Best Usenet Provider 2023 (Updated)

These Usenet providers give you access to lots of uncensored newsgroups at a good price and fast download speeds with the privacy protections of SSL and no logging. 

The best Usenet provider will let you download from newsgroups to access a staggering number of videos, images, audio and software applications, completely uncensored, and at fast speeds. 

Plus, Usenet is also a safe way to get the content you love. This is thanks to strong encrypted connections (SSL) between you and the Usenet servers and no logs being kept of your activities. As a key of their business model, Usenet providers rely on strictly maintaining their customers’ privacy. 

We should also not forget, this being Usenet, that these services let you to participate in the zany, chaotic, and completely uncensored world of newsgroup discussions, if you like.  Enjoy!

Quick Answer to Best Usenet Provider

There are now over 100 Usenet providers to choose from. But don't worry, further below we provide a detailed guide on what to look for when trying to figure out the best Usenet provider for you.  Based on our own research and trials, these are the top 3 Usenet providers in June 2023:

BTW, if you are wondering how to get started with Usenet or want to learn more about it, check out How to Use Usenet. 

Best Usenet Providers

Let's take a closer look at the top Usenet providers on the market today. We give you the pros and cons for each.

Overall Best Usenet Provider: Newshosting

Best Retention Usenet Provider: Eweka

Best Usenet Provider for the Pros: UsenetServer

Newcomers to Usenet are better off trying one of the other providers above, but advanced Usenet users should definitely check out UsenetServer. 

Highest Quality Usenet Provider 2022: Giganews

The price tag for Giganews' deluxe Diamond plan may scare some people off, but they also have a Pearl plan starting at just $4.99/mo (see screenshot below).

Giganews is best known for its high-quality customer support and its fast download speeds with all plans.

If you prefer to try out Giganews before committing to it, they offer a generous 14-day free trial for all plans too.

Limited time 50% off your first month ... 

Compare Best Usenet Providers Side-by-Side

Here's a table comparing the features of these 3 Usenet providers side-by-side: 

How to Choose the Best Usenet Provider for You

Every Usenet customer is different. Some are heavy daily downloaders while others may be newsgroup weekend warriors. Some are happy to splurge while others are on a tight budget.

Maybe you are new to Usenet and appreciate a package bundled with a free Usenet browser/newsreader and VPN, while others might already have their favorite tools in place.

In other words, the “best Usenet provider” for you might be different than that appealing to your friend or that guy on Reddit who is always going on about this or that Usenet provider.

Here's an overview of the things you should look at when trying to determine which Usenet provider is best for you.

Price, Discounts & Free Trials

Expect to pay around $8 to $20 per month for most Usenet plans. However, discounts are offered for longer subscription periods, usually 12 months.  Sometimes, Usenet providers will also throw in extra bonuses too such as a free VPN.

If you can be patient, great Usenet deals are offered at certain times of the year for even more savings. 

You should also make use of the free trials offered by the Usenet providers you are considering. The best way to research a Usenet provider is to actually try it out for yourself. All of our recommended Usenet providers have a free trial account you can sign up for.

• Related: Best Free Usenet Trials (by Most Time & GB) and Best European Usenet Free Trials

Number of Newsgroups

You might think that the more newsgroups a Usenet provider carries, the better. But that's not always the case. Quality is more important than quantity.

What's more important is the number of binaries newsgroups they carry. These newsgroups have the image, video, music and software files you are probably looking to download.

If you are interested in a specific newsgroup, you should make sure to search newsgroups that are carried by a Usenet provider before signing up to make sure they carry it.

• Related: Which are the Best Usenet Newsgroups? and How to Find Movies on Usenet

Retention Periods

This is how long, usually measured in days, the Usenet provider keeps older newsgroup posts.

The higher the retention period, the better as this means more binaries will be available to download.

Retention periods typically start at around 1200 days, but can be as low as 500 days. The best Usenet providers offer > 2,800+ day retention periods. This means that there are years and years' worth of post with files available to download from Usenet.

• Related: What is Usenet Retention? Which Providers Have the Highest Rates?

Privacy Protections

All of our recommended Usenet providers use secure SSL download connections and do not log any of your activities, newsgroup subscriptions or downloads on their service. 

Usenet is very safe, but you can use a VPN for extra protection too (see separate section further below). The ultra paranoid may also want to pay for Usenet with Bitcoin, but not many Usenet providers accept Bitcoin yet. 

Completion Rates

There are few things in life more irritating than downloading a file, only to find that it stops at 90% completion because the remaining parts are not available.

Nearly all Usenet providers claim to have 99%+ completion rates, but take these claims with a grain of salt. Completion rates can vary for a number of reasons and so it is often a good idea to also use a secondary Usenet block account to maximize your completion rates. Make use of the free trials offered by Usenet providers to test their completion rates for yourself. 

• Related: What is Usenet Completion (and which Providers have the Highest Rates)?

DMCA Policies & Practices

Usenet providers are obliged under law to remove copyright materials from their servers when notified by the appropriate copyright holder. These are referred to as "takedown" notices under a scheme in the US known as DMCA. The European equivalent is called NTD (Notice and Take Down).

Some Usenet providers are faster than others at following takedown notices and removing content from their servers before you can download it.

For some customers this can factor in to their decision of which Usenet provider to choose. However, if you make use of NZB downloaders, indexers and automated Usenet tools, this won't matter that much to you.

Just Tell Me Which is the Fastest Usenet Provider!

Choosing the fastest Usenet provider for downloading from newsgroups depends on many things. We take you through all the considerations and provide some thoughtful recommendations that you can try risk-free.

• Related: Everything You Wanted to Know About Usenet Speed

There is No “One Size Fits All” Solution

There are so many different variables to consider that it’s impossible to give you a definitive answer on which will be the fastest Usenet provider for YOU. 

The performance you experience for any given Usenet provider can vary depending on factors such as:

• your location compared to where the Usenet provider's servers are located
• your baseline Internet speeds
• the time of day you download content
• how your ISP deals with encrypted or heavy traffic
• the number of NNTP connections you use in your newsreader software client 

Fortunately, this is exactly what free trials are for.

We fully encourage you to take advantage of free trials, so that you can “try before you buy” and find out which Usenet provider truly is best for you. Try one or two (or all of ‘em) until you find the one that works best for you. The Usenet providers we recommend all offer 7- to 14-day free trial periods, letting you see how they work for you without any risk.

Is it Really Necessary to Use a VPN with Usenet?

It is common these days for Usenet providers to offer “plus VPN packages” which are thrown in for free with longer-term signups. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) creates a secure encrypted tunnel between your computer (or device) and a VPN server, through which all your Internet traffic passes.

Using a VPN with Usenet has these important advantages:

Your ISP cannot see what you get up to on the Internet: Using a VPN provides an additional layer of protection when you are downloading from Usenet because not even your ISP will be able to detect that you are downloading from Usenet. All your ISP will be able to see is that you are connected to a VPN server (which is perfectly legal almost everywhere.) Your Usenet downloads will all occur inside the safety of the VPN's encrypted tunnel. This way, your ISP will not be tempted to throttle or so-called “shape” your download speeds.

Your IP address appears to be that of the VPN server: this improves privacy by masking your true IP address from anyone on the Internet trying to watch your activity. It also means that anything you post (upload) to Usenet newsgroups will bear the IP address of your VPN service and not your real IP address. 

You are protected when using Usenet over Wi-Fi hot spots: because the VPN encrypts your Internet connection, your data cannot be hacked when using a public Wi-Fi hot spot, even if you connect to a compromised access point. So, if you access Usenet on a hot spot – for example, while on vacation or traveling – you remain safe and your Usenet activities stay private.

A VPN is a great general purpose privacy tool (see our Best VPN Services posts), and makes a great “plus” when choosing a Usenet plan, especially as these packages typically throw in a VPN at a much lower price or even for free.

Wrap-Up: Best Usenet Provider (for June 2023)

The quality of good Usenet services continues to grow, with ever increasing data transfer limits, number of newsgroups, retention periods, and so on.

We are also thrilled about the trend of Usenet providers adding low-cost (or free) VPN packages to their plans, as this helps further protect the privacy or fellow newsgroup downloaders. In fact, we are confident that the additional privacy safeguards offered by Usenet will continue to see more and more torrenters and online streamers migrating to Usenet too.