs policy on both traffic and metadata
- Customer Service (24/7 Chat).
- Some servers can be slow and unreliable
- They can take 30 days to process refunds.
What is Yify
Yify Torrents, or YTS as it is also known, is one of the biggest movie torrent sites on the web. If you are looking to download something other than movies, Yify is not the place for you. But for movies, it is quite simply the best torrent site around. Through the Yify website, you can find links to torrents of thousands of different movies. Most of these files are of an extremely high quality too, which is one of the main reasons for Yify’s enduring popularity.
Yify began its life as a group of developers publishing movies onto different torrenting sites. The success of these uploads saw them quickly launch their own site and in no time at all they were enjoying millions of hits every day. This success drew plenty of attention from the authorities and an anti-piracy lawsuit brought in New Zealand eventually saw the original site taken down and one of the developers face personal legal action.
But Yify wasn’t gone for long. The site was taken up by an anonymous group of developers who produced a superb clone of the original. That is the site we are still using today. They continued the original site’s philosophy of focusing on high-quality content and, unsurprisingly, they have enjoyed the same levels of popularity. Up until now, the new Yify developers have managed to escape efforts from authorities to shut them down. But how long that will remain the case is anybody’s guess.
Best alternatives to Yify
As most torrent site users will know, all the best torrenting sites will draw the attention of the authorities sooner or later. When that happens, some are far more robust than others are staying online. So far, the new Yify site has withstood any attempts to take it offline. But that may not be the case forever though. So, what should users do if this happens? Fortunately, there are a number of alternatives available to users of Yify should the main website site go offline:
Proxies
One reason that torrent sites tend to go offline is that their URL is blocked by either a government, a court order, or an enterprising and over-enthusiastic ISP. This doesn’t mean that the site is gone from the internet, just that you are unable to access it through the URL you used previously. In this situation, there are two options available.
The first is to use your VPN to get around this block and access the original URL as usual. To do this, simply connect your VPN to a server located in another country where the site is not being blocked. Once you have connected to this server, try the original URL again and you should find it works without a problem.
The other option is to use a proxy site. All torrent sites are well aware that their URLs get blocked sometimes, so most set up clones or mirror sites on other URLs to enable users to continue to access their service. These proxy sites can change over time, but at the time of writing there are a number of Yify proxy URLs and clone sites you can use instead of the original:
- https://yts.unblocked.gdn
- https://yts.unblocked.vet
- https://yts.bypassed.in
- https://yts.ph
- https://yts.gs
- https://yts.unlockproj.club
- https://www.yify-movies.net
Other Torrent sites
If Yify does go offline, and you can’t access the site using a VPN or a proxy URL, then there are plenty of other reliable Torrenting sites you could turn to instead. These sites do come and go, but at the time of writing, the following sites all offer a credible alternative to Yify Torrents:
Kickass Torrents
Kickass Torrents is a hugely popular torrent site which has endured its fair share of problems. It was shut down in 2016 and its owner Artem Vaulin was arrested. But the original team have revived the site at a new URL and it continues to draw lots of users thanks to its combination of neatly organized categories, a vibrant community section, and a huge range of content.
RARBG
RARBG is one of the oldest Torrent sites around and still retains that retro feel in its design. But its longevity is a testament to just how good it is. These days, the content isn’t updated that often, but there is still a huge amount of great stuff to be found. It is really easy to navigate around and, while the site is blocked in some countries, can still be easily accessed with the help of a VPN.
You won’t find LimeTorrents through any search engines (use the links on this page), but it is a great torrent site well worth checking out. It features a massive selection of content and some great features including a verification system to confirm safe torrents, a great design and layout, and a number of well-populated specialist categories such as foreign films.
1337x
1337x is another torrenting site which doesn’t come up in regular searches, but which is well worth trying out. It is beautifully designed and really intuitive to use and there are masses of movies and TV shows to explore. 1337x offers lots of specialist content, such as anime, and also boats plenty of helpful data, such as the number of seeders and details of who is uploading. This means you can follow your favorite user if you find someone with similar tastes or fast torrents.
Torrentz2
Torrentz2 is a reincarnation of the original Torrentz site which was shut down a while back. But the new version is even better with masses of new content, and regular updates. It is an easy-to-use site which plenty of useful lists to help you find the best and most popular torrents. Its file index system is one of the most powerful around and it also helps to ensure that files are safe and contain what they say they do.
Kodi addons
Another great way to stream movies and TV shows online is through Kodi. Kodi is a popular and completely legal media player. Users can adapt Kodi by downloading official and unofficial add-ons. These add-ons provide users with access to lots of content, including on-demand movies and TV shows as well as live IPTV channels, live sports, music, and much more.
Like Torrenting, unofficial Kodi addons can allow users to access just about anything they want to watch. But these add-ons do sometimes provide illegal access to copyrighted content. For that reason, it is also highly recommended to use a VPN when streaming on Kodi. All of the VPN’s we have recommended above will do the job, or alternatively, take a look at our article on the Best VPNs for Kodi.
If you are looking for a Kodi addon to use instead of Yify Torrents, we would recommend the following:
Quasar
There are some Kodi addons which stream content directly from Torrenting sites. The original torrent streaming add-on is Quasar. Once you have downloaded this addon, it has the appearance of any other. It offers a range of content broken up into categories such as Movies and TV Shows. When you choose what to watch, you are given a list of different torrent streams, with details on things like resolution and file size.
Once you choose your file, Quasar will then start to download the torrent file in the same way that sites like Yify let you download. Once the file has downloaded, Quasar will then automatically play it. Quasar is a great bet for existing torrent users because not only does it have a huge range of content, but it also lets you add your own torrents too. It is thought that Quasar is no longer being actively supported, so it will not work forever, but for now, it is still functional and offers a great selection of content.
Elementum
A more long-term torrent-streaming add-on option is Elementum. Elementum is a fork of Quasar which, like the original, allows you to stream and download a huge range of TV shows and movies. Elementum is a bit more complicated to install and set up than your average Kodi addon. But it is worth the effort and we have created a step-by-step guide to help make things as straightforward as possible for you. Where Elementum clearly surpasses Quasar these days is with new content. Because Quasar is no longer supported, new links are no longer added. But with Elementum you can find all the latest TV show and movies links.
Other Kodi addons
There are a whole host of other official and unofficial Kodi add-ons which provide access to movies and TV shows from sources other than torrent sites. A few that you might want to give a try include:
You can find details of many more Kodi add-ons, both official and unofficial, under the Kodi tab on our homepage.
Conclusions
If you are looking for a movie torrent site, then Yify is one of the best available at the moment. But while it is available online at the moment, all torrenting sites are vulnerable and users should have alternatives lined up in case Yify does get taken down. In this article, we have highlighted a number of proxy sites, alternative torrenting sites, and Kodi add-ons which could help Yify users cope with the loss of their site. We have also explained why it is so important to use a VPN with any torrenting site (or Kodi add-on) and highlighted our selection of the best to use.
Are you a fan of Yify Torrents? What have you used as an alternative when the site has been temporarily offline? Are there any good Torrenting sites or Kodi add-ons that we haven’t mentioned here? We always welcome the thoughts and opinions of all our readers, so why not share them with us using the comment box below?
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