Hi, there, movie fans! Are you switching to torrents but don’t know how to use them? Well, you know you need a torrent client to enable downloading, but which one should you choose? Today, we’re going through a qBittorrent vs Deluge comparison to choose the best one.
What are the differences between the two regarding file size, user interface, performance, platform support, security, and more? Let’s go through their pros and cons and find out what’s so special about both Deluge and qBittorrent.
qBittorrent vs Deluge – General Overview
Are they perfect? No, there’s no perfection in this world, but each torrent client has its list of pros and cons. It’s up to you to decide which one suits your needs best.
qBittorrent
Okay, first of all, qBittorrent is a torrent client that has existed in the market for many years and is quite popular.
For those who don’t know, qBittorrent is a free, cross-platform, open-source BitTorrent client, and it was developed in 2006. Yes, it has a lot of successful years behind it.
qBittorrent presents itself as an alternative to uTorrent, providing the same features as all other platforms, and is still free.
Besides the convenience of charging zero money, qBittorrent also does not display ads. It is available on all platforms, including Windows, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, and OS/2.
The only downside might be that you can’t use it on your Android.
Pros
- No Ads
- Extra tools
- Extremely resource-friendly
- Multi-platform support
Cons
- Fewer extensions than in some other apps
- It can’t be used on Android
| License | GNU General Public License v3.0 or later |
| Language | C++ |
| Platforms | Windows, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, and OS/2 |
| Size (MB required) | Windows, 24.8 MB macOS, 17.2 MB Linux, 7.2 MB |
| RSS feed support | ✅ |
| Encryption | ✅ |
| WebUI | FF plugin |
| Ad-free | ✅ |
| Bandwidth scheduler | ✅ |
Deluge
qBittorrent is not the only old-timer on the market. Nope, Deluge was also developed in 2006, so we’re talking about two torrent clients that have been around for almost 20 years.
And yes, Deluge is also a free and open-source torrent client, so you don’t have to worry about price.
Pros
- Intriguing plugins like watch folders and auto-delete
- Suitable to install on Ubuntu servers
- Very automatable
Cons
- No built-in RSS downloader
- Not so user-friendly
| License | GNU General Public License v3.0 or late |
| Language | Python |
| Platforms | Linux, macOS, and Windows |
| Size (MB required) | Windows, 24.8 MB macOS, 17.2 MB Linux, 7.2 MB |
| RSS feed support | ✅ |
| Encryption | ✅ |
| WebUI | ✅ |
| Ad-free | ✅ |
| Bandwidth scheduler | ✅ |
Now, if you need a hand with downloading and setting up Deluge, here’s a video that might help you with that:
Features Face to Face
Want to find the best torrent client for you? Find out what features they offer below.
Size (or MB required)
While Deluge 2.1.0. is lightweight and unobtrusive and will occupy only 15.4 MB of your disk space; qBittorrent is a bit demanding with a size of 28.9 MB — so ensure you have more free memory for qBittorrent to work correctly.
Knowing this, no need to emphasize that Deluge is our favorite here.
RSS feed support
Now, for those who don’t know, an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed is an online file with details about every piece of content a site has published.
Why is this important when we talk about Torrent clients? Well, it allows users to download or receive notifications on new torrents without manually searching for files.
You’ll be happy to know that both qBittorrent and Deluge support RSS feeds. Deluge supports RSS Feeds with individual update times; with qBittorrent, you can automatically download your favorite torrents. Besides that, qBittorrent has advanced download filters (incl. regex), making it the winner in this segment.
Winning aside, we have to mention that qBittorrent users often complain about RSS feed support; perhaps it would be helpful to know how to set up the RSS feed.
- Go to qBittorrent.
- Click View.
- Find RSS Reader and click RSS.
- If you see the notification “Fetching of RSS feeds is disabled now! You can enable it in application settings,” you need to enable the fetching.
- Go to Preferences (Settings) > RSS > RSS Reader, and click “Enable fetching RSS feeds.“
- Find the RSS feed online and copy its URL.
- Open your qBittorrent RSS Reader again.
- Click “New Subscription”
- Enter the RSS feed URL in the box.
- Click Ok.
Search engine
No worries here if you’re using qBittorrent. It has a well-integrated and extensive search engine with simultaneous searches running on many torrent search sites. It also allows category-specific search requests (e.g., Books, Music, Software).
Now, if you use Deluge (especially if you’ve used qBittorrent previously), you might be surprised — Deluge doesn’t have a classic search function, as you might expect. It has a find function, so it helps you navigate to a torrent name or filename on a list. All you have to do is start typing the name of what you’re looking for.
So, in this category, qBittorrent is the winner.
User interface
When it comes to a user interface, comparing qBittorrent vs Deluge, those who previously used uTorrent will feel at home when using qBittorrent.
It is simple and functional; sometimes, that’s all it takes to fall in love with the tool. It has graphical, web, and command-line interfaces.
On the other hand, while the Deluge user interface is pretty straightforward, many settings are hidden inside the menu. That means it might be challenging to find the feature you need, initially making you a bit frustrated.
Once you get used to it and acknowledge that whatever you need and expect from this Torrent client, you can get from plugins, it offers a pretty good experience because it also has graphical, web, and command-line interfaces.
Considering all this, we have to say that qBittorrent is winning in this category. Not because the user interface is more appealing, but because users often get confused with Deluge and can’t find the function they search for.
Customization and plugins
Now, we’re coming to Deluge’s strengths. Yes, that’s right, Deluge is the king of customization and plugins.
It comes with basic options (it doesn’t even have a search engine until you download a plugin), and that’s why you can customize it according to your needs without unnecessary programs or features you will never use.
So, when it comes to Deluge plugins, it has 8 included plugins and options for third-party, browser, and application plugins.
Your Deluge application will come with
- AutoAdd
- Blocklist
- Execute
- Extractor
- Label
- Notification
- Schedule
- WebUI
Anything else you need, you can do with plugins such as Browser button, Auto Remove Plus, Default Tracker, ItConfig, etc.
As for qBittorrent, well, they don’t officially have plugins. What you see is what you get. But of course, you can always add search plugins.
If you struggle with that, here’s what you should do:
- Open the Search Engine in qBittorrent (View > Search Engine).
- Click the Search plugins button in the bottom right corner.
- Go to the plugins page.
- Choose the plugins you want to add to the search.
- Right-click on the link and click Save Link As.
- Save the file to a location.
- Go to qBittorrent, open the search engine, and click Install a new one. Another window pops up.
- Click Local file.
- Select the downloaded file and click Open.
- You’re done!
Now, if this seems too complicated, you can always use the Web link by right-clicking on the link icon and selecting Copy Link Location (for Firefox) or Copy Link Address (for Chrome). Then go to qBittorrent and click Install a new one. Once you do that, another window pops up.
You should click the Web link to open a new window with a URL field and paste the URL in the field. (Sometimes, the field fills automatically from the clipboard if copied already). Click OK, and you’re all done!
Performance
Regarding performance, we must admit that both qBittorrent and Deluge offer excellent performance.
Deluge is clean, with no ads or spam — the app opens really fast, but if you compare it to qBittorrent, you might notice that qBittorrent is, in fact, a bit better.
qBittorrent is fast, reliable, and has no advertisements. Furthermore, there’s no unwanted software or malware you can accidentally pick up while downloading it, which is, you have to admit, a great start!
But there is one feature that gives qBittorrent an advantage over Deluge when it comes to performance, and that’s the Sequential downloads feature, which allows you to download the first file of a series before the remaining items.
Furthermore, it enables streaming media while downloading, which is pretty cool if you’re impatient.
Oh, did we mention that qBittorrent is slightly faster than Deluge? Yeah, that too.
Platform support
Deluge is available for Linux, macOS, and Windows, while qBittorrent is available for Windows, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, and OS/2. Who’s the winner in this segment? qBittorrent, if we count the number of platforms supported.
Ads
It’s a huge relief! Both qBittorrent and Deluge are ad-free, meaning they won’t slow down performance, harm your device through malware or trackers, or annoy you.
But even though they are both ad-free, it seems like Deluge has a slight problem being stable (even without ads) with minor glitches appearing consistently.
So, yeah, the winner in this segment is qBittorrent, which offers an ad-free experience for free, which, you have to admit, sounds like a fairytale in the 21st century.
Security
We have to start this segment by saying that both torrent clients are safe to use, but it doesn’t eliminate the possibility of downloading an infected torrent file.
First, make sure you download qBittorrent or Deluge from their official websites, and you will be as secure as possible.
Second, when using qBittorrent and Deluge, VPNs are advisable since your IP address will be exposed to piracy-control organizations.
Standout Features
You probably guessed that the feature that stands out the most is definitely qBittorrent’s Sequential download, and since we already talked about it, we won’t repeat it. But we have to mention that the latest versions of Deluge (from Deluge 2.0.) also have this feature.
Price
We already mentioned that both of these Torrent clients are free. They are free and open-source clients; you can download them anytime from the official websites.
Conclusion
And here we are, at the end of our article. Should we count who won more battles in this Deluge vs qBittorrent story? No.
Let’s just say that everyone has their favorite torrent client. For some, it will be Deluge, and for others, it will be qBittorrent.
If you like torrent clients that don’t require too many additional settings after you download them, and you like watching movies while downloading them, you will like qBittorrent more.
As for Deluge, it will probably be the better solution for you if you prefer something highly customizable. Deluge is ideal because of its overall flexibility.
The choice is up to you. And, don’t forget, you can try both, as it doesn’t cost you anything.
We hope this helped, and don’t forget to share your experience with us! Which did you choose?
