Deluge may not have the name recognition of uTorrent or even qBittorrent. But it’s still a pretty popular torrent client in its own right, at least among users in the know.
But is it actually any good? And what advantages, if any, does it have over some of the big dogs?
Keep reading for our full Deluge torrent client review.
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Deluge Review: Advantages
There are a lot of things to like about Deluge. Here are some of the biggest advantages we found when using the client.
Totally Free (and No Ads!)
One of the biggest draws of torrenting is that it’s free. So, it makes sense that most people wouldn’t want to pay for a torrent client.
But you’re in luck. Deluge is totally free, no payment needed – and no content hidden behind paywalls, unlike some other software. We’re looking at you, uTorrent.
Clean, Straightforward UI
If you’re like most people, you run your torrent client in the background, while you’re doing other stuff. That means you probably don’t want it hogging up a bunch of memory or taxing your CPU.
Good news: Deluge is very lightweight and one of the less resource-intensive torrent clients we’ve tried.
And its UI is super clean and easy to navigate, while also being one of the more customizable torrent clients on the market.
Lots of Great Plug-Ins
While light torrent users might be fine with a client that they can just boot up and use, without any adjustments, heavier uses often prefer software that they can customize to fit their needs.
And Deluge’s plethora of plug-ins make that possible. The client comes with 8 built-in plug-ins that you can enable from Preferences > Plugins, but there are also tons of third-party ones that you can find on the Plugins section of their site.
Completely Open Source
Deluge is fully open source, which is good news for those who care about security. Since its code is “open” for anyone to inspect, it’s a lot harder for developers or malicious actors to slip in exploits or backdoors.
Deluge Review: Disadvantages
Of course, no torrent client is perfect, and Deluge is no exception. Here are a few potential drawbacks to the software.
Requires a Bit of Tweaking
While Deluge is pretty easy to use, it’ll require a bit of tweaking to get it to function in the same way as most popular torrent clients. For instance, the UI doesn’t show the number of seeders or peers for a queued file by default.
It’s quite easy to add them (simply go to View > Columns and mark the boxes next to ‘Seeders’ and ‘Peers’) but some users might prefer a client that they don’t have to mess with. Though it won’t be a problem for veteran users – and they may even prefer the customization options.
Hasn’t Received an Update in Years
Deluge hasn’t received a software update since 2017. For reference, qBittorrent was last updated less than a month ago, as of this review, and receives regular updates every few months.
Fortunately, Deluge still works great, and there isn’t anything that inherently wrong with older software. Heck, there are folks who still swear by old version of uTorrent. But its easier to be confident in a client that is updated more often.
Best Deluge Alternatives
Choosing the right torrent client for you can be tricky, given all the options. If you’re not sure about Deluge (or you tried it and didn’t like it), these alternatives are worth a look.
1. qBittorrent
qBittorrent is arguably the top dog among torrent client that aren’t uTorrent, owing to its sleek and easy-to-use software. Read more about it in our qBittorrent review.
2. Transmission
Transmission offers many of the same advantages of Deluge, and it works great on Mac and Linux. Learn more in our Transmission review.
3. uTorrent
By far the most popular torrent client, uTorrent is used by over 60% of all torrenters. But it does have some negatives, like ads on the free version, which we covered in our uTorrent review.
Deluge Review: Is Deluge Safe for Torrenting?
Here’s the deal: no torrent client, on its own, is particularly safe for torrenting.
For starters, your IP address is exposed to other members of the “torrent swarm” that you’re downloading from. On top of that, your ISP can monitor your web traffic to see what you’re downloading.
For this reason, we always recommend using a secure torrenting VPN, which will hide your IP and encrypt your traffic. And they’re quite easy to use – and cheap.
Our favorite is PIA VPN, which provides all of the features you need for safe torrenting at a very affordable price.
Now, provided that you’re protecting yourself, Deluge is a fairly safe torrent client, due to its open-source nature and lack of any major security vulnerabilities. Though its lack of updates could eventually be a cause for concern, considering how quickly the digital security landscape can change.
Deluge Review: Wrap-Up
Hopefully, by now, you have a pretty good of what Deluge is all about, both good and bad. From its UI to its plugins, there’s a lot to like… and a few things you might not like.
But what’s our verdict? Do we recommend it?
Absolutely. Deluge is one of the best torrent clients you can get. While some users might prefer, say, qBittorrent or Transmission, Deluge definitely holds it own. And it isn’t plagued by the ads and bloatware that come with uTorrent.
So, give it a try. Did we mention it’s free?
If you’ve used Deluge, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!