7 Best VPNs for The Pirate Bay in 2023 (Safest & Fastest)

There’s only a handful of VPNs robust enough to protect you from cyber threats while torrenting on The Pirate Bay. Trackers, hackers, and malware can compromise your online privacy and damage your device. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find a VPN that truly delivers the top-notch security features that you need to stay safe when torrenting.

My team and I rigorously tested 50+ VPNs and found the best ones for The Pirate Bay with strong security and privacy features. Additionally, these VPNs have fast speeds, P2P servers, and no bandwidth caps, so you can torrent without restriction from your ISP.

ExpressVPN is my top choice for The Pirate Bay because of its P2P-friendly network, impressive speeds, and robust security features. A 30-day money-back guarantee policy also means you can confidently try ExpressVPN for yourself. If you don't like the service, you can easily get a full refund.

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Best VPNs for The Pirate Bay — Full Analysis (Updated 2023)

1. ExpressVPN — Excellent Speeds to Download Torrents on The Pirate Bay Without Delay

ExpressVPN provides impressive speeds for torrenting on Pirate Bay. This is thanks to its proprietary Lightway protocol, which was designed for fast connections. While testing ExpressVPN, my base speed dropped by only 5.8% on servers in Ukraine, France, and Germany. With these speeds, I could download files without any noticeable slowdowns.

You can expect a drop of 20%+ with most VPN servers, but not with ExpressVPN

Its entire server network is P2P-friendly, too, so I didn’t have to waste time hunting for a fast torrenting server. In addition, if it detects that anyone is using Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to see if you’re torrenting, it obfuscates your data. Not only will your ISP not be able to see that you’re using a P2P network, but it won’t know you’re using a VPN either.

You can also be sure that your data is safe with its verified no-logs policy. It doesn’t store any data, including your torrenting history. Plus, its headquarters are in the British Virgin Islands, which is a privacy-friendly country with no data retention laws. All of this means that ExpressVPN won’t have any information to hand over, even if it’s requested.

A long-term plan starts at $6.67/month. But you can save using ExpressVPN's latest deals and discounts. You can also try it risk-free since it’s backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee. I used its 24/7 live chat to cancel my subscription and had the money back in my bank account 2 days later.

Useful Features

• RAM-only servers. These servers don’t have any physical storage, meaning your torrenting history is deleted with every reboot.
• Split tunneling. This feature lets you route torrents via the VPN and let all other traffic bypass the secure tunnel. This can help you to improve your download speeds by freeing up extra bandwidth.
• Easy to use. ExpressVPN has intuitive apps for most operating systems, including Windows and Mac, and offers an extension for Chrome. I was able to connect to a server and start torrenting in just a few clicks.
• DNS/IP leak protection. IP and DNS leaks can expose your real IP to other users on The Pirate Bay. ExpressVPN gives you the robust leak protection tools you need to keep your identity hidden when torrenting.

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2. CyberGhost — P2P-Optimized Servers for Straightforward Torrenting on The Pirate Bay

CyberGhost’s torrenting-optimized servers make it a great choice to use with The Pirate Bay. I always had consistently high torrenting speeds while I was testing these servers. Its servers in the US and Germany gave me an average download rate of 114.8Mbps — a mere 9.2% decrease from my original speed without a VPN.

Choose a nearby server to prevent significant speed drops while torrenting

It’s also really easy to find these servers in the clutter-free CyberGhost app. Every torrenting server is listed in its own tab that you can access from your home screen, so you won’t have to waste time hunting for one before you start downloading. I could also add my preferred servers to a favorites list so I could start torrenting quickly.

I particularly liked its Content Blocker as it removed the pop-up ads on The Pirate Bay. This feature also protects you against trackers and malware that are often distributed by ad networks, and particularly those on torrenting sites. This helps to keep you safe on The Pirate Bay while making the website less frustrating to navigate.

The only thing that bothered me, is that its monthly subscription is pricey and offers a limited refund period. However, you can opt for the VPN’s affordable long-term plan for just $2.19/month. With the VPN’s extended money-back guarantee, you can test CyberGhost free for 45 days. Getting a refund is painless if you change your mind.

Useful Features

• Audited zero-logs policy. CyberGhost doesn’t collect, store, or share your identifiable information, such as your Pirate Bay activity. It’s also based in Romania, which is outside of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance.
• NoSpy servers. You can upgrade to these independently operated servers housed inside CyberGhost’s headquarters, which restricts who can access the VPN’s hardware. This offers extra protection to ensure that your data and torrenting history remain private.
• WiFi protection. This feature automatically secures your internet connection whenever you connect to a public WiFi network. This ensures you can torrent on the go safely without risking snoops spying on your data.
• Plenty of device connections. CyberGhost lets you torrent on up to 7 devices simultaneously, which is great for larger households.

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3. Private Internet Access (PIA) — Optimize Your Connection To Improve Torrenting on The Pirate Bay

PIA enhances torrenting on The Pirate Bay by allowing you to optimize your security settings for speed or privacy. You can choose between AES 256-bit and AES 128-bit when you’re using the OpenVPN protocol — I switched to the former to maximize my privacy and the latter to speed up my downloads. You can also opt to use the WireGuard protocol if OpenVPN isn’t fast enough for you.

For an small extra fee, you can get a dedicated IP address that only you use

You can boost your speed even further by using port forwarding or the SOCKS5 proxy. Depending on your base connection, you might need this to speed up your downloads. I averaged a 13.2% speed drop during my tests, which is just slightly slower than ExpressVPN and CyberGhost. I could download a 2.6GB file in under 5 minutes.

I was initially concerned that the VPN is based in the US (within the 5 Eyes Alliance). However, PIA protects your online privacy with a strict no-logs policy and RAM-only servers. Plus, its no-logs policy has been recently verified by Deloitte so I wasn’t worried that it had any data to hand over when requested.

There are several subscription options, but long-term plans are the most affordable at $2.03/month. Plus, all options come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Over 24/7 live chat, I easily canceled my subscription. The agent didn’t pressure me to stay, and the money was transferred to my credit card after 5 days.

Useful Features

• Device connection allowance. You can protect all your torrenting devices simultaneously with PIA as you get unlimited connections with one license. In my tests, I noticed no significant speed drops when I connected several devices.
• Obfuscation. This makes your encrypted connection look like regular internet traffic, helping you to bypass network restrictions so you can torrent wherever you are.
• Use the apps immediately. All of PIA’s apps come preconfigured, so you don’t have to adjust anything beforehand unless you want to.
• MACE ad blocker. This feature blocks ads and malicious sites at the DNS level by blocking the servers that host this content. MACE keeps you safe while you torrent, as some of the ads on The Pirate Bay redirect you to malicious sites.

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4. NordVPN — Effective Ad Blocker for Extra Protection on The Pirate Bay

NordVPN’s built-in ad-blocker, Threat Protection, improves your torrenting experience by removing ads. This helps reduce the clutter on The Pirate Bay and your torrent client while protecting you against trackers and malware. I activated it in just 2 clicks while testing the VPN and it removed every ad on The Pirate Bay.

NordVPN’s Threat Protection tool provides protection even when you’re not connected to the VPN

I also got great local connection speeds while testing servers — the drop was never more than 6.1% on nearby servers. This allowed me to download a 350MB file in just 55 seconds, which I found impressive. However, it sometimes took more than a minute to connect to long-distance servers. Simply switching to another server in the same location fixed the issue, though.

NordVPN helps to keep you safe while torrenting thanks to its automatic kill switch. If your VPN disconnects, the kill switch blocks your internet connection, stopping your torrent. This means that your real IP address is protected even if your VPN connection drops.

Long-term subscriptions have the best price starting from $3.49/month. You can try NordVPN for free; it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. I got reimbursed without hassle after canceling via email. The money was back on my credit card within 5 business days.

Useful Features

• Dedicated IPs. By purchasing a dedicated IP address, you can avoid repetitive CAPTCHAs when visiting The Pirate Bay.
• Split tunneling. I used it to encrypt my torrenting activity while I stream and surf using my regular internet connection. During my tests, this boosted my connection speed slightly.
• Onion Over VPN. This feature allows you to route your data through a secure VPN server to the Tor network. You won’t have to download the Tor browser to torrent from its network – just connect to one of these dedicated servers.
• Jurisdiction in Panama. NordVPN is based in Panama, which has no mandatory data retention laws and isn’t part of the 5/9/14Eyes intelligence-sharing agreements.

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5. Surshark — Torrent From The Pirate Bay On Many Devices Simultaneously

Surfshark allows you to torrent on an unlimited number of devices simultaneously with a single subscription. When testing Surfshark, I quickly downloaded torrents on 8 devices at once (including a Windows PC and 4 smartphones). No matter how many devices I used, my connection on each device remained stable the entire time.

You’ll also be able to optimize your connection for torrenting on each device by choosing between several protocols. I used WireGuard to torrent on my smartphones while I was traveling as this protocol handled network changes better. However, OpenVPN performed better when I tried to access The Pirate Bay on a restricted network at my local library.

Switching to the OpenVPN protocol (TCP or UDP) automatically hides the use of a VPN

Unfortunately, Surfshark is located in the Netherlands, at the heart of the 9/14 Eyes Alliances. However, the VPN's verified zero-logs policy and RAM-based servers ensure that no sensitive data gets logged or shared. Plus, its IPs are always in flux, so it’s unlikely any particular one can be tied back to you.

With its long-term plan, you can sign up for as low as $2.30/month. Surfshark also has a 30-day money-back period, so you can easily get reimbursed if this VPN doesn’t work for you. I tested this guarantee via the 24/7 live chat feature and got my bank account reimbursed within a week.

Useful Features

• Good speed. Offers great speeds across its servers. The drop was never more than 23% on local servers, which was still more than enough to torrent large files in only a few hours.
• Clean Web. Enabling this feature can help you avoid annoying ads, malware, and trackers that compromise your privacy or damage your device when torrenting.
• NoBorder mode. When paired with obfuscation, this feature enables uninterrupted torrenting on networks with internet restrictions.

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6. IPVanish — ​​Unlimited Bandwidth to Download Torrents on The Pirate Bay

With IPVanish's servers, your bandwidth remains unrestricted, allowing you to download files of any size from The Pirate Bay without experiencing throttling. During my testing, I measured an average download speed of 103.2Mbps across three servers (Australia, Poland, and the UK), resulting in a slight decrease of 19.3%. While this speed reduction was noticeable, it still enabled me to swiftly download large torrent files, although not as rapidly as I did with ExpressVPN or CyberGhost.

In addition, the VPN keeps your torrenting history private with its strict no-logs policy. You also won’t have to worry about network snoops or other torrent users spying on your history – IPVanish passed my IP/DNS leak tests on all its servers.

I was slightly disappointed that the VPN doesn't accept cryptocurrency since this payment method gives you an extra layer of anonymity. However, it offers multiple payment options, including credit cards, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, and PayPal.

Prices start from as low as $2.49/month), which is pretty affordable. IPVanish also has a 30-day money-back guarantee that lets you test it completely free. I canceled my subscription through the VPN’s website, and I got my money back after 7 days. You can even request a refund over the 24/7 live chat.

Useful Features

• User-friendly apps. All apps are easy to use and compatible with most major operating systems and devices, allowing you to torrent safely wherever you are.
• Simultaneous device allowance. IPVanish unlimited simultaneous connections mean you can torrent on multiple devices at the same time without any issues.
• Split tunneling. This feature lets me direct only the obfuscated OpenVPN traffic through IPVanish’s secure tunnel when torrenting, which helped to boost my speeds.

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7. PrivateVPN — User-friendly Apps to Quickly Find Optimal Servers for Pirate Bay

PrivateVPN’s native apps are intuitive and straightforward, making it ideal if you’ve never used a VPN for The Pirate Bay before. It offers a “simple mode” that’s preconfigured and an “advanced mode” that you can customize to suit your needs. I installed the VPN and connected to a US server in about 6 minutes during my tests.

Its servers offer reliable speeds for torrenting. Servers in Canada, Australia, and France dropped my speeds by 24.2%. This did add up to an hour of download time on larger files, but it’s not so bad if you set your torrents to download overnight.

Even though this VPN doesn’t have the largest network, all its servers allow torrenting. What’s more, it offers SOCKS5 proxy and port forwarding that you can use to hasten your download speeds.

Subscriptions start from $2/month, and all plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. So it's effortless to get a refund if you’re not 100% satisfied with PrivateVPN. I sent an email to the VPN’s support team (24/7 live chat is also available) and got my PayPal account refunded after 9 days.

Useful Features

• Secure protocols. PrivateVPN keeps you safe while you torrent with a range of security protocols, including OpenVPN, PPTP, and IKEv2.
• Protects your data. PrivateVPN is based in Sweden, which is a data privacy safe haven. Plus, it doesn’t store any logs or identifying information which ensures your torrenting history stays private.

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Quick Comparison Table: Pirate Bay VPN Features

While my recommended VPNs work well with The Pirate Bay, there are specific characteristics that set them apart. Take a look at how they stack up against each other in terms of price, speed, P2P support, network coverage, jurisdiction, and obfuscation.

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Tips on Choosing the Best VPN for The Pirate Bay

The most effective VPNs for Pirate Bay facilitate P2P traffic and ensure your safety while using the site. The following criteria were employed during the VPN evaluation for this article; it is suggested that you apply the same standards while locating the most suitable VPN for your torrenting needs:

• P2P-optimized servers. Every VPN on this list allows torrenting and doesn’t cap bandwidth so you can download large files without limitations.
• Fast speed. I prioritized VPNs that don’t lower your speeds by more than 20%, so any speed drops don’t affect your download time too much.
• Robust security and privacy measures. To stay safe on The Pirate Bay, I chose VPNs that come with AES 256-bit encryption, a kill switch, and leak protection. I also prioritized VPNS with a no-logs policy to keep my data secure.
• Easy to use. All the VPNs in this article offer user-friendly apps and responsive online support. The ability to use the service simultaneously on multiple devices is also a great advantage.
• Reliable money-back guarantee. I’ve only featured VPNs with proven money-back guarantees, so you can try them with confidence and get your money back if it doesn’t work out.

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Pirate Bay Not Working With VPN — Possible Causes and Fixes

Using a VPN with The Pirate Bay isn’t always a smooth experience, and issues happen once in a while. To assist you in resolving any problems quickly, I have compiled a troubleshooting checklist that highlights potential issues and recommended solutions so you can get back to torrenting.

• The server you’re connected to isn’t working. Your ISP may have blacklisted your VPN server’s IP address. Try switching to a new server to see if that solves the problem.
• VPNs aren’t allowed in your location. Network and firewall restrictions can block your encrypted connection. Using a VPN that offers obfuscation can help resolve connectivity problems.
• The base network speed has dropped. If your real IP address is exposed (for example, when switching servers), it can result in your ISP throttling your traffic. Turn your VPN’s kill switch and DNS/IP leak protection on to prevent further leaks; you may find your ISP stops throttling your speeds when it can no longer detect torrenting.
• Firewalls or antivirus blocking the apps. Firewalls or antivirus software can sometimes block VPN connections. Temporarily disable them and try connecting to the VPN again.
• The VPN protocol has changed. When updating your VPN, the default protocols may also update, resulting in a temporary glitch. Restarting the VPN app or browser can resolve this issue.
• An update is required. Make sure that your VPN app is up-to-date with the latest version.
• Account issues. If the subscription has expired or someone has changed the login credentials, you won’t be able to connect to any server.

If none of the above solutions resolve the issue, it’s best to reach out to the support team of your VPN provider. Fortunately, many VPNs today offer 24/7 live support.

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FAQs on VPNs for The Pirate Bay

Can I get in legal trouble for using a VPN with Pirate Bay?

That depends. As long as you're not using it to upload or download copyrighted files, you won't face any trouble. Just keep in mind that the legality of online torrenting and VPNs varies from country to country. If your country allows torrenting and VPN use, you aren’t breaking any laws. You can start torrenting non-copyrighted content by choosing a VPN that supports P2P traffic.

Does using a VPN for torrenting impact download speeds?

Yes, using a VPN will always affect your speed on some level, no matter what you're doing. However, the best Pirate Bay VPNs minimize speed drops. I recommend using a VPN with speed drops lower than 20% to avoid frustratingly slow torrents.

Can I use a free VPN for Pirate Bay?

Yes, but I don’t recommend it. Free VPNs for The Pirate are unreliable and risky. These services rarely support torrenting traffic and have data caps that restrict you to only a few downloads. To maintain good torrent time, it’s best to use a low-cost premium VPN with P2P servers and a proven money-back policy.

Free VPNs often throttle speeds, limit server locations, and come with limited security and privacy features. Others log and sell your data to third parties like advertisers. Worse, some of these services are laden with malware that can damage your device and compromise your privacy.

Get the Best VPN for Pirate Bay

A reliable VPN can help you maintain secure torrenting sessions on The Pirate Bay. The VPNs on my list use robust security features to secure your P2P connections without compromising speed. Plus, they’re straightforward to use, so you can connect to a torrent-friendly server with a few clicks.

ExpressVPN is my top recommendation for torrenting because its fast torrenting servers make it an excellent choice for Pirate Bay. Plus, its robust security features mean your online activity remains safe from hackers, snoops, and torrent users. You can confidently try ExpressVPN since it’s supported by a 30-day money-back guarantee.

To summarize, these are the best VPNs for The Pirate Bay...