Frequently asked questions

TorMonitor is a BitTorrent client for macOS. It downloads and seeds torrents, and adds a live map of your peers, country blocking, a download scheduler, an in-app browser for torrent sites and a monitor for RSS and Torznab providers. Its engine is libtorrent-rasterbar, a fast, proven open-source BitTorrent library.

Yes. Downloading, seeding, creating torrents, the Torrent Sites browser, the provider monitor and follow rules are free. TorMonitor Pro is an optional one-time purchase that unlocks the Network map, country blocking, the scheduler, seeding goals, the upload limit, fast peers only, proxy and DNS for torrent sites, and unlimited saved sites.

No. TorMonitor has no ads, no bundled offers and no analytics. The app only contacts the internet for torrent traffic, the feeds and sites you add, the licence check for Pro, and (when the Network map or country blocking is on) a geolocation lookup of peer IP addresses.

TorMonitor runs on macOS 12 Monterey and later, on both Apple silicon (M1 and newer) and Intel Macs. The Universal download works on every supported Mac.

Read the guide: How to install TorMonitor on your Mac

Not yet. TorMonitor is a Mac app today. The app is built with Flutter, so other desktop platforms are possible later; follow the changelog for news.

The Universal build contains code for both processor types and is the right choice if you are unsure. Apple silicon and Intel builds are smaller because they contain only one. The download page detects your Mac and recommends one.

Read the guide: How to install TorMonitor on your Mac

Yes, as far as BitTorrent allows: you can see every peer connected to you, but not people or accounts. The Peers tab lists each peer’s IP address, port, client software, progress and speed in each direction. With Pro, the Network map shows where they are, with orange arcs for peers you upload to and blue arcs for peers you download from.

Read the guide: Can I see who is downloading my torrent?

Open Preferences, go to Blocking, turn on Enable country blocking and add the country to Block all network from. To stop only uploads to that country, use Block leechers from; to stop only downloads from it, use Block sources from. Country blocking is a Pro feature.

Read the guide: How to block a country from downloading or connecting to your torrents

Open Preferences, go to Scheduler, turn on the Download schedule, set the active hours (for example 23:00 to 07:00), choose a speed, and set Outside these hours to pause. The scheduler is a Pro feature.

Read the guide: How to schedule torrent downloads on Mac (download only at night)

Yes. Torrent sites in the sidebar is a built-in browser. Every magnet and .torrent link on the page you open is collected in a list next to it, so you can add one torrent or all of them without switching apps.

Read the guide: How to keep your torrent sites in one app, without opening a browser

Yes. Add a provider of type Torznab API with the Torznab URL from Jackett or Prowlarr, or add any RSS feed. TorMonitor checks each one on a schedule and ranks them by health.

Read the guide: How to monitor torrent providers with RSS and Torznab (Jackett, Prowlarr)

Yes, with Follow rules. A rule watches the feeds of the providers you follow and adds any new item that matches its words or regular expression, minimum seeds and maximum size, into the folder and label you choose.

Read the guide: How to auto-download new torrents from RSS feeds with follow rules

Press ⌘N (File ▸ Create New Torrent…), click Add file or Add directory, click Pick fastest to tick working trackers, keep Start seeding ticked and click Create and save as…. The torrent starts seeding as soon as it is saved; share the .torrent file or its magnet link.

Read the guide: How to create a torrent on Mac and seed it

In the Create New Torrent window, every tracker is tested for you: a green dot and a response time mean it is working. Click Pick fastest to tick the 6 quickest responding trackers, Untick to drop dead ones, and Add tracker to add your own announce URL.

Read the guide: How to pick trackers for a new torrent (with live tracker status)

You can make it play sooner. Turn on Sequential download when adding the torrent, or put the video first in the Files tab with Move to Top, so the start of the file arrives first. TorMonitor does not include a video player.

Read the guide: How to choose files and download them in order (sequential download)

Set a seeding goal in Preferences: Stop when the share ratio reaches a number, or Stop after seeding for a number of hours. You can override it for one torrent from its Seeding options. Seeding goals are a Pro feature.

Read the guide: How to stop seeding at a share ratio or after a set time

Usually because there are few seeders, or because incoming connections can’t reach you. Check the seed count, make sure UPnP or NAT-PMP port mapping is on and the status bar shows the port as open, add more trackers, and with Pro try Fast peers only to drop slow peers.

Read the guide: Why is my torrent slow? 7 fixes for faster downloads on Mac

Using a BitTorrent client is legal in most countries; what matters is the content. Downloading or sharing material you don’t have the rights to can be illegal where you live. TorMonitor ships with a directory of legal sources such as the Internet Archive, Academic Torrents and Linux distributions. This is general information, not legal advice.

Read the guide: Is torrenting safe and legal? A plain-language guide

No. Country blocking decides which peers you exchange data with; it does not hide your address from the swarm, trackers or the DHT. To hide your IP address, use a VPN or a proxy for peer connections.

Read the guide: How to block a country from downloading or connecting to your torrents

No. The Torrent Sites proxy and custom DNS only apply to the in-app site browser and the .torrent files it downloads. Torrent traffic itself uses the separate proxy setting under Connection, and the rest of your Mac is unaffected.

Read the guide: How to reach blocked torrent sites with a proxy or DNS over HTTPS

Peer IP addresses are looked up with the ip-api.com geolocation service and cached on your Mac for 30 days. Addresses on your local network are never sent. You can turn the lookups off in Preferences with Show peer locations on the Network map (country blocking still needs them while it is on).

Read the guide: Can I see who is downloading my torrent?

Gatekeeper shows that message for apps it hasn’t verified yet. Open System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway next to TorMonitor, then confirm. You only need to do this once. If it says the app is “damaged”, the install guide has a one-line Terminal fix.

Read the guide: How to install TorMonitor on your Mac

Yes, during the launch: code FIRSTSEED takes 90% off TorMonitor Pro for the first 1,000 buyers, for a limited time. It is filled in automatically from the Pro page and also shown in the app’s welcome window.

TorMonitor Pro is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. Checkout, tax and receipts are handled by Polar, and your licence key is shown right after payment.

One licence key activates TorMonitor Pro on up to 3 Macs. To move it to another Mac, choose Deactivate this Mac in the Pro window first.

Only now and then. The licence is checked at launch and daily; if your Mac is offline, Pro keeps working for 30 days after the last successful check.

Open the Polar customer portal, sign in with the email address you used to buy, and copy the key again. The Pro window in the app has a Find my licence key link that opens the portal.