The Top 35 Torrent Download Sites of 2012

1. VCDQ.com: VCDQ.com isn't technically a torrent search site; rather, VCDQ specializes in verifying torrents.  VCDQ employs a committee of serious users to confirm that torrents do indeed exist for thousands of titles, especially brand new movie releases.  Use VCDQ to confirm that a title is available, then copy the torrent name to paste into a search engine like Isohunt.com. Definitely give VCDQ.com a try; this is a great resource for avoiding fake torrent files.
    
 
2. Torlock Torlock is special. These folks actually pay their users commission for uncovering fake torrents and reporting it to their community.  In a world of phony files, this is a tremendous service. If you are a regular downloader, and are tired of wasted downloads and fraudulent files, give Torlock a try.
    
3. Torrents.to  This site has a Tonga country domain name, but certainly offers plentiful metasearching of movies and music in English and Spanish. There are some popup advertisements that are annoying, but perhaps you might like the framed interface for searching other torrent sites.
    
4. Torrentcafe.com This site needs to grow its user base some more. But Torrentcafe comes highly recommended by several About.com readers, so please give it a try and let us know how you like it.
   
 
5. Isohunt.com Isohunt is a longtime site that has earned both the respect of P2P users everywhere...and the negative attention of the recording industry. While being sued by the CRIA, the Isohunt team fights to continue its solid service. The Isohunt community helps by monitoring itself for fake files. When choosing your torrents, definitely read the user comments, and only trust those files that have earned multiple green positive replies at Isohunt. Avoid any torrents that have red font numbers and negative comments, and you should be have good experiences at Isohunt.  NOTE:  adult advertising has become very prevalent at Isohunt, but if you can put up with the skimpily-clad girls, this site continues to be one of the true standout torrent services.
    
   
6. Thunderbytes: As of March 2010, Thunderbytes is a private site that you'll need an invitation to join.
   
7. Vertor: this torrent service claims to filter out bad torrents, viruses, DRM locks, passwords, and fakes.
   
 
8. Toorgle.com Toorgle is a torrent metasearch engine based on Google technology. Like any metasearch service, your searches result from multiple other search engines on the Web. Toorgle retrieves the location of these files for you as a kind of matchmaking service. It's quick to use and can help you find rare or obscure torrents. Just make sure you are careful in which torrent you choose at Toorgle; because Toorgle will show results from dodgy torrent sites, take the time to check that a torrent has positive comments and is verified by users before you download. Careful and experienced users comment that Toorgle can be very helpful, if you know how to pick the good torrents from the bad,
    
9. Kick Ass Torrents.com This site is a favorite with a growing community.  The interface is a distinctive earth color, and the search results display in a useful format of columns, including torrent health.  The best part of Kick Ass Torrents is their comment and feedback system... the user community watches the quality of torrents, and offers their recommendations and warnings.
    
10. Torrent Funk: Torrent Funk is a very popular torrent search site that now supports commenting. While Torrent Funk also supports 'verified status' tagging, which some people prefer to comments.  The interface can be difficult to discern between sponsored ads and the actual torrent links.  But the Torrent Funk site layout is pleasing, the cross-movie recommendations are very helpful, and several About.com readers highly recommended Torrent Funk.  Give this site a try, and watch if it will grow over time.
     
 
11. Demonoid.me Demonoid is a longtime semi-private community that has now been taken down by Ukrainian auhorities.  Since July 25, when the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs raided the Demonoid data center, Demonoid has been offline. There is no word about a possible comeback in a different country. The torrent community is deeply saddened by this loss, as Demonoid was a favorite amongst P2P users.
     
12. Fenopy has some compelling features. Fenopy is fully integrated with IMDB and Last.fm radio, so it offers engaging information for discovering movies and music. A graphics gallery of large and motivating thumbnails adorns the home page, and the fake finder feature is also very useful for avoiding bad files. Definitely give Fenopy a try.
    
13. TorrentZap: TorrentZap is not as large of a catalog as other torrent search engines. And, as with all sites, you need to endure advertising to keep it a no-cost service. But the interface is clean, bright, and easy to navigate. Try this site out, skip past the 'external search results' to find the real torrents at TorrentZap, and let us know what you think.
    
 
14. LinuxTracker.org (For legal linux torrents and virtual machines.)
    
15. Torrent Root: as another metasearch engine, Torrent Root will scan through other search engines on your behalf, and display the results in a slick tabbed interface.
    
16. Torrent Tree
    This search site is written in Ajax code language. Like any metasearch engine, Torrent Tree pulls its results from many other search engines. But Torrent Tree pulls *more* search results than any other current metasearcher. Definitely give this site a try.
    
 
17. BitSnoop.com This site was recommended by reader Melody, who speaks very highly about its navigability, reliability, and clean design.  Using a growing community of users to help police the content, BitSnoop offers minimal advertising and reassuring tagging of good torrents.  Look for the green 'verified' tags, and you're bound to find good downloads here.  Definitely try BitSnoop.com, and let us know what you think of this newer site.
     
18. Torrentbit.nl This Netherlands site offers a simple interface and large index of torrents. It also offers a broad selection of European language movies and music.
    
19. Nowtorrents.com Now Torrents (allegedly) offers a special service: it filters out fake/dead torrents. It also offers date-range searching, so you can search for specific years of content (e.g. Flight of the Conchords, 2008).
    
 
20. Blues Brothers: Blues Brothers is a private site with a strong community and file-sharing ethic. As a private site, you can expect the leeching (selfish) users to be reduced. The BB community also strives to police itself by carefully watching each member's upload ratio... if you abuse your ratio, you are blocked from downloading until you donate. This policy may seem a bit harsh, but members seem to really appreciate it.