# Alternatives to rTorrent

The seedbox terminal classic.

rTorrent ranks #7 of 7 in Torrent clients, with an Alt Score of 35. It is licensed under GPL-2.0, free from Free and available on Linux and macOS. 4 of 9 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/rtorrent/
Category: Torrent clients

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: System administrators, headless-server users, and Linux/Unix power users who want to run and manage BitTorrent downloads over SSH or on a remote box without a graphical interface.
- **What you get**: A lightweight, fast BitTorrent client with an ncurses terminal UI, built on the libtorrent library. It supports session/config files, screen/tmux-friendly operation for persistent daemon-like use, and an XML-RPC interface for scripting and remote control, which is what web front-ends like ruTorrent build on.
- **How it works**: You configure rTorrent via an .rtorrent.rc file (paths, ports, throttling) and load torrents by file or magnet link, then navigate and manage them with keyboard shortcuts in the ncurses interface. It can also run headless with XML-RPC enabled, letting external tools or a web UI like ruTorrent issue commands and read status remotely.

## Profile

- **License**: GPL-2.0 (verified 2026-07-09)
- **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-09)
- **Starts at**: Free (verified 2026-07-09)
- **Platforms**: Linux, macOS
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-09)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [BiglyBT](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/biglybt.md) | 80 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android |
| 2 | [Transmission](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/transmission.md) | 80 | GPL-2.0-or-later | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 3 | [Deluge](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/deluge.md) | 75 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 4 | [qBittorrent](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/qbittorrent.md) | 75 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 5 | [µTorrent](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/torrent.md) | 75 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android |
| 6 | [Tixati](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/tixati.md) | 50 | ? | Windows, Linux, Android |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Torrent clients checklist | rTorrent | BiglyBT | Transmission | Deluge | qBittorrent | µTorrent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Donationware | Donationware | Free | Donationware | Freemium |
| Starts at | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | $4.95/yr |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0-or-later | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Linux, macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android |
| No ads | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Partial |
| Sequential download | ? | ? | Yes | Partial | Yes | ? |
| RSS automation | ? | Yes | No | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Web UI / remote control | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Encryption & proxy support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Resource footprint | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| Streaming while downloading | ? | Yes | ? | Partial | ? | Yes |
| Cross-platform | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for rTorrent. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Starts at**: Free — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rakshasa/rtorrent/master/COPYING> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: GPL-2.0 project with no purchase mechanism anywhere in the repo or wiki.
  - Quote: “the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free software--to make sure the software is free for all its users”
- **License**: GPL-2.0 — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rakshasa/rtorrent/master/COPYING> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 2, June 1991”
- **Pricing model**: Free — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rakshasa/rtorrent/master/COPYING> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free software--to make sure the software is free for all its users”
- **Platforms**: Linux, macOS — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wiki/rakshasa/rtorrent/Home.md> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: The wiki's package list covers Debian/Ubuntu, macOS via Homebrew and the BSDs; no Windows build is documented.
  - Quote: “Run `apt-get install rtorrent`”
- **Status**: active — <https://github.com/rakshasa/rtorrent/releases/tag/v0.16.17> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Released 2026-07-06.
  - Quote: “RTorrent release version 0.16.17”
- **Web UI / remote control**: Partial — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wiki/rakshasa/rtorrent/Home.md> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: rTorrent itself is ncurses-only; it exposes an XMLRPC/SCGI endpoint that third-party web UIs such as ruTorrent connect to. No native web UI.
  - Quote: “control it remotely via XMLRPC”
- **Encryption & proxy support**: Yes — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wiki/rakshasa/rtorrent/Proxy-Configuration.md> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Connection encryption is configured via protocol.encryption.set in the Command Reference wiki page.
  - Quote: “network.proxy.global.set”
- **Open source**: Yes — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rakshasa/rtorrent/master/COPYING> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 2, June 1991”
- **Cross-platform**: No — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wiki/rakshasa/rtorrent/Home.md> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Only Linux, macOS and the BSDs are documented; no Windows build, so it misses the 3-desktop-OS bar.
  - Quote: “Run `apt-get install rtorrent`”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/