However, if you want a torrenting alternative you can sign up for a video streaming service to enjoy your favorite movies!
Disclaimer
Although all the content listed above is available for everyone to use, in no way does this article encourage downloading copyrighted material of any form. The act is punishable by law.
What Is Kickass Torrents?
Kickass Torrents (or KAT) is a website that uses BitTorrent protocol to supply directories of torrent files and magnet links. All of which eases peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing. Launched back in 2008, it has been one of the most popular torrent sites. Moreover, it has been widely known as the Google of torrent search. Kickass Torrents gained its reputation as one of the oldest and most reliable sources to download data via P2P protocol. Although it always gets compared to The Pirate Bay, KAT became the most visited torrent directory in the world by late 2014. By July 2015, Google Chrome blocked access to the site since it leaked malware content for some users. Kickass Torrents eventually went offline when the domain was seized by the U.S. government on July 20, 2016.
What Are These So-called Proxy Sites or Servers?
A proxy server is a computer system that acts as an intermediary. It’s a go-between for requests from clients or users seeking resources or services. It may be a file, connection, web page, or another resource available from a different server. The proxy server evaluates the requests to simplify and control its complexity. It facilitates access to content on the World Wide Web. Additionally, it provides cover and may be used to get through IP address blocking. To its advantage, a proxy server’s cache can serve all users. A cache is a hardware or software component that is used to store data temporarily. If several Internet sites are frequented, it’s highly probable they will be contained in the proxy’s cache. This will greatly improve user response time. A proxy can also log its interactions and that can be helpful for troubleshooting.
How Do Proxy Servers Work?
Proxy servers are used to facilitate security, for administrative control, or for caching services. They enable user privacy and anonymous surfing in a personal computing context as well. On the other hand, they can also be used for the opposite purposes of monitoring traffic and undermining user confidentiality. In a sense, the proxy server appears invisible to the users. All web requests and returned responses seem to be connected to the addressed Internet server. This is a common misconception though. Proxies and their IP addresses have been specified as a configuration option to the web browser or another protocol program. So how do proxies work with torrents? Through its server, the properly-configured proxy allows users to reroute their web traffic. This makes their real IP addresses hidden as they access the torrent websites, which eventually leads to file download and sharing.
Kickass Proxy List
Kickass Torrents’ official website has been shut down after the arrest of its alleged creator and owner, Artem Vaulin. Fans of the torrent directory voiced their desire for free content downloads. As a result, former KAT staff made mirrors and proxy sites in December of 2016. A few are still running to date. Though proxy sites can gain access to blocked online resources, one cannot simply enter Kickass Torrents nowadays. It might be for the following reasons. First, the torrent website is banned in your country. Second, your ISP banned user access to it. Third, an antivirus or firewall blocked access to KAT. Lastly, the site got temporarily or permanently shut down. Though it’s unlikely the last one will happen since there are Kickass proxy sites as alternatives. These mirror sites are reliably fast. They retained the same features and layout from the original torrent index. They still provide verified torrent files and magnet links. Users can continue searching for and accessing their desired content of movies, music, games, etc. Here are some of the Kickass Torrents proxy sites that are working as of this writing:
Torrenting Safety Gear: The Use of VPN
Although Kickass proxy sites are available, using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is still highly recommended when downloading from torrent directories. VPN is a private network that uses a public network to connect remote users or sites together. It routes the connection through a server. This helps individuals connect to local networks while being far away. Companies can also access remote data hubs and secure communication through this. Using a VPN ensures safe browsing and privacy for various internet activities. It makes the connection encrypted and undiscoverable. Opting to use a VPN service makes you anonymous while downloading. By doing so, your IP address won’t be tracked by your ISP.
Alternatives to Consider
There are other alternative torrent sites aside from Kickass Torrents.
Zooqle
This online index offers a huge variety of torrents. Its user interface is neat and clean. It provides an advanced search option as well. Users can specify file size, word match, indexing time, category, and language. It also displays the most seeded torrents on the homepage.
Torrentz2
Torrentz.eu’s clone site is not as simple as it looks. This search engine gathers and shows results from a dozen other torrent sites. A sorting option feature is also available. It can categorize by days, adult filters, and verified or unverified torrents.
1337x
This alternative site is famous for a visually appealing interface. You can easily use its search bar and explore categories. Check out the Top 100 section too, which lists the 100 most trending torrents. Finally, 1337x posts weekly updates on the most popular torrents for each category.
LimeTorrents
LimeTorrents is a great alternative to KAT. Well-known for its green-colored interface, it also has an enormous torrent catalog that gets updated almost every hour.
The Pirate Bay
Although it has gone offline for the past few months, the Big Boss of all torrent search engines can still be accessed through proxy sites as well.
Torlock
This alternative torrent website boasts of listing only verified and genuine torrents, making it a true fan favorite.
Nyaa.si
Nyaa.si is the mirror site for the popular anime torrent index of the same name. This search engine is well-known for focusing on East Asian media (Japanese, Korean, and Chinese). It offers a neat user interface. Torrents can also be sorted by comments, date, size, seeds, peers, and many more, all for easier selection.
