Azureus / Vuze vs uTorrent

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Vuze and uTorrent comparison

There are two freeware BitTorrent clients that really stand out from the crowd: uTorrent and Azureus (Vuze). Since these are the most popular ones, it's only natural that a lot of people argue about which one is a better torrent downloader: Azureus or uTorrent? Both of them have their pros and cons, some of which are listed below. Both clients, however, are fully capable of creating, downloading and seeding .torrent files, as well as doing a lot of smart and advanced things like automatically downloading from RSS feeds, using multiple trackers, banning specific IP addresses, or setting download priorities for each file inside the torrent separately.

Azureus (Vuze) overview

Vuze compared to uTorrent

Azureus / Vuze logoAzureus is a powerful open source BitTorrent client with a huge amount of features and support for 3rd party plugins. It recently evolved into Vuze - a p2p (peer-to-peer) network of high quality video content - but you are still able to use the classic Azureus interface if you want to.

Azureus requires Java Runtime Enviroment (JRE). This is good because it can run on any operating system that supports JRE, and it is bad because Java-based Azureus uses quite a lot of system resources. Many people say that Azureus downloads faster than uTorrent, but tests have been conflicting so far and there's no definite conclusion.

uTorrent overview

uTorrent compared to Azureus

uTorrent logouTorrent is a lightweight and efficient torrent downloader. It is closed source, which Azureus fans are quick to point out as a big flaw (it's possible for the uTorrent developers to add anything they want to the program, such as DRM protection, or copyright breach reporting, without the users' knowledge). There's also no plugin support, and it has less features than Azureus (but still more than you will probably ever need).

Unlike Vuze client, uTorrent is not Java-based. This is good because uTorrent is really small, fast, and uses very little CPU and RAM. However, it also means that a separate version has to be developed for every platform. uTorrent now has Mac support, and an early Linux version is in development. There is no doubt that uTorrent is faster than Azureus when it comes to the program itself; on the other hand, various Azureus and uTorrent speed comparison tests have shown different results, so it's not clear which torrent client can produce higher download speeds.

What is the best BitTorrent client?

uTorrent or Azureus, which one is a better (faster, safer...) BitTorrent client?

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Azureus is better than uTorrent!

Johny says:

Vuze is far way more better than u torrent!

Dennis says:

I prefer Azureus because after looking at uTorrent's available settings, I was rather disappointed to not find an intelligent upload limiter. I like to have my torrents seeding as fast as possible without interfering with my overall internet traffic. If uTorrent had this option that would set limits based on available bandwidth and throughput (ping) latency rather than just a set level, I'd be much happier with going with uTorrent. I have Asureus running on a nearly headless laptop server that has a broken screen, so I use a VNC server/client to manage the server operations, otherwise it does it's job nearly completely autonomously.

So far it's up-time has clocked over 3 years now on XP, and still going strong. It's also doing all it's operations via WiFi with ease. I also like to have the ability to enhance what the client can do using plugins, which I personally like my auto-remover, to de-list fully completed torrents so I can later move the files to external archival media to make room for more locally.

Despite Azureus's RAM and CPU hogging tendencies, I noted that only happens with multiple high speed transfers, when it has to rapidly shuffle data around it's cache, but most of the time when it's semi-idle or completely idle, it's rather quiet and doesn't force the CPU fan into overdrive.

So if the features I've mentioned appear on uTorrent in the near future, then perhaps I'd consider switching to the smaller, leaner client. But, until that happens, I'm sticking with Azureus.

bobbo says:

i started with vuze and never used u torrent, im a bit of a dummy with pcs and it was easy to use, my isp caught me illegally downloading civ 4, but my buddy who is a top level I.T. with at a huge tech support company used utorrent got caught as well but in less time with less pirated stuff so iguess fuze for me

Anonymous says:

Vuze is da best.

MaggieVI says:

Jennifer, thanks for your comment.. it helped me alot. I am very new to the
'consideration' of torrents (learning etc) because I was getting all these zipped files which needed pws.. naturally at the time I really didn't know that it was a "fake".. so after growing more annoyed I started to explore.. You opinion answered everything I needed. I've had great tech support (explanations/advice) via BTrac members (am I allowed to say that). and one member directed me to this among other tidbits to help me answer my question.. which was, "which is better?" (because quite frankly it looked to me as though Vuze would be but this imo may have been due to my ability to use vuze without having to learn or understand torrents. It did everything for me, pretty much.
thx, Maggie :)

MaggieVI says:

Vuze

Jennifer says:

I have utorrent on one computer and vuze on the other. I cant say much about the speed because of the difference in connection speeds/reliability (One has a hardline connection to the router and the other I have ordered -but not yet installed- a new wireless adapter for due to it's crappy connection) I am quite new to the torrent world, having never touched it until 6 months ago- and even now I get all of my torrents vrom the same tracker. That being said, I do consistently use them both and have decided that when I update the OS in a few weeks on the computer running utorrent, I am going to switch to vuze, dropping utorrent all together. There are some features on Vuze that I feel are sort of important, and if these features are on utorrent (which they might very well be) I am not coming across easily:

With a large torrent with many subfolders (such as a movie pack or television series), I cannot open the main file so that it opens within the utorrent library. It always opens in a new window, which I find to be very annoying. In Vuze all you have to do is hit the arrow next to the filename, and it expands.

The ease of removing from and returning to the client library previously downloaded files; as well as being able to reconnect files I have moved around my computer to the library once the file address has changed.

I just haven't quite found any special addition on utorrent that I couldn't find on Vuze, but have found several on Vuze that I couldnt find on utorrent

oritro says:

Vuze, with out any doubt downloads atleats 3x faster than U torrent, any time any where & on any type of connection.

Steve says:

I can't even use utorrent anymore because my system locks up Each and Every time. It's Vuze for me

MyName? says:

IDK,i like much more vuze cause i it has faster downloading and i like that bar which shows me the download speed ,upload speed and remaining time,even if i close it

Eddie says:

the speed of your download depends on ur wifi network and how many seeds u have in the download alvy1975. the program dosnt effect the speed of the download.

matt says:

i used utorrent for years i always thought it was the best. and it always seemed to work fine for me.

but i really started to have problems with utorrent and the simple things that i once loved utorrent for seemd to suck.

i quickly found vuse, and installed, and all i can say is i am never going back to utorrent again.

vuze not only is eaiser to use and easiser to mange, but it also seems to bring me my downloads ten times faster.

YOUR MOM says:

its alot better , virus free , really fast , you cant beat this shit

Its okay says:

The search is really what does it.

macuser says:

Vuze is better for mac!

Dipanjan Das says:

Azureus is better bcz if ur if throttle p2p...Vuse is the best solution

shashank says:

Azureus gives faster speed than utorrent for the same torrent

Åke says:

Vuze is better

angtor says:

Vuze is the absolute best in the world of bt clients. I can't believe uTorrent still lacks a quick search filter to search within the torrent list. uTorrent is also not very safe as of lately.

McDonald says:

Vuze is better than uTorrent. I think also it is the fastest.

McSeem says:

uttorent ver. 3 crash my PC with BSOD
vuze - no problem

Taylor says:

I just started using torrents. theyre great. I asked a friend how to torrent and he told me to use Vuse. i just now found utorrent and idk which is better but im gonna go with vuse just becasue of the whole open-source thing.

Stephen says:

Vuze is quicker and easier to use!

Charlotte says:

works better than any others i have used

Turbines says:

uTorrent frequently hangs my Win7x64 box same goes with my Win7 laptop. It was and used to be the best torrent client before, so lightweight but not anymore. It sucks and I'm hating it. Switched to Vuse.

Bocki99 says:

Bocki99

honeymomma says:

Vuze is king!!! Liked uTorrent until I used VUZE. I'm sticking with vuze.

charlie says:

I just never got on with utorrent, I don't know why. But I love Vuze so I gotta vote for them

hweferchaloo says:

I'll lean towards vuze. i tried downloading the same file using both vuze and utorrent at the same time and vuze thrashed utorrent with download speeds nearly 4-5times of utorrent.

Ewaler says:

Utorrent can make your computer slow

eddie says:

to the guy called JUstice.....
ok, maybe its just ur pc that is not good or somthin like that. and also update ur pc all the time when needed
lawl
and also vuze i safer

Zach says:

I've used a number of clients and have settled on Azureus/Vuze. This client just seems the most feature rich and very intuitive. The other client I've used on occasion is rTorrent which is a text based client but that was a while ago. Azureus (now called Vuze) just seems to have more active development than anything else. It's got plenty of features such as uPnP (which I hate but some people might need it) and encryption built in.

BTW, there is nothing inherently illegal about bittorrent. It is simply a protocol/method to transfer and distribute files. For instance almost all Linux Distros use torrents to distribute DVD images.

keaton says:

i had utorrent on my last laptop a year ago and it brougt virusses and crasht my laptop i use vuze now and it is safe, utorrnet fuckt up my last laptop!

Ewaler says:

If you use Utorrent you will be jailed

eddie says:

i also wanna say that when i used utorrent, i only hit at a rate of 105 kb/s
but when i went and use vuze, i could easily whizz past 105kb/s. in fact... i hit almost 1 mbp/s !!!!!

uTorrent is better than Azureus!

Finlux says:

I think utorrent is the best, because its so easy to use and you can place the files you install where ever you want before you start download.
In vuze, the files must go into the folder '' Vuze downloads''.

Stonecold says:

µTorrent is better. Azureus has more overhead and runs less efficiently program-wise, so it must be slower when it comes to handshakes between peers. Plus, being more complicated and being completely open source means that it is easier for people to discover security flaws and weaknesses and exploit them. As for µTorrent someday adding anti-pirating mechanisms without user consent, all it would take would be one person to recompile it (which would actually be relatively easy) and to discover that such a feature was added to even create a blog post on it, and people would quickly switch to µTorrent.

bob says:

i cant abide unessary things eating cpu and ram. Its for this reason when i installed windows 7 i uninstalled everything i didnt want, turned off all the whistles (such as fancy graphics), changed power settings, and even selected a solid black color background. It's also the reason i chose utorrent. Frankly i never have problems on my pc's while every one Else's i know slows down and chugs.

Jddoss says:

When using Azureus(Vuze) I ran into all kinds of problems including overall speed loss with my computer and with uTorrent, I've always been able to run many other programs while it works quietly in the background. As for downloading and uploading speeds...they both seemed to work about the same. Faster for some and slower for other torrents. Everything I've seen leads me to say that uTorrent is much better and in the long run, its something I would and have recommended to friends and family.

Adam says:

uTorrent, never had any problems. friends have with vuze...

Jack says:

Fuck yeah!

alvy1975 says:

eddie the speed of your download depends on whether or not you no how to use the settings and available programs i think your just commenting because you have a small dick

xiodus says:

http://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-download-speeds-beat-vuze-by-16-100607/

check it out :p

Ak says:

i personally used both and did not experienced any difference in speed in fact utorrent is better because of quick interface and content is manageable!!

alvy1975 says:

if you know what your doing and aint a knob you can get up to 10 mbs with utorrent so wich is better? utorrent by about 9 mbs

Aadarsh says:

Guarantee...Its light...I opt for utorrent

MCSH156 says:

Vuze nd Utorrent are the Same Speed.But My Default Torrent Downloader is Utorrent.

uTorrent gamer says:

uTorrent is lightweight but more stable and consumes less memory space.Even though Azureus has a lot of features but since it slows down ur pc i prefer uTorrent. uTorrent downloads at much faster pace. All u need is downloading so prefer uTorrent please

thexfiles123 says:

Definetly uTorrent, I don't want features, memory eating torrent program or a java based program ( Which is STUPID )... I only want a simple torrent program with low memory consumtion and uTorrent is just that.

Zain Patel says:

uTorrent all the way. I have tried both, conducted benchmarks, download speeds on over a hundred torrents and uTorrent is much better, I love it cleaned and polished interface too. uTorrent also downloads torrents 16% faster than vuze

George says:

Vuze stopped downloading for me once I updated to OSX Lion, I decided to try uTorrent... I wouldn't go back!

Giovani says:

utorrent uses less cpu than vuze so I think it's better.

uTorrentAdmin says:

uTorrent all the way!!!

rand-om says:

lightweight and simple, do i need to say more?

vidi says:

utorrent hands down

thedroiden says:

uTorrent

Izanagi says:

Utorrent is the Best!

vuztorrent says:

i got vuze via utorrent.lol.. eh i dnt realy care wich is beta, am still gettin wat i want wen i want it

stewie says:

who needs features and add ons, i jus wanna download a torrent, open it n forget how i got it.. i see no difference of jus downloading a file..

Shadrach says:

Now I change to utorrent 3.1

Justice says:

My PC is completely unusable when using vuze it just crashes all the time

Robertson says:

uTorrent is the best

Antonio says:

utorrent

Jhoff says:

uTorrent has been and will always be my bittorrent client of choice <3

bob says:

I say utorrent, simply because I am not a computer whiz. I've tried vuze and could never even get the damn thing to work it was so ridiculous. Downloaded utorrent, its so user friendly after the install was complete I began downloading in no time at all.

ROFLMAO says:

I hate to say it, Vuze is great, but when it breaks down, just move to utorrent. Or better yet, get both, like i did :)

kichigai says:

After using utorrent for a number of years I had a friend tell me to use Vuze as it was superior. I tried it for a few days and went back to utorrent.
I don't know what these people who use Vuze and say it's more stable are talking about. I download approx. 500gigs a year on utorrent and have never had any problems and when you talk about speed I have gotten downloads as fast as 1.4megs a second which means I can download a 1gig. movie in a matter of 10minutes or less. Also since it has such a small footprint I don't mind leaving it on 24 - 7 giving me a seed ratio of about 6 to 1.
When you come right down to which is superior it depends on how you want to use your torrents so it is nothing but a matter of preference.

frunkis says:

huskerton.... it's called "preferences" or "options" or "settings", you can adjust how many things you can download at once. if it queues everything else until one thing is completely downloaded then you change that option to whatever number you want. you obviously shouldn't be commenting on this. moron.

Huskerton says:

By default, Vuze (at least the free version) only lets you download one thing at a time (it just queues the rest and downloads the next one when one is complete) speed seems to be about the same but again uTorrent can download more at the same time so technically uTorrent is faster.

CoaPTW says:

i think (micro)uTorrent is better, but vuze is not bad at all, i just don't see any difference between them, i mean, i only use it for downloading, so i rather will download uTorrent because it is smaller :D

 
view all 326 comments

Related Links

Useful websites for torrent users.


  • Vuze homepage (formerly known as Azureus) on Sourceforge contains download links and more information about this bittorrent client as well as Vuze content network.

  • µTorrent homepage: download µTorrent, find out more about its features, or ask for help in the community support forums.

  • List of BitTorrent clients on Wikipedia has a massive number of various BT applications listed, and compares their features and popularity.

  • BT Guard allows you to torrent anonymously and bypass ISP throttling. Protect your privacy and increase download speeds as well.

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  • Reply
    P2P Xpertester Nov 28, 2011 @ 10:04 am | delete
    i have been using both clients for some time and i want to share my experiences.

    Utorrent
    - very lightweight "using very little system resource"
    - average 10k - 50k memory used even downloading multiple torrents

    Vuze
    - can slow system down because its java based and can crash java sometimes
    - use more system resource when downloading multiple torrents/files
    - 50k - 150k based on usage

    to those who "got a virus", "system crashed" , "computer hang" etc etc....only vuze can slow,crash or hang a computer since its java based. you can only get virus when downloading bad files. its not the softwares fault, its the users fault for downloading a virus, so dont be a fool

    ABOUT DOWNLOADING SPEED
    - software is not to blame. blame your connection for being slow and undependable. and a download speed is as fast as the seeders and how many are seeding the files.
  • Reply
    Justice Oct 12, 2011 @ 8:11 pm | delete
    Vuze is ok as long as you are not using your pc while your downloading as it uses up a lot of resources, utorrent on the other hand is lightweight, a little slower downlloading but not by any signifant amount uses much less resources but not as customisable for me I prefer utorrent as I don't use any of the plugins that vuze has but still a good program
  • Reply
    Shrey Aug 27, 2011 @ 4:06 pm | delete
    Vuze is always better than utorrent in terms of speed..
  • Reply
    Deep Thought May 9, 2011 @ 6:57 am | delete
    Most people look for speed, simplicity and light-weight download. uTorrents offers that and I guess most people are satisfied with it.
    Vuze is open source and has a few more features than uTorrents (I heard). It is attractive, since a person like me would have an opportunity to dig into its code :)
    So I compare them from different level. As a normal user, I prefer uTorrent. As a developer or as person seeking extra options, Vuze would give me that.
  • Reply
    James May 5, 2011 @ 7:33 am | delete
    utorrent is my choice. maybe vuze has built with advanced for searching torrents, downloading, receiving updates etc. but u torrent is one user friendly. thanks for this comparison.

    i invite you to visit out site for mac data recovery software for recovering your lost data.
  • Reply
    pointer May 4, 2011 @ 4:52 pm | delete
    Wow! You have provided excellint information about torrent agents. presonally I like Veze it is the most powerfull torrent software and very easy to work with. You’ve put lots of usefull information inside, thank you. Please visit my lens titled Download HD Movies and tell me what you think about it.

    Regards to all and God bless

    Mark Simpson

    Auther of Hack Wii 4.3u page.
  • Reply
    ml_gard Mar 12, 2011 @ 9:52 am | delete
    thanks for the info, new into the debate, you provide a great starting place for newbies such as myself
  • Reply
    OptimusS Nov 7, 2010 @ 7:14 am | delete
    Are you actually saying that speed depends on program itself ? it will depend if the program is written in the worst possible way ... everything other is about network configuration ... and i used vuze ... if you want to just download and not be able to do anything else (simple math java resources + memory buffs for cache = no resources left (speaking 10MiB/s+ speeds)) use vuze ... if you actually want to add and forget about torrent (ratio based trackers) well you have no other choose than utorrent :)
  • Reply
    purpleG Jan 2, 2011 @ 9:04 am | delete
    It depends a bit since every program has different algorithms on which peers / seeds to connect to, etc (I think?). For example uTorrent has this new thing called "µTP protocol" which is supposed to automatically slow down the downloads when your network is busy to reduce latency, and get through firewalls easier. Check this out:

    http://blog.bittorrent.com/2009/11/13/testing-%C2%B5tp-is-%C2%B5tp-actually-faster-than-regular-bittorrent/
  • Reply
    JziE Nov 1, 2010 @ 9:51 am | delete
    love the debate :)
  • Reply
    pizzaman Jul 7, 2010 @ 11:49 pm | delete
    It's funny how so many people have to trash the program they don't use. It makes they're position invalid because they're too emotionally involved, instead of being logical.

    I think both are good clients, but I use utorrent for a few of reasons: (1) utorrent was the first one I tried and I'm more comfortable with it; (2) I don't use most of utorrent's features, so I don't need even more; and (3) I can be downloading a torrent with utorrent in the background, and still scan documents, write DVD's or whatever. It doesn't slow down my machine and if it wasn't for the icon in the system tray, I wouldn't even know it was running.
  • Reply
    lil_muchang May 31, 2010 @ 2:33 pm | delete
    I'm using Azureus cos I'm using macbook! Great lens you have there. Visit me at http://www.squidoo.com/greys-anatomy
  • Reply
    Maxwell Aug 17, 2010 @ 3:23 pm | delete
    uTorrent runs on Mac. I have it. It's called uTorrent Mac.
  • Reply
    XxX-Pro Feb 27, 2010 @ 2:45 am | delete
    uTorrent is good enough for me. Vuze is full of shit that I don't need, like the "HD Network" stuff. It also doesn't seem any faster than uTorrent. So, if you're looking for a basic BT client, use uTorrent. If you want the Vuze shit, use it. Plus, uTorrent has customizable icons, so there's no war between looks.
  • Reply
    pirate4life Apr 6, 2010 @ 1:25 pm | delete
    I've always used Azureus: free, highly customizable with a ton of plugins available, downloads fast, etc. But I agree that this Vuze thing is crap. All I want is a torrent client not some stupid "content network".

    Luckily you can use the "old" interface with a simple click. However all that bloated stuff is still sitting there and eating your resources.
  • Reply
    anba79 Jan 7, 2010 @ 1:47 pm | delete
    Thanks for the info's guys...
  • Reply
    kikikourosava Oct 7, 2009 @ 1:27 pm | delete
    Nice review about torrent cilents
  • Reply
    AdrienneJenkins Jul 4, 2009 @ 2:33 am | delete
    Chadrew...appreciate your disclaimer about the no-nos of sharing copyrighted material.
  • Reply
    Dave Jun 8, 2009 @ 9:18 pm | delete
    I downloaded and installed Utorrent, and being a longtime Vuze user, I could use some help understanding how utorrent compares or even works:

    In Vuze, I search a keyword of what I'm looking for, and then I sift thru all the choices, choose, and then download.
    But it seems like Utorrent searches for torrents but doesn't actually provide the download? I don't really get it.
  • Reply
    Chadrew May 24, 2009 @ 9:25 am | in reply to CURIOUS | delete
    Only some anonymous usage statistics, and only if you've checked the checkmark in your Preferences (otherwise it won't send anything). Now, since it's not open source, no one except the developers know *for sure* what uTorrent is reporting... But I think there's no reason to worry.
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